Most customer facing employees are horrible storytellers.

Most customer facing (or patient facing, guest facing, client facing) employees are horrible storytellers. I see it every single day in our business.

Sales associates, customer service associates, call center agents, account executives… even doctors, dentists, general managers, interior designers, receptionists…. It’s a skill that’s lacking across industries.

Why?

🔷 They are focused on the “sale” or efficiently meeting the need.

🔷 They are running a script or a series of steps they’ve been taught to execute.

🔷 They think it’s “enough” to use basic personalization. Storytelling isn’t “relevant” to their role.

🔷 They are in “one-way” mode - focused on educating the customer or telling the customer something they know.

🔷 They have no skill in storytelling because they think it isn’t a priority in their work, and they haven’t been taught how to do it.

🔷 They tell only brand or product related stories - focused on the company, product, or service.

The great companies know that storytelling is a strategic imperative. Yes, you read that right. Strategic. Imperative.

They can discern and capitalize on a “micro” customer story even in a 3-minute engagement with a brand new customer via any channel.

Brand stories, product stories, employee stories, community stories, AND CUSTOMER STORIES are mission critical to creating a standout company that customers love.

Most companies execute somewhat on the product and brand stories, but they mostly fail at the employee stories (narrating how they are experts and artisans- each and every one) and the brand community stories (narrating why is your tribe better, different, special, why belong).

Then they REALLY FAIL at everything surrounding customer stories.

I don’t mean the repeat customers you know. Or the occasional customer story that an employee learns during a conversation and turns into something. I mean putting the customer’s story (even on the very first touch) front and center in the engagement, every touch. This is a skill that must be taught, practiced, and used in every engagement (digital, call center, app, in-person), every time.

If storytelling isn’t a critical imperative for you at scale, you are probably delivering a bland, mediocre, transactional, instantly forgettable experience.

And in this economic environment, no one can afford to be a brand that customers forget.

Make storytelling a critical skill that everyone learns, everyone uses and is a main feature of your engagement strategy because stories are central to how humans connect.

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