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From Told to Sold!
Leverage Your Stories to Resonate
with Prospects and Customers
Have you ever heard a story that could have been about you?
Ever heard a story that reminded you of another one?
What about a story that sounded vaguely familiar?
Welcome to the power of story.
Unlike facts and figures, that often leave us cold, stories
connect! And they connect deeply, often stirring us emotionally
at a heart level. That’s what makes them memorable, and powerful
as a sales tool.
The Prevalence
of Stories
We're wired for stories! And since birth we've been
conditioned to respond to stories. It's how we learned about our
family and environment, culture and country, our religion,
strangers and the world at large. We remember stories, and we
tell ours and others, repeatedly. And stories aren't just
transmitted orally. They are fed us in and out of school,
through books, radio, newspapers, opera, television and even
through the Internet.
Stories in
Sales: Story Tell, Story Sell
I've written before about the use of short success stories to
help you sell. I prefer a three-part story, utilizing a
Setting-Situation-Solution format. Using this format, you soft
sell a listener on what you did for past clients, what you did
on past projects, or the difference a product or service of
yours made in solving a problem, overcoming a challenge or
generating a favorable outcome.
The Power of
Archetypal Stories
Your stories can work on both conscious and unconscious
levels with prospects and clients. When you tell a story that
echoes an archetypal theme your listener nods in agreement on
multiple levels. Think about the stories you tell as you sell.
Do they mimic traditional themes that represent the human
experience? For your stories to connect, I recommend they allude
to one of various familiar archetypal themes:
·
The hero's journey
·
Coming of age
·
The acquiring of wisdom
·
Pacts with the devil / fooling the devil
·
Tricking the tricksters
Using The
Archetypal Advantage to Connect with Customers
Consider some of these story genres and motifs for your use
in selling products, services, and loyalty to brand affiliations
and organizations.
Cautionary
Tales
Cautionary tales are stories that warn of danger or harm that
awaits you if you do or don't follow a particular course of
action. Think of the boy who cries wolf one too many times and
was no longer trusted. Or the story of the three little pigs.
These tales are great for selling products and services. Perhaps
you tell your story about the client who didn’t back up, buy
insurance or create redundant systems.
The Achilles Heel
From Greek mythology we know the tale of Achilles, the great
warrior with a fatal flaw. If your story involves a competitor's
product and its fatal flaw, we'll nod knowingly in light of
Achilles' fate.
The Hero's Journey
The late Joseph Campbell devoted his life to studying hero
tales from around the world. We can all relate to an
irrepressible hero on a noble quest. The struggles to overcome,
obstacles to negotiate, and sacrifices endured on the way to
ultimate success. When your story echoes this arc your listener
can become the hero or heroine, or is otherwise rooting for
them. That's the power of story.
Creation Stories
Stories that explain how the world was created, or why the
universe, world or life came to be the way they are. Found in
many cultures around the world, these stories frame the world we
live in, explaining its origins. Your creation story may explain
the lineage of a device, an industry or your company.
Pourquoi Stories
These stories tell you why and how things are.
They are great for teaching purposes. Stories such as "how the
leopard got its stripes" explain a natural phenomenon or a
reality we all accept. You can tell these why stories to
explain the advent of trends, policies, research and migration
paths for products and services.
Cinderella Stories
That elusive match, the magical shoe that fits just one foot,
the chase, search or quest that ends in a match. An unjust
oppression that is transcended. The conquest of love. These are
universal sentiments you can tap in your sales story. Your love
story can meld two devices, technologies, cultures or even
ingredients.
From Told to
Sold
As you can see, there are countless themes that echo the
human experience. And they work across cultures and borders.
Many of these same themes and motifs are present in Asian,
European, African, Native American and other cultures. When your
story is built atop a familiar theme it's that much more
believable, tangible and powerful. Sell it through stories and
you'll live happily ever after!
Craig
Harrison
To download a small PDF file describing Craig's popular
presentation
Story Tell, Story Sell — Sales Through Storytelling:
http://www.expressionsofexcellence.com/onesheets/StorySell_1Sheet.pdf
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