Stories and business doesn't seem to be compatible at first sight. In business you need experience, courage and rigorous rigor. The stories we always associate with the comforts of family, childhood, relaxation. How does this niche business, what storytelling actually means in business and how does a story help a classic business?

 

In our country, bowling is not a very popular sport, but we all know something about bowling balls, that they are very heavy and for this reason, in order not to be a burden for us, we have to throw them quite quickly. 

When a business owner or representative talks about their business, the products and services they offer, in a communication campaign or networking meeting, they run the risk of burdening the audience with unnecessary details about: the entrepreneurial story, technical specifications, product benefits, financial results. 

Except that every detail means another bowling ball is thrown into the audience's hands. The result, as a rule, is that the audience, because of the effort to perceive and understand the details, loses attention and interest. So they don't buy. And not because they didn't need the offer, but because they didn't fully understand it. 

I try in my business stories not to put heavy bowling balls and lots of them into the hands of the audience, but to create elements that are engaging. These business stories borrow a few elements from what is said by word of mouth, but only those details that are enough to make meaning. Recent studies have confirmed that we retain a story more easily than information listed in a PowerPoint presentation. 

And when your audience quickly and inexpensively understands what a deal can offer, they will buy.

In other words, he gets one bowling ball he knows what to do with. And that applies to both potential customers and employees.

What a business needs of a story? Financial results are not enough and development prospects? Do business people believe in stories?

Business people are just like all humans, including in terms of brain structure, which is genetically built to simply and easily understand stories. But it is very true that it doesn't understand every story. So stories that make sense to the brain work. The storytelling method I am certified in, StoryBrand, has been tested all over the world and, time and time again, those who have used it have gotten better results compared to communicating without a story structure. That's not to say that there are no sales without a well-told story, just that those types of sales involve more time, energy and money.