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Customer Case Study Template

Fill in the customer, the challenge, what you did and the results, and the case study lays itself out as you type. Before and after numbers get their change worked out. Pick the full version, a one-page summary or a short version for an email, then copy it or save a PDF. The interview guide below the builder gets you the story in one call.

What goes in a customer case study

  • Customer snapshot

    Who the customer is in one glance: company, industry, size and location. A reader decides in seconds whether this customer looks like them.

  • The challenge

    What was going wrong and what it cost, told the way the customer tells it. This is the part your prospect recognizes.

  • Why they chose you

    What else they looked at, doing nothing included, and what tipped it. Prospects comparing options read this section closely.

  • Solution and rollout

    What they use and how they got started, in plain words. Who went first, how long it took, what the first weeks were like.

  • Results

    Before and after numbers the customer stands behind: hours saved, faster quotes, more deals. The change is worked out for you.

  • Quote and next step

    One or two lines the customer actually said, approved word for word, then what is next for them and one clear call to action.

How to write a case study in five steps

  1. 1. Pick the right customer

    Choose a customer who looks like the prospects you want more of and who got a result they can put a number on. A happy customer with no numbers makes a testimonial, not a case study.

  2. 2. Ask early, and say what you need

    Ask your contact for 30 minutes, tell them you will send every quote and number for approval, and ask who has to sign off on using their name and logo.

  3. 3. Interview, don't survey

    Use the interview guide below. Open questions, then follow up with "how much?" and "compared to what?" until you have a before and an after.

  4. 4. Draft from their words

    Put the customer's own phrases in the challenge and the quotes. Keep the solution short; the results and the quote carry the story.

  5. 5. Get it approved

    Send the draft, tick off every item on the approval checklist, then publish the full version and use the short one in emails and slides.

Quoting someone? See how to quote an interview accurately.

The challenge section starts with your customer's pain points.

Full, one page or short: which version to use

One interview gives you all three. The builder switches between them without losing what you typed.

  • Full case study

    For a customer stories page on your website or a PDF a buyer forwards to their boss. Every section, every quote.

  • One-page summary

    For a leave-behind after a meeting or an attachment to a proposal: snapshot, challenge, solution, results, one quote, next step.

  • Short version

    For a follow-up email or a single slide: one sentence each for the challenge and the solution, the results and one quote.

More on using customer stories in sales: win-loss analysis, consultative selling, customer pain points.

The best lines are the ones the customer actually said.

A case study lives or dies on the quotes, and nobody remembers them word for word. Ask your customer if you may record the interview, record it in ParrotNotes, and lift the quotes from the transcript exactly as they were said, with a summary of the call. Then send them for approval. Free for 100 minutes of recording a month.

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