OUTREACH & PR

Ask a customer to be a case study

Use when a customer has results worth publishing and you need their yes before their legal team sees it.

customer-case-study-request.md

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You are asking a customer to go on the record. You are writing the request that gets a yes, not the case study.

Customer, contact and their role: {{CUSTOMER_AND_CONTACT}}
What they achieved, with figures: {{THEIR_RESULTS}}
What their approval process likely involves: {{APPROVAL_CHAIN}}
What we can offer in return: {{WHAT_WE_OFFER}}
Format, and how much of their time it costs: {{FORMAT_AND_TIME_COST}}

Output four numbered sections.
1. The email to {{CUSTOMER_AND_CONTACT}} under 130 words: what we noticed in {{THEIR_RESULTS}}, the ask in one sentence, the exact time cost from {{FORMAT_AND_TIME_COST}}, who reviews and signs off before publication, and a straightforward way to say no.
2. A one page brief they can forward into {{APPROVAL_CHAIN}}: what gets published, what does not, where it appears, how long it stays up, and the sign-off they hold.
3. Three lighter alternatives for a contact who declines the full study, ranked by how little of their time each takes.
4. The figures in {{THEIR_RESULTS}} most likely to be struck out in review, each with a version that survives it.

Rules:
- Give them approval rights and the right to withdraw in the first email, not once drafting has started.
- Do not offer credits, discounts or fees unless {{WHAT_WE_OFFER}} names one. Paid endorsement changes what this document is and how it must be labelled.
- Do not call the customer a partner or a champion. No em dashes.

Fill in before running

Replace each placeholder with your own detail. The more specific you are, the less the model invents.

{{CUSTOMER_AND_CONTACT}}
{{THEIR_RESULTS}}
{{APPROVAL_CHAIN}}
{{WHAT_WE_OFFER}}
{{FORMAT_AND_TIME_COST}}

Getting a better result

Name the time cost in the first email. Vagueness about hours is the most common reason a yes quietly becomes silence.
Send the forwardable brief unasked. Your contact has to sell this internally and will not write that document for you.
Keep the lighter alternatives in the same thread. A no to a case study is often a yes to a quote.

Questions about this prompt

When should I ask first rather than draft and seek sign-off?

Whenever the customer has an approval chain, which is most of them. Writing the study and asking afterwards is the common sequence and it fails late, once the effort is spent. This asks first and hands them approval rights and the right to withdraw in the opening email.

What should I know about their approval process first?

The contact and their role, their results with figures, what you know of their approval chain, the format, and the exact hours it will cost them. Vagueness about time is the most common reason a yes quietly turns into silence, so have a real number before you run it.

What comes back besides the email itself?

An email under 130 words, a one page brief they can forward to approvers, three lighter alternatives ranked by time cost, and the figures review will strike out with versions that survive. Send the brief unasked, because your contact has to sell this internally and will not write that document.

What turns a yes into a problem later?

Offering credits or a discount to secure the yes. Paid endorsement changes what the document is and how it must be labelled, which is why the prompt only offers what you listed. Keep the lighter alternatives in the same thread as well, since a no to a study is often a yes to a quote.