case study and questions

100 Best Case Study Questions for Your Next Customer Spotlight

Published: November 29, 2022

Case studies and testimonials are helpful to have in your arsenal. But to build an effective library, you need to ask the right case study questions. You also need to know how to write a case study .

Case studies are customers' stories that your sales team can use to share relevant content with prospects . Not only that, but case studies help you earn a prospect's trust, show them what life would be like as your customer, and validate that your product or service works for your clients.

Before you start building your library of case studies, check out our list of 100 case study questions to ask your clients. With this helpful guide, you'll have the know-how to build your narrative using the " Problem-Agitate-Solve " Method.

What makes a good case study questionnaire?

The ultimate list of case study questions, how to ask your customer for a case study, creating an effective case study.

Certain key elements make up a good case study questionnaire.

A questionnaire should never feel like an interrogation. Instead, aim to structure your case study questions like a conversation. Some of the essential things that your questionnaire should cover include:

• The problem faced by the client before choosing your organization.
• Why they chose your company.
• How your product solved the problem clients faced.
• The measurable results of the service provided.
• Data and metrics that prove the success of your service or product, if possible.

You can adapt these considerations based on how your customers use your product and the specific answers or quotes that you want to receive.

What makes a good case study question?

A good case study question delivers a powerful message to leads in the decision stage of your prospective buyer's journey.

Since your client has agreed to participate in a case study, they're likely enthusiastic about the service you provide. Thus, a good case study question hands the reins over to the client and opens a conversation.

Try asking open-ended questions to encourage your client to talk about the excellent service or product you provide.

Free Case Study Templates

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Categories for the Best Case Study Questions

• Case study questions about the customer's business
• Case study questions about the environment before the purchase
• Case study questions about the decision process
• Case study questions about the customer's business case
• Case study questions about the buying team and internal advocates
• Case study questions about customer success
• Case study questions about product feedback
• Case study questions about willingness to make referrals
• Case study question to prompt quote-worthy feedback
• Case study questions about the customers' future goals

Showcase your company's success using these three free case study templates.

• Data-Driven Case Study Template
• Product-Specific Case Study Template
• General Case Study Template

You're all set!

Click this link to access this resource at any time.

Case Study Interview Questions About the Customer's Business

Knowing the customer's business is an excellent way of setting the tone for a case study.

Use these questions to get some background information about the company and its business goals. This information can be used to introduce the business at the beginning of the case study — plus, future prospects might resonate with their stories and become leads for you.

• Would you give me a quick overview of [company]? This is an opportunity for the client to describe their business in their own words. You'll get useful background information and it's an easy prompt to get the client talking.
• Can you describe your role? This will give you a better idea of the responsibilities they are subject to.
• How do your role and team fit into the company and its goals? Knowing how the team functions to achieve company goals will help you formulate how your solution involves all stakeholders.
• How long has your company been in business? Getting this information will help the reader gauge if pain points are specific to a startup or new company vs. a veteran company.
• How many employees do you have? Another great descriptor for readers to have. They can compare the featured company size with their own.
• Is your company revenue available? If so, what is it? This will give your readers background information on the featured company's gross sales.
• Who is your target customer? Knowing who the target audience is will help you provide a better overview of their market for your case study readers.
• How does our product help your team or company achieve its objectives? This is one of the most important questions because it is the basis of the case study. Get specifics on how your product provided a solution for your client. You want to be able to say "X company implemented our solution and achieved Y. "
• How are our companies aligned (mission, strategy, culture, etc.)? If any attributes of your company's mission or culture appealed to the client, call it out.

How many people are on your team? What are their roles? This will help describe key players within the organization and their impact on the implementation of your solution.

Case Study Interview Questions About the Environment Before the Purchase

A good case study is designed to build trust. Ask clients to describe the tools and processes they used before your product or service. These kinds of case study questions will highlight the business' need they had to fulfill and appeal to future clients.

• What was your team's process prior to using our product? This will give the reader a baseline to compare the results for your company's product.
• Were there any costs associated with the process prior to using our product? Was it more expensive? Was it worth the cost? How did the product affect the client's bottom line? This will be a useful metric to disclose if your company saved the client money or was more cost-efficient.
• What were the major pain points of your process prior to using our product? Describe these obstacles in detail. You want the reader to get as much information on the problem as possible as it sets up the reasoning for why your company's solution was implemented.
• Did our product replace a similar tool or is this the first time your team is using a product like this? Were they using a similar product? If so, having this information may give readers a reason to choose your brand over the competition.
• What other challenges were you and your team experiencing prior to using our product? The more details you can give readers regarding the client's struggles, the better. You want to paint a full picture of the challenges the client faced and how your company resolved them.
• Were there any concerns about how your customers would be impacted by using our product? Getting answers to this question will illustrate to readers the client's concerns about switching to your service. Your readers may have similar concerns and reading how your client worked through this process will be helpful.
• Why didn't you buy our product or a similar product earlier? Have the client describe any hesitations they had using your product. Their concerns may be relatable to potential leads.
• Were there any "dealbreakers" involved in your decision to become a customer? Describing how your company was able to provide a solution that worked within those parameters demonstrates how accommodating your brand is and how you put the customer first. It's also great to illustrate any unique challenges the client had. This better explains their situation to the reader.
• Did you have to make any changes you weren't anticipating once you became a customer? Readers of your case study can learn how switching to your product came with some unexpected changes (good or bad) and how they navigated them. If you helped your client with troubleshooting, ask them to explain that here.

How has your perception of the product changed since you've become a customer? Get the interviewee to describe how your product changed how they do business. This includes how your product accomplished what they previously thought was impossible.

Case Study Interview Questions About the Decision Process

Readers of the case study will be interested in which factors influenced the decision-making process for the client. If they can relate to that process, there's a bigger chance they'll buy your product.

The answers to these questions will help potential customers through their decision-making process.

• How did you hear about our product? If the client chose to work with you based on a recommendation or another positive case study, include that. It will demonstrate that you are a trusted brand with an established reputation for delivering results.
• How long had you been looking for a solution to this problem? This will add to the reader's understanding of how these particular challenges impacted the company before choosing your product.
• Were you comparing alternative solutions? Which ones? This will demonstrate to readers that the client explored other options before choosing your company.
• Would you describe a few of the reasons you decided to buy our product? Ask the interviewee to describe why they chose your product over the competition and any benefits your company offered that made you stand out.
• What were the criteria you used when deciding to buy our product? This will give readers more background insight into the factors that impacted their decision-making process.
• Were there any high-level initiatives or goals that prompted the decision to buy? For example, was this decision motivated by a company-wide vision? Prompt your clients to discuss what lead to the decision to work with you and how you're the obvious choice.
• What was the buying process like? Did you notice anything exceptional or any points of friction? This is an opportunity for the client to comment on how seamless and easy you make the buying process. Get them to describe what went well from start to finish.
• How would you have changed the buying process, if at all? This is an opportunity for you to fine-tune your process to accommodate future buyers.
• Who on your team was involved in the buying process? This will give readers more background on the key players involved from executives to project managers. With this information, readers can see who they may potentially need to involve in the decision-making process on their teams.

Case Study Interview Questions About the Customer's Business Case

Your case study questions should ask about your product or solution's impact on the customer's employees, teams, metrics, and goals. These questions allow the client to praise the value of your service and tell others exactly what benefits they derived from it.

When readers review your product or service's impact on the client, it enforces the belief that the case study is credible.

• How long have you been using our product? This will help readers gauge how long it took to see results and your overall satisfaction with the product or service.
• How many different people at your company use our product? This will help readers gauge how they can adapt the product to their teams if similar in size.
• Are there multiple departments or teams using our product? This will demonstrate how great of an impact your product has made across departments.
• How do you and your team currently use the product? What types of goals or tasks are you using the product to accomplish? Get specifics on how the product actively helps the client achieve their goals.
• If other teams or departments are using our product, do you know how they're using it? With this information, leads can picture how they can use your product across their teams and how it may improve their workflow and metrics.
• What was the most obvious advantage you felt our product offered during the sales process? The interviewee should explain the benefits they've gained from using your product or service. This is important for convincing other leads you are better than the competition.
• Were there any other advantages you discovered after using the product more regularly? Your interviewee may have experienced some additional benefits from using your product. Have them describe in detail what these advantages are and how they've helped the company improve.
• Are there any metrics or KPIs you track with our product? What are they? The more numbers and data the client can provide, the better.
• Were you tracking any metrics prior to using our product? What were they? This will allow readers to get a clear, before-and-after comparison of using your product.
• How has our product impacted your core metrics? This is an opportunity for your clients to drive home how your product assisted them in hitting their metrics and goals.

Case Study Interview Questions About the Buying Team and Internal Advocates

See if there are any individuals at the customer's company who are advocates for your product.

• Are there any additional team members you consider to be advocates for our product? For example, does anyone stick out as a "power user" or product expert on your team? You may want to interview and include these power users in your case study as well. Consider asking them for tips on using your service or product.
• Is there anyone else on your team you think we should talk to? Again, the more people can share their experience using your product, the better.
• Are there any team members who you think might not be the biggest fans of our product or who might need more training? Providing extra support to those struggling with your product may improve their user experience and turn into an opportunity to not only learn about their obstacles but turn them into a product fan
• Would you share some details about how your team implemented our product? Get as much information as possible about the rollout. Hopefully, they'll gush about how seamless the process was.
• Who from your company was involved in implementing our product? This will give readers more insight into who needs to be involved for a successful rollout of their own.
• Were there any internal risks or additional costs involved with implementing our product? If so, how did you address them? This will give insight into the client's process and rollout and this case study question will likely provide tips on what potential leads should be on the lookout for.
• Is there a training process in place for your team's use of our product? If so, what does it look like? If your company provided support and training to the client, have them describe that experience.
• About how long does it take a new team member to get up to speed with our product? This will help leads determine how much time it will take to onboard an employee to your using your product. If a new user can quickly get started seamlessly, it bodes well for you.
• What was your main concern about rolling this product out to your company? Describing their challenges in detail will provide readers with useful insight.

Case Study Interview Questions About Customer Success

Has the customer found success with your product? Ask these questions to learn more.

• By using our product can you measure any reduced costs? If it has, you'll want to emphasize those savings in your case study.
• By using our product can you measure any improvements in productivity or time savings? Any metrics or specific stories your interviewee can provide will help demonstrate the value of your product.
• By using our product can you measure any increases in revenue or growth? Again, say it with numbers and data whenever possible.
• Are you likely to recommend our product to a friend or colleague? Recommendations from existing customers are some of the best marketing you can get.
• How has our product impacted your success? Your team's success? Getting the interviewee to describe how your product played an integral role in solving their challenges will show leads that they can also have success using your product.
• In the beginning, you had XYZ concerns; how do you feel about them now? Let them explain how working with your company eliminated those concerns.
• I noticed your team is currently doing XYZ with our product. Tell me more about how that helps your business. Illustrate to your readers how current customers are using your product to solve additional challenges. It will convey how versatile your product is.
• Have you thought about using our product for a new use case with your team or at your company? The more examples of use cases the client can provide, the better.
• How do you measure the value our product provides? Have the interviewee illustrate what metrics they use to gauge the product's success and how. Data is helpful, but you should go beyond the numbers. Maybe your product improved company morale and how teams work together.

Case Study Interview Questions About Product Feedback

Ask the customer if they'd recommend your product to others. A strong recommendation will help potential clients be more open to purchasing your product.

• How do other companies in this industry solve the problems you had before you purchased our product? This will give you insight into how other companies may be functioning without your product and how you can assist them.
• Have you ever talked about our product to any of your clients or peers? What did you say? This can provide you with more leads and a chance to get a referral.
• Why would you recommend our product to a friend or client? Be sure they pinpoint which features they would highlight in a recommendation.
• Can you think of any use cases your customers might have for our product? Similar industries may have similar issues that need solutions. Your interviewee may be able to provide a use case you haven't come up with.
• What is your advice for other teams or companies who are tackling problems similar to those you had before you purchased our product? This is another opportunity for your client to talk up your product or service.
• Do you know someone in X industry who has similar problems to the ones you had prior to using our product? The client can make an introduction so you can interview them about their experience as well.
• I noticed you work with Company Y. Do you know if they are having any pain points with these processes? This will help you learn how your product has impacted your client's customers and gain insight into what can be improved.
• Does your company participate in any partner or referral programs? Having a strong referral program will help you increase leads and improve customer retention.
• Can I send you a referral kit as a thank-you for making a referral and give you the tools to refer someone to us? This is a great strategy to request a referral while rewarding your existing customers.
• Are you interested in working with us to produce additional marketing content? The more opportunities you can showcase happy customers, the better.

Case Study Interview Questions About Willingness to Make Referrals

• How likely are you to recommend our product to a friend or client? Ideally, they would definitely refer your product to someone they know.
• Can you think of any use cases your customers might have for our product? Again, your interviewee is a great source for more leads. Similar industries may have similar issues that need solutions. They may be able to provide a use case you haven't come up with.
• I noticed you work with Company Y; do you know if they are having any pain points with these processes? This will help you learn how your product has impacted your client's customers and gain insight into what can be improved.

Case Study Interview Questions to Prompt Quote-Worthy Feedback

Enhance your case study with quotable soundbites from the customer. By asking these questions, prospects have more insight into other clients and their success with your product — which helps build trust.

• How would you describe your process in one sentence prior to using our product? Ideally, this sentence would quickly and descriptively sum up the most prominent pain point or challenge with the previous process.
• What is your advice to others who might be considering our product? Readers can learn from your customer's experience.
• What would your team's workflow or process be like without our product? This will drive home the value your product provides and how essential it is to their business.
• Do you think the investment in our product was worthwhile? Why? Have your customer make the case for the value you provide.
• What would you say if we told you our product would soon be unavailable? What would this mean to you? Again, this illustrates how integral your product is to their business.
• How would you describe our product if you were explaining it to a friend? Your customers can often distill the value of your product to their friends better than you can.
• What do you love about your job? Your company? This gives the reader more background on your customer and their industry.
• What was the worst part of your process before you started using our product? Ideally, they'd reiterate how your product helped solve this challenge.
• What do you love about our product? Another great way to get the customer's opinion about what makes your product worth it.
• Why do you do business with us? Hopefully, your interviewee will share how wonderful your business relationship is.

Case Study Interview Questions About the Customers' Future Goals

Ask the customer about their goals, challenges, and plans for the future. This will provide insight into how a business can grow with your product.

• What are the biggest challenges on the horizon for your industry? Chances are potential leads within the same industry will have similar challenges.
• What are your goals for the next three months? Knowing their short-term goals will enable your company to get some quick wins for the client.
• How would you like to use our product to meet those challenges and goals? This will help potential leads understand that your product can help their business as they scale and grow.
• Is there anything we can do to help you and your team meet your goals? If you haven't covered it already, this will allow your interviewee to express how you can better assist them.
• Do you think you will buy more, less, or about the same amount of our product next year? This can help you gauge how your product is used and why.
• What are the growth plans for your company this year? Your team? This will help you gain insight into how your product can help them achieve future goals.
• How can we help you meet your long-term goals? Getting specifics on the needs of your clients will help you create a unique solution designed for their needs.
• What is the long-term impact of using our product? Get their feedback on how your product has created a lasting impact.
• Are there any initiatives that you personally would like to achieve that our product or team can help with? Again, you want to continue to provide products that help your customers excel.
• What will you need from us in the future? This will help you anticipate the customer's business needs.
• Is there anything we can do to improve our product or process for working together in the future? The more feedback you can get about what is and isn't working, the better.

Before you can start putting together your case study, you need to ask your customer's permission.

If you have a customer who's seen success with your product, reach out to them. Use this template to get started:

Thank you & quick request

Hi [customer name],

Thanks again for your business — working with you to [solve X, launch Y, take advantage of Z opportunity] has been extremely rewarding, and I'm looking forward to more collaboration in the future.

[Name of your company] is building a library of case studies to include on our site. We're looking for successful companies using [product] to solve interesting challenges, and your team immediately came to mind. Are you open to [customer company name] being featured?

It should be a lightweight process — [I, a product marketer] will ask you roughly [10, 15, 20] questions via email or phone about your experience and results. This case study will include a blurb about your company and a link to your homepage (which hopefully will make your SEO team happy!)

In any case, thank you again for the chance to work with you, and I hope you have a great week.

[Your name]

If one of your customers has recently passed along some praise (to you, their account manager, your boss; on an online forum; to another potential customer; etc.), then send them a version of this email:

Hey [customer name],

Thanks for the great feedback — I'm really glad to hear [product] is working well for you and that [customer company name] is getting the results you're looking for.

My team is actually in the process of building out our library of case studies, and I'd love to include your story. Happy to provide more details if you're potentially interested.

Either way, thank you again, and I look forward to getting more updates on your progress.

You can also find potential case study customers by usage or product data. For instance, maybe you see a company you sold to 10 months ago just bought eight more seats or upgraded to a new tier. Clearly, they're happy with the solution. Try this template:

I saw you just [invested in our X product; added Y more users; achieved Z product milestone]. Congratulations! I'd love to share your story using [product] with the world -- I think it's a great example of how our product + a dedicated team and a good strategy can achieve awesome results.

Are you open to being featured? If so, I'll send along more details.

Case Study Benefits

• Case studies are a form of customer advocacy.
• Case studies provide a joint-promotion opportunity.
• Case studies are easily sharable.
• Case studies build rapport with your customers.
• Case studies are less opinionated than customer reviews.

1. Case studies are a form of customer advocacy.

If you haven't noticed, customers aren't always quick to trust a brand's advertisements and sales strategies.

With every other brand claiming to be the best in the business, it's hard to sort exaggeration from reality.

This is the most important reason why case studies are effective. They are testimonials from your customers of your service. If someone is considering your business, a case study is a much more convincing piece of marketing or sales material than traditional advertising.

2. Case studies provide a joint-promotion opportunity.

Your business isn't the only one that benefits from a case study. Customers participating in case studies benefit, too.

Think about it. Case studies are free advertisements for your customers, not to mention the SEO factor, too. While they're not promoting their products or services, they're still getting the word out about their business. And, the case study highlights how successful their business is — showing interested leads that they're on the up and up.

3. Case studies are easily sharable.

No matter your role on the sales team, case studies are great to have on hand. You can easily share them with leads, prospects, and clients.

Whether you embed them on your website or save them as a PDF, you can simply send a link to share your case study with others. They can share that link with their peers and colleagues, and so on.

Case studies can also be useful during a sales pitch. In sales, timing is everything. If a customer is explaining a problem that was solved and discussed in your case study, you can quickly find the document and share it with them.

4. Case studies build rapport with your customers.

While case studies are very useful, they do require some back and forth with your customers to obtain the exact feedback you're looking for.

Even though time is involved, the good news is this builds rapport with your most loyal customers. You get to know them on a personal level, and they'll become more than just your most valuable clients.

And, the better the rapport you have with them, the more likely they'll be to recommend your business, products, or services to others.

5. Case studies are less opinionated than customer reviews.

Data is the difference between a case study and a review. Customer reviews are typically based on the customer's opinion of your brand. While they might write a glowing review, it's completely subjective and there's rarely empirical evidence supporting their claim.

Case studies, on the other hand, are more data-driven. While they'll still talk about how great your brand is, they support this claim with quantitative data that's relevant to the reader. It's hard to argue with data.

An effective case study must be genuine and credible. Your case study should explain why certain customers are the right fit for your business and how your company can help meet their specific needs. That way, someone in a similar situation can use your case study as a testimonial for why they should choose your business.

Use the case study questions above to create an ideal customer case study questionnaire. By asking your customers the right questions, you can obtain valuable feedback that can be shared with potential leads and convert them into loyal customers.

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in June 2021 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

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47 case interview examples (from McKinsey, BCG, Bain, etc.)

One of the best ways to prepare for   case interviews  at firms like McKinsey, BCG, or Bain, is by studying case interview examples. 

There are a lot of free sample cases out there, but it's really hard to know where to start. So in this article, we have listed all the best free case examples available, in one place.

The below list of resources includes interactive case interview samples provided by consulting firms, video case interview demonstrations, case books, and materials developed by the team here at IGotAnOffer. Let's continue to the list.

• McKinsey examples
• BCG examples
• Bain examples
• Deloitte examples
• Other firms' examples
• Case books from consulting clubs
• Case interview preparation

Click here to practise 1-on-1 with MBB ex-interviewers

1. mckinsey case interview examples.

• Beautify case interview (McKinsey website)
• Diconsa case interview (McKinsey website)
• Electro-light case interview (McKinsey website)
• GlobaPharm case interview (McKinsey website)
• National Education case interview (McKinsey website)
• Talbot Trucks case interview (McKinsey website)
• Shops Corporation case interview (McKinsey website)
• Conservation Forever case interview (McKinsey website)
• McKinsey case interview guide (by IGotAnOffer)
• McKinsey live case interview extract (by IGotAnOffer) - See below

2. BCG case interview examples

• Foods Inc and GenCo case samples  (BCG website)
• Chateau Boomerang written case interview  (BCG website)
• BCG case interview guide (by IGotAnOffer)
• Written cases guide (by IGotAnOffer)
• BCG live case interview with notes (by IGotAnOffer)
• BCG mock case interview with ex-BCG associate director - Public sector case (by IGotAnOffer)
• BCG mock case interview: Revenue problem case (by IGotAnOffer) - See below

3. Bain case interview examples

• CoffeeCo practice case (Bain website)
• FashionCo practice case (Bain website)
• Associate Consultant mock interview video (Bain website)
• Consultant mock interview video (Bain website)
• Written case interview tips (Bain website)
• Bain case interview guide   (by IGotAnOffer)
• Bain case mock interview with ex-Bain manager (below)

4. Deloitte case interview examples

• Engagement Strategy practice case (Deloitte website)
• Recreation Unlimited practice case (Deloitte website)
• Strategic Vision practice case (Deloitte website)
• Retail Strategy practice case  (Deloitte website)
• Finance Strategy practice case  (Deloitte website)
• Talent Management practice case (Deloitte website)
• Enterprise Resource Management practice case (Deloitte website)
• Footloose written case  (by Deloitte)
• Deloitte case interview guide (by IGotAnOffer)

5. Accenture case interview examples

• Case interview workbook (by Accenture)
• Accenture case interview guide (by IGotAnOffer)

6. OC&C case interview examples

• Leisure Club case example (by OC&C)
• Imported Spirits case example (by OC&C)

7. Oliver Wyman case interview examples

• Wumbleworld case sample (Oliver Wyman website)
• Aqualine case sample (Oliver Wyman website)
• Oliver Wyman case interview guide (by IGotAnOffer)

8. A.T. Kearney case interview examples

• Promotion planning case question (A.T. Kearney website)
• Consulting case book and examples (by A.T. Kearney)
• AT Kearney case interview guide (by IGotAnOffer)

9. Strategy& / PWC case interview examples

• Presentation overview with sample questions (by Strategy& / PWC)
• Strategy& / PWC case interview guide (by IGotAnOffer)

10. L.E.K. Consulting case interview examples

• Case interview example video walkthrough   (L.E.K. website)
• Market sizing case example video walkthrough  (L.E.K. website)

11. Roland Berger case interview examples

• Transit oriented development case webinar part 1  (Roland Berger website)
• Transit oriented development case webinar part 2   (Roland Berger website)
• 3D printed hip implants case webinar part 1   (Roland Berger website)
• 3D printed hip implants case webinar part 2   (Roland Berger website)
• Roland Berger case interview guide   (by IGotAnOffer)

12. Capital One case interview examples

• Case interview example video walkthrough  (Capital One website)
• Capital One case interview guide (by IGotAnOffer)

13. Consulting clubs case interview examples

• Berkeley case book (2006)
• Columbia case book (2006)
• Darden case book (2012)
• Darden case book (2018)
• Duke case book (2010)
• Duke case book (2014)
• ESADE case book (2011)
• Goizueta case book (2006)
• Illinois case book (2015)
• LBS case book (2006)
• MIT case book (2001)
• Notre Dame case book (2017)
• Ross case book (2010)
• Wharton case book (2010)

Practice with experts

Using case interview examples is a key part of your interview preparation, but it isn’t enough.

At some point you’ll want to practise with friends or family who can give some useful feedback. However, if you really want the best possible preparation for your case interview, you'll also want to work with ex-consultants who have experience running interviews at McKinsey, Bain, BCG, etc.

If you know anyone who fits that description, fantastic! But for most of us, it's tough to find the right connections to make this happen. And it might also be difficult to practice multiple hours with that person unless you know them really well.

Here's the good news. We've already made the connections for you. We’ve created a coaching service where you can do mock case interviews 1-on-1 with ex-interviewers from MBB firms . Start scheduling sessions today!

The IGotAnOffer team

Hacking the Case Interview

We’ve compiled 50 case interview examples and organized them by industry, function, and consulting firm to give you the best, free case interview practice. Use these case interview examples for practice as you prepare for your consulting interviews.

If you’re looking for a step-by-step shortcut to learn case interviews quickly, enroll in our case interview course . These insider strategies from a former Bain interviewer helped 30,000+ land consulting offers while saving hundreds of hours of prep time.

Case Interview Examples Organized by Industry

Below, we’ve linked all of the case interview examples we could find from consulting firm websites and YouTube videos and organized them by industry. This will be helpful for your case interview practice if there is a specific consulting industry role that you are interviewing for that you need more practice in.

Aerospace, Defense, & Government Case Interview Examples

• Agency V (Deloitte)
• The Agency (Deloitte)
• Federal Finance Agency (Deloitte)
• Federal Civil Cargo Protection Bureau (Deloitte)

Consumer Products & Retail Case Interview Examples

• Electro-light (McKinsey)
• Beautify (McKinsey)
• Shops Corporation (McKinsey)
• Climate Case (BCG)
• Foods Inc. (BCG) *scroll to bottom of page
• Chateau Boomerang (BCG) *written case interview
• PrintCo (Bain)
• Coffee Co. (Bain)
• Fashion Co. (Bain)
• Recreation Unlimited (Deloitte)
• Footlose (Deloitte)
• National Grocery and Drug Store (Kearney)
• Whisky Co. (OC&C)
• Dry Cleaners (Accenture) *scroll to page 15
• UK Grocery Retail (Strategy&) *scroll to page 24
• Ice Cream Co. (Capital One)

Healthcare & Life Sciences Case Interview Examples

• GlobaPharm (McKinsey)
• GenCo (BCG) *scroll to middle of page
• PrevenT (BCG)
• MedX (Deloitte)
• Medical Consumables (LEK)
• Medicine Company (HackingTheCaseInterview)
• Pharma Company (Indian Institute of Management)

Manufacturing & Production Case Interview Examples

• Aqualine (Oliver Wyman)
• 3D Printed Hip Implants (Roland Berger)
• Talbot Trucks (McKinsey)
• Playworks (Yale School of Management)

Social & Non-Profit Case Interview Examples

• Diconsa (McKinsey)
• National Education (McKinsey)
• Conservation Forever (McKinsey)
• Federal Health Agency (Deloitte)
• Robinson Philanthropy (Bridgespan)
• Home Nurses for New Families (Bridgespan)
• Reach for the Stars (Bridgespan)
• Venture Philanthropy (Bridgespan)

Technology, Media, & Telecom Case Interview Examples

• NextGen Tech (Bain)
• Smart Phone Introduction (Simon-Kucher)
• MicroTechnos (HackingTheCaseInterview)

Transportation Case Interview Examples

• Low Cost Carrier Airline (BCG)
• Transit Oriented Development (Roland Berger)
• Northeast Airlines (HackingTheCaseInterview)
• A+ Airline Co. (Yale School of Management)
• Ryder (HackingTheCaseInterview)

Travel & Entertainment Case Interview Examples

• Wumbleworld (Oliver Wyman)
• Theater Co. (LEK)
• Hotel and Casino Co. (OC&C)

Case Interview Examples Organized by Function

Below, we’ve taken the same cases listed in the “Case Interview Examples Organized by Industry” section and organized them by function instead. This will be helpful for your case interview practice if there is a specific type of case interview that you need more practice with.

Profitability Case Interview Examples

To learn how to solve profitability case interviews, check out our video below:

Market Entry Case Interview Examples

Merger & acquisition case interview examples.

Growth Strategy Case Interview Examples

Pricing case interview examples.

New Product Launch Case Interview Examples

Market sizing case interview examples.

To learn how to solve market sizing case interviews, check out our video below:

Operations Case Interview Examples

Other case interview examples.

These are cases that don’t quite fit into any of the above categories. These cases are the more unusual, atypical, and nontraditional cases out there.

Case Interview Examples Organized by Consulting Firm

Below, we’ve taken the same cases listed previously and organized them by company instead. This will be helpful for your case interview practice if there is a specific company that you are interviewing with.

McKinsey Case Interview Examples

BCG Case Interview Examples

Bain Case Interview Examples

Deloitte Case Interview Examples

Lek case interview examples, kearney case interview examples, oliver wyman case interview examples, roland berger case interview examples, oc&c case interview  examples, bridgespan case interview examples, strategy& case interview examples, accenture case interview examples, simon kutcher case interview examples, capital one case interview examples, case interview examples from mba casebooks.

For more case interview examples, check out our article on 23 MBA consulting casebooks with 700+ free practice cases . There additional cases created by MBA consulting clubs that make for great case interview practice. For your convenience, we’ve listed some of the best MBA consulting casebooks below:

• Australian Graduate School of Management (2002)
• Booth (2005)
• Columbia (2007)
• Darden (2019)
• ESADE (2011)
• Fuqua (2018)
• Goizueta (2006)
• Haas (2019)
• Harvard Business School (2012)
• Illinois (2015)
• INSEAD (2011)
• Johnson (2003)
• Kellogg (2012)
• London Business School (2013)
• McCombs (2018)
• Notre Dame (2017)
• Queens (2019)
• Ross (2010)
• Sloan (2015)
• Stern (2018)
• Tuck (2009)
• Wharton (2017)
• Yale (2013)

Consulting casebooks are documents that MBA consulting clubs put together to help their members prepare for consulting case interviews. Consulting casebooks provide some case interview strategies and tips, but they mostly contain case interview practice cases.

While consulting casebooks contain tons of practice cases, there is quite a bit of variety in the sources and formats of these cases.

Some practice cases are taken from actual consulting interviews given by consulting firms. These are the best types of cases to practice with because they closely simulate the length and difficulty of an actual case interview. Other practice cases may be written by the consulting club’s officers. These cases are less realistic, but can still offer great practice.

The formats of the practice cases in consulting casebooks also vary significantly.

Some practice cases are written in a question and answer format. This type of format makes it easy to practice the case by yourself, without a case partner. Other practices cases are written in a dialogue format. These cases are better for practicing with a case interview partner.

MBA consulting casebooks can be a great resource because they are free and provide tons of practice cases to hone your case interview skills. However, there are several caveats that you should be aware of.

• Similarity to real case interviews : Some cases in MBA consulting casebooks are not representative of actual case interviews because they are written by consulting club officers instead of interviewers from consulting firms
• Quality of sample answers : While consulting casebooks provide sample solutions, these answers are often not the best or highest quality answers
• Ease of use : Consulting casebooks are all written in different formats and by different people. Therefore, it can be challenging to find cases that you can consistently use to practice cases by yourself or with a partner

Therefore, we recommend that you first use the case interview examples listed in this article and wait until you’ve exhausted all of them before using MBA consulting casebooks.

Case Interview Examples from HackingTheCaseInterview

Below, we've pulled together several of our very own case interview examples. You can use these case interview examples for your case interview practice.

1. Tech retailer profitability case interview

2. Airline profitability case interview

3. Ride sharing app market entry

4. Increasing Drug Adoption

How to Use Case Interview Examples to Practice Case Interviews

To get the most out of these case interview examples and maximize your time spent on case interview practice, follow these three steps.

1. Understand the case interview structure beforehand

If case interviews are something new to you, we recommend watching the following video to learn the basics of case interviews in under 30 minutes.

Know that there are seven major steps of a case interview.

• Understanding the case background : Take note while the interviewer gives you the case background information. Afterwards, provide a concise synthesis to confirm your understanding of the situation and objective
• Asking clarifying questions : Ask questions to better understand the case background and objective
• Structuring a framework : Lay out a framework of what areas you want to look into in order to answer or solve the case
• Kicking off the case : Propose an area of your framework that you would like to dive deeper into 
• Solving quantitative problems : Solve a variety of different quantitative problems, such as market sizing questions and profitability questions. You may also be given charts and graphs to analyze or interpret
• Answering qualitative questions : You may be asked to brainstorm ideas or be asked to give your business opinion on a particular issue or topic
• Delivering a recommendation : Summarize the key takeaways from the case to deliver a firm and concise recommendation

2. Learn how to practice case interviews by yourself 

There are 6 steps to practice case interviews by yourself. The goal of these steps is to simulate a real case interview as closely as you can so that you practice the same skills and techniques that you are going to use in a real case interview.

• Synthesize the case background information out loud : Start the practice case interview by reading the case background information. Then, just as you would do in a live case interview, summarize the case background information out loud
• Ask clarifying questions out loud : Just as you would do in a live case interview, ask clarifying questions out loud. Although you do not have a case partner that can answer your questions, it is important to practice identifying the critical questions that need to be asked to fully understand the case
• Structure a framework and present it out loud : Pretend that you are in an actual interview in which you’ll only have a few minutes to put together a comprehensive and coherent framework. Replicate the stress that you will feel in an interview when you are practicing case interviews on your own by giving yourself time pressure.

When you have finished creating your framework, turn your paper around to face an imaginary interviewer and walk through the framework out loud. You will need to get good at presenting your framework concisely and in an easy to understand way.

• Propose an area to start the case : Propose an area of your framework to start the case. Make sure to say out loud the reasons why you want to start with that particular area
• Answer each case question out loud : If the question is a quantitative problem, create a structure and walk the interviewer through how you would solve the problem. When doing math, do your calculations out loud and explain the steps that you are taking.

If the question is qualitative, structure your thinking and then brainstorm your ideas out loud. Walk the interviewer through your ideas and opinions.

• Deliver a recommendation out loud : Just as you would do in a real case interview, ask for a brief moment to collect your thoughts and review your notes. Once you have decided on a recommendation, present your recommendation to the interviewer.

3. Follow best practices while practicing case interviews :    

You’ll most likely be watching, reading, or working through these case interview examples by yourself. To get the most practice and learnings out of each case interview example, follow these tips: 

• Don’t have notes or a calculator out when you are practicing since you won’t have these in your actual interview
• Don’t take breaks in the middle of a mock case interview
• Don’t read the case answer until you completely finish answering each question
• Talk through everything out loud as if there were an interviewer in the room
• Occasionally record yourself to understand what you look like and sound like when you speak

4. Identify improvement areas to work on

When the case is completed, review your framework and answers and compare them to the model answers that the case provides. Reflect on how you could have made your framework or answers stronger.

Also, take the time to reflect on what parts of the case you could have done better. Could your case synthesis be more concise? Was your framework mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive? Could your math calculations be done more smoothly? Was your recommendation structured enough?

This is the most important part of practicing case interviews by yourself. Since you have no partner to provide you feedback, you will need to be introspective and identify your own improvement areas.

At the end of each practice case interview, you should have a list of new things that you have learned and a list of improvement areas to work on in future practice cases. You’ll continue to work on your improvement areas in future practice cases either by yourself or with a partner.

5. Eventually find a case partner to practice with

You can only do so many practice case interviews by yourself before your learning will start to plateau. Eventually, you should be practicing case interviews with a case partner.

Practicing with a case partner is the best way to simulate a real case interview. There are many aspects of case interviews that you won’t be able to improve on unless you practice live with a partner:

• Driving the direction of the case
• Asking for more information
• Collaborating to get the right approach or structure
• Answering follow-up questions

If you are practicing with a case partner, decide who is going to be giving the case and who is going to be receiving the case.

If you are giving the case, read the entire case information carefully. It may be helpful to read through everything twice so that you are familiar with all of the information and can answer any question that your partner asks you to clarify.

As the person giving the case, you need to be the case expert.

You should become familiar with the overall direction of the case. In other words, you should know what the major questions of the case are and what the major areas of investigation are. This will help you run the mock case interview more smoothly.  

Depending on whether you want the case interview to be interviewer-led or candidate-led, you will need to decide how much you want to steer the direction of the case.

If your partner gets stuck and is taking a long time, you may need to step in and provide suggestions or hints. If your partner is proceeding down a wrong direction, you will need to direct them towards the right direction.

Where to Find More Case Interview Examples

To find more case interview examples, you can use a variety of different case interview prep books, online courses, and coaching. We'll cover each of these different categories of resources for more case interview practice in more detail.

Case Interview Prep Books

Case interview prep books are great resources to use because they are fairly inexpensive, only costing $20 to $30. They contain a tremendous amount of information that you can read, digest, and re-read at your own pace.

Based on our comprehensive review of the 12 popular case interview prep books , we ranked nearly all of the case prep books in the market.

The three case interview prep books we recommend using are:

• Hacking the Case Interview : In this book, learn exactly what to do and what to say in every step of the case interview. This is the perfect book for beginners that are looking to learn the basics of case interviews quickly.
• The Ultimate Case Interview Workbook : In this book, hone your case interview skills through 65+ problems tailored towards each type of question asked in case interviews and 15 full-length practice cases. This book is great for intermediates looking to get quality practice.
• Case Interview Secrets : This book provides great explanations of essential case interview concepts and fundamentals. The stories and anecdotes that the author provides are entertaining and help paint a clear picture of what to expect in a case interview, what interviewers are looking for, and how to solve a case interview.

Case Interview Courses

Case interview courses are more expensive to use than case interview prep books, but offer more efficient and effective learning. You’ll learn much more quickly from watching someone teach you the material, provide examples, and then walk through practice problems than from reading a book by yourself.

Courses typically cost anywhere between $200 to $400.

If you are looking for a single resource to learn the best case interview strategies in the most efficient way possible, enroll in our comprehensive case interview course .

Through 70+ concise video lessons and 20 full-length practice cases based on real interviews from top-tier consulting firms, you’ll learn step-by-step how to crush your case interview.

We’ve had students pass their consulting first round interview with just a week of preparation, but know that your success depends on the amount of effort you put in and your starting capabilities.

Case Interview Coaching

With case interview coaching, you’ll pay anywhere between $100 to $300 for a 40- to 60-minute mock case interview session with a case coach. Typically, case coaches are former consultants or interviewers that have worked at top-tier consulting firms.

Although very expensive, case interview coaching can provide you with high quality feedback that can significantly improve your case interview performance. By working with a case coach, you will be practicing high quality cases with an expert. You’ll get detailed feedback that ordinary case interview partners are not able to provide.

Know that you do not need to purchase case interview coaching to receive a consulting job offer. The vast majority of candidates that receive offers from top firms did not purchase case interview coaching. By purchasing case interview coaching, you are essentially purchasing convenience and learning efficiency.

Case interview coaching is best for those that have already learned as much as they can about case interviews on their own and feel that they have reached a plateau in their learning. For case interview beginners and intermediates, it may be a better use of their money to first purchase a case interview course or case interview prep book before purchasing expensive coaching sessions.

If you do decide to eventually use a case interview coach, consider using our case coaching service .

There is a wide range of quality among coaches, so ensure that you are working with someone that is invested in your development and success. If possible, ask for reviews from previous candidates that your coach has worked with.

Summary of the Best Case Interview Resources

To prepare for consulting case interviews, we recommend the following resources to find more case interview examples and practice:

• Comprehensive Case Interview Course (our #1 recommendation): The only resource you need. Whether you have no business background, rusty math skills, or are short on time, this step-by-step course will transform you into a top 1% caser that lands multiple consulting offers.
• Hacking the Case Interview Book   (available on Amazon): Perfect for beginners that are short on time. Transform yourself from a stressed-out case interview newbie to a confident intermediate in under a week. Some readers finish this book in a day and can already tackle tough cases.
• The Ultimate Case Interview Workbook (available on Amazon): Perfect for intermediates struggling with frameworks, case math, or generating business insights. No need to find a case partner – these drills, practice problems, and full-length cases can all be done by yourself.
• Case Interview Coaching : Personalized, one-on-one coaching with former consulting interviewers
• Behavioral & Fit Interview Course : Be prepared for 98% of behavioral and fit questions in just a few hours. We'll teach you exactly how to draft answers that will impress your interviewer
• Resume Review & Editing : Transform your resume into one that will get you multiple interviews

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20+ Best Case Study Questions for Customer Interviews

Updated April 2023 : Case studies are a critical element of most SaaS marketing strategies. But what case study questions do you ask in the interview to ensure you elicit an authentic and compelling story?

In research we conducted this year, SaaS marketers ranked case studies the #1 most effective marketing tactic to increase sales—ahead of general website content, SEO, blog posts, social media and other marketing tactics.

Gathering the insights, data and customer quotes that make a case study resonate, however, takes some savvy when coming up with relevant case study questions for interviews with customers.

In this post, we’ll explore the best case study questions to ask at your next customer interview. 

Prepare your case study questions in advance

The best case study questions for interviews with customers, find a convenient time for the interview, send the case study questions ahead of time, an email interview won’t cut it, take notes and record the interview, watch out for these 4 common interview mistakes.

20+ Best Case Study Questions for Customer Interviews is the 4th post in a 7-part series on best practices for case studies .

You’ll probably have just 20 or 30 minutes to capture your customer’s story so be thoroughly prepared before you even schedule the case study interview. Case study questions generally fall into these categories:

• who your customer is (background)
• what their pain is (challenge)
• why they chose your solution (solution)
• what results they experienced (results)

Usually, the most logical way to structure your case study questions is chronologically—it’s helpful to think of the case study as a story with a natural narrative arc:

• beginning (background and challenge)
• middle (solution, including implementation)
• end (results)

Do you need help with your case studies? Partner with Uplift to drive more sales with case studies that convert .

Use the 4 categories below to craft a list of case study interview questions you’ll want to ask your customers:

• Tell me a little about your company.
• What do you love about working there?
• Tell me a bit about your role.
• What are your goals? Your company’s?
• What business challenges were you facing that caused you to look for a solution?
• Why were these challenges such a big problem for your company? For you?
• What were you hoping to achieve with a new solution?
• What criteria did the new solution need to meet?
• How were you planning to meaure the success of the new solution?
• What solutions did you try before you came to us? 
• How did you discover us?
• What did the vetting process look like?
• Why, specifically, did you choose to work with us?
• What services are we providing for you?
• What challenges do those services solve for you?
• Tell me a bit about the implementation process. 
• How are we supporting you when you need it?
• How has our solution impacted or benefited your end users?
• How has our solution impacted or benefited your company as a whole?
• Do you have any measurable data you can share around the impact or benefits of our solution?
• Overall, what’s it like working with us?
• What’s next for your company and us?
• What advice would you have for others considering our solution?

Tailor these case study questions to suit the person you’re talking to. Eliminate any that seem repetitive or irrelevant—and highlight 1 or 2 from each category that are most important. Leave space and time for follow-up questions.

Learn how to write a SaaS case study in 9 steps.

Your customers are busy—and they’re doing you a big favor by participating in the case study—so be as flexible as possible when you’re scheduling the case study interview. And while you’ll likely want to talk to them for hours, be respectful of their time and ask for 30 minutes.

Some people worry that sending case study questions in advance will result in less candid and honest responses. Not true. You want your customer to be at ease during your case study interview, and you want them to have all the information and data they need at their fingertips.

Providing the case study questions for interviews with customers ahead of time will lead to a more informative and useful interview. It also helps ensure that you have enough time to cover all the important points. During the interview, you can jump in with follow-up questions to dive deeper into certain areas if needed.

9 components your case studies need to include.

Don’t settle for a case study interview done by email. Not only are people more candid in conversation, but you’ll also be able to ask spur-of-the-moment questions and explore ideas as they’re presented.

Here are the 4 best ways you can conduct your case study interview:

• face-to-face (this is the best and most personable choice; try to arrange this if your customer is in your region)
• phone interview
• repurposing webinar

A recording and transcription of the case study interview will ensure accuracy and give you peace of mind. Down the road, you can also use the transcript for other marketing activities, such as grabbing testimonials and pull quotes, writing blog posts and more.

Use an app to record phone calls, or use Zoom or Google Meet to record video calls. Make sure you have permission to record the conversation.

1 . Using yes/no questions

Does your list have any yes/no questions? If so, be ready with follow-up questions. Better yet, revise the question so it’s open-ended to elicit a more thoughtful response.

2 . Not pushing for numbers

Don’t be afraid to ask for numbers, concrete examples or more information. You need these for a quality case study and this is your chance to get them. Don’t be afraid to repeat case study questions or rephrase them to make sure you get what you need.

3 . Not allowing the conversation to flow

You don’t need to be rigid about asking every single question on your list. The best insights are often unexpected so allow the conversation to flow a little—but don’t get too far off-topic or you’ll run out of time.

4 . Not listening to your customer

Don’t think you already have all the answers. Go into the case study interview with an open mind and be ready to listen.

Get help with your case studies

As a  SaaS content marketing agency , we write case studies, ebooks and blog posts for high-growth SaaS companies like ClickUp, WalkMe and Lean Data.  Check out our case study writing service .

21 Interview Questions to Help You Uncover Case Study Gold Get the powerful questions we use when conducting a case study interview, plus 7 interviewing dos and don'ts.

As the founder of Uplift Content, Emily leads her team in creating done-for-you case studies, ebooks and blog posts for high-growth SaaS companies like ClickUp, Calendly and WalkMe. Connect with Emily on Linkedin

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14 Best Case Study Questions to Ask Your Top Customers

If you want to show interested leads that you can put your money where your mouth is, case studies are a good way to go. They’re a valuable form of content that can even be used as lead magnets under the right conditions, and they have a singular purpose: To show how your clients achieved specific, significant results with your product or service. 

Knowing how to write a great case study is an important part of success, but there’s a part of the process that comes before that: Knowing which questions to ask, which you’ll determine when you’re preparing for a case study interview. 

The questions you ask can make the difference between a case study that feels like it’s been churned out by a low-quality AI machine compared to one that feels actionable, engaging, and high-stakes to your readers. 

In this post, we’re going to go over the 14 best case study questions to ask, along with discussing some tips to improve the results you’ll get. 

How to Structure Your Case Study Questions

Before we dive in, we want to talk about how to structure your questions in the interview.

In this post specifically, we’re going to look at individual questions you should ask around pointed topics, like about the client’s brand, solutions they’ve tried already, and their results. 

It’s best to stick close to the progression outlined here because it will give you the basic information you need at every level of the case study interview . You can’t ask what solutions they’ve tried before when you don’t even understand their brands’ needs. 

And keep in mind that when you’re asking users to provide specific information about a topic up front, they’ll often reference it later, strengthening the overall case study and sometimes encouraging them to share information they may not have thought to share otherwise. 

That being said, let’s go ahead and start to dive in to the best case study questions you should ask. 

Questions About Their Brand 

The best case studies will have some information about the brand they’re featuring and not just about how the brand uses their product. Information about the brand size, industry, and unique selling propositions (USPs ) can all play a valuable part in building a strong case study. 

These are a few important case study questions to consider asking about branding: 

1. Can you tell us a little bit about your brand? 

This is a great way to start the interview off strong. Ask the client to tell you about the brand, plain and simple. See what they have to say; they may share information about their product or service, how they fit into their industry, what differentiates them, and more. 

Leaving this first question relatively vague and open-ended helps them feel more comfortable while giving you some good ideas for where to go. 

If they’re stumped, ask them to provide a brief description of what their company does.

2. Can you tell me about your business’s structure, including industry, company size, or years in business? 

While this may feel technical, it can be exceptionally valuable to readers of the case study to help them relate or get a good understanding of who is using your products. 

3. An industry-relevant question 

SaaS tools that help with ad management may ask clients about their total monthly ad spend, for example. An eco-friendly company may ask clients what their “green goals” are or their previous carbon emissions. 

Think about what would benefit you to have in the case study, and ask it here if possible. 

Questions About Their Challenge & Pain Points 

We know that all great case studies will highlight the challenges that clients have before finding your product or service as their solution, exacerbated by key pain points. 

It’s so important to get enough information that these challenges feel real and significant in the case study; if you neglect to explain why a challenge was an actual obstacle, it can come across as seeming trivial. That can make your solution seem trivial, too.

These are the best case study questions to ask for this stage of the interview.   

4. What were the challenges you needed to solve before finding our product? 

This is a specific, pointed question, which helps make it effective. 

If I ask my content marketing clients this question, for example, they might say, “we didn’t know how to create content that ranked well” or “we needed help creating content at scale.” 

You can dive deeper by asking pointed questions about their key problems, which brings us to the next question. 

5. Why did this challenge have such a significant impact on your business?

This is the golden ticket right here, because it’s about pain points. 

Say you’re selling marketing services, and the client’s challenge is that they wanted help with lead generation . 

The pain points of “organic channels were too slow in driving customer acquisition, and our churn rates were eviscerating our client numbers” or “we tried to run ads ourselves but ended up losing hundreds of dollars to no avail.” 

Wasted money. Bleeding clients. Too-slow organic channels. These are pain points that make the case study feel real, and that other customers will connect to.  

6. What other solutions had you tried before and why didn’t they work? 

While it’s best to skip out on trash-talking competitors in the case study, asking this question during the interview can give you valuable context and a lot to work with. 

If, for example, I’m a weight loss coach, my clients may have tried the keto diet and Weight Watchers to no avail. Knowing that the keto diet made them feel queasy and that they found the point-tracking Weight Watchers to be too much work can be useful information for the study, even if you don’t ever name the alternatives.

These are pain points in their own right, and can be utilized like the following: 

 “The client had tried different solutions before but found that the diets either made them sick or were too much work to maintain.” It positions your solution to be the winning option. 

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Questions About How They Discovered You 

While it may seem irrelevant, information about how customers discovered you and why they decided to work with you can actually become compelling parts of a case study— even if only mentioned in brief. 

Here’s an example of how you can use this information in the case study: 

“We found Breadcrumbs after our business partner mentioned it to us, and after reading about their easy-to-use interface and accessible lead scoring , we decided to give it a try.” 

You’ve got social proof (business partner referred them) and a promo for a unique feature that made them convert. 

Here are the case study questions you can ask to get this information:

7. How did you find out about our brand? 

It’s a simple question, and it will likely be a simple answer. Nice and easy. 

8. What made you decide to try our product over other solutions? 

This essentially gets the customer to sell your product back to you, which is phenomenal. And someone reading the case study might think, “They’re right; I’ve also looked for a lead scoring tool with a great interface, I’d try that.” 

Questions About How They Used The Product or Service 

This will likely be one of the meatier parts of the case study interview because this is where some of the actionable information comes into play. How did your clients use your product or service, what steps did they take, and how can others use this to replicate the eventual results we’ll discover? 

These are the case study questions to ask: 

9. Which specific products and product features did your team use? 

Say you’re selling invoicing software to small businesses. Not all clients will use every feature.

Graphic designers, for example, may take advantage of project estimates for upfront deposits more than a copywriter who only works for flat fees. That copywriter, however, might be more likely to use invoice templates for retainer clients or automated billing features. 

Ask about the products and services the team used. 

10. How did your team use our products and services to meet their needs? 

You know what products or services were used, but now it’s time to ask how they were used.

Project estimates, for example, allowed graphic designers to send more professional-looking invoices to clients, who could pay upfront deposits through credit card, check, or bank deposit. This helped that designer weed out clients who had no intention of paying and gave them the funds they needed to secure the supplies to begin working.

And for the copywriter who used automated billing, it saved her an exceptional amount of time and ensured she got paid on time because she sent those invoices on time. 

11. How was your experience? 

Was the SaaS tool user-friendly? Did your clients take advantage of a free demo program or the option to have an account manager get their entire account up and running?

Ask about their specific transition process using the tool and what made the experience a more positive one. 

Questions About Their Results 

Last but not least… the results. Believe it or not, some case studies skip this part of the interview, but you definitely want to include hard, quantifiable data in as many case studies as possible. 

12. What end results did you get after using our product? 

Ask for the results your clients achieved. If they’re comfortable sharing the information, ask for KPIs. 

How did using our social media marketing software increase message response rates? 

How did our marketing service improve lead generation efforts, and customer acquisition costs? 

How did our lead scoring software reduce the contact-to-close period for leads or increase the overall financial value of leads acquired? 

Be as specific as the client will allow. The more definitive the data you can share, the better. 

13. What impact did these results have on your business? 

While this may seem self-explanatory, this is a great final question that again helps the impact of your product or service really stand out.

We saw customer satisfaction increase and sales go up by about 15% by improving message response rates on social media. 

Or, by getting more leads at lower costs, our business was able to reinvest those accelerated profits into additional campaigns to scale exponentially at an unprecedented rate, and now we’re opening two new branches. 

This can be a combination of data-focused or story-driven impacts. Either (or both!) works well. 

14. Is there anything else we should know? 

Anything else you want to share? This is a short but powerful question, and while some clients will say, “nope, that’s it,” you may be surprised what some other people share with you. 

There may be something they’ve been excited to talk about that hasn’t come up in the questions yet, or something may pop into mind to elaborate on something you’d discussed earlier.

Give them the floor, and see what they have to say. 

Final Thoughts 

If you’re going to take the time needed to conduct and write up a case study (both your own time and the client’s), you want to get it right. Coming prepared with a list of strong case study questions can help you create content that will be highly effective at generating leads and converting customers for a long time to come. 

Want to speed up the lead conversion funnel with lead scoring software? Create a Breadcrumbs account for free here ! 

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9 Types of Questions in Actual Case Interviews

Case interviews at management consulting firms are among the most difficult job interviews, but they are also quite predictable. Once you know the types of questions they ask, preparation is straightforward.

Using years of experience at McKinsey, as well as field reports from thousands of candidates, I’ve crafted a list of 8 common case interview questions, and in this article, I’ll show you how to answer each of them.

Case interview questions – Overview

Types of case interview questions .

Most questions in case interviews belong to one of these 9 types:

1. Framework/issue tree questions 2. Market-sizing and guesstimate questions 3. Valuation questions 4. Brain teaser questions 5. Chart insight questions 6. Value proposition questions 7. Information questions 8. Math problems 9. Solution-finding questions

In this article, we’ll discuss how to answer each question, along with the necessary tips and tricks.

How to answer case interview questions

There are the fo ur basic steps to answer case interview questions:

• Step 1: Clarify any unclear points in the question
• Step 2: Announce approach and ask for time
• Step 3: Draw issue trees to solve the given problem
• Step 4: Pitch your answer and end with a takeaway conclusion.

This general outline may vary depending on each type and each question – for example, brain teasers or information questions need only the last step, while market-sizing and framework questions need all four steps to deliver the perfect answer.

Type 1 – Framework/Issue tree questions

These are on top of the list among popular case interview questions!

If the interviewer asks you to identify factors contributing to a problem or to break down an entity (such as the revenue of a business), he/she is telling you to draw an issue tree.

And to draw a spot-on issue tree, you need to master consulting problem-solving foundations , the MECE principle , and common consulting frameworks . You should check out our other articles on these topics before moving on, because mastering the issue tree is the key to acing every possible case interview.

You also need good business intuition to draw good issue trees, so that’s all the more reason to start reading every day.

Gastronomia – a gourmet restaurant chain has found the turnover rate among its highly-skilled chefs increasing dramatically for the last 3 years; this has led to a noticeable decline in food quality and increased training costs, among other negative effects.

Which factors would you consider when tackling this turnover problem?

Job: Factors from the job itself. Further divided into 3 sub-branches

• Compensations: are the salaries, bonuses, and benefits attractive enough?
• Difficulty: is the job too difficult?
• Nature: is the job too boring, too unengaging, too repetitive…?

Company: Factors from the work environment within the restaurant chain, surrounding the affected jobs. Further divided into 2 sub-branches

• Cultural environment: is the culture at Gastronomia compatible with the chefs?
• Physical environment: is the physical working environment at Gastronomia safe, comfortable, convenient…?

Competitors: Factors from outside the restaurant chain, related to competing job offers. Further divided into 2 sub-branches.

• Inside industry: are other restaurant chains competing with Gastronomia for skilled personnel?
• Outside industry: are there new career options or changes in existing alternatives that draw chefs away from restaurant chains like Gastronomia?

For detailed guides on issue trees, frameworks and their principles, see the articles on Issue Trees , Case Interview Frameworks, and MECE Principle

Type 2 – Market-sizing & guesstimate

These questions go along the lines of “How many trees are there in Central Park?” or “What’s the market size of pick-up trucks in the USA?”

The key to nailing market-sizing and guesstimate questions lies in not the closest results, but the most logical and structured approaches. In fact, the interviewer expects you to follow these four steps:

Step 1: Clarify: Make sure you and the interviewer are on the same page regarding every detail and terminology, so you won’t be answering the wrong question.

Step 2: Break down the problem: Break the item in the question (number of trees in Central Park, market size of pickup trucks) down into smaller, easy-to-estimate pieces.

Step 3: Solve each piece: Estimate each small piece one at a time; each estimation should be backed by facts, figures, or at least observations.

Step 4: Consolidate the pieces: Combine the previous estimations to arrive at a final result; be quick with the math, but don’t rush it if you aren’t confident.

Unless you come up with something about 10 times the reasonable estimate, don’t worry about being “wrong” – the interviewer is unlikely to have a “correct” number in mind, he/she just wants to see your structured mindset.

This question type is so common, we devote a whole article to it, and our Case Interview End-to-End Secrets Program have a separate package on these questions. Check out our comprehensive guide on Market-Sizing & Guesstimate Questions for more details!

Now, here’s a quick example for you to try and get used to this type:

How many smartphones are sold each year, globally?

• Smartphones are phones using exclusively touch-screens.
• “Sold” means sold to the end-consumers. 
• The market size is calculated at present.

Break down the problem:

The global smartphone market can be divided into three segments – developed countries, developing countries, and undeveloped countries.

In each segment, the annual unit sales of smartphones depend on four variables:

• The percentage of “phone-owning age” people among the population
• The percentage of smartphone owners within the “phone-owning age” group.
• The average, annual, per capita “consumption” of smartphones for those owners.

Solve each piece:

• The population is 1.5 billion in developed countries, 5.5 billion in developing countries, and 1 billion in undeveloped countries.
• 80% of the world population is in the “phone-owning age” (Global life expectancy is 70 and everyone older than 15 years counts towards the “phone-owning age” group)
• 100% of the phone-owning age in developed countries will own a smartphone; the figure in developing countries is 75%, while in undeveloped countries it’s 10%.
• The average smartphone user replaces their phone every 3 years – so they “consume” 0.33 phones each year.

=> Estimated global smartphone market: 1.53 billion units per year

=> Actual 2019 global smartphone sales:  1.37 billion units (error margin: 11.7%).

This market-sizing question is solved using a four-step process, which is explained in this article:  Market-Sizing & Guesstimate Questions

Type 3 – Valuation questions

Valuation questions are about estimating the monetary value of a business, and these are very popular in case interviews too!

Valuation questions are a blend of guesstimation/market-sizing, math, and business. They also require basic finance knowledge. There are three ways to estimate the value of a business:

• The NPV Method: take the net cash flow generated by the business, and discount it to the present to account for time value of money. Basically “this company is worth X dollars because it gives me Y dollars over Z years”. This approach works best when the cash flow from the business is positive and stable.
• The Market Method: take one index of the firm (which can be stocks or anything depending on the industry) and multiply it with an industry multiple (the value of one unit of the said index). In other words, “this company is worth AxB dollars because it has A traffic and each traffic is worth B dollars”. This approach works best when the market is transparent and data on similar firms are accessible – usually with major, established industries such as commercial airlines.

In real case interviews, you have to justify your approach then ask the interviewer to give you the necessary data.

Our client wants to sell his organic-food restaurant (called “Cato’s Cabbage Farm”) to retire. How much is his restaurant worth?

(Supposed the interviewer gives you the following data: his current income from the restaurant is $100,000 per year; two other restaurants in the neighborhood – one with 2 times more customers, and another about 0.75 times, have been sold at $1,800,000 and $1,000,000 respectively).

NPV Method: Cato’s Cabbage Farm value = $100,000 / 10% = $1,000,000

Market Method:

Assume the number of customers for Cato’s Cabbage Farm is 1 “customer unit”, then the two neighborhood restaurants get 2 and 0.75 “customer units”.

• Industry multiple: ($1,800,000+$1,000,000) / (2+0.75) = ~$1,018,182
• Cato’s Cabbage Farm value = $1,018,182 x 1 = $1,018,182

Type 4 – Brain teasers

Brain teasers are the least predictable case interview questions – but even these can be learned!

Brain teasers are riddles designed to test unconventional, creative, and logical thinking. A famous example of this is Accenture’s “How do you put a giraffe in a fridge?”.

Although not as popular as before, brain teasers might still appear in consulting interviews; therefore, you should spend some time to prepare.

Most brain teasers can be allocated into these seven types:

• Logical questions are pure logic riddles – there’s no trick, no illusion, no creativity.

In our Case Interview End-to-End Secrets Program , there are +200 brain teasers to help you prepare for these “unpredictable” questions. You can also read our article about Case Interview Brain Teasers for insights on all of these exciting brain teasers, as well as 30 example questions and answers!

How do you put a giraffe in a fridge?

Open the fridge, put the giraffe in, then close the fridge. The question never says how big the fridge or the giraffe is.

For the logic and approach behind each kind of brain teasers, see the article on Brain Teasers.

Type 5 – Chart insight questions

You can’t be a management consultant without mastering the use of charts – the complex, scary-looking real-world charts such as those included in our Case Interview End-to-End Secrets Program.

In management consulting and case interviews, most charts are one (or a combination) of these four basic types:

• Bar charts compare the values of several items at one point in time, or 1-2 items at several time intervals.
• Line charts illustrate time-series data, i.e trends in data over a continuous period.
• Pie charts illustrate proportions, i.e “parts of a whole” analyses.
• Scatter-plots use data points to visualize how two variables relate to each other.

To read these charts and answer chart-insights questions effectively, you must follow a structured, comprehensive process:

You can find a more detailed guide in the Charts section in our article about Consulting Math.

What can you draw from the following chart?

Trends in chart:

• Steady rise in the number of confirmed deaths to about 70-80 per million;
• Both changes started around March 10-11.
• These sudden rises can be explained by events occurring in early-March, and 2.
• If number of cases is kept low, the threat from COVID-19 will remain minimal, considering a mortality rate of only 2%.

Type 6 – Value proposition questions

No business or consulting candidate can succeed without understanding the customers!

Value-proposition questions are not only about correctly identifying customer preferences, but also about analyzing and delivering the answer in a structured fashion. The former relies heavily on business knowledge and intuition, but the latter can be trained methodically and quickly. Personally, I use a “double issue-tree” – essentially a table with customer segments on one axis and proposed values on the other:

For segmenting customers, you can use the following table. However, don’t over-rely on it, since there may be more relevant and insightful question-specific segmentations.

In some cases, clarification is also necessary – both to avoid “answering the wrong question” and to narrow down the range of customers/values you need to cover in the answer.

What will a customer consider when buying a Toyota sedan?

Clarification: A sedan must be branded “Toyota” to be a Toyota sedan – cars with other Toyota-owned brands such as Lexus or Ranz do not count in this question.

Situational Assessment:

Toyota sedans occupy the entry-level and mid-range price segments, so Toyota customers will be more price-conscious than, for example, Lexus customers.

They are also less likely to lean considerably towards one particular factor, so achieving a balance is extremely important.

Functionality factors:

• Comfort: Toyota sedans are mostly for everyday use, so customers should feel comfortable being inside the car.
• Utility: Toyota sedans are used for multiple purposes, so convenience for a wide range of uses is important.

Cost factors

• Purchase price: A car can be an expensive investment while Toyota’s low-to-mid-range customers are more price-conscious, so having a cheap/reasonable price is important.
• Fuel and maintenance: Maintenance and fuel costs over time are likewise inversely related to the decision to buy a Toyota sedan.

Physical factors

• Performance: Customers are usually drivers themselves, who often pay attention to the technical characteristics of the car (speed, acceleration, handling, etc.)
• Visual design: The car should possess the same level of visual appeal as other competitors in the same segment.
• Build quality: Parts of the car should be assembled in a reasonably good manner.

Emotional factors

• Branding: The car should come from a well-known, reputable brand
• Personal preferences: Some customers choose specific cars simply because they “like” the car.

Type 7 – Information questions

In any problem-solving process, information is one of the overarching concerns!

“Information questions” essentially ask if the piece of data you use is obtainable in the first place. In real consulting work, data is not always available – client team members may refuse to cooperate or there’s simply no data on the subject.

There are many kinds of information sources in case interviews/consulting works, but I’ll divide them into primary and secondary sources. Primary sources means you must do the research yourself (or pay someone else to do it for you), such as customer surveys or mystery shoppings. If someone already did that research, and you use their results, it’s called a secondary source – you can get these from the client , the consulting firm you work for, or third-parties such as market research firms or external industry experts.

You can find out more about these sources and how to cite them in real case interviews through this free Prospective Candidate Starter Pack, which contains a glossary of data sources in consulting.

Our Prospective Candidate Starter Pack has a sheet containing all the possible sources of information in case interviews and consulting projects, among numerous other free resources; you can download and use it to answer these questions, by subscribing to our newsletter at the end of this article.

How do you assess your target customer’s preferences for sports cars?

Primary sources: customer survey, customer interviews, Secondary sources: industry reports, client sales reports, third-party expert interview, client expert interview

Type 8 – Math problems

A lot of information in case interviews and consulting work comes in the quantitative form, so you won’t escape Math by joining the consulting industry!

When you have to do the math, perform back-of-the-envelope calculations in a structured fashion, and say out loud what you’re writing. For one thing, it’s safe; for another, you show that you’re careful, organized, and reliable – just like actual consultants.

We have a Math Practice Tool right here! Use it every day, and you’ll be a master of mental calculations in no time flat!

We have a dedicated article on Consulting Math, which you should definitely read.

Type 9 – Solution-finding questions

What’s the point of analyzing a problem, if not to solve it?!

When dealing with solution questions, keep these four points in mind:

• Firstly, in case interviews as well as real consulting projects, solutions must always solve every root cause of a problem, so remember to check if your solutions are relevant and comprehensive.
• Secondly, every solution must be actionable – if your solutions are too expensive, too time-consuming, etc. for the client, they’re useless.
• Thirdly, the interview expects a highly-structured answer; so segment your solutions based on their characteristics (long-term vs short-term is the easiest segmentation)

Last but not least, deliver at least two solutions, preferably three to five. Otherwise, you’ll appear uncreative and lazy to the interviewer’s eyes.

Nailing these questions relies on having excellent business intuition; our Case Interview End-to-End Program has a dedicated Business Intuition package, but you should also train a habit of reading consulting and business articles daily, to sharpen your business mind.

A restaurant that relies solely on on-premise dining found the loss of adjacent parking space (due to termination of contract) harming their revenue. How can they fix that?

The solutions for the restaurant’s parking space problem can be divided into two types:

• Short-term solutions: Find new parking space around the neighborhood, or renegotiate for old parking space (possibly at a higher price).
• Long-term solutions: Introduce takeaway items and off-premise dining.

Reminders on case interview questions

The questions are not clear-cut in candidate-led cases.

There are two extremes in consulting case interview format: interviewer-led (McKinsey) and candidate-led (BCG, Bain).

Interviewer-led cases, on one hand, consist of multiple, clear-cut questions in a larger business case context; the candidate navigates through these questions to arrive at the solutions.

Candidate-led cases, on the other hand, have one big problem, which the candidate must break down into small pieces to identify the root causes and deliver solutions.

This list, therefore, is much more relevant to the interviewer-led format; nonetheless, this guide is still quite beneficial for candidate-led cases, because when solving that big problem, you’ll have to tackle small issues similar to the 8 aforementioned question types.

Mastering the fundamentals is crucial to consistent performance

Although it’s good to study the case interview questions, it is no substitute for mastering the fundamental principles.

Learning the exercises without the basics is like building a house without a foundation. My poor neighbor’s house developed a huge crack right down the center because of its weak foundation, so make sure to build your case interview prep a strong one by knowing the basics first.

Once you’ve mastered the fundamentals, you’ll become much more flexible – this quality is getting increasingly important because case interviews are getting less predictable, and more realistic.

If you haven’t, I advise you to read these articles (especially the first 4) before practicing the question types:

• Case Interview 101
• Issue Tree – The Complete Guide
• MECE Principle
• Case Interview Frameworks
• McKinsey Case Interview – Interviewer-led Format
• BCG & Bain Case Interview – Candidate-led Format

Expect the unexpected

If you study those nine question types, rest assured that you’ve covered the majority of questions in case interviews.

However, these are not all the possible questions you might be given. In actual cases, there are always questions that cannot be categorized neatly. If you do not prepare for these questions, it’s easy to be thrown off-balance.

So, how do you prepare for “the unexpected”?

• Master the basics: Focus your efforts on the basics, once you’ve mastered them it’d be comfortable to move on to higher, more sophisticated levels.
• Business Intuition : You need business intuition for a business-related job, it’s simple as that. Nearly every case concerns business in one way or another – even public sector cases. This is why we also teach business intuition in our Case Interview E2E Secret Program.
• Have mock case interviews : Practice case interviews with ex-consultants will help you get a sense of what might happen or how you might be evaluated in actual cases. Highly experienced coaches from MConsultingPrep will review your performance, giving you the most valuable feedback and actionable tips & techniques.

Scoring in the McKinsey PSG/Digital Assessment

The scoring mechanism in the McKinsey Digital Assessment

Related product

Case Interview End-to-End Secrets Program

Elevate your case interview skills with a well-rounded preparation package

Six types of charts in case interview are: Bar/Column chart, Line chart, Percentage chart, Mekko chart, Scatter plot chart, Waterfall chart.

A case interview is where candidates is asked to solve a business problem. They are used by consulting firms to evaluate problem-solving skill & soft skills

Case interview frameworks are methods for addressing and solving business cases.  A framework can be extensively customized or off-the-shelf for specific cases.

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46 case study questions to build trust with your target audience

Building trust with your target audience is essential to the success of your business and marketing strategy. One way to do this is to prove that your products work and solve their pain points. 

How can you do that? With the help of case studies. In a case study, you take an opportunity to show just how effective your product or service can be. But for a compelling case study, you need to ask the right questions and deliver valuable insights.

We'll share the most burning and needed case study questions you can ask your clients to find out what they want. These questions will also help you to tailor your products and services to meet their needs better.

What is a case study?

Businesses must comprehensively understand their potential customers' needs and behaviors when it comes to decision-making and product development. Case studies are an excellent tool for understanding the behavior of a particular individual, organization, or event.

A study seeks to investigate practically every area of the user's life, looking at the activities and motivations that make up who they are. This analysis is invaluable to businesses as it gives them the insights they need to develop products and services tailored to their customer's needs and wants.

Not only do case studies provide valuable data, but they can also be used in various fields, such as social work, education, and medicine. Companies can use the collected data to show the effectiveness of their product or service for a specific problem. 

Also, case studies can help with successful marketing. You can use them to showcase the successes of your business's strategies and tactics, giving potential customers a better understanding of how the services or products could benefit them.

What are the benefits of case studies?

Case studies can be invaluable tools in the business world. They comprehensively understand a business's situation, allowing all stakeholders to analyze data, understand the context, and draw lessons from a real-life situation.

You can use them to build trust with your customers. These studies prove that you have solved similar problems of other clients in the past. 

Some of the significant benefits of case studies:

• Accumulates a considerable amount of data
• Assists in the development of hypotheses
• Increases brand reliability and loyalty
• Creates a case for more investigation
• Reveals fresh insights into a subject
• Uses storylines to bring in consumers

The methods of a case study

Case studies are generally qualitative and are constructed on interviews, observations, and in-depth subject analysis. They can describe an event or phenomenon by providing detailed information about its context and circumstances.

While various steps are involved in conducting a successful case study, the following points outline the general process for how a content writing business can do this.

Identify a subject

The subjects could be previous customers who have had success working with your business and are willing to provide insight into their experiences. It should be someone who can accurately represent the business and will be a positive reflection on its services.

Collect data

Listen carefully to everything the subject says. Use the collected data to illustrate your service's success in solving the subject's issues. It should include quotes from the subject, compelling statistics, and other relevant information showcasing your strategy's effectiveness.

Analyze and interpret data

After collecting the essential data, analyze and interpret the information. Flesh out the story that the data are telling and decode their implications. Doing so will help your agency create a compelling case study that accurately conveys your service's value.

Write the case study

Now you can craft a narrative that explains the project in detail, including information about the strategies and results.

For added credibility, include quotes from the client or other third parties involved in the project and visual elements such as screenshots, images, or graphs. It will help show the reader the tangible results and make the report more persuasive.

Publish the study

Finally, publish the study on your website and other digital platforms. It will showcase the expertise and results of your services and position the business as an authority in the field.

By following these steps, your content writing agency can effectively conduct a case study to promote the services and drive more business. 

Still trying to figure out how to start one? Check these wonderful examples . 

The categories of case study questions

Most of the case study questions fall into these categories.

Estimation questions

These questions allow you to make informed assumptions from data and business knowledge to determine the market size.

Business case study questions

These inquiries measure your analytical skills and ability to make judgment calls in light of the available data.

Value proposition questions

In addition to business principles, research techniques, and intuition, these questions assess the capacity to recognize client behavior and preferences.

Logic and reasoning questions

These questions are more general and primarily connected to non-business themes, measuring analytical thinking and creativity.

Of course, there are other question types, many of which cross two or more categories. These classifications are meant to help you prepare case study question lists.

The best ways to perform a business case study interview

Once you've found your subject willing to talk to you about how your service led to their company's success, you'll need to draft your interview questions. It will help your readers know your company's contribution to their success. 

Gather as much information about the client as possible. It includes their background, history, financial status, and anything relevant to the case study you're trying to write. You can even contact the sales team to learn more about customer preferences.

Once you've gathered all that data, it's time to conduct a mock interview with someone familiar with the client.

Ask open-ended questions

These encourage the interviewee to talk and expand on their answers. For example, you can ask, "What was the biggest challenge you faced when working with X?" They might respond, "Our team didn't have much experience with a writing solution." 

You could follow up with, "How did our content writing service company help your team overcome that challenge?"

Keep records

When performing a business case study interview, recording and transcribing your conversations can be very helpful. They will work as sources and references whenever you need them.

How to format questions for your case study

Creating a solid structure for your case study questions can produce better results. 

And one of the most important things you can do when creating a case study is to ask questions that give you the information you need to make a compelling case for your service.

You'll probably get stuck in a rut and ask the same old questions, but that will not help you sell anything. You want your case studies to be tailored to your interested leads as possible, so it's necessary to make your questions more specific.

For instance, you should inquire about the client's brand, other solutions they've tried in the past, and how they feel about the outcomes. And you can only ask those questions to a brand, a person, or an organization if you are familiar with them.

What defines a solid case study question?

A good case study question should initiate a dialogue and give the subject control over the narrative. Questions should be open-ended, allowing prospects to tell their story. You must know how to make these questions relevant to your product or service.

Case studies are the most effective when you present them as a solution instead of making them your company's advertisement. It shows the audience you care about your clients, whether they are big or small businesses, and want to help them grow. It lets them know your company is concerned with customer satisfaction and long-term success.

Well-crafted case study questions send a strong message to customers at the decision stage of their buyer's journey and turn them into loyal customers.

What makes a questionnaire perfect for a case study?

One of the most important things you can do when developing a case study questionnaire is to ensure that it doesn't feel like an interrogation. The last thing you want is to let your clients feel like they are being investigated.

To avoid this, create a list of questions that sound like having a friendly conversation. You just want honest answers from them to use the information in your case study report with integrity.

The following are just a few of the key topics your questionnaire has to touch on:

• The issues the client had before selecting your service.
• Reasons they chose your company.
• How did your products solve their problems?
• The measurable outcomes of the provided solution.
• Data and metrics (if available) that demonstrate the effectiveness of your products.

Need help with showing your service's worth to your potential customers? Try our expert white paper writers . They will craft compelling papers to educate your audience about your authority in your field or the effectiveness of your services. 

The most important case study interview questions

Here we'll outline the most fundamental case study questions you should ask.

Begin with the background

When drafting case study questions, the first thing is to determine why you're doing it. Outline questions based on the primary issues you want to emphasize. 

So, what questions will allow you to explain how you solved others' problems? 

Ideally, you should ask previous clients about their company's history. It's an excellent method to introduce them to the readers. Then, begin the report by introducing the initial problems.

We'll provide a list of case study interview questions below that you can ask your clients to learn about their industry. Remember to modify them depending on the client's business and your objectives.

Give a brief description of your company and its beginnings.

The customer has the chance to describe their business at this point, including information about the company size, work environment, etc. In addition to getting helpful background information, it's a simple way to start a conversation with the client.

Who are your ideal clients?

The readers of your case study will get a better insight into their industry by knowing the target audience.

Explain your position inside the organization.

The interviewee's answer will give a better understanding of the obligations they're entitled to.

What are some of the most prevalent difficulties that firms in your industry face?

Request the subject to elaborate on this topic as much as possible. For example, they might struggle to find a service for writing high-quality content or plan an effective SEO strategy . That way, the readers can get some ideas about the topics to be discussed. 

What concerns or obstacles prompted you to seek out our product or service?

Give specific examples of these challenges. Suppose your client took professional content writing services from you to solve their issues. 

The readers should learn as much as possible about the issue since this will help them understand why others took your company's service. It will also make it easier for them to make a purchase decision.

Why was this particular problem a top priority?

If your customer has a particular problem, the readers will benefit from knowing about it. They will learn about which issues to prioritize.

How did this issue affect your business?

Explain the significant impact of the issue, so the readers become curious to seek your solutions.

What other viable solutions have you attempted in the past?

This will show readers that the customer considered alternative solutions before selecting your service.

How many people work in your company?

The client’s description will help your readers to compare their company size with the highlighted firm.

How long have you been operating your business?

From this information, your readers can evaluate if the challenges are more relevant to a fresh or starting firm or an established one.

Build your connection

The most important questions you can ask clients are about their connection with your business. Answers to these queries will give you a deep understanding of why they chose to work with you and what makes them repeat customers.

When speaking with a new client, find out what made them choose your company over others. In the case of repeat customers, ask them how they found you, the reasons to pick your content marketing service, and most importantly, what made them come back.

You can include some questions like the following:

When have you signed up as a client of ours?

The readers will feel more confident about your product's performance if they attribute a timeframe to it.

How did you discover our company?

Ask the subject about how they found your service. Was it through a referral, an online search, or a case study? It'll show that you are a dependable brand with a track record of producing outcomes.

From when have you been searching for a solution to your problem?

It will give the customers an idea about how difficult (or easy) it is to find a solution to that particular problem. 

Why did you pick our business over the main competitors?

It will answer why the client chose your product over competitors. Let them explain this point in detail because it may bring in more leads.

How was the buying procedure for our service?

The readers will get the chance to know how smooth and straightforward the purchasing procedure of your service is. This is an essential point because many customers make the buying decision based on the purchasing experience. 

How did you plan to use our product to enable the solution?

Your readers will better understand how they can use your product to solve their problems.

Allow your clients to explain your solutions

Now that you've established the primary problem and explained why your client picked your service, it's time to move into specific questions. Now you'll ask about your client's experience regarding your product. These queries will elicit the most valuable information for your target audience. 

Try to ask direct questions to create a solid case study based on those answers. That way, potential leads experiencing the same problem will consider buying your service.

How did our product solve your problem?

This is one of the most critical questions since it serves as the foundation for the case study. It will educate your audience and convince them to try your service. 

The responses are a testament that your business does an excellent job for the clients. It also gives you the ground to declare, "X firm utilized our service and accomplished Y."

Which aspects of the service you found most helpful?

The elements will help the readers understand the value of your service better.

Was this service a substitute for a similar tool you previously used?

The subject could have used other services first. If so, providing this data could influence your readers' decision-making process and convince them to select your product over competitors.

What are the benefits of choosing our company over others?

The subject should highlight the unique values they received by choosing your business over your competitors. It's crucial for persuading potential customers about the worth of your service over the competitors.

Did you get in touch with the customer support team at any point during the process?

Customers may encounter various issues when utilizing your service. User experience on customer assistance will persuade the readers that you have their back when it matters the most. 

If yes, how was our customer assistance?

Readers will feel more confident if your clients perceive your customer service helpful.

How many employees in your company utilize our brand?

Readers can assess whether your solution suits their business needs with this information.

How many teams or departments in your company use our service?

This will illustrate how far your service has spread throughout departments.

How did you feel about the configuration and implementation process?

Readers can understand how accessible your service is from your clients' experiences.

Who was engaged in the execution of our product?

This will provide readers with a better understanding of who should be engaged when using your service. 

How did the rollout go?

Find out as many details as you can regarding the rollout. We can only hope that they'll praise just how easy it was.

What kind of comments have you heard from your employees regarding our service?

If the conversation has gone well, you can anticipate positive feedback from your client's staff. So, this feedback will help you stay one step ahead of your competitors.

Define the product's advantages

Here comes the most crucial part of the interview. You'll ask the client about particular outcomes and the metrics they used to monitor the performance of your service.

How did our service handle your particular problems?

When it comes to solving issues, your clients can often better explain the contribution of your service than you.

What sort of measurable results did you observe?

Any data provided by your respondent will highlight the significance of your product.

How has your business changed since you started using our service?

Your clients now have the chance to emphasize how your solution helped them achieve their measurements and objectives.

Which metrics or KPIs did you track to see if our solution effectively resolved your issue?

It'd be best for the customer to provide as many figures and data as possible. The more, the better for you.

How did your original issue affect your business? Does the problem still exist or get fixed?

Let them comprehensively answer how the problem initially hurt their business and how your services resolved those hurdles.

What's your suggestion to other customers who’ll use our services for optimum results?

Suggestions from your existing client can play a vital role. Make sure that they specifically talk about the features of your service.

Fortify your relationship with the client

Now, we'll list questions that'll fortify your relationship with the client and make it long-lasting. 

Ask them the case study questions listed below.

Do you believe our product was beneficial for your business? How so?

This is a great question to ask at the end of a case study interview. It's an excellent way to grab the attention of your potential customers. You can ask the subject how your company offers a valuable product and service and why they think that is.

How much time does a new employee need to become familiar with our product? 

Your potential leads will know the estimated time to train a new employee to use your solution. It's good for you if a newbie can easily and quickly get up and running.

What are the reasons to recommend our service to a customer or friend?

Ensure that your client describes the aspects they’d emphasize when recommending to a customer.

Have you spoken to any of your coworkers about our product?

It’s a great opportunity to get more potential leads and a referral.

What would happen if your team didn’t use our service?

The answer will focus on the value your service provides and its importance.

What else can we do to help your company gain your objectives?

This can be helpful in terms of making sure you're giving them exactly what they want and need. It will also help with building a long-term relationship with them. 

What would it take for your company to derive the biggest return from our product?

You'll be able to provide more assistance to them through this information.

What feature of our company do you admire the most?

It’ll illustrate the value of your service in detail to the readers.

What makes you choose to work with us?

The subject is likely to talk about how professional and efficient you are. It may make the readers gain confidence in your work ethic. 

Talk about the future objectives of your client

Try to get more involved with your clients by discussing their future objectives. They know what they want, but they want assistance in obtaining it. And your relationship with them will become stronger if you demonstrate that you're prepared to go above and beyond to assist them.

How can we assist you in achieving your company's goals?

You'll learn more about how you can support your clients more effectively. 

What objectives do you have for the following three months? 

Your organization can make a particular strategy to help the clients by learning their objectives.

How can we assist you in achieving long-term objectives?

If you know your customer's specific requirements, you'll be able to provide more effective solutions.

Case studies are an effective way to market your business, one that you should plan on integrating into your marketing strategy sooner rather than later. If you want your brand to stand out amongst thousands of competitors online, we urge you to set up a case study questions campaign for your business. You'll be amazed to see traffic and leads acquired through this content. 

Are you looking to build more trust with your target audience? Let our industry-leading content writing agency help you craft the perfect case study questions to get the results you desire.

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Home » Case Study – Methods, Examples and Guide

Case Study – Methods, Examples and Guide

Table of Contents

A case study is a research method that involves an in-depth examination and analysis of a particular phenomenon or case, such as an individual, organization, community, event, or situation.

It is a qualitative research approach that aims to provide a detailed and comprehensive understanding of the case being studied. Case studies typically involve multiple sources of data, including interviews, observations, documents, and artifacts, which are analyzed using various techniques, such as content analysis, thematic analysis, and grounded theory. The findings of a case study are often used to develop theories, inform policy or practice, or generate new research questions.

Types of Case Study

Types and Methods of Case Study are as follows:

Single-Case Study

A single-case study is an in-depth analysis of a single case. This type of case study is useful when the researcher wants to understand a specific phenomenon in detail.

For Example , A researcher might conduct a single-case study on a particular individual to understand their experiences with a particular health condition or a specific organization to explore their management practices. The researcher collects data from multiple sources, such as interviews, observations, and documents, and uses various techniques to analyze the data, such as content analysis or thematic analysis. The findings of a single-case study are often used to generate new research questions, develop theories, or inform policy or practice.

Multiple-Case Study

A multiple-case study involves the analysis of several cases that are similar in nature. This type of case study is useful when the researcher wants to identify similarities and differences between the cases.

For Example, a researcher might conduct a multiple-case study on several companies to explore the factors that contribute to their success or failure. The researcher collects data from each case, compares and contrasts the findings, and uses various techniques to analyze the data, such as comparative analysis or pattern-matching. The findings of a multiple-case study can be used to develop theories, inform policy or practice, or generate new research questions.

Exploratory Case Study

An exploratory case study is used to explore a new or understudied phenomenon. This type of case study is useful when the researcher wants to generate hypotheses or theories about the phenomenon.

For Example, a researcher might conduct an exploratory case study on a new technology to understand its potential impact on society. The researcher collects data from multiple sources, such as interviews, observations, and documents, and uses various techniques to analyze the data, such as grounded theory or content analysis. The findings of an exploratory case study can be used to generate new research questions, develop theories, or inform policy or practice.

Descriptive Case Study

A descriptive case study is used to describe a particular phenomenon in detail. This type of case study is useful when the researcher wants to provide a comprehensive account of the phenomenon.

For Example, a researcher might conduct a descriptive case study on a particular community to understand its social and economic characteristics. The researcher collects data from multiple sources, such as interviews, observations, and documents, and uses various techniques to analyze the data, such as content analysis or thematic analysis. The findings of a descriptive case study can be used to inform policy or practice or generate new research questions.

Instrumental Case Study

An instrumental case study is used to understand a particular phenomenon that is instrumental in achieving a particular goal. This type of case study is useful when the researcher wants to understand the role of the phenomenon in achieving the goal.

For Example, a researcher might conduct an instrumental case study on a particular policy to understand its impact on achieving a particular goal, such as reducing poverty. The researcher collects data from multiple sources, such as interviews, observations, and documents, and uses various techniques to analyze the data, such as content analysis or thematic analysis. The findings of an instrumental case study can be used to inform policy or practice or generate new research questions.

Case Study Data Collection Methods

Here are some common data collection methods for case studies:

Interviews involve asking questions to individuals who have knowledge or experience relevant to the case study. Interviews can be structured (where the same questions are asked to all participants) or unstructured (where the interviewer follows up on the responses with further questions). Interviews can be conducted in person, over the phone, or through video conferencing.

Observations

Observations involve watching and recording the behavior and activities of individuals or groups relevant to the case study. Observations can be participant (where the researcher actively participates in the activities) or non-participant (where the researcher observes from a distance). Observations can be recorded using notes, audio or video recordings, or photographs.

Documents can be used as a source of information for case studies. Documents can include reports, memos, emails, letters, and other written materials related to the case study. Documents can be collected from the case study participants or from public sources.

Surveys involve asking a set of questions to a sample of individuals relevant to the case study. Surveys can be administered in person, over the phone, through mail or email, or online. Surveys can be used to gather information on attitudes, opinions, or behaviors related to the case study.

Artifacts are physical objects relevant to the case study. Artifacts can include tools, equipment, products, or other objects that provide insights into the case study phenomenon.

How to conduct Case Study Research

Conducting a case study research involves several steps that need to be followed to ensure the quality and rigor of the study. Here are the steps to conduct case study research:

• Define the research questions: The first step in conducting a case study research is to define the research questions. The research questions should be specific, measurable, and relevant to the case study phenomenon under investigation.
• Select the case: The next step is to select the case or cases to be studied. The case should be relevant to the research questions and should provide rich and diverse data that can be used to answer the research questions.
• Collect data: Data can be collected using various methods, such as interviews, observations, documents, surveys, and artifacts. The data collection method should be selected based on the research questions and the nature of the case study phenomenon.
• Analyze the data: The data collected from the case study should be analyzed using various techniques, such as content analysis, thematic analysis, or grounded theory. The analysis should be guided by the research questions and should aim to provide insights and conclusions relevant to the research questions.
• Draw conclusions: The conclusions drawn from the case study should be based on the data analysis and should be relevant to the research questions. The conclusions should be supported by evidence and should be clearly stated.
• Validate the findings: The findings of the case study should be validated by reviewing the data and the analysis with participants or other experts in the field. This helps to ensure the validity and reliability of the findings.
• Write the report: The final step is to write the report of the case study research. The report should provide a clear description of the case study phenomenon, the research questions, the data collection methods, the data analysis, the findings, and the conclusions. The report should be written in a clear and concise manner and should follow the guidelines for academic writing.

Examples of Case Study

Here are some examples of case study research:

• The Hawthorne Studies : Conducted between 1924 and 1932, the Hawthorne Studies were a series of case studies conducted by Elton Mayo and his colleagues to examine the impact of work environment on employee productivity. The studies were conducted at the Hawthorne Works plant of the Western Electric Company in Chicago and included interviews, observations, and experiments.
• The Stanford Prison Experiment: Conducted in 1971, the Stanford Prison Experiment was a case study conducted by Philip Zimbardo to examine the psychological effects of power and authority. The study involved simulating a prison environment and assigning participants to the role of guards or prisoners. The study was controversial due to the ethical issues it raised.
• The Challenger Disaster: The Challenger Disaster was a case study conducted to examine the causes of the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion in 1986. The study included interviews, observations, and analysis of data to identify the technical, organizational, and cultural factors that contributed to the disaster.
• The Enron Scandal: The Enron Scandal was a case study conducted to examine the causes of the Enron Corporation’s bankruptcy in 2001. The study included interviews, analysis of financial data, and review of documents to identify the accounting practices, corporate culture, and ethical issues that led to the company’s downfall.
• The Fukushima Nuclear Disaster : The Fukushima Nuclear Disaster was a case study conducted to examine the causes of the nuclear accident that occurred at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan in 2011. The study included interviews, analysis of data, and review of documents to identify the technical, organizational, and cultural factors that contributed to the disaster.

Application of Case Study

Case studies have a wide range of applications across various fields and industries. Here are some examples:

Business and Management

Case studies are widely used in business and management to examine real-life situations and develop problem-solving skills. Case studies can help students and professionals to develop a deep understanding of business concepts, theories, and best practices.

Case studies are used in healthcare to examine patient care, treatment options, and outcomes. Case studies can help healthcare professionals to develop critical thinking skills, diagnose complex medical conditions, and develop effective treatment plans.

Case studies are used in education to examine teaching and learning practices. Case studies can help educators to develop effective teaching strategies, evaluate student progress, and identify areas for improvement.

Social Sciences

Case studies are widely used in social sciences to examine human behavior, social phenomena, and cultural practices. Case studies can help researchers to develop theories, test hypotheses, and gain insights into complex social issues.

Law and Ethics

Case studies are used in law and ethics to examine legal and ethical dilemmas. Case studies can help lawyers, policymakers, and ethical professionals to develop critical thinking skills, analyze complex cases, and make informed decisions.

Purpose of Case Study

The purpose of a case study is to provide a detailed analysis of a specific phenomenon, issue, or problem in its real-life context. A case study is a qualitative research method that involves the in-depth exploration and analysis of a particular case, which can be an individual, group, organization, event, or community.

The primary purpose of a case study is to generate a comprehensive and nuanced understanding of the case, including its history, context, and dynamics. Case studies can help researchers to identify and examine the underlying factors, processes, and mechanisms that contribute to the case and its outcomes. This can help to develop a more accurate and detailed understanding of the case, which can inform future research, practice, or policy.

Case studies can also serve other purposes, including:

• Illustrating a theory or concept: Case studies can be used to illustrate and explain theoretical concepts and frameworks, providing concrete examples of how they can be applied in real-life situations.
• Developing hypotheses: Case studies can help to generate hypotheses about the causal relationships between different factors and outcomes, which can be tested through further research.
• Providing insight into complex issues: Case studies can provide insights into complex and multifaceted issues, which may be difficult to understand through other research methods.
• Informing practice or policy: Case studies can be used to inform practice or policy by identifying best practices, lessons learned, or areas for improvement.

Advantages of Case Study Research

There are several advantages of case study research, including:

• In-depth exploration: Case study research allows for a detailed exploration and analysis of a specific phenomenon, issue, or problem in its real-life context. This can provide a comprehensive understanding of the case and its dynamics, which may not be possible through other research methods.
• Rich data: Case study research can generate rich and detailed data, including qualitative data such as interviews, observations, and documents. This can provide a nuanced understanding of the case and its complexity.
• Holistic perspective: Case study research allows for a holistic perspective of the case, taking into account the various factors, processes, and mechanisms that contribute to the case and its outcomes. This can help to develop a more accurate and comprehensive understanding of the case.
• Theory development: Case study research can help to develop and refine theories and concepts by providing empirical evidence and concrete examples of how they can be applied in real-life situations.
• Practical application: Case study research can inform practice or policy by identifying best practices, lessons learned, or areas for improvement.
• Contextualization: Case study research takes into account the specific context in which the case is situated, which can help to understand how the case is influenced by the social, cultural, and historical factors of its environment.

Limitations of Case Study Research

There are several limitations of case study research, including:

• Limited generalizability : Case studies are typically focused on a single case or a small number of cases, which limits the generalizability of the findings. The unique characteristics of the case may not be applicable to other contexts or populations, which may limit the external validity of the research.
• Biased sampling: Case studies may rely on purposive or convenience sampling, which can introduce bias into the sample selection process. This may limit the representativeness of the sample and the generalizability of the findings.
• Subjectivity: Case studies rely on the interpretation of the researcher, which can introduce subjectivity into the analysis. The researcher’s own biases, assumptions, and perspectives may influence the findings, which may limit the objectivity of the research.
• Limited control: Case studies are typically conducted in naturalistic settings, which limits the control that the researcher has over the environment and the variables being studied. This may limit the ability to establish causal relationships between variables.
• Time-consuming: Case studies can be time-consuming to conduct, as they typically involve a detailed exploration and analysis of a specific case. This may limit the feasibility of conducting multiple case studies or conducting case studies in a timely manner.
• Resource-intensive: Case studies may require significant resources, including time, funding, and expertise. This may limit the ability of researchers to conduct case studies in resource-constrained settings.

About the author

Muhammad Hassan

Researcher, Academic Writer, Web developer

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Case study definition

Case study, a term which some of you may know from the "Case Study of Vanitas" anime and manga, is a thorough examination of a particular subject, such as a person, group, location, occasion, establishment, phenomena, etc. They are most frequently utilized in research of business, medicine, education and social behaviour. There are a different types of case studies that researchers might use:

• Collective case studies

• Descriptive case studies

• Explanatory case studies

• Exploratory case studies

• Instrumental case studies

• Intrinsic case studies

Case studies are usually much more sophisticated and professional than regular essays and courseworks, as they require a lot of verified data, are research-oriented and not necessarily designed to be read by the general public.

How to write a case study?

It very much depends on the topic of your case study, as a medical case study and a coffee business case study have completely different sources, outlines, target demographics, etc. But just for this example, let's outline a coffee roaster case study. Firstly, it's likely going to be a problem-solving case study, like most in the business and economics field are. Here are some tips for these types of case studies:

• Your case scenario should be precisely defined in terms of your unique assessment criteria.

• Determine the primary issues by analyzing the scenario. Think about how they connect to the main ideas and theories in your piece.

• Find and investigate any theories or methods that might be relevant to your case.

• Keep your audience in mind. Exactly who are your stakeholder(s)? If writing a case study on coffee roasters, it's probably gonna be suppliers, landlords, investors, customers, etc.

• Indicate the best solution(s) and how they should be implemented. Make sure your suggestions are grounded in pertinent theories and useful resources, as well as being realistic, practical, and attainable.

• Carefully proofread your case study. Keep in mind these four principles when editing: clarity, honesty, reality and relevance.

Are there any online services that could write a case study for me?

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