Reflection – Storytelling

Cachet Prescott

Challenge + Selection  I work with small business owners to help them get unstuck in their businesses. From business  and strategic planning to supercharging their creativity, I provide them space to think and create  (with the goal of effectively getting things done in their businesses). Storytelling is one of the  techniques that I’ve used on occasion during client strategy sessions to help them better connect  with their customers/clients.     In my experience, business owners are often too close to their own products and services and  sometimes can’t see the forest for the trees. When marketing their services, they might not (1)  have a firm understanding of who their ideal client is and/or (2) what the pain (or pleasure) point  is that would drive the customer to buy their product or service (which, in turn, can negatively  affect marketing and ultimately, sales).     For this assignment, my challenge is to help a business coach who’s struggling to get more  customers. Business has been slow with an inconsistent flow of clients, and she’d like to  understand how to connect with (and land) the “right” clients more consistently.    Storytelling is a great choice in this particular situation because it will force my client to ask:  What’s your client’s story, and what circumstances that would lead her/him to you and your  service? By using storytelling, the client will need to:

1. Know their audience (Who’s your target audience?);  2. Provide a good sequence of events (What pain, pleasure or passion would lead them to

needing your product or service?); and

3. Produce a compelling, inspiring message [Why would they buy from you (over everyone

else selling what you’re selling)?].

Application  In the “What Is” part of this dilemma, there was a definite lack of consistency in the client’s  marketing efforts. Part of the problem is that she wasn’t clear about her target audience. Her  lack of clarity about who she’s talking to (when marketing) ultimately left her feeling confused  and resulted in little to no effort being put into marketing.     In order to tell her client’s story, we needed to know exactly who her client was/is. We created a  user persona to determine that. As a business coach, she knew that her ideal client is a fellow  entrepreneur. This, however, is still too broad because there are many types of entrepreneurs  with different needs and concerns. After doing a deeper dive, I discovered that her ideal clients  are actually infopreneurs (entrepreneurs who sell their own knowledge, education and expertise)  which can include: bloggers, YouTubers, podcasters, coaches, consultants and more. Narrowing  down her audience to inforpreneurs was crucial because it helped her to better understand their

specific needs versus another type of entrepreneur (who might have different needs, concerns,  pain points, etc).  Fleshing out the user persona came next, discussing the demographics and psychographics  (lifestyle habits) of her story’s main character (i.e. the ideal client) and identifying and nailing  down the details of the character’s Big Wicked Problem (i.e. the pain, pleasure or passion that  the client has).     Finally, with this information in hand, we talked about the business coach’s messaging. Now that  she knew who her audience is and what they need from her, she needed to create compelling  and inspiring messaging in her marketing to successfully connect with them AND show how she  can help. She also had the information she needed to determine the most effective marketing  platforms to get in front of her audience (i.e. traditional marketing vs. content marketing vs.  direct marketing; which social media platforms; podcasting, etc.).    Insight + Approach  The business coach found this exercise to be extremely helpful because she didn’t realize how  the broad use of “entrepreneurs” was really hindering her efforts to connect with the right  clients. Being able to nail down “her people” to infopreneurs was enlightening and provided the  clarity she needed to better speak to their specific needs in her messaging.    Though I’d used this technique to some degree with past clients, I didn’t realize what we were  doing was storytelling and I really didn’t have a firm understanding of the power of storytelling  as a design thinking technique. This class was extremely helpful in sharpening my skills in this  area and has empowered me to be even more effective in working with my clients.    While I found a great deal of value using storytelling, I believe that journey mapping could be a  powerful tool in this scenario as well. By mapping the customer journey with my client of how  potential and existing customers experience her brand, I think she would have had some definite  “light bulb” moments about the ineffectiveness of her marketing (and customer retention)  efforts.


Reflection – Storytelling Cachet Prescott Challenge + Selection I work with small business owners to help them get unstuck in their businesses . From business and strategic planning to supercharging their creativity , I provide them space to think and create ( with the goal of effectively getting things done in their businesses ) . Storytelling is one of the techniques that I ’ve used on occasion during client strategy sessions to help them better connect with their customers / clients . In my experience , business owners are often too close to their own products and services and sometimes ca n’t see the forest for the trees . When marketing their services , they might not ( 1 ) have a firm understanding of who their ideal client is and/or ( 2 ) what the pain ( or pleasure ) point is that would drive the customer to buy their product or service ( which , in turn , can negatively affect marketing and ultimately , sales ) . For this assignment , my challenge is to help a business coach who ’s struggling to get more customers . Business has been slow with an inconsistent flow of clients , and she ’d like to understand how to connect with ( and land ) the “ right ” clients more consistently . Storytelling is a great choice in this particular situation because it will force my client to ask : What ’s your client ’s story , and what circumstances that would lead her / him to you and your service ? By using storytelling , the client will need to : 1 . Know their audience ( Who ’s your target audience ? ) ; 2 . Provide a good sequence of events ( What pain , pleasure or passion would lead them to needing your product or service ? ) ; and 3 . Produce a compelling , inspiring message [ Why would they buy from you ( over everyone else selling what you ’re selling ) ? ] . Application In the “ What Is ” part of this dilemma , there was a definite lack of consistency in the client ’s marketing efforts . Part of the problem is that she was n’t clear about her target audience . Her lack of clarity about who she ’s talking to ( when marketing ) ultimately left her feeling confused and resulted in little to no effort being put into marketing . In order to tell her client ’s story , we needed to know exactly who her client was / is . We created a user persona to determine that . As a business coach , she knew that her ideal client is a fellow entrepreneur . This , however , is still too broad because there are many types of entrepreneurs with different needs and concerns . After doing a deeper dive , I discovered that her ideal clients are actually infopreneurs ( entrepreneurs who sell their own knowledge , education and expertise ) which can include : bloggers , YouTubers , podcasters , coaches , consultants and more . Narrowing down her audience to inforpreneurs was crucial because it helped her to better understand their specific needs versus another type of entrepreneur ( who might have different needs , concerns , pain points , etc ) . Fleshing out the user persona came next , discussing the demographics and psychographics ( lifestyle habits ) of her story ’s main character ( i.e. the ideal client ) and identifying and nailing down the details of the character ’s Big Wicked Problem ( i.e. the pain , pleasure or passion that the client has ) . Finally , with this information in hand , we talked about the business coach ’s messaging . Now that she knew who her audience is and what they need from her , she needed to create compelling and inspiring messaging in her marketing to successfully connect with them AND show how she can help . She also had the information she needed to determine the most effective marketing platforms to get in front of her audience ( i.e. traditional marketing vs. content marketing vs. direct marketing ; which social media platforms ; podcasting , etc . ) . Insight + Approach The business coach found this exercise to be extremely helpful because she did n’t realize how the broad use of “ entrepreneurs ” was really hindering her efforts to connect with the right clients . Being able to nail down “ her people ” to infopreneurs was enlightening and provided the clarity she needed to better speak to their specific needs in her messaging . Though I ’d used this technique to some degree with past clients , I did n’t realize what we were doing was storytelling and I really did n’t have a firm understanding of the power of storytelling as a design thinking technique . This class was extremely helpful in sharpening my skills in this area and has empowered me to be even more effective in working with my clients . While I found a great deal of value using storytelling , I believe that journey mapping could be a powerful tool in this scenario as well . By mapping the customer journey with my client of how potential and existing customers experience her brand , I think she would have had some definite “ light bulb ” moments about the ineffectiveness of her marketing ( and customer retention ) efforts .