We instinctively know that collaborative storytelling is profitable. Except, we don’t have time to discover valuable client stories. Or, tell these stories, compellingly, while acquiring or retaining customers.
Consider the impact of our not having time to capture these stories on productivity, profitability and customer retention? Collaborative storytelling becomes profitable storytelling.
Discover how my programs kick start a storytelling culture for your organization or association. Click on this link to find out more.
Hitting our numbers tells only half the story of what we can do when serving our clients. Collaborative Storytelling fills the void.
As leaders, our organizations become far too busy trying to hit those elusive numbers and serve stockholders. Consequently, in our internal self-focus, we dismiss storytelling as unimportant. Sprinkles on the cupcake. Something we will deal with later, if we ever get around to it.
As managers, we are not compensated to be collaborative, let alone storytellers. After all, we are too busy making sure everyone is compliant. And besides, our compensation and bonuses often are based on, you guessed it, our employees hitting their numbers.
Often, as sellers, doers, designers, servers and coders, we become so obsessively focused on client acquisition, implementation and retention that we fail to “hear” our client stories. Even when our clients actually tell us their stories during acquisition, implementation and retention.
Over time, we miss out on capturing valuable client stories. We completely overlook half of the real reason why customers initially and repeatedly do business with us. And our habit of ignoring or dismissing the real story behind the client story keeps our performance only half as profitable as it could be.
Collaborative Storytelling explodes in organizations and associations that value collaboration as a productive and profitable human capital strategy.
Otherwise, those cultures are full of very talented people, who are extremely busy working full time. Yet producing at half the capacity of what they are capable of creating. Consequently, those associations and organizations – and their employees – continuously under-define their value: to each other and to the clients they serve.
When our organizations continuously have a roller-coaster ride meeting quarterly numbers and/or retaining customers, their revenue glass remains half full, at best. Numbers do not sustain organizations and associations as much as clients do. After all, clients are the people behind those elusive numbers.
To showcase the real value we bring when serving customers, focus on the customer experience value of collaborative storytelling. After all, we do business with other people. And I have never found a person, a client, who could not relate to client stories: emotionally and intellectually.
Often, these customer stories catalyze other clients to initially do business with us. And, as their stories become part of our stories, to profitably continue to do business with us.
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Babette Ten Haken catalyzes organizations and associations, like yours, who want to leverage a more profitable workforce to retain the customers you work so hard to win. Her One Millimeter Mindset™ speaking and consulting programs leverage collaboration to catalyze professional innovation, workforce engagement and customer retention. She is a member of SME, ASQ, SHRM and the National Speakers Association. Babette’s Playbook of collaboration hacks, Do YOU Mean Business? is available on Amazon.com. Her professional speaker profile appears on the espeakers platform.
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