When my long-time best friend, Annie, and I get on the phone together, we can talk for hours. I mean hours. About anything and everything, all-inclusive. Our families describe our epic conversations as marathons.
My bestie and I do not leave out any details in our family sagas. And, our signature phrase, when we come up for air in between chapters of our storytelling swap, is: “But wait… there’s more!!” Then, we laugh hysterically, and continue onward into the next chapter.
Since we besties know each other very well, if one of us gets lost following all the details, we just ask each other to stop and clarify. Can you say the same about your clients?
Ignoring the importance of telling clarity-focused business stories is never a great business development storytelling strategy. In fact, you may sound desperate rather than confident.
Let’s face it. These days, everybody is out there trying to make up for 3 months of Covid-19 lock down. Consider that, in your enthusiasm, you just may overwhelm clients. Rather than cultivating them. Here are three tips to tell clarity-focused business stories, rather than confusing ones.
- First, consider that your clients are playing business development catchup as much as you are. And if you do not update yourself about root causes of client business overwhelm, your business story is not relevant to them. Unless, of course, all your clients are your besties who will listen to you for as long as you wish. Are all your clients your besties yet?
- Next, prioritize the single most important element of your story, from your clients’ perspectives. Which is not a one-size-fits-all approach, by the way. Extract the one idea you want them to walk away with, post-conversation. Oh, and this is an all-about-them idea. Not some all-about-you product or service you are pushing to make your quota. A clarifying idea you are remembered for. Rather than an epic and confusing conversation they quickly forget.
- Then, select one – and only one – additional story element which is relevant from your client’s perspective. In case the conversation builds out to include further discussion. And if not, do not worry. You now have the focus of your next conversation with an engaged, rather than overwhelmed, client. A client who appreciates the value of your clarity-focused conversation, rather than an all-inclusive pitch.
Unless all your clients are your besties, once clients get lost in confusing business story details, you lose them for good. Clients do not have time for “but wait, there’s more!” business stories. Because the only story you become remembered for that you are neither respectful of their time nor knowledgeable about their business priorities.
Why take that risk, at all?
Time to tell clarity-focused business stories to acquire and, most importantly, retain clients? Take these next steps forward.
- Planning your next team, corporate or association meeting? Engage me to present one of my One Millimeter Mindset ™ Storytelling speaking programs, workshops or mastermind groups.
- Time for business coaching to move one millimeter beyond what worked yesterday, and become more relevant and valuable to clients today and tomorrow? Contact me here to set up a complementary 15-minute discovery call.
My One Millimeter Mindset™ virtual and in-person keynotes, workshops, coaching and mastermind programs translate across strategic communication and collaboration disconnects between people and professional disciplines. Build trust. Retain employees and clients. Optimize strategic business and human capital value in your organizations. Get everyone to where they need to go. Together. One millimeter at a time. My playbook of communication tools and methods, Do YOU Mean Business? is available on Amazon.com.
Image source: Adobe Stock.
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