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From the ancient times to current day – stories continue to hold readers and listeners spellbound. There is nothing better than a good story. It works almost like magic. You can give people information and motivate using stories without having the barriers that come up normally. This is a seldom used copywriting technique that work wonders for your bottom line.

Here are a few examples of successfully using stories:

The first is the single most successful letter ever mailed according to Denny Hatch, former editor of “Who’s Mailing What?”. How about that for proof this trigger works? It is the famous Wall Street Journal mailing with “two young men”. Here’s how the story (and copy) starts:

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“On a beautiful late spring afternoon, twenty-five years ago, two young men graduated from the same college. They were very much alike, these two young men. Both had been better than average students, both were personable and both – as young college graduates are – were filled with ambitious dreams for the future.

Recently, these two men returned to college for their 25th reunion.

They were still very much alike. Both were happily married. Both had three children. And both, it turned out, had gone to work for the same company Midwestern manufacturing company after graduation, and were still there.

But there was a difference. One of the men was manager of a small department of that company. The other was its president.”

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Here’s another example, it is from Joe Sugarman’s most famous ads for Blu-Blocker sunglasses. He uses a story approach:

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“I’m about to tell you a true story. If you believe me, you will be well rewarded. If you don’t believe me, I will make it worth your while to change your mind. Let me explain.

Len is friend of mine who knows good products. One day he called excited about a pair of sunglasses he owned. “It’s so incredible,” he said, “when you first look through a pair, you won’t believe it.”

“What will I see?” I asked. “What could be so incredible?”

Len continued, “When you put on these glasses, your vision improves. Objects appear sharper, more defined. Everything takes on an enhanced 3-D effect. And it’s not my imagination. I just want you to see for yourself.”

* * *

And the copy continues in a story fashion. You’ll notice Joe’s friend talks about the benefits of the sunglasses inside the dialogue so prospects don’t have their “ad defenses” up. It slips right by.

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Find more about Yanik Silver at Your Success Club

By Anders Sorman-Nilsson

You know it’s going to be a bad day when she storms into the building, screams at the receptionist, walks in without saying hello to anyone and slams the door of her office behind her.

You see her typing away furiously on her keyboard behind closed doors and it isn’t long before you hear the incoming mail alert.

“Dear colleagues,

Our productivity was below average this month and as such, we will be instituting new rules, effective immediately:

• Bathroom breaks are to take no longer than five minutes and are not to be taken more than twice a day.
• Coffee breaks are hereby banned. You are paid to work, not to drink coffee and chat. You can do these things on your own time.
• Women in the office are to wear concealing clothing and no make up. We feel you are distracting your male colleagues and this must stop.
• Spot desk checks will be performed. Your desk is a place for you to put your work. Photo’s of ‘loved ones’, cartoons or other distractions will not be tolerated.”

So, perhaps the above story is a little exaggerated (or perhaps not, in my own experience!), but we’ve all worked in offices with managers who make you wonder how they actually got to be managers in the first place. After all, it clearly had nothing to do with their people skills.

Type A personalities of the old school Anglo ‘Command and Control’ style of top down management are thankfully becoming a rarity in Australia, but remnants of this archaic and aggressive style of management can still be seen in corporate Australia from time to time.

Interestingly, the above picture is in direct contrast to the Swedish style of Management.

In Sweden, the manager is considered to be a facilitator rather than a dictator.

It is common for staff to go on long coffee breaks, with management’s blessing, in order to reach consensus on different ideas and thoughts.

Consensus is really the key word when it comes to Swedish Managers. Like Australians, the Swedes pride themselves on being an egalitarian society. However, they take it a little further than Australians, particularly in the workplace.

It is not uncommon for a Swedish manager to work within an open door style management framework, allowing employees to come and speak about the concerns and worries they have and facilitating a solutions-based discussion.

In this country, it is an outlandish and perhaps revolutionary idea – that by not cracking the whip you may actually be able to achieve better results from people. The Swedish style of management is also on trend, as coaching, mentoring and facilitation are becoming the catch phrases of choice in 21st century management vocabulary.

The concept of personal responsibility is a culture within the Swedish workplace. This puts the onus back on the worker to, in many ways, manage themselves and this is backed up by the fact that everyone else is doing the same thing and it has become an expected standard of behaviour.

Importantly, this is also the style of management that Generations X and Y are inherently drawn to. So, guess what? If you want your company to build its employer brand and become an employer of choice among Gen X and Y, you need to make sure that your managers are adept at this open style of Swedish-designed management.

The Swedish style of management also lends itself to innovation – as evidenced by highly innovative Swedish companies, like IKEA. The freedom people feel to speak their minds without fear of negative repercussions or put-downs leads to an environment in which innovation can flourish.

The Swedes understand that by listening to all ideas, even the ones that seem foolish, they foster a culture of employees who think for themselves.

This is not a practice that can be replicated and implemented overnight. It needs to be ongoing, so that employees have time to trust and believe that this isn’t just a one-off change and that everything will revert to normal fairly soon. A corporate culture of personal responsibility will also take time to foster.

The pay offs, however, are potentially substantial. Managers will spend less of their time managing disputes and grievances and more time fostering consensus among staff; staff will be more content and have a greater investment in the success of the organisation; innovation and free-thought will flourish; and attraction and retention of staff, particularly those in Generations X and Y, will become easier.

It seems clear that Australian managers potentially have a lot to learn from their Swedish counterparts.

By opening the door on consensus-based Swedish-style management, Australian organisations may find a range of benefits, for less effort, than they had ever thought possible.

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For more information about Anders Sorman-Nilsson, please go to: www.Thinque.com.au