Effective marketing involves engaging potential customers with the value of what you offer. Most people, including me, don't naturally do this though. We tend to tell people about the features or process of our product or service. Maybe we do this in an attempt to prove that we offer something of real substance. Whatever the reason, we don't grab people's attention in this way.

The thing is that most people aren't interested in features and process, at least not at first. In fact, a lot of people can be put off by too much of this sort of thing. Nothing kills my enthusiasm faster when buying a laptop, for example, than endless lists about gigabites, RAM and graphics cards. I don't really get technical lists and find this sort of information boring.

Value, on the other hand, isn't boring because it speaks to the individual about how a product or service can overcome their problems, meet their needs or fulfil their aspirations.

A great way of demonstrating value is through telling stories, and the best stories are told by the people who have been there before. Think about the reviews from previous customers that you get with online shopping sites. These ‘stories’ are great for demonstrating the value of products and can be far more useful than technical specifications in deciding what to buy.

We asked our clients for their stories about the value they get from us. We learned a huge amount about our own services and our clients got value simply from telling the stories. They gained further insights, made connections they hadn't made previously and found the whole experience very positive.

They also enjoyed it. Let's face it, people love telling stories.

If you want to understand something about the value of coaching, take a look at the client outcomes on our website. The stories here focus on the difference our programmes make for people and for businesses. They're interesting as well.