Thank you for being a regular reader of Sales Tips Blog by Scott R. Sheaffer. On Monday, January 4, I’ll be writing about things we do to hurt our sales that we’re completely unaware of.
Have a Happy New Year and I’ll see you again on January 4.
>You can automatically receive Sales Tips Blog by Scott R. Sheaffer >by email< or >by RSS<.
>Follow >Scott R. Sheaffer< on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter.
>©2009 Scott R. Sheaffer
Thank you for being a regular reader of Sales Tips Blog by Scott R. Sheaffer. On Monday, January 4, I’ll be writing about things we do to hurt our sales that we’re completely unaware of.
Have a Merry Christmas and I’ll see you again on January 4.
>You can automatically receive Sales Tips Blog by Scott R. Sheaffer >by email< or >by RSS<.
>Follow >Scott R. Sheaffer< on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter.
>©2009 Scott R. Sheaffer
By using relevant stories that anchor the point you’re trying to make when selling, you are using the most ancient, timeless and effective way of transmitting information.
Storytelling is having a major revival in sales. Why? It works. I feel somewhat foolish writing about sales tips that are 20,000 years old. The first cave dweller who tried to barter a fur probably told a story of how warm it kept him or her at night.
But Telling Stories Isn’t Professional
Really? Ever heard of Zig Ziglar or Tony Robbins? They litter their presentations with one story after another. They interweave their stories so seamlessly that we aren’t even aware they’re using them.
Go back 2,000 years. We can find a multitude of stories in the Bible that Jesus used to help his audiences understand his teachings. These ancient stories are still being used in 2009 to teach basic sales principles and sales skills.
Guidelines For Using Stories In Sales
Before I give you a real-world example of using storytelling in sales, let me provide a few key points on how to do it.
Our DNA is hard wired to hear and understand a story. That’s why this works so well. The customer will instinctively understand and be interested in your story.
Real-World Example – A Sales Professional Makes A Sale To Dr. Defpotec By Telling A Story
Zack (not his real name) was an experienced sales professional who knew the power of a story. He sold ophthalmic (eye stuff) instruments to ophthalmologists (eye doctors). One of his big sellers was an electronic eye test chart that is used to check a patient’s vision (e.g. 20/20, 20/30, etc.).
Zack’s eye test instrument would change the letters for each test which dramatically improved the validity and accuracy of the testing (i.e. no one could cheat). Zack had been calling on Dr. Patterson (not his real name) who insisted on continuing to use his old cardboard eye chart. One that never changed. He wasn’t interested in Zack’s instrument.
To be honest, Dr. Patterson wasn’t particularly concerned about the precision of his patients’ eye tests either. However, Zack was about to open Dr. Patterson’s eyes. He was going to do so by simply telling him the following short story about another ophthalmologist in town.
“Dr. Zine (not his real name) primarily performs flight physicals for airline pilots. Airline pilots must have 20/20 vision (corrected) in order to keep their jobs. Clearly, it is in their best interest to pass the eye test.
“Since Dr. Zine never changed his eye chart, it didn’t take long for his pilot patients to figure out that the 20/20 line was always the letters D E F P O T E C. By memorizing the word ‘defpotec,’ they had a guarantee of forever testing positive for 20/20 vision. Over time, Dr. Zine became known in the pilot community as simply ‘Dr. Defpotec.’
“‘Sorry, can’t have lunch with you today Ted, got my semi-annual flight physical with Doc Defpotec at noon.’”
Zack Connects The Dots
Zack then proceeded to challenge Dr. Patterson, “If Dr. Zine has patients doing this to him, you can be assured it’s happening to you. In Dr. Zine’s case, he is potentially allowing airline pilots to fly who don’t meet the vision requirements as set forth by the FAA.
“Who can know all the consequences and liabilities when people are able to cheat on an eye test? My product can keep that from happening in your practice.”
Not only did Zack’s story demonstrate why Dr. Patterson should buy his product from the perspective of validity and accuracy of testing (i.e. need), but it also provided an opportunity for Dr. Patterson to avoid any questions about his professional credibility (i.e. pain avoidance). This is a powerful story. This is a compelling technique.
Zack sold his type of eye testing equipment to Dr. Patterson that day.
Sales Blog Epilogue
The next time you see an airline pilot squinting in the cockpit, blame “Dr. Defpotec.”
Further sales blog reading:
The Power of Stories
>You can automatically receive Sales Tips Blog by Scott R. Sheaffer >by email< or >by RSS<.
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>©2009 Scott R. Sheaffer
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The reason our customers buy from our company is because of us. This truth tells us that sales professionals need to focus on their personal value – versus corporate value – when interacting with customers.
Corporate Value
During our initial sales training, we are drilled on our company’s corporate value propositions. These are all the things our company does that are presumably better and theoretically different from our competitors.
However, in the eyes of the customer, our competitors look more like our brothers or sisters. Our customers don’t fully appreciate all the effort our marketing department is expending in an attempt to differentiate between our company and our competitors. Companies are very limited in the number of believable value propositions they can actually come up with.
But, there is one clear differentiator we have complete control over. Our competitors can’t replicate it. It’s one that makes all the difference. One with an endless number of possibilities.
You.
Personal Value
Faithfully towing the company line and exclusively promoting corporate value propositions causes us to miss many opportunities to stand out from the crowd. It is also much easier to differentiate ourselves through personal value instead of corporate value.
We are not restricted in the number of ways for us to personally be prominent and distinct in our industry. The principle of personal value is right under our nose and we’re not using it to our advantage.
A Simple Example Of Personal Value We Can Add Right Now
As sales professionals, we tend to fixate on all the problems our customers’ voicemail systems cause us.
How about our own voicemail and the problems it causes our customers? We can differentiate ourselves from 99% of our competitors by merely updating our voicemail on a daily basis and returning calls according to what we’ve promised in our voicemail greeting.
If we’re going to be out of the office, we must say so and let callers know when they can expect us to return their call. Most importantly, we must ensure that we return their call precisely as we’ve indicated – never make them wait more than two hours for a return call.
By updating our voicemail every morning, we look up to date, relevant and like a sales professional who is on top of things.
Sales Blog Epilogue
The example above is but one of many easy and straightforward personal differentiators that make us look proactive and professional. We are only limited by our imagination and the industry we serve when it comes to creating our own personal value propositions.
Further sales blog reading:
Our Professionalism May Be Killing Us
Value Propositions, Corporate and Personal
Quirky Sales Professionals
Your Personality is What the Customer Wants to See
>You can automatically receive Sales Tips Blog by Scott R. Sheaffer >by email< or >by RSS<.
>Follow >Scott R. Sheaffer< on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter.
>©2009 Scott R. Sheaffer
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