You know telling stories that dont have a business objective might be entertaining but it wont lead to sales. For a story to have the desired effect you must be very clear on what that effect is. {CLIENT CASE STUDY} Today I will share a case study of some work I did with a private client. (Note I have changed some details and names to protect privacy but the essence is unchanged) ~~~Mary is a Happiness Coach, specializing in overcoming the loss of a loved one to cancer, she gets most of her clients from her weekly Podcast show. She desires to have her potential listeners purchase a group program on overcoming loss in community. Her ideal client is usually quite depressed from a long period of isolation, and they tune into her podcast for some comfort. For her to move her listener into a “purchasing” mood, her potential client has to feel two primary things the first is a “new” desire for happiness, and to have the belief that having a community group experience will lead to that happiness. ~~~There are various things in life that can get us into particular feelings or moods; music, mantras, and stories have been found to be the most effective way to quickly get into a particular feeling. We will tell a story to move our potential client into the emotional state we require, a desire for happiness, and the belief that a group experience will lead to this. So I asked Mary to recall a time when she experienced a loss, it doesn’t have to be a loved one but it does have to be something that left you with a profound sense of loss. To illustrate I will share a story of great loss that I experienced, I grew as a women tremendously from it, and hearing my story helped my client recall a loss that would work well for her objective. ~~~Early in my business consulting career I had an older boyfriend it didn’t work out with him but I met his sister in law and she became my best friend her name was Diane. She was handicapped born with spinal bifida, she had spent most of her teenage years flat on her back recovering from multiple back surgeries, and spent her entire life on crutches then later a wheelchair. ~~~My daughters were 7&9 and loved her very much, she would take care of them while I was away on week long business trips, and we would spend weekend’s together playing cards, shopping and just being friends. I would often come home tired from these trips complaining about this or that, Diane would have none of it, she would often say that life is a gift and we should be thankful for every breath we get to take. Kind of hard to argue with her since she really knew hard! ~~~Diane died of pancreatic cancer 10 years ago, at the age of 50. I was very angry, at god and at life, I went into a kind of depression that would take me years to recover from because I had decided that I would not cry and not talk about it, and not feel it. I went about my life but kept having this feeling of disconnection from life, I could not really feel deep happiness or excitement or even anger. I had suppressed the grief so successfully that I suppressed everything else too. ~~~Everything finally changed when I went to a women weekend retreat, upon arrival we were asked to share our desire for this event. Mine was to feel more, and really feel connected, to life, to other women, and ultimately to myself, I was ready. It was a wonderful weekend very cathartic, I felt Diane with me, and it started opening in me the capacity to be vulnerable again and share my true heart with other women. I discovered many things about myself that I would not have had I not been in this safe circle of women. The following Monday after the retreat I am walking in the aisles of Walmart and I hear the song by Bryan Adams I aint missing you and I started to cry, right there in public I didn’t care if people saw me, I was hurting but I felt so much lighter and happier after. I wish I had known that being with other people ... really being with them could change my heart so completely, I now feel such joy, lightness, and most of all I feel love for my sisterhood, I know enjoy having close friendships that help me stay connected to my soul. I wish I had done it years ago... but it wasnt too late for me and if you are going through something like this, it isn’t too late for you also. ~~~I have written this story in its raw state. I just let it come out naturally. When working with a client the next step would be to work on designing and delivering it, changing certain words for trigger words, and making sure I as fully integrated with it. Notice I did not include what I learned in that retreat, later when making my offer of the group program I would re-mention this story and perhaps say something about integrating the lessons I learned in that weekend to my group workshop teachings (if that were true). Also the story has to have an ending where you come out of the situation with the strategy that your client does not have so you will be perceived as skilled on overcoming these issues. ~~~Top Tips: Uncovering the stories in your life can be difficult sometimes so here is my top three prompts to jog your memory and come up with those golden nuggets... 1. Start with the emotion ... When was the last time I felt truly felt {insert emotional state why did it happen how did you get over it}... 2. An event... The first time I {insert meaningful event how you felt and what you learned}... 3. A location... I grew up in {insert location then describe how you felt about it, why you felt that way}... P.S. If you are interested in hearing more about how to share your stories in a way that leads to sales, join me on my call! Sign up here >>> yourbusinessyourjoy/MCA-CALL1 Can’t make the date... no worries sign up Anyways and I will send you the replay!
Posted on: Fri, 02 Jan 2015 12:30:35 +0000
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