Sell with a Story

1. Storytelling is a powerful sales tool that builds trust and emotional connections

"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.

2. Craft stories with relatable heroes, relevant challenges, and honest struggles

"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.

3. Use stories throughout the sales process, from introduction to closing

"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 you've helped and how. These stories set the stage for the ultimate success or failure of the relationship you're trying to build.

Rapport-building stories. Share personal stories and stories about your company to help buyers get to know you better and build trust. These include stories about why you do what you do, times when you've admitted mistakes or couldn't help, and how your company was founded.

Sales pitch stories. Incorporate stories about your product's invention, customer problems and successes, and value-adding narratives into your main sales pitch.

Objection-handling stories. Use stories to address common objections, negotiate price, and resolve concerns before they're even brought up.

Closing stories. Tell stories that create a sense of urgency, arm your sponsor with compelling narratives, and coach the buyer through breaking up with their current supplier.

Post-sale stories. Continue using storytelling after the sale to deliver service, generate loyalty, and summarize the sales call for future reference.

4. Develop a repertoire of 25 essential sales stories

"If you don't have one already, you need your own personal motivation story like the biotech rep's story above—one that can remind you that you're actually doing your clients a great service."

Personal stories. Develop stories about:

• Why you do what you do
• Times you've admitted mistakes
• Instances when you couldn't help a client
• How you've gone to bat for customers
• Stories that challenge preconceptions about you

Company stories. Craft narratives about:

• Your company's founding
• How you're different from competitors

Product stories. Create stories about:

• Your product's invention or discovery
• Problems your product solves
• Customer successes
• "Two roads" comparisons (with and without your product)
• How your product adds unique value

Process stories. Develop stories for:

• Handling objections
• Negotiating price
• Creating urgency
• Coaching buyers through change

Post-sale stories. Prepare stories about:

• What's worked well for other customers
• Building customer loyalty
• Great sales calls

By developing this repertoire, you'll have a story ready for every situation in the sales process.

5. Structure stories with context, challenge, conflict, and resolution

"If you leave one of these questions unanswered, your audience will just endure a less effective story."

Context. Start by answering:

• Where and when does the story take place?
• Who is the main character?
• What does the character want?
• What background is needed to understand their motivations?

Challenge. Introduce the problem or opportunity that sets the story in motion. This is where the hero meets the villain or obstacle.

Conflict. Show the struggle between the hero and the challenge. This is the heart of the story and often the longest part. Invest time in developing it well.

Resolution. Explain how everything turned out in the end. Did the hero win or lose? How were things (including the characters) changed as a result of the ordeal?

Transition out. After the story, explain the lesson learned and recommend actions based on that lesson. This connects the story back to your sales objective.

6. Incorporate emotion and surprise to make stories memorable

"A surprise at the end of your story helps your audience remember it better because adrenaline will be present in the brain during the important memory consolidation period."

Use emotional techniques. Enhance your stories by:

• Telling the audience how characters feel
• Showing emotions through character behavior
• Making the audience feel emotions themselves
• Letting the audience get to know the main characters
• Using dialogue to convey emotions

Create surprises. Add unexpected elements to your stories:

• At the beginning to grab attention
• In the middle to maintain focus
• At the end to aid memory retention

Balance emotion and facts. While emotion is crucial, be aware of cultural differences in emotional expression and avoid improper emotional manipulation. Provide an emotional palate cleanser before closing the sale to prevent feelings of manipulation.

7. Practice and refine stories, but avoid sounding scripted

"You wouldn't believe how hard I work to make this sound as natural as it does."

Practice methods. Improve your storytelling by:

• Walking and talking with an imaginary friend
• Practicing in front of a live audience
• Using audio recording
• Using video recording
• Utilizing online services for feedback

Avoid memorization. Don't script and memorize your stories word-for-word. This can make them sound rehearsed and inauthentic. Instead, remember key points and allow for natural variation in delivery.

Refine through telling. Use each opportunity to tell a story as a chance to refine it. Pay attention to audience reactions and adjust accordingly.

Maintain conversational tone. When writing stories, aim for a conversational style:

• Use shorter sentences (15-18 words on average)
• Choose simple words (fewer than 10% greater than two syllables)
• Use active voice (fewer than 10% of sentences in passive voice)
• Place the verb early in the sentence

8. Find and save great stories from various sources

"Treat your sales stories like the valuable asset they are."

Personal experiences. Draw from your own past and present experiences. Keep a sales story journal to capture ideas as they occur.

Interviews. Talk to colleagues, customers, and industry experts. Ask open-ended questions about specific moments in time and use problem prompts to elicit stories.

Company resources. Look for stories on your company website, at client conferences, and in staff meetings.

Story circles and contests. Create venues for sharing and collecting stories within your organization.

Saving methods. Preserve your stories using:

• Story structure templates
• Word processing documents
• Presentation software
• Online story databases
• Audio or video recordings

Regularly update and organize your story collection to keep it fresh and accessible.

9. Use data-driven stories to support your sales pitch

"Do you have to turn off your storytelling when it's time to present your data?"

"How we got here" stories. Walk the audience through data in chronological order, illustrating how you've arrived at the current situation. This method works well with time-series data, especially when showing results after an intervention.

Discovery journey stories. Take your audience through your personal journey of discovery as you conducted your analysis. Allow them to draw conclusions themselves, turning your ideas into their ideas.

Data visualization. Use charts, graphs, and other visual aids to make your data-driven stories more compelling and easier to understand.

Combine numbers and narrative. Weave quantitative information into your storytelling to provide both emotional appeal and factual support for your arguments.

10. Maintain story integrity while allowing for some embellishment

"In storytelling, accuracy is important. Precision is not."

Balance accuracy and impact. While maintaining the integrity of your stories is crucial, some level of embellishment can enhance their effectiveness. Focus on conveying the essence of the story rather than reciting every detail with perfect precision.

Guidelines for embellishment:

• Don't be any more willing to embellish stories than you are with facts
• Consider audience expectations based on the context and time elapsed
• Be more careful with intentional changes than organic ones
• Focus on preserving the core elements (challenge, conflict, resolution) rather than minor details

Transparency. If you're unsure about specific details, use phrases like "I've heard that..." or "Company legend has it..." to set appropriate expectations.

Litmus test. Ask yourself: If someone who was present when the story originally happened heard you tell it, would they be offended or would you be embarrassed? If so, you've probably changed too much.

By following these guidelines, you can craft compelling sales stories that are both impactful and honest, helping you build trust and close more sales.

Last updated: October 3, 2024