Connecting With You

In my recent and growing fascination with the power of online communication, I've become intrigued with the power of stories to strengthen our connections with others. You'll see what I mean if you visit the 6billionothers.org website (see my last post).

I trace this back to a session I attended at CompassPoint's Nonprofit Day last July. The session was led by Andy Goodman, a former TV sitcom writer turned marketing communications guru. He works with nonprofits around the country to help them tell their stories. Check out his site.

So often, in marketing, we try to convince people of the value of our services, programs, and products by citing data, such as: "survey findings show that 90% of our customers were satisfied or very satisfied."

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm a market researcher and I whole-heartedly believe in the importance of surveying customers. But this statistic, like most such data, isn't very memorable. Moreover, it sounds like everyone else's marketing pitch.

On the other hand, we remember true stories and we share them with others. Take, for example, the story about Zappos, an online shoe store. As reported on the Word of Mouth Marketing Association's website, when a customer was unable to meet Zappos' deadline for returning shoes within 15 days of purchase, due to a death in the family, Zappos not only waived the deadline, but also sent flowers to the customer! Now that's customer service!

I'm not one to buy shoes online, but lately I have been seen surfing the Zappos.com website...

That's the power of a true story.

Got a good story? Please share it here.