«Return to Blog List Story Musings from the Depths of a Bad Cold
This past week, I was down with a cold. And while it was tough to work, and even harder to come up with new blog ideas, my radar for customer stories kept on working.
There are a lot of cold remedies out there, and who knows what really works? But in our house, we turn to Cold-EEZE. Not sure if the zinc lozenges actually help reduce cold symptoms, or we just think they do.
But while popping a Cold-EEZE, I discovered a little coaster-size card in the box.
It’s a customer testimonial, and a good one. What makes it good? The testimonial itself – while short – still tells a story.
The customer, a teen girl, describes her problem with good detail, what the remedy was and then the positive outcome. Cold-EEZE saved her prom.
With a storytelling testimonial, we get a visual of the girl, her challenge and the happy result. Most importantly, we feel the emotion of her situation.
It just goes to show that, no matter how short or long your customer success stories, the classic story format and customer emotion drive home the message.
What a great example of a fantastic story. Writers often tell me they think it takes TOO LONG to tell a story. Or that stories AREN’T APPROPRIATE to business writing. You’ve provided me with the perfect real-life answer to both those comments. Thanks!!
Daphne, thanks for your comment! So true, you can tell a story in even fewer words than that. It reminds me of that Hemingway quote, where he was challenged to tell a story in under 10 words: “For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn.”