I am down in Kingsdown in Kent by the start of the White Cliffs of Dover. That is the start. It is not as white as you think.
Anyway — back to the story.
Everyone has a story and everyone needs to be telling their story. That is how you get inside the minds and the hearts of your customers and your potential customers.
Story telling has been around for many years. If you think of the Australian Aboriginals, they passed down their tales and knowledge through story telling. It’s something pretty special and they have a special way of doing it.
The village elders are responsible for telling those stories, and it has been going on for thousands of years.
Of course nowadays we have things like Twitter, Facebook, email, and more, but you still need a story.
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So How Do You Craft A Story?
The story has to come from the heart. It has to be true. It has to be you. Let me give you an example of what a story is. This is how you can get personal with your customer and is also a great way for you to get across exactly what your product or service is about.
Jack Dorsey, one of the co-founders of Twitter, came up with the idea when he was trying to talk to a young lady. There was a young lady in his office that he liked and wanted to date, so he said to her –“Can I call you?”
She looked at him and said, “Call? Why don’t you just text me?”, and he uttered the immortal words, “What is a text?”
Now to us in the UK that may sound a bit odd because texting has been quite the norm here for a lot longer, but in the USA, it wasn’t so common a while ago. When she explained what a text was, he came up with an idea.
He thought, how about a status?. In fact his original idea for the name for Twitter was “Status”.
His story appeals to both men and women, we understand and we get it. It also explains the product. And it’s true.
So here’s my story. I started off as a door to door cold calling sales man. Having hitchhiked around France, being smuggled back in a lorry — never mind — you don’t want to hear my story!
One of the best storytellers out there is from a guy called Bo Eason (you can find him and his videos here at BoEason.com). He is actually an ex-NFL football player from the USA. He is a brilliant story teller and he actually teaches how to tell stories. Watch his videos and see how he does this.
How To Reach Your Customers Heart Through Storytelling
You must get empathy with your customers. You must get in their mind. You must get in their heart. If you can do that, you are halfway there. Think of when charities advertise for countries in Africa. They don’t just say, “We need your money.”
People are suffering. People are poor. People have no food. They have a video of a little child and they give the child a name. They tell you how old the child is, where he or she is from, when was the last time that the the child has eaten. They tell a story.
Now It’s Time To Tell Your Story
Think of your story. Make it personal — about you. Don’t think about being shy like us British, who are so well reserved.
We don’t want to tell everyone about us. We think, “No one wants to hear about us.”, but yes they do. They want to hear about your story. It’s how your customers connect to you.
If you are truthful, if you can be honest you will get empathy. People will like you. People will understand you. They will start to trust you and once they start to trust you, you are halfway there to making them lifelong customers.
Book for the Week
This week’s book recommendation is going to keep with the theme of storytelling. It is by one of my favorites, Seth Godin. He is a master story teller and this book is called, surprisingly, “All Marketers are Liars”.
I am not sure if it started with this but certainly the current copies have “All Marketers are Liars” crossed out and replaced with the words “Tell Stories” because that is what he is trying to get you to see.
Of course the title intrigues us to want to read it, right? It is very clever. He knows what he is doing. This book explains the whole theory of storytelling and explains the why, the how and how it can apply to you – A definite recommended read for the week.
Try and figure out what your story is. If you want ideas, email me and I would be happy to help.
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So — what’s your story?
