How do you differentiate yourself from the 3 to 5 thousand messages your prospect receives every day? How do you add more punch to your message? All of the sales training programs today say write a killer value proposition. Most of these are very good but if you want to really connect you have to touch their hearts and souls so your prospect’s wallet will follow. How do you do this? With a story.
Stories are powerful game changers. A story does not manipulate, it persuades people to make a decision in your favor. Stories capture the audience’s attention with a challenge or a question. Unlike a case study, a story gives the listener or reader attention an emotional experience. It tells of a struggle that was overcome or it provides the answer to a question. The end of the story is compelling and calls them to action. Nothing grabs one attention more than curiosity to know what happens next. You tune into TV shows because the last episode was a cliff hanger and you want to know the outcome. So, the key is to keep them engaged with the struggle in the middle so they want to know what happens next and what the final conclusion is.
As Peter Guber says in his book, Tell to Win, a story is a Trojan Horse. It contains information, ideas and emotional prompts that sneak inside the listener’s heart and mind. At the end of the story they are receptive and respond to the call to action.
These stories can have many different purposes, such as making a sale, setting a vision for the future, establishing company values, energizing a team or educating people.
Well-crafted stories contain persuasion elements discussed by persuasion experts such as Robert Cialdini, Akash Karia, and Nick Kolenda. They include elements such as priming the mindset by setting the environment, showing similarity as we gravitate toward similar stimuli, and telling who you are with good character descriptions and details of the struggle or challenge. Stories are most compelling when they contain right brain emotional words.
Stories that focus on a shared problem, goal or interest are very powerful. They stir the emotions of the listener/reader. They also build trust and people buy from people they trust. In addition they cause the audience to be more receptive to your call to action.
Steve Jobs realized that stories give meaning to your message and we remember things that have meaning. They reach the area of the brain that that understands this must be stored information as it is important. Jobs’ marketing messages are so well remembered because they are all well told stories.
Remember, one story told one way doesn’t fit every situation. Second, research and preparation before making that all-important call. Make sure you include a shared situation, problem, goal or interest. Telling your story has a big payoff. And being personal and including a story that tells about you and your character is more memorable and resonates with your prospect.
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To read my stories visit my collection at:
www.salestrainingsolutions.com/our_stories