For the most part, everyone enjoys sharing about themselves. We can pull from our memories to tell a story or share about our personhood to help others get to know us. It’s the basics of most conversations, especially conversations with people we are meeting for the first time. “Great to meet you, Kim. Where are you from?” or “Thanks for joining today. Let’s start by sharing something unique about ourselves!” Sound familiar? Both examples are going to allow you to get to know people you’re connecting with a little bit better.
In the aging services industry, there are a lot of instances where you are meeting people for the first time with the goal to offer a solution to a challenge. In these cases, you need to dig deeper than surface-level getting-to-know-you questions. But how do you do that without being too invasive or seeming too impersonal?
Let’s circle back to the notion that generally people like sharing about themselves. But approach matters! Engaging in storytelling is a friendlier approach than filling out a questionnaire or peppering a potential client or customer with questions they’re likely tired of answering! And when the receiver has honed their listening skills, a lot can be learned in a few minutes of sharing.
Let’s use AGE-u-cate’s FlashBack cards as an example to bring this all together. Flashback is a set of reminiscing cards providing images that span multiple generations. This resource can be used in a variety of settings with the main goal of leveraging pictures to elicit stories!
I am the sales director for a senior living community. I am meeting with the adult child of a potential resident for the first time today to learn more about her mom's needs and give the daughter a tour of the community.
Learn one thing about the personhood of the potential resident and highlight a connection on the community tour.
I will pre-select 10 or 12 FlashBack cards with images connected to my goal and have them neatly scattered on the coffee or side table of the meeting space.
After niceties, I will ask the adult daughter:
“I look forward to meeting your mom soon! Even though she is not here today, it’s important to me to get to know her as well as you. Here are some images – select a few that remind you of your mom.”
Once the daughter has selected a few images, I will ask her to share more about each image and how it connects to her mom.
While the daughter is sharing, I am listening for key personhood statements that tell me more about how the potential resident might engage with my community. Do the stories the daughter is sharing tell me her mom is more extroverted or introverted? Am I able to pick up on any major points of interest?
After listening to the stories shared, I will validate what I heard connected to my goal.
“Thank you for sharing more about your mom! It sounds like she is very active in her community. How nice that she can stay connected to her teaching career by volunteering at your children’s school! Am I correct that a sense of community will be important for her to find in her new home?”
My tour goals have now solidified with the intention to introduce the daughter to Vivian, President of the Resident Council to share opportunities for involvement in the community. And a next step is to invite the potential resident to join for lunch when a local children’s group will be visiting for intergenerational programming.
There are many ways to get connected to customers or clients. If your focus is to create lasting relationships while quickly moving a prospect through the sales or support journey, give this storytelling strategy a try!
If you're in need of visuals to support your storytelling goals, grab a set of Flashback cards today.