Check in with most 2-year-olds around 7 p.m. and they’ll likely want you to tell them a bedtime story.

While storytelling conjures up a lot of images — a child impatiently turning pages to find out what happens next, a group of Scouts listening to tall tales by a campfire — chances are a conference room full of business people isn’t one that readily pops into mind.

Yet storytelling has become a hot buzzword in the business world.

Startups and well-established businesses alike need more than just an amazing product or service to foster customer loyalty. (Say what?!) Just like with a budding romance, there needs to be a connection, a spark between business and client. Storytelling creates that spark.

Storytelling is how we woo.

Ask an old married couple what it’s like to be married and you’ll probably get a fairly academic answer. It’s hard, but rewarding, blah, blah, blah. Yawn.

Ask that same couple about the first time they met and his eyes might light up as he recalls what went through his mind the instant he spotted her across the room. Her laugh might sound like wind chimes in a light breeze as she recounts his terrible opening line.

We are drawn in. We are curious. We care.

Through storytelling, the couple comes to life.

Similarly, the power of story can create an emotional connection between your customers and your business.

Yet we often don’t know our own stories. Sure, we can nail down dates and timelines like any good history textbook would. We might have statistics and facts galore. But we are simply too close to our stories to be able to recognize them. We need a trained eye to articulate and share them.

As a fairly new member of the New Boston team, I hope to help you make those connections and create that spark.

No doubt you’ve established some goals for your business for 2015. Are you ready to craft your narrative and connect with customers to make them happen? Are you ready to vanquish demons, create magic and help your clients live happily ever after?

Give us a holler to see how we can bring your story to life.