Podcasts Business Sales Reinvented Overcome Discovery Resistance with Stories per Mike Bosworth, Ep #302

Overcome Discovery Resistance with Stories per Mike Bosworth, Ep #302

Published: June 15, 2022, 7 a.m.

The #1 hurdle that all salespeople face when they meet a new prospect is discovery resistance. 99.9% of the population dislike encounters with salespeople\u2014they feel pressured, manipulated, and pushed into doing something they didn\u2019t want to do. Storytelling is the key to breaking down discovery resistance in buyers. They won\u2019t open up until they feel connected to you and trust you. Mike Bosworth shares what makes a great story\u2014that breaks down barriers\u2014in this episode of Sales Reinvented.\xa0

Outline of This Episode
  • [0:47] The importance of storytelling in sales
  • [2:26] Can storytelling be learned?
  • [3:33] Mike\u2019s ideal storytelling structure\xa0
  • [5:35] The attributes of a great storyteller
  • [9:32] Get some free resources from Mike
  • [10:40] Top 3 storytelling dos and don\u2019ts
  • [13:27] Mike\u2019s customer hero story
Can storytelling be learned?

Mike notes that most people are better storytellers than they think. When he runs workshops, he asks everyone to \u201cShare a story they tell in their personal life.\u201d People are more comfortable telling stories in their personal lives than in their professional lives. Even naturally gifted storytellers become better when they learn a storytelling structure.

Mike\u2019s ideal storytelling structure\xa0

A good story requires a story arc and a hero. The arc must include a setting, a struggle, a turning point, a resolution, and a moral. If someone tells a story about a business peer, the turning point would be the solution. The resolution would be using the product/service and how it made an impact (resolution).

There are three key stories that salespeople need:

  • Their personal story (why they do what they do)
  • Why they work where they work
  • Stories about customers they\u2019ve helped

When salespeople tell their company story, they start using \u201cwe.\u201d But the pronoun \u201cwe\u201d doesn\u2019t get an emotional following. Instead, a salesperson needs to say \u201cour\u201d when talking about the company. You have to make their story about a person, not yourself.\xa0

What are the attributes of a great storyteller? Listen to hear Mike\u2019s thoughts!

Mike\u2019s storytelling strategy to overcome discovery resistance

Mike was a rookie salesperson in 1974, at the young age of 28. The marketplace knew nothing about his company\u2019s technology because it was new. He was given a list of manufacturing companies in Orange County, CA. Management asked him to get them interested in the new product.\xa0

He would walk into a manufacturer and go to the receptionist and ask to speak with the materials manager. 80% of the time, the manager would come to the lobby. Why? The only way they could learn about new products was to meet with salespeople. They\u2019d see them just to see what they could learn and apply to their world.\xa0

As soon as a manager looked at Mike, they\u2019d look at their watch. They wrote him off because he was young and they thought he wouldn\u2019t know anything about manufacturing. Mike would look them in the eye, introduce himself, and say \u201cCan I share a quick story with you about another materials manager less than a mile from here that I\u2019ve been working with for the last 18 months?\u201d He never had a single person say no.\xa0

He shared how he met this materials manager. That manager had two c-level people who were always angry with him. One was angry because he was carrying too much inventory. The other was angry because he was missing his shipping schedule. 18 months ago, he discovered Xerox technology that allowed him to replan his production plant. He was their pioneer customer. He went from $8 million in inventory to $2.8 million. His backlog dropped from 28% to 3%.

Then Mike would say, \u201cEnough about me. What\u2019s going on here?\u201d They invited him in for a conversation. The story broke down the discovery resistance and led sales managers to the emotional conclusion that Mike understood them. They\u2019d want to learn more. That one story allowed Mike to sell his pipeline. In 5 months, he sold more than anyone in the company did in an entire year.\xa0

Resources & People Mentioned Connect with Mike Bosworth Connect With Paul Watts\xa0

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