How Your Personal Story Can Attract Clients.

 

Telling the personal story of why you do what you do can attract clients. In fact, telling your story can do a better job at client attraction than listing the features of the work you do. The trick is weaving the story with the solutions you provide and how that benefits your future clients.

Stories have been used for ages to convey an idea, suggest solutions, and teach morals to others. They define our childhood and give meaning to our lives. Your story, told in the right way, can attract more clients than you thought possible.

Stories can be used to tell who you are, why you’re here, what you do, and your vision for your future. They can teach others something important while demonstrating values. Telling your personal story can be a very powerful motivator for prospects to decide to become clients. And telling your story well is an art form you can learn.

 

Tell Your Personal Story at the Right Time

The context in which you share your story is almost as important as the story.

When you are sharing something of a personal nature, make sure the tone of the story matches the emotions you want to evoke.

You probably have many personal stories that can be shared, so pick the right one, for the right audience, at the right time.

 

 

My Story

Now seems the appropriate time to tell one of my stories. You can find out more about my background on my About page.

When I started my own business I decided I needed to go out and attend networking events. Social media was in its infancy then and no one really understood it.

I’d had a successful corporate career presenting to investors, senior management teams and sales forces of up to 1000 people, I had never been bothered about going out on stage. In fact, it was something I enjoyed!

At my first networking event, I suddenly realised I had to stand up and do a 60-second presentation. I almost froze! I hadn’t prepared anything and I suddenly felt incredibly vulnerable talking about my own business. I listened to what everyone else said (and some were very clever!), improvised and just decided to be me.

Despite that rocky start, I continued networking but learned from my early experience. I prepared what I was going to say, even if only in my head. It was definitely worth the effort as many of the people I networked with became my first clients and still refer others to me.

 

Be Authentic

Only you can be you, so it’s important to be real. Telling your story in a way that demonstrates who you are, why you’re here and what makes you tick is important. You can show your vulnerable side.

Talk about a time when you experienced failure and how that affected you and what you did about it and more. As long as you are being authentically you.

 

 

Set the Stage

Stories need a beginning, middle and end. You want to remember to evoke all the senses in your story, telling it so that your prospects are emotionally connected to you by the end of it.

Remember that people often go into their minds and imaginations during a story. You want them to bring up the right feelings.

Words, context and tone matter.

 

 

Understand the Purpose of your personal story

Consider why you’re sharing your story. This will help you choose the right story to tell and to tell it in the right way.

Are you:

• trying to explain who you are,
• why you’re here,
• teach something,
• pass on your vision
• or something else entirely?

If you know your purpose you can find the right story, words and phrases easier.

 

Practice

Like with most things in life, you’ll get better with practice. Whether you type out your story, speak it into a recording device, or tell it to a live audience, it all takes practice. You want to be able to tell your various stories at the drop of a hat when the appropriate time comes up. Practice will help you develop this skill.

You’ve heard it before, and you’re going to hear it again. We have two ears and one mouth for a reason. Listen to others twice as much as you speak. Giving other people your full attention will go far in helping you attract clients with whom you can share your story in the first place.