What Great Brands Get Right with Marketing (E.284)

“People don’t buy the best products. They buy the ones they understand the fastest.” ~Dr. JJ Peterson

Why do some brands resonate while others get ignored? In this powerful episode, Dr. JJ Peterson—chief StoryBrand guide and PhD in narrative transportation—breaks down how the world’s top companies and dentists alike win trust, attention, and loyalty using the psychology of story.

You’ll learn how to:

• Trigger narrative transportation in your website, testimonials, and marketing
• Make your patient the hero of your story (instead of your brand)
• Use empathy + authority to build trust fast
• Write bios, design homepages, and lead teams that truly connect
• Apply the 7-part StoryBrand Framework from front desk to operatory
• Transform even small details (like your welcome script or treatment reminder text) into trust-building tools

From Nike to Pixar to a single dental practice’s homepage—JJ reveals what great brands get right, and how dentists can stop over explaining and start connecting.

Key Reflection Questions for Listeners:

• Am I clearly making the patient the hero in my messaging?
• Do my marketing assets create narrative transportation, or just broadcast features?
• How can I use empathy and authority to guide trust—online and in the chair?

Listen now and learn what great brands—and thriving practices—get right with marketing.

TRANSCRIPT
[00:00:00] Introduction and Guest Welcome

[00:00:00] Regan Robertson: JJ Peterson, it is phenomenal to have you here today with Chad and Maggie and I, uh, for you listeners, you know how much I love StoryBrand and business made simple and, and how much it’s helped not just change my own life, but change all of the dentist lives that, that we have been able to touch. And you know how giddy I get when I know we’re gonna have a guest that’s gonna share stuff that you can put right into your practice.

[00:00:27] Regan Robertson: You don’t have to buy anything. You can just. Listen in, and JJ is really, really gifted at that. What did you say, Chad? 

[00:00:35] Dr. Chad Johnson: I was like, right.

[00:00:39] JJ Peterson’s Background and Inspiration

[00:00:39] Regan Robertson: Uh, for, for those of you, um, who don’t know who Dr. JJ Peterson is, he is one of the, I would say the, the, he’s not a founder of StoryBrand, but you’ve been a key pinnacle part of StoryBrand from very, very early on. You have your PhD in narrative. Transportation, and that might be a, a confusing word for some [00:01:00] folks, and I’m wondering if you could share for us what narrative transportation is and why were you so passionate that you went out and got a PhD in communication with this as a, as a focus?

[00:01:10] Dr. JJ Peterson: Well, first off, thank you for having me and thank you for that introduction. Very, very sweet. And. You know, it, it all comes down to, for me, why I really started setting this is if I’m, I, I’ll just be, I don’t often share this part of the story, so I’ll just share it with you guys. I remember sitting in a movie theater and watching the movie Armageddon.

[00:01:31] Dr. JJ Peterson: You know, that old cheesy movie where Yes. 

[00:01:33] Regan Robertson: Has that Ben Affleck 

[00:01:34] Dr. JJ Peterson: and Ben Affleck go face and a meteor’s coming to Earth, and of course they have to drill down, put in a bomb in the middle and explode it before it destroys the earth. Of course, right. It, it’s not, I mean, it, if you’ve seen it, you know, it is not one of those, uh, it didn’t win any awards, let’s just say that.

[00:01:53] Dr. JJ Peterson: But it was incredibly popular and very fun, especially the song that came out of it. You know, it was very [00:02:00] emotional and everything, and I genuinely remember this was, this was a turning point for me in my life, sitting down in that theater and watching people ball all around me when spoiler alert, uh. Uh, Bruce Willis gives up his life for the earth, basically, and, and he, he stays behind so everybody else can live and people are bawling.

[00:02:23] Dr. JJ Peterson: And I was sitting there going. 

[00:02:26] The Power of Narrative Transportation

[00:02:26] Dr. JJ Peterson: How can I learn how to tell stories that move in this way, that move people in this way? And because I was like, this is not a good movie. And yet people love it. And also I loved it. You know when I say it’s not a good movie, it’s not ’cause I didn’t love it. I just, you know, this is cheesy, it’s kind of dumb plot.

[00:02:44] Dr. JJ Peterson: It’s really, uh, you know, out there and yet it was a blockbuster and 

[00:02:49] Dr. Chad Johnson: Wow. And was this 96 ish jj? 90? I think so. All, all I, all I know was that song if, if you wanted to Slow Dance with Girls 

[00:02:58] Regan Robertson: Aerosmith, right? Yes. [00:03:00] Oh boy. So we didn’t, if you wanted to slow dance with 

[00:03:02] Dr. Chad Johnson: girls, you ha you were not knocking this movie.

[00:03:05] Dr. Chad Johnson: You were like, I Oh yeah. You know, I like this movie. 

[00:03:08] Dr. JJ Peterson: A hundred percent. A hundred percent. But we, I think we can all be honest it. 

[00:03:12] Dr. Maggie Augustyn: 1998, was it 98? 

[00:03:16] Dr. JJ Peterson: So 98, and so that really inspired me to go back and do my first really deep dive into story. And my master’s degree actually was in Theology in the Arts. So it was a study of film and television and music and how to use art to convey truth.

[00:03:34] Dr. JJ Peterson: And motivate and move people to action. 

[00:03:37] Dr. Chad Johnson: Mm-hmm. 

[00:03:38] From Hollywood to StoryBrand

[00:03:38] Dr. JJ Peterson: That’s where it started and I just started studying the power of story and through that then kind of began, I worked in Hollywood for a little while. I did some acting, I did some writing, I did, I directed a documentary. I. Did a bunch of that kind of work and ultimately chose to use that to go back to help the next generation of leaders be better communicators.

[00:03:58] Dr. JJ Peterson: So I became a professor [00:04:00] and I started teaching communication and leadership and really how to use the power of story to move people in positive and engaging ways. Then I ultimately met Donald Miller, who is the founder of StoryBrand, and he was just getting started with StoryBrand and I brought him out to speak to my students about the power of story.

[00:04:21] Dr. JJ Peterson: When I was leaving, I had sold a reality television show. And So you sold 

[00:04:25] Regan Robertson: a reality television show? I did. 

[00:04:27] Dr. JJ Peterson: Never made it to air, but 

[00:04:28] Regan Robertson: Oh, I was gonna say, are you responsible for that jj? Small 

[00:04:31] Dr. Chad Johnson: fact. Small fact. I was the first main protagonist on his show. Just kidding. Just kidding. 

[00:04:39] Dr. JJ Peterson: And now we have a full circle moment.

[00:04:41] Dr. JJ Peterson: I had brought Donald Miller out to, uh, to speak to my students and he’s like, I’m launching this thing where I combine storytelling principles and teaching businesses how to clarify their message using the power of story. And I thought, well, yeah, this will be fun. This will be fun for me to kind of experience another thing.

[00:04:58] Dr. JJ Peterson: And I was living in LA at the [00:05:00] time and flew out to Nashville. And went through the StoryBrand framework, probably the very first workshop that was ever like public, and I was hooked. This is what I had been trying to do for 20 years of teaching people how to use the power of story. And so I was already in my PhD at that point, and I decided to dive deeper into narrative theory and narrative principles, and specifically narrative marketing and a huge piece of.

[00:05:30] Applying Narrative Transportation in Marketing

[00:05:30] Dr. JJ Peterson: When you ask the question, why does, why do stories work? Why do stories work to move us? Why do they work to change our minds? Why do they have an impact on us? What I discovered in my studies is that really the biggest reason for impact or influence of a story is narrative transportation. Narrative transportation is what happens when somebody can see themselves in a story.

[00:05:59] Dr. JJ Peterson: So if you’ve [00:06:00] ever experienced, like, uh, you’ve been in a movie and you’ve laughed or cried at Armageddon, or you’ve jumped when something scary happens, you’ve experienced narrative transportation. Now what the research shows is that when we see ourselves in a story, we actually experience higher levels of narrative transportation.

[00:06:19] Dr. JJ Peterson: But it’s not just about relating to the character on the screen, which is a piece of it, but it’s about the story actually Makes sense. And allows us to enter into it because it has what’s called fidelity and coherency. It sticks together and makes sense. It follows the rules. So the better the story, the better that they follow the rules, the more narrative transportation we experience.

[00:06:44] Dr. JJ Peterson: But here’s where it gets fun is the higher levels of narrative transportation that you experience in a story, the more influence that story has on your thoughts and actions, it act actually changes the way we think and act. Now what I kind of [00:07:00] took that, and there’s already some study around this, but what I kind of then went to the next level with was the idea of how does this work in marketing.

[00:07:07] Dr. JJ Peterson: Everybody says you need to tell a good story. You know stories that are a buzzword when it comes to business and marketing, but most people really are telling the wrong stories, and so I wanted to discover what it looked like to create narrative transportation. In marketing and the research shows that people can experience narrative transportation through websites, through emails, through sales pitches, and even like social media.

[00:07:35] Dr. JJ Peterson: As little as a tweet, people can actually experience narrative transportation. So I wanted to then be a part of something. So that’s kind of the long way all going, all the way back to Armageddon. 

[00:07:46] Dr. Chad Johnson: Mm-hmm. 

[00:07:47] Dr. JJ Peterson: Sitting in there going Armageddon can move people. Why can’t I, I mean, genu, that was kind of like one of those things of like, why don’t I have that power to, in a positive way if I’m influencing like students and I’m challenging them to live [00:08:00] better lives and to love people better.

[00:08:03] Dr. JJ Peterson: At the time even, I was working for a nonprofit that built homes in Mexico. So my job was to be, I was the fundraiser and the communications manager for this nonprofit that literally was saving people’s lives, and I couldn’t figure out how to get people involved in it. I couldn’t figure out how to tell a good story, and I’m like, and Armageddon does it?

[00:08:24] Dr. JJ Peterson: Come on. So that’s really, that was the start. And what. We’ve discovered over the years is that when you tell a good story that people can see themselves in, they will experience narrative transportation, and that story will then have higher influence on their thoughts and actions. 

[00:08:45] Dr. Maggie Augustyn: Wow. Can we get. Sorry.

[00:08:48] Dr. Maggie Augustyn: No, go ahead. 

[00:08:49] Examples of Effective Marketing Campaigns

[00:08:49] Dr. Maggie Augustyn: Can we, can you give us ideas of companies that have used EE excellent, um, narrative transportation in their marketing campaigns so that we can kind of start to picture exactly how that’s transpired and the things that we see and use? 

[00:09:06] Dr. JJ Peterson: Yeah. On a very high level, Nike. Right. Nike is not, we have the best shoes.

[00:09:12] Dr. JJ Peterson: Nike is just do it. It’s about the person wearing the shoes and their ability to step into their own athleticness, right? Most of us are not Michael Jordan on the basketball court, but a lot of us wear Nike. I’m wearing Nike’s right now and if you could see a full screen of me, you would really see that I’m not a professional athlete, uh, but I wear them for comfort.

[00:09:35] Dr. JJ Peterson: For look, but also because when you put on that kind of tennis shoe, there’s an A level where you feel a little bit more athletic. You can go walking a little easier, you can exercise a little bit easier. Nike says, just do it. Apple. Apple, when you look at most of apple’s ads, especially from their successful campaigns.

[00:09:54] Dr. JJ Peterson: They have very little, if not zero to do with the actual product. Mm-hmm. They have to [00:10:00] do with you are a creator. Mm-hmm. You are a misunderstood, you are, have the ability to change the world and then they show somebody, you know, in Iceland, you know, going up huge rocks, but they’re taking a picture with an iPad.

[00:10:13] Dr. JJ Peterson: Like it has nothing to do with the product itself. They’re not making the product of the hero of the story. They’re making their customer the hero of the story. Mm-hmm. And that anytime you see that in advertising, when people can identify with that, you know, it’s why it with allergy commercials, you always see people sneezing on the screen.

[00:10:35] Dr. Chad Johnson: Oh yeah. 

[00:10:36] Dr. JJ Peterson: That it’s very simple. But what that is, is if I’m sneezing because of allergies, I see myself in that sneezer right on the screen. So anytime there is a reflection of me. And what I’m struggling with or what I’m aspiring to in any kind of advertising that creates narrative transportation, I.[00:11:00] 

[00:11:00] Regan Robertson: Jj Well, thanks 

[00:11:00] Dr. Chad Johnson: for coming on our show today because,

[00:11:05] Regan Robertson: well, my mind keeps going, my mind keeps wrapping around, like around Disney, and I remember a documentary I watched where it was the, it was the early days of Walt Disney and him. Pushing so hard to get, I think it was Snow White to the surface and actually getting on the big screen. And if I recall correctly, you had big financial backers that had to do that.

[00:11:23] Regan Robertson: And, and from your standpoint, was it I in part yes to, to celebrate animation and, and celebrate fantasy, but was the underlying feature really almost, and maybe an intentional or unintentional experiment to see if you could use narrative transportation. In a delivery mechanism that’s completely fake.

[00:11:41] Regan Robertson: Everyone knows it’s completely fake, and you’re still able to accomplish that influence that you are looking for. 

[00:11:50] Dr. JJ Peterson: Yes. I, I mean, I don’t know that there was that level of thought maybe put into it, but I would say that that in order to be able to do that in a different [00:12:00] mode, right, so the typical mode, you know, started with like silent films and then colored films and then, you know, animation kind of like this, the evolution, even Pixar, right?

[00:12:09] Dr. JJ Peterson: Like Pixar taking, moving into Toy Story was a leap from traditional animation. And they wondered, can we still connect with people? What made Snow White and what made, uh, you know, toy Story work was the story. It was grounded in a compelling narrative that was featuring an underdog, and people can see ourselves in the underdog that really, so what, what I teach people is the StoryBrand framework and the StoryBrand framework really is.

[00:12:41] Dr. JJ Peterson: Based on storytelling principles that are in every story. And when you follow these, you achieve narrative transportation and you achieve fidelity and coherency in the story. And those seven elements, basically just kind of break it down real quick, are that every good story has [00:13:00] seven things in it. A character who wants something, who encounters a problem, who meets a guide, somebody that helps them win the day.

[00:13:09] Dr. JJ Peterson: That guide gives ’em a plan. There’s a call to action, and then we know the stakes in the story, which is either a happy ending success or a negative ending failure. The, that’s the most basic plot of every movie, every story you’ve ever seen. Now going back to narrative transportation and kind of your question even about Snow White.

[00:13:32] Dr. JJ Peterson: When writers can get the first two elements of the storytelling principle correct or make them powerful, that is when the narrative transportation experience happens. You have to establish something that a character wants. Then. You have to hook people in the story with a problem that that character’s experiencing.

[00:13:56] Dr. JJ Peterson: If the character is not experiencing a problem, [00:14:00] we don’t connect with that story because we have problems in our real life. So we have to know and understand why the story is interesting and why we connect to it. So when you take a, any kind of movie, even if it’s Snow White, it’s an animated character who, it’s an animated character.

[00:14:17] Dr. JJ Peterson: It’s in a fantasy world with. You know, witches and queens and animals that dress you and you know, all that different stuff. However, it’s really about a girl who feels that she doesn’t belong and is outcast because she’s a threat. How many of us have ever felt that kind of something we, yes, we don’t have animals that are dressing us, but we can connect to the problems that she’s experiencing, that we’re being oppressed by somebody in power.

[00:14:48] Dr. JJ Peterson: The queen is trying to kill her, right? That is an oppression of somebody above you trying to control you or, or put you down. Well, who of us have not experienced that at some point in our life? [00:15:00] So when the writers can actually connect with that in the very beginning of a story, establish who this character is and what she wants.

[00:15:08] Dr. JJ Peterson: And then hook us with her problem that we can relate to. Doesn’t matter if she’s female and I’m male. Doesn’t matter if she’s a cartoon and I’m real, I connect with that. And where that now, I mean we’ve been talking about movies and everything, but where that actually then comes into play when it comes to a business, I.

[00:15:26] Dr. JJ Peterson: Is most companies, when they go in to try to tell quote unquote their story, they begin to talk about their products or their services that they offer, and they try to say they, they get a little bit insecure and try to go, well, we’re, how do I say that I’m the best without saying I’m the best? Right.

[00:15:44] Dr. JJ Peterson: That’s kind of like the marketer’s conundrum. It’s like, how do I market myself without bragging about myself? 

[00:15:50] Dr. Chad Johnson: Mm-hmm. 

[00:15:51] Dr. JJ Peterson: The question that you’re asking there is what? How do I tell my story? 

[00:15:54] The Importance of Customer-Centric Marketing

[00:15:54] Dr. JJ Peterson: Well, the reality is I think we need to be flipping that narrative about marketing and instead of making us the hero of the story, we need to make our customers the hero of the story.

[00:16:05] Dr. JJ Peterson: Sure. So all of our marketing really should be identifying what is it that our customer wants, and talking about that, what are our problems that our customers are experiencing, and how do we talk about how we solve? Their problems. If you can start with those two principles in your marketing, you’re going to be stronger and further ahead than almost everybody else because I think everybody is, a lot of people are doing this wrong.

[00:16:28] Regan Robertson: You know, uh, listeners, you could Google, go to YouTube and Google the farmer’s dog. Company and take a look at their advertising. They do a phenomenal job at this. And then I want you, I’m giving you homework listeners, go look at your own marketing and also maybe your competition and see if they’ve got videos on YouTube as well.

[00:16:47] Testimonial Videos and Their Impact

[00:16:47] Regan Robertson: Because one of the ways, JJ, that I’ve seen this, where this narrative transportation can work really well for dentists or other business owners is these testimonial videos. Having them start off with what that problem was. [00:17:00] And you’re right, it doesn’t matter if. If they’re a male or a female, if they’re old or they’re young, if they, if they resonate with the problem, they connect with it immediately.

[00:17:09] Dr. JJ Peterson: Exactly. That is one of the, you wanna know how to do this the fastest way in some of your marketing. Of course. No, no. You’re, I wanna know JJ and goodnight everybody. We talked about Armageddon and now we’re out. Um. One of the thing, one, research shows that one of the fastest ways to get people to gain trust is through testimonies.

[00:17:29] Dr. JJ Peterson: It is actually the number one influencer on why people choose to buy from a specifically a personal brand. So if you have, if you are trying to. To you are a dentist, which even if you’re a part of a group, you are a personal brand. People are coming to a personal dentist 

[00:17:48] Regan Robertson: a hundred percent. 

[00:17:49] Dr. JJ Peterson: And so the fastest way to gain trust and to the biggest influence on buying decisions is testimonies.

[00:17:56] Dr. JJ Peterson: Now, what a lot of people do is they put up their Google [00:18:00] reviews, which are, you know, five stars. That’s wonderful. Or they put up these. She was great to work with. My kids love her. He is fantastic. That’s that right there does not create narrative transportation. You have to do exactly what you were talking about.

[00:18:17] Dr. JJ Peterson: You have to find testimonies that start with the problem they were experiencing that other customers have that you can solve. So if they said, I broke te, I broke my teeth in a bike accident 10 years ago and never got it fixed because it just felt like it was too expensive and too hard, I went into Dr.

[00:18:38] Dr. JJ Peterson: Smith. Not only did they take care of it in one afternoon, but I was able to walk out with a smile that I love. Problem solution success. That’s a short story. So we, it doesn’t even have to be as long as I just said it, but the testimonies you’re looking for to go on your website, to go in videos, [00:19:00] to put on social media, I.

[00:19:01] Dr. JJ Peterson: They can’t just say they’re fantastic. They have to say, here was my problem. When we start with a problem, even if it’s not the problem that I currently have, I can see myself in that story with my own problems, and I actually start leaning into the trust that’s being created in that moment.

[00:19:22] Dr. Chad Johnson: Hmm. 

[00:19:23] Regan Robertson: If you guys want something tangible listeners, uh, go to clarksburg dental center.com. They’re live right now and, and scroll through there. Now, I will say that, say it particularly. Say again? 

[00:19:33] Dr. Chad Johnson: Say it again. 

[00:19:33] Regan Robertson: Clarksburg dental center.com. And is it BURG 

[00:19:36] Dr. Chad Johnson: or BERG? It 

[00:19:37] Regan Robertson: is BURG. It doesn’t state a problem. That would, I would, I would kind of circle it.

[00:19:44] Regan Robertson: However, it’s a hundred percent focused. I’m seeing right away on, on me. One of my needs are, and I notice even in the Hiran it says we speak multiple language in our practice, English, Spanish, Vietnamese, and Chinese, Mandarin, and Cantonese. [00:20:00] I’m, I’m seeing right. I’m seeing myself in that, right in that moment.

[00:20:03] Regan Robertson: So listeners, I promised you this was gonna be chockfull of stuff that you can look and see and feel. Uh, and that’s a good example of what you’re talking about, JJ and physically. Um, making sure that people feel seen and, and Maggie talks a lot in her own practice about being, feel, feeling seen and feeling heard.

[00:20:20] Regan Robertson: Um, and how important that is. 

[00:20:22] Analyzing Blue Origin’s Marketing Strategy

[00:20:22] Regan Robertson: Let’s maybe switch gears here and, and nerd out with me because we’ve had something recently happen, uh, in, in pop culture with the recent flight up to space with, uh, that was hosted by Blue Origin Jeff Bezos company. And, uh, the question that I, that I posed and have been thinking about for days is this marketing that’s failed to launch.

[00:20:44] Regan Robertson: Or was it maybe carefully curated for a luxury niche? Niche? Chad? 

[00:20:51] Dr. Chad Johnson: Oh, please, let’s just do niche for a while. I just can’t tolerate the niche stuff. 

[00:20:57] Regan Robertson: Was it, was it really focused towards really wealthy [00:21:00] women? And that was the whole entire intent and the polarization of it all happening was, was by design.

[00:21:06] Regan Robertson: Um, I tend to be a bit of an overthinker. I, I don’t think that’s a bad thing, but just like, you know, snow white, maybe I, you know, think a little deeply of what actually was happening. But, uh, but JJ I know you’ve got some, some thoughts on this and I. Listeners. I do special, like I’ve done a couple of special coaching sessions with JJ and he has taken productive dentist academies, marketing, and looked at it and I’ve been like, what is missing?

[00:21:30] Regan Robertson: What is hitting what is not? And you are like a detective, jj, you really did earn your PhD. You’re really good at breaking it down like an engineer and saying, okay, this hit right, this is missing. So you are. Are an expert at that StoryBrand methodology and framework. And so I’m curious, what were your thoughts about the the Blue Origin launch and the.

[00:21:53] Regan Robertson: The buzz that it has created post-launch? Yeah. 

[00:21:57] Dr. JJ Peterson: You know, I think one of my, I’m not gonna call it [00:22:00] fatal flaws, but uh, it’s one of my values is I always assume positive intent. So I always start from assuming positive intent. And I think in the beginning they genuinely were trying to highlight. Women in space and women in, you know, the, the, at NASA and all, you know, empowering females.

[00:22:20] Dr. JJ Peterson: I do think that that was where they really started from. I just think they missed the mark. Now I. If they were genuinely about in the next two years in particular, we’re gonna sell flights to space to rich women. They probably did do that. I don’t think that was their intent with this campaign. However, I think it was a PR move.

[00:22:41] Dr. JJ Peterson: I think they were genuinely trying to do a PR move that brought goodwill towards. Blue Origin, you know, like all of that. I just think that was the intent and the way they thought they would do that is they would connect it with women and the sciences and opportunities for women. [00:23:00] However, I think they missed the mark in a pretty big way, and it’s coming back to everything that we’re just talking about is.

[00:23:10] Dr. JJ Peterson: People could not see themselves in the story, and that was Blue Origin’s fault because I think they had a lot of opportunity to make that happen. They focused a bit on celebrity and exclusivity and the glam of it all, and they wanted it to be aspirational in that we could all, even men could feel like maybe someday.

[00:23:33] Dr. JJ Peterson: I could be in space because Katy Perry got to go to space. So they wanted it to feel aspirational and emotional. You know, even Ka Perry singing the what a Wonderful world song and everything. I mean, that, that was supposed to make an emotional connection, whether it was, you know, scripted or not. That’s what that was supposed to be, and it just didn’t happen.

[00:23:55] Dr. JJ Peterson: Where they easily could have shifted the narrative is they still could have had Ka [00:24:00] Perry on the flight, but instead of Ka Perry talking about Katy Perry, Katie Perry could have been talking about the teacher that they took on the flight who is a STEM teacher, who encourages young women to get into the sciences.

[00:24:14] Dr. JJ Peterson: So Katie Perry could have been like, the reason I am here. Is to point to this person that’s beside me because she’s the hero. Katie Perry made herself the hero. Gail, well, blue Origin, but 

[00:24:28] Regan Robertson: she even said, jj, this isn’t about me. She said that a couple of times, but then kept talking about her. 

[00:24:34] Dr. Chad Johnson: Correct. 

[00:24:36] Dr. JJ Peterson: Yeah, all.

[00:24:36] Dr. JJ Peterson: All they needed to do was they could have had a couple, a couple celebrities, a couple people on there, but they really needed to have somebody who had always dreamed and worked to go to space, but maybe because they got in a car accident or had asthma. Yes. They couldn’t go to space, and then Katie Perry could sit there and go, this is a PhD.

[00:24:57] Dr. JJ Peterson: In the sciences who’s been working her whole life [00:25:00] and didn’t have the advantage. What Blue Origin actually allows is every person who wants to go to space to be able to go to space, she’s coming to space with us versus, oh, it was so emotional for me. I was, you know, I was moved. Your per my perspective is forever changed.

[00:25:14] Dr. JJ Peterson: No. We couldn’t connect with the celebrity and the luxury and the unattainability, so we couldn’t see ourselves in that story. So we didn’t experience narrative transportation. And then worse than that, it actually became across as tone deaf when a lot of people in the government are losing their jobs right now.

[00:25:34] Dr. JJ Peterson: When a lot of people are feeling the impact of the economic shifts right now, they, they that this is a tone deaf moment. To have that kind of aspirational thing 

[00:25:45] Dr. Chad Johnson: lavish now 

[00:25:46] Dr. JJ Peterson: and going, you’re gonna be rich and you can do that. No, people aren’t feeling that right now. They can’t, they, you know, very recently, especially, they couldn’t afford eggs.

[00:25:54] Dr. JJ Peterson: How are you that, how do I feel connected at all? To this group of women who I can’t be a [00:26:00] part of that I will never go to space with. 

[00:26:02] Dr. Chad Johnson: All right, so softball pitch question, is it recoverable for a company to do something disastrous like this and then change the narrative? 

[00:26:16] Dr. JJ Peterson: Oh, absolutely. Yeah, you can. You can e you can change it.

[00:26:20] Dr. JJ Peterson: And when you’re that big too, I mean, the reality is Apple, I mean, a few years ago, Pepsi had a huge misstep when they cast Kendall, Kendall Jenner in an A. Oh, that’s right. I dunno if you remember that ad. I do. It was a very tone deaf ad where Kendall Jenner essentially in the ad, solved racism with a Pepsi, and it was just like, oh no, no, Pepsi.

[00:26:41] Dr. JJ Peterson: You can’t do that. A Kardashian model, the richest model in the world who’s a Kardashian breaking up, you know, black Lives Matter rallies, you know, it’s just like, no, no Pepsi, no, that was a misstep. They were in the news. They got a whole bunch of fi uh, [00:27:00] pushback on it. They’re fine. The, the groups like that have huge PR agencies can spend millions on, on advertising and on different campaigns, and they can turn the narrative around pretty quickly.

[00:27:15] Dr. JJ Peterson: For those of us who are not in that billion dollar brand space, we actually do have to be more careful about some of those bigger missteps where it comes across in just a very small misstep. In the way that we do marketing. It’s not as egregious, I would say, as some of these big moves. But for instance, when you are creating, let’s go back to the testimony thing.

[00:27:37] Dr. JJ Peterson: A lot of people love to grab testimonies of the most extreme cases that they’ve solved with their product or service. So if you take. For instance, showing that you as a dentist, as a high up in your marketing, went to another country and worked with children with, I mean, this [00:28:00] is be deeper like cleft palate, but you actually, and you know.

[00:28:03] Dr. JJ Peterson: We basically did these extreme makeovers, home makeovers, uh, mouth makeovers with patients. And you used that alone as your primary example of testimonies. 

[00:28:14] Dr. Chad Johnson: Mm-hmm. 

[00:28:15] Dr. JJ Peterson: I don’t see myself in that. The thing I see myself in is I. Novocaine doesn’t work on me The way that it works on other people, and that’s actually true, is that every time I go in the, they the, they have to give me multiple shots over and over and over again in order to actually work on my teeth.

[00:28:34] Dr. JJ Peterson: ’cause I feel everything and at some points I just let ’em do it and it just hurts so I can get out of there. That’s mine. I’m not dealing with this, you know, so I’m scared of the pain of dentistry. I’m scared of my mouth being like, you know, getting cuts on it. When I walk in there, I, you know, I want to be, they make sure like what we are talking about with Maggie, like that I’m heard that actually people listen to me when I say I’m in pain.

[00:28:59] Dr. JJ Peterson: I [00:29:00] mean, I’m in pain and I wanna, those are my problems. So these extreme makeovers of showing like, oh, this is how bad this person’s teeth were, and then now this is how good they are, that’s actually not gonna connect with the majority of your audience. You need to find testimonies. You need to find, uh, uh, images that are more reflective of the type of patients that you regularly see or regularly wanna have.

[00:29:27] Regan Robertson: Man, we, we talk about this a lot, like internally at PDA, we have our own marketing agency and, and there are doctors that wanna specialize in that. Like they, they call ’em train wreck dentistry sometimes, like the mouth is just a mess. They wanna do full mouth rehab and there is a specific strategy to reach out, attract those people in a, but it is a targeted effort.

[00:29:50] Regan Robertson: It’s not the shotgun blast marketing. It’s a totally different strategy. Uh. What’s interesting though about what you just said with that too, though, even that a [00:30:00] problem like Novocaine not reacting with you the same way. That could be a full mouth rehab, or it could be a single tooth, it could be something small.

[00:30:07] Regan Robertson: That’s something that everybody across the board could potentially relate to. 

[00:30:11] Dr. JJ Peterson: Yeah. And you know, and, and like you said, I’m not saying don’t ever do those full mouth rehabs, especially if that’s the type of patient that you want, then 100% to show, hey, we can do these extreme difference, you know? But if you’re a, uh, uh, you focus in family dentistry or children’s dentistry, you know, pediatric dentistry, then.

[00:30:33] Dr. JJ Peterson: Might be a little bit different, you know, in those sense. Another thing, here’s, here’s another thing. 

[00:30:38] The Role of the Guide in StoryBrand

[00:30:38] Dr. JJ Peterson: In the StoryBrand principle of allow how you allow yourself to be positioned as somebody who can help your customer with their problems in a story I. The hero always gets into a problem and they can’t overcome the problem on their own, and so they have to find a guide.

[00:30:57] Dr. JJ Peterson: So in movies, this is Obi one [00:31:00] Kenobi. This is Yoda. This is Dumbledore. This is Aslan. You know, this is. All of those characters who come alongside the hero and help them win. That’s the role in your marketing that you need to play for your customer. You are not the hero of the story. Your customer’s the hero.

[00:31:17] Dr. JJ Peterson: You are the guide. 

[00:31:19] Empathy and Authority in Marketing

[00:31:19] Dr. JJ Peterson: So the way you position what yourself with a guide to your customer’s, uh, to your customer’s hero is with empathy and authority. So you have to understand your customer’s problems and be able to speak to them by saying, we understand going to the dentist is scary. We understand that a lot of times people struggle with the medical field because they don’t feel listened to.

[00:31:44] Dr. JJ Peterson: So don’t ignore those questions or try to hide from them, honor them, speak to them. When some, if a doctor says that to me and says, look, I get it. So many times when I have gone to the doctor, they have ignored the things that have, uh, [00:32:00] that I’ve asked of them. If somebody says that, I go, yes, that is, yes, a hundred percent.

[00:32:07] Dr. JJ Peterson: And so you say that, and then they go, they start to trust you as their guide, but then you have to lean into authority. So you first lead with empathy and then lean into authority. Authority is proof that you have solved this problem for other people. Mm-hmm. So that’s where the testimonies come in. The years you’ve been in practice, the number of patients that you’ve served.

[00:32:30] Dr. JJ Peterson: The specialties, the awards you’ve won, that’s all authority. That’s why, you know, dentists have their degrees often on the wall is because it’s just showing, hey, I’m legitimate. And especially if you’ve graduated from a prestigious school, it’s a great school. That’s all that is there for. It’s for nothing else but to say you have some authority, but that empathy and authority has to go together.

[00:32:54] Dr. JJ Peterson: If they don’t go together. If I can’t see that you understand my problems and feel them with me, [00:33:00] I don’t see myself. You are not in my story. That’s actually what it is. It’s not even that I can’t see myself in your story, it’s that you are not in my story. 

[00:33:08] Practical Examples of Empathy and Authority

[00:33:08] Dr. JJ Peterson: The quick, the quickest example I give of this is like if I’m gonna go to a gym and I say, go to a gym, and I’m looking for a trainer and I say, Hey, I’m, I’m here to lose 30 pounds.

[00:33:19] Dr. JJ Peterson: And the first trainer goes, oh my gosh, me too. That’s not my trainer. Not my trainer. That’s empathy, but no authority. If I go back to that gym and say, I’m looking for a trainer, and the next trainer lifts up his shirt and shows me a six pack and says, well, you gotta quit being lazy, fatty. There’s some authority there ’cause we’ve got the six pack, but no empathy.

[00:33:41] Dr. JJ Peterson: If I go back, I don’t know why I’m going back to this gym a third time, but if I go back a third time and say I’m looking for a trainer and I say, you know, and I’m looking to lose 30 pounds, and the trainer comes up and says, look, I used to be 30 pounds overweight myself, but over a couple months I was able to take it off and [00:34:00] now I’ve actually been able to take help.

[00:34:01] Dr. JJ Peterson: A hundred other people do the same thing. That’s now my guide. They have the empathy, they understand me, but they also have authority. So in your marketing, when you can just make a simple statement like, you know Maggie, I’m assuming, ’cause what we heard earlier that you say things like, I understand that it sometimes you don’t feel heard at the dentist.

[00:34:22] Dr. JJ Peterson: If you ever just say that. All that does is let people drop their shoulders and start to go, oh, she’s my guide. And then the fact that you have a diploma and the fact that you have a, probably a brick building and the fact that you, you know, have staff and the fact that you have testimony shows you know what you’re doing, but just that first sentence says, oh, she gets me.

[00:34:43] Dr. JJ Peterson: And I start to see you now in my story as my guide. 

[00:34:48] Dr. Maggie Augustyn: Let me ask you something along those lines. If somebody comes in with a six pack and I say to them, wait of beer or abs, what kind of six pack are [00:35:00] we talking about? Let’s 

[00:35:00] Dr. Chad Johnson: just say their name is Chad, you know? 

[00:35:03] Dr. Maggie Augustyn: So, um. This won’t apply to you entirely. Just that first part.

[00:35:09] Dr. Maggie Augustyn: So if the six pack guy comes in, right? Yeah. And, and I say, I know sometimes you don’t feel heard. Yeah. He and I are kind of out of alignment. 

[00:35:20] Dr. Chad Johnson: Yes. 

[00:35:21] Dr. Maggie Augustyn: And then me saying, I sometimes you don’t feel heard. That doesn’t work in my favor anymore. A 

[00:35:29] Dr. JJ Peterson: hundred percent because you’re not actually telling their story, right?

[00:35:33] Dr. JJ Peterson: That’s where they can’t see themselves in you. 

[00:35:36] Targeting Your Audience

[00:35:36] Dr. JJ Peterson: So where it comes to, say, your overall marketing, like your website or something like that, that is really meant to be this kind of shotgun effect of trying to get as many people as possible. The story that you’re looking for to invite customers into is the one that most relates to the type of customers that you want to work with.

[00:35:56] Dr. JJ Peterson: So if, if you want to work with. Let’s say people who [00:36:00] want only like the white veneer, best looking teeth that gets ’em ahead and puts ’em on a magazine. Then you say that it has nothing to do with being, you know, the fact that Novocaine doesn’t work on you. It, you know, you kind of go after that broad audience.

[00:36:16] Dr. JJ Peterson: If you want to go after the people, you want to be a full mouth makeover. Then you speak to the problems and the empathy to the problems of people who need a full mouth makeover. Same with children. If you’re a pediatric dentist, you speak to the parents and what they’re experiencing. ’cause kids aren’t shopping, the parents are.

[00:36:33] Dr. JJ Peterson: So what fears do parents have? And how do you speak to that in the parent? So yes, you’re going to, but like for that, with pediatric dentistry, if you say that about parents, you’re missing everybody else in the world who’s not a parent. That’s okay because you’re actually niching, niching down to what, uh, 

[00:36:54] Dr. Chad Johnson: thank you, the 

[00:36:55] Dr. JJ Peterson: audience you want.

[00:36:58] Dr. Maggie Augustyn: Uh, but this goes, it goes [00:37:00] beyond marketing. 

[00:37:00] Leadership and Communication Skills

[00:37:00] Dr. Maggie Augustyn: It also goes to communication skills. A 

[00:37:02] Dr. JJ Peterson: hundred percent. A hundred percent. If you’re leading your team, right, you’re doing the same thing. You try to lead with empathy. I would argue it the best way to actually be able to influence and move people to action is as the leader, lead with empathy, go.

[00:37:19] Dr. JJ Peterson: What are they trying to experience? Like even, even if I’m working with say, my own employees, I start with, well, what do they want? And what’s the problem they’re experiencing and how do I empathize in this moment with that problem and yet lean into my authority to say, look, we’re gonna go this way. And ultimately have a plan for them.

[00:37:38] Dr. JJ Peterson: Give them very clear directions of where we’re headed, even as a communicator. That is the way that you I, I mean, when you, when I talk to anybody, when I talk to my 8-year-old. I, it, you know, there’s a lot of times that I wanna come in and Lord over, you know, because I’m just like, I don’t have time. You’re eating your dinner.

[00:37:57] Dr. JJ Peterson: Like, like, let’s just, we don’t have time for [00:38:00] this. We we’re not having this argument. Eat, you know, we all, which 

[00:38:04] Regan Robertson: always makes it worse, at least in my household. The more I push, the more resistance I get. I never get what I want that way, but I, I’m definitely, it’s what I’m, what I’m about or what timeframe I have.

[00:38:13] Regan Robertson: I’m there. 

[00:38:14] Dr. JJ Peterson: But if I can pause for two minutes and go, look, I get it buddy. I get it. It’s not my favorite either, but you know, and then I go, but you want, you, you told me yesterday you wanna have strong muscles. The protein in the chicken that you’re eating is gonna give you strong muscles. So here’s what we’re gonna do.

[00:38:31] Dr. JJ Peterson: You’re gonna take three more bites, you know, like, so I give a very, like, I lean into, I don’t back down, but if I can start with, you know what, yeah, we’ve had chicken twice this week and it’s not my favorite either, but this is what, you know, you told me you wanted to have. Of strong muscles and this is what helps you have strong muscles.

[00:38:46] Regan Robertson: We, we just, so in that you just, were you spying on me? ’cause we just had chicken last night and I just, uh, had quite a long conversation with my son about the importance of chicken and I did not say you want strong muscles and that probably would’ve been helpful. 

[00:38:59] Dr. Maggie Augustyn: So I think you just [00:39:00] created like, um, narrative, um.

[00:39:03] Dr. Maggie Augustyn: Transportation. Transportation with your kid by creating a connection with him, by reducing argument against the message and making abstract ideas real with him. I mean like all in one sentence there. 

[00:39:17] Dr. JJ Peterson: Yeah. And when you position yourself, no matter what, whether it’s your marketing or whether it’s leadership, communication, if you think of yourself as the guide instead of the hero, it helps to reframe the entire conversation.

[00:39:29] Dr. JJ Peterson: Heroes in stories are actually weak. We, we don’t think about that. We always wanna kind of be the hero of the story ’cause they’re the main attraction. But here, I, I would all, I would challenge anybody listening in the next movie that you’re wa watching, especially if it’s an action adventure, you know, anything like that.

[00:39:47] Dr. JJ Peterson: And at any point in the movie, pause the movie and just see if that moment, if you would say, is the hero happy and having a good time right now. Nine times outta 10, the answer is no. They’re [00:40:00] getting beat up. They’ve been left behind, they failed. They’re like being a hero. They’re up and down the whole thing.

[00:40:07] Dr. JJ Peterson: They don’t actually become the hero and transform until the end of the story. The guide is the strongest character in the story. Because the guide is steady, the guide doesn’t need to prove anything. So OB one Kenobi, Yoda. Aslan, Dumbledore, um, you know, Hamit, even in Hunger Games, they’ve already won. They don’t need to prove anything.

[00:40:27] Dr. JJ Peterson: They don’t transform. They don’t change, and they don’t have to make the story about them. So when we as leaders or as business owners try to make the story about us and how great we are and try to convince everybody what we’re actually coming across as insecure and weak. When we come across as the guide where we actually lead with empathy and we step into our authority without apology, and we work to help our hero, the people that we’re serving win, that’s the strongest character in the story.

[00:40:58] Dr. JJ Peterson: I. [00:41:00] 

[00:41:01] The Power of StoryBrand Beyond Marketing

[00:41:01] Regan Robertson: I would love to talk about how there are some really unique ways to use StoryBrand, uh, that sits outside of websites and videos and social media that, that I personally have applied or I’ve seen it applied. That’s quite brilliant. And, and doctors, uh, listening, I have some hard data for you as well. So, uh, one you can coach executives.

[00:41:24] Regan Robertson: To this, you can, even if you’re an office manager listening right now, you can influence your own, uh, dentist, who’s the business owner, if you can walk them through this process yourself. I do it all the time. Uh, if I’m in executive meetings and we’re preparing for a presentation, I ask myself, um, I remind myself who is the audience, and then when I’m talking to the leaders, I say.

[00:41:46] Regan Robertson: Put yourself in their shoes. What are they going to wanna get out of this? What is in it for them? And it’s like this anchor point or a trigger, or whatever you wanna call it. It’s a, it’s a way to spin it and get them out of their head so they have something [00:42:00] they want to achieve as an objective. And, and it’s like Schrodinger’s cat.

[00:42:04] Regan Robertson: You actually can’t focus on what you want. You have to focus around it. Bruce Baird says this all the time for. Productivity. You know, you can’t just focus on getting dental sales. You have to actually focus on taking great care of the patients. Then you end up getting what you actually want. And I did this yesterday with a super good friend.

[00:42:21] Regan Robertson: He’s been out of work for like six months or so, and he was getting down to the wire and didn’t know what to do. And so I encouraged him to tell a story that’s mission based. What is actually the mission. Yes, you need a job. You have to have a job, you gotta have income. That’s. That’s what people focus on.

[00:42:39] Regan Robertson: But what is it really about? Actually. It’s about being able to, to stay in the same location. It’s about providing a good life. For others, it’s, it’s about serving the community. And that coaching, which was completely StoryBrand driven, created an outreach that he crafted. And as of this morning, [00:43:00] has been nonstop on the phone since yesterday night.

[00:43:02] Regan Robertson: Into today with offers and people willing to help. And I was just, I was really emotionally moved by that because we can use StoryBrand in ways that sit outside of the traditional marketing methods, if you will. The other thing, this is where I promised you guys data, uh. 

[00:43:20] Customer Experience and StoryBrand

[00:43:20] Regan Robertson: Through my own story and, and through what we know about dental practices or any business is that customer experiences a journey with many intersections.

[00:43:29] Regan Robertson: So JJ you talk a lot about building trust and I think authenticity gives like that, uh, it’s like subconscious almost. It gives this truth to the message that you speak. So empathy and authority is great. You can’t. Disingenuously like offer empathy if you don’t really care about it. So a lot of people have to be sitting in those shoes.

[00:43:53] Regan Robertson: So like Maggie for example, somebody comes in with a six pack, okay, you don’t wanna meet them with the ICU and you [00:44:00] feel unseen, but you certainly could with genuine care and authenticity, say. I know what it feels like to, to be seen, to be on the stage, to have my body be part of my work and viewed as such.

[00:44:13] Regan Robertson: So you could connect with them on that. They actually are seen and then give your authority around that. So I’ve gone through and mapped out. All 21 steps that a patient takes from when they first hear about you, be it from another patient or a website search, SEO, whatever it is, every little intersection.

[00:44:32] Regan Robertson: And we started applying StoryBrand methodology to those interactions. I mean, and I’m talking down to like in the restroom, what is in the restroom of, of business, uh, and. So we’ve done that for reengagement. So, uh, a a dentist for example, will treatment plan and present that treatment to a patient. And they, what they do with it is up to them.

[00:44:55] Regan Robertson: They’re either gonna schedule or they’re gonna not schedule, or they’re gonna hesitate. And so [00:45:00] many businesses, they leave it at that, it doesn’t even have to be dentistry. So many businesses will pitch something and then they just let it fall flat. So, uh, so. I’m excited about this because using StoryBrand and crafting one text message, one simple text message that has climactic foreshadowing, I’ve been promised not to give you the exact formula, but it uses these methodologies.

[00:45:25] Regan Robertson: We’ve been able to see enormous gains and that takes very little effort on the practice itself. The business itself, marketing can feel so heavy at times and like it’s a big lift. One text message can equate to over $300,000 in treatment scheduling. 

[00:45:41] Dr. Chad Johnson: Mm-hmm. 

[00:45:44] Regan Robertson: That’s crazy. It’s exciting. It’s, it’s, it’s exciting.

[00:45:50] Regan Robertson: It’s exciting because I think I’m, I, I’ll speak for myself. I get exhausted. It’s a lot of, it’s a lot of running around these days. It’s a lot of promotions. Um, [00:46:00] uh, you know, when I think about being a dental practice owner, there’s always competition. You’re never in a town where there’s no other competition and, and everyone has, has access to marketing and, and.

[00:46:10] Regan Robertson: Prices are getting more expensive. You know, the digital clickthroughs are expensive, so it can feel a little choking at times. And you have to be a business owner, you have to be a great clinician, you have to be a great boss. Um, basically you have to be an expert in a lot of areas that you shouldn’t have to be.

[00:46:24] Regan Robertson: And I love, to your point, jj, um, that everyone deserves a guide that that can help them get there. And I don’t know, uh, how, I know that you hear all sorts of businesses. Are there other creative ways that you’ve seen StoryBrand used that surprise you? 

[00:46:41] Dr. JJ Peterson: Um, one, I mean, I don’t know about a, a very simple way is the way that you do your bios on your website.

[00:46:48] Dr. Maggie Augustyn: Hmm. I wanna know more. 

[00:46:49] Dr. JJ Peterson: Yeah. So instead of, again, making the story about you. You make it about your customers. So instead of saying like, oh yeah, I love this ice cream and this is how many kids I have, and this [00:47:00] is where I went to school, you start with something along the lines about what got you passionate about getting into dentistry, and that should be to solve their problem.

[00:47:09] Dr. JJ Peterson: Or if you’re in pediatric dentistry, you say, as a mother myself. Or as a parent myself, I understand and you, so you’re really telling your customer’s story in your bio, not yours. You put in facts about yourself, but the only reason you’re doing that is show empathy and authority to solve your customer’s problems.

[00:47:27] Dr. JJ Peterson: So speaking into those ways and, and even when, you know, when somebody comes in and they’re scared and the first person they see is the receptionist. Uh, I’ll be honest, many times when I go in to a medical office, whether it’s a doctor or dentist, I’m usually nervous, right? This is not, especially if I’m there for the first time, I.

[00:47:51] Dr. JJ Peterson: And if I walk up to that counter and they are all talking to each other, it’s very, and then just kind of go, we’ll, we will be right with you, and you feel very dismissed. Or [00:48:00] they throw a, they’re on the phone and they throw a clipboard at you that tells me you feel like you’re more important than me. So automatically they’ve made themselves the hero in the story and instead being able to say.

[00:48:15] Dr. JJ Peterson: Is this your first time? Oh my gosh. Come on in. You know, I know a lot of patients who come in here are nervous, but we are here to serve you. That’s it. Just by saying, you don’t even have to say you are nervous. A lot of patients when they first walk in are always nervous. We get that, but we, we’ve been around for a long time and we, we love, in fact, here have a, have some water that just right there.

[00:48:37] Dr. JJ Peterson: Mm-hmm. Versus like, Hey, fill this out while I’m on the phone. If somebody does that to me now, I honestly, I, I am like, I don’t know that I want to be here anymore and I don’t care how good they’re, how great three views are about their services. What that’s telling me is you think you’re very important and I am not going to feel very important here, even at the very front desk.

[00:48:58] Dr. JJ Peterson: So it’s an entire [00:49:00] mindset shift of even everybody on your staff of saying, we are the guides and guides. Allow people and help people feel seen, heard, and understood. If we’re the hero of the story, then I’m busy. I’m overwhelmed. I don’t know if I can deal with this. That’s the mentality, and everybody who’s walking in that door feels it.

[00:49:21] Dr. JJ Peterson: But if I’m the guide. I can say I understand how a busy and wildlife can be and taking time out to come into the dentist. Like when I have to go take my kids to the dentist, which I’ve had to recently, 

[00:49:31] Dr. Chad Johnson: we have to 

[00:49:32] Dr. JJ Peterson: get ’em outta school or we have to schedule ours at seven in the morning so that we can be back to get ’em at school.

[00:49:38] Dr. JJ Peterson: You know? And it’s like, it’s insane and it’s, Hey, I’m 

[00:49:41] Regan Robertson: glad the dentist is open at seven. That’s showing that they care. That’s nice. I like that. 

[00:49:45] Dr. JJ Peterson: So we have, we, uh, we have, uh. Appointments at 7:00 AM for the adults because yeah, absolutely. We can get back and get the kids and get ’em to school. So that’s, that is nice.

[00:49:55] Dr. JJ Peterson: But it also, any new place I walk into is terrifying. So [00:50:00] just little things like that of like, how are people greeted when they walk in? How, what are the bios like on the website? What are you saying? When people sit down in the chair, are they looking at the chart or are you looking at them? Those are actually principles.

[00:50:16] Dr. JJ Peterson: It’s not just about good customer service. You’re, you’re telling a story in each one of those moments, and what you’re saying is either I’m the hero of the story, or my customer is the hero of the story. And for customers and businesses to win, they need to understand that their customers the hero of the story and they’re the guide.

[00:50:35] Dr. JJ Peterson: It’s a win-win for both. But in reality in that you are positioning yourself as the strongest character in the story. 

[00:50:43] Dr. Maggie Augustyn: And this is, it’s, it’s incredibly powerful what you’re saying. And, and maybe I’m going to come off a little defensive, um, because I don’t have 7:00 AM appointments, but I. Can you scratch a nerve?

[00:50:56] Dr. Maggie Augustyn: Yeah, yeah. We, we are going against, and [00:51:00] then, and a lot of what you’re saying, I teach and I write about because it has to do with, uh, neuron mirroring and it has to do with compassionate, it has to do with humanity. And we’re moving away from that. I am, I am. I am in your boat. I am in your camp. I will come to your church, but.

[00:51:14] Dr. Maggie Augustyn: We’re not taught that, you know, as providers, as practitioner, as clinicians, we are not taught that. Right. And um. And there’s very little appreciation when, when we do serve like that to our patients. 

[00:51:32] Dr. JJ Peterson: Um, I think it’s gonna be the differentiation moving forward. I genuinely do. Um, I think, you know, especially in a world of like AI and different things that people are experiencing on all sorts, sorts of.

[00:51:42] Dr. JJ Peterson: Levels. 

[00:51:43] The Human Touch in the Age of AI

[00:51:43] Dr. JJ Peterson: But I think the human, the human side of things being seen, heard, and understood is going to be the differentiation moving forward. What’s really interesting is I, this is kind of a side thing, but I use AI all the time in writing and doing a lot of stuff. I actually treat AI like a human, not for its sake, but for mine.

[00:52:03] Dr. JJ Peterson: But for your sake. Yeah, for my sake. Please. Thank you. I don’t wanna, yeah, I don’t wanna lose my own humanity in dealing with. The electronic side of things. And so I know it’s dumb to say thank you and please, and hey, great job. When I do, when I’m walking, talking to ai, it’s not for the ai, it’s for me. I don’t wanna lose my humanity.

[00:52:23] Dr. JJ Peterson: And I think for everybody in this space, when you can do that, it will be your differentiator moving forward. 

[00:52:29] Dr. Maggie Augustyn: So you don’t, you don’t write an email. Listen, Jack Hall, I’m really mad at this person and I need you to write an email and really let them have it. 

[00:52:38] Dr. JJ Peterson: Yeah, no, no. Lead with love. 

[00:52:41] Regan Robertson: I, I use AI every single day and, uh, and if you’re open to it, we’ll have you back as a guest again, because AI was a gigantic topic that I knew we weren’t gonna be able to cover today, but there.

[00:52:52] Regan Robertson: SEO you know, that’s changing rapidly and people are asking, uh, AI far and above. It’s kind of like when [00:53:00] websites became responsive and mobile driven. So we knew that that was going to be happening and uh, and StoryBrand has an ai, uh, that they’ve launched as well to help, to help people with this. But I, I use it every single day when you know how to use it.

[00:53:15] Regan Robertson: And, and I think, I think I read somewhere, guys, I’m gonna like. Validate this and put it in the show notes, but I remember the scientists were talking about, uh, AI bots that were interacted with positively and politely ended up outperforming those that were not spoken to, and they were trying to figure out why that is.

[00:53:33] Regan Robertson: So stay tuned on that. I, I, there’s definitely a way though, I think to still stay authentic. Um, be clear, build trust, and, and AI can be our tool, not the driver for sure. In the future of this. Jj. Mm-hmm. It’s been amazing to have you for this hour. Thank you so much. Thank you, Chad and Maggie, for your contributions and being on this with us.

[00:53:57] Regan Robertson: Any, any closing thoughts you have for our listeners [00:54:00] today, jj? 

[00:54:01] Final Thoughts on Being a Guide

[00:54:01] Dr. JJ Peterson: I think the, the biggest thing, and this is honestly what I’ve, what drew me to StoryBrand and what has kept me in this game now for, I think 11, 12 years doing this and talking about some of the same stuff. Is it. In any situation you’re in, think about how can I play the guide in this role?

[00:54:19] Dr. JJ Peterson: Because we all play the different, different characters in, in our day to day, right? We sometimes are the villain, not on purpose, but sometimes we play a villain. Sometimes we play a victim. Sometimes we are victims of of, of things that people are doing to us and then. I think our ultimate goal is to move out of those and move into the hero space, overcoming our own struggles.

[00:54:40] Dr. JJ Peterson: That’s what a hero’s journey is, is overcoming their own and then ultimately moving into the guide space. And in the guide space. That’s when you’ve taken the things that you have learned and the things that you have overcome and now turn around and help others do the same. That is, I think, not only the [00:55:00] most.

[00:55:00] Dr. JJ Peterson: Fulfilling way to live. There’s actually a bunch of research around that, uh, around the idea of once you’ve experienced your own joy and you go back to try to have that same amount of joy with that same experience, you won’t experience it unless you take somebody else with you. Help watch them experience that joy.

[00:55:19] Dr. JJ Peterson: That’s the only way to out joy yourself is to have help somebody else experience the same joy you experienced earlier. So there’s a lot of, 

[00:55:26] Dr. Chad Johnson: it’s a circle of life. 

[00:55:29] Dr. JJ Peterson: Hundred percent is, and so I think that’s just my final word would say. In all situations when you’re feeling like you’re overwhelmed, when you’re feeling like you don’t know what you’re doing.

[00:55:40] Dr. JJ Peterson: When you’re feeling like I can’t get people to do what I want and to move forward, just stop. Stop and say, how can I be the guide here? How can I help other people win? Because when I help other people win, then then I win as well. 

[00:55:53] Regan Robertson: Thank you so much. Mic drop. Yeah, all 

[00:55:57] Dr. Maggie Augustyn: done. Thank you, jj. 

[00:55:58] Dr. Chad Johnson: Boom. Well done. 

[00:55:59] Dr. Maggie Augustyn: [00:56:00] Jj.

[00:56:00] Dr. Maggie Augustyn: You make the world spin in the right direction. 

[00:56:03] Dr. JJ Peterson: Uh, thank you. That’s that’s my hope in all of it. So.