The power of the parable
Stories are one of the most underrated resources in business ... and one of the most powerful forms of story, is the parable. The Oxford Dictionary defines ‘parable' as: an allegory, a comparison, a proverb. Most people remember parables as the stories from the New Testament - but, in the context of this article, their use is entirely business-focused.
Essential truths
Parables contain ‘essential truths'. They put these ‘essential truths' in a frame of reference that the listener understands. ‘Business parables' allow you to take an ‘essential truth' from; another industry, another country, nature, sport, anything, and relate it to your organisation, product or service.
A very simple example - let's call it the ‘Golfer parable'. Of course, this would only be used when speaking to a keen golfer.
Say your business was ‘risk management' (often difficult to sell because of its intangibility). You might say:
"You see, it's a little like golf. My Dad is a wonderful player with a handicap of 2 at 70 years of age. He's never been a big hitter of the ball, his short game and putting, shot-for-shot are not better than mine - but I can almost never beat him.
I remember one day were playing this par 5 with a lake on one side and rows of bunkers down the others. As I was talking to him about the best way to play this particular hole, he gave me the secret to his whole game.
He said; "Son, I always go for the angle that takes me furthest from the hazards". I realised that's what he always did. While I was going for broke and ending up in sand, the bush or losing it in the water; Dad would cruise on through - he hardly ever lost a ball - and beat me every time. He got to the hole faster and with less effort.
That's what we will do for you. We will keep you furthest from the hazards that can hurt you - so you can reach your goals faster and with less effort."
The parable allowed the salesperson to make the intangible, tangible. Risk avoidance is a difficult image to conjure in your mind; but a golf fairway with water hazards and sand bunkers is very easy. The image became very real in the hypothetical golfer's mind - instantly sparking their interest by engaging a different part of the brain.
The juxtaposition of the dull topic (risk management) with something that was loved (golf), heightened the attention. This then allowed the salesperson to establish the ‘essential truth' (hazard avoidance) in the client's favourite topic, before transferring it to their product.
Even the parables attributed to Jesus in the New Testament illustrate ‘essential truths' that you can use to explain the benefits of your product or service ... and no, it's not sacrilege!
For example, the parable of the sower provides a strong image of the biblical farmer walking through his fields with a basket under one arm, hand-casting precious seed carelessly - some falling on pathways, some on stony ground, some among thorns, some was eaten by birds - only a small percentage falling on fertile ground and bearing fruit. Imagine how this vivid image could be used by a promotions or marketing company?
Business is full of modern parables - both good and bad: The 1987 Stock Market Crash, The Microsoft/IBM Deal, The Dot.Com Boom/Bust, Google, Enron. Each of these contains a lesson that could possibly be used to highlight a benefit your business offers.
Stories tell, gel and sell
Stories tell your customers things in a way that they are most likely to be heard and remembered. It has been proven that by connecting your business with a story you make it easier to remember and faster to recall. Clients - like everybody - love a story. A story creates vivid images in a client's mind. So many concepts can be difficult for clients to quickly grasp - especially abstract or qualitative ones.
For example, ‘state-of-the-art comfort' will be much more quickly understood if you create an image in your client's mind of sliding into bed in their favourite 5-Star Hotel.
By using stories, aspects such as quality, reliability, care, support and accessibility are transformed from abstract concepts into vivid images in a client's mind.
Stories help messages to gel. Support your ‘corporate catchphrase' with a story and people GET it. Stories are just as useful in communicating with staff as with your clients. Most mission/value statements on the walls in businesses are a waste - they don't mean anything to clients, and they certainly don't mean anything to staff.
Enlightened businesses are training staff to be able to tell a story or give an example of each of their stated corporate values - for both them and their customers. They find that by doing this, the values ‘gel' and the staff really understand them. Without this, they have little chance of enacting them.
There is no better way to sell your organisation and what it offers than with stories. Storytelling is one of the most effective sales skills, because simply by telling a story to illustrate our point, we simultaneously:
- Show our experience and expertise. This enhances our credibility in the eyes of the client.
- Make the point of our story more likely to be remembered by the client.
- Make our business and products more interesting.
Of course, parables are only one type of sales story. Others that you could use are:
The 'convert story' - Where a client didn't believe your product could work for them, but later was converted.
The 'bad story' - Where someone didn't think your product (or a similar one) was necessary and disaster befell them. (No names mentioned, of course.)
The 'behind the scenes story' - For example, how the product came to be developed in the first place.
If there is one skill that all business people should master - it's storytelling. Now, this is an area of expertise that is very rarely included - even in sales training, yet, to me, it's a must.
The key factors in a good business story are:
- It won't compromise any confidences
- It must be easy and relatively quick to tell
- Better still, it will be easy to re-tell - if it's interesting enough, others will want to re-tell it, turning them into ‘viral' marketers' for your product
Telling a story is a great way of informing the market of your experience, expertise and ethics without ‘big noting' ourselves. This is relevant to many professionals who still feel uncomfortable about overtly ‘selling' themselves or their business.
To do this, identify the key aspects of your organisation, product or service that you want the market to notice and remember. Then decide on a story that you and others can tell to illustrate each one of these; and ensure that your staff can tell these stories.
Read the article "The First Key To A Remarkable Workplace - Purpose"
Read the article "The Second Key To A Remarkable Workplace - Principles"
Read the article "The Third Key To A Remarkable Workplace - Passion"
Read the article "The Fourth Key To A Remarkable Workplace - Promise"