15 Feb
How to Leverage Storytelling to Become Better at Sales

The world has become more connected than ever before. Everything is being digitized and made into a networked, sensor-driven ecosystem. Thus, business leaders are Rethinking storytelling and its potential impact on their business and, specifically, sales teams. Today, storytelling is necessary for sales & marketing to use in their strategies. Stories are more effective at captivating your audience and establishing trust than any other marketing technique that’s out there right now. Today’s customers have short attention spans, so anything that can help you immediately grabs their attention is worth incorporating into your digital marketing strategy. Even if you don’t believe in the power of storytelling just yet, there’s no harm in trying it out - especially when you see how effective it can be at building a business case. Read on to learn more about how storytelling can be used to become more effective in your sales efforts.


Storytelling forces you to provide Proof vs. Persuasion.

Most salespeople are taught to approach the client with Persuasion in mind. Yet what everyone wants is proof of value in their lives. So today, in an effort to be more effective, try to approach clients with the burden of value instead of Persuasion in mind. Storytelling does just that—it will help you to work to prove your value instead of trying to convince or persuade your clients. When you focus on proof rather than Persuasion, you build trust with your prospects—and that’s the foundation on which all successful business relationships are built.

Storytelling forces you to be specific.

To be a compelling storyteller, you need to be clear, concise, and focused so that your stories make sense and clearly illustrate your point. When it comes to sales, utilizing storytelling in your approach will require that you get very specific about the value you offer each prospect - in effect, you need a personally tailored, unique value position. Storytelling requires that you know your stuff—that you understand not only your products and services but also your customers and their specific needs. Only then can you craft a story that is relevant to them and will resonate with them deeply.

Storytelling Focuses on the importance of solving their problem.

In order to be successful in sales, you must be able to quickly and accurately assess whether or not the person you are talking to has a real problem that your product or service can solve. The best way to do this is by asking questions and then listening carefully to the answers. You will also need to be able to tell a story that will help the prospect see the value of your solution. This means focusing on the importance of solving their problem, not just on the features of your product or service. If the prospect cannot articulate the costs and consequences of the problem and the value of solving it, their chances of getting their organization to agree to invest in any solution are remote - as are your chances of winning.

No matter what it is, by being clear about the value that YOU offer and being able to communicate this value through stories, you will be better equipped to close more business and achieve greater success as a sales professional.

Storytelling allows you to Facilitate their buying process, not your sales process.

The conventional sales process is all too often designed around the needs of the seller, not the buyer. So it’s hardly surprising that things the salesperson sees as important are often regarded by the prospect as irrelevant or (even worse) profoundly irritating. What’s more, at the same time, their interests and concerns are being poorly served by the salesperson who is too busy trying to push them down their own pre-ordinated path. Using storytelling will force you to put yourself in your buyer’s shoes and see things from their perspective.In conclusion, a compelling story in sales should be a well-crafted business case that is clear and concise and sets you apart from the competition. Your story should allow for anyone to see a distinctly different and higher value proposition than your competitors in order to be successful.

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