People love stories. That’s why we spend so much time with movies, TV shows, books, video games, and news and entertainment websites. But that’s still not nearly enough. We need even more stories! That’s why more than a billion of us tune in to watch our friends’ and families’ stories unfold on Facebook; and for most, part of the attraction is that we even get to tell our own stories. So, as a business manager, it shouldn’t surprise you that your potential customers are taking the data points they collect about your company and converting them into stories. It’s the way our brains are wired. Since this is the human process, it’s wise to make sure your company’s stories elevate your position. Here are some thoughts on how you can guide the story process in your company to better attract and retain customers.
THE STARS OF YOUR STORIES: Your Staff, Your Company and You
There are three main stars in your company’s stories: your staff, your company and you (the business owner or senior manager). By understanding the stories that are being told about each of these stars and identifying new and improved true stories, you’ll elevate your company’s position within prospects’ and customers’ minds.
YOUR STAFF: What’s the story with this staff member I’m talking to as I evaluate your company? Why does he work here? What did he do before? Where is he from? Where has he been? Do we have any shared interests? Does he have kids or live in my town? Is he kind, funny, trustworthy, a braggart, inconsiderate or a bore? Does any of this matter? Maybe. I’m sure you can think of several times when your connection and empathy with a staff member was a basis for becoming a repeat customer with a company. Or, conversely, the lack of connection or repulsion caused you to quit the company as its customer or prospective customer.
YOUR COMPANY: What scenes from your company “movie” highlight your values? Many of your company’s interesting vignettes include helping your customers and community. What are the stories behind your company’s achievement of scoring Highest in Quality and Helpful Expertise® and earning Diamond Certified? You can (and should) tell these stories through your social media feeds, but we also tell them through our multimedia content and the positive survey responses we gather from your satisfied customers, all of which can be found on your Diamond Certified Company Report page at www.diamondcertified.info.
YOU: Potential customers understand that the leader of the company sets the pace and helps create the company culture. Stories that demonstrate your integrity, quality focus and fairness help potential customers develop a strong belief in your company. We tell human interest stories about Diamond Certified Expert Contributors at www.diamondcertified.info/find-expert-advice. Take a look—you’ll see hundreds of interesting stories about local company owners. Call your service director to participate if you haven’t already.
Instagram is a great way to share your company’s stories and engage with both current and potential customers. Follow us @diamondcertified to see examples of how we tell Diamond Certified companies’ stories. Photo: American Ratings Corporation ©2019
Story Themes and Meaning
Except for identical twins, people don’t look the same. That’s how we recognize thousands of unique faces and know stories about hundreds of them. We tend to like and connect better with people when we attach “good” stories to them, and we tend to avoid people with “bad” stories. What we deem good or bad is open to interpretation. We unconsciously judge these stories/people based on our own sense of virtues. Simply put, stories that illuminate a virtue (like integrity) are good, while those that demonstrate immorality (like dishonesty) are bad.
Whether you like it or not, stories are being disseminated from your team all the time. They may not be aware of it, so rather than leave good and bad stories to chance, you should educate your team about stories and their effect on customer relationships to give your company an advantage.
Step 1: Educate your team about the concept of this letter—how your stories affect the perceptions of customers and prospects and, consequently, their buying behavior.
Step 2: Create a “story month” so team members can share positive stories about their lives that highlight any of their virtues. Tell each other stories about moments in the company’s history that were emblematic of what your company stands for. Share stories about your life. Have staffers give feedback and discuss how each story is likely to positively or negatively affect customers and prospects. Which were the most relevant? Which gave you a warm feeling? Which virtues or negatives does each story display? Remember, Diamond Certified is part of your story. It proves that these stories illuminate company values that lead to great customer outcomes, as judged by a very high percentage of your past customers.
Step 3: Deploy your stories in person and through social media. Give feedback and improve these stories. If you keep doing this with your team, you’ll gain confidence that the true stories disseminated from your company illuminate the best of your team, your company and you.
Step 4: Your customer has a story to tell. Do you know it? The simple act of telling you or your staff member their story deepens the customer-company relationship. If your company knows more about your customers and prospects than your competitors, you win.