Storytelling – It’s Not Just for Kids; It’s a Business Lifeline

Once upon a time, a business owner was wondering why he couldn’t be more profitable. As he wondered, a storyteller happened by. What? You think this sounds silly? One powerful business book is fiction – The Goal by Eliyahu M. Goldratt. Another that uses stories to make points that stick with you is The E-Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber. Much like the folk tales that have transferred values to children throughout history, stories can transfer business owners’ values to employees.

When I worked for a national retailer in their information processing division, every request from the print shop got the same very short story, just one question. “Do you know how many bags of groceries we have to sell to do your job?” In a corporate office, people can lose sight of where the funds are coming from. That print shop manager never let us forget. If you can see the people carrying out their bags of groceries and hear the cash register jingling, you stay connected to the real world. If you know how low the margin is, that’s even more important. Did you really need the best quality paper for that set of installation instructions that’s going to be used once? Did you really need two color printing or would bolding or italics serve the same purpose in a black and white document? Could you have made it two-sided?

A story circulates on social media about a teacher asking children to describe how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. When a child says, “Put the peanut butter on the bread,” and the teacher lays the jar of peanut butter on top of the unopened loaf of bread, it gets laughter. That story fits any business. Can your employees get from A to B with the instructions you gave them? Are you losing customers because they couldn’t fill in the blanks? If your customers keep getting chipped vases, maybe “wrap the foam around the vase” was not specific enough and the vases often go out with the tops and bases unprotected. One company, when I walked through the entire path of a product from order to receipt at the customer’s site, had 65 steps that were not clear enough. It was amazing that any of the computer boards arrived intact and complete. Many did not.

I was waiting to meet with a client to discuss customer retention. A young clerk was on the phone. The clerk repeated the customer’s name several times in the conversation. Mr. Goldsteen. He repeated it again as he ended the call. I was impressed. A few minutes later, the phone rang and a young woman answered it. “Oh, certainly Mr. Goldstine,” I’ll transfer you to him right away. The young man was at the next desk. He heard her pronounce the name. which she had just heard from the customer. He picked up the phone and said, “How can I help you, Mr. Goldsteen?” I knew a fellow who stopped working with a company he really liked because they mispronounced his name, no matter how many times he corrected them. My name is often changed to Joyce or Joann no matter how much of a break I leave between the first and last name. Customers do like to hear their actual name.

The Team Leader on a hardware installation project for a major client stopped at the Vice President’s office to let him know the job was done. It was a long-term, friendly relationship. The Team Leader comfortably leaned on the wall by the door as he quickly delivered the message. Many bids after that were unsuccessful. The Manager called the client and asked if there was anything wrong with the last job. Oh, no – the job was perfect. They were very happy. The Manager said, “We’re wondering why none of our bids have been successful in quite a while.” The Team Leader had left a mark on a freshly painted wall that it took the Vice President months to get on the budget. Every day, he came to work and looked at that mark. ?

Storytelling –It’s not just for kids. Each of those stories has a business lesson that can transfer values to employees. Stay within the budget. Make sure instructions are complete. Listen and correct mistakes. Be aware of your surroundings and people’s reactions. You have your own stories for your employees. Some might build on lessons learned from mistakes.