Can you highlight some differences in how success stories are best used in marketing versus sales activities?
Traditionally, there’s been a misconception that customer stories, in the form of case studies, were really only valuable in the latter stages of the sales cycle, when prospects are validating a solution. But many organizations have found customer stories to be equally important throughout the complete customer lifecycle, from lead generation to sales to selling more to existing customers. The differences between usage in marketing and sales are usually in the amount of information you give people. You offer more details as prospects get further into the sales cycle. In marketing, you might have a summary of a customer’s story or a video story/testimonial on your web site or on your blog. Or, you might feature a customer on a free webinar that folks sign up for. You get someone interested enough to learn more about your solution. At some point they have the option to read, hear or view a more complete customer case study, or a sales rep walks them through that. The really detailed cust
