It's all about the story! Three stories that will win business

I was once given a piece of advice that I didn't actually take at the time, but it has stuck with me ever since; 'It’s all about the story.' The meaning of which is pretty much: take a chance, do it, and if it doesn’t end up as you planned, at least you’ve got a new story.

This got me thinking about the importance of stories in life and in business, and below are what I would consider the three most important stories for any business.

1. Your business story

Every business has a story. It’s the story of when you finally had enough of working for someone else and set up on your own.

Or it’s the story of how a life changing thought resulted in your product.

Or maybe even the story of why you chose to work for company X instead of company Y.

It really doesn’t matter what your story is, as long as it’s genuine (and relevant). When you tell a story about something, all your emotion comes through. When you’re emotional, your passion shows. And when your passion shows, it’s a lot harder for your clients to not believe in you.

Think about it, who would you rather buy from? The person who lists all of their products and services and how great they are, or the person who’s telling you, with genuine excitement, why they love doing what they do? Even rational sales decisions can be influenced by some well-placed emotion.

2. Ask for their story

People love talking about themselves and understanding their story will tell you:

a. What they’re passionate about

b. What motivates them

c. What their pains are

d. What their goals are

Once you’ve understood all these things, the selling is easy: just match what you’ve got with what they want.

Obviously, if your product doesn’t fit with what they want or need, you shouldn’t be selling it to them. However, if you match their enthusiasm and demonstrate how your product will help them meet their goals, then half the sale is done for you.

3. Tell someone else’s story

Third party validation is one of the strongest ways to overcome objections.

Telling a story about how somebody in a similar situation found huge benefits from using your products, takes away the perceived risk, which leads to the impression that ‘if it worked for them, it must work for us.’

Having a few true stories in your head about other people’s experience of working with you, will help demonstrate the true value of the product, not just your biased perception of it.

Better still, ask a handful of your happy customers to tell their stories direct to your prospect – hearing it from someone else provides even stronger third party validation.