Case Study Builder

Everyone wants social proof. Nobody makes time to create it. You finish a project, the client's happy, you move on — and six months later you're in a sales call with nothing to show.

This skill fixes that. Give me the raw details. I'll produce three formats you can use immediately.

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Context Loading Gates

Before generating anything, collect all 8 fields:

Field	What to Collect
1. Client	Industry, company size/stage, named or anonymized?
2. Before	What was broken or painful? Any numbers?
3. Actions	What did you specifically do? Scope, timeline, role
4. After	REQUIRED: at least one specific number
5. Timeline	How long to achieve the result?
6. Quote	Direct client quote if available
7. Naming	Can we name the client, or must we anonymize?
8. Use case	Where will this be used? (proposals / website / LinkedIn)

Outcome Extraction Protocol — enforced on Field 4:

If the user says "results were good" or "things improved," stop and ask:

"I need at least one number to make this credible. Pick one:

• Revenue change (e.g., 'closed 3 new clients worth $15K')
• Time saved (e.g., 'cut from 10 hours to 2 hours/week')
• Lead volume (e.g., 'went from 0 to 5 inbound leads/month')
• Rough estimate is fine — it doesn't have to be exact."

Do not draft until Field 4 has at least one number.

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Phase 1: Situation Analysis

Before drafting, reason through:

1. Result strength: Is the outcome a Tier 1 (hard metric), Tier 2 (soft metric), or Tier 3 (proxy)? This determines how confident the language should be.
2. Hero check: Is the story told from the client's perspective, or yours? Client = hero, you = guide.
3. Tension check: What made this hard? Without a challenge, there's no story — just a list.
4. Format match: Which use case did they specify? That determines which format to optimize.

Tier system for results language:

Tier	Type	Example	Language
1	Hard metric	"Revenue +40%"	State directly
2	Soft metric	"Team finally aligned"	"For the first time in years..."
3	Proxy metric	"Enabled Series A close"	"Contributed to..."
4	Directional	"Noticeable improvement"	"Significant improvement in..."

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Phase 2: The Hero Principle

The client is the hero. You are the guide.

Before writing, flip the framing:

❌ Wrong: "I built a content system that generated leads." ✅ Right: "Sarah went from scrambling to fill her pipeline to getting 3 inbound inquiries per week — all from a content system we built in 6 weeks."

Every format should be written from what the CLIENT experienced, not what YOU delivered.

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Phase 3: Generate Three Formats

Format 1: Two-Liner (Proposals & Bios)

Formula: [What was done] + [scale/scope] + [for who] + [result or timeframe]

[Strong action verb] [what was delivered] for [specific client descriptor].
[Outcome metric] in [timeframe].

Example:

Built a full content system for a Series B SaaS founder with no marketing team. 0 to 3 inbound leads/week in 6 weeks.

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Format 2: Story Version (LinkedIn & Sales Calls)

Structure — 4 paragraphs, 150–250 words:

**Set the scene:** [Their situation when you arrived — 2-3 sentences with stakes]

**Show the complexity:** [What made this hard — 2-3 sentences]

**What happened:** [Specific actions taken — no feature lists, just moves]

**What changed:** [Outcome — the number + the transformation]

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Format 3: Full Case Study (Website & Portfolio)

# Case Study: [Client Name or Descriptor]

## The Challenge
[2-3 paragraphs: situation, stakes, what wasn't working]

## The Approach
[Phases or steps — what happened and in what order]

## The Results
[Metrics, before/after comparison, named outcomes]

## Key Details
- Client: [Named or "A [descriptor] company"]
- Industry: [Sector]
- Timeline: [Duration]
- Scope: [What was delivered]

## What Made This Different
[Unique angle, unexpected obstacle, or pivotal insight]

## Client Quote
> "[Testimonial — or placeholder if not yet collected]"
> — [Name], [Title]

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Phase 4: Self-Critique Pass (REQUIRED)

After generating all three formats, evaluate:

Two-liner:

• Does it have a specific number? (Not "improved results" — a real metric)
• Is it 2 sentences or fewer?
• Would someone scanning a proposal stop and read it?

Story version:

• Is the client the hero (not the author)?
• Is there genuine tension — something that made this hard?
• Does the closing paragraph include the key metric?

Full case study:

• Does the Results section lead with numbers?
• Is the Challenge section specific enough that a similar prospect recognizes their situation?
• Is the client quote (or placeholder) present?

Flag any failure: "The story version has no tension — add one obstacle or unexpected challenge before the 'What happened' paragraph."

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Phase 5: Distribution Plan

Format	Best locations	When to use
Two-liner	Proposals, email bios, LinkedIn About section	Any sales context
Story	LinkedIn post, podcast intros, sales call opener	Weekly content
Full case study	Website portfolio page, PDF download, RFP response	Late-stage buyer research

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Output Structure

## Case Study: [Client Descriptor] — [Date]

### Situation Summary
[2-sentence analysis from Phase 1]
Result tier: [1/2/3/4]

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### Format 1: Two-Liner
[Final copy]

### Format 2: Story Version
[Final copy]

### Format 3: Full Case Study
[Full markdown]

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### Self-Critique Notes
- Two-liner: [pass/issue]
- Story: [pass/issue]
- Full: [pass/issue]

### Distribution Plan
[Where to use each]

### Next Step
[If no quote collected → run testimonial-collector]
[If strong story → suggest LinkedIn post from story format]

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Cross-reference: If a client quote was captured here, run testimonial-collector to properly format and score it for your testimonial library.

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Skill by Brian Wagner | AI Marketing Architect | brianrwagner.com