Real Relationships Real Revenue - Audio Edition | Invest in Relationships to Build Your Business and Your Career

In the last couple of episodes, we talked about the power of positioning. We covered how you can communicate value to your client and the importance of using three reasons to make it more believable. In this episode of Real Relationships Real Revenue, we are diving into how using three is more memorable as well. Topics We Cover in This Episode:  Why 3s and 4s are more memorable The three levels that you might talk about your positioning Why it’s up to you to determine how to add more value It is up to you to figure out how you're clearly going to add more value than anybody else. Boil it down to three things, because that's more believable and memorable to your clients. Show how in this exact position, you are going to provide a unique value.  Don’t just rely on simple marketing-driven differentiation. I want you to go up two notches to the “deal” level and help them understand how you are truly unique and how working with you will benefit them. Make sure to check out the research about why 3s are more memorable.  Resources Mentioned: Read the Rouder research about 3s

This week we are talking about positioning and how you can communicate your value in a way that’s memorable and clearly benefits the client, so you can start getting chosen more often. In this episode of Real Relationships Real Revenue, I’m diving into the Power of Three and why it matters when talking to clients. Topics We Cover in This Episode:  Why three is the perfect number Why you need to include three reasons a client should work with you The research that supports this method Having too many reasons a client should work with you is too confusing; having too few reasons can be confusing as well. There is research that shows three is the perfect number of reasons you should include when talking to a potential client about why they should work with you.  If you want to learn more about the research about this from Dr. Suzanne Shu, make sure to check it out here. This study is actually quite readable and the concept is incredibly powerful so I highly recommend that you dig in.  Resources Mentioned: Read Dr. Suzanne Shu’s research: https://doi.org/10.1509/jm.11.0504

How do you position yourself uniquely so that you can win more often? In this episode of Real Relationships Real Revenue, I’m diving into the topic of positioning. I have found that this is very rarely taught but it’s a critical skill to make yourself unique in the mind of the buyer.  Topics We Cover in This Episode:  The law of positioning Why people don’t care about your accolades The three words to use when talking to a client  People don’t care about your accolades, they care about how you are going to impact them. So try to avoid talking too much about yourself when speaking to clients. Simple messages win. You want to shape the decision criteria and convey your messages so that it shows a clear benefit to the client.  This may seem nebulous, but I’m going to give you the process of how to accomplish this over the next couple of videos. Make sure to check out the Cryder research that I mentioned in this episode. This research is incredibly powerful and I think you’ll really enjoy it.  Resources Mentioned: Read the Cryder research: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2012.08.002

Storytelling is an incredibly powerful tool for business growth. It’s even more important than most people realize. Studies show that when people create a story around facts, it drastically increases the ability of people to remember those facts.   This week on Real Relationships Real Revenue, I’m sharing the elements that make up a compelling story and the most important types of stories that you need to have ready to go to really make an impact on your clients.  Topics We Cover in This Episode:  Why storytelling is important How stories help people remember what they’re told How stories connect people  The power of using words that convey the five senses The importance of taking stories seriously What the Call is in a story Using a hero and a villain in your story When the hero accepts the Call How to use the Call when you talk to clients What needs to be included in the Conflict How to choose the elements to highlight in your conflict The most critical part of sharing the Conflict in your story The importance of cutting out the extra detail and only including what’s important to the recipient  What to cover during the Conclusion Why stories fall flat without the Conclusion Why you should never skip over this part of your story Why you need to have an origin story The elements to include in your origin story Why you need to have a client success story How many client success stories you need How to perfect your stories Storytelling is an incredibly powerful way to get people to remember you and connect with you on a deeper level. When used in business, you can wow your clients by telling compelling stories that illustrate your expertise and experiences.  By including the three essential elements of your story: the Call, the Conflict, and the Conclusion, you will deliver more powerful stories that people can’t help but remember.  It’s so important that you don’t take these stories for granted. Take the time to figure them out.  If you pay attention to the key stories and really tighten the screws, you will use them forever and your time spent will be well worth it.  Resources Mentioned: Check out Dr. Bollinger’s study Listen to my conversation with Nancy about storytelling Learn more about Joseph Campbell Check out The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers Watch The Power of Myth videos with Joseph Campbell Listen to my origin story

We have covered the three powerful elements of a story - the Call, the Conflict, and the Conclusion. In today’s episode of Real Relationships Real Revenue, we are going to learn about the most important types of stories that you’ll want to have memorized and ready to go so that you can share them whenever you need a compelling allusion. Topics We Cover in This Episode:  Why you need to have an origin story The elements to include in your origin story Why you need to have a client success story How many client success stories you need How to perfect your stories It’s important that you really take the time to get these stories right. Your origin story should be only a few minutes but it should give a really compelling story about why you do what you do and how you came to have the expertise you have.  You should have as many client success stories as you have offers. That way, no matter what offer you’re talking about, you have an engaging and compelling story ready to share with that client.  It’s so important that you don’t take these stories for granted. Take the time to figure them out.  If you pay attention to the key stories and really tighten the screws, you will use them forever and your time spent will be well worth it.    Resources Mentioned: Listen to my origin story

In the last couple of episodes, we covered the first two elements of storytelling - the Call and the Conflict - and why they are so important to your stories. In today’s episode of Real Relationships Real Revenue, I’m talking about the third and final element, the Conclusion. In my opinion, this is the most important piece of the puzzle… but so many people miss it. They all think it ends when the hero accomplishes the goal, but it doesn’t! The Conclusion is where you summarize the impact of what really happened.  Topics We Cover in This Episode:  What to cover during the Conclusion Why stories fall flat without the Conclusion Why you should never skip over this part of your story This part of the story is where you really stick the landing. By sharing everything that came out of the story, you really get to share the massive impact that you were able to achieve. You show the clients what is possible in these types of situations.  Now that we have concluded covering the elements of a story and why they all matter, in the next video I’m going to be sharing some important types of stories that you want to have memorized and ready to go so that you can use them over and over again.    Resources Mentioned: Watch The Power of Myth videos with Joseph Campbell

This week on Real Relationships Real Revenue, we have been diving into the power and science of storytelling in business. There are three main elements to a great story and they are the Call, the Conflict, and the Conclusion. In the last episode, we talked about the Call, and in this episode, we are talking more about the Conflict and why it matters in your storytelling.    Topics We Cover in This Episode:  What needs to be included in the Conflict How to choose the elements to highlight in your conflict The most critical part of sharing the Conflict in your story The importance of cutting out the extra detail and only including what’s important to the recipient    When explaining the Conflict to your client, you want to eliminate the extraneous detail and only highlight the elements of the story that are important to the client and show them how you can move their life forward. This is a critical part of telling a good story.  A great conflict helps everyone achieve more than they ever thought possible. The setup is in the Call where everyone is reluctant, but the Conflict is where you can truly show how much is really possible when you work together.  Up next, we are diving into the Conclusion. It’s extremely powerful but it is the most often missed element of storytelling and I can’t wait to share how you can use it in your storytelling.    Resources Mentioned: Learn more about Joseph Campbell Check out The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers

For any great story, there are three major elements. Based on Joseph Campbell’s work, we know that those three major elements are the Call, the Conflict, and the Conclusion. These elements are all you need to create a great story. In this episode of Real Relationships Real Revenue, I am diving into the Call.     Topics We Cover in This Episode:  What the Call is in a story Using a hero and a villain in your story When the hero accepts the Call How to use the Call when you talk to clients   There’s a reason that visionaries like George Lucas use Joseph Campell’s strategy for storytelling. It’s profoundly impactful and makes your audience feel a deep connection to you and what you’re telling them.  It’s easy to want to skip the Call in your story altogether and go straight to the win, but you have to take the time to set the story up properly for it to have the impact you want it to.  In the next couple of episodes, we are going to be diving into the Conflict and the Conclusion and how to use them in your storytelling.    Resources Mentioned: Listen to my conversation with Nancy about storytelling

Storytelling is an incredibly powerful tool for business growth. It’s even more important than most people realize. Studies show that when people create a story around facts, it drastically increases the ability of people to remember those facts.     Topics We Cover in This Episode:  Why storytelling is important How stories help people remember what they’re told How stories connect people  The power of using words that convey the five senses The importance of taking stories seriously   Not only do stories help us remember what we’re being told, but they also help us become part of the story as we hear it. That makes it hugely connective to the person telling the story and why it is so impactful.    In the next couple of episodes, I’m going to be covering how you construct a story, how you get the benefits, the top stories that you need to memorize and practice, and so much more. But today, I want to emphasize the importance of taking this seriously. Don’t just wing it! It’s so powerful when used correctly. If you do it right, people are going to remember more about you and they’re going to feel more connected to you.  Check out the Bauer and Clark study: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Narrative-stories-as-mediators-for-serial-learning-Bower-Clark/a0afe969bac3536ec69c15f4a5c499b5473f61d0

This week we are diving into how you can use Building Everything Together or the IKEA effect to win over your clients. This means you're going to co-create the proposals, contracts, and the way that you do business with your clients in a way that gives them some incremental buy-in on how you're going to do the work. This is an incredibly powerful method to use in business. In this episode, we dive into what the IKEA method is, how to use it during formal processes, having the investment conversation, getting incremental yeses, and what to do when things go wrong. These tips will help you stand out from the competition and get those clients to buy-in to your offer.    Tune in to find out more about: The optimal way to use the IKEA effect with your clients The four incremental yeses you’re looking for What to do if your clients are not engaged Using a call to get the first three yeses Why assumptions made in a formal proposal don’t work Tips for co-creating with a client  Why you shouldn’t avoid the financial conversation How to share your number verbally with your client, not in a proposal Why we want to talk about finances in person with our clients The mindset shift needed when using the IKEA effect The importance of engaging the IKEA effect as much as you can Tips for co-creation within the formal process What to do when priorities change What to do when the timeline changes What to do when the team changes What to do when there are issues around finances   By getting your clients involved in the way you do business, you’re giving yourself an edge over the competition and ensuring that you stand out. Don’t be afraid to utilize the IKEA effect or Building Everything Together. Even if you don’t think you have any room to use this method, you probably still do, you just need to shift your mindset. Don’t waste your time or your clients' time using methods that don’t work. Make the most of your efforts and increase buy-in drastically by co-creating the perfect offer with your clients!  Mentioned in this episode:  The IKEA effect: when labor leads to love https://dash.harvard.edu/handle/1/12136084 Listen to my interview with Mike Duffy:  https://video.realrelationshipsrealrevenue.com/what-business-development-really-means-according-to-mike-duffy/ Check out my talk with Jeff Berardi: https://video.realrelationshipsrealrevenue.com/what-business-development-really-means-according-to-jeff-berardi/ Check out my conversation with Brent Atkins: https://video.realrelationshipsrealrevenue.com/brent-atkins-favorite-business-development-strategy/ Learn from Debby Moorman about how she uses Build Everything Togethe: https://video.realrelationshipsrealrevenue.com/debby-moormans-favorite-business-development-strategy/