The people in business that surpass all others at selling, be they sales staff, managers or business owners, obviously have great passion and knowledge in relation to their areas of expertise. Perhaps less obvious though is the critical fact that they present a unique and inspiring ‘story’ about their business message, which they hone at very regular intervals.
As with all excellent storytellers they consistently fascinate their audiences, and they start this process by gracefully and creatively displaying their knowledge and enthusiasm about the subject at hand. They do this by advising on the ‘big picture’ at work in the business community, concerning their area of expertise, so that their audience of one or many can simultaneously enjoy and endure various messages. The enjoyment comes from a growing appreciation about key problems and opportunities they knew little about, and the part they must endure is the ominous feeling that they may be affected by the problems…and therefore restricted in various ways.
Their ‘story’ then takes another interesting turn and reveals how organisations ‘in general’ suffer or succeed as a result of how they face the challenges presented. Note that at this point nothing whatsoever has been said about the actual company belonging to his audience, however there is no doubt that the audience is totally absorbed by feelings about where their company stands in relation to the scenario being outlined.
So far the storyteller has both enlightened and frightened the audience…in very positive ways.
Then the story becomes personal as the storyteller pauses to engage the audience in discussion about their views and feelings on the topic at hand…as it ‘probably’ applies to their business. This part of the process is carried out very carefully by the storyteller, so as to ensure continuity of control over the story and the positive atmosphere in which it is being related.
It is quite normal at this important point to find customers or prospects being totally honest and forthright about their specific circumstances, however poor their situation may be, simply because it is very much in their interests to do so.
The storyteller then begins to lighten the situation by explaining how the problems and opportunities he has alluded to can be addressed successfully, and he does so with confidence that the audience will find the nature of the ‘solution’ to be attractive and manageable.
Now, while the storyteller may have started with ‘fascination’, he concludes with ‘facilitation’. This means that he will spell out the ‘recipe’ for action and assist the customer to determine the best way to access the solution ‘presented’. In this way the ‘story’ has a happy ending, and one that is entirely relevant and agreeable to the audience.
Naturally, questions and discussion will flow from both parties throughout the meeting, but all dialogue is ‘managed’ by the storyteller within the context of the story being presented.
The question arising from this thesis is this:
‘Are your sales people excellent story-tellers?’ If they are not then you must kiss goodbye to productive customer relationships and excellent sales performance. In my experience, over many years and across a host of industries and ‘professions’, by far the majority of ‘company communicators’ are almost the opposite of good storytellers. While some attract reasonable business by being nicer, more diligent or more aggressive than the worst performers, virtually all sales people behave like newsreaders or postmen.
This is not their fault though; it is worth remembering that ‘Marketing writes the songs and sales sing them’ so to speak. Good ‘sales stories’ must therefore be created for sales people, so that the stories can in turn be sold to the prospects and customers by the sales people. This is simply not happening in the majority of companies. Instead, if they’re lucky, sales people will be provided with ‘product messages’ in various forms, all of which become the equivalent of death warrants in the marketplace! The market does not need more products; it needs ideas that will generate greater productivity in relation to product use or product resale. To customers then, ‘products cost money’ while ‘ideas make money’.
Now you may be thinking that it’s all very well to possess great sales stories, but how do sales people get the interviews they need with prospects and customers in the first place. They do two things: one, they make it clear that they do not wish to challenge incumbent suppliers, and in the process attempt to dislodge a competitor. And two, they release just a small part of their ‘story’ that sends a signal that they wish to discuss issues of great futuristic importance to progressive companies. So, using both respect and positive intrigue they win the meetings they need…and then they go through their stories as outlined at the beginning of this article.
Think of sales stories as being the equivalent of rockets and the warheads they must deliver, one without the other is almost meaningless. The warhead offers dynamic impact and the rocket provides reliable delivery to the target.
If sales results are not as they should be, don’t put a rocket ‘up the sales team’; treat the team as rockets to deliver your key marketing messages.
Your Sales People – Are They ‘Story-Tellers’ or ‘News Readers’? - To learn more about this author, visit John Lees's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
|
|
John Lees
(Visit John's Website)
Former director of marketing & sales for
Schwarzkopf in Australia and NZ, achieving
market leadership (against the giants
'L'Oreal and Wella) and best operations
internationally for the organisation. Then
worked as a consultant to the German
company in the US, Canada, the UK, South
Africa and leading Western European
markets. These days operates as a speaker,
trainer and consultant...specialising in
sales & marketing. Author of 10 books on
business development and a member of the
Institiute of management consultants.
|
|
|
|
![[Get Copyright Permissions]](http://license.icopyright.net/images/icopy-w.gif){kind=small}
“I am all for titillating trivialities,” Luce once said. “I am all for the epic touch. I could almost say that everything in Time should be either titillating or epic or starkly, supercurtly factual.” 
