A couple of years ago, I was fortunate to attend a business workshop in Nashville, Tennessee. It was two days so packed with business education that I thought my head would explode. Several of the sessions have since faded from memory, but a few have stuck around and changed something notable about how I do business. One of those was the presentation by StoryBrand. You can check out a couple of free videos here at the StoryBrand website.
Now, StoryBrand charges over $2,000 for their in-person workshops, so the chances that I’m going to be able to do as good of a job as them are slim to none. But I can tell you one simple idea that make me not only think, but also take action to make my branding more customer centered.
Here’s that idea: You are NOT the hero of your customer’s story. Your customer is the hero of their OWN story. And you are the guide.
It’s about connection
Here’s why that matters for selling stuff. Many of us know that we need to make a connection with our customers (or potential customers), and we try to do that by sharing our story with them. On the surface, it seems like a great idea, but we are missing a very important part of the puzzle. It’s so obvious, and at the same time so easy to miss.
Our customer doesn’t care about OUR story. They care about THEIR story. We’re all that way. We want to know what’s in it for us. Not because we’re horrible people, but because in order to survive and thrive, that’s what we have to do. We have to solve our own problems, not everyone else’s.
So if your ads, flyers and, and customer communication isn’t based around THEIR story, it might make them say, “Oh, that’s kind of cool.” But it’s a lot less likely to get them to buy from you.
The customer is the hero of their own story, so make it about them
Let me give you an example. Imagine a company that sells hand-made leather wallets. Their site’s landing page is all about how the founder’s grandpa, great-grandpa, or great-great grandpa founded the company on quality materials, integrity, and superior workmanship. It’s a cool story, but it doesn’t make you buy. They are the hero of the story, and you don’t really see your place in it.
On the other hand, imagine that same landing page paints an image of a friend of yours pulling a wallet out of his pocket for years, and each time treasuring the fine workmanship and noticing the softness of the leather. Then a smile spreads across his face as he remembers how you were the one who gave it to him for their retirement, or graduation, or other special life event, And then he starts thinking about all the special memories the two of you share. That wallet is a symbol of friendship, shared memories, and of course, your impeccable taste. Suddenly, YOU are the hero. You have a place in the story. Shoot, it’s not the company’s story anymore, it’s your story. They are just helping you get there.
Do you see the transformation there? Even if you don’t buy today, the chances are much better that the story –which is now YOUR story – will stick in your brain and that the next time you need a super special gift, you might return to that site and actually make a purchase.
My own StoryBrand re-write
So let me give you a real-world example. Prior to hearing the StoryBrand talk, the headline on my flyers was something like “Spanish Classes starting soon. Register today.” I know. The creativity! The poetry! How did I ever come up with it? Amazing huh?
After I stori-fied it? “You can give your child a ticket to the world. We can show you how.” I might be biased, but I think the second one is a ton better, because the parent is the hero. We are placing the emphasis on them, and my company is just a helper. It also subtly places us in the role of a trusted adviser, an expert of sorts, which is exactly how we want them to see us.
Now, I’ll be honest. I was a small business and I didn’t do A/B testing to see which tagline was more effective. So it might have made absolutely no difference in sales. I don’t know.
But placing the customer at the center of our tagline made a difference in me! Every time I saw those flyers, I remembered what our role was – a valued and trusted guide to parents who want their kids to learn a language. It made me fiercely protective of my customers because I was their guide. They were trusting me to show them how to help their kiddos in a way that they couldn’t. It was a powerful psychological shift. And that truly impacted how I dealt with them.
Your journey
Since then, I always try to make my customer the hero. I hope you feel that as you read my blog. Obviously, the examples are from my own life. But the blog is meant to be about you. About helping you to create the life you want through improving your personal finance and/or through teacherpreneurship. About helping you to create options for you and your loved ones. About you living your best life on your own terms.
Here’s to you, hero! You got this!