Avionics News August 2014 - 48

Advertisers Index
Aero Standard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Aerospace Instrument Support Inc. . . . 70
Aerospace Optics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Aircell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Aircraft Electronics Association. . . . . . . 71
AVweb. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
BendixKing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Cutter Aviation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Dallas Avionics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IFC
Device Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
EDMO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BC
Express Calibration Services . . . . . . . . 71
Flight Display Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Flying Magazine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
FreeFlight Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Garmin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3, 61
Georgetown Instrument Services . . . . . 44
GlobalParts.aero . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
J. Ben Vernazza CPA/PFS TEP (UK) . . . . . 71
L-3 Aviation Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Pacific Southwest Instruments . . . . . . IBC
ProCal Laboratories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Sandia Aerospace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Sun Aviation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Tech-Aid Products. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Tri-Star Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
True Blue Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

48

AVIONICS NEWS

*

AUGUST

2014

BUSINESS BASICS

Continued from page 47

employees context, meaning and opportunity to wrap into their personal
narrative, according to Shawn Callahan, founder of management
consultancy Anecdote. In other words, to change your company for
the better - to build on successes and grow from failures - you need
to shape the story they tell themselves, which drives how they perform
their jobs.
Stories drive the emotions of customer purchases, too. The foundation
is your origin story, which fits into the "about us" page online, your
sales presentations, white papers and other prospect-level touches. It
helps customers connect to you by describing who you are, why you do
what you do, and what you do for others. But it builds by explaining,
for example, the events or frustrations that led you to start your
repair shop, the obstacles you've overcome along the way, the lessons
those challenges taught you, and how all of these makes you special,
according to Jordan Warman of marketing company Big Idea Video.
Prospects want to know who you are so they can trust you, and this
honest "hero's tale" shows them.
Build on the origin story; show how you live it daily with add-on
anecdotes in blog entries, social media posts, videos, podcasts and case
studies. For example, instead of walking a prospect through the install
process with a bullet-pointed list, tell the "adventure story" of a recent
customer who's similar to your prospect and made a similar journey.
Discuss what went right, how you overcame challenges and how your
team worked hard to ensure his satisfaction. Likewise, ask your favorite
customers to tell their stories and how you helped resolve them. Real
people, explaining real situations and sharing real emotions, help future
customers believe you're able to solve their problems, too.
CRAFTING CHRONICLES
No business story needs to be a Hollywood production. Simple, short
and authentically true is better. Purposeful, appropriate to the listener
and positive is best. The positive part, the happy ending, is critical; you
want the listener to get a little brain buzz of feeling good.
But stories must be crafted to present the most meaning, so be sure
you know what you're trying to say and why. A good story will usually
have five distinct beats straight out of Shakespeare.
The first introduces your inciting incident, or the event that forced
you to change - the irate customer who demanded you buckle down, a
tyrannical boss who motivated you to quit and do business your way, or
the personal experience that made you start exercising. Set the scene and
use relevant, memorable details. Show vulnerability, too; sharing early
struggles makes later accomplishments look bigger. If you're likeable,
listeners will root for you to succeed.
Avionics News August 2014

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