Getting Into Sticky Situations With Customers

After concluding an executive presentation, I anxiously awaited audience feedback.  I expected the "usual" questions.  How many customers gave us this feedback?  Are these decision makers or individual contributors?  Did you talk to my customers?

The litmus test questions to indicate:  Believable or Not.  Actionable or Not.  A Big Problem or Not My Problem.

Instead, one executive in the room told a story.  Not just any story.  A customer story.  That I had presented to a different audience several months prior.

What's interesting was the executive relaying this anecdote was not in the room for that session.  We hadn't met previously. But he told the story as if he had met with the customer in person.  With the passion and intensity of a man with a mission.

He redirected the conversation.  Motivated the entire room.  Delivered a call to action.  From one single story.  That he heard through the grapevine.

As I shared here, your customers are sharing compelling stories on a daily basis. https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/academy-award-winning-customer-stories-karen-mangia?trk=mp-reader-card

The question is how do you get customer stories to "stick" in your organization?

To get more budget or make progress by having someone else tell your story?

Or, even better, your customer's story?

I discussed that over breakfast recently with fellow Customer Experience Professionals Association members and CX professionals. Walker Information framed the discussion around principles from the book, "Made to Stick" by Chip Heath and Dan Heath.

The authors propose, "Six Ways to Develop Sticky Communication."  

• Simple:  Eliminate acronyms.  Practitioner language.  Make what you are saying easy to remember.
• Unexpected:  Start with an attention grabbing headline.  Something the audience doesn't know.  Generate curiosity.Concrete:
•  Clarify your message.  Ask someone who does not work in your industry to read your communication.  Does he or she think it's easy to understand?  And what to do with the information?
• Credible:  The customer voice is powerful in most organizations.  Lend credibility with phrases like, "Our top ten customers said..."  Or "We've lost four contracts in the past month to the same competitor."
• Emotions:  Evoke feelings.  With customer stories, this could be losing a key customer.  Or listening to a customer service call where the agent calms an upset customer and solves a problem.  
• Stories:  Capture them.  Share them.  Make them available to your employees.

When I apply these principles to my communications, I find I need fewer slides.  Fewer charts.  Fewer graphs.  And the key messages go viral quickly.  

A customer's story is always more powerful than my story.  

The opinions expressed in this blog are my own views.

Karen Mangia (@karenmangia) believes that exceeding customer expectations starts with understanding why your customers are doing business with you.  She leads a global team focused on effective customer, partner, and sales engagements, analysis and implementation of new ideas. She also has a passion for building and connecting people, teams and communities around the world.