“You would have enjoyed the gyoza with or without this story, but you will enjoy it more because of this story.”

A couple nights ago Alicia and I found a little hole-in-the-wall gyoza spot, and sat down to fill our bellies with delicious pork and cabbage-stuffed dumplings.

On the back of their menu, this little dumpling bar did two things which dramatically increased our enjoyment of the meal, and made the experience more memorable (after all, here I am writing an email about it).

Whether they did these two soy sauce drenched dumpling marketing techniques intentionally or not, I do now know.

But what I do know is these two things can easily be done by YOU in your own business to build a better user experience for your product or service, create unique talking points around your business, and increase the results, benefits, and/or enjoyment for your customers.

Now gather ’round, and listen good…

Here are the two dumpling marketing techniques you can swipe from the Sukemasa Gyoza bar, and impart into your own business:

1. They told their story

They shared where their shop originated from, the strict principles they abide by when it comes to sourcing ingredients, explained how what they do is different from the majority of other gyoza bars, and dropped a few bits of social proof about award-winning ingredients, and being unique.

All of a sudden they went from being a random restaurant tucked away in the side streets of Kyoto to a place I feel connected to through their history, and their story.

2. In three simple steps they explained how to *properly* enjoy their gyoza:

“1. To savor the Kyoto miso flavour of our gyoza, first try them on their own, without any sauce.

2. Next, try them with soy sauce, made with Murayama Zosu Chidori vinegar.

3. Finally, try them with our house-made chilli oil sauce and roasted black pepper seasoning.”

When you’re paying money for a product or service and the seller explicitly tells you how to use their product for maximum effect, it would be folly to ignore their advice.

Not only did I get see how the different toppings affected the overall taste, but following their instructions eliminated all guesswork and information overload about the assorted pots of oil, spices, and seasonings that covered the table, directly guiding me to an excellent experience.

You are no different from Sukemasa Gyoza bar. Story-based marketing, and guiding the customer journey are not exclusive to brick and mortar businesses, luxury brands, or international corporations.

In today’s increasingly crowded marketplace, your story is your most effective tool for standing apart from the crowd.

Practice writing, telling, and sharing it until you know it like the back of your hand…then work on injecting a little fantasy-esque flair to make it more appealing, emotional, and intriguing.

(Note: I don’t mean to lie or embellish your story. Rather, hone your storytelling skills until you can make walking into your kitchen to get a glass of water seem interesting. Also, it helps if you actually do interesting and unique things with your life.)

Including an “instruction manual” with your product/service is low-hanging fruit, and a dead-simple way to increase user consumption + results.

With information-based or consumable products, this should be commonplace.

For example, each issue of The Sorcerers Guild includes an insert explaining how the content is meant to be read, absorbed, and applied.

In most of Tim Ferriss’s books he tells you to skim the table of contents and pick out what intrigues you most, rather than reading cover to cover.

And you can do this with coaching or any sort of in-person service such as personal training or music lessons.

Tell your client/student how to best prepare for their session, what they can expect, and address any questions you think they may have.

The more you can to do guide and curate the experience of people who enter your world, the better their results, and the happier they’ll be.

And if there’s one thing that’s undeniably great for any business, it’s having a legion of happy, raving customers.

For more delicious marketing principles that can help you put more gold dumplings in your treasure chest, check out my monthly paper and ink newsletter, The Sorcerers Guild:

http://sorcerersguildnewsletter.com

Yours sorcerously,

Alexander Mullan