How to Market Your Business: The Importance of Brand Story

Oh, oh, oh, hi! Welcome! So, it's nice to see you here. So, what do you guys do? If you're like most people, you get that question and you start fishing for things to say. You start stumbling over your words. You start talking about all the things you do and how you do it. You ramble on about how you will save the world. And then, you notice that the other person's eyes glaze over. And you've completely lost them. Not having a compelling response to a question hurts you more than you know. And that's what we're going to be talking about today on Marc Haine Live. Welcome to this episode of Marc Haine Live. This is where small business owners and entrepreneurs pick up core skill sets to help them work on their business, not just in in their business. I am your host, Service Expert and Master of Experiences Marc Haine. And today, I am so glad that you are along for the ride. My guest today is veteran business-to-business branding consultant Roger Grant. And we will be talking about how most companies really suffer from the missed opportunity to effectively tell their story and truly reflect who they are. So, stick with us because we will be reviewing Roger's 6-part story structure that will make people sit up and take notice of you and your brand. And we will get to that in just a moment. In the meantime, feel free to be part of this conversation. You can subscribe to this program. I'd love to make sure you are notified whenever I bring you some fresh content. And again, feel free to be part of the conversation. Go ahead and put a comment. And while you're at it, why don't you go ahead and leave a review of what you think about this episode. And even more importantly, share this podcast if you know someone who could benefit from it. The best service you could do when you have information is to share it. I have a confession to make. When somebody would ask me what I would do or what I do, I get so excited that somebody might be interested in me that I automatically go into sales mode. I start spewing facts and figures. And I would jump up and down and get hugely energetic by the fact that somebody was— excuse me— somebody was interested in me. The problem was that my desperation was clear. And so, knowing that, I knew that there was a better way. So, this brings us to our Question of the Day. So, I'd like this to be really super open. If I asked you what your business does, what would be your response? Why don't you put that response in the comment box? I think this would be a lot of fun because as we go through this episode today, we're going to learn about a better way. As I mentioned, my guest today is Business Branding Consultant Roger Grant. And he's the founder of Identicorp Marketing. Roger works and transforms solid and often lackluster companies into industry-leading brands. He is the creator of the Head Smart Heart Smart Marketing, an online training series that helps you create brain-friendly and emotionally intelligent marketing. And he's even going to share a link with us a little bit later. Welcome, Roger! Hi, it's so nice to have you on the show. Thanks for making time.

Hey Marc, I'm excited to be here. Thanks for the opportunity to spend some time with you.

Yeah, so before we get into today's topic, could you just dig a little bit deeper into what you actually do for your clients?

Well, the short answer to that is I'm in the mind infiltration business. Is it working?

I don't know. It's got me freaked out though.

Here's what my career has been about. So, I've been a storyteller. I've been a communicator since I began my career as a journalist all those years ago. And so what I've learned over the years is that you've got information, you've got content that you want to be able to get into people's minds, but the way that it's oftentimes presented is it doesn't gain entry. And so I have learned how to get ideas into minds so they go in quickly, And then, in a commercial context so that people can understand the value that my clients are giving to the marketplace. And so, they'll volunteer quickly to come into the sales conversation. And that's getting messages into minds.

So, before we actually jump into kind of how you manage to do this, when you look at how companies are presently doing it, the ones that as I mentioned in the introduction, the ones who kind of struggle, lackluster, they truly don't know how to reflect what they do. Why do we have such a a challenge with describing what we do?

Well, one of the biggest reasons is that in order to get a product, get a company, all those details put together so that you can provide great customer service, you can develop great products, is you have to get so deep into so many thought patterns is that when it comes time to tell the story to people who don't have that background, All of those details are completely in your mind instead of the simple, straightforward story of, here is how we can help you, here's how we can make your business better, here's how we can make your life better. Sociologists have a big term for this. They call it the curse of knowledge. And that is, is that you get to know stuff so deeply and you've gone so long into your code or into your science or into your engineering or into your processes that you open your mouth and of course all of that comes out instead of the simple story that people need to hear. And one of the places that I take inspiration from is a quote from Einstein. And he said, genius is about genius. So genius is not about taking— is not about making a complex topic more complex. It's about making a complex topic simple. And that's what we long for. But anytime the companies that I have the opportunity of working with, companies that you work with, is that they're so deep into the details to make it work properly that when they open their mouths, that simple message doesn't come out.

Right.

It's a big challenge.

I am the victim. I absolutely can tell you I am the victim. And the consequences to that is that people do glaze over and people do shut down now, especially I think in this day and age.

And one of the things that's tragic about that is that you could be talking to a company, to a customer that you can provide great value And they really need your service. But until that bridge of communication is established and the get-it moment happens, then you're not in the conversation and that value doesn't get discovered. So a goal that I think that every company wants to have is that they want their customers to value their value and have that happen quickly.

Yeah, I know as a business consultant, when I talk to people, owner-operators tend to get very frustrated because depending on the kind of business that they have, they get frustrated because they say, I have a great product. I do really good. I am better than my competitors. I don't understand why my customers don't get it. What's missing?

And what's missing is that bridge, that easy-to-understand bridge of, oh, this is what you can do for me. That's what's missing, and that's what, that's what I work on creating, and that's what the story structure is really well suited to.

Right. So just out of curiosity, I mean, you were a reporter, you You've been doing this for a while. How did you come onto this idea that companies need to be telling stories?

Boy, where it started was very early in the consulting work that I was doing. I was working with a lot of companies that were way ahead of their normal curve in terms of the technology they were developing, and they needed a way to be able to explain it. So the starting point that the companies oftentimes had was they were thinking about themselves, and they were thinking, ah, we've developed all of this, but they weren't connecting with the value that it had for the customers. And so they would get— they'd go through that frustration of, we know this can work well, you know, but it's just not. And so it took me back to my, you know, earlier reporter days, my days as a journalist, And what is the best way to get people to take in new information? Well, the best way to take in new information is to start from the perspective of the person who is in the learning spot. And if you can start from where their world is and then start to relate to the needs that they have, then they'll start going on that journey of discovery. But if you don't have that clear start to begin with, then that magic, that discovery just doesn't happen. But when it does happen, then it's great for the customer and it's great for the company.

So, we now understand that this is a challenge for most of us. Somehow, we are not born storytellers even though history dictates that we are storytellers. As a species, we're great storytellers. I'd like to get into some specific components on how We should maybe be telling our story or our company story. And we'll get to that right after this.

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Welcome back! I am speaking with veteran business-to-business branding consultant Roger Grant. And I've known Roger for about 3 years now. And I was always blown away by how knowledgeable he was on being able to take something and be able to pull the story out of it. And I know for instance, my background of course being a consultant. But I took up acting back in 2017, 2016. And I realized that every good story has a hero. Is it fair to say that this is one area where companies are falling down in isolating who the hero of their story is?

This is one of the biggest problems, but it's also one of the most understandable problems that we have out there. So, you know, let's just think about it. We have a company and we want to tell our story. We want to attract people to us. And as you mentioned before, boy, it's nice to be in the spotlight. And so the natural thing is I'm going to tell my story as a CEO. I'm going to tell my story. I'm going to proclaim just how great we are. That's the normal starting place. But, you know, it's only you and your mom who's really interested in that story. You know, that's not the story that your customer is interested in. And so although it might have, you know, great words and great phrasing and, you know, really good content and it's all true, it doesn't help you as much as you need to because You're the hero. So, one of the big lessons in developing a great brand story for a company, you know, and it's tough medicine at first. But then, it makes a lot of sense. The tough medicine is I don't get to be the hero. There's another role for me in this cast of characters that's going to be more effective and get the results that I really want. But it means that I can't be the hero. So, we need to have a different character, a different person in that hero role.

And so, when we're talking— sorry, sorry, Grant. We had that awkward pause. This is the same kind of pause that you get when you're walking down a hallway and then you're coming face to face and then you do the shuffle and you're both doing it. We just did it, the audio version of that. But when we— so, So, this idea of the hero now, you're saying what basically I'm understanding is that we need to reframe how we're going to tell the story based on a different hero.

Absolutely. So, if we think about the kind of characters we usually have in a story, whether that's in a movie or whether it's in a novel, is there is a hero. And oftentimes, there's a victim, a damsel in distress or a Donald in distress. And then, there's a villain.

Mm-hmm.

If we take the hero role as the company, then that kind of leaves the customer. Does the customer want to be the villain? Does the customer want to be the victim? I don't think so. Instead, if we make the customer the hero, make the story about the customer, then what we'll do is we'll introduce a different kind of role for us to play, and that's the role of guide. So, if we think about Star Wars, So Luke Skywalker is the hero, but then we have Yoda as the guide.

Right.

And what our customers want is they want to see themselves as the Luke Skywalker, but they still need help. And so then they will turn to us as the Yoda in terms of being able to be guided through. And this story structure Is one that has actually been around not just from when Star Wars came up, but it's been around for not decades, centuries, but millennia.

Sure, Cinderella had the fairy godmother.

Absolutely. Yeah, you know, we see it in in the sound of music. We see it in one of the longest running musical theater pieces ever, Les Misérables. That's what it's based on. Or every Christmas, we'll turn on Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol and see Scrooge as the hero move through, and then all the ghosts that act as his guides. And it's been a story structure that's been proven again and again and again. And, you know, we pay money, we invest with our time, we invest with our emotions to see see it and enjoy it because it follows that story structure that's ingrained into our species.

Right.

And it's one of my favorite kinds of discoveries for business because it's one of those things that's hiding right there in the open. But when you see it, then you can start taking advantage of it.

Yeah. So, it's really interesting because when I do work with businesses, they are always kind of, well, no, they come to me and I solve their problem. In fact, a lot of the Start with Why components that people have been falling into when it comes like to Simon Sinek, it's talking about their why. We are here to make sure my customers are happy. I'm here to make sure I have a diversity of product to make sure my customers can get what they need. And so, what you're saying in essence is that we have to change how we view our role in the customer-supplier relationship.

Absolutely, and when a company leader gets that perspective, when all the team members get that perspective, and then they start telling the story from that perspective, then some great magic happens in that company-to-customer experience, and the relationships that get formed, the speed at which they form, the depth that they get to, just gets beautifully increased.

Now, this is not just limited to a particular medium type. We're not talking necessarily this is how we represent ourselves in commercials or face-to-face. What mediums will this storytelling definition of who we are come into play?

It really comes in everywhere. And it becomes a pattern of thought. And so, if someone is coming to your website for the first time and they're on the homepage or the About Us page, They can see the story, the story that's based on the structure there, and then they can understand what it's about. They can lean in, they say, I see myself in that, I start seeing things. It can also be that conversation that happens when we are in live events at cocktail parties. And so tell me, what do you do? What are you guys all about? And then in every email blast that you put together, Every bit of advertising, every video that you put in, this is a structure that fits. And where it also has really shown its power with a number of my clients is that once the structure is into the mind, then a conversation develops with someone that you're meeting. It might be a prospect for doing business with, be able to help, and then the structure just takes over, and then you just plug in the information, and then before the end of the conversation, I've got to get your card. When can we meet? It changes things dramatically.

I get a sense one of my primary values is to be of service. And I get a sense that when you get into the story structure, this is more about being of service to the other person, being of value to the other person rather than kind of raising your flag and Like you said before, becoming the hero. It changes that whole perception. Yeah, yeah. This is really great. People watching this right now, if they need to get in contact with you, maybe you could just let them quickly know how they can get in contact with you if this is resonating with them, that they want to be able to look you up and see what you're all about.

Sure. Well, the easiest way is to go to the company website. So, the company name is Identicor. which is all obviously about identity. So, identicor.com, and that's the best starting place for us. And there's links to reach out with either by phone or with web forms with any specific questions that they've had and would love to be able to be of assistance.

I love it. I am so looking to delving into Your Story's 6-Part Story Structure. This is something I think that is— this is why people came to this podcast. This is what they want to uncover. Why don't we start off by talking a little bit about why do we need a story structure and what will it do for the people using them?

Okay. Well, let's start off with Marc. Let's go a little bit into your world and think about theater. Okay, so it's opening night and the buzz is around the community and they know how hard all the actors have been working and they're all excited. And then so the lights go down and there's that hush at the start and everyone's anticipating and they're leaning in and waiting. Then Marc and his cast take the stage and instead of launching into the story and the great expression that they were hoping for, they actually just start Giving a textbook presentation of what the content of the play is. And, you know, how long before people start leaving or checking their phones or, oh, how long is this going to take? Okay, so that's the problem part, is that oftentimes when we're in that position, sometimes as polite people, we get a question, we just want to answer the question. So what do you do? And we come back with a textbook description. We're an accounting firm. I'm an engineer. I have this kind of a business. Now, you know, that answers the question, so it informs, but it doesn't engage. And so if we go back to the theater, I don't want to be informed. I want to be entertained. I want to be engaged. I want to emote. I want to feel twists and turns and highs and lows and discoveries. That's what I want. And so if we decide in our businesses to become storytellers, we need to have a structure that has those ups and downs and twists and turns. And okay, I'm feeling this tension now and I want that to be relieved. Oh, now it comes. And so with the, you know, the love that we have of story, Is that that just suits us so beautifully and so well. And so this is something that we can take advantage of in any business. An example might be worthwhile.

Sure.

So we go to networking events and we stand up and we get 30 seconds. And so there was one fellow who would stand up and this is what he'd say. He says, hi, my name is Haine. My wife and I, we've owned Calgary Blinds and Shutters for about the last 10 years. We've got a mobile blind and shutter service, and we've got lots of great Google reviews. Good, good. Okay, that's a bit of information. I presented the story structure in about a 15-minute teaching segment, and then afterwards Heinz got up and he said this. He said, hi, my name's Heinz. I help people like Jennifer. You know, Jennifer called me last night and she was frustrated. She said her dream home doesn't feel at all like a dream home. She says she's tired of living in a fishbowl. She's tired of having to shower in the dark. We went to IKEA over the weekend and we bought some blinds. They fell down last night. Can you help me? Absolutely. We have a mobile blind and shutter service. We will bring the samples right into your home. We'll see what the colors look like next to your walls, next to your couch. We'll do all the measurements, we'll do the installation, and you'll have your blinds in about a week and a half. That was a story. And all that was required there was Haine taking the information, the life that he was living with his customers and deserving great Google reviews for all those years, putting that into a structure quickly and making it about the customer. Turning himself into the guide. And then, the momentum that happens just transforms things dramatically.

Wow! And it's so funny because we are so ingrained to get an elevator pitch done. And the irony to having an elevator pitch, I have never ever sent it out to somebody in an elevator. I've never delivered it to somebody ever.

Ever.

So, I don't know what this elevator pitch is. But so, I'm getting really curious now about this 6-part story structure. Why don't we delve a little bit into it?

Absolutely, absolutely. Let's just take a look at it and kind of dive into it here.

Okay.

And so, as you can see, there's 6 Points to it. And let's take a look at the structure. And where it needs to begin is it needs to begin with the hero. So, you know, we go to, we go to the movies or we turn something on Netflix, and very early in the story we meet the hero. And before much time goes by at all, we find out that the hero wants something. So if we think about our customers, let's think about what they want. They want to be able to move up. They want to be able to improve some aspect of their lives. But, you know, as we think about how a story works, is that it's never an automatic, you know, yellow brick road up to that, you know, perfect future. There's obstacles that come in the way, there are challenges that come around, and then there's usually a villain that is stymieing everything. And so if we just think about what happens here from an emotional point of view, if the customer starts off as the hero, people immediately gravitate, and people that are in your customer group will gravitate to that and they'll identify, so you'll have their attention right away. And then one of the things that's, you know, so vital in the stories that we read for entertainment is there's emotional engagement. So we identify with the hero, and then we know that the hero wants something, and we're projecting ourselves into that. We want the hero to get that, have that success. But then we feel all of those obstacles and challenges and opposition that we get from the villain. And so just as the graphic suggests of going up when you want something and then coming down, the storyline takes that pull as well. And so as we are introduced to the obstacles and challenges and the villain, you know, it just seems that the hero is getting farther and farther away from getting what he or she is really looking for.

Right.

And so that's some of the tension That is happening. And so, what's the start of a great story?

Yeah, so what you've just described is basically a business model definition of why people are in business. You have a customer. I'm just going to switch you back. You have a customer who you built your business to serve. You realized you've done some deep dives and you've realized that they want something. They need something and you're there to provide it. But at the same token, whatever they want, they are coming against a brick wall. And somebody once told me that nobody goes to a hardware store to get a drill because they want to make a hole, right? Somebody who goes to a hardware store to buy a drill, they're trying to do something. They're trying to accomplish something. And making a hole is just one step of that. And so, as you've been defining, our customer wants to accomplish something. They want to do something. But because of limitations, whether it's a product or a service, they can't go any further. And so, as the first 3, this is kind of making a ton of sense on all the businesses that are out there that each one of us are servicing some sort of need. So, I'd like to get into the last 3 of your stories, your last 3 of your 6-part story structure. And we'll do that right after this.

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So, Grant, this is brilliant. We've uncovered the first 3 of the steps. Before we get into the last 3, how important is it for companies to have a clear definition on how to tell this story in order to get themselves found? Because that is really a lot of times one of the biggest challenges is I've created it. I've built the website. It is not a question of if you build it, they will come. How important is the storytelling aspect in helping companies get found?

It comes through in a few ways. One of the most effective ways for story to work is that it really seeds the word-of-mouth network and being able to spread through customer endorsements. And that is the key way that story can help. Now, in terms of getting found, there's other marketing disciplines which are also really important in terms of search engine optimization and keywords. And having some of those words and the problem that you solve identified in the story is one of the things that can help you get found.

Right. And I think you also hit the nail on the head when you talked about the testimonial aspect. Because what we're talking about is for businesses to create their story. But our customers have already created story for us in many different aspects. Because when the customers are going out, they're the ones talking about what their problem was and how you were able to help them. So, they're already there saying it. It's finding ways to be able to leverage those testimonials though, right?

Absolutely. And in the best Yeah. And one of the really good things to do is to ask the kind of questions that would lead into the type of comments that the story structure naturally supports. And so, what was it that you were after when you first contacted us? What was it that you were looking for? What kind of problems had you been running into? What kind of frustrations had you been having? had you been feeling? And one of the things that we learn in stories and gets portrayed to us, you know, in movies, that there's really, you know, kind of 3 kinds of problems that are in place. So the first problem is like a top-level external problem. And so if we think about what it's like, you know, we're into tax season. So let's just think about taxes. Well, my top problem is I need to get my taxes done. Okay, so that's kind of an external thing. But what really drives people to make purchasing decisions isn't so much of that external problem, but it's more actually the internal problem of how it makes them feel. Oh boy, there's all this pressure that I'm feeling right now because I've got to get the government happy with what the taxes are? I've got these forms to fill in. I'm under such pressure. Boy, it's just confusing. I'm not an accountant. I don't have that background. And so it's the internal kind of pressures that people are feeling that lead them to make the purchasing decision. And then the third level of problem is, instead of being inside, it's actually the really big picture. And, you know, we see this, we feel this in movies and great stories all the time, is if the challenges that one person is feeling represents a much bigger and broader group, then the level of interest, the level of attention, and the relevance of the story just explodes to get much, much bigger. So If it could be a, you know, a bit of information, a philosophy that the accounting service had is it could be that, you know, we're in business. One of the things that's so important to us is to make sure that people without this accounting background don't have to suffer through government regulations. You know, so there is something that, yes, no one should suffer from government regulations. You know, that's a big That's a big philosophical kind of a thing.

And just in that one sentence, you've denoted the obstacle and the villain. This is really great. And I see just in what you've just said, I see the first 3 steps right there. So, you're gonna have to finish it off. You're gonna have to take us through the whole journey, my friend. We have the first 3 steps.

Obviously, after step number 3 comes step number 4. And so let's move into step number 4. So we've got, you know, our hero who wants something and runs into all these obstacles. And just when those obstacles are the biggest, you know, the most fierce, the worst that we've seen, that is the moment where we're introduced to the guide. And the guide comes in. And some, some important characteristics about the guide: the guide has credibility and the guide has empathy. So the guide understands the hero. Sometimes the guide has been through the experiences, the challenges that the hero is going through right now, and they understand how the hero feels. They understand what steps the hero needs to take. They understand how the hero needs to grow, and there's a lot of compassion. And then this is also a place in the story, as we introduce the guide, where the guide needs to be able to demonstrate been there, done that. And so, Marc, your earlier comment just now about testimonials. Is that testimonials in building up the credibility of the guide are really helpful from a— just from a communication point of view. These are the steps that the guide is going to be able to— the guide is going to be able to work through. So the guide is the next piece in the story.

Then—

but the guide can't just be kind of static. The guide has to have a plan. And so this is the next piece in the story, is that there is a path that follows where the guide has a plan. And the key thing about the path is that it isn't the whole story. It's not all the depth. It's usually what I recommend is that it's, you know, maybe it's a 3-step plan. Maybe it's a 5-step plan, 6 at the very, very most of where you lead people to. So, we kind of were talking a little bit about the accounting world just a moment ago. So, on the fly, let me just make something up here. Is that, so for that company that is looking for someone to help them with their income tax, Well, here are the steps we lead you through. First, we sit down and see what your challenges are and where you've been. We make sure we have all the documentation. We find out the details of what's most important to you from your business, whether you want to keep money in the corporation or if you have other ways of lowering your taxes. Outline what the options are, and then we do all of the paperwork and file that for you with your approval. Now, I'm making this up on the fly, but those points make up for a good plan. And so what that is doing— we talked a little bit before about the kind of emotional flow that the story goes through. We first introduced to the hero, we get attention, we want something, so there's that upward element of hope. Then there's a discussion of the obstacles and like, oh yeah, that's— it's realistic. Oh, but there's some tension that builds there. And then the guide comes in of being able to be reassuring. And so there's a new emotion that gets developed there. There's an element of trustworthiness that can get created. And then there's renewed hope that comes of Boy, all of this confusion that I've been feeling around my taxes, around whatever part of life, part of my business that's a problem— wait a minute, there is a path, and it doesn't have to be detailed, and I've got a guide who's going to see it through. And then the final step that leads to is the step of a transformed future, a transformed future. And the kind of stories that we like the best, the kind of stories that we, you know, want to have working for us is not just the external problem is solved, but that the hero has become someone new over the course of the movie, over the course of the book. And so it's moving into that transformed future. And, you know, Marc, I think that, you know, a lot of the stories that you're involved in, in the theater sense, a lot of the stories that you've been exposed to leads to that bright new future that that you'd been hoping for at the start and then changes.

Yes.

And so let's, let's just think about this from, from a moment from one of the stories that I mentioned a little bit earlier, and that was Scrooge. And we started off with Scrooge, um, from A Christmas Carol, the hero, and he wanted something. He wanted to have all the money And he wanted to be secure. And then all those obstacles came in of, you know, you're not the kind of person that people want to be around. You've made some big mistakes. Joseph Marley, your former business partner who you're patterning your life at, if he could do it all again, he would want to do it differently. And then there's a series of guides that come in with the ghost of Christmas past, and then the guides are leading him on a path. And then by the end of the story, Scrooge is not the person he was at the start of the story at all. You know, he's giving away money and he's giddy and just delighted in this newfound bit of compassion and generosity that has become part of his life. And that transformed future is what we want to be able to lead our customers to. That's what we want to lead our customers to, that instead of being a company weighed down by government regulation and taxes, you know, we've got this in control, and it doesn't consume all my time and attention anymore. It allows me actually to focus on my business so I can make more money that my accountant You know, it's so— The transformed future is big. And we learn so much about that from the movies that we watch.

Sure. But even looking at it from a strategic planning, like a business strategic planning point of view, everything that is in that story is in your strategic plan. Everything is defining What is it that you want to do? Some people, I think incidental entrepreneurs start with a kind of destination. I talked to one lady in Calgary and she started a gardening business because she loved creating and transforming gardens into these beautiful things. And so, she started with that. And she actually had to go backwards to find people who wanted that. And so, So, like those 6 steps, if you apply them to your strategic planning, you say, okay, well, what do I want to do? Who's the hero? So, aka, who's my customer? How do I guide my customer to be able to get the outcome that they want? This is brilliant. I imagine that some of the audience would be watching this right now saying, this makes sense. But I don't know how to get started with something like this. How would you recommend people start kind of redefining their brand story?

Well, a little bit more education involvement would be worthwhile. So, if you're at the point now and thought, boy, it'd be great to have a coffee conversation with Roger. Well, reach out to me and I'd be happy to have that. We can set up a Zoom session and I can find out about your business. And then, We can talk more about how the story structure can work, so that could be a starting point. Another one as well is just recently I've done what we mentioned before, the Head Smart, Heart Smart Marketing Series, and the content we're talking about today is really the second of the 3-part series. And if you'd like to find out more just with taking a look at a free preview video, you can go to the Identicore website and go to identicore.com/smart, so from the head smart, heart smart marketing, so identicore.com/smart, and there you'll be able to see a preview not just of the storytelling part but also the 5 secret brain cravings and then get your message into the mind, which all combine together to build the strongest story and then the best messaging that create a brain-friendly and emotionally intelligent environment around your company.

Amazing! I have put the link in the show notes so anybody can just click on the link there and take you directly to your website with the links to those preview videos.

Perfect!

I can imagine one of my biggest fears is I've worked in organizations where a leader goes to a conference And then, he comes back from gaining this new knowledge. And then, he comes in and rallies the team together and says, Boys and girls, I've learned something new and we're gonna change things. I get a little bit nervous about people who look at this as a band-aid solution to something. And they take the 6 steps and they go. Now, they go to their marketing department and they say, Okay Donna, here's the new marketing plan. What kind of cautionaries do you have?

Well, instead of it being a top-down, I think the best approach is to make it of all of us together. And so, one of the things that is really neat to see in client organizations that I work with is in addition to working with the owner-manager, the CEO, is to get other key people around the table. And I think that's a great way to do it. table. And then going through the process and we talk about our hero and what is it they want. And, you know, sometimes it's the people who are organizationally, you know, not at the top of the chain, but they're dealing with customers every day. And they'll have insights of, you know, this is what comes up all the time. Isn't that interesting? And so sometimes the trigger That the customers can identify with most are those individual moments, those moments of truth. And you get their phrasing, their wording, their needs right in there. And that's a great way to be able to get the customer's attention and then identify the need, and then how are we going to solve that. So this is more than just a telling exercise, but it can also be assembling our Our culture, assembling our thoughts around it. And then with those people involved in the story— so there's a gathering process that happens, and then there's a writing process that happens. Then they'll come back and they'll pick up that piece of paper and we'll read through it, and it just makes beautiful, beautiful sense. There's a sense of calm that happens. One of the things that, you know, And I've seen again and again with putting together a brand story for a client organization is limit that to just one page worth of copy. And then you put down that piece of paper and then people will read it, and it oftentimes evokes physiological response. Heart rate goes down, respiration rate goes down, and then they start nodding. This is us. Yes, this all makes sense. And then excitement starts coming up. And that's also what a great story will do. And their excitement about presenting this to customers, presenting to clients, presenting to prospects. Yeah, this is really going to work. And then another great thing to do is to provide some training for team members. And so do this with anyone who's in contact with customers and prospects, is have a script put together. Then we'll get together in a boardroom and go through this in small groups. And then we'll take turns going through. And the first time through, it feels a little stiff. But then as the ideas flow, then it becomes natural conversation. And then you can't wait to have them pick up the phone or get on a Zoom session or have some point of contact, because what it can do is it can turn all your people into a sales force, even if they're not a part of the sales department. And the unity and the spirit and the camaraderie and what it can do for culture is fantastic. So the storytelling, you know, we're mainly coming at it from a marketing communication point It has depth and potential that goes far beyond that.

Amazing! You know, what you've just described is what we do in theater. We do a table read when we first sit down with the script. We do a table read and we'll go through it and we'll discuss it and we'll see how it feels. And then, we'll talk about how we might be able to portray it and so on. And that's exactly what you've just described as far as putting this Brand Story together with the team. And I love the fact that you emphasize not making it a top-down initiative. You're not telling people how they're going to talk about you. You let them in on the formula and as a participant to that story. And I think that's just absolutely phenomenal.

Cool! And it's a wonderful thing to see what that does for the individuals in that Yeah. And one organization that I had the privilege of working with a few months ago, you know, they have a lot of software engineers. And so these are folks that are just geniuses at code, but, you know, it's not normal for them to be in kind of a front and center position. Their magic, where they do their best, make their best contribution, you know, is with ones and zeros. But, you know, so although that wasn't their background, you know, equipping them to feel confident of what they could say, you know, and seeing that appropriate confidence and capability develop, that was, it was beautiful to see. And, you know, it also just really helped them feel more effective in developing a new strength beyond where, beyond what their just straight software Yeah.

This has been so amazing. Roger, I can't thank you enough for taking the time out to talk to us about this today and bring this value forward. Just as we summarize before we kick out, very last thing. Could you just summarize the 6-step storyline that you've been talking about all day?

Absolutely. Okay, so we move into the story and we meet the hero. Early in the story, we want the hero to learn what the hero wants. We need to explain the obstacles, the challenges, the villain that the hero is facing. And then at just the moment where things seem the most challenging, then introduce the hero, which is the company, the guide rather. So the guide. has empathy for the hero. The guide leads the hero on a path up to a transformed future. And that's the path of the story.

Nice! Roger, thank you so much. One more time, how can people get a hold of you? Because this is so valuable and you are worth gold, my friend.

Well, thank you. So, go to the Identicore website, identicore.com. And then, if you go Then, you'll be able to see the preview of this session and then also the content for the 5 Secret Brain Cravings and Get Your Message Into the Mind.

Terrific! Roger, again, thank you so much. It has been brilliant.

My pleasure, Marc. Thanks for the opportunity and love being able to share the ideas and move it into the world of theatre.

Why don't you let me know if this was of value to you? As always, my offer stands. If you would like 30 minutes of my time to brainstorm your business with you and your team, please feel free to book yourself on my online calendar. That's the one that's marked meetme.so/MarcHaine. And as always, I am at your service. And if you haven't done so yet, why don't you go ahead and subscribe to this feed? It'll give you first dibs whenever I bring you fresh content that will help you work on your business, not just in your business. My name is Marc Haine. I hope you stay safe, stay healthy, and dare to be the exception.