Last week I talked about how we need to be prepared for our businesses to change over the next decade when Gen Z, now high school and college students, become our clients. One of the traits of this generation is connecting with brands who tell a positive story, so today I’d like to share some tips on how to tell your business story. As humans we’re wired to listen to stories. It’s how we communicated our traditions and values before the written word so we could pass our history and lessons down from generation to generation. Clearly the printing press and the internet have changed the way we tell those stories. Today we can instantly communicate a story through a single photo we share on Instagram and we no longer have to wait for uncle Roko to return from his journey to tell the story of how he killed the Saber Tooth Tiger. There are actually brain chemicals that substantiate why we’re so wired to listen to stories. Cortisol is a stress chemical that makes us pay attention and get caught up in the story. Oxytocin, that same chemical released by women during childbirth, (but men have it too) is a brain chemical that stimulates feelings of caring & empathy and gets people to take the actions the story is leading them toward. Well told stories are able to take us to another place and to imagine a different world, and they get us to pay attention. I remember back in university I was taking an advertising class that had a huge textbook that covered such fascinating topics as how to calculate the value of an ad buy. Honestly it just wasn’t that interesting. But toward the end of each lecture, my professor would move around to the front of his desk, lean against it and tell us a story about what it was like being a brand manager at Procter & Gamble. We would all wake up from our boredom, and lean forward in anticipation of what would happen next. A great place to learn the art of storytelling, is to read great novels or watch movies that have become classics. Because each successful story follows a formula that goes something like this. And I share this with you giving full credit to Donald Miller and “Storybrand”, which is a book I highly recommend. The hero has a goal but some villain is preventing him from achieving his goal. This creates tension as we wonder if the hero will win. Along the way the hero meets a guide who gives him the tools or clears the roadblocks to achieving his goal, thus releasing the tension and leaving him to live happily ever after or to fight his next battle. Here are a couple of examples you may recognize: In the first Harry Potter book, our hero Harry finds out he’s a wizard on his 11th birthday and that the evil villain Voldemort killed his parents when he was a baby but was unable to kill him and so his powers were destroyed. He is trying to get his hands on a stone that would restore his powers and make him immortal so he can come back and take over the wizarding world. We have conflict. Fortunately, Harry has his guide Dumbledore to help him with his magic and he and his friends are able to thwart Voldemort until the next battle. In the first Star Wars, the galaxy is at war and rebels under the command of the evil Darth Vader have stolen the plans to the Death Star which can destroy entire planets. We have conflict. Our hero, Luke Skywalker, after seeing a holographic recording of Princess Leia asking for help from Obi-Wan Kenobi, seeks him out. Obi-Wan plays the role of the guide, teaching Luke the ways of the force so he is ultimately able to destroy the death star. These same principles can be applied when you are writing the story of your business. But there are some key points to remember. First, your business can never be the hero of the story. Your customer is the hero and you are the guide. Because of what you do, you will allow them to be the hero. When JJ’s firm saves someone a bunch of money on their taxes, he isn’t the hero. But he has enabled that parent to be a hero to their kids and take them on a surprise trip to Disney. When Emilio is able to find a business a faster, more redundant internet solution, he isn’t the hero. But perhaps he enabled a health insurance call center to keep operating in the middle of a storm so that one nurse was able to get an elderly woman the care she needed. Second, your customer must always face a villain. That villain could be real, or more of a concept. In JJ’s case, Uncle Sam is the evil villain trying to take our hard earned money and deprive a family of relaxing time together. In Emilio’s case, the villain could be unstable internet that interferes with the ability of people to help one another. But a villain could just as easily be time, for some businesses. Third, you and your business are the guide to help your customer be the hero. You are their Yoda, their Mr. Miyagi and their Dumbledore. To be a credible guide you need to show 3 things; empathy, authority and a plan. You need to convince them that you feel their pain, that you have the deep experience that makes you the right choice, and that you have a clear process to pull them out of their pain. This simple formula of using the hero, the villain and the guide can help you to write a relatable story that will allow your target customers to really feel that you understand them. Deep down, we all want to be heros to people we care about, so my challenge to you this week is to find a way to show how you can make your customers heros.

Telling Your Business Story

dianeliseBlog

Last week I talked about how we need to be prepared for our businesses to change over the next decade when Gen Z, now high school and college students, become our clients.  One of the traits of this generation is connecting with brands who tell a positive story, so today I’d like to share some tips on how to tell …

It’s the holidays, so I thought today I’d talk about a feelgood topic, and that is the subject of human connections. As a marketer, I’m keenly aware of how much more we’re able to get through our day without making any human connections. Over 20 years ago, when my husband and I were first dating and he lived in Brazil, we used to laugh about how Brazilians never needed maps. Here’s how finding your way from Point A to Point B used to work when driving around Brazil. Maybe this will sound familiar for some of you as you think about your home countries. You’d start out in the right general direction, and then when you weren’t sure which road to take, you’d stop and ask someone in a small town. Their directions would go something like this, “you go down the road for 3 speed bumps, and then turn right at the little blue church.” “And then what?” you’d ask them. “And then you stop and ask for directions”, they’d say. And if you think I’m kidding, this is a direct translation from an actual road trip. Fast forward to today, and we don’t need to talk to humans to ask for directions because we have a GPS in our smartphone. We don’t need to ask about the weather, because there’s an app for that. And when did you last ask someone for the time? Adults ask an average of 20 questions per day. Google has almost 93% of online search engine volume. The average person makes 4 searches/day on Google, not including the average of 142 minutes per day we spend on social media, in which we are certainly asking more questions. That means at least 40% of our questions don’t involve asking a human. But here’s the downside. Today my husband and I are happily married, but let’s say he really did something to piss me off. I might Google, “best divorce attorney near me”. I’d come up with a list, all of whom would undoubtedly offer a free consultation, and I’d pick one. On the other hand, if I spoke with a human, they might ask me if I had considered mediation. “What’s that?” I would ask. Not being familiar with this practice area it wouldn’t have entered my mind to Google it. They would explain that it was a professionally guided discussion of how to split up our stuff where I would be left feeling more in control of my circumstances. Well that does seem less disruptive. But then perhaps I’d speak with another human, who would suggest that maybe we just needed some time away from our daily stresses and there is an amazing resort called Sandals that specializes in pampering couples. Now that sounds even better and I certainly wouldn’t have started out Googling “couples resort” after my husband pissed me off. So in theory I have gone from a messy divorce to a sexy getaway with my husband. All because real humans opened my perspective to more ideas than I had considered searching for on my own. The same thing goes for your business. The power of the real human connections we have in this room is far greater than going through the mechanics of passing each other referrals. It’s about taking the time to truly understand each other’s business. It’s about coming up with creative ideas on how we might grow, and making connections to people in our own network who can support that growth. To form a network you need two things: Humans Connections If you go to your local Chamber event, spend 15 minutes sharing a cocktail with strangers and then exchange business cards, you have humans, but you haven’t made a connection, so you’re not really networking. If you follow up by sending an email outlining all of the things your business does, then you’re still not really networking because you still haven’t made a connection. You’re missing the next step of taking those business cards and setting up a coffee or dropping by their office to begin the process of understanding more about their business. Once you’ve made that connection, then you’re truly networking and over time, this investment will lead to results. Over the holidays, while you’re spending time with family and friends enjoying your eggnog or several glasses of Macallan, take a moment to reconnect and anchor that good feeling of spending meaningful time with other humans. Then in January when we get back together, work on how you can deepen the relationships with your business family, and we’ll all have a spectacular 2020!

The Power Of Connections

dianeliseBlog

It’s the holidays, so I thought today I’d talk about a feelgood topic, and that is the subject of human connections.  As a marketer, I’m keenly aware of how much more we’re able to get through our day without making any human connections.  Over 20 years ago, when my husband and I were first dating and he lived in Brazil, …