Everyone loves a story, comedians use them, we tell them to our children, quite frequently they are used to get a point across… so how can you make use of stories in your business?
The easiest way, and its something every business can do is to produce a case study, if you tell it as a story then it will have a very powerful impact, so what elements do you need to make it compelling?
It’s easy to follow, think about the format of any famous childrens book (Cinderella / Sleeping Beauty that kind of thing) and follow, so:
- Set The Scene – Detail your customer, try to be as exact as possible, what industry are they in, what size business are they. Other potential clients will identify with your customer if they are similar.
- Create the Villain – this is the big nasty elephant in the room, the big problem that your customer had that they simply couldn’t continue working with. If you can have just one big elephant rather than a herd. If you concentrate your story on just one big problem your client had then your story will be much more to the point and more compelling. Be specific, use exact numbers where possible
- Introduce the Hero – Of course thats you. You are the knight in shining armour ready to take on the World
- Describe your battle – Again detail is the main element here, what exactly did you do to take away the problem, define your solution exactly and anything out of the ordinary or extra that you did. If you overcame challenges tell how you did it, you’ll get the listener on your side!
- Explain the happy ever after – What happened as a consequence of you being involved (sales went up by X% etc) again be specific. Of course add a quote from the fair maiden you saved from the villain it will make it more authentic.
If you are against competition in a bid for a piece of work then you really will need to stand out of the crowd, telling an effective, memorable case study will help people remember you.