Storytelling in Business Consulting

Foreword:
In business consulting, stories are often used to illustrate points to clients. While data-driven analysis is the basis of our suggestions, stories help to make them more understandable and relevant. The stories are vocal, short, and illustrative of data. This story was found on businessballs.com, which claims that it is a true story.

Example Story:
Setup: A service-based company has hired consultants to solve its poor customer service ratings. We found that the problem is due to inconsistent application of industry best practices, and are going to give suggestions on why and how to fix this problem. This story is used as a set-up before I give the presentation.

The bank concerned had introduced a charge to be levied when people paid in money to be credited to an account held by a different bank. The charge was 50p and had been in force for about 6 months or so. A well to do, upper-class lady enters the bank and presents the cashier a check which she asks to be paid into an account held by a different bank. The cashier duly tells the lady that there will be a charge of 50p. Indignantly, she tells him, "I wasn't charged the last time."
To which the cashier immediately replies, "Well that will be a pound then..." 


Analysis:
This story is illustrative of the importance of having standardized processes across a company. The persuasion is through a pathetic appeal of humor. It clearly demonstrates the problems that can result when changes are not completely and simultaneously implemented across a company.

Retelling the Story:
If I was telling a story to a labor group explaining why they should advocate for changes like the ones mentioned above, I could tell the story like this.
George is a teller at the local branch of a large bank. He has been working there 8 months now, and is really starting to get into the swing of things. He enjoys his job and feels that he is on the road to success with the firm. One day, unbeknownst to him, a supervisor puts a memo on top of his task while he's in the bathroom. Another teller walks over and drops some more papers on top of the stack. Unfortunately, the memo, which details a new pricing regimen to be applied to inter-bank transfers, gets lost in the pile. Because the business relies completely on tellers to apply prices with no electronic backup, hundreds of customers every day are helped by George without. Then one day, George's supervisor calls him into his office.
"George, our company auditors just came through, and they tell us that we've been losing 50p from you every time you perform a transaction. I'm going to have to put you on temporary probation."
George protests, but because he did indeed receive the memo, his statements that he didn't see it fall upon deaf ears, and he is soon fired and later prosecuted for embezzlement, all because his company had outdated price management systems.
I changed the story so that rather than being through the eyes of the customer, it comes from the eyes of an innocent, up-and-coming employee who is accidentally caught up in the errors caused by inefficient management systems. Whereas the first story would appeal more to management who are most concerned with customer experience, this applies more to those who advocate for workers by drawing attention to the dangers that these systems present to the company labor force.