Hey, Scott from The Sales Mastermind here. Today’s edition only takes 3 minutes.
Facts don’t win sales. Emotions do.
Buyers may forget what you said. They will never forget how you made them feel.
And the best way to bring out emotions is with storytelling.
Why Stories Matter
We are infatuated with good stories, and they last the test of time.
In 2021, US Fiction books generated over $10 billion in trade revenue. Nonfiction books generated $7.34 billion.
Anyone with a child can tell you kids won’t absorb an adult telling them, “It’s ok to be different.” When Elsa sings “Let It Go,” it sinks in.
Stories as part of the buyer’s journey
At every stage of the buying journey, you are weaving a narrative.
The story your buyer wants to hear is, “This purchase will solve one of my problems.”
It might take time, and it might not be easy, but no purchase happens without a similar story.
Beyond just the buyer-seller conversation, this story is repeated to the buyer’s wider team and leadership.
Keep it accurate, keep it vivid
Everything you tell your buyer IS a story.
- Yes, your company did save a customer $1,000,000 in costs.
- Yes, another customer doubled profits within 6 months of buying your product.
- Yes, these are cherry-picked to show your company in the best light.
As long as they are authentic, vivid, and memorable - cherry-picking the best is ok.
Become a better Storyteller
The first step is to have material, ideally in the words of actual buyers and customers.
The step-by-step guide for this is to:
(Pre-Step) Record your calls I use and recommend Avoma (« affiliate link).
1. Listen to one recording every day.
- Focus on the triggers and the pains your customers feel when they reach out
- Focus on real-life examples you give prospects. Especially the ones your buyers respond to.
2. Write down at least 2 examples from every call you listen to.
- One example they gave
- One example you gave
Within a week, you’ll have 10 stories from 5 calls.
3. Make the story interesting.
- Pick a vivid focal point. Ideally, this is quantitative.
- Anyone can say they sell “the best marketing software.”
- Not many will EXPLAIN how a customer “increased sales by 14% in the first week, with only 3 emails.”
The more vivid, specific, and numbers/stats-based your stories are, the better you will be as a storyteller.
4. Create the story.
Copywriting can give us our structure:
- Problem (start with a problem)
- Agitation (how did it get worse)
- Intrigue (new perspective that should interest people)
- Positive Future (future benefits associated with the intrigue)
- Solution (bring clarity to the above)
5-10 minutes per story is more than enough. Don’t go crazy.
Some people write a whole talk track. I prefer short bullet points.
5. Practice
- Pick 1-2-3 stories each morning you have sales calls.
- Do your best to weave a story into the call naturally.
For some people, storytelling comes naturally. For others, they have to work on it for weeks or months.
If you follow the above and put in the reps, you’ll be a better storyteller. And a better seller for it.
LinkedIn Posts of the Week
From Me
Story Time: Focus on value metrics
From Anton Dobrzhanskiy
Let me know what you think! it to a friend
Until next week,
Scott Cowley
PS If you're ready, I have just started conducting:
Sales Tear Downs
Is your business closing some deals, but not enough? I work with many sales leaders to do a top to bottom tear down of what is working, what isn't and what to do about it. Sound interesting?
(Next opening December)
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