We never outgrow story time.

From an early age, humans can judge a good story. Even if the subject of the story does not appeal to you, you still know when a story works. It may be the subject is super relevant or how the story is told but, if it’s entertaining and engaging, when the story is good there is a connection.

In business today, making a connection with your customer is key to building mindshare, and your story is at the epicenter of the effort. Mindshare is simply not achievable without a good story.

It’s an undeniable marketing truth and one of the Laws of Mindshare: a bad story — or worse, no story — is a mindshare deal breaker.

Your mindshare efforts start with your ability to clearly communicate your company’s value proposition(s). The story must accomplish this with brevity, brilliance and believability. The goal of your story is to establish relevance, create fondness, establish trust and, eventually, a foster a commitment to your business relationship.

So, whether you’re getting your story straight, revisiting your story or starting fresh, it is wise revisit the basics of your value proposition. Here is a simple checklist to get you thinking mindshare:

1. Can you articulate what it is your company does? Sounds pretty basic, but you may be surprised at the lack of “brevity, brilliance and believability.”
2. What problem are you solving for your customers? It should be the central theme and plot of your story, and is often completely overlooked!
3. Just how committed are you to your value proposition?  Is your promise believable? Will the market trust you? What benefit should your customer expect gain?

Before you get creative with names, slogans, taglines and illustrations, and start cranking out videos and LinkedIn posts, your story needs a foundation built with the messaging informed by answers to the above questions.

Every day is story time. What’s yours?