Ep. 113 Build Your Business PART 2 Their Story

Hey there, Mark Brown. Last week we talked about part one, your story. You as a presenter, how to use your story to help build your business. And we were talking about a law firm that will remain nameless, that we worked with and we helped them and the founder of the company kind of dig out her story. This week we're going to talk about the their story, meaning using your client stories. In the situation with the law firm, it was they're trying to help build their team. So they wanted more reasons why. The people who joined joined the law firm because they're looking for the right talent because they're building so quickly, which is an unusual yet awesome problem. So we thought this would relate to you. So about their story, the people you work with, how do you tell them? Mark?

Yeah, and the cool thing is, if you do this well, you also may find there are individuals who will want to work with you because of what your team members say about you and your business. Let's do this. Darren.

Anyone can give a presentation. Few deliver unforgettable presentations. What's the difference? You're about to find out. Welcome to the Unforgettable Presentations podcast, podcasts with your hosts, world champion speakers and coaches, Mark Brown. Mark Brown.

Your life tells a story and there's someone out there who needs to hear it.

And Darren Lacroix. And Darren Lacroix.

Stage time. Stage time. Stage time.

Ready for some powerful presentation? Ahas, let's dive right in.

So if you haven't listened to part one, please go check out episode previous to this part one, your story. We're talking about working with this law firm and we're going to call her Lucy Lawyer. We're not going to use the name of the law firm, Lucy Lawyer, but we just did a workshop, better Stories, Better business. Helping people tell their business stories to build their business. So if you're a presenter and you're in business and you're trying to get on more stages, are you telling your stories of the other people you've helped? So, Mark, we didn't plan on talking about this, but one of the ideas that came up in the middle of this was asking, okay, what's the challenge that the people who work at this law firm, from the person who answers the phone at the front desk to the paralegals, to the attorneys who are actually working with the clients, like, what are your challenges? So we ask you, in your business, what are your challenges? Like, what are the objections people have to. To working for you? And one of the things we talked about is people are in transition. And that was one of their challenges. How do we get across? Okay, let's find a story for that. One of them is the attorney's fees are really expensive. Okay, how can we find a story for that? So we're giving people in an emotional time now for us. Usually the people who are hiring us are not in the same emotional state that people looking for an attorney or even if they are a client, dealing with what are some of the challenges. But consider this. What are the object objections people have working with you and what's the story you could tell to help alleviate that objection? To help get past that objection. So of course, attorneys fees, that's a big challenge. Yeah, they're costly. And one of the people, we won't mention that person's name either, but we'll just say Larry. So we got Lucy and Larry. Larry had a great story about when Larry. Mark, if you remember Larry, when Larry went through a divorce, Larry had a great example of how Larry felt and used some explanatives when they got that lawyer fee. And we thought, wow, what a great. And you know, Larry already used this story, but we helped find some better ways to say it. And then what was really cool is we, everybody at the law firm reminded them, hey, hey, you can all use Larry's story, even if you haven't been through a divorce, but you're dealing somebody who's got the objection about the high fee tell Larry's story because that will help get the point across and help them see the bigger picture. One of the powerful aspects of story is to change perspective.

You know, and there's one real quick, Darren, before I forget, I'm gonna cut you off, but I gotta say this, there's one thing we don't want you to miss here. It was Larry's story. But what Lucy lawyer came to understand through what we discussed with them was that Larry is part of the team. And as a legal team, if Larry's story worked for Larry, it'll work for everybody else on the team. The point is this. Sometimes their story, your client's story, your associate story, is so powerful that they not be the only one to tell it. As part of your team, you say, listen, our team members know how it feels. One of our team members, Larry had the same thing. He's here with us. He's part of our team, and our team is here for you. So now Larry's story, which is powerful enough, is good enough for the entire team to use to build a business as a case story. And it can be powerfully used if you understand that the resource is available not just for one team member. But ask yourself, how can my entire team use this story to build a business?

Yeah. And see the principles again behind it is first is what is the problem? What is the perspective? What is the challenge that people coming to your website. Again, this isn't telling stories from the stage. It's telling stories whether it's in text form, video form. When you're talking one on one to a potential client or prospect, the stories you tell then that help you stand out from, from all the other options that they're looking at. What's that story you can tell them because as we mentioned last week. Yeah. I don't know a speaker that won't claim they're passionate, that won't claim they have charisma, that won't claim they tell great stories like, okay, so, but how will you be remembered if you're gonna get on that stage? It's not just that conversation. It's not just that person reading the website. It's what they see and feel when they read that website that they then go and share that with the rest of the committee who has a say in whether they bring you in or not.

Yeah. And what's interesting is you say is what they will think. Not just a one meeting planner or a committee. The impact you can have on an entire audience can very well hinge upon the story that the meeting planner, the prospect, the associate president, whoever it may be, the person who has the pen to write the check. It's how they perceive you as being different from everybody else. Now, we talked about telling your story, but the power of a, of a client's stories or an associate story, it reinforces the value and the culture that you can create by what you deliver. Certainly in Lucy Lawyer's case, we specifically pointed out that the stories being told by her team members screamed culture. When a team member said something like, well, you know, I felt at peace here. There was harmony here. Just those two words, peace and harmony, speak to the culture that Lucy Lawyer was able to create. And she was not the one saying, come to me, I have an atmosphere of peace and harmony in my law firm. No, these were the other individuals who were telling us their perspective on the environment and culture that Lucille created. It's like getting a testimonial from somebody else of what you create. It's like having somebody else. Here's the best part of it. Honestly, it's as if you have a marketing team that you aren't Even paying because they speak so well of you. Think about that for a second.

Yeah. And the problem is we don't take the time to mine that team for the gold that's in them. So I love Lucy. Lucy lawyer. When we were talking to everybody else, she had the biggest pad and she was writing so fast.

A legal pad. Lawyer. I had to do it, Darren. Sorry. Had to do it. A legal pad. Sorry.

I know you can't help yourself. It's a good thing. I love you. Okay, so legal pad full of notes.

Go ahead. I distracted you. I'm sorry.

This is, this is why I love you. This, this is what makes it fun. And hearing some of the stories that they said. So what was cool was there was one person who had joined the firm who had never worked in legal or law before. She came in and she is saying how she liked the environment, how she liked they were, how they help people. And there were a couple other lawyers and paralegals who said, look, they've worked for other lawyers before and it's always conflict and chaos.

Chaotic. Yep.

But when I came here to work for Lucy law firm, it was different. And Mark, you and I are like, you know, I pulled a Darren. Like my friend Ron Lewison, rest his soul, said, like, sometimes we don't know the 10%. That's gold. And that is what we're saying. When I pull one of those, it's like, that's amazing. Capture that. And I'm like, lucy, write that down. Write that down, Lucy. And so she was. But I said, when you have someone again, the goal of this story in their situation is to bring in the top talent.

That's right.

Because they're growing fast. So how do we get that across? Well, we're blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But when someone who chooses to work there, loves working there and says, this is dialogue, use dialogue, we didn't focus on that as much last week, but for this week we were trying to train them to capture the words, capture the dialogue. So when they said, I worked in many other law firms and it was just a chaotic, unfriendly, conflict filled atmosphere. And when I came here and the first thing we're given is an Amazon gift certificate to buy slippers, like what? But doesn't that differentiate you from other law firms in this situation with our goal to help them use these stories to build and attract the best talent. Now for you as a presenter, how do we translate that over for you? Well, what are the clients that you've helped? Event planners. Want to know from event planners, people in the audience. Want to hear people in the audience loving you and hearing from you. When we get always, by the way, always get testimonials, capture it in the moment when the energy. Don't let them get away with. Well, I'll get back to you. I'll record something later. Stay in the moment, capture it in the moment. Good or bad. Capture it in the moment that it can always redo it.

And.

And we're just looking for 30 or 60 seconds. Yet they don't know what to say, they don't know what you need. So if we can encourage them and have a few good questions. So why. Why did you bring me in? Okay, now that's the problem that other event planners can relate to, right? How did you choose me? Well, when we saw this or that. Okay, what happened as a result? Okay, what was the result for your audience? So asking them some pointed questions and for your industry, you know what they are. But why did they bring you in? Why did they choose you? What impact did you have on their audience? But now you're capturing their words. And look, some people, some event planners, they're not going to have great energy. You might not use the video, but you could use a picture and text to tell their story. I remember I'm just working on my demo video now and I did a program for Miracle Ear on stories. Better stories, better business and Are you fool. Oh, man. Mark Brown, I love you, man. Oh, twice. Okay, there's the Scooby Doo reaction and there's a.

If you're only listening to this, I made a gesture when I put my ear to the microphone to hear what he was saying. Listen to what? So I was using a very bad ear joke. I apologize. Not really Sorry. Not sorry. Continue. My brother, Miracle Ear. Go for it, man.

So because Miracle Ear was here as a keynote in Las Vegas, what was cool is I asked if I could go a day ahead of time. And I sat there and took notes. I listened to what they were saying. I tried to tie it in because it's my job as a presenter to bridge between my content and their world. So that's the reason I went a day ahead of time. And they noticed that. And I had captured in asking good questions, I captured somebody who said, man, I've heard all the best motivational speakers in the world. In fact, this blah, blah, blah, insert unbelievable name here. Who is good and I look to as a mentor. But Darren was better. I was like, er, can I publish that? But I won't publish that, that would not be cool. But anyway. But then he went on to say, we noticed that he came in a day early. I've never seen another keynote speaker do that. And he talked to us and he sit down and he called and talked to our team beforehand. So here he's like, you see the shock and he's telling the story. There was another gentleman who was in the audience who said, look, I tell stories all day long to our clients. I'm telling stories, I'm going to tell them better now. I'm going to serve the world better now. Okay? That's the end result. So even though I didn't capture the problem that I had, I was trying to capture as much as I can. And then those sound bites become part of telling my story. So their sound bite dialogue with emotion becomes a part of telling the Darren story, the end result. We call it the then to now story model. So how they were then, how they are now.

Mark, one of the cool things about that was we gave the team, the legal team, an exercise to dig into their own stories. And maybe you didn't catch this, Darren, but you give us X number of minutes and you said, good. Does anyone need more time? And almost everyone said yes. They wanted more time to dig deeper into their own stories. We were a little bit late. Should we continue? Is it going to be lunchtime? We need more time. We want to do it. And they stayed because they realized the power of digging into their own story as a means of uplifting what Lucy Lawyer had done and to share these stories with potential hires. And the cool part is where sometimes we say, you know what, it can also be a filter. By telling these business stories, well, you filter out the people you don't want to work with you. It may sound kind of unkind, but if we're all honest as presenters and as coaches, there are times you want to fire a client, there are times it's a bad match and I have actually done that. You know what? It's not working out for you. It's not the right time. Let's just stop now and move on. You can avoid some of that by letting your client story, your team member story, give a picture of the culture you create. And some people don't want a certain type of culture. And that is not the objective to whittle people out or to weed people out. But sometimes the power of the story will attract the kind of person you want want to attract to your business or to you. And the story has also, to be honest enough and clear enough for someone to say, you know what? That's not the area that I think I need them in. But it may fit better here. And it just also helps to. It saves. I think it saves me if they know my story. It saves me going through the hassle of going through a process. And then, you know what? I'm not the right person. Sometimes a story told well enough is enough of a filter for people to say, okay, yeah, I want Darren Lacroix. As a matter of fact, Darren, I just had a talk with an agent recently who was trying to pitch me for a particular assignment. And I said, don't pitch me anymore. I'm not clear on what they want and I may not be a good fit. I don't want to waste anybody's time trying to tell the story and make myself fit into what they need. And I have heard nothing more. It's one less thing for me to be concerned about. Your story well told, and a story told by your teammates and your clients clearly depict who you are, what you bring to the table and can really help narrow the focus. So people who want what you have will be funneled to you and not be sent someplace else. I know we hadn't talked about that before. It's an aside. It occurred to me just now, and maybe it's for somebody here who needs to hear that.

So, yeah, Mark, I remember you tapped into a memory ahead with Rosita Perez, rest her soul, a icon early on, and somebody who definitely encouraged me. And she told a story of working with a client. And they told her it was a conservative corporate client. And they told her, you know, we want you. We love your stories. You're so funny. Just, we don't want the singing, we don't want the guitar. And she said, well, if you don't want the guitar, you don't want me. I'm out. Basically, I. I don't know what she. I don't remember what she said, but basically she said, I'm out. Because that story is who she is. And if you don't want her and her style, if you don't want her and her guitar, you don't want her. And that's okay. That client is going to be the wrong client. It's going to be the wrong audience. Even though some people might love her. It's just that challenge. And we want to attract the right people. As I think, as Ed Tate had said it, well, not all dollars are.

Good.

Of them are worth it.

That's true. But I didn't want to re. Emphasize though that in all seriousness. But when we saw them saying we need more time to drill down in our own stories was like a yes. Aha. Because was something they had never even considered before. And when we spoke to Lucy at the end of our. Of our two day workshop with them, she says, oh, this was so. This was gold. It was definitely worth our while to do it because they hadn't even considered it before. So here's a question. What are you and I leaving on the table? Because we aren't seeing the value of our client stories, of our associate stories, and the impact their stories and testimonials can have on potential clients who really need what you and I have. So we're going to use those stories well and learn how to tell them well and to translate them well in print, on video, and face to face as well.

Yeah, there was also someone who was there. I don't remember her position. Let me see if I can figure that out here as we talk. She was a litigation paralegal. We'll call her Lily.

Lily.

When we had asked people, like, what their favorite movies were and why.

Yes.

We did an advanced survey and it was really great because part of why they were bringing us in also was to team build to get them to know each other, which I thought was awesome. So that was part of the underlying reason because when they first approached me, they wanted team building. And I'm like, I don't really do team building. However, if we teach them about stories, it will help build the team. They'll get to know each other. And Lily had told us about her favorite movie was Fracture. And she told us why it was Fracture. And when I heard it, I pulled another. Arms flailing. Darren. When I was like, that is awesome. And I don't want to give away what she said, but she said, that is the reason I wanted to study. This is the reason. And it was just powerful that I'm like, I don't even know exactly what a litigation paralegal does. But I want you to, because of her insight, because that just resonated with her. And if I do, I want this person or that I don't know. I want the person that's passionate about helping me. And that's what it came down to. That she. I want to tell that story.

But no, you can't, Darren.

You don't want to mess with lawyers. But they.

Exactly.

And honestly, they were awesome. They were so much fun. And I think it's because of the culture that Lucy had created. But let's bring this back to you. Your client stories, your event planners. Event planners want to hear from event planners. People in the audience want to know. Other people in the audience loved you. What are they saying? But ask those questions when you're gathering testimonials, if at all possible. And even if you already. If it's a past presentation, we encourage you. Go back. If you had good rapport with that event planner, go back and ask them some questions. Because again, even if it's text format or do a little zoom interview with them, just make sure they're big on the camera and you can crop you out of it. But just if they're willing to, if you had great rapport, they're probably willing to. But ask them some specific questions about why you. What was the challenge that you were going to help them with? Who was the audience? What did they say after? What are some of the results that happened because you were brought in? Did you change language in the hallways at the company? You know, did people. We even had that. That wasn't why we were there. But they were talking about fees. And we're like, stop calling them fees. Send them an invoice, not a fee. And just anyway, it was little side tidbits that we helped them with. But for you, take the time, because telling client stories, telling event planner stories, this on your website, in your marketing, you know, sometimes we forget that we need to market. You know, one of our number one things we need to do as a presenter is market or we're not gonna be on any stages. Now our best marketing is how good we are on stage, which is why we have this podcast. Unforgettable presentations. But also use those same stories to help you get the clients, have that video that you can send out and put it in your signature line in every single email that goes out. You know, watch my story, whatever it is for you, whatever you want to call that, but take the time because their stories should relate. And we said this last week, the emotion of that event planner, we want to know, is the emotion at the beginning. So we say the then story. Before they hired you, before they brought you in, what was the emotion then? And then, what was the event planner's emotion after. After you spoke? So when they're like, you know, we brought this person in, but man, they nailed it. They hit a home run. Well, I want to hear it, but I want the energy and emotion behind what they're saying as well. So again, think then how they were before they hired you and how they were after. Because an Event planner wants to know that another event planner paid you, brought you in. And they were thrilled they brought you in that you delivered the value, the reason they have you presenting.

You know, Darren, that brings to mind a touchy story that I was considering not telling, but I will tell it anyway because it really made me think about the impact on the organizer, the meeting planner, and those who are in charge of these events. Several, several months ago, I had a. I got a unique assignment. I had to replace someone who was unable to do a keynote, a major keynote at a large group. There were thousands of people in the room, a couple thousand, I guess, and they had been marketed to this group for a long time, very, very well. And the entire group was anticipating a particular speaker to be there on that day to deliver that keynote. In the midst of something that happened, I was called upon to replace them pretty much last minute. I said, okay, I have a problem for them. It's going to work out fine. And the baiting planner gave me the. They summed up my assignment in one sentence. Because Billy couldn't be there, I had to replace Billy. And they said, listen, your job ultimately is to make the audience forget that Billy was coming. What? Of course, I didn't say what. I was like, okay, yeah, so what kind of pressure was that? And please, I'm not saying this to blow my horn. I'm telling you real life scenarios that may happen to you as a presenter. I flew in, I did my sound check, everything worked out well. I got everything to work. I delivered the program, I got a standing ovation. And when it was done, they met me in the hall and said two words to me. They said, billy who? And I said, thank you very much. I appreciate that. And they were very kind. And we had photograph, had the conversations. They said, really? We're so thankful because we were concerned that when he wasn't able to come, with all the hype we had done and all the promo we had done, we really let our audience down. And we didn't know if we could really satisfy them. But she came through really, really well. And thank you. It wasn't an ego boost, it was really a thank you. But her saying Billy who was her response to what she told me make the audience forget Billy was coming. And that two words as part of my story, actually, her story of her interaction with me is in essence a testimony of the effort I put in to deliver so well that I could meet the assignment and also get this, allay the fears of the meeting planner. Darren has told this to Us many times in our podcast, in our workshops or webinars, sometimes we have meeting planners who are literally in a panic. Many are inexperienced. It's their first major event and they want things to go well. They're playing octopus with arms all over the place. And you come in and deliver for them, and they tell you thank you, and they bless you for what you have done. That's their story. Before Darren Lacroix came on stage, we didn't know what we were going to do. It was a panic. He came in, he delivered, he blessed us. My people are happy. And now I. Can you sleep tonight and not even worry? That may sound kind of cheesy, but in essence, when you and I do our jobs well, that is what happens. Before they're in a panic. Afterwards, they're honored and blessed. And we have the opportunity to bless people. And we can use their stories, their testimonials, their little tidbits as tools to let everybody else know that we will serve them to the best of our ability. Not defeat our ego, but. But to solve their problems, set their hearts at ease, and to serve them and their clients well. That's what we can do. And they can help us when they tell their story about their experience with you and with me.

Yeah. One of the challenges we see with storytelling is the structure. Like, that's one of the biggest problems, and that's what we teach, and that's why we're needed to teach this. So for you, look at the stories. I remember when I met a Hollywood star who. Her and her husband produced Hollywood movies for the Hallmark film. And I first went to her for advice. I'm like, help me. And she said, I read scripts all day long, and she said, the biggest problem I see with them is structure. So she said, if you're going to go into this world and start learning how to write a screenplay, you need structure. Here's the book. Go get this book which teaches you about structure. So for you, telling your client stories to help build your business, understand the structure is part of the important part. So even if we look at Mark Brown's story that he just told us, where was the event planner beforehand? Okay. The event player was actually pumped and excited and had Billy coming in, whoever Billy is. And we don't. We don't. Obviously we're not going to use the name. And I don't even know the name, and I don't want to know the name. So Billy's coming in, they're pumped, they're spend. They're pumping money. Into the marketing to make this an unbelievable event. And then Billy's team calls. Billy's not coming. Boom. Conflict. Okay. Oh man. What are we going to do? How are we going to do this? How are we going to save this event? We've already poured so much in there. So now how do we increase the conflict, make it even worse? Oh, my goodness. Da, da, da. And then Mark Brown. Oh, Billy. Oh, Billy. I have some big shoes to fill inside people. But then Mark Brown rocks the house. They love him. And then we go to the aftermath scene in the hallway. Billy who?

True story, true story.

But I wanted to walk you through to see that even if it's a short story, even if it's a tech story, the structure still needs to be there. We still need to see a day in the life. We need to see the conflict that happened. Increase the conflict if possible. Then you stepped in. And then how did the world change? How did that event planner's world change? So as soon as the conflict happened, the event planner had panic. Stress. Okay. And then Billy, who and I really willing to bet that was said with a smirk and a smile.

Yeah, she was happy. She was happy and I was honored to have served him well.

So panicked to happy.

Okay.

That's what we're talking about. And obviously when you get a testimonial, if it's a video or something, you may or may not get everything but ask the questions and then know you're looking for some great sound bites because that is what helps. Tell your story, using them and their dialogue. Mark Brown, take us home.

My last one on that was I had a phrase come to mind. If you can bring your meeting planner from panic to peace, it's a good thing. So listen, we encourage you. Yeah, tell your story but also use your client's story. Use your team members story. Use the stories of others to elevate your value and impact to your audience and you will build your business and be unforgettable. We'll see you next week.

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