Remember the “Goldilocks and the 3 bears”?
Of course you do. In fact, you probably visualized a little girl with blonde ringlets sampling porridge.
Regardless of the images you conjured of of this classic childhood tale, you most likely remembered it in images.
This is the same thing smart marketers know, which is why they’ll take full advantage of all that story telling has to offer when creating their small business marketing strategy. When you tell a story, people see the images in their head…and that very picture can make a very lasting impression.
Your prospect is probably thinking something like, ‘Does this product really do what they’re claiming?” On their quest to make an informed choice before they buy, they might recall a story someone told them about your business or read a story that shows how you and your savvy company solved a similar problem for a different client. Their confidence in your ability to help them grows.
Try this Basic 4 Step Outline To Create Success Stories
1. Think of a client you helped and vividly describe the situation they were in when they came to your business for help.
2. Then, describe the type of problem they were having that made them want to seek out your services
3. Describe the solution you offered
4. Describe the results
I recently used this marketing strategy for a current client in my own consulting business:
1. Situation: 53 year old male physical therapist who’s been in business for 25 years
2. Problem: He was putting tons of money – tens of thousands of dollars – towards advertising – but somehow his business wasn’t expanding.
3. Solution: After asking him how he usually got new clients and he said it was from referrals from past clients. I then asked if he did anything at all to acknowledge and express gratitude to the people who referred him. And he said, “Nothing much”. So, I suggested he send a thank you and a small thoughtful gift to every person who referred him.
4. Results: He called back four months later to let me know he turned his patients into referral machines.”
Hopefully it’s time for you to have lots of success stories just like this one. Now it’s time to add this to your small business marketing strategy and share them with your prospects and clients. Doing this can change the way you do business.
