Sell with a Story

1) Storytelling is a powerful sales tool that builds trust and emotional connections 2) Craft stories with relatable heroes, relevant challenges, and honest struggles 3) Use stories throughout the sales process, from introduction to closing

"Stories sell. And the people who can tell a good sales story sell more than people who can't." Stories build relationships. Storytelling is a master sales tool that helps capture your buyer's attention and build mutual trust. It connects with the decision-making areas in your buyer's brain and makes you and your product more memorable. Stories are contagious and spread by word of mouth, allowing you to be more original and stand out from your competition. Stories appeal to emotions. Human beings often make subconscious, emotional decisions in one part of the brain, and then justify those decisions rationally and logically in another place. If you're trying to influence buyers' decisions, using facts and rational arguments alone isn't enough. You need to influence them emotionally, and stories are your best vehicle to do that. Stories are welcomed by buyers. Unlike a presentation, your buyers actually want you to tell them stories. Compared to clicking through the slides of a sales pitch, telling stories is just more fun—for you and your buyer.

"The most compelling hero for your story is someone your audience can identify with." Relatable heroes. Choose main characters that your audience can see themselves in or working with—customers, suppliers, bosses, subordinates, or even competitors. The more similar the hero in the story is to the audience, the more relevant the story will be to them, and the more likely they'll be to listen, remember, and learn from it. Relevant challenges. The challenge is an obstacle or opportunity the hero confronts. It plays the role of the villain in the story. Without a proper villain, it's hard for the audience to care about the hero or their struggle. The challenge should be relevant to the audience—something they are likely to run into themselves or are familiar enough with to empathize with the hero. Honest struggles. The struggle between the hero and villain is the heart of storytelling. If there's no struggle, there's no story. Make sure the stories you choose to tell involve a legitimate struggle and that your audience can see that struggle in the way you tell the story.

"Stories can be used in any phase of the sales process, from stories you tell yourself prior to the sales call, to building rapport with the buyer, to the sales pitch itself, to negotiating price, to closing the sale, and even after the sale to manage the customer relationship." Introduction stories. Use stories to explain what you do simply and to showcase whom…