Value is a tricky thing – it lies in the eyes of the beholder. But here’s a trick that can transfer perceived value from one person to another…

Our local Christmas market could not compare with Vienna’s, where I was earlier this month for the Global Peter Drucker Forum.

But the local one was even better, because my wife was with me. The only ‘downside’ being that we actually bought something… 😀

Storytelling played a role in the sale. Hardly surprising:

People don’t buy the best product. They buy products and services that they understand, and that resonate with them.

How a story saved a sale

So at the Christmas market, my wife sees this beautiful ceramic platter. Great quality, not too expensive – certainly not when you consider it’s hand-made. So my wife is thinking about getting some pottery. But there’s really no urgency. We’re about to move on without buying anything.

My wife just asks a question, you know, to be polite. She asks, “Did you make these yourself?”

The lady selling the pottery gives us a wistful smile and tells us this story:

She was on holiday at Lake Como in Italy and bought this beautiful ceramic platter from this old Italian lady. Which she treasured for 14 years. One day it broke. So husband and wife try and find a good replacement for this plate. They go to all the local shops. They search high and low. But nothing will fill the gap on the shelf or in this lady’s heart left behind by this piece of pottery.

Eventually they go back to Lake Como, simply in the hope of encountering this old lady again. They find her, and not only do they buy a replacement platter. They think to themselves: This is such good pottery, and it’s such a good price, why don’t we start importing this? So they start selling it in Switzerland.

The brain craves stories

When she told that story, what was happening in the brain? As this lady was talking about treasuring the pottery, part of my wife was doing the same.

I call this TRANSFERRABLE PERCEIVED VALUE.

The same thing happens in fiction when one character (Watson) treats another as something special (Holmes). So do we.

Stories are bridges. Between people. Ideas. Things.

So when the lady came to the conclusion that this was fantastic value and worth a trip abroad, guess what happened?

Yup. Immediate impulse purchase.

Because the way the sales lady perceived the value of her product became the way my wife perceived its value.

Why do stories trump statistics?

We’re not rational. We like to think we are, but we’re not. No matter how sophisticated and educated we are. We can be rational, but our default mode is to make decisions emotionally first, then our subconscious quickly justifies its decision with some rationalization after the fact.

Once again, this was confirmation that…

Facts tell. Stories sell.

Where do you need to
create perceived value?

You probably have something you feel passionate about right now.

A product. A project. Something that needs buy-in.

Are you building bridges between this thing and the people who may not yet appreciate its value like you do?

Create a bridge. Transfer the perceived value. Tell a story.

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Jyoti Guptara is a speaker and bestselling author who helps organisations systematise their storytelling. This enables leaders to scale their influence so they can experience more success with less stress.

Learn how to use simple stories to achieve complex goals in my book, Business Storytelling from Hype to Hack. The exercises will help you to start hacking any communications challenge, from presentations through marketing and sales to strategy and change leadership.