How can you measure the success of a solution selling story?

To gauge the success of a solution selling story, we track conversion rates, deal sizes, and sales cycle lengths. Customer satisfaction and repeat business indicate the story's impact on relationships and loyalty. Revenue growth and feedback from sales reps provide further insights into effectiveness and areas for improvement.

Various KPIs can reflect the story's impact on the sales process & customer engagement: 1) Start by tracking conversion rates, noting how many prospects moved through the sales funnel to become customers after being exposed to your selling story. 2) Analyze engagement metrics like time spent on pages/materials related to your story, click-through rates, and the number of inquiries or demo requests generated. 3) Customer feedback & testimonials can provide qualitative insights into how well the story resonates with your target audience & addresses their pain points. 4) Assess the retention rates & upsell/cross-sell rates post-purchase, as a compelling selling story should attract customers and retain them and encourage further investment.

Story solution selling is one good method to build curiosity and create interest. Customer engagement is one sign of how successful your story selling resonates with their emotions. Sales can determine if they have successfully built rapport and earned trust by listening and observing customer engagement—what they do, how they act, and what they comment.

We can measure success by using : 1.Customer interaction rate 2. Customer engagement rate 3. Customer retention rate 4. Social media impressions 5. Meeting booked per profile views

One way that I have found useful is understanding the journey of the customer that led to them to explore your solution. This helps you build the foundation for the ongoing conversation. Your rapport gets build on as you try to resonate with the clients issue and their expectations. The client should be able to link their story with the client success use case that you are presenting to them.

Customer satisfaction is not only a direct reflection of the solution's efficacy but also a vital indicator of future sales potential. High satisfaction often correlates with repeat business and organic growth through word-of-mouth. It's important to note that satisfaction metrics should be continuously monitored and analyzed for trends, as they can provide early warnings for potential issues and opportunities for product or service enhancements. Additionally, integrating customer feedback into product development can lead to innovations that further solidify customer loyalty and satisfaction.

Happy customers often come back for more and tell their friends about you, which is a great indicator that your selling story not only caught their attention but also delivered value.

Customer satisfaction is more than just make sure the solution meets or exceed the expectations, is became a real customer trust advisor, which is a result of effective communication, deliver excelente results consistently, ethic, be assertive and professional.

1. Customer is King and Customer satisfaction is the ultimate goal towards which every business should work for. 2. A happy satisfied customer will bring a smile on your face, this is the reward and motivation to your hard work. 3. If your value added solutions have solved the customers problems then the customer will be satisfied, through this they may refer you to more customers. 4. If a customer is unsatisfied, kindly hear their concern while taking feedback and work on it to improve. 5. Aim at providing a smooth sales journey without any hassle and to leave a smile on the customer's face. 6. Once the sale is made, have an after sales process to get reviews and feedback to prepare case studies.

CSAT is the North Star in solution selling. It extends beyond the sale, encompassing the entire customer journey. A happy customer not only signifies a successful sale but is a testament to how well the solution aligns with their expectations. Customer loyalty, a key indicator of satisfaction, is fostered by consistently delivering value & benefits. The measurement tools, testimonials, reviews, case studies, referrals, and retention rates are invaluable. Yet, I would emphasize proactive communication. Regular check-ins & feedback sessions not only uncover areas for improvement but also strengthen the client relationship. In essence, the journey doesn't end with a sale; it evolves into a lasting partnership fueled by customer satisfaction.

To measure sales performance, indicators such as sales cycle, deal size, and win rate are used, but these metrics are based on the results of sales performance, which can fluctuate and vary over time. In complex selling, it can be affected by many factors such as policy, situation, resources, and changes in the organization, and we know sales targets always increase. This is why sales teams must know how to maintain their performance. To maintain their performance, sales teams need to continuously improve, learn, keep updating to the newest technology, and practice their storytelling skills. They should also update their sales knowledge, industry knowledge, product and technical knowledge, and audience knowledge.

Sales performance metrics are critical for understanding the impact of a sales narrative. A compelling story is not just about content but also delivery—how it resonates with the target audience. Conversion rates and win rates are direct reflections of this resonance, while sales cycles and deal sizes can indicate the effectiveness of the story in addressing customer pain points and creating a sense of urgency. Additionally, tracking ROI helps in quantifying the value that the sales story brings to the business, ensuring that the narrative is not only engaging but also profitable.

Tips to improve story quality 1. Know Your Audience: Tailor your story to their needs and interests. 2. Show, Don’t Tell: Use real-life success stories and testimonials for credibility. 3. Keep It Simple: Avoid jargon; make it easy to understand. 4. Be Authentic: Share genuine experiences to build relatability. 5. Engage Emotionally: Focus on how your solution improves lives. 6. Iterate Based on Feedback: Adjust your story based on audience reactions. Remember, a great story is clear, engaging, and resonates with your audience. Keep refining and experimenting!

When we talk about how stories can improve our sales process I always recommend the Made to sticky. Made to sticky is a guide about how create ideas that sell.

Story selling can be very effective by utilizing 3rd party outside data as well. Past experience I’ve seen used are Edmonds.com in terms of cost of repairs to ownership (based on years of ownership) as well as brand. Warranty claims data in terms of dollars spent to claims, etc. Customer appreciate the 3rd party data in that it takes the information you provide from simply being persuasive to confirmed & independently researchable.