The Elements of Compelling Storytelling in Sales
The best sales reps know that utilizing a story is an ideal tactic for practically every stage of a sale. The best way to go about this is not to simply compliment your own company but also make the potential buyer aware that you see things from their point of view.
The elements of a compelling sales story
Within the sales, the story should be a protagonist that the potential buyer can relate to. It is important to remember that the story should be of interest to them, rather than the seller. A good sales rep should always have the empathy skills to understand the difference.
Once the protagonist has been introduced it is time to set up a conflict – a challenge that they must overcome. Think about how the problem affected them emotionally and convey this clearly to the buyer.
Now is the time for your service or product to make its appearance in your story. The story should focus on the positive impact this service/product had on the protagonist. It should be described as a force for good.
A mistake some salespeople make when creating a sales story is to put too much emphasis on the element you are trying to sell. It should certainly take center stage. However, a good story will have a clear overview of all the other varying factors in order to show how the element fits into the big picture.
When your story ends in impressive figures it is tempting to get bogged down in numbers, to boast about the numerical prosperity your service/product gave to the protagonist. It is certainly important to state this. However, you also need to explain how it affected them on a more tangible, human level.
A buyer will relate more to a story that is told from a human point of view. If you are pitching something to a company it is important to state how what you are selling affected the people within a past corporate client. For instance, you could talk about how staff members were promoted.
Remember that to perfect a sale closing story requires practice. There is no wrong time to tell one.