Ever been ripped-off by clever marketing? You’re not alone! Almost everyone has some story of how they wasted their money buying something that was totally useless for them.
Somehow, sales is always seen more as a vehicle for a con, a bit like how politics is seen less as governing logistics and more as a corrupt way to power.
It’s sad to think that marketing is seen as just a way to cheat customers, and sad to see companies and vendors that view customers not as people, but as moneybags to help themselves from.
And that's why I’m excited about a different approach to marketing - a way where customers can find themselves in the brand story; a way that can potentially restore customer value, dignity and loyalty. And therefore, greatly increase sales! It’s not new.
The Service in Sales
The first time I came across the idea of truly focusing on service to improve sales in business was when I learned that ‘good’ sales is based on the idea that you truly believe you have something that meets someone else’s need in the best way possible. It was a paradigm shift for me to understand that sales advocated a needed service!
Imagine if in marketing, everything pivoted around the highest good of the customer. Imagine if products really were made to most effectively meet the needs of buyers. Imagine if the customer was the hero of the story!
So, welcome to StoryBrand, an extraordinary concept developed by an extraordinary man! Donald Miller developed the StoryBrand Framework in his book Building a Story Brand: Clarifying Your Message so Customers Will Listen. The title says it all, and more, if you ask the question why customers won’t, or don’t want to listen.
Let’s unpack why having a StoryBrand approach to advocating your product or service is not just helpful, but actually powerful.
The Story in StoryBrand
The simple truth is that everyone is interested in their own well-being, and we perk up to listen if something resonates with our own pain and dreams. In life, everyone faces problems that block their aspirations. This cycle of life always elicits gut-level responses in people. Even in purchasing decisions, 95% of the decision-making happens subconsciously.
StoryBrand plays along these lines of people’s stories in which the person (in this case, the customer) is the Hero on a quest towards their dream (the transformation of life the Hero wants).
Along the way, the hero faces obstacles and problems that keep them from achieving their dream (causing pain to the hero). Then emerges the Guide, who gives just that advice, nudge or help that catalyzes a breakthrough for the hero (the Solution to the hero’s problems and pain).
The Hero then makes responses (based on the call to action the solution proposes) that ultimately lead them to their dream (the transformation that the Hero has been dreaming of).
Business: The Problem-Solution-Worth Triangle
Although this outline seems simplistic, take a look through the lens of the three wheels on which business really runs:
What problem your product or service solves really well,
Who those people are who really are looking for a solution to that particular problem, and
How much it’s worth it to them to have you solve that problem for them.
You can see how you (your product or service) take on the role of the Guide helping the Hero (your customer) overcome the problems (by making ‘call to action’ responses) to get to their dream.
The entire story’s focus is the Hero, with the Guide playing that critical, transformative role, without which the Hero would either never achieve their dream or achieve it with great difficulty.
This makes the entire marketing, or StoryBrand approach, a customer-centric, relatable one. This itself is very powerful if your Brand message in your website, communication, products and service have three key qualities:
Your message is tangibly empathetic to the customer’s pain.
It’s genuinely interested in the customer’s dream and transformation.
It is specific, clear and encouraging in the outcomes that the solution offers.
Why would the customer not listen to your message?
The Uniqueness of Building a Brand Story
Well, they still wouldn’t if you didn’t present it to them in a way that caught their attention immediately in a relatable way!
So, let’s take a look at an example.
Imagine you were a tax preparer, offering qualified, very reliable tax and accounting services to clients.
If you truly believed in providing a much-needed service to enable clients to avoid the headache and confusion of filing their own tax returns, but you really wanted to help them succeed financially, you could go about advocating your services in two different ways:
1. Advocate yourself - We provide excellent and reliable tax and accounting services for your tax needs.
2. Advocate your clients - Save on taxes and build your financial goal.
You can see the difference. People would respond better to the second as it’s about their problem - losing hard-earned money to taxes, and how it obstructs their dream of building their personal finances.
You (and your services) become the Guide for the Hero (your clients) to achieve their dream by effectively dealing with or overcoming the obstruction.
The first is vendor-centric, the second is client-centric. The first message is about yourself, the second is about the client’s pain and aspiration. The difference is simple, yet profound in its implications.
Is Your Brand Telling My Story?
You would need to have a genuine interest in your clients’ wellbeing, and a high-quality product or service to offer that more than meets the needs of the client.
And if you were really interested in your client, you would need to follow through, just like Gandalf did for Frodo Baggins in the Lord of the Rings, till the dream is achieved.
A client who has achieved their dream by taking your help, will be your strongest advocate.
As a content writer, it gives me pleasure to write content for businesses which are genuinely interested in their clients’ wellbeing. And interested enough to provide the best possible service to meet their needs, to transform their lives.
Writing content for businesses such as these using a StoryBrand approach, enables me to maximize the chances of them achieving that growth and impact they are desiring.
I use the StoryBrand approach precisely because I am interested in seeing them achieve the growth and transformation they desire by helping them to overcome what is blocking them in their message or service from achieving it.
The StoryBrand approach is not just something I use for my work, but it’s changed the way I look at my own services, skills and products.
In today’s world of enormously competitive businesses and services, using this approach is very helpful. It can both shape your own products and services, as well as how you communicate your message to your clients.
If your clients could read their own story in your brand message, and see themselves as the Hero in the outcome of using your product or service, imagine how your sales would look!
Key Points
- StoryBrand flips marketing from self-promotion to customer transformation.
- Position your client as the hero, and your brand as their guide.
- Effective messaging speaks to the customer’s pain and desired outcome.
- Client-centric stories drive connection, trust, and stronger sales.
- Empathy, clarity, and relevance are key to content that converts.