Story Brand – Donald Miller

Course: StoryBrand Messaging Framework

Overview: Few people know how to help businesses tell a compelling story like Donald Miller. As a New York Times bestselling author and CEO of StoryBrand, Don has helped over 10,000 businesses clarify their message. In this course, he’ll help you clarify your company’s message so customers pay attention and respond. Don has worked with industry leading companies like Chick-fil-A, charity:water, Ramsey Solutions, Pantene and TOMS. Now, he’s ready to teach you.

Rating (1-10) – 10

Course Review –

Notes:

Leadership

Introduction: Why You Should Kill Your Mission Statement.

Module 1: Create Your New Mission Statement

A Mission Statement Describes the Story. They should be exciting and memorable.

A mission statement that works needs to have :

1. 3 economic objectives
2. A deadline
3. Why is our mission statement important

3 things a Missions statement should have:

• Introduce a Conflict
  • A challenge your mission of your company is overcoming. The mission needs to overcome something. Everyone in life wants to overcome something. In a story, there is always a conflict. A story doesn’t start until you have a conflict.
  • Example: “At Rover Foods, we know dogs aren’t getting the nutrition they need.”
  • Example: “At Money Tech, we know small business owners have trouble organizing their data in such a way they can make good decisions”
• Define a Destination
  • What will the world look like if your company overcomes your challenge?
  • A character needs to be moving towards something. A story is given a direction. A woman wants to get a promotion but her boss is terrible.
  • A leader tells a team where they are going.
  • Example: “At Rover Foods, we know dogs aren’t getting the nutrition they need. We believe every dog deserves the most healthy ingredients and source our food from the best farms.“
  • Example: “At Money Tech, we know small business owners have trouble organizing their data in such a way they can make good decisions. So we have created software to help 27 million small business owners see their finances at a glance.“
• Foreshadow the Stakes
  • We need to know what will be won or loss if we do or do not accomplish this mission.
  • Example: At Rover Foods, we know dogs aren’t getting the nutrition they need. We believe every dog deserves the most healthy ingredients and source our food from the best farms so dogs can live longer, healthier lives.“
  • Example: “At Money Tech, we know small business owners have trouble organizing their data in such a way they can make good decisions. So we have created software to help 27 million small business owners see their finances at a glance so they make smart financial decisions and grow their companies”

Ending remarks:
Keep your mission statement brief and memorable.

Examples:

Mission Statement for Jeannie’s Flowers:

We bring joy to people [Conflict] by providing the best flowers in the Houston area [Destination] because people come alive when they are given flowers by somebody they love [Foreshadow the Stakes].

• Necessary Characteristics
• Aspirational and Achievable

Module 2: Define Your Key Characteristics

Key Characteristics Define the Characters

Some people switch out key characteristics with core values. Core values tend to be more vague. Key characteristics will tell us the people that we need to hire, the people that we need to be, and what kind of people we need to become.

3 things that we need to have for key characteristics:

• Necessary Characteristics
  • Be specific
• Aspirational & Achievable
  • Every story is about the development of a character.
  • Characteristics should be aspirational and achievable. Everyone wants to aspire to something or has the desire to be more than they currently are.
• Rank Order
  • Example: BusinessMadeSimple
    • 1. Profit-minded
    • 2. Intelligent Communicator
    • 3. Driven
  • Example: Jeannie’s Flower Shop
    • 1. Positive: We believe anybody’s day can be brightened with flowers.
    • 2. Creative: We create the most beautiful arrangements in Houston
    • 3. Dedicated: We are dedicated to our work because other people’s joy depends on our work

Module 3: Determine Your Critical Actions

Critical

Define 3 critical actions that will move you forward to achieve your goals

Example: Personal Guiding Principles (Personal Mission is to help people succeed)

1. Wake up early
2. Write
3. After You Mentality (Last person on the elevator). After you first.

Three things your critical actions needs to have if they are going to be effective:

1. Must always contribute to the mission statement.
2. Symbolize a way of life – Root action that bears the most fruit
3. Repeatable

Module 4: Write Your Story Pitch

1. State the Problem
2. Make the Story Worse
3. Sell your product as the solution to the problem
4. The Result
5. State your theme

Example: “When people buy a lifted truck, they don’t really know what kind of kit they’re getting. If they don’t know what kind of kit they’re getting, they don’t know if it was installed correctly. This could lead to mechanical trouble, or worse even an accident. We lift our trucks using a careful 20-step checklist that ensures the lift is reliable for the life of the truck. Our customers love their trucks because they know they can trust them to work right. When you lift a truck the right way, it’ll work right and it’ll be a blast to drive.”

Example: “At Jeanie’s flowers we believer many people go through their days without being recognized by others. Not being recognized makes a person sad and causes them to lose hope.

When somebody gets flowers, they come alive because somebody else remembered them. A simple bouquet of lowers can remind a person how much they are cared about and brighten their spirit for days.

We provide the best flowers in the Houston area because everybody deserves a simple and effective way to recognize the people they love. [theme]

Module 5: State Your Theme

The theme is the foundation. Moral of the story.

The reason you are living the story in the first place.

When this truth is put into action these are the results we get.

Examples: Ron Ivey’s Guiding Principles

Marketing

Core Concepts

Module 1: Defining an Aspirational Identity

Customers are aspiring to be someone. They want to be transformed. That’s why we look at celebrities and are so intrigued by them because in a way we live vicariously through them.

What are some description of the type of person you are helping your customer become?

Module 2: With a Problem

People are motivated to solve problems.

Module 3: Meets a Guide

A brand should help the customer win.

Express empathy – We care about you. We understand what you’re going through.

Demonstrate Authority – Statistics. Awards. Include logos of businesses you’ve done. Testimony.

Module 4: Who Gives Them a Plan

Make it really simple for your customers to do business with you. Give customers clear steps to follow to engage with you.

Module 5: And Calls Them to Action

Buttons that tells your customer to take action. “Buy Now” “Purchase here”

Module 6: That Helps Them Avoid Failure

We have to describe to customers what happens if they don’t engage with us.

Use very little of failure language. It’s like salt, use very little.

Module 7: And Ends in Success

What kind of great life will our customers have when they engage with us.

Show someone that is happy using your product. How will your customers life look like and feel when they engage with your customer. This should be used in language and images on your website, email, etc.

Never assume someone knows how someone life will change by engaging with your product. Use a lot of success wording and imagery in your material.

Execution: Putting it All Together

Sales

Introduction

The customer is the hero. As a business, we need to be the guide. Guides care about the hero and wants to help them get what they want.

Module 1: Start With the Problem

Invite customers into the story by starting with the problem. Stories are all about problems. The problem is the hook. Start with talking about the problem that a customer is trying to solve.

Module 2: Position Your Product as the Solution to the Problem

Module 3: Give the Customer a Step-By-Step Plan

Module 4: Create a Sense of Urgency by Painting the Stakes

Module 5: Ask the Customer to Place an Order

Module 6: Affirm the Customer’s Decision With a Follow-up Note

Module 7: Use “The Customer is the Hero” SalesScript to Grow Your Sales

Products

N/A

Overhead & Operations

Introduction: Your Management and Productivity Problems Are About to Go Away

There are 5 meetings that you want to have in your organization.

1. All-Staff Meeting
2. Leadership Meeting
3. Department Stand-up
4. Personal Priority Speed Check
5. Quarterly Performance Review

We want to continue to remind the entire team about the 3 economic priorities of the organization to keep the business alive and moving forward.

Module 1: The All-Staff Meeting

Length of time: Longer (1 hour or so)
Cadence: Weekly
Who: Leader and/or facilitator
When: Monday Morning (Or any day of the week)
Where: Online or office
Why: Align the team to the three economic priorities of the company
Benefits: Increased morale.

When: Monday Morning (Or any day of the week)
Where: Online or office
Objective: Align the team to the three economic priorities of the company
Benefits: Increased morale.

The All-Staff meeting will include:

1. Reiterate Mission Statement
2. Reiterate the 3 economic priorities and updates on where we are on hitting those goals.
3. Company updates and announcements
4. Celebrate milestones and goals that have been reached.
5. Department updates
   • What has the department done to move towards the three economic priorities of the company. You should have a conversation with your department head to figure out what they are talking about.
   • Allow each department leader to give updates on what the team is doing.
   • Questions your departments should be presenting:
     • What has our department done or what are we going to do to move us toward our company goal?
     • How did we add value to our customers last week?
     • How are we adding value for our customers this week?
6. Shout outs
   • Allow people to brag about each other

Three economic principles:

What are the 3 things that your company is focusing on that are keeping the company moving forward?

Make sure the goals are measurable and have a timeline to them.

Example:
1. Sell 1,000 Dog Food Subscriptions
2. Parter with 100 Veterinarian Offices
3. Reach 500 Pet owners with an online dog training program

Once you’ve hit a goal, you can remove the goal and add a new goal for the 3 economic priorities.

The three economic priorities aren’t the only goals that you can focus on. There are other things the company is doing but by having 3 priorities you are sure to get at least those objectives in focus with the entire team.

How do you know what your 3 economic priorities are?

• Each of your priorities should deliver the best possible result to your bottom line. Revenue/Profit/Cash Flow

Module 2: The Leadership Meeting

Length of time: 30 mins to 1 hour
Cadence: Weekly (more than once a week is okay)
Who: Leader and/or facilitator
When: Usually after all-staff meeting
Where: Online or office
Why: Allow team leaders to get on the same page
Benefits: Clear direction for the entire company

Three questions need to be asked of department heads:

1. What big initiatives are happening this week?
2. Is there anything blocking these initiatives?
3. Who is responsible for completing each task?

2 more leadership meetings:

1. Leadership Offsite Meeting
   • Goes all day long away from the office.
   • Leader reiterates overall business strategy and what needs to be done and how it’s going to be done.
   • If we are pivoting, use these meetings to do just that
   • They can happen quarterly or however many you think you need
2. Leadership Breakfast or Lunch
   • Monthly meetings
   • Hang out at a restaurant
   • Develop friendships

Who holds these meetings?
If it’s you in the beginning, you’re going to be running the meetings. Eventually as you grow, you want an operator that is not a strategist or visionary but someone that can use existing systems and make sure they are being executed properly.

Module 3: The Department Stand-Up

Length of time: Short (15 minutes)
Cadence: Daily
Who: Department Head
When: In the morning
Where: Online or office
Why: Makes sure each team member understands what role they play within their department.
Benefits: No one wastes time doing things that aren’t in alignment with the 3 economic priorities

Department head leads these meetings. As the leader, you will not be in these meetings.

Each team member has there own sheet.

Module 4: The Personal Priority Speed Check

Length of time: Short
Cadence: Every other workday
Who: You or Department Head
When: Monday (Or any day of the week)
Where: Online or in-person
Why: Ability for you or the department head to coach every member on the team
Benefits: Team members are going to be seen, heard, and understood. Leader starts paying attention to each member on the team.

Meetings are not long. Each member fills out the template before the meeting.

Module 5: The Quarterly Performance Review

Length of time: 30 minutes
Cadence: Weekly
Who: Leader or Department Head
When: Monday (Or any day of the week)
Where: Online or office
Why Create crystal clear focus of the department leader’s view of their performance
Benefits: Helps employees understand how they are doing and to increase performance

Performance reviews are not about productivity like the other meetings, but rather helping employees improve.

Tie team member bonuses and promotions. This allows team members to control their income. Most salaries are based on competitive market rates of the specific position. The bonuses and promotions are based on performance. Storybrand pays their employees the competitive rate staying in the 85th percentile for each role. Meaning only 15% of other people in your role will be getting paid more than you.

Have a goal and then a stretch goal. For example, if your goal is 1 million in revenue, your stretch goal can be 1.2 million. If the goal is met, everyone can get a raise up to 3% and up to a 3% bonus. Even though they can get a raise up to 3% it doesn’t mean they will get the 3%. It depends on their performance.

If a business reaches its stretch goal,

Module 6: Installing the Management and Productivity Made Simple Playbook

Install all meetings when you can.

Other meetings:

Monthly Revenue Meeting (2 discussion topics)

1. How much money did you make the previous month and why you did or did not meet the revenue objective
2. The projected revenue for the projected month. How can you improve on the projected number. Leadership team is kept up to date about revenue numbers.

War Room

A meeting used to facilitate discussions on a new project, hire, or anything that requires focused attention on a new objective.

Leadership Catchall

A meeting for leaders that are running your company to ask any questions they need to get clarity to move the company forward.

Cash Flow

N/A