Remember bedtime stories? You're probably reciting the same fairy tales to your kids that your parents lulled you to sleep with. Why? Because you remember them. Wouldn't it be great if your clients remembered you half so well as you recall the Big Bad Wolf and Cinderella's Fairy Godmother?

Borrowing from psychology, that's the idea behind a new marketing and motivational concept called narrative theory. "No matter what its size, specialty or scope, every organization has its own unique legends and lore that become part of the very fabric of its identity," says a journal published by the Stanford Alumni Association.

Let me tell you a couple of quick stories. Perhaps you'll find them relevant.
In the early 1990s, Fortune magazine decided to do an article on selling. The question they set out to answer was:

Why are some people so good at selling while others so blatantly bad? To arrive at the answer, the writers interviewed two-dozen top sales performers across a broad spectrum of industries. Among those who were interviewed were financial advisors, insurance producers, executive recruiters and a wide variety of consultants and high-value services providers. Here's what they learned.

The most successful sales people sell without it ever being apparent that they are in fact, selling.


There's nothing obvious or obnoxious about their presentation. No Trial Close, Ben Franklin Close or Take Away Closes. They sold, but they sold invisibly.
Moreover, the Fortune article concluded that the more you are marketing and selling high-value services, the more important it is to be able to sell invisibly.
So what exactly does this mean? How did the top performers go about building trust and credibility? How did they overcome often deep-seated skepticism? How did they persuade others to their point of view?

The one thing in common was... they all told stories.
Lots of stories. Stories that demonstrated how others had successfully achieved results by using their services. Stories that preemptively addressed objections or concerns. Stories that made it easy for others to refer them to their friends and colleagues. Stories that build credibility and reduced skepticism.

Let's be honest. Didn't we capture your interest and tweak your curiosity when we began this blog with "Bedtime Stories Aren't Just for Kids Anymore?"

People like stories.
They like to read stories and they like to hear stories. Stories enable us to visualize things that are incredibly difficult to grasp otherwise. Good marketing stories paint a picture (see my previous blog entry). They make us want to learn more.

If you want to build your company identity, grab a teddy bear and start articulating your legends and lore -- your company story.

Having your company story up your sleeve comes in handy. You might use it in presentations, your business plan, or a prospectus. Some companies, like Caribou Coffee, post theirs on the wall for everyone to see. But most importantly, you seize "the tremendous power of using these stories to increase productivity, implement change, and motivate employees," according to Peg Neuhauser, author of Corporate Legends and Lore.

Types of Company Stories You Can Tell

The Time Line Story This doesn't even need sentences. Just map out the key dates of your biz, like when you got the idea, opened the doors, served your one thousandth customer. It helps employees and clients feel they're participating in something with a past and a future. It can also help you tell more elaborate stories.

The Cinderella Story Everybody eats this one up! Especially Ben & Jerry, the ice cream moguls. It starts with two unemployed guys and an idea (like buying a home ice cream maker). It then tells of their transformation, and how their hometown values and interests led them to fame and fortune.

The Survivor Story Tells how your biz overcame daunting odds to get where it is now. Everybody loves an underdog! These days, we can all tell a survivor story!

The Hero or Great Feat Another effective story type, this tells of a great deed that helped establish or guarantee the success of your business. It often involves helping your market or community and deriving your success from theirs.


The David vs. Goliath Story My favorite, this one can be used effectively to position yourself as the true "small business" against the big chains or conglomerates.

The list goes on. To start yours, first brainstorm. Stick to the truth (they're stories, not myths!) Excellent marketing stories don't scream, "I WANT TO IMPRESS YOU!" They don't scream, "BUY MY SERVICES NOW!" Rather, good stories give the reader or listener the warm feeling of being taken on an interesting trip. And if the story is well constructed, at the end of the journey, we're going to be impressed. We're going to be interested. We're going to want to take the next step in the sales process. And remember, good stories hinge on interesting characters, plots, and settings. Identify these in your business, and then your company story is sure to keep 'em up past bedtime.

And that's why the most successful marketers tell stories....

Until next time, as Einstein said:

"There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."

The End (for now...)