Final Approval Needed for Changing Case Study to Anonymous Version?

·May 29, 2025 05:00 PM·

Okay quick gut check...if you have to change a case study from a public named one to an anonymous one (the material has already been signed off on, but the comms team put the kibosh on it)...what are people's thoughts about needing to go back for final approval on the anonymous one where you've stripped out any identifiable information?

11 comments

· Sorted by Oldest

Dan Kalmar
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Personally, I think it's still a nice-to-do, but not necessary. One reason why it might be good to go back is to make sure that you have, in fact, stripped out anything identifiable. Sometimes you might change a company descriptor to be something like "A large US-based manufacturing company" but the customer still thinks that's too identifiable.
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Joel (Salesforce)
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My POV would be to send it back with a clear deadline for review and a publish date set there for them, so it’s a forcing function to make sure it doesn’t miss that mark and drag out longer now that you’ve completed the request to be a good partner to them and their organization. I’d phrase it nicer, of course, but that’s my positioning and thought process on it. It’s a “closing the loop” sort of activity for that team.
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Amy Shever
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Can't hurt to send an email and let the customer know the date when the new case study will be published, ask them to contact you by X date should they have any questions. CYA. 😉
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Mary Green
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It's inconvenient, but a nice-to-do for future relationship purposes.
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Dan Kalmar
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I definitely like Joel's and Amy's advice to put a timeframe on it. Otherwise it can drag on unnecessarily
Katlin Hess
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Yes! I do what Joel and Amy do -- tell them I've anonymized it and we're planning to publish on X date and share the final version with them.
Becky Scott
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I 💯 wouldn’t publish without them reviewing. It’s a relationship thing and you want to make sure they don’t feel blindsided no matter how many times you check in or remind them. You don’t want to be the reason the relationship goes south.
Jeanne Nitschke (Talbot)
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What everyone else says … and I’ve had MAJOR push back from public sector customers even when anonymizing. 🤦‍♀️
Evan Jacobs
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I've had great experience with getting to a "Yes" with Public Sector customers over the past 3-4 years. Happy to chat about what has worked for those that might find that helpful.
Mary Green
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I'd love to hear Evan Jacobs any chance you'd get on a call with us on a Friday for an open discussion?
Evan Jacobs
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Hey Mary Green, absolutely! Totally for it. Let me know which Fridays are best and we can go from there. Thanks and talk soon.
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Final Approval Needed for Changing Case Study to Anonymous Version? | CMAweekly Customer Marketing and Advocacy Slack

Dan Kalmar
·
·
Personally, I think it's still a nice-to-do, but not necessary. One reason why it might be good to go back is to make sure that you have, in fact, stripped out anything identifiable. Sometimes you might change a company descriptor to be something like "A large US-based manufacturing company" but the customer still thinks that's too identifiable.
👍1
Joel (Salesforce)
·
·
My POV would be to send it back with a clear deadline for review and a publish date set there for them, so it’s a forcing function to make sure it doesn’t miss that mark and drag out longer now that you’ve completed the request to be a good partner to them and their organization. I’d phrase it nicer, of course, but that’s my positioning and thought process on it. It’s a “closing the loop” sort of activity for that team.
👍1
1
Amy Shever
·
·
Can't hurt to send an email and let the customer know the date when the new case study will be published, ask them to contact you by X date should they have any questions. CYA. 😉
👍1
Mary Green
·
·
It's inconvenient, but a nice-to-do for future relationship purposes.
👍1
💯1
Dan Kalmar
·
·
I definitely like Joel's and Amy's advice to put a timeframe on it. Otherwise it can drag on unnecessarily
Katlin Hess
·
·
Yes! I do what Joel and Amy do -- tell them I've anonymized it and we're planning to publish on X date and share the final version with them.
Becky Scott
·
·
I 💯 wouldn’t publish without them reviewing. It’s a relationship thing and you want to make sure they don’t feel blindsided no matter how many times you check in or remind them. You don’t want to be the reason the relationship goes south.
Jeanne Nitschke (Talbot)
·
·
What everyone else says … and I’ve had MAJOR push back from public sector customers even when anonymizing. 🤦‍♀️
Evan Jacobs
·
·
I've had great experience with getting to a "Yes" with Public Sector customers over the past 3-4 years. Happy to chat about what has worked for those that might find that helpful.
Mary Green
·
·
I'd love to hear Evan Jacobs any chance you'd get on a call with us on a Friday for an open discussion?
Evan Jacobs
·
·
Hey Mary Green, absolutely! Totally for it. Let me know which Fridays are best and we can go from there. Thanks and talk soon.
🙌1