There’s a grocery store here in Florida where its check-out people always comment on your purchases. They either compliment your selection, talk about the good value of the product on sale, or they ask you how you use it or how you like to cook it. It doesn’t happen on every item but it always happens in every transaction. I doubt it’s coincidental. I’m sure it’s part of their customer service practice.
Yesterday, I saw the same type of conversation occurring at the competitor. But that store took it up a notch.
The clerk told the buyer that the particular salt she was purchasing was from a 100-year-old salt mine in Eastern Europe. Being a storyteller myself, I doubted the fiction being told here. However, the customer didn’t. She hung on every word, asking questions about her “find.”
What the clerk was doing was an indirect way of complimenting the customer on a product well-selected and making her feel extra special about her purchase. I am sure she will go home and tell those who enjoy this salt that it was “mined” (or whatever salt hunting process was applied) from this century-old business. Fiction or not, I could tell it made her feel special.
Chamber Storytelling for Members
Now, I’m not advocating chambers make up stories about membership. But you don’t need to conjure up a fictitious salt mine. You likely have decades of stories from which to mine. Most people see stories as a way to entice new chamber members but they can be just as effective once someone signs as a member.
Sharing those success stories causes people to feel good about their investment. They see themselves as a part of a group that has been connecting people for decades and helping them succeed. Telling your chamber story will give people the inspiration they need to go for it.
Don’t think of chamber storytelling as simply a recruitment tool. It’s an engaging method for connection to existing members as well.
But for the chamber’s sake, ensure the stories you tell are at least based in fact or you may find yourself in a hole deeper than a Transylvanian salt mine.
