If you’ve heard about core stories, but can’t quite wrap your head around them or have questions about their importance to a business, following is information that may help.

I’ve seen core stories interpreted and delivered a number of ways, here’s my take on the subject: A core story is the essence of a company — the business they’re in, the customers they serve, and the value they offer. It’s the logical and compelling story of an offer that can drive most, if not all, aspects of a business.

Your core story is the crux of your value to existing and prospective customers. It’s the thing that drives business your way.

A core story gives you the opportunity to be an orange when compared to apples in your market. Especially in commodity markets, this makes your sales less dependent on price and availability — it’s harder to compare your offer to others and as such, it’s harder to compare price. Your core story allows prospective customers to get it quicker, making your offer more compelling than those you compete against. The result is your close ratio increases and your sales cycles shortens — both lead to making more money.

Selling more and selling faster isn’t about trickery or gimmicks of any kind, shape or form. The secret to selling more and faster is communicating better — that’s what core stories are about.

When you’re versed in the core story of your business, everything you do makes more sense and is much easier to talk about. It’s a way of thinking and looking at the things you do as a means to do things for your customers — things they acknowledge as worthy of owning.

Let me be clear, there are no silver bullets in marketing or sales — there is no one thing any of us can do to become a sales machine that attracts customers like a magnet and closes every opportunity. Core stories aren’t the exception. That said, I don’t know of any more powerful tool that’s closed more business.  If you don’t have a core story, you likely need one.

Here is a link to more information on the value of core stories. And here is a link to an eight step process to create your core story.

Hopefully this post helps further your understanding of core stories, their importance, and a process to create yours. Enjoy!