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  Graeme Brown January 5, 2017 at 5:19pm

  As someone who was on sales for years the "story" malarky is just a pompus extrapolation of where in the marketplace do you want to place yourself its basicly a load of
  sh.. manure.
  I even worked for a company who came up with a name for the stories customer. She was called Rhosheen ( irish Co), 35 had two children drove a volvo xc 90
  i cant remember the rest as I alternated between pounding my head on the table and pissing myself for the rest of the meeting
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  Andrew Watts January 5, 2017 at 8:40pm

  Not so much a story but you should have a clear 60 sec elevator pitch as to why someone should use your services rather than competitor's. Does focus the mind on identifying your key advantages.
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  Russell Cobley January 6, 2017 at 8:53am

  I agree with Andrew's point on the 60 second elevator pitch - key to have spot on.

  A brand with a story can be compelling to further entice customers. However, it's relative to what your business does and who your  target market is.

  For many on here, we are targeting domestic customers as a one man band or small business. Are domestic customers really going to be sucked in or care about a back story too much? Some will, but most wont. I feel in that scenario it's more about the core basics of competitive price, excellent customer service, performing the job 100%, reliability, friendly, trust worthy, approachable and so on. To build a credible back story for your brand you need to do a lot more that have a few nice words on your About Us website page. The story needs to flow into all your marketing and company ethos to be fully effective. 

  Another view is think back to why you got started running your business, there will always a story to tell! Write it down and see if you can then add more to it for a compelling read. Get others to read it and the real test is whether they would be more likely to buy from you now! 
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    Derek Tucker > Russell Cobley January 21, 2017 at 3:22pm

    I think the idea of a brand story is really important. It is ultimately what differentiates you from your competition and an "About Us" page on a website will set the tone for who you are and what you are about. No need to embellish the story, but a little introduction is a great ice breaker. When meeting new customers they want to know a little about you before inviting you into their garden/home and if you have a few anecdotes to hand it is going to work in your favour. It shows your human side and selling yourself (which we all have to do) relies on building trust and a relationship.