Selling With Stories
Selling With Stories
In the early 1990s Fortune magazine decided to do an article on selling. The question they set out to answer was:
Why were some people so good at selling while others so blatantly bad?
To find out the answer the writers interviewed 24 top sales performers across a broad spectrum of fields. Among those who were interviewed were financial advisors, insurance producers, executive recruiters and a wide variety of consultants and high-value services providers. Here is what they learned.
The most successful sales people sell without it ever being apparent that they are in fact, selling. There was nothing obvious or obnoxious about their presentation. No Trial Close, Ben Franklin close or Take Away closes. They sold, but they sold invisibly.
Moreover the Fortune article concluded that the more you are marketing and selling high-value services the more important it is to be able to sell invisibly.
So what exactly does this mean? How did the top performers go about building trust and credibility? How did they overcome often deep-seated skepticism? How did they persuade others to their point of view?
The one thing in common was, they all told stories.
Lots of stories. Stories that demonstrated how others had successfully achieved results by using their services. Stories that preemptively addressed objections or concerns. Stories that made it easy for others to refer them to their friends and colleagues. Stories that built credibility and reduced skepticism.
So why do you need a marketing story?
You need them for your brochures, sales letters and your website. You need them for your face-to-face sales presentations. However, we believe that the most important reason to have a marketing story is
It differentiates you from your competition and establishes your brand.
Ultimately, the stories you tell about who you are, your uniqueness, the results your clients achieve, are what will establish you as a unique player in your field.
Excellent marketing stories don't scream, "I WANT TO IMPRESS YOU." They don't scream, "BUY MY SERVICES NOW." Rather, the gifted marketing storyteller takes the reader or listener on a journey. And if the story is well constructed, at the end of the journey, we are going to be impressed. We are going to be interested. We are going to want to take the next step in the sales process.
And that is why the most successful marketers tell stories.
So, what is your marketing story?
Selling With Stories - To learn more about this author, visit Mark Satterfield's Website.
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Let me tell you a quick story. Perhaps you will find it relevant.
In the early 1990s Fortune magazine decided to do an article on selling. The question they set out to answer was:
Why were some people so good at selling while others so blatantly bad?
To find out the answer the writers interviewed 24 top sales performers across a broad spectrum of fields. Among those who were interviewed were financial advisors, insurance producers, executive recruiters and a wide variety of consultants and high-value services providers. Here is what they learned.
The most successful sales people sell without it ever being apparent that they are in fact, selling. There was nothing obvious or obnoxious about their presentation. No Trial Close, Ben Franklin close or Take Away closes. They sold, but they sold invisibly.
Moreover the Fortune article concluded that the more you are marketing and selling high-value services the more important it is to be able to sell invisibly.
So what exactly does this mean? How did the top performers go about building trust and credibility? How did they overcome often deep-seated skepticism? How did they persuade others to their point of view?
The one thing in common was, they all told stories.
Lots of stories. Stories that demonstrated how others had successfully achieved results by using their services. Stories that preemptively addressed objections or concerns. Stories that made it easy for others to refer them to their friends and colleagues. Stories that built credibility and reduced skepticism.
So why do you need a marketing story?
You need them for your brochures, sales letters and your website. You need them for your face-to-face sales presentations. However, we believe that the most important reason to have a marketing story is
It differentiates you from your competition and establishes your brand.
Ultimately, the stories you tell about who you are, your uniqueness, the results your clients achieve, are what will establish you as a unique player in your field.
Excellent marketing stories don't scream, "I WANT TO IMPRESS YOU." They don't scream, "BUY MY SERVICES NOW." Rather, the gifted marketing storyteller takes the reader or listener on a journey. And if the story is well constructed, at the end of the journey, we are going to be impressed. We are going to be interested. We are going to want to take the next step in the sales process.
And that is why the most successful marketers tell stories.
So, what is your marketing story?
Selling With Stories - To learn more about this author, visit Mark Satterfield's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Staging DivaDebra Gould, aka The Staging Diva®, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Gould has trained over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates worldwide to start staging businesses. Buying decorating and selling six of her own homes in four years lead to an interest in real estate staging which she turned into a career with the launch of sixelements.com in 2002. Since then she has staged hundreds of homes in addition to teaching home staging training. Gould is the author of several home staging resources including a series of popular ebooks made up of a Design Guide, Color Guide and Portfolio Guide. For more information about Debra Gould visit stagingdiva.com. - Visit Staging Diva's Website |
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Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
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