Asking the ‘so what?’ Sally Croft on B2B storytelling

In the latest episode of my Meet The Storytellers series, I talk to Sally Croft about her 20-plus year career in B2B marketing that’s seen her work for Vodafone, Samsung, Tektronix and now a new role at Ericsson. Earlier this year she was appointed VP Marketing, Communications, GIR & SCR at Ericsson, with a global brief across 111 countries from Brazil to Russia.

Highlights of the conversation:

“In a B2B marketing environment, we talk person to person, not company to company. We might have lots of people in companies who really know the product… but how many can put those words into a story that can resonate with the customer?” Sally on the opportunity for storytelling  to create a connection between an audience and complex tech products.

“Stories don’t just have to be the things you did behind you, they can be the things you’re going to do in the future.” Sally on why storytelling should focus on the future as well as the past.

 “The more open you can be with your team, the more that you’ll get that back. I’ve been here seven weeks and I haven’t yet met a single member of my team in person. So I wanted to make sure that they go to know me quickly. Sharing our stories on what really matters has been a great way of onboarding - I’ve got to know my team members more quickly than I may have otherwise.” Sally on the opportunity to share personal stories in a professional setting and the ideas she has implemented with her team during lockdown.

“You need to have the lens of ‘so what?’ Why should someone care…?” Sally on the steps you need to take for the audience to care about your story, and why you should ask a lot of questions before your story reaches the audience.