Meet Park Howell – How to Create and Use Stories to Grow Sales?

When you tell your brand story, you help potential customers understand who you are as a company (and who you aren’t). You can set expectations of what they can expect from doing business with you — whether it be a product or service experience — and potentially influence their buying decisions. Every interaction with a customer is a chance to reinforce what makes you different and build loyalty. But how do you master the art of storytelling to ensure predictable sales?

In today’s episode, we have Park Howell, a Business Storytelling Strategist, Keynote Speaker, Sales Strategist, Coach, Podcaster, and Brand Raconteur at Business of Story. Park has been in the marketing branding, and sales world for 35 years, and 20 of these years running his own ad agency, Park&Co, in Phoenix. Born and raised in the traditional marketing era that relied on the mainstream media, Park has witnessed technology turning digital media platforms (social media and websites) into the mass media - something he says has taken the fun out of advertising and storytelling with too much noise.

 To help through the noise, Park knows there’s only one way to stand out: create and use the power of storytelling. Park spent his years in the early 2000s studying and mastering Joseph Campbell’s and Blake Snyder’s frameworks and later came up with the ABT framework that is simpler and way better at communicating in the digital realm. In this episode, he explains all about the ABT framework and how you can use it to create predictable sales for your business.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

[01:24] About Park Howell

[04:51] What is the ABT framework?

[07:18] The three forces of story

[13:58] Different ways you can use the ABT framework

[18:02] The ABT framework in the recent Oscar Awards

[21:00] How powerful is the ABT framework?

[25:23] Playing the “5-why” game

[29:03] The CVJ (Customer Value Journey) framework

[30:26] Creating a proven marketing framework that will create predictable sales.

[35:23] Hire a fractional CMO

[37:15] Practise using ABT in all your marketing channels

[38:28] Park Howell’s books on Amazon

[40:29] #StoryOn

[41:30] Connect with Park Howell

NOTABLE QUOTES

●      You communicate and care but bore. Therefore, tell the story. 

●       If you can really be crystal clear on your offering, then you will attract your ideal customer.

●       To make it narrative, you have to have an agreement, contradiction and consequence, otherwise, you're not narrative, you're just blah, blah, blah. 

●      You don't only need to use the right tools and tactics. But you also need to document everything and define your ideal customer, define your customer journey and then measure everything.

●       If you had a predictable sales and marketing platform or framework, then you would attract your ideal customer and the investors.

●      It’s not about what you offer, it's what the outcome is that they're going to get?

●      It’s not about what you make. It’s what you make happen.

●      I just want people to use the story. Use the power of it in all of your communication, and you will connect on a much deeper level with all of your audiences.

RESOURCES

Park Howell’s Books

• Brand Bewitchery: How to Wield the Story Cycle System to Craft Spellbinding Stories for Your Brand: https://www.amazon.com/Brand-Bewitchery-System-Spellbinding-Stories/dp/1734308117
• The Narrative Gym for Business: Introducing the ABT Framework for Business Communication and Messaging: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09B1WP2JX

Other Mentioned Books & resources

• Write a Screenplay in 15 Steps: A Save the Cat!® Course: https://www.udemy.com/course/learn-the-worlds-most-popular-storytelling-method/
• The Hero's Journey: Joseph Campbell on His Life and Work: https://www.amazon.com/Heros-Journey-Joseph-Campbell-Collected/dp/1608681890
• Connection: Hollywood Storytelling Meets Critical Thinking: https://www.amazon.com/Connection-Hollywood-Storytelling-Critical-Thinking/dp/0615872387

Connect with Park Howell

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/parkhowell
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/parkhowell/?hl=en
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ParkHowell?s=20&t=A9fNbp4JtQOPHAYGBrmb8A
• Website: https://businessofstory.com/
• Listen to the Business of Story Podcast: https://businessofstory.com/storytelling-podcast/

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