Ep 02: Where to find the stories that make your clients feel instantly connected to you

00:54 You're listening to The Business of Stories with Susan Payton, showing you how to share stories that do the selling in your business so you don't have too. In a busy craft market in Salisbury England one stall stood out Stylish black boxes with a striking black and gold branding were expertly displayed, brimming with beautiful thoughtfully selected products. A sign on the table simply said it only takes a moment to create a moment I read the sign and smiled at the young couple who stood behind the stall with their son And they started to tell me the story behind those words

01:40 They said, a couple of years ago we found ourselves going through a tough time as a family. We did come out the other side of that challenging time but when we looked back and thought about how we got through it, we realised it was the little moments that kept us all going The smiles, the hugs, the gestures. A cup of tea a foot rub and note a few kind words of encouragement We realized we could handle the big stuff that was going on because those little moments gave us all the support and strength we needed to get through it together So we wanted to create something so that others could appreciate and celebrate their own little moments

02:27 Our gift boxes help people make any day special by showing love and appreciation to those around them. And there it was, their personal story giving meaning and purpose to what was otherwise a table of gift boxes with a message that really resonated with me actually made me feel quite emotional I'm hugely grateful for the love and support that i have It made me think how we are always there for each other as a family, but maybe we don't always take the time to appreciate the special everyday moments that give us all the strength to take on whatever life throws our way. And in case you're wondering... Yes I did buy something from their store and I went home and looked at their website and bought some more things! And I told countless other people about them

03:22 I loved their story, their message and their products. It was a win-win for everyone! Have you ever heard someone's story and instantly felt a pull? Like you immediately wanted to follow them, connect with them learn from them or work with them That's your brain doing exactly what it is programmed to do Everyone's brain is hardwired to connect with other humans – its right there in Maslow's hierarchy of needs right?! And stories are one of the most powerful things that connects us as humans. So, it makes sense that if you use storytelling in your marketing your ideal clients are going to feel more drawn to you connected to YOU and that's powerful! When people are working with you because they feel connected to you when they feel like you're the perfect person to take them on this journey of transformation that they need to go on

04:22 You'll no longer be competing on price. And pricing, by the way is probably my second favourite topic! So I'll definitely be doing an episode on that because your prices are directly related to the stories you're telling yourself but we'll talk about that another time... So what are the stories you could be sharing that will create that connection? At the heart of everything I do with clients is a very simple 7-step framework that helps you find, unpack, explore and share all the stories you have. And i'm going to talk you through each step over the next seven episodes but let me give you the 10 000 foot bird's eye view now Step one is your personal stories Everything always starts with you Who YOU are

05:17 You want clients and work, and a business that feels good and aligned with who you are. So whenever I'm working with clients we always start by unpacking your personal stories And i don't just mean that one story you tell about how you ended up here doing what you now do Although that's an important story – I call it your core story! And you wanna know that story really well and be able to tell it in 30 seconds or 30 minutes But when I talk about your personal stories here, I mean all the stories that show people who you are. What you stand for? What you're about? Your experiences, your lessons, your setbacks, your insights... ...your perspective, your passion, your ideas, your values – all the things that make YOU, YOU!

06:09 But your personal stories are only one piece of the puzzle, right? They won't work on their own. So step two is your business stories. Businesses and brands don't just pop up from nowhere there's always been a journey and that journey is full of stories. Stories about why your business exists what problem it exists to solve what difference it makes what your business stands for If your business was a storyteller, what stories would it share? And by the way don't get too caught up in what's personal and what's business. There'll be loads of overlaps on your journey and that's what we're looking for but if it helps think of personal as who you are and business stories is what you do Step three is your customer story This step is critical

07:01 You won't be able to make any of your stories relevant and relatable if you don't deeply understand your customer story. So it's a really important story to know and share so that your ideal client can see that you understand their story, you get them! Unpacking your customer story is about understanding who are they? What's their story? What are they thinking? How are they feeling right now, what's going on for them. Where are they now and where do they want to go and what is in the way? Where are they stuck and where do you fit into their story if your gonna show up on this journey that there on whats your role in their story when you understand that

07:51 You can use stories to show them that you are the perfect person, to help them get where they want to go. So there are the three main stories that we unpack your personal business and customer stories Then we start to dig deeper and explore those stories Step 4 is your why I never have to ask a client what their why is it always jumps out of their story Your why is why you do what you do and the impact you have when you do it. And, you can share stories to get that across! Step 5 we go even deeper into your people Who are the specific people you really want to work with? Who are the people who you can make the biggest difference too? I can tell from doing this time and time again over the last 10 years or so

08:48 Who your people are comes out of unpacking your stories. So many times I've seen clients as we're working through their stories, joining all the dots and finding the golden threads they have an aha moment about the specific people they want to work with And of course, the more specific you are the better you'll understand their story. The more you can make sure your stories resonate with them... ...the more you can make sure your messaging lands with them You can make your stories super relevant for those specific people when you really understand who they are and what their story is Once you have that clarity, you can use storytelling to really speak to that person and show them that you get them

09:38 And let me give you a little example of that and what I mean by your people coming from your stories. So, I worked with a business coach a few years ago and she said her niche was small business owners. Her clients had all sorts of different businesses and she liked that! She liked the variety. She didn't want to niche to one particular type of business or industry The problem was, she wasn't memorable. Because there are quite a few business coaches out there right? And she didn't know how to stand out… She didn't know what made her different and even though she understood the power of storytelling... ...she didn't think that her clients – busy business owners would really want to hear her story!

10:21 Her personal story was mainly about how she struggled to juggle building her business with raising her children when they were young. And she said, my clients don't want to know about that! They just want to know if I can help them get better results in their business But then we started working together through the process i'm going to take you through and as we unpacked her personal story She talked me through how hard it was when her children were very little How she constantly felt guilty and pulled in different directions. How she struggled to be present when she was with her children because she always knew there was work to do and clients she needed to get back too, but when she was working she felt awful that she wasn't with her children And she ended up just feeling torn and spread thin like she wasn't doing any of it properly or the way she wanted to

11:15 She didn't get to feel good about any of it because she just felt in this constant state of conflict and guilt. So, she decided to put her business on hold. She closed it down so that she could enjoy this time with her children before they started school and she did enjoy the time with their children but she also felt And then she made a comment. She said, I didn't have someone like me to help me back then. If I had or if I knew then what I know now, I wouldn't have had to shut my business down because now I know it is possible to do both. I know how to help people run their business in a way that works for them and for their life and feels good and allows them to get joy from it and show up the way they want to in their business and be the parent they wanna be. Be present

12:30 Enjoy time away from work and with their children. It is possible to do both when you know how to make both work for you in a way that feels good and you never have to feel guilty." And then I saw the light bulb go off in her head! She had that aha moment, and she said, That's it...that's who I want to work with. That's who I can make the biggest difference too. I want to work with business owners who are struggling to run their business and be there for their young children She realised in that moment she wanted to work specifically with people who had pre-school children but didn't want to close their business down. And not only did she realise that's the niche she wanted a focus on, because she knew what it felt like to be in that place and not have the answers and she knew she could really help those people

13:28 But also, suddenly she realised all those personal stories that she thought nobody would want to know. Suddenly she saw how relevant they were... How super relatable they would be to the people that she now knew she wanted to help Those stories of her struggling and how she'd had to close down her business were exactly the stories that would resonate and connect with the specific people she wanted to work with. So, that's an example of how unpacking your stories and exploring your stories can often help you get those moments of realisation about who you want to work with – and the stories are going to be super relatable to them!

14:18 So that was step 5 for your people. Step 6 is your value and by that I mean what is the value to your idol client of what you help them do? What is the value to them, of you helping them change their story get to where they want to get to, get past the blocks they've got so they can do what they want achieve what they want be the person they want to be What is the value to them of you helping them get their happy ever after? And this is another critical step because you could be the best storyteller in the world, but if people don't see the value to THEM of working with YOU and getting the outcome – the transformation that you can help them get – they won't buy. So really important to communicate the value of what you help people do. Never assume they know!

15:12 And we can use stories to communicate all of this, your why, your people and your value. One of the guiding principles of storytelling is show don't tell! Don't just tell people what you do and how they can buy it – show them what it looks like and feels like. Share stories that help them see what their life will look like after you've worked with them How will their business be different, or their health or their wealth? Or their mindset or relationships. Whatever it is you help them do. Share stories to communicate the value of that. And then we get to step 7 The Sweet Spot Where you can tell the right story to the right person in the right way at the right time in their journey and that's when magic happens

16:03 When you've joined all the dots, you've made the connections. You know who you're talking to. You know where they are what they want what they need. You know what stories to share. You know what stories are going to resonate. You know what stories are gonna land That is when storytelling becomes a superpower in your business and starts to do the selling for you so if you don't have to So that's a quick walkthrough of the framework, but I'm going to go deeper on each step and do an entire episode on each of them so you can really see how you can start to harness the power of storytelling in your business. Demonstrate your value, stand out from the crowd and attract more of your dream clients! So i'll talk you through step one next time – Your Personal Story But I've got a couple more things for you before I go

16:56 I said in the last episode that i'd love to get you involved, so each week i'm going to answer a question from a listener and i'll choose questions that i know will apply to a lot of the people listening to this show. So you can always take something away from it for you and your business! If you have a question you'd love me to answer on a future episode simply email it to me at susanatthebusinessofstories.com And to kick us off this week's question is from Emma Hi Susan, I'm Emma Cripwell founder of Silvermoon Virtual Assistant. Here's my question what's the biggest mistake people make when they try to turn their story into a business tool? Awesome thank you for that question Emma! I know it's one that others will have too because no one wants to make mistakes right or do it badly or feel like their story is shoehorned into a sales pitch because they'll do more harm than good and that's not what this is about

17:52 Storytelling is not transactional. Although many of my clients have had people ask to work with them off the back of one story post, so it absolutely happens! But storytelling is more about building a relationship So that by the time people reach out to you they already know they want to work with you. So yes I see a few mistakes probably the biggest one is not understanding their customer's story first For your story to truly connect with your idol clients, it needs to align with where they are and what they're going through. Storytelling in business is never about telling stories for the sake of telling stories! It's about making your stories truly relatable to people you love working with

18:42 So they land, so they connect. So they make them feel seen and heard but you can only do that if you take the time to unpack and understand their story That business coach I talked about, right? It was only when she truly understood who her people were and what their story was that she was able to share her stories in a way that really connected with them. Before that if she'd shared a personal story she didn't really know why she was sharing it or even if potential clients wanted to hear it so understanding your customer's story is key and it's the bit that most people skip

19:23 But the good news is you don't have to make that mistake because your customer story is step three of my process. And I'll be talking lots about that in episode five, but here's a quick tip for now before you write a story about you just tune into who you are sharing it with which is your idle client close your eyes stand in their shoes feel what they're feeling tuning into their story first will help you make it relatable and relevant for them Finally, I'm going to finish every episode with a small action step that you can go away and do. So here's your action step for today. Share a story about a time you took a leap of faith in your business – a time when you decided to do something that might have felt a bit scary because you didn't know exactly how it was gonna work out but you did it anyway! You took a leap of faith so that's it… A simple story you can share

20:27 And I'll see you next time for more stories that do the selling for you so you don't have to. Thank you so much for being here, I love that we get to do this together! Would you do me a huge favour and please rate review and follow this podcast in Apple Spotify or wherever you listen to your podcasts? And i'll see you next time for more honest conversations meaningful connections and of course stories The Business of Stories.