The Storytelling Approach to Sales: What Great Salespeople Do (Book Digest)

"What Great Salespeople Do" argues that effective storytelling is the essential tool for addressing the buyer's emotional resistance to change. The book shares a set of methods for constructing effective stories and defines a set of stories that reps should build to drive deals forward.

Storytelling isn't the key to winning every deal, but it's a useful tool to have in your arsenal. The book is also a good reminder that great sellers use specific examples to illustrate their points rather than merely making claims backed by statistics.

The Emotional Foundation of Sales

According to the authors, cognitive science shows that emotions precede thoughts as people consider a decision. We are "feeling machines that think," not the other way around.

Logical sales pitches trigger the prospect's survival instincts and create resistance. Stories bypass these defense mechanisms and make listeners receptive rather than reactive.

One critical emotional challenge in selling is persuading the prospect to admit their own challenges. Until that happens, the salesperson can't show how the product will help. Salespeople can encourage prospects to admit their challenges by being vulnerable; that makes it more likely that prospects will reciprocate and share their own difficulties.

The Story Ladder: Building Buyer Belief

Buyers need to hold sequence of beliefs before making a purchase decision. Think of them as a ladder in which each rung of the ladder builds on those that came before:

1. Curiosity: Buyers must first become curious about what you offer

2. Trust: They need to trust you as a person and representative

3. Expressing needs: Buyers must feel comfortable sharing their true challenges

4. Brainstorming ideas: They should engage in collaborative solution-finding

5. Seeing value: Prospects need to recognize the value of your proposed solution

6. Making a decision: Finally, they commit to purchase

Sales reps need to build an inventory of different sales stories to help buyers move from one belief on the ladder to the next.

Building Effective Stories

Effective stories have similar components that often appear in the same order:

• Setting: Establish time, location, and context to make characters relatable

• Complication: Detail the obstacles and conflicts facing the character

• Turning Point: Highlight the emotional peak where the character has an "aha" moment

• Resolution: Show the final outcome that addresses the complication

To craft an effective story, start your creative process at the end:

1. Decide the point of your story

2. Define the resolution

3. Define the setting

4. Define the complication

5. Define the turning point

Stories should include both events and the characters' emotions.

Here's an example of a story told by an IT services rep who was trying to get a prospect's IT department to realize that they shouldn't try to do everything on their own and should instead look for help:

• Setting: The protagonist was in charge of an IT rollout with multiple disparate systems.

• Complication: The protagonist's company was working with multiple vendors, no one of which could run the project. The protagonist tried to do everything himself rather than looking for a resource to help mange the project. That approach didn't work.

• Turning Point: The CIO recognized that things weren't going well and called the protagonist out on it.

• Resolution: The implementation failed and the protagonist felt the need to leave the company as a result. But he learned that it's worth asking for help when it's needed.

Types of Stories to Develop

The authors recommend developing these types of stories:

1. Connection/Trust Stories:

   • "Who I am" story: Your personal journey to your current role and why you care

   • "Who I represent" story: Your company's journey and purpose

   • "Who I've helped" story: Examples of customers you've successfully assisted

2. Prospecting Stories: Brief narratives that engage prospects and prevent quick rejections

   • Lead with beliefs rather than features, saying things like "I'd love to share a story about another person we worked with who believed in affecting real change"

   • Focus on real change you've helped create

3. Stalled Opportunity Stories: Narratives specifically designed to unstall pipeline opportunities

The authors suggest using reciprocity to encourage buyers to open up: Tell a story about the subject you want them to discuss, then invite them to share their perspective.

Delivering Stories Effectively

The delivery of your story matters as much as its content.

The authors recommend several techniques to ensure effective delivery:

• Associate each part of your story with a specific emotion and evoke that feeling while telling it

• Start with a clear agenda: "I'd like to share my story with you and hear yours"

• "Pass the torch" by inviting the prospect to share their story: "Enough about me. How about you?"

• Practice "story tending" in which you show genuine curiosity about their narrative and verbally encourage them to continue

Effective storytelling requires empathic listening. This means supporting and encouraging the speaker, listening to understand rather than to uncover "pain points," and avoiding common listening blocks like rehearsing your next statement or judging the speaker. The goal is to make the prospect "feel felt" through awareness, encouragement, thoughtful follow-up questions, and reflection.

The Takeaway

By mastering this storytelling approach and strategically using different stories at each rung of the belief ladder, salespeople can create deeper connections with prospects, overcome emotional barriers to change, and ultimately achieve better results than traditional logic-only methods could deliver.

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If you liked this article, have a look at our other book digests in our series Required Reading for Salespeople. You can also check out the P.S.I. Selling Content Page for more insights on sales communication, strategy, and leadership.

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For more about the author, check out Mike's bio.