Articles on Success, Significance and the Evolving Role of Work

The Story Your Holiday Card Tells (or Doesn’t)

Holiday cards have begun arriving. At home and the office.

Have they started landing in your nook or cranny of the world?

This is the world's first commercially produced Christmas card, designed by John Callcott Horsley for Henry Cole in 1843. — This is the world’s first commercially produced Christmas card, designed by John Callcott Horsley for Henry Cole in 1843.

What story does a holiday card tell about the company that sends them?

More importantly, what story did the company intend to tell?

To me, most — okay, nearly all — of the cards I receive from businesses feel obligatory. Insincere. Also-ran. Half-ass.

My dad used to receive a card from an insurance agent each Christmas and birthday. Every single time, it read, “Because I care.”

Dad would say (sarcastically), “I’m relieved to learn that Scott still cares.”

What if you used holiday cards from your company as opportunities to handwrite a genuine, heart-felt thank you to your clients? What if you included details that made it obvious that card was written only to them?

Or what if you skipped the holiday card tradition altogether. And you personally called or visited all of your clients to say thank you?

Even a tradition that dates back to the Victorian era offers you an opportunity to tell a powerful story. One that distinguishes you and your organization from all the others out there.

Don’t waste this valuable opportunity!

The perfect time to email someone

I read her email and it resonated. So, I hit reply.

As I typed up my reply to the question she had tossed out, a thought began to fester in the back of my brain. And it quickly took over.

I’m in Atlanta, Georgia. She’s in Perth, Australia.

It was 11 a.m. my time. Which meant it was midnight her time.

Not bloody likely she’d be checking her email for quite a few hours. Which meant, my email would get buried with the scores of others. Plus, it would add to the inbox clutter of her morning.

Why not time my reply to land at the best time for her? As it turned out, a quick Google search revealed when she checked email — she had mentioned it in something she had written.

And that brings us to today’s storytelling to-do.

The perfect time to send someone an email is at the moment they are most receptive to receiving it.

Not when it’s most convenient for you to send it. Or when you guess it’s best.

Why not time your emails to land at the best time for those you serve? Which means you must invest time in getting to know them as intimately as possible — time your competitors probably won’t care enough to give.

This will be more work for you, for sure. But it tells a story about you I’m willing to bet your customers and colleagues aren’t used to experiencing.

THREE READS | December 5, 2014

Instead of sharing articles in this post for your weekend reading, I’d like to share three books for your holiday wish list.

The Leader’s Guide to Storytelling

Stephen Denning is a go-to source for me. I’m a regular reader of his Forbes column.

This book walks you through the role of stories in organizations. The eight narrative patterns. And using narrative to transform your organization.

Click here to learn more.

On the Origin of Stories

I was recently introduced to this book by Brian Boyd. It’s on my holiday wish list!

In it, he shares why we share stories. And how our minds are shaped to understand them.

Click here to learn more.

The New Rules of Sales & Service

David Meerman Scott wrote what’s become a marketing classic — The New Rules of Marketing & PR. This is a terrific extension of his root narrative that the way we market and sell has changed forever.

And, guess what? I’m featured in this book (pages 182-185). So now you’ve got to get it!

Click here to learn more.

The Most Important Question to Ask in Storytelling

“What job am I hiring my story to do?”

That is the most important question to ask when it comes to storytelling in your business and professional life.

A good story isn’t good enough. It must help drive your business model in some measurable way.

Let’s look at a few jobs you might hire your story to do:

Shift someone’s mindset
Teach someone something useful
Help someone feel safe
Reveal how someone or something is at risk
Influence someone to take action

There are other jobs your story can do, of course. Generate new leads. Close sales. Win bids.

When you’re crystal clear about what job your story should do, you can clearly measure whether or not it did its intended job.

By asking this question, you will avoid the mistakes many make in their marketing efforts. Because too many marketing efforts focus on outputs rather than the outcomes.

What Maya Said

Maya said:

I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

Stories transcend the transactional nature of everyday life. Even in business.

And those who give us these transcendent experiences — those who consistently inspire us — are given a special place in our hearts.

Walt Disney. Mother Teresa. Steve Jobs.

And Dr. Maya Angelou.

The same Maya who reminds you and me that the way we make people feel matters. A lot.

Starting today, tell a bigger story. One that makes me feel more connected with you.