Operations Manager Delegates Client Success Stories to Trusted Consultant

I started working with Chris Freeman at XPERTECHS in 2019 when the company wanted to move from cookie-cutter agency work to a custom inbound marketing approach. Since then, I've served as the company’s content marketing strategist and partner, working closely with Chris on marketing strategy and handling all content execution. From the beginning, client success stories have been central to that strategy.

My work has included blog posts and pillar content, web copy, landing pages, emails, event promotion, and recruitment marketing. More recently, as leadership wanted to establish themselves as thought leaders in the MSP space, I've managed their social media presence with weekly posts and monthly Pulse articles, particularly focused on the evolving IT specialty called Managed Intelligence.

A Conversation with Chris Freeman, Operations Manager at XPERTECHS

Where do you use the client stories and testimonials?

Our sales team links to published stories in their communications, and they print out the one-pagers for leave-behinds. They also use them as an introduction, inviting prospects to learn about how we can help them by giving them a story of how we’ve helped someone else.

We make it a point to link a success story in our proposals. And even after they’ve received the proposal we might send another one as a little cherry on top to move the process along faster.

How valuable has your content library of client stories, testimonials, and social posts been over time?

It's been very valuable, especially for our sales process. The library gives our sales team a lot of collateral to work with. It’s one thing to say we can do something, but an actual story from a fellow business leader is different.

For example, our sales team might use a success story about a company in a certain industry. Prospects recognize the logo, and they may even know the person we interviewed. They see the same tools and applications they use, so it makes what we're talking about more real and not just salesy. They can see themselves with XPERTECHS.

What has stood out to you about my process from identifying which clients to feature through delivering the final story?

The biggest thing is that you've basically taken it off my plate from the time I do the initial introduction. Once the client agrees and I introduce you, you keep me in the loop, but I really don't have to do anything except review the final draft before we give it to the client and get it posted.

Everything you've done – from the communication, the actual interview, scheduling, through to the final content and approval—is awesome. As an operations manager, time's important. Anything that can come off my plate that you take over is great, and you do an excellent job at it.

I know you don't want just anybody talking to your clients. What gives you the confidence that I'm going to make this a great experience for your clients?

It's our six-year relationship and the trust we've built. I basically think of you as an employee of XPERTECHS. You're just a member of our team. I have no worries about you speaking with clients on our behalf.

We've had clients say, ‘Hey, Lori was great to speak with.” That's really great for me to hear—that the client who's never spoken to you before has great feedback about you and the whole process.

Do you think there's any advantage to having clients talk to me as a consultant rather than talking to somebody on your team internally?

I think there probably is an advantage. The client may feel a little more comfortable giving you more real feedback. Whereas someone on our team might steer them a little more in a certain direction just because we're involved with the day-to-day. You might see opportunities to ask about something else that comes up while you're speaking to them.

Have you experienced any surprise benefits from having client stories and all the assets that go with it?

We share the success stories on our Teams channel with the whole company because leadership wants the team members on the service desk and the engineers to see more of the outcome from what they do. They don't realize how much clients look at us as an extension of their whole company, not just the outsourced IT company. For them to read what clients are saying really brings it full circle.

How do you measure ROI for client success stories?

Our success stories help us show our value. You give somebody a price and a proposal—that's boilerplate. But when they hear from an actual person in a similar industry talking about a project we did, or how their previous company failed at something and then XPERTECHS hit a home run—that helps them see the value.

We've heard from prospects that reading about our work with a specific client helped them understand what a relationship with XPERTECHS would look like. That tells me the stories help close sales.

If you were talking to a peer who was thinking about hiring me to do client success stories, what would you tell them?

Do it or you’re crazy! Definitely hire Lori for your client success stories. I hate to say I don't have to do anything and it's off my plate, but I really don't. You just take it. We trust you and you've always done a great job.

That is one piece of my day-to-day that I don't even have to worry about. The most I have to think about is who do we want to target next, and you even help there. So yeah, 100% hire Lori to do your success stories.