Write client case studies with Claude

What you'll make

A case study from a project you completed — structured as a before-and-after story that shows the problem you solved, how you solved it, and the result. Formatted to use on your portfolio, in proposals, or in outreach to similar clients.

What you need

• A Claude account
• A completed client project (with the client's permission to share, or with details changed enough to protect their privacy)
• Notes on what the client's situation was before, what you did, and what changed after
• Any measurable results (faster load time, more enquiries, higher search ranking — whatever you can honestly claim)
• 30 minutes

Steps

1. Give Claude your project notes and ask for the case study:

I completed a project for a [client type — e.g. local dentist, restaurant, online store]. Here are my notes:

Before:
- [What was the problem? e.g. "Their website was 8 years old, not mobile-friendly, took 6 seconds to load"]
- [How was it affecting them? e.g. "They were losing bookings to competitors who showed up higher on Google"]

What I did:
- [List 3–5 specific things you did — e.g. "Built a new mobile-first site in 2 weeks", "Added a booking form that emails them directly", "Rewrote all page titles and meta descriptions for local SEO"]

After:
- [What changed? e.g. "Load time dropped to under 2 seconds", "They started appearing on the first page for [search term]", "Booking enquiries doubled after launch"]

Write a case study with this structure:
1. The Problem (2–3 sentences describing where they were before)
2. The Approach (bullet list of what you did, in plain language — no jargon)
3. The Result (2–3 sentences with the measurable outcomes)
4. What the client said (leave a [placeholder for client quote — I'll add the real one])

Keep it under 400 words. Write like you're telling the story to a potential client over coffee, not writing a corporate report.

2. Ask Claude to write a shorter version for proposals and outreach:

Now write a 100-word version of this case study for use in client proposals and outreach emails. Include:
- One sentence on the problem
- One sentence on what you did
- One sentence on the result

No headings — just 3–4 sentences that flow naturally.

3. Get a real quote from the client. Email them:

Hi [client name], I'm putting together a case study about the work we did together. Would you be willing to share a one or two sentence quote about your experience? Something like what it was like before vs after, or what you'd say to someone considering a similar project. No pressure if you'd rather not.

4. Replace the [placeholder] with the real quote. If the client declines, remove the quote section entirely — don't fabricate one.

5. Add the case study to your portfolio site, include the short version in future proposals, and use it in outreach to similar businesses: "I recently helped a [similar business] with [similar problem] — here's what happened."

Check your result

• The "before" section describes a specific problem, not a vague "their site was outdated"
• The "approach" lists concrete actions you took — each one could be checked off as done
• The "result" includes at least one measurable outcome (even a soft metric like "more enquiries" is fine if you don't have hard numbers)
• The client quote is real (or the section is removed)
• The short version is genuinely 100 words and reads naturally in an email

If you don't have measurable results, be honest about that. A case study that says "the client is happy with the new site and has had positive feedback from customers" is fine. Don't invent statistics — a potential client who catches an exaggerated claim won't trust you with their project.