Xero case study video: Coco Cubano
Background
A small business and its accountant
Xero wanted to showcase small businesses and the relationships they have with their accountants and bookkeepers. We produced a case study video featuring Coco Cubano in Prahran, hearing from the business owner and his accountant about how they work together.
Xero is online accounting software that lets business owners and their advisers work from the same financial information. This film shows what that means for the people using it. See more of our financial video production work.
The practical problem
Waiting a month for useful figures
In the film, the accountant describes information being entered manually into Excel spreadsheets, sent to head office and entered again in the required format.
He explains that the process took about a month before useful information was available. If you’ve ever waited on figures you needed to make a decision, you’ll recognise the problem. The business keeps moving while you’re waiting to find out how it’s doing.
The accountant recommended Xero. He describes being able to log in from a café, look at the information and advise his client, who can see what he’s doing. Access to current figures helps them deal with issues sooner.
The people
Hearing from both sides
Having the owner and accountant in the same film gives the viewer two perspectives on the business.
The owner introduces Coco Cubano. The accountant talks through the way its financial information was being handled and the reasons for changing it. Together, they explain how having current information helps them keep track of the business and respond when something needs attention.
Their working relationship is what makes the story interesting. An accountant needs to understand what’s happening in the business to give useful advice. The owner needs information he can act on. Xero gives them access to the same figures so they can work through those decisions together.
They speak about work they know, using examples from their own experience. The viewer can follow the story without needing an accounting background.
The value of a customer story
Give people something they can recognise
The strength of a case study video is in the detail. Here, it’s the spreadsheets, the repeated data entry and the wait for reports. Then it’s the accountant explaining how he can help his client from wherever he happens to be.
Those details give a prospective customer something to recognise in their own business. We can understand who is working together, what used to get in the way and how the software helps.
Video also lets us see and hear the people telling the story. Their expressions and the way they explain their work are part of the experience. It feels like hearing from someone who has dealt with the same problem.
When planning a customer case study video, we look for that kind of specific experience. What did the customer have to deal with? What changed? What does that mean during a normal working day? Giving people room to answer in their own language is a good place to start.
Have a customer story to tell?
Tell us about your customer, what you’d like the video to communicate and where you’ll use it. We can help you work out who to interview and what to film.
Ryan Spanger is the founder and managing director of Dream Engine, a Melbourne video production company established in 2002. Over the past two decades, he’s produced hundreds of videos for businesses, government departments, universities and healthcare organisations across Australia. Ryan specialises in helping organisations explain complex ideas through clear, engaging video content, with particular experience in corporate communications, training and education.
