Storytelling is a powerful way to send a message to your customers.  A story delivered to your customer is a relevant abstract of a more in-depth problem or need that your customer may not know they have.  If positioned properly with your customer, a story can lead to a sale, upsell, or cross-sell.

My car radiator began to leak.  I called the shop to explain the problem.  They explained that they could repair my radiator in a day.

Upon arrival at the repair shop, the service manager asked me to describe what model of car I had.  I told him.  He then stated: 

"You know, transmissions on those cars are very tough on oil so the oil should be "flushed" every 10,000 miles or so.  We just had a car come in here yesterday with a failed transmission.  The cost of replacing a transmission on one of these cars is about $5,000.

We are running a special on transmission flushes, would you like one?"

I refocused the service manager on my immediate problem, the leaky radiator - which will take a day (and $500.) to replace, but also stated that I would consider the tranny flush in the future.

His message about the tranny flush was so perfectly positioned to me that I have added his comment to my blog, which inadvertently starts a viral campaign, informing all my viewers about my marketing analogy, but also, and inadvertently bringing to your attention, how important it is to change the oil in your transmission frequently ... so as to avoid disaster.

A wonderful analogy of street-marketing in action that translates into real sales.          www.onlinesupermarketing.com  www.changemanagers.com  www.collaborateworld.com