5 Uses for Storytelling in the Business World

There are many situations you’re going to run into in business or in professional settings in which storytelling is going to be an effective tool for helping you achieve your goals and move up the ladder professionally.

A common situation for any manufacturer is trying to sell a product to others. You might struggle at first with trying to convince someone logically only as to why they should buy your product, especially if they didn’t seek you out.

By providing a real world story and showing them how your product helped someone or their business, your potential customer might be more willing to buy. They want to see specific examples of how the product helped others, rather than being told they’ll like it.

There’s also the matter of trying to build loyalty or trust in your brand when talking to prospective customers or clients. The person you’re talking to could have been burned by a bad deal in the past from a similar company, so it’s your job to help them trust you.

If you can give them stories of satisfied customers or other clients who are happy with your work, they’ll be more likely to trust your company since you have genuine examples of people that were completely satisfied with your business.

In this same line of work, you might encounter scenarios where the client already trusts your business, but they’re trying to decide between buying from you or other companies that they also trust.

In a case like this, storytelling can make you be more memorable to the client. Beyond just giving the information that they need to know, storytelling can help make you stand out in their mind compared to other companies.

You may be put in a situation while working in a professional setting in which you are required to give a speech or introduce someone at a formal event. Public speaking is intimidating to many, and it can be worse if you don’t know what to talk about.

By telling nice and fun stories about the company or about the person you’re introducing, you can easily lead into normal speech points while entertaining the crowd at the same time.

If you’re a bit higher up in the company or have been working there for awhile, you might be able to notice when younger, newer recruits are struggling with their work or encountering stressful situations.

In this situation, you can help by telling them stories of hardships you encountered when you first signed up to that job, and what you did to solve your problems. This can help guide them towards their own solutions without you telling them exactly what to do.

By Bev Hepting

Keywords: Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Startups