Retail Observer

RETAILOBSERVER.COM AUGUST 2019 48 W hat kind of story are you telling about your business? Is it all about the products you're selling and the services you offer? Or maybe the big sale that's coming up soon? If that's the sum total of your business storytelling, you might be missing a huge opportunity. Go to the website of any major retailer and you'll likely find a tab labeled "story." It's an intriguing promise, but more times than not, it can be a little depressing when you click and read on. You'll quickly realize that too many businesses make the fatal mistake of assuming that "stories" are just glorified descriptions – well-polished lists of OUR products, deals, and offerings. Naturally, you want these cornerstones of your company's business to shine and be known and understood. The question is: does anyone really care? If not, you might need to consider telling a new kind of story. The trick is to move the story away from you and onto them – the people whose lives you want to touch by what you're doing. WHAT'S YOUR FOCUS? The stories that businesses across virtually all channels and media typically tell tend to fall into one of two categories. The first story type is the most common and the most abused. It's the transactional story. Essentially, it says "Here's a thing we sell, here's how it works, and here's where to buy it." It's a nice description that's focused on features, functions, and cost. Reading this type of story, you might get a whiff of actual human interest along the way, but not if the seller has just posted the story to try to manipulate some inner hunger or fear in hopes of making a sale. An example: on the website of a major US retailer with anchor locations in malls and a large online presence, we find a label that says "This is our story" with a link to learn more. "Once upon a time…" it begins, followed by the founder's name and a description of her vision. Promising enough – but it all too quickly becomes clear that the "story" is no more than a vehicle for describing a business model, some product lines, and the store locations. The words "we" or "our" are used fifteen times in a single paragraph – obviously inserted for effect. Can we spell "manipulation"? I don't mean to disparage the transactional story. Transactions are the lifeblood of business, after all, and you do need a way to light them up. The problem is that they tend to lack the kind of human touch that engages people at the level of their emotions. To make that happen, you need another approach. As I said earlier, you need to make your story about them. ASK FIRST: WHAT'S MEANINGFUL TO YOUR CUSTOMERS? The second type of business story is the transcendent story – the story about how someone's life was changed as a result of something your business delivered or did for them. Transcendent stories tell about challenges in your customers' lives, usually far outside the four walls of your business. They're stories that are rooted in struggles and problems: in other words, things that truly matter. In this light, the details of your products and services are of secondary concern. They become relevant only when they help ease somebody's pain and spark a transformation. Starbucks understands the power of the transcendent story. Their home page features a "Stories" tab with a link to dozens of truly engaging and meaningful stories. A recent lead article featured a man named Rudy. "A scene from my life," we hear Rudy say, while a clever animation plays. "It would be a high school hallway, I would be in the closet, and there would be a bully who has correctly called out that I am gay." The two-minute vignette ends in triumph, as Rudy discovers a new life in New Orleans. The story is part of a series, "To Be Human," that features customers in all 50 states. Interestingly, Rudy doesn't talk much about coffee. The simple fact that he now feels free to express himself is all that's needed to get us to resonate with the brand. The message is: This is what it means to be at Starbucks. Transactional stories are about the how of the business. Transcendent stories are rooted much more powerfully in the why. To get there, you must understand the landscape of meaning in your customers' lives. This takes confidence, and a degree of selflessness. But huge rewards await those who are willing to get out there and put themselves in their customers' shoes. IS YOUR BUSINESS TELLING THE WRONG STORY? Mario Juarez Business Mindset RO Mario Juarez is an organizational consultant, coach, and motivational speaker. He focuses on helping organizations and individuals achieve better business results through strategic storytelling. An award-winning former journalist, Mario led a series of innovative communications initiatives at Microsoft before founding his company, StoryCo, which serves clients across a range of industries.

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