You put your heart and soul into your business. You invest lots of time and money—the money you’ve saved or borrowed from friends, family, or a bank. You’ve got a service or product that you know is of great value. Sure, you have customers, but not as many as you know you could have. For some reason, they don’t see it.
They’re either buying from someone else or not responding to you at all. Why don’t they see how you can solve their problem or bring more joy into their life? Why don’t they jump at the opportunity you offer? Why? Because you’re not speaking in their language. You’re not telling them a story they can relate to and understand—a story that’s about them.
Most business stories are frankly not very good. They are not authentic; they are based more on the seller’s agenda than the buyer’s needs. In these stories, the seller is the hero rather than the buyer. They spend way too much time on their process and not their outcomes. Good business stories are genuine, compelling, and filled with passion. They:
(1) Feature real people
(2) Have an understandable dilemma or desire;
(3) Use real-life details from people’s lives;
(4) Show the characters attempting to solve the problem;
(5) Reveal how your company’s products or services made their pain go away or their desire fulfilled and
(6) Document how the buyer NOW feels empowered and hopeful.
To produce the most effective business story of your OWN, you MUST truly know your customers. Yes, you need to know their problems, worries, and desires, but you must also be willing to face and acknowledge the good, bad, and ugly of the market’s perception of YOU.
You want to know:
- What they admire about what you do or the products that you sell
- What they think are your weaknesses.
- Who they think are your competitors and why
- What they think is the benefit of working with you or what your product can do for them
- Whether they have any misconceptions about your product or service
When you work with me, we’ll get answers to all of these questions. Together, we’ll craft a story that moves people to seek you out and do real business with you.