How To Help Customers Choose You

A strategic narrative introduces your own unique way to see the world.

In my four-story model, that’s mainly what the perspective story does. The other three stories are:

• the origin story
• the opportunity story
• the product story

Since those stories are all connected as a system, they also reinforce your perspective. But there is one story dedicated to this function in particular: again, it’s the perspective story.

So what do I mean by the perspective story? Here is a list of ways to think about it.

Your own position

Before your idea became a product, it was probably just a particular set of beliefs and assumptions. You took a position about a particular subject, and you started building a viewpoint on how to address the problem that you wanted to solve initially.

Chances are, this new perspective came as an evolution of long-established best practices.

But you experienced something different. So, your perspective is how you believe your customer should be able to realize a new opportunity.

Your perspective is the particular philosophy that you’re known for.

It is not your product just yet, although your product (or service) is a materialization of your perspective.

But it could be new technology, intellectual property, or even your culture.

A reason to disagree

In the context of a business, your perspective story shows your difference.

Your perspective helps people chose you or move on and find someone else to buy from. When we hear and see how your perspective diverges from others, we see more clearly why we should work with you, join your mission, or invest in your venture.

So if you’re trying to differentiate, how convergent with the norm is your perspective?

Declaring a divergent perspective could seem like a risk. But it's a chance to separate yourself from the crowd.

A poetic way to define it

I couldn’t resist and share this quote with you.

"The real voyage of discovery consists, not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes." Marcel Proust

This illustrates what a perspective does in the context of innovation.

Want to discover more?

Join me next Thursday, May 27th, at 9:00 am Pacific. It’s free.

Every Thursday at 9:00 am Pacific, you are invited to attend a free 30-minute talk+conversation about one of the strategic narrative principles in the book that I am writing. I call these meetings the Strategic Narrative Underground Sessions.

I talk for about 15 minutes, and then we discuss a specific aspect of what you’ve learned. I answer your questions, and this is also a chance for me to gather your feedback.

At the end of the call, you will get access to the Google document with the manuscript of my book. Each time you join, you get access to a new pattern. You can join for free as many times as you want.

Register in advance for this meeting here.

It’s free.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.