8 minute read
CREATE STORIES THAT SELL FOR YOU
By Jeff Mowatt
ere’s an old saying:“Stats tell and stories sell.”
You already know it’s not easy gaining the attention and interest of today’s customer. ey have so many options of where they can do business that your company can be perceived as a mere commodity.
Customers naturally assume that everyone’s selling more or less the same thing, so why not just go with the cheapest supplier? In my business building seminars, I share a simple tool that will help customers remember you. It will help you stand out from the competition, and it happens to be free.
I’m referring to the way you share your stories – your organization’s story, your product and service stories, and your personal stories. Your Organization’s Story
Imagine you’re planning to build a home and start searching for a builder by visiting several websites. Each site features photos of nice homes and beautiful interiors.
You try to nd out more about the company and click on the tab, ‘About Us.” Most of these pages tell you how much these home builders are committed to customer service and quality.
On another builder site, they tell a short story about how the founders were journeymen carpenters working for various builders. ey came to realize how poor the workmanship was and became angry when they were asked to cut corners on quality. ey nally got fed-up, pooled their resources and started building homes the way they thought they should be built.
Quite the di erence with the company that told their story isn’t it? How about your company?
Chances are at some point the founders and visionaries of your company realized there was a better way to do something, and that’s the story your website should be telling customers. It gives your organization a human side and, like any parable, tells about your personality and values.
Your Product Story
Any product can be described by its features and bene ts, right? If a competitor’s product or services has the same features or bene ts to yours, then it can be viewed as a commodity and price becomes the di erentiator.
However, telling the story behind your product and services will separate you from competitors. Share your product’s history; what did customers use before it came on the market? In other words, what prompted the conception of this product or service? Most importantly, how or why is are you di erent?
Stories give your products and services a human element - a persona if you will - that links your customers back to you. Keep in mind, people don’t really have relationships with a product but rather with the brand which seems to understand their needs.
Of course you’re still going to describe features and bene ts. e back-story simply makes its features and bene ts more interesting and more believable.
Your Personal Story
In my training sessions, I point out that customers don’t really need employees to provide them with information. Customers can search Google and get thousands of pages of information about anything. It’s instant and it’s free; information alone is not really valued.
So, in addition to knowing the story behind your products, customers are looking for evidence that what they’re buying will do the job. at’s where personal stories are so powerful. Tell stories about how you personally used the products or services. Or tell a story about how your other customers use the product and share their experience. Be honest – you don’t need to overstate or exaggerate. ese stories gives customers something that no website or brochure will ever provide. It gives them access to a real person who directly or indirectly uses the product or service.
Stories have been used to in uence people since before the written word. People still crave stories as evidenced by our endless appetite for movies.
When told well, stories are memorable and draw an emotional response. Emotional responses evoke decisions. Perhaps it’s time for customers to hear more of your stories, and in doing so, you’ll boost your bottom line.
P2P Engagement, continued from Page 1
is new dynamic can translate to a simple construct: the more human the brand, the more business that brand may get. ese consumers looked at factors other than just price and quality; trust and brand reputation factored into their decisions. is trust entailed taking responsibility to live by their values and be more relevant in today’s world.
No Longer A Nebulous Concept
Consumers are looking for companies that represent and re ect their values, their beliefs and their sense of purpose in the world today.
Brands of the PPE (Pre-Pandemic Era) could oat out with no real shape or form. ose types of companies may still try to exist on that plane, but companies that do are missing out in a massive way. ey fail to capitalize on retaining customers as well as attracting new customers. And those new customers may be willing to pay more for the relevancy brought to the business exchange. e antiquated constructs of business-to-business or business-to-consumer (B2B or B2C) do not take into account this new shi in consumer beliefs or wishes.
Prospects and customers want a deeper focus on building the relationship, having a brand re ect today’s current values and providing the type of support and alignment that makes the interaction feel more like an investment in a relationship.
Instead of looking at organizations as one end of a transaction, companies that wish to grow in the current paradigm must look at the “who” in the interaction. e focus must now move to people-to-people or people-to-person (P2P).
How To Translate Digital Engagement Into P2P
Digital engagement and communication are set up to be much more humanistic than many organizations allow. e focus on connection and community is readily available for organizations.
By allowing the people behind the brand to emerge out of the shadows, companies can move beyond the products and services they sell and provide engagement with the people who create those products and services.
Several recommendations can be quickly applied by any organization to move past B2B and B2C and move into a P2P interaction. Here are three ways to help move in that direction.
1. Many Voices, One Brand
ere was a time where one person was sharing content on behalf of the organization. Smart organizations, however, have moved to sharing several di erent voices and points of view in their digital communications. Not only does this allow di erent viewpoints from a brand perspective, it also keeps content fresh, as many voices make the brand what it is today.
Providing di erent styles of content engages more than one type of prospect, which sets up potential growth.
Taking the opportunity to bring in humanity into any organization’s digital communications can bring accelerated digital growth and engagement.
2. Focus On The Individual In Every Interaction
It should be obvious that the individual consumer should be a focus. But what about when businesses market to other businesses? ere are individuals that each business brings to the table for the engagement, and each one is important in bringing a di erent viewpoint. When creating content, consider the personality of the key players in the receiving organization. What are their individual roadblocks? How does s/he de ne success? Always consider the individual sending and the one receiving the communication. Because either way, a person is on each end of that communication.
3. Know Where The Power Lies
It has been said that consumers are now holding all the cards in the business interaction and have no plans to give them back.
When organizations look at who is in control of the communication, the power lies with the consumer, not with the company. Organizations need to understand this fundamental shi in power to the person receiving marketing and communication. is will help move communication to a person-to-person level and allow the consumer to drive the engagement, which is what the consumer not only wants but demands in today’s digital paradigm.
Taking the opportunity to bring in humanity into any organization’s digital communications can bring accelerated digital growth and engagement. is may feel like a risk to some organizations. However, the new paradigm has shi ed this from novelty to necessity.
By switching the focus from B2B or B2C to P2P, digital communication can be realigned to meet the current demands of audiences. With this ever-changing shi in consumer behavior, thinking about how one person communicates with another has become a cornerstone in digital engagement. is is no longer a passing trend but a new way of being, and the organization who embraces this way of being will reap the rewards.
About the Author:
Lisa Apolinski, CMC, is an international speaker, digital strategist, author and founder of 3 Dog Write. She works with companies to develop and share their message using digital assets. Her latest book, Persuade With A Digital Content Story, was named one of the top content marketing books in the world by Book Authority. For information on her agency’s digital services visit www.3DogWrite.com.
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