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Casey Hibbard - Stories That Sell |
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Written by Editor
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Saturday, 13 March 2010 |
 Stories That Sell
What excites you most about your book’s topic? Why did you choose it?
I truly believe this is a topic whose time has come. Today’s buyers need proof that solutions work as promised. Using your customer success stories to sell products, services and ideas is exponentially more credible and effective than what the vendor says about its products and services – and organizations simply don’t do this enough. There are powerful customer stories that they just aren’t sharing with their audiences. The book assembles a decade of experience to help companies use their customer success stories for competitive advantage.
How long did the book take you from start to finish?
20 months from the start of writing to the release date.
What aspect of writing the book did you find particularly challenging?
All day, I sit in front of a computer and write for client projects. Throughout the book process, I continued to work pretty long hours for my day job. When the end of the regular workday hit or the weekend came around, I had to really dig deep to find the discipline to stay in front of that computer to write the book when I really wanted to get outside or do something active.
What surprised you the most about the book writing process?
I featured more than a dozen organizations in my book, and had each one review, edit and approve the parts written about them. I expected it to be more difficult to get big-name companies to talk about their internal practices publicly in this way. Toyota, Amdocs, SAP, Kronos, Sage Software and more all stepped up and agreed.
Did you have any favorite experiences when writing your book?
My favorite experience was probably packaging up the 241 Microsoft Word pages to send to my editor. Printing it out after nearly a year of seeing it on the computer screen made it very real, and I realized HOW MUCH I had written. It looked gigantic on my desk, so I took pictures of it.
What do you hope your readers will gain from reading your book?
I hope readers – whether they are businesses, nonprofits or writers – immediately take away ideas and an action plan for packaging the customer’s voice in a compelling way to support their sales, marketing and PR.
What projects are you currently working on?
Right now I’m busy with my business – helping companies create and manage their customer stories, which includes day-to-day client work as well as conducting webinars and classes on the topic. Daily, I evangelize my concept with Twitter, LinkedIn and blogging. I’m also working on releasing some smaller downloadable reports that complement the book.
Is writing your sole career? If not, what else do you do?
The book is simply an extension of my career, which is actually writing. I write for and consult with companies on creating, managing and using their customer success stories and case studies. So my career has always been writing.
Did you do any research for your books, or did you write from experience?
I merged experience and research. The process laid out in the book is based on my experience but the many organizations featured as examples (case studies) in the book involved a considerable amount of research and interviewing. I enjoyed that the most, reaching out to these great organizations to learn what they are doing.
How did you come up with your title?
I thought I could title my own book, and had some ideas, but I soon realized I had a “forest-for-the-trees” problem. My husband and I kicked around a lot of ideas on dog walks. But I eventually worked with someone who specializes in book cover copy to help me with the title and all the cover copy, Susan Kendrick of Write to Your Market.
What books have influenced you the most?
Writing White Papers by Michael A. Stelzner was probably the most influential book in encouraging me to write mine. White papers and case studies are considered siblings in the marketing world, and seeing a book so successful on a related topic really inspired me to create mine. Made to Stick by Chip Heath and Dan Heath really lit my fire as well. I knew that stories are impactful but they really reinforced that in this little gem of a book, with solid examples. For the actual book process, Peter Bowerman’s Well-Fed Self Publisher was my manual.
Who was your publisher and why did you choose them?
I self published for several reasons. I know several business authors that have self published successfully. I also wanted to get the book out relatively quickly and didn’t want to wait for someone else to decide on and produce it. Finally, the economics made more sense to me doing it this way. Ultimately, I’m glad I made that decision and felt empowered driving the decision-making on all the creative aspects.
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 13 March 2010 )
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