Great stories can sell any product !
A great sales person definitely uses storytelling as it's the most powerful tool. Nowadays, almost everyone is selling something to someone out there. Whether by trying to sell a product, a service or pitch your startup or present your presentation. All is determined by your ability to influence, persuade and successfully close deals!
This is why this article aims to serve as a guide for beginners to answer a variety of questions concerning the topic of storytelling ✨
How can I connect with the audience and get them involved in the process?
First, to connect with your audience you have to know them; their preferences, taste, gender, age … Because it varies from one person to another. For instance, women would like to know exactly how your product will help them. In this case, in order to connect with them, you have to tell them a story of how your product or service was the solution for your customer.
Whenever you are trying to pitch your ideas or startup make your audience be excited about it, make them feel that you are eager, and you 100 % believe in it. Make your speech stand out, remarkable and unforgettable.
How much should I implement storytelling in my speech during a sales meeting? Or should I be straight to the point and give them directly the solution?
At the beginning of my journey, while doing a sales meeting I like to get more things done quickly. So, for instance, when I sell a product to a customer, I don’t put much effort into it. Back then, I approached sales in this manner: Buy my product, and if you don’t, let me go to the next customer! ⛔ Nevertheless, I realized by the time that asking questions has a lot of power. So, instead of showing the customer a particular product or discussing the solution, I highly suggest asking them questions like “Hey, tell me more about your biggest challenges?” or “Hey, what have you done to solve them?”. You can then explain your solution and how it will benefit them. Tell your customer a story about how your existing solution has facilitated others, and make them feel as though you are there to assist them, because people despise people who sell to them. To summarize, the magic formula for selling your product through storytelling is 20% talking and 80% questioning. ✨
How to ask questions?
To start, I'd like to use an example from Jeff Bezos's talk of Amazon. He stated that we are the most successful company because we know our customers and do so by asking them questions and requesting feedback. So, in our example, you could email them and say, "Hey, we'd like to learn more about you?"
What is the goal of storytelling?
The goal of storytelling is to persuade people of the value of your solution. So, tell them a story on how your product or service solved a problem for them.
When trying to sell something, which is the most important part that we have to focus on?
I would say that all parts are important, but I believe that the beginning and end are the most crucial. Knowing how to begin your story in order to grab people’s attention is crucial; it could be anything, even a personal story that makes people say, “Yeah, I have the same problem 💭” and then I guarantee you will have their attention. Then there’s the solution 💡: how are you going to address it? Everyone can talk about the problem, but talking about the solution is what will set you apart from the crowd. At the end, we have the closing: How will you in 30 seconds tell them about your solution It’s like a summary of all your pitch or all your story. To sum it all up, what happens between the beginning and the end is what people remember, and what happens in between is irrelevant.
Is storytelling a gift, or can it be learned?
Well, I believe in both there are people who are naturally gifted which means they talk really well when presenting or pitching an idea. You can feel that they are spontaneous. However, when you put to action, determination, and hard work into it, you can be a good storyteller, if you are truly passionate about it, people would feel it.
Does being an extrovert would help you in storytelling, or it’s just a skill that we can learn even if you’re an introvert?
I have a strong belief in personality types and how they communicate. The amusing part is that I’ve seen introverts transform into extroverts when needed 😂. When it comes to presenting your startup idea, you will be the most enthusiastic. Anything can be learned, whether you want to be an extrovert, an introvert, or something else, as long as you are truly passionate about what you are going to deliver. I really believe that introverts are better in storytelling because extroverts will be loud, they have a lot of energy, but introverts have a lot of time to analyze and answer or tell a story in a good way.
Written stories or spoken stories?
Personally, I’m not a good writer, but if we look at the evolution of preventions, we can see that previously, people had to write about 60 slides to send to companies or investors, and they didn’t know if they were going to read it or not. I believe in the power of writing, but most presentations now consist of two or three slides with one word or even a picture on them, and you speak about them. So, when writing a presentation, I recommend keeping it simple and to the point (May sound but possible 🙌). The same is true for speaking: you must be good, respect the toning and your gestures… You should therefore ask yourself, “If I were in the shoes of the investor, what is the most efficient way to persuade me?”
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