3 timeless elements of storytelling that will grow your business

The opinions expressed by entrepreneurs contributors are their own.

I run a digital marketing agency. If we're able to track a customer's earnings and connect them to the ads we serve (an e-commerce customer, for example), we can tell them - down to the penny - how much they're earning in revenue for every dollar. spent on advertisements. If that sounds like a numbers game...it is. But when I introduce clients, I don't rely on numbers.

When I introduce a client, I don't tell them that we can generate $34.12 for every $1.00 they spend on advertising. Surprisingly, that's not what seals the deal. Don't get me wrong, numbers are important, and I share numbers in every pitch I do, but they're not the most important thing. What matters more than the numbers, or any other details I might share, is whether or not I can tell a good story.

Frankly, the number bored customers. These are just checkboxes. If I start talking too much about numbers, the client's eyes glaze over and I can see that what they want to tell me is "Yes, yes, the numbers are good enough, I see that, check the box, move now, tell me a story!" Not that they are looking for just any story, they want a story they can relate to. They want a story that shows my agency has worked with someone like them before and that we got great results. But that's not all they want. Here are three things your story should include in order to convince your clients they want to work with you:

Related: Harness the Power of Storytelling to Transform Your Business for the Better

In his book, The Hero of a Thousand Faces, author Joseph Campbell described what we all today call "The Hero's Journey." To simplify, the hero is at home when suddenly the call to adventure is launched. He leaves home, faces challenges, overcomes obstacles and comes home a changed person. This story is told over and over again in books and movies, from The Hobbit to Star Wars to Harry Potter.

However, while every story needs a hero, where many entrepreneurs make a mistake is assuming that they or their business is the hero. As Donald Miller explains in his book Building a StoryBrand, "When we position our client as the hero and ourselves as the guide, we will be recognized as a trusted resource to help them overcome their challenges."< /p>

Your client is Bilbo Baggins and you are Gandalf. You are Luke Skywalker's Obi-wan Kenobi. You are Dumbledore and your client is Harry Potter.

This technique has helped at least one entrepreneur raise over $8 billion for their clients. "Most companies in our industry come to a meeting with a polite pitch, that's it, me, me, me," says Stacy Havener, CEO of Havener Capital Partners, an agency that helps investment boutiques create, launch and develop funds. "We flip the script. When we help our clients fundraise, we tell them to make their prospect the hero." Havener explained that in one case, the strategy resulted in a commitment of $10 million after just one initial meeting.

Related: 8 Tips That Will Help Your Storytelling Deliver

There's no story more boring than: "We wanted to do XYZ, so we went to work, and we did it." Where's the excitement in that? !

Entrepreneurs are tempted to tell this kind of story because we don't want to admit that we face challenges. We want the client to believe that if they work with us, everything will go perfectly, without a single hitch. However, when we leave this important element out of our story, we are not only hiding the truth, but shooting ourselves in the foot for missing a big operation...