Training methods: Case method. Examples of ready-made cases for management training. How to create a case. How to write a case and attract a client: instructions and examples for business

Publishing case studies is one of the most effective B2B marketing tactics. This is not surprising, since such content is valued for describing the real-life experience of successfully using the product and acting as social proof.

Therefore, if you do not have enough facts, it is better to postpone writing it until better times. Otherwise, the reader will not believe the story about an abstract client who, with your help, achieved generally high results. Of course, you can “think of something” on your own, but if you are caught doing it, it will be more difficult to regain the trust of the audience.

Your case should be useful and describe a solution to a common problem, not a highly specialized case. This is not the type of content that is read “just like that.” The potential customer, as it were, “tryes on” the described situation for himself. Although readers may also be interested in well-written cases that talk about solving non-standard problems and rare cases.

It is important to understand why cases are written at all:

draw attention to your product and show it in action;
prove on real example that the product really works;
illustrate what results can be achieved with its help;
convince a reader with a similar problem that with your help he will solve it;
emphasize your competitive advantage so that the client switches to you from a competitor.

Keep this in mind, and it will be easier for you to choose a title, write abstracts and create a text structure.

Cases do not necessarily have to contain numbers in their conclusions. Often, the customer sets the contractor the task of establishing work processes, implementing and customizing something. Such experience is no less valuable. Therefore, if you do not have quantitative results of working with a client, this is not a reason to refuse to work on the material. Here's an example.

How to write a compelling case study in 6 steps

Step #1: Select a demonstration project

How do you know that your topic is “ripe” for a case study? Ask yourself or your colleagues a few questions:

Do you have a satisfied client and good results from cooperation with him?
Would he be against publishing the case?
How relevant is the problem we solved? Will readers be interested in learning about ways to solve it?
Perhaps you found a new use for your product along the way?
Are the results really impressive? Will they show your product from its advantageous side?

If you answered yes to at least one of these points, you can proceed. By the way, sometimes a good case is not necessarily a success story. The ability to admit your mistakes and describe ways to correct them can inspire no less confidence. That’s why anti-cases are now popular.

Step #2: Collect data

Some difficulties may arise here:

the customer may not make contact;
may not want to release numbers, reports, etc.
does not know what data to provide.

How we usually solve these problems:

We understand well that in 99% of cases the case is not needed by the client, but by us. Therefore, first we establish communication. Our Customer Success Manager or Support conducts regular project audits and advises on how to set up the service so that the client gets the maximum result. It is important to maintain communication all the time so that the user gets used to communication. Only after making sure that the client is happy with everything and is easy to contact, we offer to write a case.
The main thing is not to give in to the temptation to “draw” everything yourself - this way you will get a truly “fantasy” case. Most companies agree to have their reports published if you hide information in them. confidential information. Or replace absolute numbers with relative ones, showing the dynamics of growth of indicators. If the client does not agree to make the numbers public, you can compromise - not mention the company name in the text.
In our experience, sometimes the client simply does not understand that the words he has spoken can be illustrated with numbers or the dynamics of a graph. In this case we ask him for access to, for example, Google Analytics or obtain permission to publish screenshots from reports. And we collect this data ourselves.

When all problematic issues have been resolved, you can send a special questionnaire. It is convenient when you have a list of questions for such a case in advance and they can only be slightly modified, depending on the specifics of the project. For example, a template from Ringostat is the basis, which we supplement with questions unique to a specific project.

Step #3: Write the text

As they say: “The eyes are afraid, but the hands do.” You have collected information, and now you need to organize it. The easiest way to do this is when you already have the structure of the future text.

It is not necessary to blindly copy this diagram, but keep in mind that the reader will usually expect to see answers to these questions in the case. You can write it in the form of a story, but you need to be sure that your narrative is on point and that you are not just “pouring water.”

It would be useful to see how experts in your or related fields write and format texts. Good example- cases. We recommend that you read what they write. Although the information is in English, it is very useful and simply described.

In addition, consider where the text will be published, on your blog or an external resource. The presentation will differ from this. In the first case, the user already knows about your product and is more loyal in advance. In the second, you need to write material that is as impartial as possible, but that “catches” an audience that may have never heard of you or uses the services of your competitors. Here is an example of this on the Vc.ru portal, which was written together with partners.

Step No. 4: Check and supplement

So, your text is ready. Now you need to check:

Are the main points substantiated by facts? For example, which wording gives you more confidence? “The client began to miss fewer calls” or “The LETS online store reduced the number of missed calls by a little more than 3 times from 24.6% to 6.9%.”
Are you presenting the numbers correctly? In the example above, we could have rounded them, but we didn't. If you are writing a case, it is better to indicate clear numbers. It has been verified that, as evidence, a person will find the figure 24.6% more convincing than 30%. But at the same time, do not overdo it, numbers in the format 87.56% or 47,561 complicate the perception of information. In addition, if a change in some indicator occurs by more than 100%, it is better to use the word “times” instead of the word “percent”. For example, the increase is not 150%, but 2.5 times.
Does the case have enough screenshots, graphs, infographics to confirm your words and numbers.
Is the text divided into subparagraphs and semantic blocks - this makes it easier to perceive the information.
Are you objective when presenting information or is your case more like obvious PR? Describe not only successes, but also difficulties that arose during the work process. Write not only about yourself, but also about the tools or partners that helped you achieve your goals.
Does it contain links to authoritative sources or at least to the client’s website. This way, the reader can click on the link and see with their own eyes what project you worked on.
Do the results of the case correspond to the stated objectives? If the introduction and goals include “increasing sales by 50%,” that’s what the reader will want to read about.
Doesn't your text look like a dry report that makes you want to yawn? Remember that storytelling is known to increase loyalty. Your goal is to tell your potential client a success story that will captivate him, and not to lull him to sleep from the first sentence with a stream of boring facts.
Are there quotes or customer reviews in the text? It is not always possible to get them, but if there is such an opportunity, it is better to use it. We always try to include “live” speech from our clients in our cases. It is more credible and easier to read than an impersonal statement of facts.

Don’t forget that by publishing a case, you are positioning yourself as an expert, and you will be assessed accordingly.

Step #5. Engaging the collective mind

Sometimes, to write a good case study, you need to involve other people who can help you spot the flaws:

Show your partner agency or client the finished text. It is advisable to specify edits in writing so that later there will be no complaints about the material you published. Convenient in this regard Google Docs, in which you can give other users access, the ability to comment and correct the text.

Conclusions

Let's summarize what it takes to create a case that truly inspires confidence.

Remember that no matter how valuable your experience is, no one wants to read a dry summary of facts. And most importantly, the case must contain useful information for the reader, and not be just a “wrapper” for your company’s PR.

Description: The group is given information in the form of facts based on the actual situation and asked to discuss problems, analyze issues and make recommendations. The case teaches you to make decisions or practice a new skill based on the analysis of input information. The case is created by the trainer in advance based on information received during the preparation of the training. You can also use ready-made cases. Or adapt a ready-made case to the needs of the training.

Impact on group dynamics:

Increases: incomprehensible instructions, the presence of the correct answer and searching for it, “pushed” by time,” comparison with others, incorrectly chosen time for the case (when there is no leader), the topic is distant or not clear, a sensitive topic, little time, lack of information.

Reduces: familiar topic, hints, jokes, removing boundaries, multiple solutions.

Number of participants: group of no more than 10 people

How to create a case during a training with the help of participants?

The group is divided into subgroups of 5–10 people.

Step 1 – The group is given a task

Assignment: Describe a case from your experience regarding this topic. ( For example: a month ago, in our department, such a situation happened...")

Case requirements:

must be based on a real situation
the task (problem) around which the analysis is built is clearly defined. For example, the topic: “Methods of non-material motivation of personnel

The case must contain the following items:

places, positions and roles of the main characters. For example: director, employee, etc.
brief description- only facts - the main stages of the development of events and the actions of the characters. For example: “You are the new development director at the company. The company enters new market, you have been given a task...The employees react like this”

Step 2 – Groups change descriptions of situations

Assignment: Think over a solution to this situation, write options for solving this situation and justify the chosen actions.

Step 3 - Presentation of solutions and evaluation of solutions by group

So the group that created the case gives feedback according to the proposed solution.

Once, I conducted a training “Creativity in Business” for the Ingosstrakh company. And there I used the case method. Try to solve it too, but without this “Google help”.

Can you solve the case in 1 minute?

So, the case is called “Gallery Lafayette”, and it is based on real events.
Young businesswoman at initial stage During the formation of her business, she did not have enough funds for traditional methods of promoting goods to the market, she took a creative approach to solving problems and achieved her goal in very cheap ways. One day she came to conquer Europe, and the manager of the Parisian Galeries Lafayette refused to buy her products - new perfumes. But she never gave up. When our heroine wanted something, she was very creative in trying to get her way. The woman still found a way to prove to the manager in 5 minutes that her perfume could take its rightful place in the prestigious Lafayette gallery.
What did the woman do? What are your options?

And this is what it did. The lady suddenly opened her purse, took out a large bottle with some yellowish liquid and slammed it onto the floor. After just a few minutes, she couldn’t fight off the questions: “Yes, this is my new perfume,” she repeated, beaming with a smile. “This is Youth Dew, and my name is Estee Lauder.” You've never heard my name"

Examples of cases for training inEmployee management (motivation, mentoring)

Example of a sales case “Customer Profile”

Case No. 1 “Developing ways to influence an employee”

Based on the analysis of the situation, analyze the reasons for the change in Yu. Malevin’s behavior. Develop ways to influence Malevin to change his behavior. Fill out the table “Assessing the causes of behavior”

Description of the situation:

Yu. Malevin has been working at Tri Kita LLC since 2009 as a refrigeration equipment technician. During his work, he was recognized three times for high quality work and regularly paid bonuses at the end of the year. However, over the past year, Yuri Malevin’s relations with his colleagues have become strained. He had never been particularly talkative, but now he demanded that his colleagues stay away from his workplace. Yu. Malevin made it clear that his tools were disappearing and he wanted to protect his workplace. The quality of his work has also deteriorated. About a year ago, the devices he produced were assessed as completely defect-free products. Currently, during random inspection, it turned out that his products require rework in three cases out of a hundred. Thus, the defect rate in his work increased from zero to 3%. Among his colleagues, defects do not exceed 1.5%.

Yu. Malevin's behavior caused concern among the division's leaders. A good worker turned into an average one. What could have caused the change in Yu. Malevin’s behavior?

Using table 2. select from the list possible reasons behavior changes, rate them on a 7-point scale and comment on your ratings.

Table 2. Assessment of reasons for behavior

Comment on each of your ratings.

What can a manager do? Fill out the table. 3

Table 3. Interventions for Behavior Change

Source: “Organizational Behavior” by G. R. Latifullin

Case No. 2 “Employee selection”

Description of the situation: You are the Manager of five gas stations of the Lesnoy Gorod company in the city of N. One of your gas stations is Green Cedar. It has the maximum cross-country ability among your other gas stations. In this regard, the workload on staff is quite large. If your gas station attendants are still retained because they receive good tips in total, then your cashier turnover is quite high. So you are faced with the task of searching and evaluating a candidate for the position of cashier, since you do not have enough of them. The situation is further complicated by the fact that the Green Cedar gas station has a mini-market with an open display, so the cashiers have a lot of tasks, and they do not receive tips. In addition, the functionality of cashiers is wider than in other fuel companies, so you can find good candidate it can be difficult.

The functional responsibilities of cashiers of the Lesnoy Gorod company include:

Customer service at the checkout;
Acceptance of goods;
Control of expiration dates of goods;
Participation in the inventory of goods;
Execution of sales plan for promotional products;
Cleaning the premises (floors, shelves, toilets, etc.)

Working conditions: schedule 2/2 month per day from 9 to 21, month per night from 21 to 9 (by
agreements with the gas station manager are possible only during the day or only at night). It is more convenient for you as a manager if the cashier can go out both during the day and at night.

Task: Please think and write a profile of a candidate for the vacancy of a cashier at the Green Cedar gas station in the Lesnoy Gorod company. What characteristics and competencies (knowledge, skills, personality traits) should he have in order to successfully work as a cashier at your gas station?

Case No. 3 “Retail store”

Description of the situation: Seller Petrova A.K. has been working in the department for one year. During her work, she managed to sufficiently master the department’s assortment and establish friendly relations with the team of employees. Calm and balanced in character. He takes his work responsibly and shows a desire to work in the store. However, he does not show initiative in communicating with customers. She responds to questions and requests for help in choosing a product, is friendly, but tries to reduce this communication to a minimum. He is more enthusiastic about arranging goods, maintaining cleanliness and order in the sales area, and therefore potential buyers are often ignored by the seller and leave.

Exercise: think over and compose a motivational conversation with employee Petrova A.K. to take initiative in communicating with customers.

Case No. 4 “Pharmacy”.

Description of the situation: Pharmacist Vasilyeva N.N. has been working in a pharmacy for a long time. She is well versed in the assortment and is active in communicating with customers. Most often he occupies the position of “adviser”. He has his own idea about which drugs are preferable for children, insists on his opinion, and evaluates the buyer’s choice.

Exercise: think over and draw up a motivational conversation with employee N.N. Vasilyeva. to implement its main function - to sell goods based on customer requests.

Case No. 5 “New employee”

Seller Ilyina M.K., 19 years old. At the company on a probationary period. What I like about my job is the opportunity to communicate with people, I am interested in gaining experience as a salesperson, and I am proactive in working with customers.

Systematically violates the requirements for the seller's appearance (youth style, exposed parts of the body), citing the fact that he does not have the funds to update his wardrobe, citing a low salary.

Exercise: think over and compose a motivational conversation with employee Ilyina M.K. for compliance with standard requirements appearance. Cases for sales training can be

Books

The case method began to be used in education relatively recently, but it is rapidly gaining popularity and demonstrates high efficiency.

The main difference between this method and traditional teaching methods is that the case does not have a uniquely correct solution. Each student can offer the most optimal, in his opinion, way out of the proposed situation. In the case method, the emphasis is not on the result, but on finding solutions and discussing them.

Many students, when faced with cases for the first time, do not know how to approach a task that is different from traditional and familiar tasks. Let's understand what cases are, how to solve them and design them. But first, a little history.

Definition and history

Case – from Latin case – a problem or situation that requires a solution.

The solution to the case is not in textbooks; you should look for it only in your own head. Theory and practice, as we know, go side by side, but at the same time they stand on different banks. Even if you take all the textbooks in the world, they will not contain descriptions of situations that happen in real life.

This is exactly what the wise professors thought about Harvard university V 1924 year. It was simply impossible to train specialists in modern specialties using existing textbooks.

Then the university organized seminars where entrepreneurs and businessmen told students about the real problems that their companies faced. Students had to propose their own solution, which each one chose individually.

This method of training quickly brought results. Thanks to the cases, graduates gained practical experience while still at the university and were well prepared to solve non-standard problems.

If cases have become popular all over the world already in 50 -X years 20 century, then into the education system Russia this method came only after the millennium. Nowadays, case assignments are actively used in education, and it is simply irresponsible to underestimate their benefits.

What goals does the consideration of case situations help to achieve as part of the educational process?

Development of intellectual abilities;
the ability to defend one’s position with reason;
resistance to stress;
development of communication skills and the ability to work in a team.

Cases exist in almost all fields of knowledge. After all, problematic situations arise and can be modeled in every profession: medicine, law, pedagogy, psychology, business analytics.

By the way! For our readers there is now a 10% discount on

Cases in business

Cases are actively used not only in training, but also in business. To attract new clients, a company can write a case based on a specific situation.

Example: a company is engaged in demolition of buildings. The case posted on the website examines the task of demolishing an old power plant in the city of Tolochin. A potential customer, having read the case, immediately sees how the work happens, what equipment is used, and how real practical problems are solved. In other words, this is a clear demonstration of the service in action.

Thus, the case is a powerful tool for promoting services and products.

Another popular use of cases is using them in interviews. Instead of studying resumes, applicants are asked to go through a case interview and offer solutions to several situations, after which it immediately becomes clear whether the candidate is suitable for the position.

Here is an example of an interview case.

Situation: poet Marina Tsvetaeva was left without work. She can translate from French and German, and has a musical and philological education. You are her agent. What are your actions to successfully help Marina find a job? When solving a situation, you can use data from the biography of the poetess.

As you can see, there really is no clear solution to such a task, but the ways to solve it will allow you to judge such qualities as the ability to negotiate and competently argue.

How to write and design a case

Many people ask themselves the question: how to properly prepare a case? A case is a non-standard task, so when designing it you don’t have to adhere to strict rules. In other words, preparing a case is not as serious a task as .

What the case should contain:

Title. It is important that the title reflects the essence of the case and gives an advance idea of the situation that will be considered further.
Description of the situation. It's like the "given" section in physics problems. To make information easier to perceive, the situation can be divided into points.
Search for solutions. Detailed Description, analysis of ways to solve the case and choice optimal option way out of the situation. Everything needs to be considered here possible options indicating the expected consequences.
Description of the result. This paragraph describes the result of actions to solve the problem. What happened, what happened and why.

It is recommended to choose a font that is comfortable and easy to read. In the design of the case, the use of illustrative materials is encouraged: graphs, diagrams, videos, tables. Cases are often presented in the form of presentations.

Any experience is gained through difficult trial and error. Now you can avoid this by contacting our authors to complete the case. We will not only solve assignments, but also help you prepare a document or case presentation, which will only need to be submitted to the teacher for review. Learn easily and gain new experiences with Zaochnik!

Gaining the trust of potential clients is not easy. First you need to convince them of the validity of your promises. And only bare facts can help with this.

The best way to prove your value is to create a case. It can highlight how your offer has positively impacted the business of existing or past clients.

Step 1: Select the right candidate

To write a case study, you need permission, citations, and an outline. Here's what to look for when choosing a potential candidate:

Product Knowledge: The more familiar a customer is with your product or service, the better. This will ensure that he communicates the value of your offer as needed.
Significant results: for effective cases it is better to choose companies with the most good results. If they really like your brand, then they have the enthusiasm you need.
Unexpected success: unusual clients, whose results have improved significantly after working with you, will help overcome any doubts of potential buyers.
Famous names: although small companies may also have interesting stories, large and well-known brands will help you build trust and status of your brand.
Former clients of competitors: clients who contact you after collaborating with competitors will help highlight your advantages and increase the odds in your favor.

Step 2. Contact case participants

Before you start work, you need to prepare the ground for communication. To do this, discuss expectations and set deadlines in advance.

The preparation of most cases lasts for an indefinite period of time because deadlines were not set for clients, or all conditions were not agreed upon. To avoid this, it is necessary to discuss organizational issues at the very beginning, and only then get to work.

To do this, you can send an email message with information about what the client should expect from, as well as what you expect from him. To facilitate communication, it is recommended to use the Case Study Consent Form and Case Study. What is this?

Consent form for participation in case study

This document will vary depending on the size of your business, type of activity and purpose of the study. Here's what you need to pay special attention to:

When creating a Success Story, you need to pay attention to the following elements:

Agreement: First, you need to obtain consent from the company's marketing team, as well as a signed Consent Form to participate in the case study. At this stage, it is advisable to determine a time frame that would satisfy both parties.
Questionnaire: To conduct an effective interview, it is best to first ask participants to fill out questionnaires. They will be an excellent basis for future conversation.
Interview: After completing the questionnaire, participants must be contacted to schedule an interview lasting 30-60 minutes. Questions should focus on the experience of interacting with your product or service.
Brief overview: After drawing up a draft case, it is necessary to send it to clients for approval.
Final confirmation: After making all the necessary changes, send the final version of the case to clients for final confirmation. After the study is published, share the link with participants. Ask them to send this link to friends and colleagues, because the case will help them emphasize rapid growth companies.

Step 3: Make sure you're asking the right questions

When writing questionnaires and preparing interview questions, you need to make sure that you have done your best for future success. For truly meaningful research, it is important to not just ask questions, but to ask the right questions.

You can use the following in the questionnaire:

What are your goals?
What difficulties did you encounter before using our product or service?
How is our product or service different from our competitors?
What does your decision-making process look like?
How has using our product or service helped your business? (Please provide exact numbers if possible.)

Remember that the questionnaire is designed to help you identify areas that need to be explored in more detail during the interview.

When organizing a telephone interview, it is advisable to ask open-ended questions. If you need an interesting and useful story, questions that require only “yes” or “no” answers will not be enough. Don’t forget about clarifying questions: “could you describe...” or “tell me more about...”.

To increase efficiency, it is recommended to break the interview into six parts: the client’s business, the need to solve the problem, the decision-making process, implementation, the solution in action, and the result. Using these questions will allow you to gather enough information for a complete study. Here's what these sections might look like:

Client's business

The purpose of this section is to better understand the current challenges and goals for the company, and how they combine with the state of the industry.

Examples of questions: How long have you been in this business? How many employees do you have? What are the goals of your departments currently?

The need to solve the problem

Creating a good story requires context. This will help match the client's needs with your solution.

Examples of questions: What problems and goals created the need to find a solution? What would happen if you didn't find a solution? Before working with us, did you use solutions that didn’t work? If so, what happened?

Decision making process

Understanding the decision-making processes of existing customers will help you manage the decision-making processes of potential customers.

Examples of questions: How did you hear about our product or service? Who was involved in the selection process? What was most important to you when considering your options?

Implementation

In this section, you should pay attention to the experience in the process of mastering a product or service.

Examples of questions: How long did it take you to master the product or service? Did it meet your expectations? Who was involved in the process?

Solution in Action

The purpose of this section is to better understand how a customer uses your product or service.

Examples of questions: Is there one element of the product or service that you rely on most? Who uses the product or service?

Result

Here you need to pay attention to the impressive results and conclusions. The more numbers there are, the better.

Examples of questions: How does a product or service help you save time and increase productivity? How has this impacted your competitive advantage? How much did you manage to increase indicators A, B and C?

Step 4. Create a case

When it comes time to collect all the information received and create a case, it is easy to get confused. Where to start? What to include? Which structure to choose?

Remember that there is no recipe for the perfect case. But in any case, the format should be visual – using photos and videos.

Be sure to add the following elements to your research:

Heading: it should be as short as possible, reflecting only the most significant results.
Summary: use 2-4 sentences here that explain the essence of the research, and be sure to include 2-3 impressive facts confirming the success.
About the client: This part is a description of the person or company you worked with; you can use information from the Internet for it.
Challenges: This section should include 2-3 paragraphs describing the challenges customers faced before using your product or service, and it is also advisable to add a description of their goals.
How you helped: This section should be 2-3 paragraphs talking about how your product or service solved your customer's problems.
Their results: In this section, in 2-3 paragraphs, you need to indicate how your product or service influenced the person or company and also helped in achieving goals. It is advisable to use data.
Visual content or quotes: choose two or three striking quotes from the previous text, and also select suitable illustrations.

Examples of cases

So that you know what kind of result you should get, it is useful to analyze the best cases from famous brands. You will find some of the most successful examples below.

1. “New England Journal of Medicine” by Corey McPherson Nash

All the work of branding and design studio Corey McPherson Nash attracts attention with striking visual elements. This is not surprising, because this is their sphere professional activities. And the New England Journal of Medicine project was no exception. In it, the brand literally showed what results they managed to achieve.

2. “Shopify Uses HubSpot CRM to Transform High Volume Sales Organization” from HubSpot

This case is different in the way it presents the client. This approach is the HubSpot credo: the customer always comes first. The study explains why Shopify uses HubSpot, complete with video and statistics. Please note that this case combines different types content.

3. “Designing the Future of Urban Farming” by IDEO

IDEO knows a lot about simple cases. As soon as the user lands on the page, he is greeted by a large photo and two simple speakers with the text: problem - solution. Below, the entire process of cooperation is described in more detail and interestingly.

4. “Secure Wi-Fi Wins Big for Tournament” by WatchGuard

In this case, the visual content (video) tells the whole story. It contains information about the company and a description of the experience of cooperation with Windmill Ultimate Frisbee.

When planning content, you should try to provide collected information in the most understandable and in simple form. Organize the structure so that the text is easy to read, and also be sure to include visual elements and a call to action so interested readers can learn more about your product or service.