Shifting the Focus of Your Stories

Some sales professionals prepare for a sales meeting by getting all their facts in order -- their i's dotted and their t's crossed. In the process, they forget to talk to prospects in the most basic way that humans talk. They forget to tell stories.

It's a good idea to tie your stories into the benefits your product delivers. Part of the power of using personal stories in your presentations is that they reduce the information overload caused by a recitation of benefits and features. A good story captures the minds of prospects and takes them on a journey.

Some salespeople tell stories that focus on their companies, their products and how they will save their prospects time and money. The central character in those stories is their company and the product or service being sold.

These salespeople believe that if their prospects know as much about their company and its solutions as they do, they will buy. The problem with this type of story is that it's the same one being told by competitors.

Instead of telling your own corporate story, you need to tell prospects their story -- the one in which they achieve success.

It's a better idea to make the central character in your story your prospect. Your job is to take the story you tell and make it a story about your prospect that makes him or her feel that moving forward with your solution is the surest and safest way to go.