Sales and the Power of a Good Story

Everyone likes a good story. This includes your customers and prospects. However, if you are telling stories simply to push your product or service instead of connecting with potential customers, your tales are likely to fall flat.

People are far less interested in statistics and graphs that show how well your product works than they are about learning how a product solved a problem that they grapple with, as well.

If you don’t consider yourself a master storyteller, have no fear. Crafting a compelling narrative isn’t as difficult as you may think. The fact is, you likely already have plenty of material, you just need to know how to put it all together. At LeadGen Compass, we’ve put together a few tips to help you do just that:

How To Tell A Good Sales Story

1. Make it Relatable. Tell a prospect a story that they can really relate to. In other words, a story that is similar to their own. Are you talking to a middle manager struggling to get budget approval? Are you working with a business owner who has been working so hard on their business they haven’t paid attention to their savings or exit plan? Your job is to think about where your prospect is right now and find stories that really speak to their current situation.
2. Detail the Struggle and Provide a Resolution. Don’t skimp on the details. While you never want to be overly dramatic, you do want to make sure that you present a clear picture of exactly what your customer was going through. This allows you to really connect with a prospect. What was the customer struggling with? What strategy did you come up with to resolve the issue? This type of storytelling allows you to highlight your expertise naturally, without coming off as salesy.
3. Highlight the Results. Once you have explained how a problem was solved, you can delve more deeply into the ways your product allowed a customer to achieve the desired results. Facts and data intermingled with anecdotes make a sales presentation much more interesting and engaging.

Of course, as important as the story itself is knowing when to tell it. Make sure you have enough time so that you aren’t rushing through important details. This may be during a sit down with a prospect or during a sales presentation in front of a large group of people. If you only have a prospect on the phone for a few minutes, however, it probably isn’t the right time.

Finally, all great storytellers will tell you that you should always leave your audience wanting more. The most compelling stories will leave the listener wondering how the story will end for them. This is when you know your sales story has done its job.

LeadGen Compass can help tell your story to the right audience and create more inbound sales leads. Give us a call today at 402-682-7418 or visit leadgencompass.com.