It’s been customer case history time at Brigham Scully. To write articles on how organizations use our clients’ systems, prepare backgrounders for reporters or create press releases, we need to know just enough to fill the story and get in the spin. Of course, for each client, we try to mix it up a little, with a variety of application profiles.
We’ve recently worked on security systems at the University of Alabama, including the Bear Bryant Museum on campus. Yet, we also profiled a similar GE system at a chicken ranch in Jamaica, which, as part of the security system, uses a crocodile. Even though it’s not GE, we had to mention it.
We set up stories on special IR locking systems at the Charlotte-Douglas Airport and biometric hand readers used at a chain of women’s spas in Western Canada. We wrote about the cabling of the CCTV system at the Seneca Casino in New York state and the use of card printers to create badges for pilgrims at the Hajj in Saudi Arabia and citizens of Taiwan as part of their National ID program.
We even had an interview with the New York Post about Delta barriers being used at the upcoming GOP convention and a press release on how they protect Hoover Dam.
In every case history, we pick up a little information that makes us scintillating conversationalists at a party or a contestant of Jeopardy. Just don’t ask too many follow-up questions.
A satisfied customer is your best salesperson. That’s why almost any company has a list of what they call their “referral” accounts. But, think about it. They’re used after you’ve already gone through the time and agony of finding a prospect. Why don’t you use these referral accounts to help prospects find you?
Think about this. You work for an airport and need to secure it. Wouldn’t you take a glance at an article about special locking systems used at Charlotte-Douglas? What if you work for a university – that information on what’s happening in Tuscaloosa might be helpful. Etc.
These articles create demand. Not only do they verify that you are a leader in your industry, they show like types of prospects that you already know their business and needs. You get added to their contact list. They help you shorten your sales cycle.
We’d like to think we could help you with this type of coverage. That’s why we just did this case history on ourselves.
(And, in this case, we’d love it if you would ask us a lot of questions!)