What Should A Building Company's Case Study Include?

A prospective client finds your website while they're comparing you with a few other builders.

They're about to trust someone with one of the largest purchases of their life, and they arrived with their guard up.

So they open your projects page, and they find photos of a finished kitchen...

The photos prove you can build. They don't tell the prospect what building with you was like, or whether people like them came out the other side glad they chose you.

A case study answers that. Testimonials and case studies often get labelled as each other, but a testimonial on its own doesn't tell a client's story.

What is the difference between a case study and a testimonial?

A testimonial is an endorsement of your company. The client talks about your communication, your team, the quality of the finish and whether you did what you said you would.

A case study is a story about the client. It covers where they started, what they were worried about, how you helped and what life looks like now. The client is the hero of that story and your company is the guide who got them there.

You need both. A testimonial gives a prospect a quick reason to trust you. A case study lets them picture themselves in your client's position, which is what reassures a prospect who arrived sceptical. A well-run case study interview also gives you the testimonial for free, because the last part of the interview is the recommendation.

What should a case study include?

A builder's case study should follow five parts in order. Introduce the client, describe their situation and worries before they met you, explain how you helped and what was different about working with you, show what life looks like in the finished home, and close with their recommendation. That closing recommendation doubles as a standalone testimonial.

1. Introduction. Who they are. Keep it short, so a viewer knows who is speaking and can decide whether that person is like them.

2. The before state. Ask what challenges they had before they met you, what they were afraid of, and whether they'd tried other options first. Did they start with another builder and have it go wrong? Had they built before and dreaded doing it again? Get the feelings on camera as well as the facts, because the after state has more impact when the viewer has felt the before.

3. The solution. Ask how you helped, what steps you took together and what was different about you. Get them to walk through the whole journey, from how they found you to how the design process felt to how the build felt. Let them name what they liked about your team, your processes and your attitude.

4. The after state. Ask what life is like now and how they feel when they look at the home. Prospects are buying the after state, so give it room. For an extension or major renovation, get them talking about the extra space for the family and what it has changed day to day. For a new home, get them talking about the quality of the finish and the details that make it theirs.

5. The recommendation. Ask whether they'd recommend you and why, and the answer becomes your testimonial.

When you interview them, start with easy questions and get more specific as you go. Ask them to repeat the question inside their answer ("We chose this company because…") so each answer makes sense on its own when you edit the footage.

How do you get a client to agree to a case study?

Ask only once you know the client is delighted, and the run-up to handover is where you find out.

Build two emails into your process before handover.

• A likelihood-to-recommend question. Ask them, on a scale of 1 to 10, how likely they are to recommend you to a friend.
• A reflection email. Remind them why they came to you in the first place, name the concern they had at the start, say what you did about it, and ask whether you delivered on that promise.

The reflection email reminds the client how far they've come, and their reply tells you whether you have a story worth filming.

When the answers come back strong, make the request in person or over the phone, in your own words. Explain that it's a simple interview on camera about their journey to the finished home and what it was like working with your team. If they say yes or maybe, email them as soon as you leave, so you both have in writing what you asked and what they agreed to.

Then book it. Decide whether to film while the home is fresh and empty, at handover, or after they've moved in and styled it, and set a date or at least a window. If your handover doesn't follow a set process yet, the nine steps to a good handover lays one out, and the case study request belongs inside it.

Use a professional crew to shoot and edit it. If you don't know where to start, the APB Rewards directory lists preferred partners, and engaging one through APB Rewards gets you cash back on what you spend.

How long should a case study be?

Keep a case study video between 90 seconds and three minutes.

Cut the interview over footage of the finished home and of the clients with your team, so the viewer sees what the client is describing. Then turn the video into a written version with photos, at no more than 500 words, broken up with subheadings so a skim reader still gets the story.

Where should you put your case studies?

• Your website. A projects or success stories section for the full case studies, with testimonials spread across your homepage and process pages.
• Social media. Cut each video into reel-length clips, post them to stories, and put the full version on YouTube as well as Facebook and Instagram. If you're building your channels up, our guide to social media for home builders is a good place to start.
• Proposals and brochures. Embed the video in a digital proposal, and add a QR code to anything printed that takes the reader straight to it. If your proposals need work generally, how to create winning construction proposals goes through the rest of the document.
• Marketing emails. Link the videos or include the written testimonials in the emails your CRM sends through the sales process.

Use the same story in all of those places. You see every channel at once, but no prospect is looking at all of them at the same time. Case studies also sit inside a wider video plan, which how to grow with video content marketing lays out.

Filming the case study feels like the hard part, but builders often stall after it, and the finished video sits unused in a folder instead of on your website, your socials and your proposals.

A gallery shows a prospect your work, but it can't tell them what you're like to build with. If your website has photos and no stories, book a 15-minute chat with our team and we'll look at where proof is missing from your sales process.