case study in customer care

Keeping now integrates directly with HubSpot's Sales Hub. Learn More

• Customer Interaction

4 Customer Service Case Studies to Inspire You

Customer service case studies help attract new customers to your business by showing them how your company can help them. Instead of simply telling customers what you can do for them, you demonstrate it with storytelling and draw them in.

November 24, 2022

6 mins read

If you’ve researched any brand it’s more than likely you’ve come across a customer service case study. Real-life customer experiences are a powerful way to advertise a brand and showcase the real interactions customers have when approaching a company’s customer service department.

Instead of simply telling a customer what it’s like to benefit from a company’s customer service, they demonstrate genuine examples of customers who have submitted tickets to their customer service team. 

On the surface of it, one company can appear much like another without powerful customer service case studies to demonstrate its impact. Customers will be required to actually sign up to your service before they can experience your customer support for themselves. 

What is a customer service case study?

A customer service case study is a strategy to show the experiences of customers that have actually signed up to use your product or service and have actually witnessed your customer service for themselves. 

Potential customers who are researching what your company has to offer will benefit from the case studies of customers that have already passed through the buying decision. Instead of a company simply telling prospective customers what they have to offer, they will be able to demonstrate their service in reality. 

A customer service case study goes beyond being a simple testimonial, however. It’s factual evidence of customers who have implemented your company’s product or service and a demonstration of its ability to actually deliver results. 

Why are customer service case studies important? 

Without customer service case studies, your business will struggle to show how it is helping its customers. A case study shows your prospective customers how the business has performed in a real-life example of customer service, and helps them imagine what it would be like to do business with your company. 

Customer service case studies show potential customers how your business has helped customers to solve their problems and further their business goals. Although there are other ways to market your business, customer service case studies are a solid way to reach out to new prospects and convert them into customers. 

Successful customer case studies showcase successful examples of customer service that persuade your prospects to actually buy. They show prospects how well your customer service actually works and highlights your product’s value. 

How do you write a customer service case study?

There are a few strategies you need to follow when writing a customer service case study. Having a variety of different case studies will enable you to reach more potential customers which cover a range of situations and needs. 

1. Focus on your personas

You need to consider the type of the customer that you want to attract with your customer service case study. Mapping out your personas is an important part of your marketing strategy because it helps you identify prospects with unique wants and needs. Your customer service may appeal to different types of individuals and it’s crucial to target each one specifically. 

2. Tell a story

At their core, customer service case studies are stories about particular customers. Simply raving about how great your company is wil be boring for your readers, and you need to take them on a journey. Stories need to have obstacles to overcome, and your case study should show how your product or service is the hero of the narrative. 

3. Emphasize benefits

The benefits of your customer service will help to appeal to customers that have a specific pain point to solve. Instead of focusing on products or features it’s important to show how your service will help them. Your customer service case study is likely to be a representative example of a customer that has similar problems to other prospects, and it’s important to help prospective customers visualize using your service. 

4. Highlight the results 

Highlighting the results that your customer service will help your customers achieve means focusing on the before and after of using your service. Genuine improvements to your customer’s business will help to convince them that your product or service is the answer. Showing the results of your customer service helps customers see how they can save or make more money after choosing your business. 

4 interesting customer service case studies

Quick heal and kayako.

Here’s the first interesting customer service case study from Kayako. There was a company called Quick Heal Technologies which was a provider of internet security tools and anti-virus software. They had millions of global users, but they were struggling to deliver outstanding customer service due to a high volume of customer service requests. 

One of their main issues was the absence of a system to track requests from different sources. Agents were checking many different platforms for customer service requests, and lacked a vital overview of the customer experience. They were losing tickets and suffering from incomplete information. There were delays in the customer support experience and the existing system couldn’t manage its workflow. 

Enter Kayako, help desk software. Their Shared Inbox Solution brought together the different customer service platforms such as email, Facebook, Twitter, and live chat. Quick Heal agents were able to support customers seamlessly and minimize the number of tickets that were dropped. They could significantly reduce their ticket response times and accelerate the time to resolution. Agents were able to much more effectively collaborate and reduce duplication of effort. 

Springboard and Help Scout

The next customer service case study is about Springboard, a platform which provides online resources and personalized mentors to help students build their dream careers. Their aim is to make a great education accessible to anyone in the world. 

So far, they have worked with 250 mentors to train more than 5,000 students over 6 continents. Their success has depended on their ability to create an open environment where students feel comfortable requesting feedback and discovering course information on their own. 

Springboard needed a solution that could help them build relationships with their students, even if it’s over email, and they decided that Help Scout was the answer. They chose Help Scout because it means they can have human conversations rather than treating their students like a ticket number. 

They make use of Help Scout’s help desk features to find key insights into students’ conversations, as well as their Docs knowledge base which provides answers to common questions. As a result, students are able to more effectively learn and overcome problems when they arise. 

We’ve got another customer service case study from an airline – in this case, JetBlue. They really know how to make their customers smile with small gestures and ensure they can win customers for life. 

One customer called Paul Brown was flying with JetBlue from the smaller terminal at Boston’s Logan airport. He realized that he couldn’t grab his usual Starbucks coffee because there was no Starbucks at the terminal. On a whim, he sent a tweet to JetBlue asking them to deliver his venti mocha, and to his surprise they obliged! Within minutes JetBlue customer service representatives had delivered the coffee to Paul’s seat on the plane. 

This example of customer service shows that JetBlue is willing to go the extra mile for customers and will ensure that the company can continue to attract more customers.

Gympass and Slack

Gympass is an international platform that gives companies and their employees 50% to 70% off a global network of fitness studios, digital workouts, and mental health and nutrition services. It was founded in 2012 and has experienced steady growth, now worth more than USD $1 billion. Users of Gympass have access to 50,000 gyms and studios in more than 7,000 cities, so they can work out while they are on the move. 

The problem with this growing company was communication across the globe. The company was overly reliant on emails which led to silos and employees missing out on vital information. The solution to this problem was Slack, a communications platform which is made accessible to all new employees so they have everything they need right from the start. 

Now, teams at Gympass work across a range of 2,000 Slack channels which are open to 1,000 employees. They can share documents, messages and information, keeping connected across locations and facilitating new projects like event planning. It’s enabled Gympass to build a strong culture of collaboration and ensure that every employee can find the information they need. 

Wrapping up

Customer service case studies help attract new customers to your business by showing them how your company can help them. Instead of simply telling customers what you can do for them, you demonstrate it with storytelling and draw them in. Showing your customers benefits and outcomes support them to make the decision to purchase. 

Before they actually have a trial of using your product or service, it’s hard for customers to know what it would be like. Case studies can give a valuable preview into what it would be like to work with your company and highlight customers that have already achieved success. 

Catherine is a content writer and community builder for creative and ethical companies. She often writes case studies, help documentation and articles about customer support. Her writing has helped businesses to attract curious audiences and transform them into loyal advocates. You can find more of her work at https://awaywithwords.co.

Join 150+ teams that are sharing inboxes with us

The easiest way to upgrade your shared Gmail account. There’s no credit card is required.

The Missing Shared Inbox for Google Workspace

Continue reading.

27 Hilarious Customer Service Jokes

Sorry for the Late Response: How to Apologize in Email

The Golden Rules of Communication with Customers

6 Interesting Customer Service Case Studies to Inspire You

July 18, 2023

Share This Article:

An 11-year-old boy’s experience with LEGO customer service changed the company’s brand perception. It’s not only brought in more customers but also justified their lead position in the market. Here, we will discuss a few more interesting customer service case studies.

One good service can not just help one customer but also influence future customers. Reading others’ stories will help you understand ways to overcome new challenges.

I will start with some popular ones.

Popular customer experience case studies

Customer service is not just limited to providing product-related support anymore. We have passed the line way back. As the market gets more critical, everyone is running a few extra miles. Even the top companies in the field are not compromising anything. 

Let’s start with JetBlue’s customer service case study.

JetBlue sets an example of how you can use social media to provide excellent customer service. They have multiple teams at different levels that are active on Twitter. And there are many examples of it.

Here is one: Paul once tweeted that he couldn’t find Starbucks at the gate while boarding the flight. JetBlue immediately responded with an alternative, which was free for him.

Another challenge that JetBlue faced was the winter storm in early January of 2017 . They had to cancel a lot of flights at that time. And because of this, thousands of people were impacted.

The challenge here is that JetBlue cannot change the weather or ensure a safe flight during a storm. But they can provide up-to-date information.

So, they started to tweet updates about the storm and the flight schedule the whole time. As a result, even though the passengers were frustrated, they were happy with JetBlue’s service.

Zappos has a good reputation for providing the best customer support. And it has a lot of interesting customer service case studies. One particular service case created a lot of buzz in the market.

Zappos’s service agent talked with a customer for 10 hours in one call. And, surprisingly, Zappos took it in a positive way. The call wasn’t even about any service. 

This long call started with where and how that customer lives. Then, eventually, it turns into clothing and fashion-related conversation. Finally, the customer ended the call with the purchase of a pair of UGG boots.

It breaks all the records and wins a long-running battle. Which one is better, automated calls or live agents? And without a doubt, it’s the personal touch that steals the crown every time.

This customer service case study is a bit more heartwarming. 11-year-old James Groccia has Asperger’s syndrome. He was looking at an expensive LEGO set for his birthday. It’s the exclusive Emerald Night Train set.

James saved money for two years. The money came from his birthday gifts and his participation in research. But he was heartbroken when he found out that it was unavailable.

His mother looked everywhere possible. On Amazon, eBay, or any other platform, it was either out of stock or too expensive. Eventually, with the help of a social worker, James wrote to LEGO.

It was a huge surprise to James that LEGO wrote back. And not just that, they surprised him with the exclusive Emerald Night Train set just before his 11th birthday.

It wasn’t easy for LEGO as well. It was a discontinued set and a collectible. They had to track it down for him. This extra mile not only made that customer happy but also established a brand perception that cares about its customers.

WPManageNinja’s customer service case study

While we were looking for customer experience stories, we talked with our Support team head, Mr. Kamrul Islam , here at the WPManageNinja office. He shared a few interesting case studies with us.

“I made a full website using your table builder plugin.”

Our support team faces and solves a lot of interesting cases every day. So, from a lot of stories, we have chosen three interesting stories to share with you in this blog. And, we are not going to be technical here at all.

So keep reading.

Story #1: Fluent Form

Let’s start with a simple one. One of our clients creates a ticket with an issue through our Fluent Support helpdesk system . 

Ticket created from customer’s end

I am a Fluent Form user. And I want to create a booking form using your form builder.

Thanks a lot for contacting us. Let us get into it and see what we can do for you. We will get back to you ASAP.

Booking system plugins are typically used for appointment booking. However, our support team needs to find a way to use our form builder plugin to accomplish this task.

But instead of saying, “This is not possible,” to our client, they get to work. Started figuring out a workaround for this. For obvious reasons, a form builder cannot provide a booking system facility, but the team finds a way to use it as a basic date booking system.

Our support team used two date-picker blocks from our Fluent Form builder and used different blocks to pick the starting and ending dates. Our team got in touch with the customer and gave him the solution.

But the customer knocked again.

Ticket continue

I am happy with the solution, but I’m facing an issue. I picked one date from the “Start from” calendar drop-down, but I can still see the previous dates are active in the “End at” drop-down. I want it disabled.

Here is a screenshot.

We can certainly help you out with this. We will get back to you shortly with a solution. We really appreciate your patience, and thanks a lot for being with us.

As our support specialist stated, they provided a solid solution. They had to write some custom code to implement a new feature in the client’s system.

That customer not only gave us a 5-star rating for our service but also became one of our loyal customers.

Story #2: Ninja Table and Fluent Form:

Speaking of adding custom features, it’s one of the regular jobs for our support team. Support agents, from time to time, write custom codes to fulfill customer requests.

Once, we got another ticket about a dynamic integration between two of our products. And the request came in multiple layers.

Hi, I am ruining a multi-user-based site, and recently I purchased the Ninja table for my site. I bought this to list my users information in a single table. But after a few tries, I failed to do it. Can you help me?

Thanks a lot for connecting us. We can help you with your issue. We will get back to you ASAP with a solution. Thanks a lot for being with us.

Our support agent needed to create a table from the site’s SQL data that contained user information.

It was an easy fix. Ninja Table has that feature built-in. Our expert agent wrote a few lines of script to pull users’ information. It created a table from SQL data.

The tickets continue.

Now I can see all the users’ information in a single table. But now I want to display only logged-in user information in the table. The rest of the user’s information should be hidden for that user.

Sure, we can do that for you.

So, the support agent created a custom shortcode to embed the table on the display page. That custom shortcode restricted other users’ information to the logged-in user.  

But the client came to our support team again.

Hi, I’m very happy with the output. But now I need one more thing from you. I need another column in the table with a form link in it. If a customer clicks on it, it will open a new page with the form on it. And I need it to be prefilled with the information from the table. I don’t want my customer to fill out the form again.

We can certainly help you with this. Our engineers will get into it and get back to you soon with a solution.

Our support team has two challenges in solving this ticket.

• A table created using SQL data has a limitation. You cannot add a new column to the table without touching the SQL data. Altering SQL data is not a good idea at all. So, adding a new column in the table with a form link is difficult.
• Pull the data from the table to prefill a form with logged-in users data. And then make the prefilled input box uneditable.

Our team starts with the first challenge. We cannot create a new column without altering the SQL data. But then they figured out a way to replace particular data with the desired data. And in this case, the desired data is the form page link.

So, they used a column from the SQL data set that did not have important information. Using the custom scripting, they replaced the SQL-pushed data with the form page link. Part one is solved.

For the second challenge, our team used Fluent Form. They integrate the Fluent form with the Ninja table. With the help of some custom scripting, they were able to pull the data from the table into the form’s input box.

The client was really happy with the outcome. Just because of this service, the client bought all of our products. And there is no need to mention that the client became one of our advocates.

Story #3: Ninja Table

Customers can show you totally different use cases for your product. This particular story is the best example of this statement.

Hi, I am using your Ninja Table plugin on my site. I need to link a Google Sheet with the plugin. Is it possible?

Thanks a lot for connecting us. We have a built-in integration facility for Google Sheets in the table settings.

At this point, the WP Manage Ninja team sent a step-by-step video tutorial to show how to do the integration. and the client was happy with this.

But shortly after that, clients connected with our support team again with multiple queries.

I need your help to customize the table. I want to make it look different from a regular table. Specifically, I want to hide the header and border and resize the columns and rows. I also want to know if I can apply custom styling to the data from the Google Sheet and if an image inserted in the Google Sheet will appear in the table. So somehow, I don’t want it to look like a table.

Thanks again for connecting with us. All of your requests are possible. However, it would be helpful if we could have access to the site table on your site. This would allow us to provide you with a better suggestion.

The client shared a link to the site with the support team. The whole team was a bit confused.

Hi again. Thanks a lot for sharing the site link with us. But we may need a little more information about the site. And please specify where you want to put the final table. Also, can you please give us a link to the actual table?

I gave you the link to the table.

We are very sorry; you just gave us a site link. We cannot see any tables here.

That is the table.

May you please elaborate? What do you mean by that?

I made a full website using your table builder plugin.

After some inspection of the site, our agent realized our client had made a fully functional website using our table builder plugin. We were just amazed by this type of use case.

The client also linked the table with a Google Sheet, which we helped them with previously. This means that they do not need to log in to the WordPress dashboard to change any data.

The client can simply make changes to the Google Sheet from their phone, and our table plugin will automatically update the data on the site.  

This is so far one of the most unique and clever use cases we have seen for any of our products.

Takeaways customer service case studies

Up until now, we have shared six different customer service case studies. But these are not just stories. These case studies tell us what excellent service is. It teaches us how we can go the extra mile and how it can impact our customers.

Essential qualities of the best customer service reps

So, here are a few takeaways from these case studies:

• Be responsive. Respond to the customer, even if it’s a tweet. Be quick and efficient.
• Be helpful. Go above and beyond to help customers. This could mean tracking down a discontinued product, giving a refund, or even just sending a handwritten note. Personalization matters in customer relations. A good gesture could be to send customers gratitude notes that have been carefully crafted to suit their tastes. You can design cards , for instance, which gives you ample room for creativity and personal touch. Even when they don’t know it’s not required. This could mean offering advice, making recommendations, or just listening.
• Be transparent. Be honest with customers, even when it’s not good news. Customers always appreciate a direct response, even when they are angry.
• Be personal. Take the time to get to know the customer’s individual needs. This will help you provide more personalized service. Which will make them feel special.
• Be human. Don’t hold your personality back; let your human side shine through. Show that you care about the customer and their experience. This could mean using humor, being empathetic, or just being yourself. The personal level of connection is effortless. This will make your service seamless.
• Go the extra mile. Go above and beyond to help customers. This could mean tracking down a discontinued product, giving a refund, or even just sending a handwritten note. Whether you need to write custom code, provide training, or even just be a sounding board, let it be.
• Be creative. If you can’t find a solution, that’s fine. Go out of the box and come up with a new one.
• Be patient. Sometimes, it takes time to find the right solution that works. Be patient with customers and stay with them until they’re happy with it.
• Be open-minded. Customers may use your product in ways that you never intended. Be open to new ideas.
• Be impressed. Be amazed by the imagination and creativity of your clients. When you see customers using your product in a unique way, make sure to let them know how impressed you are.

Final thoughts

Being a tech support specialist or service agent is a challenging job, no doubt. A customer can come up with any type of issue. Hance, the service providers have to be sound enough to deal with any surprises.

The service-dependent industries are constantly facing a variety of cases every day. That’s why customer service case studies are a must-read for support and service providers. And, on the other hand, these stories can bring in new customers.

Start off with a powerful ticketing system that delivers smooth collaboration right out of the box.

Md. Ariful Basher

Hi, this is Abir, a web designer and full-time content writer passionate about psycho-thrillers and sci-fi. I focus on creating captivating content and visually stunning websites, ensuring a top-notch customer experience. Also, a food enthusiast!

Related Articles

Fluent Support 1.7.8: MemberPress Integration, Ticket search and more

GCP VS AWS: The Best Cloud Development Platform

Use WordPress Slider Plugin to Make Your Website Captivating

Customer Service Automation – How to Save Time & Delight Customers

WordPress Admin Dashboard: A Complete Walkthrough

Disney Four Keys Of Successful Customer Service You Should Adopt

Leave a reply cancel reply.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Customer Service Case Studies: Real-Life Examples Of Service Scenarios.

Are you looking for real-life examples of customer service scenarios that can help you improve your own customer service skills? Look no further!

In this article, we will explore a series of case studies that highlight different aspects of effective customer service. These case studies will provide you with valuable insights into how to handle challenging situations, resolve issues, and create positive experiences for your customers.

Customer service plays a crucial role in the success of any business. It is not just about answering phone calls or responding to emails; it is about building relationships and exceeding customer expectations. By studying real-life examples, you can gain a deeper understanding of the importance of effective customer service and learn strategies to enhance your own skills.

In each case study, we will delve into different scenarios and examine how businesses successfully handled them. From resolving product quality issues to dealing with difficult customers, these case studies will showcase various approaches and solutions that you can apply in your own work.

Get ready to dive into these insightful stories that demonstrate the power of exceptional customer service!

Table of Contents

Key Takeaways

• Effective customer service is crucial for the success of a business.
• Empathy and proactive customer service are essential aspects of providing excellent customer service.
• Prompt resolution of product quality issues, with notification and compensation for affected customers, helps maintain customer satisfaction and loyalty.
• Handling difficult customers with a calm and empathetic approach, offering alternatives, and empowering them to make choices can build trust and loyalty.

The Importance of Effective Customer Service

You can’t underestimate the impact of great customer service – it’s like a warm cup of coffee on a chilly morning, instantly making you feel valued and appreciated.

In today’s competitive business landscape, providing effective customer service is more important than ever. Customers have numerous options at their fingertips, and one bad experience can send them running to your competitors. That’s why empathy plays a crucial role in customer service.

When customers feel understood and cared for, they’re more likely to become loyal advocates for your brand. Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of others. In customer service, this means putting yourself in the shoes of your customers and genuinely listening to their concerns.

By showing empathy, you demonstrate that you value their emotions and are committed to finding a solution that meets their needs. This not only helps resolve issues effectively but also builds trust and strengthens the relationship with your customers.

Proactive customer service is another essential aspect of providing exceptional support. Instead of waiting for customers to come to you with problems or complaints, proactive customer service involves anticipating their needs and addressing any potential issues before they arise.

This approach shows that you’re dedicated to delivering an outstanding experience from start to finish. By taking the initiative, you can prevent problems from escalating and create positive interactions that leave a lasting impression on your customers.

The importance of effective customer service cannot be overstated. Empathy allows you to connect with your customers on a deeper level by understanding their emotions and concerns. Proactive customer service demonstrates your commitment to going above and beyond expectations by anticipating needs before they become problems.

By prioritizing these aspects in your approach to customer service, you can foster loyalty, build strong relationships with customers, and ultimately drive success for your business.

Case Study 1: Resolving a Product Quality Issue

Resolving a product quality issue can be challenging, but did you know that 86% of customers are more likely to repurchase from a company that resolves their complaint? When faced with a product quality issue, it’s important for companies to take immediate action and address the problem effectively.

One notable case study involves a product recall due to safety concerns. The company promptly notified customers about the recall through multiple channels such as email, social media, and website announcements. This proactive approach not only ensured customer safety but also demonstrated the company’s commitment to resolving the issue.

To further enhance customer satisfaction during this challenging time, the company offered compensation to affected customers. The compensation included a full refund for the recalled product as well as additional discounts on future purchases. By going above and beyond in compensating their customers, the company not only mitigated any potential negative feelings but also showed genuine concern for their customers’ wellbeing.

In addition to addressing individual complaints, the company took steps towards preventing similar issues in the future. They implemented stricter quality control measures throughout their production process and conducted thorough inspections before releasing any products into the market. This proactive approach reassured customers that their concerns were taken seriously and instilled confidence in the brand’s commitment to delivering high-quality products.

By resolving a product quality issue promptly and ensuring customer satisfaction through compensation and preventive measures, companies can not only retain existing customers but also build trust with new ones. It’s crucial for businesses to recognize that effective customer service goes beyond simply resolving complaints; it requires taking responsibility for failures, implementing meaningful solutions, and continuously improving processes to prevent similar issues from arising again in the future.

Case Study 2: Handling a Difficult Customer

Navigating through challenging interactions with clients can be a test of your company’s ability to handle difficult situations. Dealing with angry customers requires a delicate balance of empathy, patience, and problem-solving skills.

One real-life example of a company successfully managing a difficult situation involved an irate customer who had received a damaged product.

In this case, the customer contacted the company’s customer service department immediately after receiving the damaged product. The representative on the phone remained calm and empathetic throughout the conversation, acknowledging the customer’s frustration. They apologized sincerely for any inconvenience caused and assured the customer that they would resolve the issue promptly.

The representative then offered several options to address the problem, including sending a replacement or providing a refund. By presenting these alternatives, they empowered the customer to choose what solution best suited their needs. This approach helped defuse tension and created an atmosphere of collaboration rather than confrontation.

Ultimately, by effectively managing this difficult situation and prioritizing customer satisfaction, the company not only resolved the issue but also built trust and loyalty with their client base.

Case Study 3: Going Above and Beyond for a Customer

Exceeding expectations and leaving a lasting impression, one company went the extra mile to ensure a memorable experience for a dissatisfied client. The customer, let’s call her Sarah, had purchased a high-end laptop from this company but encountered numerous technical issues soon after receiving it. Frustrated with the product’s performance and the lack of support she received initially, Sarah reached out to the company’s customer service department for assistance.

To address Sarah’s concerns promptly, the customer service representative assigned to her case took immediate action. Recognizing that resolving her technical issues alone would not suffice in restoring Sarah’s trust and satisfaction, they decided to go above and beyond what was expected. The representative personally followed up with Sarah daily to provide updates on their progress in fixing her laptop. They also offered additional compensation for the inconvenience caused by sending her a complimentary accessory package.

In addition to their exceptional level of communication, this company created a personalized experience for Sarah through small gestures that left an indelible mark on her overall perception of their brand. One example was when they surprised her by upgrading her laptop’s warranty without any additional cost. This unexpected act not only demonstrated their commitment to providing quality products but also highlighted their dedication towards ensuring customer satisfaction.

By going above and beyond in addressing Sarah’s concerns and surpassing her expectations at every turn, this company exemplified outstanding customer service. Their proactive approach not only resolved technical issues efficiently but also left a lasting impression on Sarah concerning how much they valued her as a loyal customer. Through personalized attention, generous compensation, and unexpected upgrades, they not only ensured Sarah’s satisfaction but also fostered a long-term relationship based on trust and loyalty. This case study serves as a powerful reminder that going the extra mile can make all the difference in customer satisfaction and retention.

Case Study 4: Turning a Negative Review into a Positive Experience

If your business has ever received negative feedback, it’s important to know how to turn that experience into a positive one.

In this case study, we will explore how a business addressed a customer’s concerns and transformed their perception from negative to positive.

By taking the necessary steps and going above and beyond, the business not only resolved the issue but also improved their reputation in the process.

The negative feedback received by the business

Despite your best efforts, your business was bombarded with a barrage of scathing feedback that left you reeling. Customers expressed their dissatisfaction with the quality of your products and the poor customer service they received.

These negative reviews not only affected customer retention but also posed a threat to your brand reputation. The negative feedback highlighted areas where improvements were needed. It pointed out flaws in your product design, manufacturing processes, and communication channels.

While it may be disheartening to receive such criticism, it presents an opportunity for you to address these issues and enhance the overall customer experience. By acknowledging the shortcomings and taking immediate action to rectify them, you can regain customers’ trust and loyalty while rebuilding your brand’s reputation.

The steps taken to address the customer’s concerns

After receiving the negative feedback, we quickly took action to address the customer’s concerns and improve our products and services. We understand that addressing customer complaints is essential for maintaining a positive reputation and ensuring customer satisfaction.

Our first step was to reach out to the customer directly, expressing our apologies for any inconvenience caused and assuring them that their concerns were being taken seriously.

To resolve the customer’s issues, we implemented a thorough investigation into the matter. This involved examining the specific details of their complaint, evaluating our internal processes, and identifying any areas where improvements could be made. By conducting this analysis, we were able to pinpoint the root cause of the problem and develop an effective solution.

Once we identified areas for improvement, we promptly made necessary changes to prevent similar issues from occurring in the future. This included updating our training programs for staff members involved in customer service interactions and enhancing quality control measures throughout our production process. We also communicated these updates transparently with all relevant stakeholders to ensure everyone understood our commitment to resolving customer issues.

Addressing customer complaints is not just about solving individual problems; it is about continuously improving our overall products and services. By taking immediate action upon receiving negative feedback, we demonstrate our dedication to providing exceptional experiences for every customer.

We remain committed to resolving any issues promptly while striving to exceed expectations in delivering high-quality products and top-notch service.

The transformation of the customer’s perception and improved reputation

Now that the steps have been taken to address the customer’s concerns, let’s discuss the transformation of their perception and the improved reputation of your business.

By promptly addressing the customer’s issues and providing a satisfactory resolution, you’ve demonstrated your commitment to customer satisfaction. This level of responsiveness not only resolves the immediate problem but also leaves a lasting impression on the customer.

As a result, their perception of your brand is likely to improve significantly. They’ll appreciate your willingness to listen, understand, and take action to rectify any issues they may have faced. This positive experience can lead to increased brand loyalty as customers recognize that you value their feedback and are committed to delivering exceptional service.

To further enhance customer satisfaction and foster brand loyalty, consider implementing these strategies:

• Personalized follow-up: Reach out to customers after resolving their concerns with personalized messages or phone calls. This gesture shows that you genuinely care about their experience and want to ensure their ongoing satisfaction.
• Proactive communication: Keep customers informed about any changes or improvements related to the issue they encountered. Sharing updates showcases transparency and builds trust in your ability to continuously improve.
• Loyalty rewards program: Offer incentives or exclusive benefits for loyal customers who continue choosing your brand despite any initial challenges they may have faced. Rewarding their loyalty encourages repeat business and strengthens long-term relationships.

By investing in improving customer satisfaction and building brand loyalty, you can create a positive reputation for your business while fostering long-term success in an increasingly competitive market.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the key elements of effective customer service.

Effective customer service requires several key elements.

One interesting statistic is that 86% of customers are willing to pay more for a better customer experience. This highlights the importance of providing exceptional service.

Effective communication plays a crucial role in customer service as it allows you to understand the needs and concerns of your customers, while also conveying information clearly and concisely.

Empathy and understanding are equally important, as they enable you to connect with customers on an emotional level, showing them that their satisfaction is your top priority.

By incorporating these elements into your customer service approach, you can create positive experiences that leave a lasting impression on your customers.

How can companies measure the success of their customer service efforts?

To measure the success of your customer service efforts, you can utilize various customer satisfaction metrics and conduct thorough customer feedback analysis.

Customer satisfaction metrics, such as Net Promoter Score (NPS) or Customer Effort Score (CES), provide valuable insights into how satisfied your customers are with the service they received. These metrics allow you to quantify customer sentiment and identify areas for improvement.

Additionally, analyzing customer feedback through surveys or social media monitoring enables you to understand specific pain points and address them proactively.

By consistently measuring these indicators and taking action based on the results, you can continuously enhance your customer service performance and ensure a positive experience for your customers.

What are some common challenges faced by customer service representatives?

Handling difficult customers and managing high call volumes can be incredibly challenging for customer service representatives. Dealing with irate customers can feel like trying to calm a hurricane with a feather, as their frustrations can reach astronomical levels. It requires an extraordinary level of patience and empathy to navigate through their anger and find a resolution that satisfies both parties.

Additionally, managing high call volumes can feel like juggling flaming swords while walking on a tightrope. The constant influx of calls puts immense pressure on representatives to provide quick and efficient assistance without compromising the quality of service.

However, despite these Herculean tasks, customer service representatives rise above the challenges by employing exceptional communication skills, problem-solving abilities, and an unwavering commitment to customer satisfaction.

How can companies improve their customer service skills and knowledge?

To improve their customer service skills and knowledge, companies should invest in comprehensive training programs that provide employees with the necessary tools and techniques to handle different scenarios. These programs can include modules on effective communication, problem-solving, and empathy to ensure that representatives are equipped to handle any customer interactions.

Additionally, implementing feedback systems that allow customers to provide their input and suggestions can also be beneficial. This feedback can help identify areas for improvement and enable companies to make necessary adjustments in their processes or training programs.

By prioritizing ongoing training initiatives and actively seeking customer feedback, companies can continually enhance their customer service skills and knowledge, leading to improved overall customer satisfaction levels.

What are some best practices for handling customer complaints and resolving issues?

When it comes to handling customer complaints and resolving issues, think of yourself as a skilled navigator guiding a ship through stormy waters. Customer feedback is like the wind, sometimes gentle and other times fierce, but always pushing you towards improvement.

Conflict resolution is your compass, helping you find the right path to address concerns and turn unhappy customers into satisfied ones. Actively listen to their grievances, empathize with their frustrations, and offer swift solutions that demonstrate your commitment to their satisfaction.

By taking ownership of the problem and going above and beyond to resolve it, you can transform a dissatisfied customer into a loyal advocate for your brand.

In conclusion, effective customer service is crucial for businesses to thrive in today’s competitive market. As demonstrated by the case studies discussed, handling product quality issues, difficult customers, and negative reviews with empathy and proactive solutions can turn potentially negative experiences into positive ones.

One interesting statistic that highlights the impact of great customer service is that 86% of consumers are willing to pay more for a better customer experience (Source: PwC). This statistic evokes an emotional response as it emphasizes the value customers place on exceptional service. By investing in providing top-notch customer service, businesses not only create loyal customers but also have the potential to increase their revenue.

To ensure success in customer service scenarios, it is essential for businesses to empower their employees with proper training and resources. By equipping them with problem-solving skills, effective communication techniques, and a genuine desire to help customers, companies can build strong relationships and foster trust. Additionally, embracing technology solutions such as AI-powered chatbots or self-service options can streamline processes and provide faster resolutions.

In summary, delivering exceptional customer service requires a proactive approach that focuses on resolving issues promptly while exceeding expectations. By prioritizing the needs of customers and going above and beyond to provide personalized solutions, businesses can create memorable experiences that result in increased customer satisfaction and loyalty. Remember, investing in superior customer service is not just about satisfying your current customers; it’s about attracting new ones who’re willing to pay more for an outstanding experience.

The eSoft Editorial Team, a blend of experienced professionals, leaders, and academics, specializes in soft skills, leadership, management, and personal and professional development. Committed to delivering thoroughly researched, high-quality, and reliable content, they abide by strict editorial guidelines ensuring accuracy and currency. Each article crafted is not merely informative but serves as a catalyst for growth, empowering individuals and organizations. As enablers, their trusted insights shape the leaders and organizations of tomorrow.

View all posts

Similar Posts

Discover the power of holistic healing for optimal well-being.

Welcome to the world of holistic healing, where ancient practices bring balance and harmony to the mind, body, and spirit. Holistic healing recognizes the interconnectedness of all parts of the self and works to nurture and heal them as a whole. By tapping into the transformative power of holistic healing, you can achieve optimal well-being…

Sustainable Decision Making: A Key Soft Skill for Modern Business

In today’s eco-conscious business landscape, sustainable decision making has emerged as a crucial soft skill for professionals and leaders. It encompasses making environmentally conscious and ethically sound decisions that contribute to the greater good of society. Businesses are now recognizing the importance of sustainability in their operations and are incorporating it into their decision-making processes….

Exploring Common Methods of Corporate Training: A Comprehensive Look

If you want to excel in the corporate world, you must keep up with the ever-evolving methods of corporate training. In this comprehensive exploration, we will delve into the most common training techniques used by companies today. From traditional classroom settings to online platforms, on-the-job training, mentoring programs, and simulations, we will uncover the benefits…

How Can I Be More Mysterious and Intriguing to Others?

If you've ever felt like an open book, as transparent as a clear glass window, then perhaps it's time to consider the allure of mystery and intrigue. Imagine the power of captivating someone's attention without giving away all your secrets, like a well-written novel that keeps you guessing until the very end. But how can…

Nature and Mental Health

Hey there, did you know that connecting with nature can have a big impact on your mental health? Spending time outdoors, surrounded by the beauty of nature, can do wonders for your well-being. From reducing anxiety to lifting your mood, nature has a powerful influence on your mental and emotional state. Engaging in nature-based activities…

Innovative Analytical Skills

In today's rapidly evolving business landscape, the ability to think innovatively and apply analytical skills to solve complex problems has become a crucial asset. The demand for professionals who can approach data analysis with creativity and originality is on the rise. However, simply possessing analytical skills is no longer enough; the real value lies in…

Customer Experience

5 Case Studies to Improve Your Customer Service

As more and more customer transactions occur virtually, the quality of online help desks and customer service support is becoming an essential differentiator for companies. An estimated  73% of consumers say a good experience is critical in influencing their brand loyalties.

Customer satisfaction directly impacts the bottom line, too, as 84% of companies that work to improve their customer experience report an increase in their revenue.

Apart from the stats, it is important to look for examples of company success stories improving customer service and productivity. Having high-performance customer service is essential for any company, regardless of industry. Check out these five case studies that will help you improve this process in your business.

How Quick Heal optimized their customer service, extending support hours and responding to inquiries faster

Quick Heal Technologies is a leading provider of internet security tools and anti-virus software, serving millions of users worldwide. Like many fast-growing companies, they experienced bottlenecks in their customer service process due to the high volume of requests.

• No system to track requests from different sources. 
• Agents could not maintain a global view of the customer request, negatively impacting customer service.  
• High incidence of lost tickets and incomplete information.
• Customers were not happy with the support delays.  
• The existing system did not manage its workflow.

Quick Heal researched several options yet didn’t find a solution with the right blend of factors. That’s when the team signed up for a free trial of Kayako. Before the free trial even ended, Quick Heal decided that Kayako was the right solution.

Kayako’s Shared Inbox Solution creates a frictionless experience by unifying interactions from different sources like email, Facebook, Twitter, and live chat. The Shared Inbox Solution means QuickHeal agents can serve customers more efficiently while preventing dropped tickets and lost conversations.

Kayako Benefits for Quick Heal:

• Reduced ticket response and resolution times
• Improved collaboration and reduced duplication of effort
• Extended support hours
• Consolidated conversations from multiple sources

“Without Kayako, we would not be able to manage all of the incoming ticket requests in an organized manner nor provide the quality of support we stand for. Kayako is far more efficient than our previous help desk system.” Sushant Dashputre, Assistant Manager of Technical Support at Quick Heal

Are you ready to deliver Friction-Free Customer Service? Capture your customer’s entire journey in a way a support ticket or traditional help desk never could. Discover Kayako Single View

Increasing NameCheap’s agent productivity through a self-service knowledge base

Namecheap is a leading domain registrar and technology company that offers domain registration, hosting packages, and related services. Customer support is vital to Namecheap, especially because they serve many repeat customers. Scaling personalization in support is imperative to avoid customer churn.

• No optimized workflow for the high volume of requests led to customer complaints.
• Due to a complicated and overwhelming process when responding to customer tickets, Agents became stressed. 
• Low productivity for service agents.

Namecheap began to look for a reliable, unified customer service software solution. They had difficulty finding an option that fit all their needs. The Namecheap team then learned about Kayako and decided to try it.

After Namecheap integrated Kayako into their website, they saw an immediate improvement in agent productivity. They implemented a Self-Service Portal with tools like macro-libraries of responses, automated replies, and a self-help knowledge base to help customers get helpful answers anytime they need help.

Kayako’s SingleView gives agents a complete visualization of the entire customer journey, from initial purchase to most recent customer service inquiry for individualized customer questions needing personalized support. Kayako enables Namecheap to scale personalized customer service, the holy grail for companies with a high volume of repeat customers.

Kayako Benefits for Namecheap:

• Improved self-service knowledge base.
• Streamlined ticket management.
• Boosted productivity.
• Increased customer satisfaction.

“One of the things we most value about Kayako is how carefully they have thought about real-life support processes. In all aspects, Kayako provides us with value in buckets.” Nata Trusova, Director of Customer Support at Namecheap

How Envato manages multiple customer bases in one place and resolves tickets faster

Envato is a world-leading online community for creatives. The company’s steady growth since 2006 outpaced its existing resources for support requests. Envato tried building their own help desk and quickly saw that a DIY solution would be prohibitively expensive in terms of time and money.

They began to search for an existing customer service software solution that could meet their needs and fit their budget.

• Existing support system not keeping up with the volume of requests. 
• Support requests were hard to track, sometimes going to individual emails. 
• Envato managed multiple customer databases and needed a way to coordinate them.

Using Kayako’s SingleView dashboard, Envato could access multiple customer databases in just one place. SingleView provides a complete view of the customer journey so that customer service agents can provide personalized support to every customer.

Using features like Kayako’s ticket parsing rules, Smart Routing and internal collaboration tools helps Envato efficiently give customers accurate answers every time. With Kayako, the Envato team handles more requests in less time while increasing the quality of customer service. Best of all, Kayako is a scalable solution that can grow with Envato.

Kayako Benefits for Envato:

• Resolved tickets faster.
• Managed all customer databases in a single system.

“Kayako has allowed us to extensively customize our help desk. This really meant that we can just make our help desk work in the way we want, rather than coming up with an elaborate system to fit into the technical requirements of other help desks. It has functionality that other support providers have not been able to match.” Jordan McNamara, Community Manager, Envato

Increasing Texas Tech´s customer satisfaction with a communication and collaboration platform

Texas Tech University is a top institution focused on advancing higher education, research, and health care. With more than 10,000 employees and over 36,000 students, their support team was overwhelmed with the volume of service requests.

• Support staff, students, faculty, and many other stakeholders were frustrated because the system couldn’t handle the high volume of support requests. 
• The situation reflected poorly on their brand as a top higher education institution. 
• Staff was trying to manage support requests using a shared Outlook account.
• They had no way to collaborate internally on support requests.

After comparing different options, Texas Tech chose Kayako because it offered  Kayako Collaborators Feature they needed to coordinate internal communications and to serve customers with faster responses.

Their team quickly implemented Kayako’s out-of-the-box features and immediately saw improvement.

“Once we implemented Kayako, we immediately noticed an increase in the quality of communication and collaboration, especially between our support and development team. Our customers also praised the improved communication.” Kevin Eyck, Enterprise Server Administrator, Texas Tech University

Kayako’s integrated self-service feature helped Texas Tech reduce the number of live-agent.

tickets by assisting customers in helping themselves. Texas Tech also leveraged Kayako’s customization options, using a custom LoginShare and integrating it with the intranet and applications used on their campus.

Kayako didn’t just help Texas Tech improve the support experience for the customer; it also enhanced their internal team’s productivity.

With Kayako, Texas Tech University handles all of its support requests quickly and easily resolves customer problems. Customers also benefit from the improved processes for ticket management and communication.

Kayako Benefits for Texas Tech University:

• Reduced the number of support tickets.
• Improved internal collaboration.
• Gained self-service capability.

How Kayako helped CoinStop reduce average response time and implement omnichannel customer support

Coinstop is a trusted provider of cold storage cryptocurrency hardware wallets. After launching in 2016, Coinstop experienced extremely rapid growth.

They soon struggled to manage and respond to all of the support inquiries and questions from potential customers. The Coinstop team began searching for a customer service software solution that was easy to use and implement.

• Rapid growth was putting a strain on the existing bare-bones support process.
• Coinstop must spend time educating customers as well as selling to them.
• Customer service practices did not scale with the company.
• Coinstop was providing customer support using a single email account. 
• Manually responding to hundreds of emails per day wasn’t a productive use of time. 
• There was no way to track the progress of support requests, they couldn’t standardize responses across the various agents, and they found themselves asking repetitive questions that frustrated their customers. 

Coinstop needed a help desk and live chat software to organize and optimize their support. They chose Kayako customer support software because it offers the best experience for both support agents and customers.

Using the Kayako dashboard, agents can interact with customers across multiple social platforms, email, and live chat. Agents can see the customer’s history from all channels, not just chat or email.

Everyone on the Coinstop team has immediate access to all the information they need to provide quick, personalized support to customers with Kayako’s SingleView.

Kayako Benefits for Coinstop:

• Reduced average response time.
• Managed a higher volume of tickets with the same number of agents.
• Improved collaboration between departments.
• Implemented omnichannel support.

“You need one place to browse every single conversation you have had with each customer. Kayako is very well organized. You can tie everything into it, including emails, social media, and team members.” Christopher Pavlesic, Co-Founder of Coinstop

Are you ready to increase your team’s efficiency? Provide a better employee experience and speed up internal support with Kayako HelpDesk. Discover Kayako Self Service

Common Challenges, Custom Solutions for Customer Service Help Desk

As you can see, companies across a spectrum of industries often share similar challenges with customer service. Do you have questions about improving your customer service process? Join world-class customer support teams like the companies in these case studies using Kayako to deliver exceptional customer experiences. Book a Demo today.

What you should do now

• Start your free trial or take the tour to learn more about Kayako
• Increase your knowledge on everything related to customer support with our free eBooks , Webinars and Case Studies
• If you know anyone who'd enjoy this content, share it with them via email, LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook.

Deliver Excellent Customer Support Experiences With Ease

Root out friction in every digital experience, super-charge conversion rates, and optimize digital self-service

Uncover insights from any interaction, deliver AI-powered agent coaching, and reduce cost to serve

Increase revenue and loyalty with real-time insights and recommendations delivered to teams on the ground

Know how your people feel and empower managers to improve employee engagement, productivity, and retention

Take action in the moments that matter most along the employee journey and drive bottom line growth

Whatever they’re are saying, wherever they’re saying it, know exactly what’s going on with your people

Get faster, richer insights with qual and quant tools that make powerful market research available to everyone

Run concept tests, pricing studies, prototyping + more with fast, powerful studies designed by UX research experts

Track your brand performance 24/7 and act quickly to respond to opportunities and challenges in your market

Explore the platform powering Experience Management

• Free Account
• For Digital
• For Customer Care
• For Human Resources
• For Researchers
• Financial Services
• All Industries

Popular Use Cases

Customer Experience

• Employee Experience
• Employee Exit Interviews
• Net Promoter Score
• Voice of Customer
• Customer Success Hub
• Product Documentation
• Training & Certification
• XM Institute
• Popular Resources
• Customer Stories
• Market Research
• Artificial Intelligence
• Partnerships
• Marketplace

The annual gathering of the experience leaders at the world’s iconic brands building breakthrough business results, live in Salt Lake City.

• English/AU & NZ
• Español/Europa
• Español/América Latina
• Português Brasileiro
• REQUEST DEMO

11 great customer service examples in 2023

Excellent customer service is essential for business. In fact, consumers are willing to spend 17 percent more with companies that deliver great customer service, according to American Express .

Unfortunately, it’s true that bad news travels faster than good news, especially in the age of social media. Most customer service stories online are about a bad customer service experience, and consequently, you don’t always hear about companies who are achieving customer satisfaction.

Keep scrolling to find customer service examples that will inspire, as well as tips for improving your customer experience.

What does excellent customer service look like?

The definition of “good” customer service is flexible, because it entirely depends on the level of expectation that customers have for your brand. This can be affected by variables such as your industry, product cost, brand reputation and more.

For example, if you’re flying in Economy, you don’t expect a 5* service with champagne and snacks - but if you were flying Business class, you’d be annoyed if those things weren’t provided for the higher cost of your seat.

What consumers expect from your customer service experience is the key factor in whether they perceive your brand to be great or terrible. Do they want to be able to resolve issues on multiple channels, or do they go to one channel for specific problems? Is your average response time more important to them, or is it how many self-service options you provide that matters? Is poor customer service the main reason why they might try a competitor?

Your support teams are your front line, shaping customer experience on a day-to-day basis. They can be proactively helpful in providing customer service that’s memorable, and turn a bad customer service experience around.

Investing in great service is worth your while. Don’t lose customers and brand loyalty by failing to meet and exceed expectations - grow your business’ revenue by ensuring that your excellent service keeps customers coming back.

Examples of good customer service experiences are more often than not the result of a kind, customer-centric service agents who are good at the following things:

Good customer service examples

• Responding quickly: A customer will appreciate fast response times when they want to ask a question or highlight a problem.
• Acting on customer feedback: When a customer support agent acts on the feedback they’ve received, it shows them that their opinion mattered.
• Showing empathy: Employees that try to understand a customer’s point of view make a customer feel valued, and can turn an angry customer into a happy one.
• Maintaining customer self-service options: Sometimes customers would prefer to find their own answer to problems rather than getting in touch with your customer service center. Having an up-to-date FAQ page or knowledge article base can be very helpful.
• Providing omnichannel support: Different communication channels can support customers that have busy schedules or want flexibility in how they connect with businesses. Your customer service teams need to be prepared to offer support through email, phone, live chat, and social media.
• Going the extra mile: When an employee is able to deliver excellent customer service beyond the customer’s expectations or adds a personal touch to the service experience, it can leave a positive impression and increase customer loyalty.

A less generalized amd more specific example of enhancing customer satisfaction and building loyalty is by offering discounts and coupons (depending on your industry and needs).

Why is delivering excellent customer service important?

There are several reasons why great customer service is important for your business. Below we list the most important ones.

Satisfied customers will spend more

According to Hubspot , 68 percent of consumers are willing to pay more for products and services from brands associated with excellent customer service. When you invest in delivering great customer service, you’re creating happy customers but also generating enough brand equity to charge a premium for your offering.

Your ROI will improve and profits will increase

Deloitte found that brands that were customer-centric were 60 percent more profitable when they were compared to companies that neglected to focus on customer experience. Your support team should be empowered to provide excellent customer service, not just for the customer’s benefit, but for your brand’s financial benefit as well.

Customers are more likely to forgive you

If you provide good customer service, you can convince customers to return, even if something didn’t go as they expected. Salesforce found that 78 percent of consumers will do business with a brand again after a mistake is made if the customer service is excellent.

Customer loyalty improves with great customer service

Microsoft says that a whopping 96 percent of customers believe customer service is vital when they’re choosing to be loyal to a brand. If you don’t provide customer service that meets expectations when dealing with an upset customer, you risk alienating them from returning to spend more. Quality service will help you to increase customer lifetime value.

A great customer experience means a higher chance of recommendations

Consumers who have a good customer service experience are more likely to recommend your brand to other people. Our own XM Institute found that consumers who rate a brand’s service as “good” are 38% more likely to recommend that company to others.

Real-life examples of great customer service

It's one thing to talk about what good customer service is in theory, and another to apply it to real-world companies. Below are eleven customer service examples from companies that go above and beyond, as well as the customer service tips we’ve taken from their stories.

• JetBlue - Thank frequent customers with small gestures
• Tesla - Meet your customers where they're at
• Adobe - Respond to customer service complaints before they happen
• Trader Joe's - Help those in time of need
• Coca-Cola - Get involved in social causes
• Zappos - Personally reply to every email
• Us! - Provide an exceptional event experience
• Sainsbury’s – Don't be afraid to change everything
• American Express – Give customers benefits that can be used globally
• Walmart - Invite customers into the company family
• The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company – Turn customer errors into service opportunities

1. JetBlue - Thank frequent customers with small gestures

Paul Brown was flying JetBlue airlines when he casually tweeted that he couldn’t grab his Starbucks coffee before boarding the plane because he was flying out of the smaller terminal at Boston’s Logan airport. Within seconds of seeing the tweet, JetBlue sprang to action and the airport customer service reps delivered a Starbucks venti mocha to his seat on the plane. Brown was elated and raved about JetBlue on Twitter.

Good customer service takeaway : This is definitely one of those great customer examples other companies can learn from. The main takeaway? Your customers don’t always need large gestures, but just want to know they’re appreciated. In fact, 68 percent of customers leave because they perceive you don’t appreciate them.  I’m sure after knowing his request was heard, Mr. Brown feels appreciated and he’ll be a loyal customer for a long time. Keep your company at the top of your customer’s mind, with good customer care by doing small acts for more people, instead of a few large things for a lot of people. Believe it or not, it's the simple things that count and produce loyal and happy customers.

2. Tesla - Meet your customers where they’re at

Tesla literally meets customers where they’re at by going to the customer’s home and fixing issues on their car. It’s convenient for the customer because they don’t have to sit around a repair shop and it can be scheduled on their own time. This is an example of excellent customer service.

Flat tire on Sunday. Called Tesla, git a loaner tire within 40 minutes. Today they came to my house to replace the tire in 10 minutes. scheduled to come back to fix a small issue next week. What other car company does this? @elonmusk @TeslaModel3 @Tesla #mobileservice pic.twitter.com/GiNwOM3RJZ — Chris Kern (@cjk7216) October 31, 2018

3. Adobe - Respond to customer service complaints before they happen

When Adobe had an outage due to an issue with Amazon Web Services, they posted a tweet about it before they started getting customer complaints. The tweet contained a video of a puppy stampede as a distraction and lightened the mood. While there were some comments asking when the program would be running again, many replies focused on the adorable puppies.

Hi all, some Adobe services are down due to the AWS outage: https://t.co/U2qtybaT8J Here's a puppy stampede to take your mind off of it. ? pic.twitter.com/Glv6Anavje — Adobe Customer Care (@AdobeCare) February 28, 2017

4. Trader Joe's - Help those in time of need

An 89-year-old man was stuck in his house during a snowstorm and his granddaughter was worried he wouldn’t have enough food. She called around to several grocery stores and asked if they would deliver, to no avail. Finally, Trader Joe’s said they normally don’t deliver, but they would help. She read off a big list to the store and they delivered the entire order and more within 30 minutes, free of charge.

5. Coca-Cola - Get involved in social causes

Since 1984, Coke has given back more than $1 billion through the Coca-Cola Foundation. What’s great is they give back at the local level and not just to large organizations. For instance, Coke in Ireland initiated the Coca-Cola Thank You Fund , which gives €100K annually to local charities that empower young people, foster sustainability, and encourage diversity and inclusion.

6. Zappos - Personally reply to every email

Zappos responds to every email it receives, even if it’s addressed to the CEO. In this case, a woman sent a request to Tony Hsieh and even though he was unavailable, his representative sent a humorous and engaging email back.

7. Us!  - Provide an exceptional event experience

During many conferences that we attend, we send our  “Qualtrics Dream Team” to fulfill customers' needs and wishes to make the event a truly exceptional experience. From food and drinks, to swag, to even vacations and massages, our team tries to fulfill as many requests as possible. They also collect customer feedback and make changes for a better event experience, such as room temperature and providing phone chargers.

Not a legal comment, but every other company listed here has some example of a customer thanking them for good customer service. I think our example would be stronger if we had something like that.

Curious to know how we run the Dream Team using our own software, or why we bring it to events like #CXOLeadersSummit ? Stop by our booth and we'll share all the secrets! Our team is here till 4pm AEST. pic.twitter.com/pEjfd2Jl8K — Qualtrics (@Qualtrics) August 8, 2018

8. Sainsbury’s – Don't be afraid to change everything

When Sainsbury’s, a UK supermarket chain, received a letter from three-and-a-half-year-old Lily Robinson, they ended up rebranding one of their products entirely. Lily thought their "tiger bread" didn’t resemble a tiger’s stripes at all – it looked more like the pattern on a giraffe. Sainsbury’s responded that the little girl was right and made new labels to share Lily's insight with other customers.

9. American Express – Give customers benefits that can be used globally

American Express maintains their position as a top-tier credit card company by offering its customers plenty of extra benefits: complimentary travel flight credit, insurance, and access to airline lounges to name a few. Combine these worldwide benefits with American Express's 24/7 support line and its global partners network and you have a company that truly connects with you wherever you are.

10. Walmart - Invite customers into the company family

Walmart has a reputation for being focused on providing value to everyday families. They live out their family focus through the way they treat their employees. When one of their associates turned 101 years old, they shared the news on Facebook and invited customers to participate in the celebration.

11. The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company – Turn customer errors into service opportunities

Ritz-Carlton employees are allowed up to $2,000 to fix any guest problem, no questions asked. One example was told by customer John DiJulius, who left his charger behind at The Ritz-Carlton Sarasota. He received a next-day air package with his charger and a note saying ‘Mr. DiJulius, I wanted to make sure we got this to you right away. I am sure you need it, and, just in case, I sent you an extra charger for your laptop.’

How to provide great customer service

The best way to provide a good customer service experience is to gather feedback, set metrics and take action on your overall customer experience (CX) .

Why not check out our free survey template to collect feedback for customer service and contact centers? You can download it here.

With Qualtrics, you can track key metrics with a customer service benchmark report to help you to understand how your service is improving over time. Track interactions and feedback across the customer journey and customer service experience, and set action into motion to gain customer trust and loyalty.

Best customer service practices: Improving agent effectiveness

Diana Kaemingk

Diana Kaemingk is a contributor to the Qualtrics blog.

Related Articles

March 21, 2024

Turning reactive CX into proactive CX

March 11, 2024

Conversational AI: Exploring the future of experience management

February 5, 2024

Qualtrics again named a Leader in 2024 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Voice of the Customer report

January 30, 2024

Qualtrics now a CMS-approved vendor to conduct the Health Outcomes Survey

January 22, 2024

How AI powered personalization is transforming customer experience

December 15, 2023

Qualtrics named a Voice of the Customer (VoC) Leader in IDC MarketScape report

December 12, 2023

To be a change maker in CX, focus on business outcomes

November 28, 2023

Qualtrics Customer Success Hub: Taking digital self-service to the next level

Stay up to date with the latest xm thought leadership, tips and news., request demo.

Ready to learn more about Qualtrics?

• Integrations
• Case Studies
• State of Competitive Intelligence
• Partner Directory
• In the News
• Crayon Academy

Crayon Competitive Intelligence blog

Your guide to creating customer case studies (+ some show-stopping examples).

Teams are constantly looking for ways to stand out in crowded markets. Customer case studies may be just the differentiator companies have been seeking to give them that competitive edge. Not only do customer case studies showcase the types of pain points that a product or service can address, but they also highlight the results and successes real-life users have seen.

To put it simply, a customer case study is a real-life, detailed story that spotlights a customer’s opinions and achievements based upon the usage of a product or service. 

Typically, customer case studies follow this format:

• Introduction: Setting the stage with situational context 
• Challenge: Evaluating the problem at hand
• Solution: Providing an overview of how the product or service was used
• Benefits: Highlighting the key advantages
• Results: Recapping the aftereffect once the product or service was implemented

Similar to how competitive comparison landing pages provide trust and credibility for a brand through real-life recommendations, customer case studies deliver the same effect. These studies are people-focused, factual, and stray away from the promotional lingo that prospective customers have seen time and time again during their product search. After all, what prospect wouldn’t want some insight on the successes users have seen thus far? 

Now that you have a better understanding of what a customer case study is, let’s dive into why they are important from a competitive standpoint and explore some tips on how to incorporate them into your marketing strategy.  

The importance of customer case studies 

Competition is heating up more quickly than ever before and is not expected to cool off anytime soon. Our 2021 State of Competitive Intelligence Report found that 53% of businesses say that the majority of their deals are competitive–an 8% increase from last year. 

Sales teams need the help of marketers more than ever before to combat the growing number of industry rivals. To be successful in prospective calls, in particular, they need to be equipped with loads of marketing collateral, battlecards to guide them through objection-handling, and more. Customer case studies may be that piece of collateral they didn’t realize was missing from their stack to help seal the deal. 

According to Eccolo Media’s 2015 B2B Technology Content Survey Report , customer case studies rank as the fifth most influential content marketing type in the purchase process for both small technology businesses and large enterprises. That’s an impressive ranking when it's being compared to assets such as product brochures, emails, and white papers. In fact, 42% of respondents said that in the last six months of the survey, they had consumed customer case studies as a way to evaluate a technology purchase. 

As I’m sure you can see, there’s no doubt that customer case studies can help you stand out from your competitors. Let’s take a look at some examples that you can model yours after. 

Successful customer case study examples

While some customer case studies come in the written form (typically distributed as a PDF), other organizations opt to turn it into a video–or do a combo of both. 

Check out these examples from Zoom, Hootsuite, and AT&T below:

1. Zoom featuring Groupon

In this example, Zoom opted for a video case study. It opens up with a multimedia services manager at Groupon discussing the company’s pain points and then goes into how Zoom helped solve them. The video is professional, to-the-point, and highlights how Zoom has provided Groupon with a standardized platform that meets the needs of its video-first culture.

As you can see above, Zoom also has an entire web page dedicated to case study videos–all highlighting different industries but with the same end-goal–streamline companies’ telecommunications needs. It’s clear that the page can resonate with a variety of audiences and that’s the key to success.

2. Hootsuite featuring The British Museum

This case study example from Hootsuite is a combination of both text and video. When you first open the page, it provides some context at the top describing who is being spotlighted and why ( The British Museum ). The page then immediately dives into a video. Following that video are the following sections: “What They Did," “How They Did It," and “The Results." This approach appeals to prospects looking for both a quick synopsis (the video) or more in-depth information (the written portion).

Looking at the example above, the page ends with some impressive statistics bolded to grab a reader's attention and a quote provided by a member of the customer’s leadership team. Prospects will walk away with a comprehensive understanding of how the platform could benefit them and the types of results customers have achieved.

3. AT&T featuring Birkey's Farm Store

AT&T chose a more traditional route for a customer case study with Birkey’s Farm Store –a PDF format. This format ensures that all of the information is organized, clearly displayed and that the key elements are emphasized. This format allows for a visual representation of data and easy scanning for important details. For those in a time crunch, chances are they’ll prefer this format–just be sure you’re engaging readers through graphics, bolded text, colors, etc. 

Historically, customer case studies were in written form but as technology evolves, videos have come into play, stealing the spotlight. While there is no right or wrong format to use (it truly does depend on a reader’s preference), it is important to note that HubSpot estimated that over 50% of consumers want to see videos from brands more than any other type of content. My vote goes to a combination of both like the Hootsuite example!

5 tips for creating a customer case study

Now that you’ve checked out some examples of what a good customer case study looks like, let’s dive into some tips on how to be successful in creating one. 

1. Determine your target persona(s) upfront

Before putting pen to paper, pinpoint the groups within your target audience that your case study should resonate with. Catering your studies to specific personas will ensure that the right audience is reached and that it is relevant to your readers.

2. Connect with your team

Be sure to connect with your company’s customer success and sales teams to hear what customers they think are best to target. After all, they will have great insight since they are the day-to-day contacts. You’ll want to choose customers with whom you have strong relationships and who, of course, have seen great results based upon implementing your solution. While the case study would be “free advertising” for them, there’s no doubt that they’d be doing you a favor by going out of their way to help you bring this asset to life.

3. Create case study interview questions

Once you’ve got your customer(s) selected for the case study (and they’ve agreed to participate), take some time to draft out universal interview questions. Ideally, these questions can be used in the future and are general enough to translate to all industries that would be spotlighted on your page.

Your customer(s) will also be appreciative of your preparedness. It’s important to make the process as easy as possible for them and coming in prepared with a list, will ensure that your conversation is focused and strategic. After all, your case study needs a beginning, middle, and an end–make sure you gather enough information to put it all together into a full story.

4. Utilize statistics

Although your customer’s “results” won’t be revealed until the end of the case study, don’t shy away from using stats throughout it–in fact, it’s encouraged! Statistics stick out to any viewer and can be helpful for those trying to sway decision-makers. For example, when setting the scene, describe how many employees and locations the customer has and make those numbers stand out. Although it may seem minute, these stats can help readers determine whether their company is similar and the results achieved are comparable.

5. Build out a case study web page 

It’s important to showcase your case studies in a strategic, organized, and easily accessible way (scroll back up to the Zoom example as an example). Create a designated case study hub on your website. When building out this page, it’s important to have a plethora of customer case studies–that way there will always be a case study that a prospect can relate to. Be sure that all types of industries you work with are represented and that your page is broad enough to appeal to the masses.

Incorporate case studies into your marketing plan

Marketing teams are always looking for ways to express the benefits of a product or service authentically and creatively. This type of non-promotional collateral can make a major impact on the number of leads generated and can add a new level of credibility to your brand name. It paints a picture of the types of success a prospect could have and that’s the recipe to success for any deal getting closed.

Not only do customer case studies showcase the value of your product or service, but potential customers are provided with a better sense of how real customers leverage it to excel their business. And as a bonus, it’s free publicity for your customers – that's a win-win in my book! 

If you have any other tips for creating a successful customer case study, let us know in the comments below!

See why Gong, Mastercard, and ZoomInfo trust Crayon to help them win more competitive deals.

Related Blog Posts

Popular Posts

• Browse All Articles
• Newsletter Sign-Up

CustomerSatisfaction →

No results found in working knowledge.

• Were any results found in one of the other content buckets on the left?
• Try removing some search filters.
• Use different search filters.

• Success Stories

They Ask, You Answer Mastery

A coaching & training program that drives unmatched sales & marketing results.

Sales Performance Mastery

Improve the competencies and close rates of your sales organization.

Website Mastery

Web design, development & training for your team.

HubSpot Mastery

Everything you need to get the most from HubSpot.

AI Enablement Mastery

Unlock the power of AI in all aspects of your revenue operations.

More Services

• Paid Search & Social
• Request a Speaker
• Join the Community

Learning Center

Free resources to help you improve the way you market, sell and grow your business.

• Podcast Episodes
• Tools & Assessments

Quick Links

• What is They Ask, You Answer
• Free Sales & Marketing Assessment
• Certifications
• The Endless Customers Podcast
• Meet the Team
• Certified Coaches

Free Assessment:  How does your sales & marketing measure up?

Free Assessment:

By John Becker

Mar 19, 2022

Join 40,000+ sales and marketing pros who receive our weekly newsletter.

Get the most relevant, actionable digital sales and marketing insights you need to make smarter decisions faster... all in under five minutes.

How To Write a Case Study That Speaks to Your Customers

How to write a customer case study in 6 steps

• Identify the need
• Identify the subject
• Conduct your interviews
• Cover the basics (who, what, how)
• Provide the right framing
• Include emotion

For a prospect who’s just about to make a purchase, a case study could be the most helpful piece of content they could come across.

A case study tells the story of a customer just like them : someone who faced a similar challenge and, with the help of your business, overcame it. This prospect can see themselves in the case study, and the testimony of a real-life customer will have more weight than any other marketing materials you have. 

But, as with any piece of content, a case study needs to be produced in just the right way to have the most impact. Too vague and the effect is lost. Too salesy and the prospect doesn’t trust it.

The best case studies are detailed without being dry, and poignant without being mawkish.

At IMPACT, we guide our clients to write compelling case studies that they can use with prospects in the sales process. Below, we’ll give you the step-by-step guide we teach so that you can put this powerful tool into the hands of your own sales team.

Below, we’ll cover:

• What a case study is (and isn’t).
• How to write a case study in 6 steps.
• Examples of great case studies to inspire you.
• How to know if your case study is working as it’s supposed to.

Ready to tell your customers’ stories? Let’s walk through this process together.

What is a case study?

A case study is a piece of content that tells the story of a customer’s journey. Ideally, this customer struggled with a specific problem before they found your business and your solution, which alleviated the pain point. 

Case studies are so effective because they balance anecdote and quantitative data, so they appeal to both the head and the heart. 

Marketers, after all, are storytellers, and case studies are a wonderful chance to tell the story of a customer . Humans are hard-wired to appreciate stories of struggle and triumph, so your case study should fit right in. 

A case study will usually take the form of an article, but it could be a video or other medium as well.

Most often, case studies are written with bottom-of-the-funnel prospects in mind. As someone approaches a purchase, the case study can help convince them that buying from you is a good idea. 

What a case study isn’t

Although a case study is marketing material for your business, it is not about you . The customer is the hero of this story. Your business is the guide that helped them overcome challenges and succeed.

Case studies should include emotion (more on that later), but they should not be sentimental or emotionally manipulative .

How to write a case study in 6 steps

Jen Barrell is a content trainer at IMPACT who works with businesses to plan their inbound marketing strategy. She has guided numerous clients through the case study writing process. 

She advises a six-step process to produce a rough draft, after which you should follow your normal process for QA and publication. 

These are the steps she asks businesses to follow. 

Step 1: Identify the need

Before you begin, Jen says, you must determine the need this case study will solve. Ask yourself these questions:

• Who are you actually writing this for?
• What key problems are you trying to solve for the reader?
• At what stage in the buying process will this case study be used?

Having answers to these big questions up front will save time in the long run. You want to be sure about your audience and your scope so that you know exactly how to tailor your message to suit your future customers. 

Step 2: Identify the subject

Second, you’ll need to determine who you’ll be writing about. It could be a business or an individual, depending on what you sell, but it should be a single customer, so focus on only one.

Talk with your sales and service teams to decide on some previous customers who could be good subjects. Compile a short list of possible candidates and reach out to them, explaining the process and timeline.

According to Jen, this is a time to follow the path of least resistance. “The best case studies are created out of interviews,” she says. “You want to talk with people who are enthusiastic and genuine.” 

In other words, if they’re resistant to your initial outreach, they’re likely to be a less compelling interview subject. 

Step 3: Conduct your interviews

A good case study tells a story. You’ll need to compile solid evidence to show the effect your business has had on that customer’s life.

• Did your insurance company help them rebuild after a disaster?
• Did your team help them win their court case? 
• Did your marketing plan help them successfully launch a new product line? 
• Did you provide alternative solutions for their design process so they could be more efficient? 

Whatever the case may be, you’ll need the numbers to back it up. What was it like before, during, and after your company’s involvement? What initial challenge did they face? What positive results did that customer eventually see? How long did it all take?

You’ll need to do research to find the raw data to make these key points. You can get some from your team and some from the subject.

But a case study isn’t just about numbers and profit. Sure, these may be your main findings, but you don’t want to overlook the human element. You’re telling a positive story about transformation. 

In your interviews, make sure to ask questions about the people behind the numbers. Ask questions about the emotions they felt during their journey.

Step 4: Cover the basics

Any reader looking at a case study is looking for very specific information. They want to know the same thing:

• Who is the customer being described? What makes their story relatable?
• What were the problems they were facing? What challenges did you help solve? What other possible solutions did they try or consider?
• How did your company’s offerings — whether product or service — help the customer succeed?
• Results: What did their success look like? How long did it take? What were the details of the experience?

If you cover these basics in every case study you write, you’ll produce a consistent product that is digestible for bottom-of-the-funnel prospects in the final stages of a purchase.

Jen says, “This is a time when having a formula to follow will serve you well. Prospects might read several case studies at once, so make sure they’re easy to read and well-structured.”

Step 5: Provide the right framing

As the writer, it’s up to you, to provide the right framing and structure to make your case study grab the reader’s attention while at the same time conveying relevant facts that might feel dry.

This starts in your introduction. 

Most case study intros jump right into the who-what-how without providing the context of what’s to come. Instead, Jen advises using a “P-E-P” approach in the intro to hook the reader. Think of this as the welcome mat of your case study, she explains. “In your introduction, start by identifying the problem , then demonstrate your experience , then offer a promise .”

• Start by connecting with the reader by showing them you recognize the problem they’re experiencing. For instance, if you’re writing a case study that shows how your roofing company helped a customer replace their roof after a hurricane, then most likely the people drawn to that particular case study are experiencing a similar situation. 
• Then you’ll want to provide the context of the case study by telling them who you are and the expertise you have to solve their problem. While the case study certainly isn’t about your company or product, the reader does deserve to know who’s advising them. 
• Finally, your intro should make a promise to the reader about what’s to come. This is the space where you’ll preview to your reader what the payoff is for reading through to the end.

What the P-E-P approach looks like in practice

For the example above, the case study introduction might look something like this:

The worry that natural disasters cause homeowners can easily turn to panic when a worst-case scenario occurs. The loss of a roof during a storm both exposes the physical contents of your home and tests your emotions. You’re left wondering how long it will take to repair, if your house is safe to live in, how you’ll deal with insurance, and who will help you navigate through this mess in the coming days. [Identify the problem.] As a Florida-based roofing company, Acme Roofing has helped 20 families in the past year alone repair their homes when the unthinkable happened. Jane Smith and her family lost their roof in the last hurricane and have some crucial advice for not only making it through this trying time but coming out with a home that’s both beautiful and safe for her family. [Show your expertise.] Keep reading to find out what happened to Jane’s home and the steps she took to secure a safe place for her family. [Offer a promise of what’s to come.]

Any article could rely on this intro format, but case studies are especially well-served by this approach, Jen says.

From there, each section of the case study should smoothly lead into the next. Be sure to provide transitions and appropriate pacing. This should be informative, but not dry like academic writing. 

Step 6: Include emotion

Be sure to include human elements that convey to the reader that this is a real story involving real people. There are emotions connected to every decision we make, and conveying these in the case study will enhance its appeal to your audience. 

Was he afraid he would lose his business?

Was she frustrated by previous products that didn’t solve her problem?

What did they feel when your business stepped in? Relief? Joy? Satisfaction? 

Include these emotions .  Case studies often come across as extremely dry, but this is one article type that can carry heavy emotion. Use the emotion of the people you got to know during the interview process. 

After you’ve completed these steps, you’ll have your rough draft. Share it with the customer whose story you’ve shared. See if anything needs further exploration or additional background information.

Bring together two or three trusted colleagues who can serve as editors. Avoid having too many cooks in the kitchen, though.

Then, polish and refine what you have, including the feedback of your colleagues, to create your final draft. If necessary, work with a graphic designer to create visual elements to help enhance the story. 

Then, get that sucker in the hands of your sales team .

Case study examples to inspire you

What does an actual case study look like? There are dozens of ways your business could approach a case study, but don’t forget those core elements. You must tell a compelling story that will resonate with your target audience: potential customers who are almost ready to make a purchase. 

Example 1: IMPACT and Bill Ragan Roofing

Here’s a narrative-style case study that tells the story of one of our clients, Tennessee-based Bill Ragan Roofing. 

Note how writer Jolie Higazi balances the numbers and the human element. Readers feel like they’re getting to know this business and want to celebrate its success. 

Example 2: Screensteps and The Peninsula Jewish Community Center

Screensteps provides training software to businesses for onboarding and other instruction. Here is a case study explaining how they helped a nonprofit implement a new CRM for more than 200 employees. 

With wit and illustrations, they tell the tale in a way that is accessible and engaging. Again, this doesn’t feel like research writing. It reads as a compelling narrative — and includes quotes from various stakeholders throughout. 

Evaluating your case study

How will you know if your case study is any good? 

Simple, says Jen. Listen to your sales team. 

In most cases, case studies will be used by your sales team with bottom-of-the-funnel prospects who are close to a decision. Jen advises that marketers check in with sales reps to see exactly how the case study landed with a prospect. 

Did they ask follow-up questions? Did they see themselves in it? If your case study is covering all the bases, your sales team should be raving about it. If not, go back to the drawing board and make it better.

If your case study is aimed at a broader audience, evaluate it the way you would any article. “Look at your conversion data,” Jen says. “Make sure that your bounce rate is low because that shows your audience immediately wanted to learn more about what you offer.”

The real-life stories your buyers need

Case studies are incredibly useful for your sales team and helpful for your buyers. However, keep in mind that they need to be regularly updated to avoid looking stale. If you tout yourself as a cutting-edge business but your case studies all come from five years ago, you might inadvertently hurt your chances with a prospect. Even a great example might not age well.

Once you produce a case study, it will be up to you to update as needed. Set aside time each quarter to read through old content and make sure it’s up to date and still makes sense.

If you need help convincing your potential customers that your offerings are perfect for them, case studies are perhaps your greatest asset. Spend the time to tell these customer stories so that your prospects can learn about a real-life situation in which they can see themselves. 

Related Articles

How a remodeling company tamed its ar problem with hubspot.

How to Write a Persuasive Case Study That Converts (w/ free template)

How bill ragan roofing company doubled revenue after hiring a content manager, how we generated $85,000+ with 'choose your own adventure' lead nurturing workflows.

How PosterMyWall used COVID-19 to really listen to its customers [Interview]

1 million backlinks: what you can learn from running a backlink audit in 2020, how to drive hundreds of webinar registrations [case study], mailchimp continues to evolve from just email marketing services, 10 things your business can learn from apple's marketing [infographic], warner bros. & lego's "brick friday" campaign teaches marketers 3 valuable lessons, 5 customer service lessons i learned first-hand from godaddy, how to get truly memorable video testimonials from your customers [+ video].

Grassroots Inbound: 5 Tactics I Used to Make an Impact Locally

Why 55+ major brands are staying home this thanksgiving, "big inbound results on a small budget feat. chris handy" (inbound success podcast ep. 5), software company's sqls increase 45% overnight thanks to sales enablement, software company doubled leads, tripled mqls and sqls in 1 year with hubspot.

HubSpot Impact Awards: Evaluation Checklist Hits Big With Seniors

HubSpot Website Redesign Improves UX, Increases Conversions

Fyre Festival: 3 Business Lessons Learned from Its Failure

How 7 Brands Are Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day With Their Marketing

12 amazing conversion rate optimization case studies.

5 Brands with a Great Holiday Marketing Strategy You Can Learn From

The big lesson marketers can learn from the rise and fall of vine, join the 40,000+ sales and marketing pros who receive our weekly insights, tips, and best practices., thanks, stay tuned for our upcoming edition..

10 B2B Case Study Examples to Inspire Your Next Customer Success Story

• October 24, 2023

Case studies, also known as customer stories, are valuable content assets for attracting new customers and showing your expertise in a competitive market.

The more case studies you have, the simpler it gets for your customers to make decisions.

Case studies provide a firsthand experience of what it’s like to use your product or service, and it can give an “Aha!” moment to potential customers.

While product demos and white papers are great for generating leads, their use is limited to highlighting product features. 

On the other hand, case studies showcase the transformation a business has undergone while using your product.

A case study offers potential customers a glimpse of the positive changes they can expect, which is more compelling than simply showcasing your product or service’s excellence.

• Customer mission should be given at the beginning
• Follow up about specifics and metrics
• Use quotes from their side to highlight
• Work out the biggest benefits of your offering and make reference to them
• Make sure your success story follows a brief and logical story structure

In this article, we’ll review 10 examples of outstanding case studies that have collectively helped secure millions in new client business. Let’s get started.

What Is A Case Study?

In simple terms, a case study highlights how a product or service has helped a business solve a problem, achieve a goal, or make its operations easier. 

In many ways, it’s a glorified and stretched-out client testimonial that introduces you to the problem that the customer is facing and the solution that the product has helped deliver. 

Case studies are invaluable assets for B2B SaaS, where sales cycles tend to get lengthy and costly. They’re a one-time investment that showcases your product’s features and benefits in rooms your sales team can’t be in. 

What Makes A Good Case Study? 

There is no one-size-fits approach to a good case study. 

Some case studies work better as long, prose-forward, and story-driven blog posts. Whereas some are better as quick and fast-fact content that doesn’t add to the chatter but gets straight to the point. 

Here are some of the tenets of good case studies:

• Product-Led : Focuses on showcasing the product as the solution to a specific problem or challenge.
• Timely : Addresses the current issues or trends relevant to the business’s ideal customer profile (ICP) . 
• Well-structured: Follows a clear, organized format with easily digestible writing style and synthesis. 
• Story-driven: Tells a compelling and relatable story that puts the reader in the customer’s shoes. 

Case studies must tell the customer’s story regardless of style or content density.

Other than that, visuals in case studies are powerful in increasing conversion rates, by providing real evidence and taking attention.

Companies can also use their website, social media, and newsletters to promote case studies and increase visibility.

Below, we have ten diverse case study examples that embody these principles. 

B2B Case Study Template from Our Team

We will share great and proven B2B case study examples that you can get inspired by in the following section, but before that, let’s take a look at an easy and effective template from our team.

10 Best B2B Case Study Examples To Take Inspiration From

Plaid is a fintech company specializing in equipping users with a secure platform to connect their bank details to online applications. Addressing the pressing concern of financial security, Plaid leverages compelling case studies to showcase the remarkable transformations their clients experience.

Take Plaid’s case study of Betterment, for example. 

The study begins by stating the goal that the customer is trying to achieve, which is to “onboard new users and drive engagement.” Right next to the goal is company details, and followed below is a singular problem and its solution.

The case study continues by keeping the business’ desired result front and center and offers a generous outlook on the SaaS business.

The core process of how Plaid helps Betterment is cleanly laid out, which is a brief version of a ten-page white paper. 

What follows are several benefits that Plaid offered to Betterment. 

Plaid’s subtle yet effective product integration and clear, well-organized process make it simple for customers facing similar challenges to envision the solution.

2. SalesHandy

SalesHandy is an email automation software that personalizes high-volume cold emails. The company heroes client success stories for its case studies and opens the heading with their wins. 

Check out this B2B case study example from Sedin’s case study published by SalesHandy.

Readers need context, and case studies should always begin by outlining the exact problems their product or platform aims to solve. 

Here, SalesHandy expertly introduces us to Sedin’s use case and the challenges that the business is facing.

After a lengthy context, the case study highlights Sedin’s core challenge in the words of its personnel. 

This personable approach ropes readers in and lets them empathize with Sedin’s challenges. 

With a single scroll in, SalesHandy lays out the solutions to Sedin’s core challenges and integrates its product. 

This highly detailed case study covers all corners and includes the exceptional results achieved in record time. SalesHandy closes the study with a word from the character already introduced to the readers. 

SalesHandy doesn’t shy away from giving a detailed account of its process, which is crucial for highly technical products and enterprise packages that involve multiple decision-makers. 

B2B Case studies, first and foremost, should be written in a language that your ICP understands. 

Playvox is a customer service platform that helps businesses streamline business operations. 

This industry-specific case study of Sweaty Betty by Playvox addresses unique challenges within a niche industry, such as account assessment times for retail and online shops. 

The case study starts with the results it achieved for Sweaty Betty. 

The case study follows a straightforward, albeit impactful, challenges-solution-results format as we scroll down. 

But instead of listing out solutions in bullet points, Playvox uses customer voice to present the transformation that Sweaty Betty went through. 

With this formatting, Playvox doesn’t have to tout the platform’s usefulness. Sweaty Betty is doing it for them. 

4. Base Search Marketing

We promised diverse case studies, and here is a stellar B2B case study example of a single deck case study of Shine Cosmetics by Base Search Marketing.  

Base Search Marketing is a boutique link-building and SEO agency that works with startups and mid-level businesses. 

This case study, which can be reviewed as a brochure, gives you an overview of the customer and lays out the challenges that the business is facing. 

You’ll notice how the study uses the CEO’s quote to mention a pretty universal problem that most startups face: “limited resources.”

By highlighting the results in the left tab and laying out the process on the right side, this case study does a masterful job of covering all corners and telling a desirable customer success story.

Another approachable form of case study is slide decks, which you can present in boardrooms and meetings and act as a sales pitch. 

Loganix nails it with its case study deck for rankings.io. 

If you have a complicated product or service requiring an in-depth explanation, then using this format would be a great option. 

The solution, stated in simple bullet points, drives the message home.

Fewer words. Cleaner decks.

Using this methodology lets the audience walk through the case study with visuals, bullet points, and concise text. 

6. CoSchedule

CoSchedule is a SaaS leader in the social media space, and this Outcome-led Case Study proves just why it is so good at capturing the markets.

The study kicks off with a result-forward headline, piquing the interest of readers who are interested in getting similar outcomes. 

There’s much to appreciate in this succinctly written case study, but the headlines get our attention and hold it.

With every scroll, results are presented to you in the form of graphs, quotes, and visuals. 

The study ends with a quote from the customer, which repeats the outcome stated in the headline. 

Leading remote teams is a challenge that numerous teams will face moving forward. CoSchedule makes operations easy for these teams, and it doesn’t shy away from stating just how through its case study. 

7. Wizehire

Case studies have evolved from lengthy blocks of text confined to PDFs to a new digital era emphasizing impact over verbosity.

Wizehire’s succinct case study is a prime example of this shift. It uses fewer words to create a powerful impression.

From the very first page, the case study introduces us to Kris, the customer and central figure of the story. Without the need for extensive scrolling, we quickly grasp vital details about Kris: his role, employee turnover, location, and industry. 

In the second slide, we are immediately taken to the solution that Kris got by working with Wizehire. 

The case study ends with a passionate testimonial from Kris, who deeply believes in Wizehire. 

The case study has less than 300 words, enough for local entrepreneurs like Kris Morales, who want to hire talent but don’t have the resources for proper vetting and training. Until, of course, Wizehire comes along. 

8. FreshBooks

When a reader can see themselves in a case study, it takes them one step closer to wanting to try the product.

This case study by Freshbooks uses a beautiful personal story of an emerging entrepreneur. 

Using a deeply personal story, the study appeals to people who are just starting and aren’t accountants but suddenly have to deal with employee invoices and a dozen other bills. 

The text progresses in an interview-style study, with the customer taking the mic and illustrating the challenges that startups and small businesses face. 

This style works because readers crave insights directly from customers. Getting authentic testimonials is becoming increasingly challenging. Well-crafted case studies can be valuable substitutes, provided they seem realistic and from the heart. 

Featuring quotes or testimonials from satisfied customers throughout the case study adds to its credibility and authenticity. Just like this testimonial Case Study by Slack .

Slack is a giant in the realm of digital communication, with more than 20 million active users worldwide. However, it is tough to break into the market of group communications. After all, Slack competes with both WhatsApp and Microsoft Team regarding market share. 

To level the playing field, Slack features case studies from top entrepreneurs and market players who have been served well by it. 

Its case studies are laden with personal stories about how the platform boosts productivity. 

At the same time, the software also plugs in the “try for free” banner to make sure that customers are aware of the inexpensive nature of the software.

It’s not easy to get such detailed testimonies from the C-suite, but when you’re Slack, businesses tend to make an exception. 

Some case studies are based on highly niche subjects, where nothing is at the top of the funnel. Kosli nails it with this highly technical case study of Firi.

Technical case studies are designed for niche audiences who are already aware of the problems that the software can solve. Case studies like these are clean and smart and come with solutions that have a counterpart solution. 

There is absolutely no fluff and nothing that can be a reason for C-suite executives to bounce from. 

It’s full of information-packed pages designed to hook the reader in and present the tool as a formidable solution to their problem. 

You’ll notice how they weave Kosli through the entire case study, and the first-person report comes from the customer. 

B2B Case Study Examples In Short

In the B2B SaaS industry, converting new leads and securing new business has become increasingly challenging. In this landscape, impactful content assets such as case studies and customer stories are sometimes the only things moving the needle. 

Crafting a compelling customer story empowers brands to enable potential customers to engage directly .

🚀 Customer stories evoke empathy from buyers

🤝 Customer stories help build up your relationships with vocal brand advocates

⬇️ Customer stories lower your prospects’ information cost

Once you’ve determined the most effective way to convey information that resonates with your leads, you can collaborate with your content and design teams to create impactful case studies to generate new business and prove your expertise and experience in the market. 

Zeynep Avan

What is Intent Data for B2B Sales? (Examples & Tips)

Intent data, or also known as buyer/purchase signals, are the indicators that show a lead/user is performing activities towards purchase.

Email Sales Funnel: Can Email Really Convert?

Email sales funnel is a pipeline to guide potential customers from the moment you first send email to the point where they make a purchase.

3 Toplyne Alternatives: MadKudu vs. UserMotion vs. Forwrd

Explore 3 Toplyne alternatives: MadKudu, UserMotion and Forwrd to choose the best predictive lead scoring platform for sales and marketing.

Predictive Lead Scoring Software for B2B SaaS

• Predictive Lead Scoring
• Customer Health Scoring
• Churn Prediction
• Automated Playbooks
• Documentation
• Status Page
• PLG Playbook

Latest from UserMotion

kovan studio, inc.

• Privacy Policy
• Terms Of Service

How to write a case study — examples, templates, and tools

It’s a marketer’s job to communicate the effectiveness of a product or service to potential and current customers to convince them to buy and keep business moving. One of the best methods for doing this is to share success stories that are relatable to prospects and customers based on their pain points, experiences, and overall needs.

That’s where case studies come in. Case studies are an essential part of a content marketing plan. These in-depth stories of customer experiences are some of the most effective at demonstrating the value of a product or service. Yet many marketers don’t use them, whether because of their regimented formats or the process of customer involvement and approval.

A case study is a powerful tool for showcasing your hard work and the success your customer achieved. But writing a great case study can be difficult if you’ve never done it before or if it’s been a while. This guide will show you how to write an effective case study and provide real-world examples and templates that will keep readers engaged and support your business.

In this article, you’ll learn:

What is a case study?

How to write a case study, case study templates, case study examples, case study tools.

A case study is the detailed story of a customer’s experience with a product or service that demonstrates their success and often includes measurable outcomes. Case studies are used in a range of fields and for various reasons, from business to academic research. They’re especially impactful in marketing as brands work to convince and convert consumers with relatable, real-world stories of actual customer experiences.

The best case studies tell the story of a customer’s success, including the steps they took, the results they achieved, and the support they received from a brand along the way. To write a great case study, you need to:

• Celebrate the customer and make them — not a product or service — the star of the story.
• Craft the story with specific audiences or target segments in mind so that the story of one customer will be viewed as relatable and actionable for another customer.
• Write copy that is easy to read and engaging so that readers will gain the insights and messages intended.
• Follow a standardized format that includes all of the essentials a potential customer would find interesting and useful.
• Support all of the claims for success made in the story with data in the forms of hard numbers and customer statements.

Case studies are a type of review but more in depth, aiming to show — rather than just tell — the positive experiences that customers have with a brand. Notably, 89% of consumers read reviews before deciding to buy, and 79% view case study content as part of their purchasing process. When it comes to B2B sales, 52% of buyers rank case studies as an important part of their evaluation process.

Telling a brand story through the experience of a tried-and-true customer matters. The story is relatable to potential new customers as they imagine themselves in the shoes of the company or individual featured in the case study. Showcasing previous customers can help new ones see themselves engaging with your brand in the ways that are most meaningful to them.

Besides sharing the perspective of another customer, case studies stand out from other content marketing forms because they are based on evidence. Whether pulling from client testimonials or data-driven results, case studies tend to have more impact on new business because the story contains information that is both objective (data) and subjective (customer experience) — and the brand doesn’t sound too self-promotional.

Case studies are unique in that there’s a fairly standardized format for telling a customer’s story. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for creativity. It’s all about making sure that teams are clear on the goals for the case study — along with strategies for supporting content and channels — and understanding how the story fits within the framework of the company’s overall marketing goals.

Here are the basic steps to writing a good case study.

1. Identify your goal

Start by defining exactly who your case study will be designed to help. Case studies are about specific instances where a company works with a customer to achieve a goal. Identify which customers are likely to have these goals, as well as other needs the story should cover to appeal to them.

The answer is often found in one of the buyer personas that have been constructed as part of your larger marketing strategy. This can include anything from new leads generated by the marketing team to long-term customers that are being pressed for cross-sell opportunities. In all of these cases, demonstrating value through a relatable customer success story can be part of the solution to conversion.

2. Choose your client or subject

Who you highlight matters. Case studies tie brands together that might otherwise not cross paths. A writer will want to ensure that the highlighted customer aligns with their own company’s brand identity and offerings. Look for a customer with positive name recognition who has had great success with a product or service and is willing to be an advocate.

The client should also match up with the identified target audience. Whichever company or individual is selected should be a reflection of other potential customers who can see themselves in similar circumstances, having the same problems and possible solutions.

Some of the most compelling case studies feature customers who:

• Switch from one product or service to another while naming competitors that missed the mark.
• Experience measurable results that are relatable to others in a specific industry.
• Represent well-known brands and recognizable names that are likely to compel action.
• Advocate for a product or service as a champion and are well-versed in its advantages.

Whoever or whatever customer is selected, marketers must ensure they have the permission of the company involved before getting started. Some brands have strict review and approval procedures for any official marketing or promotional materials that include their name. Acquiring those approvals in advance will prevent any miscommunication or wasted effort if there is an issue with their legal or compliance teams.

3. Conduct research and compile data

Substantiating the claims made in a case study — either by the marketing team or customers themselves — adds validity to the story. To do this, include data and feedback from the client that defines what success looks like. This can be anything from demonstrating return on investment (ROI) to a specific metric the customer was striving to improve. Case studies should prove how an outcome was achieved and show tangible results that indicate to the customer that your solution is the right one.

This step could also include customer interviews. Make sure that the people being interviewed are key stakeholders in the purchase decision or deployment and use of the product or service that is being highlighted. Content writers should work off a set list of questions prepared in advance. It can be helpful to share these with the interviewees beforehand so they have time to consider and craft their responses. One of the best interview tactics to keep in mind is to ask questions where yes and no are not natural answers. This way, your subject will provide more open-ended responses that produce more meaningful content.

4. Choose the right format

There are a number of different ways to format a case study. Depending on what you hope to achieve, one style will be better than another. However, there are some common elements to include, such as:

• An engaging headline
• A subject and customer introduction
• The unique challenge or challenges the customer faced
• The solution the customer used to solve the problem
• The results achieved
• Data and statistics to back up claims of success
• A strong call to action (CTA) to engage with the vendor

It’s also important to note that while case studies are traditionally written as stories, they don’t have to be in a written format. Some companies choose to get more creative with their case studies and produce multimedia content, depending on their audience and objectives. Case study formats can include traditional print stories, interactive web or social content, data-heavy infographics, professionally shot videos, podcasts, and more.

5. Write your case study

We’ll go into more detail later about how exactly to write a case study, including templates and examples. Generally speaking, though, there are a few things to keep in mind when writing your case study.

• Be clear and concise. Readers want to get to the point of the story quickly and easily, and they’ll be looking to see themselves reflected in the story right from the start.
• Provide a big picture. Always make sure to explain who the client is, their goals, and how they achieved success in a short introduction to engage the reader.
• Construct a clear narrative. Stick to the story from the perspective of the customer and what they needed to solve instead of just listing product features or benefits.
• Leverage graphics. Incorporating infographics, charts, and sidebars can be a more engaging and eye-catching way to share key statistics and data in readable ways.
• Offer the right amount of detail. Most case studies are one or two pages with clear sections that a reader can skim to find the information most important to them.
• Include data to support claims. Show real results — both facts and figures and customer quotes — to demonstrate credibility and prove the solution works.

6. Promote your story

Marketers have a number of options for distribution of a freshly minted case study. Many brands choose to publish case studies on their website and post them on social media. This can help support SEO and organic content strategies while also boosting company credibility and trust as visitors see that other businesses have used the product or service.

Marketers are always looking for quality content they can use for lead generation. Consider offering a case study as gated content behind a form on a landing page or as an offer in an email message. One great way to do this is to summarize the content and tease the full story available for download after the user takes an action.

Sales teams can also leverage case studies, so be sure they are aware that the assets exist once they’re published. Especially when it comes to larger B2B sales, companies often ask for examples of similar customer challenges that have been solved.

Now that you’ve learned a bit about case studies and what they should include, you may be wondering how to start creating great customer story content. Here are a couple of templates you can use to structure your case study.

Template 1 — Challenge-solution-result format

• Start with an engaging title. This should be fewer than 70 characters long for SEO best practices. One of the best ways to approach the title is to include the customer’s name and a hint at the challenge they overcame in the end.
• Create an introduction. Lead with an explanation as to who the customer is, the need they had, and the opportunity they found with a specific product or solution. Writers can also suggest the success the customer experienced with the solution they chose.
• Present the challenge. This should be several paragraphs long and explain the problem the customer faced and the issues they were trying to solve. Details should tie into the company’s products and services naturally. This section needs to be the most relatable to the reader so they can picture themselves in a similar situation.
• Share the solution. Explain which product or service offered was the ideal fit for the customer and why. Feel free to delve into their experience setting up, purchasing, and onboarding the solution.
• Explain the results. Demonstrate the impact of the solution they chose by backing up their positive experience with data. Fill in with customer quotes and tangible, measurable results that show the effect of their choice.
• Ask for action. Include a CTA at the end of the case study that invites readers to reach out for more information, try a demo, or learn more — to nurture them further in the marketing pipeline. What you ask of the reader should tie directly into the goals that were established for the case study in the first place.

Template 2 — Data-driven format

• Start with an engaging title. Be sure to include a statistic or data point in the first 70 characters. Again, it’s best to include the customer’s name as part of the title.
• Create an overview. Share the customer’s background and a short version of the challenge they faced. Present the reason a particular product or service was chosen, and feel free to include quotes from the customer about their selection process.
• Present data point 1. Isolate the first metric that the customer used to define success and explain how the product or solution helped to achieve this goal. Provide data points and quotes to substantiate the claim that success was achieved.
• Present data point 2. Isolate the second metric that the customer used to define success and explain what the product or solution did to achieve this goal. Provide data points and quotes to substantiate the claim that success was achieved.
• Present data point 3. Isolate the final metric that the customer used to define success and explain what the product or solution did to achieve this goal. Provide data points and quotes to substantiate the claim that success was achieved.
• Summarize the results. Reiterate the fact that the customer was able to achieve success thanks to a specific product or service. Include quotes and statements that reflect customer satisfaction and suggest they plan to continue using the solution.
• Ask for action. Include a CTA at the end of the case study that asks readers to reach out for more information, try a demo, or learn more — to further nurture them in the marketing pipeline. Again, remember that this is where marketers can look to convert their content into action with the customer.

While templates are helpful, seeing a case study in action can also be a great way to learn. Here are some examples of how Adobe customers have experienced success.

Juniper Networks

One example is the Adobe and Juniper Networks case study , which puts the reader in the customer’s shoes. The beginning of the story quickly orients the reader so that they know exactly who the article is about and what they were trying to achieve. Solutions are outlined in a way that shows Adobe Experience Manager is the best choice and a natural fit for the customer. Along the way, quotes from the client are incorporated to help add validity to the statements. The results in the case study are conveyed with clear evidence of scale and volume using tangible data.

The story of Lenovo’s journey with Adobe is one that spans years of planning, implementation, and rollout. The Lenovo case study does a great job of consolidating all of this into a relatable journey that other enterprise organizations can see themselves taking, despite the project size. This case study also features descriptive headers and compelling visual elements that engage the reader and strengthen the content.

Tata Consulting

When it comes to using data to show customer results, this case study does an excellent job of conveying details and numbers in an easy-to-digest manner. Bullet points at the start break up the content while also helping the reader understand exactly what the case study will be about. Tata Consulting used Adobe to deliver elevated, engaging content experiences for a large telecommunications client of its own — an objective that’s relatable for a lot of companies.

Case studies are a vital tool for any marketing team as they enable you to demonstrate the value of your company’s products and services to others. They help marketers do their job and add credibility to a brand trying to promote its solutions by using the experiences and stories of real customers.

When you’re ready to get started with a case study:

• Think about a few goals you’d like to accomplish with your content.
• Make a list of successful clients that would be strong candidates for a case study.
• Reach out to the client to get their approval and conduct an interview.
• Gather the data to present an engaging and effective customer story.

Adobe can help

There are several Adobe products that can help you craft compelling case studies. Adobe Experience Platform helps you collect data and deliver great customer experiences across every channel. Once you’ve created your case studies, Experience Platform will help you deliver the right information to the right customer at the right time for maximum impact.

To learn more, watch the Adobe Experience Platform story .

Keep in mind that the best case studies are backed by data. That’s where Adobe Real-Time Customer Data Platform and Adobe Analytics come into play. With Real-Time CDP, you can gather the data you need to build a great case study and target specific customers to deliver the content to the right audience at the perfect moment.

Watch the Real-Time CDP overview video to learn more.

Finally, Adobe Analytics turns real-time data into real-time insights. It helps your business collect and synthesize data from multiple platforms to make more informed decisions and create the best case study possible.

Request a demo to learn more about Adobe Analytics.

https://business.adobe.com/blog/perspectives/b2b-ecommerce-10-case-studies-inspire-you

https://business.adobe.com/blog/basics/business-case

https://business.adobe.com/blog/basics/what-is-real-time-analytics

• Free Resources

5 mini case studies about understanding and serving the customer

This article was originally published in the MarketingSherpa email newsletter .

Mini Case Study #1: 34% increase in conversion for powdered health drink company by helping customers come to their own conclusions

A single-product company that sells high-quality, all-natural, powdered health drinks engaged MECLABS Institute to help better understand their potential customers and increase the conversion rate of prospects reaching the homepage.

The original homepage took a claims-driven approach – it provided several bold statements about what the product would do for a customer with no information about the product to help the customer understand why it would work for them. Here is a look at the upper left of the original homepage.

Creative Sample #1: Upper left of original homepage for health drink company

The MECLABS team created a version of the homepage that took a conclusion-driven approach – instead only trying to convince potential customers with only bold claims about the product, the homepage copy included information about the product to help customers understand why the product would help them.

Creative Sample #2: Upper left of treatment homepage for health drink company

The team tested this version as the treatment against the original homepage (the control) to help better understand what communication style customers would respond to.

The treatment generated a 34% increase in conversion rate.

This experiment highlights a classic disconnect between customers and marketers. If you work in a company or with a client, you have intimate knowledge of the product and believe in its effectiveness. You spend all day thinking about it. You personally know some of the people who designed it. Your paycheck depends on the success of the product.

A customer does not have this same understanding or belief in the product. They have a significant gap in their knowledge about your product. Bold claims alone are not enough to close that gap. They have to understand why the product will work and come to their own conclusions about the company’s ability to deliver on its promises.

You can learn more about this experiment in The Conversion Heuristic Analysis: Overcoming the prospect’s perception gap from MarketingExperiments (MarketingSherpa’s sister publication).

Mini Case Study #2: Bags company increases conversion 191% by adding clarity to homepage

“I'm the CEO of Doubletake , a tennis and pickleball bag company, but I spent the majority of my career focused on messaging and research, consulting as a strategist for top brands for the last 10 plus years, and in-house prior to that. I'm almost embarrassed that I have this example to share, but I thankfully came to my senses!,” Shawna Gwin Krasts told me.

“It is interesting that crafting messaging/copy for products that aren't ‘your baby’ is so much easier – there is just more distance to see it for what it is. If this wasn't so near and dear to my heart, I would have caught it in a second.”

The team launched its homepage with only the headline “Sports Meets Style” over a photo of a bag. The headline was meant to differentiate the brand from competitors that were either only sporty or fashionable. Below the headline was a call-to-action (CTA) button with the word “shop.”

Creative Sample #3: Previous homepage copy for bag company

Internally it seemed obvious that the company sells tennis and pickleball bags since a bag was in the photo.

But they came to realize that it might not be as clear to website visitors. So the team added the subhead “Gorgeous Yet Functional Tennis and Pickleball Bags.” They also added the word “bags” to the CTA so it read “shop bags.”

Creative Sample #4: New homepage copy for bag company

These simple changes increased the website's conversion rate by 191%.

“It is so important for marketers to get out of their own heads,” Krasts said. “I suppose this is why I struggle with messaging so much for Doubletake. I am the target customer – I have the answers in my head and I suppose my natural curiosity isn't as strong. But clearly, I also have to remember that I've seen my homepage 10,000 more times than my customers, which means things that seem obvious to me, like the fact that Doubletake is a tennis brand not a reseller, might not be obvious.”

Mini Case Study #3: Online motorcycle gear retailer doubles conversion with personalized emails

There are ways to better tap into what customers perceive as valuable built into certain marketing channels. Email marketing is a great example. Marketers can build off information they have on the customer to send more relevant emails with information and products the customer is more likely to value.

"Very early in my marketing career I was taught, 'You are not the target audience' and told to try to see things from my customer's perspective. Empathizing with customers is a good start towards seeing products from the customers' perspective, but marketers really need to focus on quantifiable actions that can help identify customers' needs. That means continuous testing across messaging, price points, packaging, and every other aspect of a product. This is where personalization can really shine. Every time a marketer personalizes a message, it brings them closer to their customer and closes that gap," said Gretchen Scheiman, VP of Marketing, Sailthru.

For example, 80% of the email messages RevZilla sent were generic. But the website sells motorcycle parts and gear to a wide range of riders, each with their own preference in brand and riding style. The online motorcycle gear retailer partnered with Sailthru to better connect with customer motivations. The team started by upgrading the welcome series for new customers by personalizing the email messages based on the customers’ purchases and preferences.

The company has tested and added many new triggers to the site, and now has 177 different automation journeys that include triggers for browse and cart abandonment as well as automations for different product preferences, riding styles and manufacturer preferences.

The conversion rate from personalized email is double what RevZilla was getting for generic batch-and-blast sends. Automated experiences now account for 40% of email revenue. Triggered revenue is up 22% year-over-year and site traffic from triggers has increased 128% year-over-year.

"Customizing the buyer journey isn't about one long flow, but about lots of little trigger points and tests along the way. For any marketer that is intimidated about getting started with personalization, it's important to realize that it's more like a lot of small building blocks that create a whole experience. We started with a custom welcome series using testing and built from there. We're still adding new tests and new trigger points, but it's with the same concept that we started with,” said Andrew Lim, Director of Retention Marketing, RevZilla.

Mini Case Study #4: Pet protection network increases revenue 53% thanks to survey feedback

Huan makes smart tags for pets to help owners find their pets if they go missing. Initially, the company focused on the technical features in its homepage copy. For example, the tags don’t emit harmful radiation, are water-resistant and have a replaceable one-year battery.

From customer feedback surveys, the team discovered that customers purchased the product because they were worried they wouldn’t be able to find their pet if the pet went missing. This discovery prompted the team to change its messaging.

The new messaging on the homepage read, “Keep your pet safe and prevent heartbreak. Huan Smart Tags help you find your missing pet automatically.”

Revenue increased 53% increase following the change in messaging. “We immediately saw an increase in engagement on our website, with a lower bounce rate, higher click-through rate and a higher conversion rate. There were also a few people who messaged us on social media saying how our new message resonated with them,” said Gilad Rom, Founder, Huan.

Mini Case Study #5: Talking to new customers leads SaaS to change strategy, increase sales 18%

When Chanty launched, the marketing messages focused on pricing since the Saas company is 50% less expensive than the best-known competitor. However, when the team started talking to customers, they discovered most people had switched from the competitor for different reasons – ease of use, better functionalities in the free plan, better experience with the customer support team, and a better mobile app.

The team changed its marketing to focus around these product attributes and only listed pricing in the end as an additional benefit.

“It turned out that this was the way to go because we attracted people who wanted a better experience, rather than just customers who wanted to save money. After six months of implementing this new marketing and sales strategy, our sales grew by 18%,” said Jane Kovalkova, Chief Marketing Officer, Chanty.

Related resources

The Prospect’s Perception Gap: How to bridge the dangerous gap between the results we want and the results we have

Customer-First Marketing: Understanding customer pain and responding with action

Marketing Research Chart: How customer understanding impacts satisfaction

Improve Your Marketing

Join our thousands of weekly case study readers.

Enter your email below to receive MarketingSherpa news, updates, and promotions:

Note: Already a subscriber? Want to add a subscription? Click Here to Manage Subscriptions

Get Better Business Results With a Skillfully Applied Customer-first Marketing Strategy

The customer-first approach of MarketingSherpa’s agency services can help you build the most effective strategy to serve customers and improve results, and then implement it across every customer touchpoint.

Get headlines, value prop, competitive analysis, and more.

Marketer Vs Machine

Marketer Vs Machine: We need to train the marketer to train the machine.

Free Marketing Course

Become a Marketer-Philosopher: Create and optimize high-converting webpages (with this free online marketing course)

Project and Ideas Pitch Template

A free template to help you win approval for your proposed projects and campaigns

Six Quick CTA checklists

These CTA checklists are specifically designed for your team — something practical to hold up against your CTAs to help the time-pressed marketer quickly consider the customer psychology of your “asks” and how you can improve them.

Infographic: How to Create a Model of Your Customer’s Mind

You need a repeatable methodology focused on building your organization’s customer wisdom throughout your campaigns and websites. This infographic can get you started.

Infographic: 21 Psychological Elements that Power Effective Web Design

To build an effective page from scratch, you need to begin with the psychology of your customer. This infographic can get you started.

Receive the latest case studies and data on email, lead gen, and social media along with MarketingSherpa updates and promotions.

• Your Email Account
• Customer Service Q&A
• Search Library
• Content Directory:

Questions? Contact Customer Service at [email protected]

© 2000-2024 MarketingSherpa LLC, ISSN 1559-5137 Editorial HQ: MarketingSherpa LLC, PO Box 50032, Jacksonville Beach, FL 32240

The views and opinions expressed in the articles of this website are strictly those of the author and do not necessarily reflect in any way the views of MarketingSherpa, its affiliates, or its employees.

• SUGGESTED TOPICS
• The Magazine
• Newsletters
• Managing Yourself
• Managing Teams
• Work-life Balance
• The Big Idea
• Data & Visuals
• Reading Lists
• Case Selections
• HBR Learning
• Topic Feeds
• Account Settings
• Email Preferences

Customer service

• Sales and marketing
• Business management
• Customer experience

How Sales Reps Can Succeed in the Social Era

• April 10, 2013

Where Does the Customer Fit in a Service Operation?

• Richard B. Chase
• From the November 1978 Issue

Improving Customer Satisfaction with Simple Analytics

• Piyanka Jain
• November 17, 2015

The CEO of Ozon on Building an e-Commerce Giant in a Cash-Only Economy

• Maelle Gavet
• From the July–August 2014 Issue

Leading by Letting Go

• December 25, 2013

Tracking the Trends in Bringing Our Own Devices to Work

• Jane McConnell
• May 04, 2016

Listen to Your Frontline Employees

• Anthony K. Tjan
• April 04, 2012

Competing on the Eight Dimensions of Quality

• David A. Garvin
• From the November 1987 Issue

Pepsi, United, and the Speed of Corporate Shame

• Andrew Winston
• April 12, 2017

Strong Patient-Provider Relationships Drive Healthier Outcomes

• Erin E. Sullivan
• Andy Ellner MD
• October 09, 2015

Revolutionizing Customer Service

• Harvard Business Review
• From the April 2016 Issue

Customers' Revenge (HBR Case Study)

• December 01, 2007

Loyalty-Based Management

• Fred Reichheld
• From the March–April 1993 Issue

4 Roles Every Marketing Organization Needs Now

• Adele K Sweetwood
• Adele Sweetwood
• October 05, 2016

Tap the Wisdom of Frontline Employees

• Chris DeRose
• May 03, 2013

Taking the Measure of Mood

• Patrick O’Connell
• From the March 2006 Issue

How Service Companies Can Earn Customer Trust and Keep It

• Leonard L. Berry
• April 19, 2017

The Future of Shopping

• Darrell K. Rigby
• From the December 2011 Issue

How Loyalty Programs Are Saving Airlines

• So Yeon Chun
• Evert de Boer
• April 02, 2021

How to Measure the Value of Virtual Health Care

• Vimal Mishra
• Stacy Lloyd
• Jared Augenstein
• June 24, 2021

The Shangri-La Bosphorus Hotel: Extending the Famed Shangri-La Hospitality to Turkey

• Srinivas K. Reddy
• Havovi Joshi
• May 27, 2014

Building Brand Community on the Harley-Davidson Posse Ride

• Susan Fournier
• August 23, 2000

Air India: The Image Damage of "Pee-Gate"

• Shraddha Puri
• Shweta Pandey
• Siddhant Puri
• Sandeep Puri
• October 26, 2023

Customer-Introduced Variability in Service Operations

• Frances X. Frei
• March 14, 2006

MK Taxi: Private Chauffeur Service

• Andrew McAfee
• August 25, 2004

Improving Customer Engagement

• Marcelo Olivares
• Andrew Shin
• October 19, 2011

DailyFish: Reinventing Customer Service Management

• Srikandan Srinath S
• Amol Dhaigude
• March 23, 2020

Pharmacy Service Improvement at CVS (A)

• December 14, 2005

What's the Deal with LivingSocial?

• Michael I. Norton
• Luc Wathieu
• Betsy Page Sigman
• Marco Bertini
• February 24, 2012

Chantale and Clinton Call for Service

• Christopher A. Ross
• March 25, 2009

The Mitchell Family and Mitchells/Richards

• Amy C. Edmondson
• Corey Hajim
• Kelly Mulderry
• John A. Davis
• November 08, 2004

HubSpot and Motion AI: Chatbot-Enabled CRM

• Thomas Steenburgh
• February 12, 2018

Singapore Airlines: Customer Service Innovation

• Rohit Deshpande
• July 22, 2003

Corey Robinson at Sprint Corporation (A)

• Linda A. Hill
• Lisa A. Pode
• Anthony J. Mayo
• June 08, 2005

Federal Express: The Money Back Guarantee (C)

• Christopher W.L. Hart
• October 27, 1989

Zappos.com 2009: Clothing, Customer Service, and Company Culture

• Robin J. Ely
• Laura Winig
• October 20, 2009

Buckman Laboratories (A)

• William E. Fulmer
• October 01, 1999

Managing a Global Team: Greg James at Sun Microsystems, Inc. (A)

• Tsedal Neeley
• Thomas J. DeLong
• July 03, 2008

The Curious Case of the Disputed Rabbits

• Elliott N. Weiss
• Stephen E. Maiden
• April 17, 2019

Tamago-ya of Japan: Delivering Lunch Boxes to Your Work

• Shinya Fushimi
• Jason Kaminsky
• Veronica Rocha
• September 09, 2007

Customer Rage:Triggers, Tipping Points, and Take-Outs

• Paul G. Patterson
• Janet R. McColl-Kennedy
• Amy K. Smith
• November 01, 2009

Simplify and Execute: Words to Live By in Times of Turbulence

• January 01, 2003

Popular Topics

Partner center.

Send us an email

From Prospecting to Retention: Why Casio Adopted Sprout Social for Customer Care

Casio understands that customer experience influences purchase intent at every touchpoint, from digital to out-of-home. In fact, Defaqto Research found that 55% of consumers would pay more for a better customer experience. And McKinsey amplified this sentiment with findings that revealed 70% of buying experiences are based on how the customer feels they are being treated.

To meet the evolving demands of shoppers, Casio knew it had to center its business strategy on customer care. In 2016, Casio adopted Sprout Social to streamline consumer communication, improve quality assurance and implement a more efficient, cross-functional internal workflow.

The results?

• 22% MoM increase in response rate across Facebook and Twitter
• 60% MoM decrease in response time on weekdays

These are KPIs that prove the global electronics brand is exceeding customer expectations from prospecting through retention.

Pruning the Branches of the Digital Phone Tree

Keyboards. Calculators. Cameras. Watches. Casio’s support team is responsible for a diverse portfolio of products. Tasked with addressing the needs of consumers across a multitude of demographics and use cases, Casio support is a make-or-break stop for prospective buyers and brand loyalists. This is why the electronics brand made an intentional decision to move social customer care in-house.

For many, social is their first touchpoint with a brand. A 2017 Sprout survey found that over 50% of Millennials, Gen Xers and Baby Boomers follow a brand on social before purchasing a product. And Casio knows that first impressions matter. When customer care was being handled by an agency, Casio couldn’t control the customer experience or ensure that it met brand standards.

“Social is an extension of our brand and we have to replicate our in-store experience across all of our digital touchpoints,” said Richard Sharpe, Operational Services Divisional Manager.

Customers agree. Recent research from Salesforce revealed that 75% of consumers expect a consistent experience wherever they engage (e.g., website, social media, mobile, in person).

“By bringing social in-house, we’re able to meet our customers’ needs,” said Sharpe. “We have the resources and expertise to immediately answer questions and find the proper resolutions without frustrating customers.”

Casio broke down the barriers of the digital phone tree and provided customers with the level of care they were demanding.

“Exceptional customer care is what builds trust in a brand. It’s what sets Casio apart,” said Sharpe.

Sharpe is right.

Seventy-one percent of 2017 Sprout survey respondents said they were more likely to buy from a brand that provided a positive interaction—further proof that streamlined customer service correlates with a brand’s bottom line.

Taking Control: Ensuring Negatives Are Turned Into Positives

Taking ownership of social customer care enables Casio to control its brand narrative across touchpoints. This gives the electronics brand an opportunity to turn negative situations into positive, memorable interactions.

“Customer support is the differentiator between buying Product A or Product B,” said Sharpe.

“It influences brand loyalty. People want to know that someone is there to provide information on how a product works or to help when something goes wrong.”

When customer care was handled by an agency, Casio was less likely to be aware of the negative and positive brand experiences that customers were sharing. This was a huge blind spot, as negative customer experiences exponentially impact brands. According to Parature , it takes 12 positive customer experiences to make up for one negative experience.

Having customer care in-house has not only empowered Casio to resolve problems, it’s simultaneously allowed the brand to amplify the positives and easily pass along success stories to Casio’s marketing department.

Increased Efficiency Across the Organization Driven by Ease of Use

One of the biggest benefits for Casio since switching to Sprout is the ability to scale the software to meet the needs of the brand’s entire organization.

“The way Sprout is configured is really simple. You’ve got one place where you go to get all of the information you need. You’re not moving across different tabs. It has really streamlined our communication,” said Sharpe.

Instead of relying on email or internal instant messages, the customer care and marketing divisions are able to communicate with each other directly in the Sprout platform.

“Cases are fantastic. I see all of Casio’s social messages–across networks, in one feed. Then, depending on the context, I can send messages to a customer service agent, sales or marketing representative. It speeds up the whole process. And, on social, speed is key,” said Sharpe.

Sprout’s efficiency and ease of use doesn’t just apply to functionality and communication. It also applies to reporting. Casio was able to standardize its reporting metrics with Twitter Feedback and NPS scoring , a metric that is used to benchmark success across the organization’s email and phone efforts.

“The benefit of having NPS reporting is massive. It’s consistent with other reporting we do. So it just slips seamlessly into what we already have established. It’s not having people try and understand anything different; it’s very simple, very straightforward,” said Sharpe.

A Scalable Social Customer Care Structure

Moving customer care in-house and investing in Sprout across the organization has enabled Casio to increase its response rate by 22% MoM and decrease reply time by 60% MoM on weekdays. It’s also allowed the electronics brand to communicate its brand mission and improve the customer experience at scale.

“Casio’s value system for support is really to engage with our end users. We want to make them feel as if they’re part of the Casio brand,” said Sharpe.

Through Sprout, Casio fosters consistent connections with its customers by simplifying how customer support collaborates with other teams across the organization.

How the Royal National Institute of Blind People Found a Dedicated Accessibility Partner in Sprout

How Sprout improved its global social customer care with its own insights

• Sprout in Action

Salesforce’s social media team saves 12,000 hours in first year using Sprout Social

• Employee Advocacy

Edgio sees $126,000+ in earned media value with Employee Advocacy in just 3 months

• Now on slide

Build and grow stronger relationships on social

Sprout Social helps you understand and reach your audience, engage your community and measure performance with the only all-in-one social media management platform built for connection.

15 Examples of Customer Centric Companies – Explained with Case Studies

Business experts often wonder why Customer Centric Companies do better than others. Their financial performance and customer loyalty is significantly higher than any others. In this detailed blog, we explore 15 such companies with case studies and examples and analyze what constitutes customer centricity

In today’s hyper-competitive business landscape , placing the customer at the heart of your business strategy is more important than ever. The ability to deliver a high-quality customer experience can set a company apart and cultivate lasting loyalty. In this blog post, we’re shining the spotlight on 15 companies that have taken the customer-centric approach to new heights. From innovative start-ups to global giants, these organizations have embedded customer-centricity into their DNA, and their success stories provide valuable lessons for businesses of all sizes. So, let’s dive in and explore the strategies, vision, and real-life case studies of these 15 customer-centric companies.

Customer Centric Companies 1: Amazon

Strategy and Vision: Amazon’s “customer obsession” motto drives its business operations, constantly pushing it to improve and streamline the customer experience. Amazon aims to make the online shopping journey as easy and enjoyable as possible.

Case Study: Amazon Prime is the epitome of the company’s customer-centric approach. Amazon identified a key customer pain point—slow shipping—and introduced Amazon Prime. It was a subscription model that gave customers access to two-day shipping, and this service has since expanded to include video and music streaming, exclusive deals, and more. This has resulted in increased customer loyalty and satisfaction.

Customer Centric Companies 2 : Apple

Strategy and Vision: Apple designs its products keeping the customer experience at the forefront, focusing on ease of use, high quality, and sophisticated design.

Case Study: Apple’s response to the “Antennagate” scandal surrounding the iPhone 4 demonstrated their customer-centricity. Users reported that the phone lost signal when held in a certain way. Despite initially downplaying the issue, Apple eventually offered free cases to mitigate the problem and ultimately incorporated the learning into their future product designs, showing a commitment to learning from and responding to customer needs .

Customer Centric Companies 3 : Zappos

Strategy and Vision: Zappos is renowned for its outstanding customer service, which includes 24/7 customer support, a 365-day return policy, and free shipping both ways.

Case Study: There are numerous stories of Zappos’ customer service going above and beyond, but one that stands out is when a customer service representative spent over 10 hours on a call with a customer. Rather than rushing the customer, the representative took the time to genuinely connect with them, illustrating Zappos’ extraordinary dedication to customer satisfaction.

Customer Centric Companies 4 : Nordstrom

Strategy and Vision: Nordstrom sets the standard for customer service in the retail industry with initiatives like personal shoppers and a generous return policy.

Case Study: One well-known story involves a customer returning car tires to Nordstrom—a product they don’t even sell—and the store accepting the return. While the story is from the early days of Nordstrom, it illustrates the lengths the company is willing to go to keep customers happy.

Customer Centric Companies 5 : Netflix

Strategy and Vision: Netflix prioritizes user experience, tailoring its services to the viewing preferences of each user, creating an enjoyable, ad-free watching experience.

Case Study: Netflix’s decision to invest in original content was based on extensive customer viewing data. They recognized a gap in the content they were providing and filled it by creating their own shows and movies, showing a commitment to using customer data to improve the user experience.

Customer Centric Companies 6 : Disney

Strategy and Vision: Disney focuses on creating memorable, magical experiences for customers. This is evident in their movies and theme parks, where every detail is designed to deliver joy and entertainment.

Case Study: Disney’s MagicBand, a wristband for park guests, serves as a hotel room key, park ticket, FastPass, and payment method. This investment in customer convenience greatly enhances the overall park experience.

Customer Centric Companies 7: Trader Joe’s

Strategy and Vision: Trader Joe’s emphasizes making grocery shopping enjoyable through friendly staff, unique product selection, and customer feedback.

Case Study: Trader Joe’s reversed its decision to discontinue a popular product after receiving a single complaint from an 82-year-old customer, demonstrating their dedication to customer satisfaction.

Customer Centric Companies 8 : Ritz-Carlton

Strategy and Vision: Ritz-Carlton sets the standard for luxury customer service in the hospitality industry, empowering employees to go above and beyond for guests.

Case Study: In one famous story, a Ritz-Carlton employee found a guest’s lost laptop charger and mailed it to them at their next destination, along with a note and some additional chargers for different devices. This is a perfect example of Ritz-Carlton’s commitment to exceeding guest expectations.

Customer Centric Companies 9 : Starbucks

Strategy and Vision: Starbucks focuses on consistent, high-quality customer experiences, with well-trained staff, a comfortable store ambiance, and customizable drinks.

Case Study: Starbucks’ mobile order and pay feature was developed in response to customer needs for a quicker, more convenient way to get their coffee. This feature has improved the customer experience and increased loyalty.

Customer Centric Companies 10 : Costco

Strategy and Vision: Costco emphasizes value, offering high-quality products at affordable prices, and additional services like optical and travel.

Case Study: Costco’s decision to keep their rotisserie chicken at $4.99, despite rising costs, demonstrates their commitment to providing value to customers and maintaining customer satisfaction.

Customer Centric Companies 11 : Southwest Airlines

Strategy and Vision: Southwest’s transparent pricing strategy, friendly service, and flexible policies all contribute to its reputation as a customer-friendly airline.

Case Study: When a passenger’s son was in a critical accident, Southwest held a plane at the gate and arranged for her to get to the hospital as quickly as possible. This is a testament to Southwest’s customer-centric culture .

Customer Centric Companies 12 : Salesforce

Strategy and Vision: Salesforce builds its services around customer needs, offering a variety of software solutions for different industries and constantly innovating based on customer feedback.

Case Study: Salesforce’s “Voice of the Customer” program involves extensive customer interviews and surveys to understand and address customer needs, illustrating their commitment to customer-centric innovation.

Customer Centric Companies 13 : Chick-fil-A

Strategy and Vision: Chick-fil-A focuses on high-quality food, exceptional customer service, and community involvement. Their employees are known for saying “my pleasure” instead of “you’re welcome,” demonstrating their dedication to polite, friendly service.

Case Study: Chick-fil-A has consistently topped American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) rankings in the fast food category, illustrating the effectiveness of their customer-centric approach.

Customer Centric Companies 14 : IKEA

Strategy and Vision: IKEA focuses on providing well-designed, functional, and affordable home furnishings. They aim to create a unique and engaging shopping experience.

Case Study: IKEA’s decision to offer home assembly services was driven by customer feedback and is a clear example of their commitment to improving the customer experience.

Customer Centric Companies 15 : Patagonia

Strategy and Vision: Patagonia places its customers and their values at the heart of their business, focusing on sustainability, quality, and transparency.

Case Study: In 2011, Patagonia ran an ad during the Black Friday shopping frenzy telling customers “Don’t Buy This Jacket,” highlighting the environmental cost of consumerism. This risky move resonated with their customer base, reinforcing their brand ethos and strengthening customer loyalty.

10 Core Elements of Customer Centric Companies

Understanding Customer Needs : The first step is to deeply understand your customers: their needs, desires, pain points, and what they value most. This could be achieved through surveys, interviews, focus groups, or analysis of customer behavior data.

Segmentation : Customer segmentation involves dividing your customer base into distinct groups based on common characteristics such as demographics, buying habits, or interests. This allows you to tailor your products, services, and communications to meet the specific needs of each segment.

Personalization : Personalization is about tailoring experiences, communications, and offerings to individual customers based on their preferences and behavior. This can increase customer satisfaction and loyalty, and it can be facilitated through the use of data and technology.

Customer Journey Mapping : A customer journey map visualizes the entire process a customer goes through when interacting with your company, from initial contact to final purchase or interaction. This tool helps businesses identify customer touchpoints and find opportunities to enhance the customer experience.

Customer Feedback and Adaptation : Businesses should regularly seek feedback from their customers and use it to continuously improve their products, services, and overall customer experience. This may involve using various feedback channels such as surveys, social media, and customer service interactions.

Exceptional Customer Service : Customer-centric companies prioritize delivering excellent customer service. This might involve providing multiple channels for customer support (like phone, email, live chat), ensuring quick response times, or empowering customer service representatives to solve problems effectively .

Employee Engagement : Employees play a key role in delivering a customer-centric experience . Therefore, companies need to train and motivate their employees to put the customer first. This might involve employee incentives, training programs, or a company culture that values customer service.

Long-term Relationship Building : Customer-centric companies aim to build long-lasting relationships with their customers rather than focusing solely on individual transactions. This may involve maintaining regular communication, offering loyalty programs, or exceeding customer expectations to foster loyalty.

Leveraging Technology : Technology can enhance the customer experience through tools like CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems, AI-powered chatbots for 24/7 customer service, personalized marketing , and data analytics tools to gain insights about customer behavior.

Value-Driven Approach : Above all, a customer-centric approach involves delivering value to the customer at every interaction. This means not just meeting their needs, but exceeding their expectations and providing a positive, memorable experience.

Samrat is a Delhi-based MBA from the Indian Institute of Management. He is a Strategy, AI, and Marketing Enthusiast and passionately writes about core and emerging topics in Management studies. Reach out to his LinkedIn for a discussion or follow his Quora Page

• Bahasa Indonesia
• Sign out of AWS Builder ID
• AWS Management Console
• Account Settings
• Billing & Cost Management
• Security Credentials
• AWS Personal Health Dashboard
• Support Center
• Expert Help
• Knowledge Center
• AWS Support Overview
• AWS re:Post

Customer Success Stories

Empowering customer innovation.

Automating the app-testing process and reducing costs

Transforming automotive experiences using AWS

Democratizing access to compute insights

Powering patient-centered care using AWS

Rewatch Customer Stories from AWS Events

Bmw group powers 1,000+ microservices that process over 12 billion requests daily—while achieving 99.95 percent reliability..

In this re:Invent keynote, Stephan Durach, Senior Vice president Connected Company Development and Technical Operations at BMW Group, discusses how the company uses Amazon Web Services (AWS) technology to transform automotive experiences.

Intuit uses cutting-edge technology to deliver highly personalized customer experiences

In this AWS re:Invent 2023 keynote video, Nhung Ho, vice president of AI at Intuit, discusses how the company is using AWS to drive major advancements in financial technology using generative AI.

Booking.com uses AWS to power emerging generative artificial intelligence (AI) technology at scale

In this AWS re:Invent 2023 keynote video, Rob Francis, senior vice president and chief technology officer at Booking.com, discusses how the company uses AWS to revolutionize the travel industry.

AWS brings NVIDIA GH200 Grace Hopper Superchip to the cloud

In this AWS re:Invent keynote, Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA, chats with AWS CEO Adam Selipsky to discuss how NVIDIA and AWS are working together to enable millions of developers to access powerful technologies needed to rapidly innovate with Generative AI.

Listen to Customers Working to Solve Today's Largest Challenges

Hear how Anthropic and AWS are working together to responsibly deploy generative AI with a focus on safe, steerable, and reliable solutions.

Learn how Pfizer used generative AI to achieve the scale necessary to treat more than 1.3 billion people with medicines and vaccines in 2022.

Watch how Thorn leveraged AWS's capabilities to enhance their machine learning tools to identify over 2.8 million potential child sexual abuse material files.

Find an AWS Customer Story

• Recently Added
• Company Name (A-Z)
• Company Name (Z-A)
• Headline (a-z)
• Headline (z-a)

No customer references found matching that criteria. Try changing your search or modifying your filters.

Browse more customer stories »

More to explore

# Screens < wide

Ending Support for Internet Explorer

Customer Case Study: DataStax and Semantic Kernel

Sophia Lagerkrans-Pandey

Greg stachnick.

April 4th, 2024 0 0

Today we’ll dive into a customer case study from Datastax and their recent press release and announcement on the DataStax and Microsoft collaboration on RAG capabilities on DataStax Astra DB Thanks again to the DataStax team for their amazing partnership!

Microsoft and DataStax Simplify Building AI Agents with Legacy Apps and Data

In the ever-evolving landscape of artificial intelligence (AI) development, bridging the gap between legacy applications and cutting-edge AI technologies is a challenge for many enterprises. Companies often have hundreds or even thousands of existing applications that they want to bring into the AI world. Recognizing this challenge, Microsoft and DataStax have joined forces to simplify the process of building AI agents with legacy apps and data. Their latest partnership announcement combines AI development by enabling seamless integration of DataStax Astra DB with Microsoft’s Semantic Kernel.

Microsoft’s Semantic Kernel is an open-source SDK that helps solve this challenge, by making it easy to build generative AI agents that can call existing code. We’re excited to announce the new integration of Semantic Kernel and DataStax Astra DB that enables developers to build upon their current codebase more easily, vectorize the data, and build production-grade GenAI apps and AI agents that utilize the relevance and precision provided by retrieval-augmented generation (RAG).

 What’s so cool about Semantic Kernel – shared by DataStax

Semantic Kernel  is a GenAI/RAG application and agent orchestration framework in Microsoft’s stack of AI copilots and models. In many ways, it’s similar to LangChain and LlamaIndex, but with more focus on enabling intelligent agents. Semantic Kernel provides capabilities for managing contextual conversations including previous chats, prompt history, and conversations, as well as planners for multi-step functions and connections (plug-ins) for third-party APIs to enable RAG grounded in enterprise data (learn more about why RAG is critical to generating responses that aren’t only contextually accurate but also information-rich  here ).

Another cool thing about Semantic Kernel is that prompts written for a Python version during app iteration can be used by the C# version for much faster execution at runtime. Semantic Kernel is also proven on Microsoft Azure for Copilot and has reference frameworks for developers to build their own scalable copilots with Azure.

Introducing the Astra DB Connector

DataStax has contributed the Astra DB connector in Python. This connector enables Astra DB to function as a vector database within Semantic Kernel. It’s a game-changer for developers building RAG applications that want to use Semantic Kernel’s unique framework features for contextual conversations or intelligent agents, or for those targeting the Microsoft AI and Azure ecosystem. The integration allows for the storage of embeddings and the performance of semantic searches with unprecedented ease.

By combining Semantic Kernel with Astra DB, developers can build powerful RAG applications with extended contextual conversation capabilities (such as managing chat and prompt histories) and multi-function or planner capabilities, on a globally scalable vector database proven to give more relevant and faster query responses.

A performance booster for Python developers

While this release will benefit a broad swath of the GenAI developer community, it’s of particular interest to those who work in the Microsoft/Azure ecosystem. By integrating Astra DB directly into Semantic Kernel, developers can now leverage Astra DB as a data source in their existing applications, streamlining the development process and enhancing application performance.

To add Astra DB support to a Semantic Kernel application, simply import the module and register the memory store:

The integration of Semantic Kernel and Astra DB extends beyond technical enhancements, paving the way for a range of business use cases from personalized customer service to intelligent product recommendations and beyond. It’s not just about making development easier; it’s about enabling the creation of more intelligent, responsive, and personalized AI applications that can transform industries.

For more information about this collaboration, visit the following links from DataStax:

• DataStax and Microsoft Collaborate to Make it Easier to Build Enterprise Generative AI and RAG Applications with Legacy Data | DataStax
• Announcing the New Astra DB and Microsoft Semantic Kernel Integration: Elevating Retrieval Augmented Generation | DataStax

Please reach out if you have any questions or feedback through our  Semantic Kernel GitHub Discussion Channel . We look forward to hearing from you! We would also love your support, if you’ve enjoyed using Semantic Kernel, give us a star on  GitHub .

Leave a comment Cancel reply

Log in to start the discussion.

Insert/edit link

Enter the destination URL

Or link to existing content

• Open access
• Published: 10 April 2024

“So at least now I know how to deal with things myself, what I can do if it gets really bad again”—experiences with a long-term cross-sectoral advocacy care and case management for severe multiple sclerosis: a qualitative study

• Anne Müller   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-2456-2492 1 ,
• Fabian Hebben   ORCID: orcid.org/0009-0003-6401-3433 1 ,
• Kim Dillen 1 ,
• Veronika Dunkl 1 ,
• Yasemin Goereci 2 ,
• Raymond Voltz 1 , 3 , 4 ,
• Peter Löcherbach 5 ,
• Clemens Warnke   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-3510-9255 2 &
• Heidrun Golla   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-4403-630X 1

on behalf of the COCOS-MS trial group represented by Martin Hellmich

BMC Health Services Research volume  24 , Article number:  453 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

Metrics details

Persons with severe Multiple Sclerosis (PwsMS) face complex needs and daily limitations that make it challenging to receive optimal care. The implementation and coordination of health care, social services, and support in financial affairs can be particularly time consuming and burdensome for both PwsMS and caregivers. Care and case management (CCM) helps ensure optimal individual care as well as care at a higher-level. The goal of the current qualitative study was to determine the experiences of PwsMS, caregivers and health care specialists (HCSs) with the CCM.

In the current qualitative sub study, as part of a larger trial, in-depth semi-structured interviews with PwsMS, caregivers and HCSs who had been in contact with the CCM were conducted between 02/2022 and 01/2023. Data was transcribed, pseudonymized, tested for saturation and analyzed using structuring content analysis according to Kuckartz. Sociodemographic and interview characteristics were analyzed descriptively.

Thirteen PwsMS, 12 caregivers and 10 HCSs completed interviews. Main categories of CCM functions were derived deductively: (1) gatekeeper function, (2) broker function, (3) advocacy function, (4) outlook on CCM in standard care. Subcategories were then derived inductively from the interview material. 852 segments were coded. Participants appreciated the CCM as a continuous and objective contact person, a person of trust (92 codes), a competent source of information and advice (on MS) (68 codes) and comprehensive cross-insurance support (128 codes), relieving and supporting PwsMS, their caregivers and HCSs (67 codes).

Conclusions

Through the cross-sectoral continuous support in health-related, social, financial and everyday bureaucratic matters, the CCM provides comprehensive and overriding support and relief for PwsMS, caregivers and HCSs. This intervention bears the potential to be fine-tuned and applied to similar complex patient groups.

Trial registration

The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the University of Cologne (#20–1436), registered at the German Register for Clinical Studies (DRKS00022771) and in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.

Peer Review reports

Introduction

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most frequent and incurable chronic inflammatory and degenerative disease of the central nervous system (CNS). Illness awareness and the number of specialized MS clinics have increased since the 1990s, paralleled by the increased availability of disease-modifying therapies [ 1 ]. There are attempts in the literature for the definition of severe MS [ 2 , 3 ]. These include a high EDSS (Expanded disability Status Scale [ 4 ]) of ≥ 6, which we took into account in our study. There are also other factors to consider, such as a highly active disease course with complex therapies that are associated with side effects. These persons are (still) less disabled, but may feel overwhelmed with regard to therapy, side effects and risk monitoring of therapies [ 5 , 6 ].

Persons with severe MS (PwsMS) develop individual disease trajectories marked by a spectrum of heterogeneous symptoms, functional limitations, and uncertainties [ 7 , 8 ] manifesting individually and unpredictably [ 9 ]. This variability can lead to irreversible physical and mental impairment culminating in complex needs and daily challenges, particularly for those with progressive and severe MS [ 5 , 10 , 11 ]. Such challenges span the spectrum from reorganizing biographical continuity and organizing care and everyday live, to monitoring disease-specific therapies and integrating palliative and hospice care [ 5 , 10 ]. Moreover, severe MS exerts a profound of social and economic impact [ 9 , 12 , 13 , 14 ]. PwsMS and their caregivers (defined in this manuscript as relatives or closely related individuals directly involved in patients’ care) often find themselves grappling with overwhelming challenges. The process of organizing and coordinating optimal care becomes demanding, as they contend with the perceived unmanageability of searching for, implementing and coordinating health care and social services [ 5 , 15 , 16 , 17 ].

Case management (CM) proved to have a positive effect on patients with neurological disorders and/or patients with palliative care needs [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 ]. However, a focus on severe MS has been missed so far Case managers primarily function as: (1) gatekeeper involving the allocation of necessary and available resources to a case, ensuring the equitable distribution of resources; as (2) broker assisting clients in pursuing their interests, requiring negotiation to provide individualized assistance that aligns as closely as possible with individual needs and (3) advocate working to enhance clients’ individual autonomy, to advocate for essential care offers, and to identify gaps in care [ 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 ].

Difficulties in understanding, acting, and making decisions regarding health care-related aspects (health literacy) poses a significant challenge for 54% of the German population [ 30 ]. Additionally acting on a superordinate level as an overarching link, a care and case management (CCM) tries to reduce disintegration in the social and health care system [ 31 , 32 ]. Our hypothesis is that a CCM allows PwsMS and their caregivers to regain time and resources outside of disease management and to facilitate the recovery and establishment of biographical continuity that might be disrupted due to severe MS [ 33 , 34 ].

Health care specialists (HCSs) often perceive their work with numerous time and economic constraints, especially when treating complex and severely ill individuals like PwsMS and often have concerns about being blamed by patients when expectations could not be met [ 35 , 36 ]. Our hypothesis is that the CCM will help to reduce time constraints and free up resources for specialized tasks.

To the best of our knowledge there is no long-term cross-sectoral and outreaching authority or service dedicated to assisting in the organization and coordination of the complex care concerns of PwsMS within the framework of standard care addressing needs in health, social, financial, every day and bureaucratic aspects. While some studies have attempted to design and test care programs for persons with MS (PwMS), severely affected individuals were often not included [ 37 , 38 , 39 ]. They often remain overlooked by existing health and social care structures [ 5 , 9 , 15 ].

The COCOS-MS trial developed and applied a long-term cross-sectoral CCM intervention consisting of weekly telephone contacts and monthly re-assessments with PwsMS and caregivers, aiming to provide optimal care. Their problems, resources and (unmet) needs were assessed holistically including physical health, mental health, self-sufficiency and social situation and participation. Based on assessed (unmet) needs, individual care plans with individual actions and goals were developed and constantly adapted during the CCM intervention. Contacts with HCSs were established to ensure optimal care. The CCM intervention was structured through and documented in a CCM manual designed for the trial [ 40 , 41 ].

Our aim was to find out how PwsMS, caregivers and HCSs experienced the cross-sectoral long-term, outreaching patient advocacy CCM.

This study is part of a larger phase II, randomized, controlled clinical trial “Communication, Coordination and Security for people with severe Multiple Sclerosis (COCOS-MS)” [ 41 ]. This explorative clinical trial, employing a mixed-method design, incorporates a qualitative study component with PwsMS, caregivers and HCSs to enrich the findings of the quantitative data. This manuscript focuses on the qualitative data collected between February 2022 and January 2023, following the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research (COREQ) guidelines [ 42 ].

Research team

Three trained authors AM, KD and FH (AM, female, research associate, M.A. degree in Rehabilitation Sciences; KD, female, researcher, Dr. rer. medic.; FH, male, research assistant, B.Sc. degree in Health Care Management), who had no prior relationship with patients, caregivers or HCSs conducted qualitative interviews. A research team, consisting of clinical experts and health services researchers, discussed the development of the interview guides and the finalized category system.

Theoretical framework

Interview data was analyzed with the structuring content analysis according to Kuckartz. This method enables a deductive structuring of interview material, as well as the integration of new aspects found in the interview material through the inductive addition of categories in an iterative analysis process [ 43 ].

Sociodemographic and interview characteristics were analyzed descriptively (mean, median, range, SD). PwsMS, caregivers and HCSs were contacted by the authors AM, KD or FH via telephone or e-mail after providing full written informed consent. Participants had the option to choose between online interviews conducted via the GoToMeeting 10.19.0® Software or face-to-face. Peasgood et al. (2023) found no significant differences in understanding questions, engagement or concentration between face-to-face and online interviews [ 44 , 45 ]. Digital assessments were familiar to participants due to pandemic-related adjustments within the trial.

Out of 14 PwsMS and 14 caregivers who were approached to participate in interviews, three declined to complete interviews, resulting in 13 PwsMS (5 male, 8 female) and 12 caregiver (7 male, 5 female) interviews, respectively (see Fig.  1 ). Thirty-one HCSs were contacted of whom ten (2 male, 8 female) agreed to be interviewed (see Fig.  2 ).

Flowchart of PwsMS and caregiver participation in the intervention group of the COCOS-MS trial. Patients could participate with and without a respective caregiver taking part in the trial. Therefore, number of caregivers does not correspond to patients. For detailed inclusion criteria see also Table  1 in Golla et al. [ 41 ]

Flowchart of HCSs interview participation

Setting and data collection

Interviews were carried out where participants preferred, e.g. at home, workplace, online, and no third person being present. In total, we conducted 35 interviews whereof 7 interviews face-to-face (3 PwsMS, 3 caregivers, 1 HCS).

The research team developed a topic guide which was meticulously discussed with research and clinical staff to enhance credibility. It included relevant aspects for the evaluation of the CCM (see Tables  1 and 2 , for detailed topic guides see Supplementary Material ). Patient and caregiver characteristics (covering age, sex, marital status, living situation, EDSS (patients only), subgroup) were collected during the first assessment of the COCOS-MS trial and HCSs characteristics (age, sex, profession) as well as interview information (length and setting) were collected during the interviews. The interview guides developed for this study addressed consistent aspects both for PwsMS and caregivers (see Supplementary Material ):

For HCSs it contained the following guides:

Probing questions were asked to get more specific and in-depth information. Interviews were carried out once and recorded using a recording device or the recording function of the GoToMeeting 10.19.0® Software. Data were pseudonymized (including sensitive information, such as personal names, dates of birth, or addresses), audio files were safely stored in a data protection folder. The interview duration ranged from 11 to 56 min (mean: 23.9 min, SD: 11.1 min). Interviews were continued until we found that data saturation was reached. Audio recordings were transcribed verbatim by an external source and not returned to participants.

Data analysis

Two coders (AM, FH) coded the interviews. Initially, the first author (AM) thoroughly reviewed the transcripts to gain a sense of the interview material. Using the topic guide and literature, she deductively developed a category system based on the primary functions of CM [ 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 ]. Three interviews were coded repeatedly for piloting, and inductive subcategories were added when new themes emerged in the interview material. This category system proved suitable for the interview material. The second coder (FH) familiarized himself with the interview material and category system. Both coders (AM, FH) independently coded all interviews, engaging in discussions and adjusting codes iteratively. The finalized category system was discussed and consolidated in a research workshop and within the COCOS-MS trial group and finally we reached an intercoder agreement of 90% between the two coders AM and FH, computed by the MAXQDA Standard 2022® software.

We analyzed sociodemographic and interview characteristics using IBM SPSS Statistics 27® and Excel 2016®. Transcripts were managed and analyzed using MAXQDA Standard 2022®.

Participants were provided with oral and written information about the trial and gave written informed consent. Ethical approvals were obtained from the Ethics Committee of the University of Cologne (#20–1436). The trial is registered in the German Register for Clinical Studies (DRKS) (DRKS00022771) and is conducted under the Declaration of Helsinki.

Characteristics of participants and interviews

PwsMS participating in an interview were mainly German (84.6%), had a mean EDSS of 6.8 (range: 6–8) and MS for 13.5 years (median: 14; SD: 8.1). For detailed characteristics see Table  3 .

Most of the interviewed caregivers (9 caregivers) were the partners of the PwsMS with whom they lived in the same household. For further details see Table  3 .

HCSs involved in the study comprised various professions, including MS-nurse (3), neurologist (2), general physician with further training in palliative care (1), physician with further training in palliative care and pain therapist (1), housing counselling service (1), outpatient nursing service manager (1), participation counselling service (1).

Structuring qualitative content analysis

The experiences of PwsMS, caregivers and HCSs were a priori deductively assigned to four main categories: (1) gatekeeper function, (2) broker function, (3) advocacy function [ 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 ] and (4) Outlook on CCM in standard care, whereas the subcategories were developed inductively (see Fig.  3 ).

Category system including main and subcategories of the qualitative thematic content analysis

The most extensive category, housing the highest number of codes and subcodes, was the “ Outlook on CCM in standard care ” (281 codes). Following this, the category “ Advocacy Function ” contained 261 codes. The “ Broker Function ” (150 codes) and the “ Gatekeeper Function ” (160 codes) constituted two smaller categories. The majority of codes was identified in the caregivers’ interviews, followed by those of PwsMS (see Table  4 ). Illustrative quotes for each category and subcategory can be found in Table  5 .

Persons with severe multiple sclerosis

In the gatekeeper function (59 codes), PwsMS particularly valued the CCM as a continuous contact person . They appreciated the CCM as a person of trust who was reliably accessible throughout the intervention period. This aspect, with 41 codes, held significant importance for PwsMS.

Within the broker function (44 codes), establishing contact was most important for PwsMS (22 codes). This involved the CCM as successfully connecting PwsMS and caregivers with physicians and therapists, as well as coordinating and arranging medical appointments, which were highly valued. Assistance in authority and health and social insurance matters (10 codes) was another subcategory, where the CCM encompassed support in communication with health insurance companies, such as improving the level of care, assisting with retirement pension applications, and facilitating rehabilitation program applications. Optimized care (12 codes) resulted in improved living conditions and the provision of assistive devices through the CCM intervention.

The advocacy function (103 codes) emerged as the most critical aspect for PwsMS, representing the core of the category system. PwsMS experienced multidimensional, comprehensive, cross-insurance system support from the CCM. This category, with 43 statements, was the largest within all subcategories. PwsMS described the CCM as addressing their concerns, providing help, and assisting with the challenges posed by the illness in everyday life. The second-largest subcategory, regaining, maintaining and supporting autonomy (25 codes), highlighted the CCM’s role in supporting self-sufficiency and independence. Reviving personal wellbeing (17 codes) involved PwsMSs’ needs of regaining positive feelings, improved quality of life, and a sense of support and acceptance, which could be improved by the CCM. Temporal relief (18 codes) was reported, with the CCM intervention taking over or reducing tasks.

Within the outlook on CCM in standard care (84 codes), eight subcategories were identified. Communications was described as friendly and open (9 codes), with the setting of communication (29 codes) including the frequency of contacts deemed appropriate by the interviewed PwsMS, who preferred face-to-face contact over virtual or telephone interactions. Improvement suggestions for CCM (10 codes) predominantly revolved around the desire for the continuation of the CCM beyond the trial, expressing intense satisfaction with the CCM contact person and program. PwsMS rarely wished for better cooperation with the CCM. With respect to limitations (7 codes), PwsMS distinguished between individual limitations (e.g. when not feeling ready for using a wheelchair) and overriding structural limitations (e.g. unsuccessful search for an accessible apartment despite CCM support). Some PwsMS mentioned needing the CCM earlier in the course of the disease and believed it would beneficial for anyone with a chronic illness (6 codes).

In the gatekeeper function (75 codes), caregivers highly valued the CCM as a continuous contact partner (33 codes). More frequently than among the PwsMS interviewed, caregivers valued the CCM as a source of consultation/ information on essential individual subjects (42 codes). The need for basic information about the illness, its potential course, treatment and therapy options, possible supportive equipment, and basic medical advice/ information could be met by the CCM.

Within the broker function (63 codes), caregivers primarily experienced the subcategory establish contacts (24 codes). They found the CCM as helpful in establishing and managing contact with physicians, therapists and especially with health insurance companies. In the subcategory assistance in authority and health and social insurance matters (22 codes), caregivers highlighted similar aspects as the PwsMS interviewed. However, there was a particular emphasis on assistance with patients' retirement matters. Caregivers also valued the optimization of patients’ care and living environment (17 codes) in various life areas during the CCM intervention, including improved access to assistive devices, home modification, and involvement of a household support and/ or nursing services.

The advocacy function, with 115 codes, was by far the broadest category . The subcategory multidimensional, comprehensive, cross-insurance system support represented the largest subcategory of caregivers, with 70 statements. In summary, caregivers felt supported by the CCM in all domains of life. Regaining, maintaining and supporting autonomy (11 codes) and reviving personal wellbeing (8 codes) in the form of an improved quality of life played a role not only for patients but also for caregivers, albeit to a lower extend. Caregivers experienced temporal relief (26 codes) as the CCM undertook a wide range of organizational tasks, freeing up more needed resources for their own interests.

For the Outlook on CCM in standard care , caregivers provided various suggestions (81 codes). Similar to PwsMS, caregivers felt that setting (home based face-to-face, telephone, virtual) and frequency of contact were appropriate (10 codes, communication setting ) and communications (7 codes) were recognized as open and friendly. However, to avoid conflicts between caregiver and PwsMS, caregivers preferred meeting the CCM separately from the PwsMS in the future. Some caregivers wished the CCM to specify all services it might offer at the beginning, while others emphasized not wanting this. Like PwsMS, caregivers criticized the CCM intervention being (trial-related) limited to one year, regardless of whether further support was needed or processes being incomplete (13 codes, improvement suggestions ). After the CCM intervention time had expired, the continuous contact person and assistance were missed and new problems had arisen and had to be managed with their own resources again (9 codes, effects of CCM discontinuation ), which was perceived as an exhausting or unsolvable endeavor. Caregivers identified analogous limitations (8 codes), both individual and structural. However, the largest subcategory, was the experienced potential of CCM (27 codes), reflected in extremely high satisfaction with the CCM intervention. Like PwsMS, caregivers regarded severe chronically ill persons in general as target groups for a CCM (7 codes) and would implement it even earlier, starting from the time of diagnosis. They considered a CCM to be particularly helpful for patients without caregivers or for caregivers with limited (time) resources, as it was true for most caregivers.

Health care specialists

In the gatekeeper function (26 codes) HCSs particularly valued the CCM as a continuous contact partner (18 codes). They primarily described their valuable collaboration with the CCM, emphasizing professional exchange between the CCM and HCSs.

Within the broker function (43 codes), the CCM was seen as a connecting link between patients and HCSs, frequently establishing contacts (18 codes). This not only improved optimal care on an individual patient level (case management) but also at a higher, superordinate care level (care management). HCSs appreciated the optimized care and living environment (18 codes) for PwsMS, including improved medical and therapeutic access and the introduction of new assistive devices. The CCM was also recognized as providing assistance in authority and health and social matters (7 codes) for PwsMS and their caregivers.

In the advocacy function (43 codes), HCSs primarily reported temporal relief through CCM intervention (23 codes). They experienced this relief, especially as the CCM provided multidimensional, comprehensive, and cross-insurance system support (15 codes) for PwsMS and their caregivers. Through this support, HCSs felt relieved from time intensive responsibilities that may not fall within their area of expertise, freeing up more time resources for their actual professional tasks.

The largest category within the HCSs interviews was the outlook on CCM in standard care (116 codes). In the largest subcategory, HCSs made suggestions for further patient groups who could benefit (38 codes) from a CCM. Chronic neurological diseases like neurodegenerative diseases (e.g. amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), typical and atypical Parkinson syndromes were mentioned. HCSs considered the enrollment of the CCM directly after the diagnosis of these complex chronic diseases. Additionally, chronic progressive diseases in general or oncological diseases, which may also run chronically, were regarded worthwhile for this approach. HCSs also provided suggestions regarding improvement (21 codes). They wished e.g. for information or contact when patients were enrolled to the CCM, regular updates, exchange and collaborative effort. On the other hand, HCSs reported, that their suggestions for improvement would hardly be feasible due to their limited time resources. Similar to patients and caregivers, HCSs experienced structural limits (13 codes), which a CCM could not exceed due to overriding structural limitations (e.g. insufficient supply of (household) aids, lack of outreach services like psychotherapists, and long processing times on health and pension insurers' side). HCSs were also asked about their opinions on financial resources (14 codes) of a CCM in standard care. All interviewed HCSs agreed that CCM would initially cause more costs for health and social insurers, but they were convinced of cost savings in the long run. HCSs particularly perceived the potential of the CCM (20 codes) through the feedback of PwsMS, highlighting the trustful relationship enabling individualized help for PwsMS and their caregivers.

Persons with severe multiple sclerosis and their caregivers

The long-term cross-sectoral CCM intervention implemented in the COCOS-MS trial addressed significant unmet needs of PwsMS and their caregivers which previous research revealed as burdensome and hardly or even not possible to improve without assistance [ 5 , 6 , 9 , 10 , 33 , 35 , 46 ]. Notably, the CCM service met the need for a reliable, continuous contact partner, guiding patients through the complexities of regulations, authorities and the insurance system. Both, PwsMS and their caregivers highly valued the professional, objective perspective provided by the CCM, recognizing it as a source of relief, support and improved care in line with previous studies [ 37 , 47 ]. Caregivers emphasized the CCM’s competence in offering concrete assistance and information on caregiving and the fundamentals of MS, including bureaucratic, authority and insurances matters. On the other hand, PwsMS particularly appreciated the CCMs external reflective and advisory function, along with empathic social support tailored to their individual concerns. Above all, the continuous partnership of trust, available irrespective of the care sector, was a key aspect that both PwsMS and their caregivers highlighted. This consistent support was identified as one of the main components in the care of PwsMS in previous studies [ 5 , 33 , 35 ].

As the health literacy is inadequate or problematic for 54% of the German population and disintegration in the health and social care system is high [ 30 , 31 , 32 ], the CCM approach serves to enhance health literacy and reduce disintegration of PwsMS and their caregivers by providing cross-insurance navigational guidance in the German health and social insurance sector on a superordinate level. Simultaneously PwsMS and caregivers experienced relief and gained more (time) resources for all areas of life outside of the disease and its management, including own interests and establishing biographical continuity. This empowerment enables patients to find a sense of purpose beyond their illness, regain autonomy, and enhance social participation, reducing the feeling of being a burden to those closest to them. Such feelings are often experienced as burdensome and shameful by PwsMS [ 6 , 48 , 49 , 50 ]. Finding a sense of purpose beyond the illness also contributes to caregivers perceiving their loved ones not primarily as patient but as individuals outside of the disease, reinforcing valuable relationships such as partners, siblings, or children, strengthening emotional bonds. These factors are also highly relevant and well-documented in a suicide-preventive context, as the suicide rate is higher in persons diagnosed with neurological disorders [ 19 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 ] and the feeling of being a burden to others, loss of autonomy, and perceived loss of dignity are significant factors in patients with severe chronic neurological diseases for suicide [ 50 , 57 ].

The temporal relief experienced by the CCM was particularly significant for HCSs and did not only improve the satisfaction of HCSs but also removed unfulfilled expectations and concerns about being blamed by patients when expectations could not be met, which previous studied elaborated [ 35 , 36 ]. Moreover, the CCM alleviated the burden on HCSs by addressing patients’ concerns, allowing them to focus on their own medical responsibilities. This aspect probably reduced the dissatisfaction that arises when HCSs are expected to address issues beyond their medical expertise, such as assistive devices, health and social insurance, and the organization and coordination of supplementary therapies, appointments, and contacts [ 35 , 36 , 61 ]. Consequently, the CCM reduced difficulties of HCSs treating persons with neurological or chronical illnesses, which previous research identified as problematic.

HCSs perceive their work as increasingly condensed with numerous time and economic constraints, especially when treating complex and severely ill individuals like PwsMS [ 36 ]. This constraint was mentioned by HCSs in the interviews and was one of the main reasons why they were hesitant to participate in interviews and may also be an explanation for a shorter interview duration than initially planned in the interview guides. The CCM’s overarching navigational competence in the health and social insurance system was particularly valued by HCSs. The complex and often small-scale specialties in the health and social care system are not easily manageable or well-known even for HCSs, and dealing with them can exceed their skills and time capacities [ 61 ]. The CCM played a crucial role in keeping (temporal) resources available for what HCSs are professionally trained and qualified to work on. However, there remains a challenge in finding solutions to the dilemma faced by HCSs regarding their wish to be informed about CCM procedures and linked with each other, while also managing the strain of additional requests and contact with the CCM due to limited (time) resources [ 62 ]. Hudon et al. (2023) suggest that optimizing time resources and improving exchange could involve meetings, information sharing via fax, e-mail, secure online platforms, or, prospectively, within the electronic patient record (EPR). The implementation of an EPR has shown promise in improving the quality of health care and time resources, when properly implemented [ 63 , 64 ]. The challenge lies ineffective information exchange between HCSs and CCM for optimal patient care. The prospect of time saving in the long run and at best for a financial incentive, e.g., when anchoring in the Social Security Code, will help best to win over the HCSs.If this crucial factor can be resolved, there is a chance that HCSs will thoroughly accept the CCM as an important pillar, benefiting not only PwsMS but also other complex patient groups, especially those with long-term neurological or complex oncological conditions that might run chronically.

Care and case management and implications for the health care system

The results of our study suggest that the cross-sectoral long-term advocacy CCM in the COCOS-MS trial, with continuous personal contacts at short intervals and constant reevaluation of needs, problems, resources and goals, is highly valued by PwsMS, caregivers, and HCSs. The trial addresses several key aspects that may have been overlooked in previous studies which have shown great potential for the integration of case management [ 17 , 47 , 62 , 65 , 66 ]. However, they often excluded the overriding care management, missed those patient groups with special severity and complexity who might struggle to reach social and health care structures independently or the interventions were not intended for long-term [ 22 , 37 ]. Our results indicate that the CCM intervention had a positive impact on PwsMS and caregivers as HCSs experienced them with benefits such as increased invigoration, reduced demands, and enhanced self-confidence. However, there was a notable loss experienced by PwsMS and caregivers after the completion of the CCM intervention, even if they had stabilized during the intervention period. The experiences of optimized social and health care for the addressed population, both at an individual and superordinate care level, support the integration of this service into standard care. Beyond the quantitatively measurable outcomes and economic considerations reported elsewhere [ 16 , 20 , 21 ], our results emphasize the importance of regaining control, self-efficacy, self-worth, dignity, autonomy, and social participation. These aspects are highlighted as preventive measures in suicidal contexts, which is particularly relevant for individuals with severe and complex illnesses [ 19 , 50 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 ]. Our findings further emphasize the societal responsibilities to offer individuals with severe and complex illnesses the opportunity to regain control and meaningful aspects of life, irrespective of purely economic considerations. This underscores the need for a comprehensive evaluation that not only takes into account quantitative measures but also the qualitative aspects of well-being and quality of life when making recommendations of a CCM in standard care.

The study by J. Y. Joo and Huber (2019) highlighted that CM interventions aligned with the standards of the Case Management Society of America varied in duration, ranging from 1 month to 15.9 years, and implemented in community- or hospital-based settings. However, they noted a limitation in understanding how CM processes unfold [ 67 ]. In contrast, our trial addressed this criticism by providing transparent explanations of the CCM process, which also extends to a superordinate care management [ 40 , 41 ]. Our CCM manual [ 40 ] outlines a standardized and structured procedure for measuring and reevaluating individual resources, problems, and unmet needs on predefined dimensions. It also identifies goals and actions at reducing unmet needs and improving the individual resources of PwsMS and caregivers. Importantly, the CCM manual demonstrates that the CCM process can be structured and standardized, while accounting for the unique aspects of each individual’s serious illness, disease courses, complex needs, available resources, and environmental conditions. Furthermore, the adaptability of the CCM manual to other complex chronically ill patient groups suggests the potential for a standardized approach in various health care settings. This standardized procedure allows for consistency in assessing and addressing the individual needs of patients, ensuring that the CCM process remains flexible while maintaining a structured and goal-oriented framework.

The discussion about the disintegration in the social and health care system and the increasing specialization dates back to 2009 [ 31 , 32 ]. Three strategies were identified to address this issue: (a) “driver-minimizing” [Treiberminimierende], (b) “effect-modifying” [Effektmodifizierende] and (c) “disintegration-impact-minimizing” [Desintegrationsfolgenminimierende] strategies. “Driver-minimizing strategies” involve comprehensive and radical changes within the existing health and social care system, requiring political and social pursuit. “Disintegration-impact-minimizing strategies” are strategies like quality management or tele-monitoring, which are limited in scope and effectiveness. “Effect-modifying strategies”, to which CCM belongs, acknowledges the segmentation within the system but aims to overcome it through cooperative, communicative, and integrative measures. CCM, being an “effect-modifying strategy”, operates the “integrated segmentation model” [Integrierte Segmentierung] rather than the “general contractor model” [Generalunternehmer-Modell] or “total service provider model” [Gesamtdienstleister-Modell] [ 31 , 32 ]. In this model, the advantage lies in providing an overarching and coordinating service to link different HCSs and services cross-sectorally. The superordinate care management aspect of the CCM plays a crucial role in identifying gaps in care, which is essential for future development strategies within the health and social care system. It aims to find or develop (regional) alternatives to ensure optimal care [ 17 , 23 , 24 , 68 , 69 ], using regional services of existing health and social care structures. Therefore, superordinate care management within the CCM process is decisive for reducing disintegration in the system.

Strengths and limitations

The qualitative study results of the explorative COCOS-MS clinical trial, which employed an integrated mixed-method design, provide valuable insights into the individual experiences of three leading stakeholders: PwsMS, caregivers and HCSs with a long-term cross-sectoral CCM. In addition to in-depth interviews, patient and caregiver reported outcome measurements were utilized and will be reported elsewhere. The qualitative study’s strengths include the inclusion of patients who, due to the severity of their condition (e.g. EDSS mean: 6.8, range: 6–8, highly active MS), age (mean: 53.9 years, range: 36–73 years) family constellations, are often underrepresented in research studies and often get lost in existing social and health care structures. The study population is specific to the wider district region of Cologne, but the broad inclusion criteria make it representative of severe MS in Germany. The methodological approach of a deductive and inductive structuring content analysis made it possible to include new findings into an existing theoretical framework.

However, the study acknowledges some limitations. While efforts were made to include more HCSs, time constraints on their side limited the number of interviews conducted and might have biased the results. Some professions are underrepresented in the interviews. Complex symptoms (e.g. fatigue, ability to concentrate), medical or therapeutic appointments and organization of the everyday live may have been reasons for the patients’ and caregivers’ interviews lasting shorter than initially planned.

The provision of functions of a CCM, might have pre-structured the answers of the participants.

At current, there is no support system for PwsMS, their caregivers and HCSs that addresses their complex and unmet needs comprehensively and continuously. There are rare qualitative insights of the three important stakeholders: PwsMS, caregivers and HCSs in one analysis about a supporting service like a CCM. In response to this gap, we developed and implemented a long-term cross-sectoral advocacy CCM and analyzed it qualitatively. PwsMS, their caregivers and HCSs expressed positive experiences, perceiving the CCM as a source of relief and support that improved care across various aspects of life. For patients, the CCM intervention resulted in enhanced autonomy, reviving of personal wellbeing and new established contacts with HCSs. Caregivers reported a reduced organizational burden and felt better informed, and HCSs experienced primarily temporal relief, allowing them to concentrate on their core professional responsibilities. At a higher level of care, the study suggests that the CCM contributed to a reduction in disintegration within the social and health care system.

The feedback from participants is seen as valuable for adapting the CCM intervention and the CCM manual for follow-up studies, involving further complex patient groups such as neurological long-term diseases apart from MS and tailoring the duration of the intervention depending on the complexity of evolving demands.

Availability of data and materials

Generated and/or analyzed datasets of participants are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request to protect participants. Preliminary partial results have been presented as a poster during the EAPC World Congress in June 2023 and the abstract has been published in the corresponding abstract booklet [ 70 ].

Abbreviations

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

• Care and case management

Case management

Central nervous system

Communication, Coordination and security for people with multiple sclerosis

Consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research

German register for clinical studies

Extended disability status scale

Electronic patient record

Quality of life

Multiple sclerosis

Koch-Henriksen N, Magyari M. Apparent changes in the epidemiology and severity of multiple sclerosis. Nat Rev Neurol. 2021;17:676–88. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41582-021-00556-y .

Article   PubMed   Google Scholar  

Ellenberger D, Flachenecker P, Fneish F, Frahm N, Hellwig K, Paul F, et al. Aggressive multiple sclerosis: a matter of measurement and timing. Brain. 2020;143:e97. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awaa306 .

Article   PubMed   PubMed Central   Google Scholar  

Edmonds P, Vivat B, Burman R, Silber E, Higginson IJ. Loss and change: experiences of people severely affected by multiple sclerosis. Palliat Med. 2007;21:101–7. https://doi.org/10.1177/0269216307076333 .

Kurtzke JF. Rating neurologic impairment in multiple rating neurologic impairment in multiple sclerosis: An expanded disability status scale (EDSS). Neurology. 1983;33(11):1444–52.

Article   CAS   PubMed   Google Scholar  

Galushko M, Golla H, Strupp J, Karbach U, Kaiser C, Ernstmann N, et al. Unmet needs of patients feeling severely affected by multiple sclerosis in Germany: a qualitative study. J Palliat Med. 2014;17:274–81. https://doi.org/10.1089/jpm.2013.0497 .

Borreani C, Bianchi E, Pietrolongo E, Rossi I, Cilia S, Giuntoli M, et al. Unmet needs of people with severe multiple sclerosis and their carers: qualitative findings for a home-based intervention. PLoS One. 2014:e109679. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0109679 .

Yamout BI, Alroughani R. Multiple Sclerosis. Semin Neurol. 2018;38:212–25. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0038-1649502 .

Nissen N, Lemche J, Reestorff CM, Schmidt M, Skjerbæk AG, Skovgaard L, et al. The lived experience of uncertainty in everyday life with MS. Disabil Rehabil. 2022;44:5957–63. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638288.2021.1955302 .

Strupp J, Hartwig A, Golla H, Galushko M, Pfaff H, Voltz R. Feeling severely affected by multiple sclerosis: what does this mean? Palliat Med. 2012;26:1001–10. https://doi.org/10.1177/0269216311425420 .

Strupp J, Voltz R, Golla H. Opening locked doors: Integrating a palliative care approach into the management of patients with severe multiple sclerosis. Mult Scler J. 2016;22:13–8.

Article   CAS   Google Scholar  

Kraft AK, Berger K. Kernaspekte einer bedarfsgerechten Versorgung von Patienten mit Multipler Sklerose : Inanspruchnahme ambulanter Leistungen und „shared decision making“ [Core aspects of a needs-conform care of patients with multiple sclerosis : Utilization of outpatient services and shared decision making]. Nervenarzt. 2020;91:503–10. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00115-020-00906-z .

Doshi A, Chataway J. Multiple sclerosis, a treatable disease. Clin Med (Lond). 2017;17:530–6. https://doi.org/10.7861/clinmedicine.17-6-530 .

Kobelt G, Thompson A, Berg J, Gannedahl M, Eriksson J. New insights into the burden and costs of multiple sclerosis in Europe. Mult Scler. 2017;23:1123–36. https://doi.org/10.1177/1352458517694432 .

Conradsson D, Ytterberg C, Engelkes C, Johansson S, Gottberg K. Activity limitations and participation restrictions in people with multiple sclerosis: a detailed 10-year perspective. Disabil Rehabil. 2021;43:406–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638288.2019.1626919 .

Sorensen PS, Giovannoni G, Montalban X, Thalheim C, Zaratin P, Comi G. The Multiple Sclerosis Care Unit. Mult Scler J. 2019;5:627–36.

Article   Google Scholar  

Tan H, Yu J, Tabby D, Devries A, Singer J. Clinical and economic impact of a specialty care management program among patients with multiple sclerosis: a cohort study. Mult Scler. 2010;16:956–63. https://doi.org/10.1177/1352458510373487 .

Article   CAS   PubMed   PubMed Central   Google Scholar  

Oeseburg B, Wynia K, Middel B, Reijneveld SA. Effects of case management for frail older people or those with chronic illness: a systematic review. Nurs Res. 2009;58:201–10.

Aiken LS, Butner J, Lockhart CA, Volk-Craft BE, Hamilton G, Williams FG. Outcome evaluation of a randomized trial of the PhoenixCare intervention: program of case management and coordinated care for the seriously chronically ill. J Palliat Med. 2006;9:111–26. https://doi.org/10.1089/jpm.2006.9.111 .

Kuhn U, Düsterdiek A, Galushko M, Dose C, Montag T, Ostgathe C, Voltz R. Identifying patients suitable for palliative care—a descriptive analysis of enquiries using a Case Management Process Model approach. BMC Res Notes. 2012;5:611. https://doi.org/10.1186/1756-0500-5-611 .

Leary A, Quinn D, Bowen A. Impact of proactive case management by multiple sclerosis specialist nurses on use of unscheduled care and emergency presentation in multiple sclerosis: a case study. Int J MS Care. 2015;17:159–63. https://doi.org/10.7224/1537-2073.2014-011 .

Strupp J, Dose C, Kuhn U, Galushko M, Duesterdiek A, Ernstmann N, et al. Analysing the impact of a case management model on the specialised palliative care multi-professional team. Support Care Cancer. 2018;26:673–9. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-017-3893-3 .

Wynia K, Annema C, Nissen H, de Keyser J, Middel B. Design of a Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) on the effectiveness of a Dutch patient advocacy case management intervention among severely disabled Multiple Sclerosis patients. BMC Health Serv Res. 2010;10:142. https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6963-10-142 .

Ewers M, Schaeffer D, editors. Case Management in Theorie und Praxis. Bern: Huber; 2005.

Google Scholar  

Neuffer M. Case Management: Soziale Arbeit mit Einzelnen und Familien. 5th ed. Weinheim, Basel: Beltz Juventa; 2013.

Case Management Society of America. The standards of practice for case management. 2022.

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Care und Case Management e.V., editor. Case Management Leitlinien: Rahmenempfehlung, Standards und ethische Grundlagen. 2nd ed. Heidelberg: Medhochzwei; 2020.

Monzer M. Case Management Grundlagen. 2nd ed. Heidelberg: Medhochzwei; 2018.

Wissert M. Grundfunktionen und fachliche Standards des Unterstützungsmanagements. Z Gerontol Geriat. 1998;31(5):331–7.

Wissert M. Tools und Werkzeuge beim Case Management: Die Hilfeplanung. Case Manag. 2007;1:35–7.

Schaeffer D, Berens E-M, Vogt D. Health literacy in the German population. Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2017;114:53–60. https://doi.org/10.3238/arztebl.2017.0053 .

Pfaff H, Schulte H. Der onkologische Patient der Zukunft. Onkologe. 2012;18:127–33. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00761-011-2201-y .

Pfaff H, Kowalski C, Ommen O. Modelle zur Analyse von Integration und Koordination im Versorgungssystem. In: Ameldung, Sydow, Windeler, editor. Vernetzung im Gesundheitswesen: Wettbewerb und Kooperation. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer Verlag; 2009. p. 75–90.

Golla H, Mammeas S, Galushko M, Pfaff H, Voltz R. Unmet needs of caregivers of severely affected multiple sclerosis patients: A qualitative study. Palliat Support Care. 2015;13(6):1685–93.

Golla H, Galushko M, Pfaff H, Voltz R. Multiple sclerosis and palliative care - perceptions of severely affected multiple sclerosis patients and their health professionals: a qualitative study. BMC Palliat Care. 2014;13:11. https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-684x-13-11 .

Golla H, Galushko M, Pfaff H, Voltz R. Unmet needs of severely affected multiple sclerosis patients: the health professionals’ view. Palliat Med. 2012;26:139–51. https://doi.org/10.1177/0269216311401465 .

Methley AM, Chew-Graham CA, Cheraghi-Sohi S, Campbell SM. A qualitative study of patient and professional perspectives of healthcare services for multiple sclerosis: implications for service development and policy. Health Soc Care Community. 2017;25:848–57. https://doi.org/10.1111/hsc.12369 .

Kalb R, Costello K, Guiod L. Case management services to meet the complex needs of patients with multiple sclerosis in the community—the successes and challenges of a unique program from the national multiple sclerosis society. US Neurology. 2019;15:27–31.

Krüger K, Fricke LM, Dilger E-M, Thiele A, Schaubert K, Hoekstra D, et al. How is and how should healthcare for people with multiple sclerosis in Germany be designed?-The rationale and protocol for the mixed-methods study Multiple Sclerosis-Patient-Oriented Care in Lower Saxony (MS-PoV). PLoS One. 2021;16:e0259855. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0259855 .

Ivancevic S, Weegen L, Korff L, Jahn R, Walendzik A, Mostardt S, et al. Effektivität und Kosteneffektivät von Versorgungsmanagement-Programmen bei Multipler Sklerose in Deutschland – Eine Übersichtsarbeit. Akt Neurol. 2015;42:503–8. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0035-1564111 .

Müller A, Dillen K, Dojan T, Ungeheuer S, Goereci Y, Dunkl V, et al. Development of a long-term cross-sectoral case and care management manual for patients with severe multiple sclerosis and their caregivers. Prof Case Manag. 2023;28:183–93. https://doi.org/10.1097/NCM.0000000000000608 .

Golla H, Dillen K, Hellmich M, Dojan T, Ungeheuer S, Schmalz P, et al. Communication, Coordination, and Security for People with Multiple Sclerosis (COCOS-MS): a randomised phase II clinical trial protocol. BMJ Open. 2022;12:e049300. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-049300 .

Tong A, Sainsbury P, Craig J. Consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (COREQ): a 32-item checklist for interviews and focus groups. Int J Qual Health Care. 2007;19:349–57. https://doi.org/10.1093/intqhc/mzm042 .

Kuckartz U. Qualitative Inhaltsanalyse: Methoden, Praxis, Computerunterstützung. 4th ed. Weinheim: Beltz Juventa; 2018.

Akyirem S, Ekpor E, Aidoo-Frimpong GA, Salifu Y, Nelson LE. Online interviews for qualitative health research in Africa: a scoping review. Int Health. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1093/inthealth/ihad010 .

Peasgood T, Bourke M, Devlin N, Rowen D, Yang Y, Dalziel K. Randomised comparison of online interviews versus face-to-face interviews to value health states. Soc Sci Med. 2023;323:115818. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.115818 .

Giordano A, Cimino V, Campanella A, Morone G, Fusco A, Farinotti M, et al. Low quality of life and psychological wellbeing contrast with moderate perceived burden in carers of people with severe multiple sclerosis. J Neurol Sci. 2016;366:139–45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jns.2016.05.016 .

Joo JY, Liu MF. Experiences of case management with chronic illnesses: a qualitative systematic review. Int Nurs Rev. 2018;65(1):102–1113.

Freeman J, Gorst T, Gunn H, Robens S. “A non-person to the rest of the world”: experiences of social isolation amongst severely impaired people with multiple sclerosis. Disabil Rehabil. 2020;42:2295–303. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638288.2018.1557267 .

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Multiple sclerosis: Management of multiple sclerosis in primary and secondary care. 2014.

Erdmann A, Spoden C, Hirschberg I, Neitzke G. The wish to die and hastening death in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: A scoping review. BMJ Support Palliat Care. 2021;11:271–87. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjspcare-2020-002640 .

Erlangsen A, Stenager E, Conwell Y, Andersen PK, Hawton K, Benros ME, et al. Association between neurological disorders and death by suicide in Denmark. JAMA. 2020;323:444–54. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2019.21834 .

Kalb R, Feinstein A, Rohrig A, Sankary L, Willis A. Depression and suicidality in multiple sclerosis: red flags, management strategies, and ethical considerations. Curr Neurol Neurosci Rep. 2019;19:77. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11910-019-0992-1 .

Feinstein A, Pavisian B. Multiple sclerosis and suicide. Mult Scler. 2017;23:923–7. https://doi.org/10.1177/1352458517702553 .

Marrie RA, Salter A, Tyry T, Cutter GR, Cofield S, Fox RJ. High hypothetical interest in physician-assisted death in multiple sclerosis. Neurology. 2017;88:1528–34. https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0000000000003831 .

Gauthier S, Mausbach J, Reisch T, Bartsch C. Suicide tourism: a pilot study on the Swiss phenomenon. J Med Ethics. 2015;41:611–7. https://doi.org/10.1136/medethics-2014-102091 .

Fischer S, Huber CA, Imhof L, MahrerImhof R, Furter M, Ziegler SJ, Bosshard G. Suicide assisted by two Swiss right-to-die organisations. J Med Ethics. 2008;34:810–4. https://doi.org/10.1136/jme.2007.023887 .

Strupp J, Ehmann C, Galushko M, Bücken R, Perrar KM, Hamacher S, et al. Risk factors for suicidal ideation in patients feeling severely affected by multiple sclerosis. J Palliat Med. 2016;19:523–8. https://doi.org/10.1089/jpm.2015.0418 .

Spence RA, Blanke CD, Keating TJ, Taylor LP. Responding to patient requests for hastened death: physician aid in dying and the clinical oncologist. J Oncol Pract. 2017;13:693–9. https://doi.org/10.1200/JOP.2016.019299 .

Monforte-Royo C, Villavicencio-Chávez C, Tomás-Sábado J, Balaguer A. The wish to hasten death: a review of clinical studies. Psychooncology. 2011;20:795–804. https://doi.org/10.1002/pon.1839 .

Blanke C, LeBlanc M, Hershman D, Ellis L, Meyskens F. Characterizing 18 years of the death with dignity act in Oregon. JAMA Oncol. 2017;3:1403–6. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamaoncol.2017.0243 .

Methley A, Campbell S, Cheraghi-Sohi S, Chew-Graham C. Meeting the mental health needs of people with multiple sclerosis: a qualitative study of patients and professionals. Disabil Rehab. 2017;39(11):1097-105. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638288.2016.1180547 .

Hudon C, Bisson M, Chouinard M-C, Delahunty-Pike A, Lambert M, Howse D, et al. Implementation analysis of a case management intervention for people with complex care needs in primary care: a multiple case study across Canada. BMC Health Serv Res. 2023;23:377. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-023-09379-7 .

Beckmann M, Dittmer K, Jaschke J, Karbach U, Köberlein-Neu J, Nocon M, et al. Electronic patient record and its effects on social aspects of interprofessional collaboration and clinical workflows in hospitals (eCoCo): a mixed methods study protocol. BMC Health Serv Res. 2021;21:377. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-021-06377-5 .

Campanella P, Lovato E, Marone C, Fallacara L, Mancuso A, Ricciardi W, Specchia ML. The impact of electronic health records on healthcare quality: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Eur J Public Health. 2016;26:60–4. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckv122 .

García-Hernández M, González de León B, Barreto-Cruz S, Vázquez-Díaz JR. Multicomponent, high-intensity, and patient-centered care intervention for complex patients in transitional care: SPICA program. Front Med (Lausanne). 2022;9:1033689. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2022.1033689 .

Meisinger C, Stollenwerk B, Kirchberger I, Seidl H, Wende R, Kuch B, Holle R. Effects of a nurse-based case management compared to usual care among aged patients with myocardial infarction: results from the randomized controlled KORINNA study. BMC Geriatr. 2013. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2318-13-115 .

Joo JY, Huber DL. Case management effectiveness on health care utilization outcomes: a systematic review of reviews. West J Nurs Res. 2019;41:111–33. https://doi.org/10.1177/0193945918762135 .

Stergiopoulos V, Gozdzik A, Misir V, Skosireva A, Connelly J, Sarang A, et al. Effectiveness of housing first with intensive case management in an ethnically diverse sample of homeless adults with mental illness: a randomized controlled trial. PLoS One. 2015;10:e0130281. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0130281 .

Löcherbach P, Wendt R, editors. Care und Case Management: Transprofessionelle Versorgungsstrukturen und Netzwerke. 1st ed. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer; 2020.

EAPC2023 Abstract Book. Palliat Med. 2023;37:1–302. https://doi.org/10.1177/02692163231172891 .

Download references

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all the patients, caregivers and health care specialists who volunteered their time to participate in an interview and the trial, Carola Janßen for transcribing the interviews, Fiona Brown for translating the illustrative quotes and Beatrix Münzberg, Kerstin Weiß and Monika Höveler for data collection in the quantitative study part.

COCOS-MS Trial Group

Anne Müller 1 , Fabian Hebben 1 , Kim Dillen 1 , Veronika Dunkl 1 , Yasemin Goereci 2 , Raymond Voltz 1,3,4 , Peter Löcherbach 5 , Clemens Warnke 2 , Heidrun Golla 1 , Dirk Müller 6 , Dorthe Hobus 1 , Eckhard Bonmann 7 , Franziska Schwartzkopff 8 , Gereon Nelles 9 , Gundula Palmbach 8 , Herbert Temmes 10 , Isabel Franke 1 , Judith Haas 10 , Julia Strupp 1 , Kathrin Gerbershagen 7 , Laura Becker-Peters 8 , Lothar Burghaus 11 , Martin Hellmich 12 , Martin Paus 8 , Solveig Ungeheuer 1 , Sophia Kochs 1 , Stephanie Stock 6 , Thomas Joist 13 , Volker Limmroth 14

1 Department of Palliative Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany

2 Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany

3 Center for Integrated Oncology Aachen Bonn Cologne Düsseldorf (CIO ABCD), University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany

4 Center for Health Services Research (ZVFK), University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany

5 German Society of Care and Case Management e.V. (DGCC), Münster, Germany

6 Institute for Health Economics and Clinical Epidemiology (IGKE), Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany

7 Department of Neurology, Klinikum Köln, Cologne, Germany

8 Clinical Trials Centre Cologne (CTCC), Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany

9 NeuroMed Campus, MedCampus Hohenlind, Cologne, Germany

10 German Multiple Sclerosis Society Federal Association (DMSG), Hannover, Germany

11 Department of Neurology, Heilig Geist-Krankenhaus Köln, Cologne, Germany

12 Institute of Medical Statistics and Computational Biology (IMSB), Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany

13 Academic Teaching Practice, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany

14 Department of Neurology, Klinikum Köln-Merheim, Cologne, Germany

Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL. This work was supported by the Innovation Funds of the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA), grant number: 01VSF19029.

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Department of Palliative Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany

Anne Müller, Fabian Hebben, Kim Dillen, Veronika Dunkl, Raymond Voltz & Heidrun Golla

Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany

Yasemin Goereci & Clemens Warnke

Center for Integrated Oncology Aachen Bonn Cologne Düsseldorf (CIO ABCD), University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany

Raymond Voltz

Center for Health Services Research, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany

German Society of Care and Case Management E.V. (DGCC), Münster, Germany

Peter Löcherbach

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

• Anne Müller
• , Fabian Hebben
• , Kim Dillen
• , Veronika Dunkl
• , Yasemin Goereci
• , Raymond Voltz
• , Peter Löcherbach
• , Clemens Warnke
• , Heidrun Golla
• , Dirk Müller
• , Dorthe Hobus
• , Eckhard Bonmann
• , Franziska Schwartzkopff
• , Gereon Nelles
• , Gundula Palmbach
• , Herbert Temmes
• , Isabel Franke
• , Judith Haas
• , Julia Strupp
• , Kathrin Gerbershagen
• , Laura Becker-Peters
• , Lothar Burghaus
• , Martin Hellmich
• , Martin Paus
• , Solveig Ungeheuer
• , Sophia Kochs
• , Stephanie Stock
• , Thomas Joist
•  & Volker Limmroth

Contributions

HG, KD, CW designed the trial. HG, KD obtained ethical approvals. HG, KD developed the interview guidelines with help of the CCM (SU). AM was responsible for collecting qualitative data, developing the code system, coding, analysis of the data and writing the first draft of the manuscript, thoroughly revised and partly rewritten by HG. FH supported in collecting qualitative data, coding and analysis of the interviews. KD supported in collecting qualitative data. AM, FH, KD, VD, YG, RV, PL, CW, HG discussed and con-solidated the finalized category system. AM, FH, KD, VD, YG, RV, PL, CW, HG read and commented on the manuscript and agreed to the final version.

Authors’ information

Not applicable.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anne Müller .

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate.

Participants were provided with oral and written information about the trial and provided written informed consent. Ethical approval was obtained from the Ethics Committee of the University of Cologne (#20–1436). The trial is registered in the German Register for Clinical Studies (DRKS) (DRKS00022771) and is conducted under the Declaration of Helsinki.

Consent for publication

Competing interests.

Clemens Warnke has received institutional support from Novartis, Alexion, Sanofi Genzyme, Janssen, Biogen, Merck and Roche. The other authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher’s note.

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary Information

Supplementary material 1., rights and permissions.

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ( http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ ) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article.

Müller, A., Hebben, F., Dillen, K. et al. “So at least now I know how to deal with things myself, what I can do if it gets really bad again”—experiences with a long-term cross-sectoral advocacy care and case management for severe multiple sclerosis: a qualitative study. BMC Health Serv Res 24 , 453 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-024-10851-1

Download citation

Received : 23 November 2023

Accepted : 11 March 2024

Published : 10 April 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-024-10851-1

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Cross-sectoral
• Qualitative research
• Health care specialist
• Severe multiple sclerosis

BMC Health Services Research

ISSN: 1472-6963

• General enquiries: [email protected]

The case for compliance as a competitive advantage for banks

Consider this short tale of two banks: Acme Bank’s top-notch compliance function kept the bank within its risk appetite, but the bank did not perform well. Its strategy team blamed compliance for slow growth, weak market share, and failed digital initiatives. At Apex Bank, the strategy team bypassed compliance to release new products quickly, expand into new customer segments, and ramp up acquisitions, all while keeping costs low. Soon, though, its main regulator brought a significant enforcement action. The stock price fell, key employees quit, the bank had to exit several important businesses, and compliance costs skyrocketed.

While these descriptions are caricatures, they’re not far from reality. Strategy and compliance often operate as antagonists or as ships passing in the night. This is a missed opportunity. Done well, communication and collaboration between the two parties can create competitive advantage. The stakes are particularly high now: technology offers promise, but new risks are rising on uncertain economic and geopolitical landscapes.

This article explains the benefits available when compliance and strategy leaders work together, the quick wins that are possible, and the structural solutions that can sustain and scale the change. In this article, we use the word “strategy” as a metonym for the broader set of decision makers (not just the strategy organization) who influence and shape banks’ strategic direction; these include business unit leaders, leaders in marketing and sales organizations, and product managers.

Finding competitive advantage

Banks’ compliance functions have typically focused on defense: preventing violations of policy, rules, regulation, and laws. The more complicated the regulatory, business, and technological environment, the more complex the defense.

But in complex environments, collaboration with the business  can deliver greater strategic value . In our experience, five objectives that define strategic posture  are ripe for collaboration: differentiating client experience, investing in fast-evolving areas, securing resilience against geopolitical disruptions, improving productivity, and acquiring programmatically. In each, when compliance and business stakeholders responsible for strategic decisions work side by side, institutions benefit by protecting against the downside, capturing more of the upside, or both (exhibit) .

In working with banks around the world, we have seen examples of compliance and strategy collaborating on these five objectives, with varying degrees of success. Here we describe how the successful collaborations were achieved for each objective.

Differentiated client experience

In the increasingly digital world, customer experience is king , and products and services are scrutinized in the court of public opinion—online ratings and social media. Already in 2018, of the 50 largest global banks, three out of four were publicly pledging to initiate some form of customer-experience transformation . We have seen banks’ customer-experience transformations boost the lifetime profitability of satisfied customers—those willing to recommend the bank to friends—to levels five to eight times those of customers with a negative perception.

Banks need processes that deliver a good customer experience in the moment, treat customers fairly, protect against fraud, and comply with laws and other regulations. Poorly designed compliance processes can compromise the experience, but insufficient checks can open the door to fraud or other abuses. Deep collaboration by compliance and business teams can capture opportunities as well as protect the downside.

Poorly designed compliance processes can compromise the experience, but insufficient checks can open the door to fraud or other abuses. Deep collaboration by compliance and business teams can capture opportunities as well as protect the downside.

For example, in retail banking and payments, some consumers have negative experiences with identity verification; it can be confusing and take a long time. Frustrated consumers may even walk away from their bank. Strategy teams with expertise in identifying customer needs, meeting those needs, and differentiating value propositions by bringing together viewpoints from across the organization can work with compliance teams to identify the most critical needs and embed compliance requirements seamlessly into customer journeys.

In institutional banking, some customers experience similar frustrations from the intense and sometimes overlapping queries for information aimed at meeting the complex know-your-customer (KYC) requirements straddling jurisdictions. Certain KYC queries may add operational cost and could even deter large multinational clients from starting new banking relationships. Closer collaboration between compliance and strategy teams helps banks simplify the process in a client-centric and risk-informed way. Our research has found  10 to 30 percent improvement in customer satisfaction scores and 20 to 40 percent reductions of administrative touchpoints.

Compliance and strategy teams can also work together on continual improvement. Customer complaints can indicate compliance issues—for example, problematic sales practices—but also opportunities to improve customer experience. Thus, input on customer experience can serve as an early warning about possible compliance issues.

How to start

Compliance and business operations can together initiate a review of priority client-facing processes. The effort may identify opportunities for improving user experience through simplification or rationalization of controls—for example, by removing redundant or overlapping controls.

Banks that aspire to offer a standout client experience typically form cross-functional teams focused on rapid, agile execution. Practically, this would involve including compliance experts in the core of the agile approach and team configuration from the start. For processes related to customer onboarding, teams can include experts in compliance, technology, operations, strategy, and other functions. This equips the team to incorporate guidance on compliance requirements in the most client-friendly way.

One North American institution created a task force of senior banking executives, including the chief compliance officer, to design a smooth customer onboarding process across its capital markets businesses. The team first established clarity around regulatory requirements and then reengineered customer journeys and built a consistent experience across regions. The resulting process minimized requests for client information and decreased the risk of inconsistencies and conflicts in client data.

Investment in fast-evolving areas

Growth into adjacent or secondary industries offers financial services institutions strong opportunity, yet some of the most alluring domains are fraught with uncertainty related to compliance. 1 Our recent research finds that in financial services, 35 percent of growth comes from secondary industries or expansion into new ones. Companies that grow into adjacent industries generated, on average, an extra 1.5 percentage points per year of shareholder returns above their industry peers. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/financial-services/our-insights/managing-a-customer-experience-transformation-in-banking This is especially true of areas in which some combination of technology, products and services, business dynamics, and customer expectations are evolving quicky. Strategists weigh the opportunity from potential investments against costs of competition or regulation. Compliance can shape ideas for coping with the regulatory uncertainty and suggest implications for various investment options.

New business opportunities linked to data and analytics exemplify an area that shows promise but presents new and sometimes uncertain compliance expectations. Some institutions are considering investing in or partnering with data and analytics players that provide credit decisioning tools. When decisions about credit extension are informed by or fully based on AI algorithms, banks will need to demonstrate the fairness of such decisions and their compliance with customer protection rules. Compliance teams can inform assessments of these requirements, such as required investments in controls and the AI talent required to interpret algorithms’ output.

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) offerings are another area of potential opportunity for collaboration. Institutions that aspire to bring attractive ESG offerings to market need well-designed processes for product creation and maintenance. Basic criteria include factors (and underlying data) used to construct ESG investment products that are transparent and reflective of the investment objectives described in the prospectuses. Strategy teams play a key role in defining ESG product initiatives based on market dynamics and client needs. Compliance teams working with strategy teams can provide insights on alignment of ESG factors with the declared investment objectives and regulatory guidance, as well as the processes for monitoring product performance and informing customers.

Compliance and strategy could collaborate to articulate the largest regulatory risks associated with products or segments that are new to the industry, growing in importance, or being considered as a new focus. Examples could include analytics or digital payments.

Compliance officers could regularly share with colleagues the latest regulatory developments in this space, including potential implications for a bank’s planned investment actions, if relevant. In addition, banks should consider explicitly designating compliance team members who will be on point to provide strategically informed compliance insights on fast-evolving areas that the institution has prioritized for potential investment. These people would have the dual mandate of being compliance officers while advising strategists in areas where the bank is exploring the potential for growth or an inorganic investment thesis. Banks can even consider forming a small compliance advisory team to provide such input as needed in areas of strategic significance. This team might sit either within the strategy or compliance functions, with a dotted-line relationship to the other group.

Resilience against geopolitical disruption

For global institutions, geopolitical forces up the ante, particularly when laws or regulations shift quickly in response to countries’ foreign-policy stances. Institutions with an international footprint have complicated links between countries. Rarely can such organizations disconnect rapidly from any given country, not least because of compliance requirements. The strategy function may lack routines for systematically analyzing and understanding geopolitical scenarios.

For example, companies doing business in Russia or with Russian entities when it invaded Ukraine in early 2022 had to quickly translate the implications of the sanctions that many other countries imposed on Russia. Predefined playbooks for handling similar geopolitical shocks would accelerate response and reduce the probability of any outsize operational losses or regulatory fines that might create opportunities in the defensive quadrant of the values matrix.

Given recent geopolitical shifts, strategy teams may be well advised to start building a planning capacity, with compliance teams included. Those engaged with strategy at the senior level, with participation from the senior level of the compliance function, can systematically develop and analyze a set of geopolitical scenarios. For example, scenarios might include imposition of sanctions or quickly exiting a country.

Improved productivity

Collaboration to improve process productivity delivers impact primarily on the value capture axis of the matrix. For example, the compliance team can suggest the productivity initiatives (e.g., streamlining compliance controls, suggesting process simplification ideas based on compliance risk assessments) that could lead to significant impact on margin or revenue growth, given that prioritization of productivity initiatives is key for value capture.

When strategy teams design operational productivity programs, they balance effectiveness and efficiency levers across thousands of individual processes. Compliance organizations are uniquely positioned to support these efforts based on their observation of issues and challenges across the organization. In addition, the compliance team can help structure companywide communication flows on process and control streamlining opportunities. For example, they may have data and insights from security breaches, fraud, suspicious activity, and anti-money-laundering (AML) flags, as well as insights from control testing. These insights can inform where to eliminate, establish, or maintain manual checks; eliminate overlaps in the scope of reviews; or reengineer processes more holistically.

At the start of any productivity improvement effort, banks have an opportunity to include compliance as part of the core team. Similarly, when deploying the agile approach to identify opportunities, compliance officers can be core to the team structure from the start. This collaboration enables the team to review prioritized processes for opportunities to streamline compliance risk assessments and identified overlapping controls.

As the productivity program establishes baselines—for example, collecting data to prioritize the highest-impact products, businesses, and processes to start with—compliance experts can help with specifying data types and inputs needed, especially in areas such as control performance, key risk indicators, or customer complaint themes. For prioritizing productivity initiatives, compliance experts can contribute insights related to control testing or compliance risk assessment.

Stronger programmatic M&A

The compliance team can also help the strategy and M&A teams generate differentiated insights on mergers and acquisitions. In particular, collaboration can help strengthen programmatic M&A strategies , which generate excess returns relative to peers because serial acquirers tend to grow faster and more profitably. 2 Among companies with revenue CAGR over 5 percent, our research has shown, those with programmatic M&A strategies generate shareholder returns 3.5 percentage points higher than for those growing organically.

Collaboration on acquisition-related themes enables both offensive and optimizing strategies. Organizations can generate differentiated insights for upside capture, such as compliance criteria integrated in M&A sourcing filters. They also can pursue the dual benefits of upside capture and downside protection, such as collaboration on postmerger decisioning and planning.

Successful execution requires strong M&A capabilities, and the compliance function has a key role to play in each capability, including M&A sourcing, due diligence, and integration planning and execution. To enable programmatic M&A, compliance can help design filtering criteria so target identification excludes companies with suspicious clients or that operate in jurisdictions with weak regulatory infrastructure. Strategy and compliance teams should also collaborate to ensure the filters stay calibrated to existing market conditions.

Collaboration on due diligence can include pressure-testing strategic and financial assumptions linked to compliance. Key questions to consider for accurate valuation and assessment of targets’ business models are whether the market sizing assumes no new restrictive regulation of the target’s core product and what it will cost to bring a target’s financial-crime controls in line with those of the acquiring bank.

During postmerger integration and planning, the compliance team can be a partner in deciding the nature and level of integration. In our experience, companies do make compliance part of premerger planning but frequently as a stand-alone workstream. However, the maturity of a target’s control infrastructure often has direct bearing on the right approach to business, process, and system integration. For example, limited control infrastructure and a history of regulatory relationship challenges may prompt the organization to pursue greater integration across functions in order to migrate the target’s businesses to the acquirer’s more controlled and mature environment.

Consider integrating the compliance team into the entire M&A deal workflow. Bringing compliance into the M&A deal workflow can be a simple change. For example, compliance officers can become permanent members of the deal team across the full deal life cycle, including deal identification (refining investment filters with compliance factors), due diligence (leading compliance-specific deep dives), and integration (using control performance to generate insights on the integration strategy).

Structural solutions to sustain and amplify collaboration impact

Walk a day in my shoes.

Strategists and compliance officers have not been natural bedfellows. Strategists may not fully grasp compliance-related risks, while compliance officers may not understand in detail competitor moves or friction that spurs clients to reduce their business. But in the world that lies ahead, mutual understanding will likely be foundational for gaining a competitive edge.

Life as a compliance officer

The compliance role has grown as regulatory frameworks and compliance requirements proliferate. Since 2010, more rules have been issued by the four regulatory agencies (Federal Reserve, OCC, FDIC and CFPB) than in the entire period since the creation of the Federal Reserve System in 1913 to 2010. Compliance officers must translate every new requirement into digestible obligations, alter policies and procedures accordingly (often individually for each product, business, and geography), and help the business side understand these obligations in the context of their processes. Failure to do so can result in large fines to the company, restrictions on business, and even liability of individuals including senior executives and board members.

Compliance officers view their core mission as protectors, so the business’s goals of serving clients better, growing, or improving productivity can easily be perceived as resistance to the compliance function’s mission.

Life as a strategist

Unaddressed market forces continually deplete profits , so strategists try to create and capture economic and social value sustainably in the face of uncertainty. As the pace of innovation and disruption accelerates, strategists’ role becomes ever more intense. They rely on insights into key driving factors to formulate powerful strategy, deep interpersonal engagement and debate from senior executives, and a mutual understanding that the business is prepared and willing to act on a strategy once adopted.

While strategists could benefit greatly from the insights supplied by the compliance function, they often struggle to see past the technical language of rules and regulations. They will likely be better able to appreciate the larger meaning behind compliance if they have information synthesized into terms they can apply to their process of strategy formulation.

Three main obstacles tend to hinder systematic collaboration between compliance and business. First, the compliance function is sometimes seen as lacking full understanding of the business, so the idea of collaboratively finding creative solutions never arises (see sidebar, “Walk a day in my shoes”). Second, the operating model, organizational structure, and talent often are not set up to support meaningful engagement that would allow working together. Third, processes and technology generally have not been designed to unlock and sustain such collaboration. Acting systematically in these three areas, banks can sustain and magnify the impact of the initial actions previously described.

Culture of collaboration

Culture is a key determinant of shifts in the collaboration model, but it is arguably the hardest structural dimension to change in a sustainable way. Banks can prepare the ground for larger change by introducing microhabits that start with understanding each other’s vantage point. As with many other aspects of cultural change, building such understanding is a top-down process. Two microhabits are essentials for cultivating mutual understanding:

• The right tone from the top . Senior executives, including heads of the business and functional leadership, should be fully aligned on the principle behind the operating model and reinforce its importance in their communications, decisions, and actions.
• Collaboration at the C-level . An alliance between the chief compliance officer and the chief strategy officer enable their teams to meet the goals of collaboration. Without the chemistry and meeting of minds at the top, simple process interventions won’t deliver meaningful results.

Talent and operating model

Meeting the need for compliance talent skilled in collaboration and strategy requires the right approach to recruiting and upskilling (such as learning pathways and job rotations). From the recruiting perspective, compliance functions may need to reassess their usual criteria for senior compliance hires, such as a legal background, in favor of more diversification and cross-pollination on the team. Recruitment of compliance leaders should leverage the full diversity of the risk and compliance professionals in the industry. Our recent research  indicates that 90 percent of the risk and compliance professionals in our data set did not start in risk roles.

In addition, given that value creation primarily happens within business units, compliance and strategy activities should reflect the needs of business units. Strategy and compliance teams can explicitly align on how to jointly serve relevant business units where needed. Such upfront alignment can then be translated into tactics for collaboration.

Underlying technology

More modular and integrated tech and data infrastructure can enable connectivity between the strategy and compliance systems. More specifically, investments in workflow capabilities would allow both compliance and strategy counterparts to collaborate in real time, assign tasks to each other, and leverage common data sources. Ideally, such systems are capable of ingesting compliance-related input such as data regarding future regulatory scenarios, the potential impact of geopolitical events, and the impact of control failures on M&A integration. The systems then can incorporate this knowledge into major scenario-planning or business valuation tools.

For example, a bank may design a platform for risk assessments where strategy and compliance have access to the same modules and analyses. Such a platform would source the data from business unit systems and allow the compliance officers to see the compliance assessments carried out in real time. This would have an additional benefit: minimizing the time spent on low-value tasks (reconciling data or replicating the analyses, for example). Instead, the teams could focus on jointly prioritizing key risks and on collaborating to select and implement mitigating actions.

Banks have a strong opportunity to realize impact through collaboration between their compliance and business strategists. Quick wins are possible, but banks wanting to unlock the full potential of such collaboration must consider how to build systems, processes, and foundational capabilities that will enable them to scale up their collaboration.

Irakli Gabruashvili is an associate partner in McKinsey’s New York office, where Ishaan Seth is a senior partner; Olivia White is a senior partner in the Bay Area office; and Alexis Yumeng Yang is a consultant in the Seattle office.

Explore a career with us

Related articles.

Lessons from banking to improve risk and compliance and speed up digital transformations

The future of operational-risk management in financial services

More From Forbes

Latam emerging: a tech sector on the rise.

• Share to Facebook
• Share to Twitter
• Share to Linkedin

Managing partner at Hypra Fund .

Latin America (LatAm), a region once overlooked by the global tech industry, is rapidly stepping into the spotlight. A thriving IT sector is burgeoning, and savvy companies worldwide are discovering the advantages of working with LatAm talent.

This isn’t just my opinion—the region’s recent rise is underscored by a dramatic surge in venture capital funding in recent years, with almost $15 billion raised in 2021 alone . The region is also producing a growing number of "unicorn" companies valued at over $1 billion, with Brazil and Mexico leading the way .

Growth in LatAm is outpacing more mature regions. Fintech is a particularly dominant sector driven by the need for financial inclusion solutions. However, promising growth is also happening in e-commerce, logistics, healthtech and edtech.

With this growth at the forefront of our minds, Hypra recently led a $10 million Series A round at Trinetix, a software development company that works with brands. The funds will enable Nashville-based Trinetix to pursue acquisitions in LatAm, where we both see promising talent.

Apple Issues New Spyware Attack Warning To iPhone Users

Nyt strands hints spangram and answers for friday april 12th, juiced o j simpson once had a hidden camera prank show and made stabbing jokes on it.

Let’s dig into why the LatAm region gained our attention.

A Youthful, Tech-Driven Workforce

LatAm boasts a young, tech-savvy population hungry to build careers in the IT industry. Young people see exciting futures in technology, driven by the rise of innovative local startups and an influx of global tech companies setting up bases in the region. This translates to a passionate and adaptable workforce ready to excel.

One key factor driving the region's growth is the increasing availability of high-speed internet. In only 10 years, internet penetration in LatAm skyrocketed from 43% to 78% , even exceeding that of China.

Another important factor is the region's large and growing pool of tech talent. In fact, Mexico and Brazil produce a combined total of over 600,000 software engineering graduates each year.

Finally, the region's governments play a key role in supporting the tech sector. Many LatAm governments have implemented policies that encourage investment in tech startups and provide tax incentives for tech companies.

The Language Factor

Gone are the days when language barriers limited IT development in LatAm. The number of English speakers is rapidly increasing, and IT companies throughout the region are seeing impressive gains in overall language proficiency.

The EF English Proficiency Index —which scores English proficiency across 2.2 million adults in 113 countries and regions—shows a clear improvement in English language skills across the region since 2011. LatAm is now equal second place with Africa behind Europe. This bridges communication gaps, paving the way for stronger, collaborative relationships with international clients.

Customer-Friendly Time Zones

North American technology businesses gain a distinct advantage when choosing partners within LatAm: the convenience of overlapping time zones. This proximity eliminates the need for disruptive late-night or early-morning meetings that are common when outsourcing to regions like Asia.

Real-time collaboration has become the norm. If challenges pop up, teams can connect instantly for troubleshooting, preventing the project delays that come with waiting hours for a response from the other side of the globe, leading to faster project timelines.

Furthermore, the ability to interact during normal work hours fosters stronger business relationships. A sense of true partnership can develop, replacing the disconnected vendor-client dynamic.

Stability For Success And An Improving Political Landscape

Although it's important to acknowledge the individual complexities and challenges that exist within specific LatAm countries, the region's overall trajectory is undeniably positive. This growing stability offers a more predictable environment for businesses, allowing companies to make strategic investments and long-term forecasts with greater confidence.

Recent political developments further bolster regional optimism. Argentina's new leadership, for example, is seen as a signal favorable to foreign investment and business growth. Similarly, Mexico's robust startup ecosystem demonstrates the increasing entrepreneurial dynamism within LatAm.

This combination of broader regional stability and encouraging trends in specific countries transforms LatAm's business landscape. For those willing to do the research and navigate the remaining challenges strategically, the rewards can be significant.

Beyond The Headlines: Case Studies

Software powerhouse Globant embodies the potential of LatAm's tech talent. What started as a local company has expanded into a global multinational, showcasing the ability of LatAm firms to compete and succeed on the world stage.

Fintech is particularly hot in LatAm. The success of companies like Nubank, Mercado Pago and PagBank underscore the region's leadership in tackling financial inclusion through tech solutions. Also, e-commerce giants like Mercado Libre, Linio and Dafiti reveal how e-commerce is booming in LatAm and is transforming consumer behavior in the region.

Finally, healthtech innovations like Doctoralia, founded in 2007, are proof that the sector is strong in LatAm. Doctoralia connects patients with healthcare professionals via online appointments, and in 2022, its platform had "10 million visits monthly in Mexico" alone.

Looking Ahead: LatAm's Tech Transformation

LatAm's tech scene is still on a path of exponential growth. Improvements in educational systems focused on tech skills, government initiatives encouraging digital innovation and increasing investment inflow will all supercharge this development.

The region has the right ingredients for a true tech explosion. Universities are adapting curricula to prepare the next generation of developers, engineers and tech entrepreneurs. Governments are actively incentivizing the growth of tech sectors and fostering a business-friendly environment for foreign investment.

Although I anticipate challenges in navigating cultural differences—adjusting to different working styles and communication norms—our experience working across diverse, global teams gives us confidence. I believe that strong professionals will find ways to successfully adapt and collaborate, regardless of cultural background.

Forget simply outsourcing for cost savings. Those paying attention to LatAm could see their businesses transformed by the fresh ideas, adaptable talent and sheer enthusiasm emanating from this long-overlooked region.

Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?

• Editorial Standards
• Reprints & Permissions