It's finally in -- we are now receiving quantifiable results about the impact of working with stories in organizations.

Lori Silverman in her book, Wake Me Up When The Data's Over: How Organizations Use Stories      To Generate Results (2006), documents the results companies experienced when including stories in core business practices.  From financial turnarounds to effective branding, the aggregate statistics from 72 companies in the book showed:

1. 36 percent demonstrated improved financial performance through increased growth, profitability, and/or increased funding.
2. 18 percent show a link between story and furthering specific organizational goals.
3. 17 percent reported increased levels of engagement between people and the organization and/or higher levels of teamwork.
4. 17 percent showed a positive impact on the amount and type of customer feedback, improved customer satisfaction and/or improved customer perceptions of the brand.
5. 11 percent demonstrated decreased work flow cycle time, improved speed of message delivery or time to market, and increased efficiencies.
6. 10 percent reported an impact on training feedback and effectiveness, including transfer of skills and knowledge to the workplace.
7. 8 percent noted positive cultural changes.

Other results from story use included increased visibility through media or industry awards and rankings, closing more deals with clients, improved staff retention, practical problem solving, bringing core values to life, overcoming issues, improved employee satisfaction, and decreased employee absenteeism.

To learn more about the book, the companies featured, and the results they experienced, check out our Product page.

These results were reported in "There are five sides to every story: Which are you missing?" Communication World (January-February 2007), by Lori Silverman.

Real Client Stories, Real Results:

The Boring Politician
One client, a politician and former California State Treasurer, was interviewed by a national financial magazine while he was running for an office.  He was exceptionally well prepared with all the correct facts and data.  When the article appeared, the writer ended by saying the candidate was the most boring person he had ever interviewed.  Where was the passion?  Where was the leadership vision? He was devastated and knew he needed help because his ideas were not getting across and sparking action.  After working together however, not only was he telling his compelling life stories, this politician received standing ovations.  He inspired others with his leadership stories and vision.  Even more, he found inspiration by continually exploring his stories.

Gain Money or Go Bust
A start-up technology company client, Telena Communications, had a great product and brilliant engineers.  They had a great product and brilliant engineers, but they couldn’t communicate their way out of a hat.  They needed investors to bring the product to market.  When the CEO contacted me, we both agreed the company did not know what story to tell, nor how to tell it to bring in dollars.  During our sessions, each principal crafted their own personal story that conveyed their product’s uniqueness, plus their passion, dreams, and relevant life experience.  After working together to craft their compelling story, they were able to raise close to a million dollars in initial seed money.  That's the difference a compelling story can make!

As Long As I Live
One client, Ray Jutkins, was at the top of his game, nationally and internationally when diagnosed with a terminal illness.  A year of treatment and he was in remission.  In the process, his entire life purpose changed.  He felt compelled to share with others the lessons he had learned.  We worked together to craft his life story that he delivers all across the country -- and when he does, there’s hardly a dry eye in the house.

The Power Of A Dream
Gale Walker owned a day care center in a left-behind area of San Diego.  She and the parents of the children in her center had a dream of a revitalized and vibrant community.  The day care center owner started on a quest and on the sheer force of her presence, received grants, and assistance to develop that community.  But now it was time to develop housing and involve the city and county stakeholders in a big way.  I worked with the center owner and others in their community to craft their stories so they were cohesive and compelling.  Their stories inspired others. Key stakeholders came on board.  Coalitions were made.  Money poured in.  The community is realizing its dream today.

Three Minutes to Impact
A client was called on to introduce a major business figure and friend at an upcoming press conference to launch the friend’s candidacy in an upcoming state election.  We worked together to find a compelling story to deliver in three minutes or less.  At the press conference, my client had not only successfully conveyed how the two had met, but also the qualities his friend embodied that made him a perfect fit for the office he was pursuing.  After the introduction, his friend was beaming and the press had just the right kind of information about the candidate to write about.

Radio Show
A nationwide training company, Mission Control Productivity Inc., was making headway in its unique offering.  But the CEO kept getting asked to do interviews, particularly radio interviews.  He was nervous and concerned because he didn’t want to derail the progress of his company by being boring or tedious on air or in print.  So we worked together to craft a number of short but powerful personal stories about his company’s product and the results he and others had.  Radio show hosts loved the stories, kept asking for more, didn’t want to go to commercial breaks, invited him back, and the CEO had a ton of fun while doing it all!