6 Ways Entrepreneurs Can Safely Share Personal Stories to Build Trust with Customers

Build a community that trusts and wants to engage with you!

It used to be all about cold calling and hard sales, but times are changing thankfully. It’s now moving more towards building a community via storytelling that builds trust in what you the person, not the product is all about. These days people seem to have a real interest in the backstories of how a product came to be.

With that in mind storytelling and sharing personal experiences can be pretty powerful stuff, but there is a downside if it is not done correctly. This can be anything from destroying a companies reputation to triggering a customer or even oversharing information and putting yourself at risk!

So, how can we ensure that as entrepreneurs and business leaders we share our stories in a safe, efficient way that gets results?

1. If you wouldn’t put it on a billboard…

The number 1 bit of advice that was given to me during some training into public speaking is that if you wouldn’t want it on a billboard or shout it out at a bus stop, random I know then don’t share it! Share what you feel comfortable sharing. Although showing some vulnerability can help in building trust with customers it isn’t worth impacting your wellbeing. You have to get the balance right. Sharing too many personal details or confidential information on others can also put you at risk, especially if you start sharing personal information that is linked to passwords.

2. Triggering words and topics

Be mindful of the words and topics you are covering. If it is a sensitive subject be sure to use a disclaimer at the becoming and make people aware of what you will cover and offer support at the end. Such as giving the details for websites, telephone numbers, or apps that could help.

3. Don’t wing it — practice it!

A majority of the time it’s so obvious when someone is just winging it — unless of course, they are a professional winger! It’s important to speak with emotion and not sound like a robot, but by ‘winging it’ you increase the risk of saying something you may later regret or oversharing. Write down some bullet points and practice to others, the pets, or in front of the mirror.

4. Be mindful of your body language

I had a habit of shaking my head when talking as if to say no. If you are trying to talk about a fact from your life, but your body language is doing the opposite of your words is this NOT going to build trust. Body language plays a big part in storytelling so lean forwards towards your audience and engage with them. Make eye contact smile, ask questions and take questions. Do not just be mindful of your body language but that of the audience too. How are they responding to what you are saying?

5. No bad-mouthing the opposition

When storytelling to build trust and deeper connections it’s important to keep things positive and inspiring. By all means, you can still be competitive, but do this in a kind and respectful manner. Customers prefer to buy from real people who have certain values and conduct. Moaning and bad-mouthing will make you look unprofessional.

6. Create boundaries

Think about the relevance of the story you wish to share with the business and also create some boundaries. This will then help minimize the risk of oversharing. Get personal, but not too personal. Change the names of people you might want to mention in the story. Do not give in-depth location details.

Why share stories?

Now we know how to share our stories safely why should we submit and make ourselves vulnerable to our customers. Storytelling can connect us to others and build trust. Philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1964) said that stories can open our eyes to the things we know and didn’t know we know.

Storytelling can also make us feel not so alone in our experiences. This can lead to building deeper connections and trust with our clients. We all have our stories to tell so what’s yours?

👉 Check out my Lists to discover my stories, other publications and awesome writers 🖤

References:

Storytelling as a research tool and intervention around public health perceptions and behaviour: a protocol for a systematic narrative review | BMJ Open (accessed June 2021).