Have you ever wondered why certain people’s ideas seem to stick? Why their jokes get more laughs, or they can get out of tickets and “sell ice to Eskimos”?
Most people think they’re not creative enough to do this, that they aren’t funny, and that they have no charisma. But it’s all nonsense!
It’s not that hard to sell your idea/product/service/yourself to anyone. You just have to make sure you don’t omit the most important part.
Which is, what’s the story?
Ultimately that’s the reason why we walk right past soda machines but the minute there’s a little kid running a lemonade stand, “Ohhhh we have to buy some lemonade.” It’s not the product that sells, it’s the story around the product that got you. You believe that you have some role in funding this kids college tuition, so you buy an extra cup too.
I wrote about how to be a good storyteller here.
I have lately learned from three people who are expert storytellers, and there is a central throughline to what they teach. You have to sell through storytelling!
Three weeks ago I attended a great conference for speakers/authors and the event had a storytelling focus. Most of the lessons were taught by Steve Harrison, Co-Founder of Quantum Leap who marketed “Chicken Soup for the Soul” which sold 500 million copies, and Geoffrey Berwind, their lead speaker coach and master storyteller.
They had a “Keys To Successful Storytelling” worksheet with awesome tips, but one particularly resonated with me. It’s something I have been trying to do more in my writing – you have to frame the story so your audience can see themselves in the story and think, “Me too”. You have to make the listener the hero. Only then can they connect the dots and see the message.
I remember learning this in Vancouver while pitching one of my first businesses, Capture Productions with Simon Duguid. We sat with Jesse Robinson of Beaux who creates beautiful handmade signature box ties for elegant events. We pitched her using a project that was marketing an app company, Mathiew Estepho’s Math Easy Solutions. To us, it was the same, but to Jesse, she had no idea what we were talking about.
She couldn’t see herself in the story.
When I met Peri Shawn at a conference recently, I knew she was a great storyteller. Peri is an award winning author, has written three books, created over 100 products, and is featured in Forbes/Entrepreneur/Salesforce.
I’m taking her course right now, “Profitable Sales Conversations”, and she taught us to use stories to reinforce the sales process. For example, you can use a story when people talk about an issue they are having. First ask permission to give them the story. Once you have this, say something like, “I once helped another client who had a similar pain-point as you, would you like to hear about their experience?”
You then use this moment to give them a connected story. Your client can see themselves in the story. They can relate. And they can begin to envision you as the guide who can help them through their situation. They start to see the light.
While writing a chapter for Ajit’s upcoming book, I caught up with another expert sales person and storyteller, John Livesay. He’s one of our four TEDxWilmington speakers who crossed the illustrious 1 million view mark on his TEDx video. His book is entitled, “Better Selling Through Storytelling”.
John says, “When you tell stories you are memorable. When you tell stories you are tapping into people’s emotions and since people buy emotionally and back it up with logic, this is a secret sauce you must add now! When you tell stories you no longer get into price battles as your story paints a picture of value and you become irresistible.”
So whether you are selling to your next client, pitching an idea, or giving your next talk, you have to sell your concepts with stories.
Make sure you make your audience the focus. Make your client the protagonist of the story so they can see themselves as the hero, and think, “I’ve felt this way too”.
Have stories as ammunition for client’s questions or objections. Be ready to tell stories of the success of other people you have helped who were in a similar situation as the client in front of you.
And finally, become more memorable and go from invisible to irresistible with storytelling. Attract customers to you, show your value, and you will see a big change in your sales results.
Thank you Steve Harrison, Geoffrey Berwind, Peri Shawn, and John Livesay!
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