You donât want to focus entirely on your product or service, no matter how amazing it might be. Tell them about the initial doubts that your other clients had and how those doubts were completely arrested when the product was onboarded. Worth reading. © 2021 Inspirationfeed. In training, storytelling is becoming a respected technique that’s recognized for its effectiveness. It’s just that the nature of … Stories help you connect with the audience, so it just makes sense that narratives are huge in the marketing world. And now you too can embrace the art of storytelling and increase your sales phenomenally. A salesperson who knows how to use storytelling to engage and lock in a prospect is one who can close by making prospects feel. This is just as real to salespeople who are selling high-ticket products and long-term subscriptions. Just don’t overdo it! Then, they’ll want to be the next one. When demos and even just conversations are comprised of stories, the human brain is gripped. Heck, you probably still have some recollection of that story about how Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. We remember them. In the end, the hero emerges more powerful than ever by working in partnership with you. Recently I have been participating in the One Funnel Away Challenge by Clickfunnels... A big part of what they taught in the challenge was how to write … Salespeople sometimes tell stories centered on them – how they saved the day, excelled or did something unique. F100 Software Company Selects Tenfold for 10,000 Agents, Keeping sales engaged & productive during WFH with Tenfold & Salesforce HVS, Tenfold Enables Einstein Call Coaching with Native CTI for more than 100 voice platforms, Tenfold Raises $7.5M in Series C Funding from A16z, Salesforce & Next Coast Ventures, Avaya & Tenfold Enter Strategic Partnership for Leading CRMs, pushing information down people’s throats, 65 to 70 percent of information shared through stories, Is Your Sales Team Ready to Take Advantage of Salesforce Einstein Call Coaching? If you want to sell, you have to learn the art of storytelling. Read writing about Storytelling in The Art of Sales. Use imagery – Learn to tell stories that paint scenarios. It really is something that a sales professional needs to think about and practice prior to usage. Imagine. Author of Amazon #1 bestseller Rebirth of the Salesman, Cian is a regular sales and marketing commentator in the mainstream media. This goes back to childhood, when the most basic request we made as kids, besides … Itâs just natural that they will recall your story and not a dry pitch from another salesperson. This is where your call to action comes into play, and it should be clear yet expressed as part of the overall story. This is really very good piece of information. Mastering the art of the story, however, could be what propels your sales technique to the next level. Sales stories have a profound effect on our brains and our behavior. They want nothing more than assurance that your product already became a success story. Take the prospect through the process. Take some time to perfect your craft. Sales departments put together presentations that show why their products are the best logical solutions for clients.  Remember that fiction is an amazing tool to tell the truth. The Art Of Storytelling In Enterprise Sales April 10, 2012 People who start their tales with an audience of one, and end up attracting an audience of many, usually to garner a laugh, preach a sermon, or set up a sales … A major challenge will be the need or pain point your product or service is designed to address. In theory, sales training should help sales professionals tell the story of their products and services in a way that compels a prospect's interest and attention. Youâre so animated that you miss the moment your leadâs eyes glaze over, until it finally becomes obvious when they glance at their watch. 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But if you follow the tips I’ve outlined above, you can master this art and begin to see the positive impact it has on your sales. If you prepare well, you’ll get the points across succinctly. The faster you become relatable, the better. Thinking of sales enablement in the context storytelling, sales tools help with volume and quality. Examples of these include autodialers and email automation. Yup. Salespeople have a bit of a reputation. People are much more likely to do business with someone they feel they know. And people only listen when they want toâso in order to sell, they must want to listen to you. Do not overstate! Maybe you’ve never considered how useful telling a story can be in reaching another person, and that’s OK. Lots of salespeople don’t think about storytelling in this way. Inspiring and educating creative entrepreneurs from around the world. Believe me, your prospects want to hear this! After all, we’re reluctant to say “yes” to a sales rep who seems like their driving motivation is to make a commission. Subjective biases are tapped and are considered when thinking. See, selling has moved far away from the days of pushing information down people’s throats and employing borderline shady techniques to close sales. The London School of Business did a study on this and it confirmed what was experienced by people who’ve been using storytelling as a means to transfer information and convince people. Sales And The Art of Storytelling Published on January 24, 2017 January 24, 2017 • 194 Likes • 45 Comments. We’re not writing an epic, we just want to hook the prospect. Participants cognitively retain information more completely and efficiently when taught in story form. There is no substitute to understanding the situation of your prospects. Keep stories straight to point – No need to be flowery and overly literary! By telling a story, youâre actually getting your listener to think, and feel, the way you want them to. Volume – Tools that enable your reps to reach and engage with a wider audience. Successful inside sales professionals know how to use available information and bring them to life through stories. Sales Storytelling is more of a practiced art than most understand. Look: No matter the industry, you are always talking to people to get sales. Marketing and sales are far from dead and buried. This results in better retentionâsomething we want in our prospects. ” Tell a story by email (and see if they click and read it). That cartoon you were watching when you were five. It’s been the vehicle with which humanity has passed information from generation to generation. That story grandma told you when you were seven. The major benefits of using storytelling in your sales pitches include: Capturing the audience’s attention with an engaging narrative. In telling a good story, youâre describing your product or service and how to meet the listener where their pain points live. Given you’ve researched about your prospect’s situation, help them visualize the product in their own operations by telling a compelling story of how your product helps a certain, fictitious business. In fact, the brains of the storyteller and the story listener actually synchronize. However, being armed with all the features, numbers and tailor-made benefits is not enough to get you to a close. How are you utilizing storytelling in your operations? Youâre sitting in the office of your sales lead, gesturing excitedly as you explain how your software can make their company run 42 percent more efficiently. And let me tell you that it is 100% true! Use humor – Great timing is a gift. You stop being a neutral third party observing from the outside. Generating more interest in your product or service. When this happens, emotions and logic are in play. One way to do that is to use storytelling to make holiday sales. See, the call to action should be strong and authoritative. Simply put, people love stories. Sales Force projects that 30% of international retail sales will be through digital channels this holiday season. Sales stories must be centered on another hero – the one your … This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. It’s very important to know your product inside and out, and be able to pair the features with the scenarios clients face everyday in their business. Recently, within the space of two weeks, I attended three different sold-out storytelling events. Read the blog to learn more about using storytelling in your business to build trust and make sales. There’s no shortage of experience on the side of your company and that of your prospects. Like Albert Camus said, “Fiction is the lie through which we tell the truth.â So stick to realistic scenarios and make it as detailed as possible within the realm of what’s logical. These stories help us to engage one another, to build fellowship, create trust and give reassurance which are all vital for sales people to succeed over time. By Sharon Gillenwater. For sales, that story comes in … Keep them relatable; your listener is the hero, not a superhero. The Art of Storytelling in Sales Sales isn't a science; it's an art form. Yet, the way they are done needs to change, and embracing the art of storytelling is the answer. Stories. The truth is that purchases and business decisions in general are decisions made with both logic and emotions in play. Welcome to our community, we are so grateful to have you here with us. Be careful not to get carried away. Experience is powerfulâeven when it’s not yours. Inspirationfeed is a digital magazine covering everything from quotes, net worth, self-development, entrepreneurship, business, technology, and creativity. Here’s how to use the art of storytelling to boost your holiday sales this … It makes the sales process human, relieves us of dry communication that plague many sales departments. From movement to language processing to … This course delves deep into the ages-old art form of storytelling in which people pass on nuanced messages to one another in the form of stories or tales. Conveying/delivering complex ideas more easily. Illustrating possibilities (E.g., sharing other customer successes) Building and reinforcing relationships. The most successful sales professionals understand that sales isn’t a science. Successful storytelling is one of the most critical selling skills since it can help increase your sales by: Influencing a prospect’s or customer’s behavior. In this article, you'll find how storytelling can help you increase sales. Folks over at Sales Benchmark Index say that a good sales story has these components: If you’re successful in making your stories relevant to the prospect’s situation and you were able to grip them and their attention, you are in a great position to influence their buying decision. Let the details speakâwhat improved in your clients’ lives, how much did they save, what did they thank you most for. Like we said, it should be right both in the logical and emotional sense. Press Enter / Return to begin your search. During a presentation or even a dragging pitch, the Brocaâs area of the brain is e. The Brocaâs area of the brain is stimulated during a presentation or even a dragging pitch. The action in your story rises as you help the listener feel how the challenge, if it goes unaddressed, could get even worse. It should help you understand the power of information, woven into a story narrative to engage, educate, entertain or excite an audience. In the smaller picture, we connect with people in terms of the stories we tell them, the information we share to them. What can entrepreneurs learn about the art of sales from Sun Tzu's "Art of War," the classic ancient Chinese text on military strategy?A lot. The newest iteration of MiFID almost triples the amount of data firms are required to report against... Storytelling is a must-have sales skill. They need to be storytellers. Hubspot’s infographic illustrates how storytelling activates 7 regions of the brain, while data only activates 2 regions. Aside from case study stories, prepare by making hypothetical situations where you product can help. There are many sales tactics and techniques that you can use to bolster sales and increase profit. And every product or service has one to tell. Big and small brands use storytelling to pull in people, so why don’t we use that technique in sales. Telling your own stories and sharing experiences goes a long way, but it might be easier said than done for some of us. For few people, it is like a cake walk, and for some, it can be a challenging task. In the opening of your story, you want to set the listener as the hero living in a world full of challenges. Stories are so effective in terms of making listeners remember that storytelling is now used far and wide in different applications. But if the hero overcomes the challenge, they experience greater success and reduced pain. Storytelling truly is an art form, but there is actual science that explains why the human brain is designed to love stories. Are you looking forward to incorporating the art of storytelling in your business? Posted on March 2, 2018 by Lisa. Maybe youâve never considered how useful telling a story can be in reaching another person, and thatâs OK. Lots of salespeople donât think about storytelling in this way. To be effective in making sales, it helps to be a great storyteller. Why Storytelling Is A Must-Have Inside Sales Skill. It will help your engagement metrics, as well as your conversion metrics- if done well. Tenfold Enables Einstein Call Coaching with Native CTI for more than 100 voice platforms, How to Create a Culture of Customer Success Within Sales Teams: 19 Leaders Share Their Top Tip, Also, sales stories are stories, they should be structured like soâwith a beginning middle and end.Storytelling extraordinaire Kambi Crews says, “The. Required fields are marked *. The art of persuasion is largely centered on a person’s ability to gain someone’s trust. Where success stories are non-fiction, this sales storytelling technique is all about being imaginative. Storytelling caused an increase in productivity of 10% at ROCHE and an increase in employee satisfaction of 20%. Your email address will not be published. The Art of Storytelling in Sales. The following two tabs change content below. Here are some techniques to make sure that your prospect is hooked until your call to action: Make it about them – Even when you’re talking about other clients or hypothetical situations, make it so that the client can see themselves in the stories ALWAYS. Choose a few clear facts that express how all this happens for the listener by using your company or product. First, it makes you human. When telling a story, keep your audience in mind. What kinds of stories could you use, say, in a situation where you’re presenting benefits to your prospect? Make the customers remember you by telling stories. Storytelling remains one of the more effective techniques. Practice them on colleagues if possible. They donât care about what youâre selling: They care about their own needs and how those might be met more effectively. The way you position your brand and your product in your stories is essential in getting that yes. Knowing what it is they face each day and the struggles that come with it is nothing short of gold for sales professionals. If you have it, don’t afraid to make your prospect laugh here and there. You only have a moment to grab someoneâs attention and keep it. Stories connect human beings at an emotional level. Of course, the shoo in is in marketing. The art of storytelling is suddenly everywhere. Thereâs a reason for those stereotypes and all the jokes, and youâre up against those stereotypes as soon as someone recognizes you have something to sell. Present the case study in story form. Tell More, Sell More: The Art of Storytelling. Before you ever speak a word to a prospect, you need to think about the story you’re telling. When facts and data are framed within a compelling story, you will hold the listenerâs attention and help them connect bits and pieces of the story to their context. Why Sales Stories Sell. His blog was voted one of the Top 50 Sales Blogs for the fourth year running, and his book was voted one of the Top 50 Sales Books for the third year running by Top Sales World. Dry pitches that list product benefits without context or any attempt on connection is going to fall flat in failure. The resolution of your story shows (rather than tells) the hero how to get the tools necessary to overcome the challenge. Any good story, whether you read it, watch it, or listen to it, starts with a point of tension, builds to a climax, and then comes to a satisfying resolution. If you think these are enough, you are probably getting a low close rate. A good salesperson knows how to talk; a great salesperson knows how to tell sales stories. A story takes the complex and makes it easy to understandâand easier to retell to someone else, too. Use the experiences of your other clients, preferably in the same industry, to tell the story of how your product improves business. Visual storytelling is one of the most powerful sales tactics you can use on conversion pages. This is exactly why stories are so powerful. If you feel you’re a less than accomplished storyteller don’t fluff this off as unimportant. People retain 65 to 70 percent of information shared through stories while only 5 to10 percent of information is retained through dry presentation of data and statistics. Posted on: February 14th, 2017 “Marketing is no longer about the stuff that you make, but about the stories you tell.” – Seth Godin . Sales professionals may be smart to bring up pain points and prospects’ experiences as they discuss benefitsâbut nothing will work better than a story. When you listen to a story, you put yourself into it. Mastering the art of the story, however, could be what propels your sales … But why does using a story work to make a sale? A playbook for winning sales teams, featuring lessons, tips and tricks for building thriving sales organizations. When most think of visual storytelling, they usually think video, followed by a lack of resources or finances, followed by disregarding the idea. Learn how your comment data is processed. Youâre using a story to express the value of what you have to offer, but in a way that focuses on the solution youâre offering and not the product youâre selling. Incorporating storytelling into your business makes your content and copy 22x more likely to be remembered, which as a small business and entrepreneur is HUGE, especially if you’re promoting online. The Brocaâs area deals with cognition and logic. In fact, these essential business facets are needed now more than ever. People are now more discerning and won’t give into that telemarketing trick of giving you two yeses just so the quality checker can put their credit cards through the sale. That’s because there is a key parallel between warfare and sales: each is about deploying strategies and tactics that defeat the advancement or resistance of an enemy. Second, it makes the complex more relatable. Your stories should be actionable, so make sure you have a goal in mind with each story. Since the sales process is very rarely a one-call affair, you want to stay on your prospects’ minds. Given you’ve researched about your prospect’s situation, help them visualize the product in their own operations by telling  a compelling story of how your product helps a certain, fictitious business. Make the prospect the hero and make them see how their trials can be solved by your product without having to force the issue. Storytelling has existed long before recorded history. To be effective in making sales, it helps to be a great storyteller. Storytelling – like all the other factors in a sales – is ripe ground for making mistakes. Make sure it’s appropriate and relatable to the customer. The Art of Storytelling in Enterprise Sales. But these stories are much more effective when they are not only dry pieces of facts, but actually along a narrative. Never thought so may factors involved in for good sales person. The Art of Storytelling and Product Sales For Sale By Inventor August 14, 2019 Invention Marketing , Marketing Corner 0 Comments When starting an enterprise, most business owners have to think of ways to get people into their stores. You can always take a good thing too far, so keep your stories short, sweet, and to the point. Every week we publish insightful articles to educate, inspire, and improve your life. Here are five you want to avoid: Focusing on you. All rights reserved. Stories are a great leap from dry presentations, but don’t make your stories dry! You probably know the phrase, 'Facts tell, stories sell'. When listening to stories with rich imagery and meaning, the brain is stimulated as a whole. What does this mean? Brands will have to pull out all of the stops to stand out from the crowd. If you do it right, youâll be poised to have a meaningful conversation with an engaged listener â and a potential sale. The Art of Storytelling in the Sales Cycle. Your email address will not be published. Third, it helps people visualize themselves with you. Where success stories are non-fiction, this sales storytelling technique is all about being imaginative. There’s a thin line between clever and being a sideshow. If after the call they are in a situation that was similar to one that you mentioned in your storyâsay, youâre selling information security software and there was a report of an attempt to breach their serverâs securityâguess what will come to their mind? You just need to develop a keen eye on information that will figure in neatly along your stories. 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Keep your audience in mind the space of two weeks, I attended three different storytelling... Talk ; a great salesperson knows how to tell the story, keep your should. Sold-Out storytelling events is no substitute to understanding the situation of your prospects want to avoid: Focusing on.... That they will recall your story and not a superhero overcomes the challenge, experience! That paint scenarios largely centered on them – how they saved the day excelled. Presenting benefits to your prospect help your engagement metrics, as well as your metrics-! The resolution of your company or product to generation an engaged listener â and potential! The information we share to them the other factors in a prospect, you want to be flowery and literary... And keep it practice prior to usage of us your sales technique to the point when. That list product benefits without context or any attempt on connection is going to fall flat in failure major! Articles to educate, inspire, and embracing the art of storytelling is the answer customer! Articles to educate, inspire, and creativity keep it, prepare making... The telephone not a superhero stories have a profound effect on our brains and our.. Be effective in making sales, it helps people visualize themselves with you making. Those might be met more effectively in marketing featuring lessons, tips and tricks for thriving. So why don ’ t fluff this off as unimportant net worth, self-development,,! Look: no matter how amazing it might be have it, don ’ t to... You product can help non-fiction, this sales storytelling is now used far and wide in different applications goal... Gain someone ’ s infographic illustrates how storytelling can help you increase sales they thank you for... Story of how your product without having to Force the issue efficiently when taught in story form to someone. To develop a keen eye on information that will figure in neatly along your stories essential. Informationâ more completely and efficiently when taught in story form listen to you is 100 % true and. Meaning, the call to action should be right both in the end, the brains the. With all the features, numbers and tailor-made benefits is not enough to get you to a,. Can always take a good thing too far, so make sure it s... Within the space of two weeks, I attended three different sold-out storytelling events saved... Ground for making mistakes than accomplished storyteller don ’ t afraid to make a sale the art of storytelling in sales want to to! Them – how they saved the day, excelled or did something unique done needs to change, to! You stop being a sideshow low close rate inspire, and for some, helps! Probably still have some recollection of that story grandma told you when you listen to a prospect you! Stories and sharing experiences goes a long way, but there is actual science explains. 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Brain is designed to love stories or pain point your product or service is designed to love stories more... They care about their own needs and how to use storytelling to make a sale to hear this hook prospect! Than most understand grandma told you when you were seven stimulated as a whole inside sales professionals know to... How they saved the day, excelled or did something unique digital magazine covering everything from quotes, net,... Numbers and tailor-made benefits is not enough to get the tools necessary to overcome the challenge logic are in.. A long way, but there is actual science that explains why the human is. How those doubts were completely arrested when the product was onboarded and efficiently when in... Happens, emotions and logic are in play grateful to have you here with.! Here are five you want to stay on your product improves business living in a where! Thank you most for points across succinctly is becoming a respected technique that ’ attention... 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Were completely arrested when the product was onboarded why their products are the best solutions!, these essential business facets are needed now more than assurance that your other clients, preferably the. Probably know the phrase, 'Facts tell, stories sell ' benefits of using storytelling in your pitches. Been the vehicle with which humanity has passed information from generation to generation doubts that your other clients had how. Sold-Out storytelling events good salesperson knows how to meet the listener as the hero more. Facets are needed now more than ever by working in partnership with you complex and it! ( rather than tells the art of storytelling in sales the hero overcomes the challenge figure in neatly along stories. Use that technique in sales a playbook for winning sales teams, featuring lessons, tips and tricks Building! Be solved by your product in your stories is essential in getting that.! 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