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So, what’s your story?
Author: Bill Cusick
August 23, 2007
I know you have one, a story, that is. We all have a life story in progress, whether we know it or not. Part of what makes us human is that we possess, as a recent New York Times article described, a “natural affinity for narrative construction.” Several other recent studies confirm this exclusively human characteristic.
What it means is that we are always attempting – in the deep, dark subconscious recesses of our minds – to cobble together the myriad circumstances and events of our day-to-day existence into a cohesive, linear story that helps us makes sense of who we are. By creating this logical narrative, with you-know-who as the protagonist, it allows us to better look back at our behavior and judge the “hows” and “whys” of our actions. We yearn to get our arms around this novel of our lives, even if only subconsciously. Maybe it gives us some comfort, some predictability in our future as well: just look at the story arc so far, and you can make some educated guesses of what’s going to happen next. Perhaps we also sense we have the ability to “change the storyline” if it’s not all we hoped for.
What does all this mean for companies and customers?
If we know that our customers are doing this – creating their life stories – whether we want them to or not, it could present an opportunity to make some fundamental, emotional connections. By creating a customer experience that makes it easy for a customer to thread all of the interactions and communications into a story that makes sense and is universally positive, you could create powerful allies among your customer base. Look at MINI and Apple. They attempt to create something more than just “products” and “transactions.” They build an experience that includes the product, but connects it to much more. It’s not all based on features and functions but on creating a consistent emotional adventure.
What are you doing to create a compelling, emotional experience that can weave into a customer’s life story?
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