Where does she want to go? And what does she need to get there? If I said I was writing about Cinderella, then you might already know the answer to those two questions.

And what if I said that the story wasn’t about Cinderella, but about your customer…

Would you know where she wants to go? Would you know what conflicts await her on the journey?

Because in the story of your customer, you are the fairy godmother. You are the wizard. You are Obi-Wan with a lightsaber for Luke.

But if you don’t know where she wants to go, and if you don’t know what conflicts await, then how can you do your job?

Luke doesn’t want a ballgown, and Cinderella doesn’t want a lightsaber. The promised land they seek is different.

So the first thing to do is to know which promised land your customer is going to. Then you need to be very familiar with the obstacles and conflicts they’re going to encounter. Your customer is on this quest for the first time, but you’ve shepherded hundreds of people to the promised land before, so you know exactly where the obstacles are… right..?

And then the generous thing to do is to foreshadow the journey, both the promised land, and the obstacles, before offering your gift; your lightsaber, your glass slippers… your product.

Remember, you are not the hero. It’s their story and that’s not your role. You are Gandalf.