#announcements

@Joel Klettke @Emily Amos @Laurie Timms @ @Ciana Abdollahian - any suggestions?

BAH. I'm sorry. I had just written a case study and my champion churned, but fortunately, the new person was cool to move ahead.

Do you know if they've done other case studies before? Are they in an industry where you might share customers? Just thinking maybe there's a way to position it as exposure for them and highlighting how GREAT they are. Also wondering if HR could help from an employer branding perspecitve.

Can I ask, in addition to Katlin’s question:

To prevent this (or still benefit from SOMETHING) do you get a short slide story from them in the beginning?

This is just nutty. What is the problem with talking about a product like G2? I'd ask your contact to be a peer reference "off the books" to at least save the advocate. And maybe ask about using the logo. And then anonymize the case study.

I'm dealing with some of this myself and I don't have objection defense unfortunately.

Was there a conversation about them participating in the story in exchange for a pricing discount? If so, I assume it’s written into their contract with y’all. I’d start there if that’s the case.

Sorry to hear that, Katlin, as it’s extremely frustrating when you get to the 1 yard line and can’t get it across for the touchdown 🏈

What a brutal sideswipe - we’ve seen it before, too.

I’d start by asking if there’s something specific in the story that is disclosed that they would prefer not be. It’s obvious to anyone with a pulse and a search engine that they use G2, so is there some specific “trade secret” they’d like censored or removed from the story?

I’ve asked: “What would need to change for you to be excited about us publishing this story?”

You might also press into G2’s clout and figure out some kind of reverse uno card: what if that added visibility was more about helping them showcase their product and generating pipeline (which marketing loves) than disclosing secrets? Odds are good their competitors already know they’re on the platform; why not milk it? Could offer a blurb in a newsletter or a push on social.

But sometimes, people are just hard headed about this stuff. It’s ridiculous to think with the tech we have and the way people talk your competitors aren’t already in the know.

Thanks all for your advice -- and empathy! Unfortunately this wasn't part of their contract, more just a really happy customer who was previously really excited to share their story. I did have a slide version and a testimonial quote approved ahead of this so at least it's not all a lost cause!

@Joel Klettke I really like the suggestion of asking “What would need to change for you to be excited about us publishing this story?” I am going to try that next.

One caveat/explanation for this is they're in a brand new segment on G2 (our G2 for Services offering). So really they are one of the first amongst their competitors to leverage G2 in this way -- and they're seeing incredible success (to the tune of $5.2mil in revenue). Which is why they would have made such a great case study 😢

And @Irwin Hipsman that's a great thought, but that's actually who I interviewed for this case study -- I know she felt bad but about it, but I think is beholden to their new head of marketing.

Love that G2 for Services 🙂
It's what we're on.

$5.2M is a really impressive win; I hope they'll see some reason!

@Joel Klettke if you ever want to do a case study….

I mean, we're not nearly as impressive as $5.2M

But we launched our own little reviews program, got ourselves past 20, and have had inquiries reference it

Let's chat! I'll DM you!

Hi @Katlin Hess I would definitely go with Joel's suggestion on asking about what needs to be changed/removed for the the story to work for them and make them comfortable to launch it.