Top 3 Reasons Why You Need to Use Storytelling in Your Business

Let's face it. Regardless of what industry you are in, without question, there is a substantial amount of competition out there. Not only is there competition, but many of them are targeting your potential customers.
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Let's face it. Regardless of what industry you are in, without question, there is a substantial amount of competition out there. Not only is there competition, but many of them are targeting your potential customers. So it's probably safe to say that you need a competitive advantage or a tool that can separate you from your competition. No, we're not referring to a new social media marketing strategy or CRM (customer relationship management) software package.

We're talking good ole' fashion--storytelling.

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Storytelling is a great tool to give you a competitive advantage in the marketplace.

Andy Henriquez, strategic storytelling expert, sought-after speaker, trainer and author of newly released Show Up For Your Life - 7 Principles To Living An Extraordinary Life, shares three (3) reasons why you need to use storytelling in your business.

Stories Grab Attention. In a world where the average attention span of a human being is being compared to a gold fish, you need to do whatever you can to momentarily distract your potential clients and customers and get them to listen to your message. There are few things that grab our attention more than a compelling story.

I do quite a bit of traveling as a professional speaker and no matter how much of rush passengers are in to make it to their gates to board their flights on time. If a news story breaks, people will stop dead in their tracks and huddle around the television screen to hear the story. If you want to get your potential clients and customers to pay attention to what you have to offer them, find a way to place your message in a story. You'll have a much better chance of seizing their attention.

Stories Provoke Emotion. We make over 30,000 decisions a day and many of those decisions are buying decisions. Whether we are aware of it or not, the majority of our buying decisions are based off of emotion. I'm sure that you would like to think that you spent an extra $200 to buy the name brand version because it's of far more superior quality. However, I hate to tell you that it was probably made in the same factory in China as the generic brand.

So why did you really buy it? You probably attached some type of emotional feeling to the superior brand, perhaps it makes you feel more confident or more important to have the name brand version. Since we know that our customers buying decisions are influenced by emotion, why not be intentional about triggering their emotions. Nothing pulls at the heart strings better than a great story. If you want people to buy from you, use more stories to connect and evoke emotion to transact business.

Stories Overcome Objections. If you've decided to go into business, you had better get use to hearing objections. There is always going to be a reason why a potential customer decides to take a pass on your products or services. Some of whom, there is basically nothing you can do to win them over, however, don't give up so easily. You can turn some of those objections into a "yes" and a paying customer, if you learn how to share stories that get them to see beyond their objections. Next time someone says no to your products or services, don't get upset and shut down. Listen to what's really keeping them from moving forward and see if you can share a story that helps them to overcome their objection and become a customer.

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