How Telling Stories Boosts Your Sales by lisafugere

[Doha]

How Telling Stories Boosts Your Sales
by lisafugere

storybook

Every sale tells a story. The more complex the deal, the more interesting and intricate the story. Just like any story, your sale has a beginning, middle, and end. People have always loved stories, and this is no less true of your customers than of anyone else. Organizing your sale around a story can help customers see the bigger picture that your product will deliver within their organization, and it's a great way to remind yourself how and when to present each portion of your sale.
The Beginning: Pose a Problem
A sales story begins with a problem the customer is trying to solve. This gets the customer's attention right away: they're interested in learning what happens to someone who has a similar problem. There are many ways to begin such a story, especially in the digital age:

    Videos are easy to share and find, and often a good first-touch interaction between a prospect and your brand because videos require very little commitment from prospects. Videos also tell stories to which prospects can relate. If the pain in the video is something with which a prospect is all too uncomfortably familiar, they may understand how you help customers better than if you simply try to explain.
    Blog posts and articles, like videos, require little commitment from prospects. Use your blog to spread thoughtful conversations about the problems customers face. The title of posts and articles can also attract customers' attention.
    Images on social media sites capture customers' attention immediately, especially if they depict a person in trouble and/or use bright colors. Share videos and blog posts on pinterest (with photos) or Facebook to capture further attention.
    Telling a story face-to-face. When selling begins at events, the sales story begins with a conversation. Unlike all the other examples above, a conversation allows you to collect direct feedback from prospects about their needs. Use events as an opportunity to learn the problems your customers face so you can pose a solution.

A sales story begins with a customers' first interaction with your brand. If you can deduce what interested your customer about your brand, you can determine the problems they face. You won't sell much if you pose your product as a solution to a problem that doesn't exist, so identify the problem then move to the next chapter of your sales story.

The Middle: Solutions That Don't Work
Many sales people make the mistake of jumping directly from the problem to the company's proposed solution. However, a good story contains a middle section in which the protagonist fails at first to solve the central problem of the story, and has to overcome hardship to prove him or herself and demonstrate that he or she deserves the glory in the end. In sales, this section consists of demonstrating that other solutions to the customer's problem don't work.

The goal of this middle section is to raise the customer's concern about the outcome of the story. If you write this section of a sale correctly, your prospects will be left with no option but to move forward with you.

Presenting solutions that don't work does not always mean jumping into a competitive dialogue before your customer has even heard of your competitors. Often, the biggest obstacle to a sale is the status quo. If your solution mildly intrigues your prospect, you have to convince them that it's a complete game-changer. If your prospect loves your product, you often have to convince your prospect's boss that your product is worth looking at.

The End: Finding a Resolution
The end of the story is when you sell to the customer. Just as all seems lost for the central character of your story (your prospect), he or she tries your product and it works. This relieves and excites your customers. You then encourage them to try the product, too.

And while we hope most sales stories end happily, sometimes they do turn sour. Check out our holiday closing guide to find out how you can master the close of a deal, and end all your sales tales happily ever after.