The storytelling skills you need to pitch your business

To take business partners, customers and employees with you means being able to explain your business model and ideas as succinctly and persuasively as possible

It took Ernest Hemingway just six words. Challenged to write the shortest and most moving story possible, the story goes, the novelist submitted this piece of genius 24 hours later: “For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn.”

You might have the world’s most wonderful idea and business model, but unless you can tell your story in a single sentence, I doubt your venture will succeed. Everything that matters has to be encapsulated in the shortest story you’ve ever told — a skill that should run through each level of an organisation.

It’s something I learnt at the start of my HomeServe journey. We had a great idea but needed water utility companies to buy into it and lend us their brands and customer bases. I honed my pitch down to the bare bones: “Your customers worry about burst pipes and blocked drains, so give them peace of mind with annual cover and a promise to repair things fast without a large bill.”

It was short and not complicated, focused on people and not things, and was about business growth and not business skills. A meaningful story with purpose and passion convinced these established businesses to let us market our fledgling service to their customers in return for a small commission. I like to think I swung the deal, but, in truth, the words did.

The best storytellers have always shaped the business world. Steve Jobs made this skill one of Apple’s greatest assets, consistently grabbing the attention of a public hungry for his latest product. His 2007 speech launching the iPhone (it’s on YouTube) is a brilliant example of the seductive power of simple, direct storytelling: “A revolutionary product that changes everything… an iPod, a phone and an internet communicator… this is one device!” He never tells you to buy the phone; he just excites you with the story of what it can give you — what it will help you achieve.

Find those same qualities for your elevator pitch — the ten-second story that explains the problem you’re solving, the need you’re satisfying, the gap in the market you’re filling. Remember, it’s not about you, it’s about them — your audience. They are the heroes of your story — not you or the data supporting your business plan. Like the best Hollywood scripts, your story should focus on why people should care.

By defining your core message and value proposition in as few words as possible, the story becomes easier to tweak for any platform or occasion. No matter where, when or how you’re telling that story (or to whom), a single thread will run through it, so that telling it becomes instinctive. Whether it’s a 90-second video, a seven-word headline, or a conversation at a business meeting or with potential customers, that story will mean something to them. And if everyone in your business understands it, they’ll be able to sell it.

Just as vital as the attention-grabbing nature of a story is its ability to persuade, especially with your employees. In business, persuasion is everything. Mastering the art will improve your leadership abilities, and build trust, loyalty and engagement among colleagues. At whatever management level you are in your organisation, the more persuasive you are, the more likely it is that your team will follow your lead and work together in pursuing the next stage of your company’s growth.

The trouble is, as soon as we’re in work mode, we get swamped by everything that a good story isn’t: 60-slide PowerPoint decks, business-speak gobbledegook, endless sentences and useless adjectives. We bore people instead of inspiring them. I love Lord (Stuart) Rose’s advice to anyone pitching an idea: the former chairman of Marks & Spencer insists they close their laptop, use everyday language and get straight to the point of what they’re trying to achieve. He knows that the overly complex language of management doesn’t stimulate growth; it holds it back.

A great story will help you get things done. Start with a broad ambition — the big picture. Then follow it with three supporting messages. There’s a reason the brain loves three: beginning, middle, end; little piggies, bears and Musketeers; She Loves You — yeah, yeah, yeah. Too much information — and too many long words — will just add clutter to your story and their brains.

Statistics, data and facts, meanwhile, won’t persuade people to do something. Instead, they should be ingredients of a story — one that connects with people’s emotions. I don’t know about you, but I often forget lists of bullet-points, whereas I always remember a story — especially if it lifts my mood, makes me laugh, involves me with an anecdote or two, adds to my understanding of the customer experience and helps me learn something new.

Use real-life examples to bring your ideas to life. For instance, when I’m telling entrepreneurs that they need to hire their successor if they want to accelerate growth, I use the story of Gymshark. Ben Francis MBE is launched it in 2012 and, only three years later, hired Steve Hewitt from Reebok as his managing director. Five years later, his company was worth £1 billion. The figures are astonishing but the story makes it relatable.

Metaphors and analogies are also powerful storytelling tools, explaining complex ideas in emotionally engaging ways. When we launched HomeServe in America, investors and customers knew nothing about our reputation, so I always delivered an analogy that made them feel confident: “We’re the AAA for home emergencies” (AAA being their equivalent of the AA car recovery service).

People won’t just judge your business on its story; they will judge you and your ability to tell it. So keep practising, simplifying and perfecting. In my experience, those who know their company’s story well, lead it well, too.

Richard Harpin is founder and chairman of HomeServe and Growth Partner, and owner of Business Leader Magazine