PREPARING FOR THE CASE STUDY

Before packing your sandwiches and setting out on your expedition to Torquay or Aberdeen or wherever, you will need to prepare both yourself and the subject organisation. Remember: the people you are going to see are not obliged to help you; they are doing you a favour. You can repay them by being well-prepared, efficient and unobtrusive, and taking up as little of their time as possible. For example, look up their website if they have one – it’s often a good source of basic information on the company and its products and services, and can save several minutes of face-to-face question time.

Having targeted the subject of your proposed case study, go through this basic checklist of things to do before appearing on their doorstep.

Decide what the story is

Ask the sales person dealing with that customer for a brief run-down on the history – the company, where it is, what it does, the problem, how it was solved, any ‘high spots’ in the solution that are worthy of exploration.

Find out who you should talk to

Ask the sales person for at least one contact name and phone number, preferably someone senior who can give permission for the case study to be done. It’s also useful to have the name of someone who is involved in the day-to-day running of the department or section where the solution was installed.

Phone the most senior customer contact

Explain who you are and what you would like to do. Reassure him that he will have final approval of the case study before publication – ‘nothing will go out without your say-so’. If he is willing, tell him how much of his time you would need (as a guide, most of the case studies we have written have taken between one and one-and-a-half hours face-to-face research) and agree a time and date for you to visit him. He may suggest that you interview someone in the relevant department instead; go along with it, but say that you’d also like to have the opportunity to meet him during your visit if he’s available (nice to get an off-the-cuff quote from Mr Big while you’re there).

If you are unsure of their location, check their website to see if there’s a map or directions. If not, ask them to send you directions by post, fax or email, including a map if possible. Quite a lot of organisations have these already printed up and ready, so it’s no problem for them.

Prepare your questions

As if you were researching a press release, prepare a detailed questionnaire before your visit. It keeps the interview on track and helps it to go smoothly, and it can avoid embarrassment later. Your friends won’t be too happy if, after they’ve given you an hour or two of their valuable time, you phone several times in the next few days with ‘I’m afraid I forgot to ask you’ type questions. Don’t forget to include ‘pics’ as one of your prompts.

List your questions using the sections outlined above as a prompt, and with luck you’ll cover everything in one hit.