The enjoyment of storytelling is universal. For example, in a down economy, the movie industry is known to do very well because people need a momentary escape from reality. Speakers who tell entertaining stories from the stage increase far more interest in their products and services for sale. Salespeople who conduct engaging conversations with clientele do exceedingly well. And Hiring Managers are known to ask job seeking candidates, “Tell me something about yourself.”
Authentic storytelling dramatically increases success.
In the early days of my sales career, I focused strictly on business. Sales were good but only because I worked very long hours to learn and make them happen. Change for the better occurred as I became comfortable sharing short stories.
Remember the game, “Tag you are it!”? I always encouraged prospective clients to go first in sharing their personal story. I was then able to ask questions of interest to them, and likewise, position my story to gain further attention. Proceeding this way encouraged a professionally personal dialogue. It built solid relationships and a very loyal clientele.
I include one more step to my story-telling. In all of my writing, I share roadblocks encountered and how I overcome them. The reason I do this is to encourage others to keep persevering. My reward is reading of the success people found due to the suggestions I provided. It’s heart-warming to know that people were hired for their desired job or earned a sale just from reading my insights.
Roadblock Example
The past six weeks proved to be a nightmare of sorts. Errors unfolded as if they were leaves falling from a tree when dealing with multiple others. Sure, a few were mine, but the majority were those of others that interfered with my desired outcome.
The question, ‘Is this all worthwhile?’ was on my mind, but we all know that quitting isn’t the answer. So I took the sales philosophy of asking questions to get each problem resolved. In some cases, the solution took days. It was highly frustrating in the process, but once figured out, relief was mine. Delayed results are unfortunately routine when it comes to implementing something new.
Given my desire is to help others succeed, I recognized it’s time to build the online Smooth Sale Community . All three levels, free and two fee-based types of membership, will provide motivational insights and sales training. A variety of formats will be used including live video training. Sales coaching will also be made available to five highly motivated individuals.
Should you have a question, or sales related topics, you would like to have covered.
Resetting goals for the New Year is a very typical action for businesspeople. Take time to consider how you present yourself and your material.
Do you:
Experimentation is the best way to find what works best with your desired clientele. As long as you are genuine in conversation and messaging, chances for developing an engaged audience increase dramatically. It’s worth taking the time to see what attracts the most enthusiasm. In this way, you, too, will build a loyal clientele.