Selling is Leading

Those who tell the stories rule society.

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-- Plato

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The old paradigm

Early in my career, as I was learning the ropes of selling and leading, my typical sales call consisted of a barrage of questions for prospects in an attempt to understand their issues and thereby sell my products and services. Overall, I was moderately successful—primarily through sheer determination.? Over the last 16 years, I’ve developed a leadership style that has enabled? me to create an environment in which my teams have excelled at connecting with senior leaders, positively influencing their buying decisions.?

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Stories have been a major part of establishing these connections, and I want to share what I’ve learned so far.?

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Emotion is the force of life

The brain is a powerful machine.? It directs how people make decisions to change. Choices, such as buying, that involve change, have a lot to do with the reasoning structure of a prospect. Research now provides us the opportunity to really understand how the language of salespeople can greatly improve execution by focusing on the stages in a sales cycle that influence emotion. Research has also shown that emotion has a large impact on decisions; in many cases, much more than facts or? product data sheets. Logic and reason, while still affecting a buyer’s decision, are more likely to do so after the fact, as a means of justifying a decision originally driven by emotion.??

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The hidden power of authentic vulnerability

I’ve learned over the years that telling a story about how you or your organization have struggled in the past creates a great opportunity for connection. I’ve learned that if you and your employees are willing to go first and open up and be vulnerable with your clients or prospects;? then the recipient of that story will think “they must trust me, and it’s safe for me to be open and share something in return”.? This is where the magic happens; connections are made and information is shared without asking numerous questions that all vendors are asking your clients and or prospects.???

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The new paradigmn

So how do you teach salespeople—many of whom have been trained to turn off their feelings— to be vulnerable? In my experience working with sales teams over the years, I do this by helping them develop a story of “who they are.” Basically, that’s the story of how they ended up across the desk from another person (the buyer/employee/coworker), in this moment in time, representing this company and its offerings.??

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The story requires the teller to take a risk by showing vulnerability. It’s this vulnerability, contained in the story, that is the secret ingredient that will lead to an emotional connection and, hopefully, buy-in.?

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It’s a harsh reality for us in sales; getting people to believe in us can be tough. Getting people to change when they’re predisposed to distrust salespeople is even tougher. But our minds are wired to respond to stories. They are intrinsic to who we are and how our brains function. For millennia, humans have used stories to tell each other about who they are, where they came from, and what was important to them.? Humans are natural storytellers and, maybe more importantly, story listeners.?

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It is quite simple: Stories make people feel good.

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Since learning this more than 16 years ago, I started asking all prospects/employees/coworkers: “Can I tell you a story?” I’ve never been turned down.?

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A story is the expression of how and why life changes. A story begins in balance, then something creates imbalance, then the storyteller goes on to describe how the balance is restored. We all make sense of our lives through stories.??

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The Storyteller’s Trinity:Truth, Trust, and Transparency

If buyers don’t trust you, they aren’t going to be curious about what you’re selling. And they aren’t going to admit their needs. Since curiosity, connection and trust are so essential to selling effectively, I believe sellers should have a minimum of three basic story types in their repertoires:

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1.???? Who I am story

2.???? Who I represent story

3.???? Who I’ve helped story

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The who I am story is about your journey and how you ended up in front of them. The point of the story is to demonstrate why you are doing what you’re doing – what is your motivation? The resolution of this story is what you currently do, which illustrates the point that your motivation is being answered by your work in sales.?

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The who I represent story describes the journey of your company. Just as every person has many stories to tell, so do companies, especially big companies with long, complicated histories (e.g., Altera) and a wide range of product offerings (also Altera). The resolution of this story is what your company does today that drives meaning for the listener.??

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The who I’ve helped story details a change another buyer experienced because they bought from you. This story outlines why they chose to buy from you, highlighting how they were able to alleviate earlier complications. A natural beginning will come together as this story takes shape.?

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Stories are at the core of everything we do

Whether you’re making a cold call or working the floor at a trade show, approaching strangers for the first time is always difficult—in fact, it is probably the toughest part of a seller’s job. The success rate is low. Rejection is a given. It’s no wonder so many of us develop cases of “call reluctance.”?

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The key to success, of course, lies in piquing a prospect’s curiosity. But we must be quick. We know we have only a brief window of 10–20 seconds before a prospect says: “Tell me more,” or, “I’m not interested.” Many salespeople squander this brief period by talking about what they do or how they do it. I believe this is a mistake.?

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In Simon Sinek’s “Golden Circle,” he contends that we are most effective when we communicate from the inside out. The inside (the why) is a belief. If you only have a short window to make a buyer curious, start with the why of your story—lead with belief, not facts. Use these first few seconds to activate someone’s curiosity, which will earn you the right to tell the rest of the story. At Altera, we use the Art of the Possible: “What if you could.”? We infuse it into our initial story, piquing a prospect’s interest about a problem we’ve researched ahead of our call.??

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In conclusion, telling stories is about trusting yourself - about feeling humble yet confident enough to talk about your failures and share how those failures, both personally and professionally, have helped you overcome an obstacle, or many obstacles.?

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Leaders go first and I’ve witnessed the miracle of connection happen repeatedly – all through three stories.??

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