Making your story about them
By Susan Thomson, ActionCOACH Business & Executive Coaching
You’ve landed the big meeting – the one where you get to introduce your company to their team.
You know you’re supposed to make this about them, but you still have to tell the story about you and your company so they have some frame of reference about who you are and why they are investing their precious time with you.
So how to you do this?
This is going to sound a little counter-intuitive, but try framing your story as Mess – Turning Point – Success.
Your “Mess” is where and how your company started. The frustrations your patriarchs were trying to solve. The trials they went through to get things off the ground. Sharing this origin story tells them something very important – you are just like them. Your company went through the same trials that their company goes through. This makes you relatable – not some uber-accomplished person that can’t possibly understand their day-to-day.
Your ”Turning Point” is where you took some action or made an important decision or investment that led to your success.
Finally, your “Success” is where your company is today. Use the line “and what this means for you is…” to tie your story back to them.
Here’s an example from my life to put this in to context. You heard part of this if you were at the Industry Executive Conference, but not the whole story:
(MESS) Years ago, I got the opportunity to run a construction level business. I had years of corporate experience and had even run a small division, but this was a real business – one that I could grow, and prove to myself that I could do it.
The company was in a tough spot. They had been trying to break in to the U.S. market for a decade, and were almost out of money. $100k per day behind in shipping. Losing money on some big customers. A well-intentioned but unsuccessful team.
A year later, that team had turned things around in an amazing way. The business broke even in 12 months. By year 2, we were double the size and profitable.
Sounds great, right? The back story tells a different story.
For those years that I was running that company, I was running everything – leading my team, in person at every sales call, financial reporting, making sure orders got out the door on time – everything. To the tune of 70+ hours a week plus nights and weekends. I was away from my family a lot. The workload was insane. I was exhausted – couldn’t turn it off.
You can’t keep up that pace for long – it’s a straight line to burnout. I decided it wasn’t worth my marriage or my health. I left.
It wasn’t until after I bought my current company, ActionCOACH, and the pattern started to repeat itself again for the same reasons, that I finally turned a corner.
My turning point was threefold:
- I learned that it’s a sign of my maturing as a leader to seek out help.
- I invested in myself – hired a coach to help me with my blind spots and areas that I wasn’t strong.
- I learned a proven blueprint. It wasn’t that I was doing the wrong things, it was that I was trying to build a business without a blueprint. So, I made things way harder than they needed to be. Once I learned the blue print – how to work right, not just hard – everything got easier.
What this means for you? If any of this resonates with you – you’re working way too many hours, you’re wondering if it’s ever going to get easier, you’re always feeling torn between your work and your family – then I guarantee you’re going to love learning this blueprint. You’ll grow your business in a way that’s healthy and sustainable, makes more money, and gives you back your time and FREEDOM.
Today I own a thriving, profitable, globally award-winning business that gives leaders the support and blueprint I wish I’d had all those years ago. And I do it all in 40 hours a week, with lots of vacation time in cool places around the world and plenty of money and time to enjoy the people and things I love.
If I can do it – you can too.
Your turn now – what’s your story?
About ActionCOACH: Susan Thomson owns ActionCOACH Business & Executive Coaching of Dane County. Imagine a team that can take you from the chaos and stress of running your business to making more money, growing your team, and gaining freedom!
MakeMoreWorkLessWI.com
Direct: 608-441-5374
SusanThomson@ActionCOACH.com