Sell with a Story: How to Capture Attention, Build Trust, and Close the Sale

266 Pages·2016·3.08 MB·English

by  Paul Smith

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PRAISE FOR SELL WITH A STORY
“A must-read for anyone who wants to captivate attention and win business.”
—Lisa McLeod, sales consultant and author of
Selling with a Noble Purpose
“Incredibly insightful and practical beyond words. A must-read for anyone who
wants to be more persuasive.”
—Dr. Jeffrey Docking, president, Adrian College
“A game-changer essential to taking your sales skills to the next level.”
—Michael Miller, president and CEO of Primo Solutions, LLC and author of
Selling at Combat Speed and Stop Selling and Start Caring
“Anyone who thinks that storytelling can’t be learned hasn’t read this book. Sell
with A Story will teach you how to persuade your prospects with the same
techniques that Hollywood screenwriters use to captivate audiences.”
—Logan Strain, digital content specialist, NextGen Leads
“There are a lot of books out there telling the reader what storytelling is. Paul not
only does that, but he tells you the how’s, the why’s, and the when’s to use
storytelling. As a salesperson, you will finally get what storytelling is, and how
to use it to create transfer of ownership and shorten the sale.”
—Skip Miller, author of ProActive Selling
SELL
WITH A
STORY
HOW TO CAPTURE ATTENTION,
BUILD TRUST, AND
CLOSE THE SALE
PAUL SMITH
To my father, Robert Smith, who spent more time listening
to sales stories than anyone I know.
CONTENTS
Foreword by Mike Weinberg
Acknowledgments
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER 1: What Is a Sales Story?
CHAPTER 2: Why Tell Sales Stories?
PART I
What Sales Stories You Need and When to Tell Them
CHAPTER 3: Introducing Yourself
CHAPTER 4: Stories You Tell Yourself
CHAPTER 5: Getting Buyers to Tell Their Story
CHAPTER 6: Building Rapport
CHAPTER 7: The Main Sales Pitch
CHAPTER 8: Handling Objections
CHAPTER 9: Closing the Sale
CHAPTER 10: Storytelling After the Sale
PART II
How to Craft Sales Stories
CHAPTER 11: Elements of a Great Story
CHAPTER 12: Choosing the Right Story to Tell
CHAPTER 13: Story Structure
CHAPTER 14: The Hook (Transition In)
CHAPTER 15: Context
CHAPTER 16: Challenge, Conflict, Resolution
CHAPTER 17: Lesson and Action (Transition Out)
CHAPTER 18: Emotion
CHAPTER 19: Surprise
CHAPTER 20: Dialogue, Details, and Length
CHAPTER 21: Delivery
CHAPTER 22: Telling Stories with Data
CHAPTER 23: Stretching the Truth
CHAPTER 24: Finding Great Stories
CHAPTER 25: Practicing and Saving Your Stories
CHAPTER 26: Getting Started
Appendix A: 25 Stories Salespeople Need
Appendix B: Selling Story Roadmap
Appendix C: Story Structure Template
Appendix D: List of Sales Stories
Additional Reading
Endnotes
Index
Free Sample from Lead with a Story by Paul Smith
About AMACOM
FOREWORD
PAUL SMITH’S FIRST book, Lead with a Story—A Guide to Crafting Business
Narratives That Captivate, Convince, and Inspire, dramatically increased my
effectiveness as a speaker and consultant. So you can imagine my excitement
upon learning that Smith was applying his storytelling expertise to a new book
on my favorite topic—selling.
I spend my days helping sales leaders and salespeople develop new business
and acquire new customers. More than any other topic or sales skill, the area
where sellers require the most help is with telling their story. Almost every day I
tell anyone who will listen that “your story is your most critical sales weapon.”
Yet, executives and salespeople tend to be awful at storytelling. Just awful. Their
stories are boring, confusing, often pointless, and almost always self-focused. In
fact, as you’ll read in Chapter 1, many lack the essential components to even
qualify as a “story.”
A great sales story changes everything. It causes buyers to put down their
defenses. It helps them relax. It engages their minds and their hearts by
appealing to both their intellect and emotions. A great story builds credibility
and properly positions you in the eye of the buyer. Instead of being viewed as a
pitchman (see the pearls of wisdom Smith has pulled from procurement people),
a compelling story helps you come across as the value-creator, professional
problem-solver, and consultant you so badly want to be.
Possibly even more important, your powerful story allows buyers to open up
and share theirs. Nothing encourages prospective clients to answer your probing
questions and reveal their problems, needs, desired results, frustrations, and
opportunities better than your ability to tell a relevant story, in the appropriate
way, at just the right time! Too often, we blow quickly through the discovery
phase because buyers are not forthcoming when it comes to sharing information.
Typically, our probing isn’t effective because we haven’t warmed up the
prospect, built credibility, or earned the right to ask provocative questions—all