Episode 45: The simple 7-step process that turns stories into sales

00:54 You're listening to The Business of Stories with Susan Peyton, showing you how to share stories that do the selling in your business so you don't have to. As I record this, I'm about to deliver a five-day challenge. And if you don't know what a five day challenge is it's where people come and join me inside of private Facebook group for a week and each day i give them a little task to do one step of my process so that by the end of the week they have the complete process they understand what each step is and why its there

01:31 And they know how to create stories that connect and resonate and have people reaching out wanting to work with them. It's a lot of fun, but it's very busy because people post their homework in the group every day and I've got some fabulous storytelling coaches who give them feedback so it's quite a big event! I go live every night answering questions and talking to everyone and giving away prizes And some people find it a little bit overwhelming. But to date, it's the only place I've ever shared this specific process that I take everyone through on my five day challenge

02:11 Although that is about to change because I'm building an evergreen version that people can actually go through at their own pace. But all that said, I thought I'd do an episode talking you through what that process is and I've created a workbook to help you so you don't have to try and take notes or remember it all as I'm going through it! You can download the workbook see all the tips and examples I've included in there And work through it once you've listened to this episode. And keep it as a reference that you can come back to time and time again, because this is a process that you can use in all your content going forwards to make sure its super relevant and relatable to your ideal client

02:59 So you can download the workbook at TheBusinessOfStories.com slash blueprint I'll pop that link in the show notes too, but for now let's get into my simple seven step process that turns stories into sales! So the very first thing I get people to do on my Friday challenge before we even start going through the process is to get their head in the right place To check in with the story they're telling themselves. You know, that inner critic? The voice that can sometimes create fear of judgment or rejection and all sorts of things that can hold us back from putting ourselves out there and showing up and being visible the way we want to And I know from speaking to hundreds of business owners over the years That we have all sorts of soundtracks running in the background

03:57 About how talking about ourselves feels icky, or we don't want to come across as bragging or showing off. Or what if people don't like me? Or the way that I come across... And those kind of conversations that we have with ourselves almost certainly come from messages that we received as a child right like Don't be too confident! Don't boast! Don't show off! Stop being the center of attention But the problem is, when that kind of narrative is just running in the background unchecked

04:33 It can stop you from putting yourself out there. You're not going to want to share your story if the one you're telling yourself is not making you feel good, so it's an important story to notice and change noticing the negative thoughts that are not making you feel excited about going out there and showing up the way you need to and sharing your stories And then choosing a narrative that would be much better, much kinder. Much more helpful! One that feels more positive and would make you feel good about being visible and serving clients like my story might be exactly what someone out there needs to hear today or this isn't about me My stories can help people see what's possible for them

05:28 So that's what we do before we even get started. Think about what is that story in your head, the one you're telling yourself about what others might think and what story do you want to change that too? To get you in the right mindset, in the right headspace, in the right energy for showing up the way you want to show up sharing those stories you wanna share and being there for the people that you wanna help And if you know that story could do with an upgrade, I did a whole episode on this early on. Episode 10 The Story You're Telling Yourself Is It Serving You and Your Clients? So go check that one out! The next thing we do which is day 1 of the challenge is think about our customers' story

06:17 Really tune in to what's going on for them, who they are. What does their everyday life or situation look like right now before they get help from you? What are they struggling with the most and how does that struggle make them feel deep down and what do they want if they could have a magic wand? What would they wish for and what stopping them from having that right now? How does that gap between where they are now and where they want to be make them feel And again, I did a whole episode on unpacking your customer story. Episode 5 if you want to go deeper with that! But to help people with this in the challenge, I actually built an AI tool that asks about 8 questions and then I trained it to give people a really nice concise but emotional version of their customer story that really taps into how they're feeling

07:16 That they can then refer to as they craft their stories and anytime they're creating content. Because tuning into your customer story first will always make your stories better, and if you want to get access to that AI tool it's your Customer Story Builder there is a link to that in the workbook So now we've got our head in the right place and we're feeling good about sharing our stories We've really tuned into our customer story and what's going on for them. Now we're going to choose the story that you're going to share, and this is a huge topic right? What stories could you share? In fact my whole podcast is about sharing stories! You have got millions of them but to help people choose one that they can work on as they go through this process during their challenge I get them think about the personal and business journey they have been on

08:12 In moment, right? There have been so many moments along the way. You have a lifetime of moments. Moments that when you look back now you realise were actually quite significant even if you didn't realize at the time or pivotal. You know, moments where you made your decision decided to go for something or walk away from something Ignore critics, overcome a challenge make a tough decision or fight for what you believed in. Moments that ultimately influenced what you did next the decisions you made the direction you took moments that led you down the path that you chose to travel so rather than trying to tell your whole story you can just choose one moment and you've got plenty of them

09:06 Then what I get people to do is write the opening line of their story because we want our story to grab attention. And the best way to do that is to start the story in the moment that you've chosen to share. Think about where a James Bond film starts, right? Right in the middle of the action! He's running across the rooftops he's being shot at they drop us right into the action they cut to the chase literally There's no explaining where he is, there's no filling in the background or setting the scene. They just drop us right into the middle of the action so rather than describing what was happening like I realised that my business wasn't working and i had to do something different that's describing right what was happening taking your listener to the moment bringing them into the scene

10:03 Could be, I was sat at the kitchen table crying into my very large glass of wine telling my husband something i could no longer ignore. My business wasn't a business! Big difference right? One, I'm just talking about it the other I'm actually bringing you in and you're there with me at the kitchen table and of course you don't want to start every story like that...that would be a bit odd But it's one way, one of many ways of starting a story that grabs attention. And it is particularly good way to start stories that are about specific moments. So now we have the moment were going to share our stories and thought how we're going to start the story by actually taking them into that exact moment bringing them into the scene

10:54 Showing them where you were, what you were doing. What you were saying or thinking because that's way more engaging So now we're ready to start crafting the story but we want to make sure that we tell it in a way that is really relatable to your idol client so the easiest way to make your stories relatable is to think about who your idol client is and whats going on for them right now Go back and read the customer story we put together earlier on. And then think, what is it about your story that they're going to relate to? Maybe it's that everything you tried wasn't working and you felt like everyone else had it sussed and you didn't. Think about how your audience will resonate with your story emotionally right as humans we connect emotionally

11:48 People don't tend to connect emotionally to a story that just recounts the series of events. But the minute you start to talk about how you were feeling, doubt, frustration, feeling exhausted or full of self-doubt... Or excited! Or relieved! Or grateful! Or inspired! Then people can start to relate to those feelings. They won't have your story, of course! Your story is unique but those feelings are universal So as you craft your story about your moment remember to talk about how were you feeling keeping your idle client in mind and how do you know they're feeling? My story of sitting at my kitchen table resonates with a lot of people because they feel it too or they have felt it

12:41 That they're putting all the work in but their business isn't where they want it to be. Also, keep your story short! Keep it punchy. Keep it simple. Just focus on one story...one moment..one event....one decision.....one conversation Short, punchy and relatable The next step is to make your story relevant Storytelling in business is never about just throwing stories out there for the sake of it You want to be strategic about it. You want to know who you're telling your stories too, why you're telling them what the purpose of the story is and how you want to leave your audience feeling and what you want them to do next And this is often where people get stuck they massively overthink it! Honestly, the simpler the better The better you know your idol client, the better you know their story and how what you do helps them

13:41 The easier you will find it to make your story relevant. So let me give you a couple of examples of making her story relevant, we had a coach in Storytelling Mastery who was all about resilience I think she called herself the Resilience Coach and she'd been out for a walk one day and she came back and she came on to the call and she said oh spring's coming and it's so beautiful here! She lived in France And she'd just seen the buds coming up everywhere. And she said, she took a beautiful photo of some of the buds coming through and she said I want to talk about this and I want to talk about how this spring energy is making me feel but is there a way that can make it relevant to what I do? Now I'm not saying that you have to tie every single story back to what you do

14:29 Because she was inside Storytelling Mastery and learning how to make her content and stories really relevant, she wanted to explore all the ways to do that. So I said to her, well isn't nature one of the most perfect examples of resilience? We've just had a really hard winter and delicate new buds are just coming through That is an amazing example of resilience at its finest. Very simple but suddenly she had a nice angle for her post about spring!

15:06 Another example is a very random story I told in an email about when I was young and my mum and dad used to make me take piano lessons. And, I absolutely hated them! I hated the lessons but even more than that...I hated the fact that every day when i got home from school they would make me sit at the piano and practice Oh, I dreaded it. I would come up with every excuse under the sun to not have to sit at that piano and practice! I would say I had a headache or that I caught my finger in the door and so it hurt to press keys. I even came home one day and said I'd fallen over and had a bruise of my bum and couldn't sit down which got me out practicing but meant I had to stand for the whole evening.

15:59 So I shared that story and talked about how it was such a chore that I absolutely dreaded and would find every excuse under the sun not to do it. And then, I simply asked... Does creating content for your business feel like that? A chore! Something you know you've got to do but just hate doing it. You'll come up with any excuse under the sun not to have to do I know a lot of people who come into my world feel like that about creating content. So, that's how I made my story relevant to them and what I do because I help make creating content fun so people enjoy it! While this step can feel clunky at first until you get used to it and practice

16:49 The thing to remember is to keep it simple. The more simple you can keep it, the easier it will be! And again, to make this even easier for people I created another AI tool called the Story-To-Message Mapper And if you download the workbook that walks you through this process, you'll see that there is a link in there and you can get access to both the AI tools I built for The 5 Day Challenge. The Customer Story Builder and their story-to-message mapper for just £17 but you don't have to use them! The tips & examples in the workbook will help you to use this process without any help from AI

17:33 Finally, the last step of the process is adding a call to action to your story. And I know some of you will have squirmed when you heard the words call-to-action… especially at the end of a story! It literally makes people want to go and stick their head in a bucket. But what if we changed call-to-action to Call To Adventure or to The Perfect Next Step? What if you thought, what is the perfect next step for my idol client? Because here's the thing. When you share your story and your story has done what it supposed to do and you've created the emotional connection that you wanted to create And the person hearing it or reading it relates to it and feels seen and heard and understood and more connected to you because of it You don't want to leave them hanging

18:31 You want to build on that connection you've just created and let them know that you're there for them. The story's done its job, they are feeling inspired, motivated… They feel like maybe this is possible for them! You don't wanna then go and abandon them at the moment – you wanna let them know what their next step is if they want it. And please make the next step really clear and really easy. Don't make them work hard, you might think get in touch or contact me is a nice gentle call to action

19:15 But actually, you're putting all the onus on them. They've got to decide how they're going to message you and then take their time to think about what they are going to say. They have got to compose a message for you whereas if you make it really simple for them to do its almost a no-brainer I'll often say in an email reply with story and I will send you the details That's made it really easy for them and it will only take a couple of seconds. So they're much more likely to do that than if I'd said, let me know if you're interested! Make it really easy but make it compelling. If the call to action is something like download my 7 step process for whatever your process

20:00 Tell them why they would want it. Like, download my 7-step process for sharing stories that do the selling for you! Now they know why they want it or if your call to action is sign up for my free masterclass tell them why? What will they get from attending that they don't have now? If its book a call... Why?! What are they going to have at the end of the call that they don't have now? So decide what is the perfect next step for your ideal client And that is go back over the whole thing. Read it through, ideally out loud

20:56 And see where you can make it shorter. It's probably too long, so notice where you're repeating yourself or over-explaining things. Short and punchy is way better than long and detailed! You don't want to waste all the hard work you've put in by making your story too long because people won't read it. So put the work in go through and edit Take out the clutter. Take out all the stuff that doesn't need to be there so that what you do share not only grabs people's attention but keeps them engaged to the very end So, that is the complete process I take people through on my 5 day challenges If you would like a copy of the free workbook I've created for you to go through with lots of tips and examples to help you really master this process

21:51 Then go to thebusinessofstories.com and you can download it there It will walk you through this process step by step so that you can craft stories that connect with your ideal clients, position you as the guide and have people you love working with showing up already knowing they want to work with you So, as always before I go let me give you a quick action step that you can go away and do. Here's your action step for today Think about a moment on your journey that looking back you realise now was a significant moment for whatever reason Then go through my 7-step process to share that story in a way that is really relevant and relatable to your ideal client

22:48 Keep it simple. This is a story about a moment, not your life story and then practice using this process because it's a process you can use over and over again in all the content you create You want everything you put out into the world to resonate with people. You want it to have a purpose. You want it to position you as the guide So that people don't just feel inspired by your story, but they feel excited to have you by their side. To help them get the result they want! So that's your action step for today. Choose a moment to share Download my workbook at TheBusinessOfStories.com slash blueprint Grab the AI tools if you want to use them Not just for this but everything you create in future

23:37 And share a simple version of that story that will land and resonate with your ideal client, and have them wanting to take the next step with you. And I'll see you next time for more stories that do the selling for you so you don't have too! 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