Podcasts Business Sales Reinvented Stories = The Fastest Path to Sales with Mike Adams, Ep #304

Stories = The Fastest Path to Sales with Mike Adams, Ep #304

Published: June 29, 2022, 7 a.m.

Storytelling is the way to connect with clients and exchange information in the easiest format for humans. Unfortunately, most business conversations are so abstract that people can\u2019t understand what you mean. But when you tell stories, clients understand you. As soon as someone tells a story, the other person wants to tell a story back. It\u2019s the fastest way to get to a \u201csharing\u201d conversation. It\u2019s not about making assertions and claims about products. It\u2019s such an important skill because salespeople have to get into problem-solving in-depth conversations to understand what\u2019s going on. Stories are the path to understanding.\xa0

They lay the foundation and propel prospects to a buying decision. Mike Adams shares how in this episode of Sales Reinvented.

Outline of This Episode
  • [0:53] The importance of storytelling in sales
  • [2:43] Everyone can become brilliant storytellers
  • [4:50] Relevance is key to a great story
  • [6:31] Curiosity is the #1 trait salespeople need
  • [8:10] The 3 fundamental problems salespeople have\xa0
  • [10:27] Mike shares some storytelling resources
  • [12:09] Mike\u2019s top storytelling dos and don\u2019ts
  • [17:44] Stories have the power to influence
Everyone can become brilliant storytellers

Mike echoes what many other guests have iterated: We\u2019re\xa0all\xa0storytellers. It\u2019s the way we learn and the way we talk. But business conversations have become abstract. When Mike teaches storytelling to salespeople, they\u2019re taught how to share little anecdotes about things that happen. It takes practice and it takes courage. But everyone can do it.

One of Mike\u2019s partners in Germany was teaching a group of CTOs (specialists). They were the most technical dry people you\u2019ll ever talk to. The \u201cworst offender\u201d was always asking questions in a cynical manner. They were convinced he\u2019d never understand the power of storytelling. At the end of every program, they run a story competition. This particular gentleman told a\xa0brilliant\xa0story.\xa0

Relevance is key to a great story

Stories must have a surprise; a turning point where the listener doesn\u2019t know what\u2019s happening next. Great stories have to be relevant to the situation your client finds themselves in. If it\u2019s not relevant, it wastes their time. People push back and say that CEOs and other c-level executives don\u2019t like stories. Mike notes that isn\u2019t true, they just don\u2019t like their time being wasted, which is why relevance is key.\xa0

Mike teaches salespeople to overcome the three fundamental problems they have with story: forming connections, selling a change agenda, and getting clients to act.

If you can\u2019t make a trusting connection with a client, you won\u2019t get anywhere. If Mike tells a connection story about himself\u2014such as how he got into sales\u2014he\u2019ll ask them a question. If they tell a story back, it\u2019s a huge clue that the relationship can move forward. When they tell you a story, you can imagine yourself as them and better understand their decision-making. Stories lead to understanding and help answer the question: should you be doing business together?

Mike\u2019s top storytelling dos and don\u2019ts

Mike shares that it\u2019s critical to know what a story is\u2014and what a story\xa0isn\u2019t. If you don\u2019t connect a time and place to a character, it\u2019s not a story. One of Mike\u2019s clients sent him a white paper from a well-known global consulting research company. It was titled something like \u201cThe importance of storytelling in technology sales.\u201d There wasn\u2019t a single story in it.\xa0

Secondly, you have to make sure that your story is relevant. It must be directly related to the situation that you\u2019re in. Telling a story about yourself when you\u2019re just meeting someone is highly relevant because you\u2019re the most interesting thing in their field of view.\xa0

Lastly, tell stories to get stories. It\u2019s an art. A simple way to get a story is to share one, then pass it over to your prospect. If they\u2019ve just heard a story, you\u2019re likely to get a story in response. Some clients are dedicated to talking abstractly. They may say something \u201cgrand\u201d sounding like \u201cGood sustainability management is very important to us.\u201d\xa0

That\u2019s when you need to ask a \u201cstory listening\u201d question, such as: \u201cThat\u2019s interesting. Could you give me an example of good sustainability management from your perspective?\u201d Any question that takes you to a moment in time will get you a story (story triggering). The questions that salespeople ask that can get them a story gives them an advantage.\xa0

Stories have the power to influence

Mike runs invitation courses for sales leaders to come and experience their program. Mike had been chasing a particular company he wanted to do business with. But every time he\u2019d get close to someone in management, they would switch that person out. Finally, a head of sales training came to his course.\xa0

When they got to the 3rd workshop, Mike was teaching how to manage objections with an \u201cinfluence story.\u201d Mike refers to objections as\xa0anti-stories. When a client has an incorrect belief about your products or services, you can\u2019t fight it with facts. You have to find a better story. Mike teaches his students to acknowledge the anti-story and then share another story from a different perspective. They reframe it.

Mike\u2019s student, Diego, wanted to share an influence story to explain to his boss why they need storytelling as part of their training program. This is what he crafted:\xa0

\u201cI acknowledge that our sales training program is brilliant. It\u2019s finely tuned. I also acknowledged that our budget is less than it was last year. But thinking about being happy with what we have reminds me of my wife. We like to go mountain biking. I\u2019ve been telling her for years to upgrade her bike. But she loves her bike and always refuses. But last week, we were out cycling and the frame of her bike broke. So I let her take my bike back and pushed her bike back to the car. When I arrived, she exclaimed that my bike was so much better than hers. She can\u2019t believe she went that long without proper suspension. You can be perfectly happy with something but it doesn\u2019t mean there isn't something much better out there to consider.\u201d Because of that story, Mike was hired to train this company's global account directors.

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

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