Winning Clients, Using Stories

We were both in fits of laughter.
And no wonder!

One of the Soul Millionaire Team had been sitting there, on Sunday evening… quite satisfied with life.
When the heavens opened.

“Well, nothing much to write home about”, you might think.
“I mean, this is England after all!”

But seven inches of rain in less than an hour.
That does unsettle a serene Suffolk village just a tad.

(In fact, it’s a historical record).

The part of the panic-stricken, furniture-salvaging, imminent-flooding, unfolding story that stands out…
The part that really grabbed my funny bone…
Was the Wheelie Bin.

The Wheelie Bin that floated away.
And she – now becoming heroic – found herself chasing it!

The picture erupting in my head was of her inside the Wheelie Bin… negotiating the raging flood with paddle… plummeting through her serene Suffolk village.

Reminds me of Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit.

In both cases, the story wraps itself around The Hero.
And carries them through an adventure or two.
(Even if the rest of us find it hilarious)

I love stories.
Don’t you?

I love writing them.
I love reading them.
I love listening to, and watching, them.

I particularly love the way stories grab us by the throat…
Mesmerised by the dreaded dangers – and triumphs – that might engulf our Hero.

What’s clear is that stories are how generations of us have passed on the lessons of life.

It’s also how smart companies communicate with their potential clients.
They create a story.
And they make their future client the hero of that story.

Not the company.
Not the company’s product or service.

The Hero.
THEY are the point of the whole story.

Smart companies do this early in the relationship.
And continue making the Hero feel heroic throughout the whole relationship.

Companies who don’t ‘get it’ tell the world how heroic they are.
Prattling on (and on) about their awards and their qualifications and the amazing team of people that they (undoubtedly) are.

True. No doubt.
But all of that…
Completely misses the point.

I think that we never grow up.
Not really.

Inside, we’re still children.
Eager to be the Hero of our story.
Even with all the dangers and tribulations that a Hero must face until they triumph.

With that in mind…
Speak to me.
Treat me accordingly.
Let me see how you’ll be my guide – the Gandalf to my Bilbo Baggins.

And I’ll walk with you on the journey ahead.
Excitedly.

I might make you laugh a little in the process.
Me and my Wheelie Bin problems.

But I’ll make you my Hero.
If you make me yours first.