This weekend is one of two during the NFL season that is always a combination of difficult and enjoyable for me. My Indianapolis Colts are playing the Tennessee Titans.

While I am fortunate to have many friends and acquaintances spread into every NFL city, there’s an unusual concentration of my closest pals in Music City. This, of course, means that the two times a year these divisional rivals play, I’m conflicted between rooting for my team and hoping to celebrate another Colts win – and not wanting to hear the inordinate amount of grief I will receive from my buddies in Nashville if their Titans are victorious.

• Isn’t it amazing how many people identify with their local teams? My wife gives me a rough time for how much my emotional state ebbs and flows with the success or failure of the teams I love most!

Yet, there are other products and services where we have emotional investment, as well. If I see someone driving down the road in a car that matches mine, I don’t say, “Look – there goes someone who made an identical choice in transportation as I!” Instead, I exclaim, “Hey – that dude is driving MY car!”

If you ask me about my teams or my car, I respond with stories about them. I’ll tell you about how they thrill me…disappoint me…excite me…discourage me. In other words, I won’t give you statistics and percentages about their efforts – I will relate stories to convey my emotional attachment.

• It’s a bit baffling to consider why more professionals — and the organizations they work for — haven’t integrated this into their approach as they deliver a customer experience.

The dictionary says an “experience” is “an event or occurrence that leaves an impression on someone.” I’d suggest that “impressions” are primarily made by emotions and feelings – which are typically conveyed by stories, not data.

For a decade, I evaluated the effectiveness of the stories told by major movies in my reviews that were seen weekly on television by a million people across the country. I also had the chance to interview and spend time with the artists who were writing, directing, and performing those stories – from Quentin Tarantino to James Cameron, from Barry Levinson to the Farrelly Brothers, from Tom Hanks to Meryl Streep.

I learned many aspects of storytelling from them – and the primary aspect was this: for any story to connect with the intended audience, you must care about what happens to the characters.

• Therefore, compelling stories are always about people.

“Wait!” you may be thinking, “What about films ranging from ‘The Love Bug’ about a VW to ‘Transformers’ – those aren’t people!” Yet, what is engaging are the people who are dealing with Herbie or Optimus Prime – and that both the car and the Transformer are endowed with human characteristics, making them more relatable.

How are you telling YOUR story? Are you focusing on the features and benefits of your products – or telling a story about how someone is benefiting from using it? Are you describing data about your service – or relating a narrative about how someone’s life is improved because of it?

Your ability to connect with customers and employees will only be as distinctive as the stories that you tell them.

(Go Colts!)