3 Tips: Effective Storytelling for Sales Professionals

Effective storytelling for sales professionals doesn't have to be rocket-science! Read on to learn how to get your team telling the best stories possible.

A good salesperson knows that success isn’t just about perfecting a pitch. It’s also about being personable, relatable and genuine. You also need to focus on building rapport, overturning objections, and showing your prospect how you can potentially help solve their problems. Alongside of all of that, there are many other factors that come into play, a key one being how well you tell a story.

Telling stories during the course of a sales call is good practice that can help you close the sale. Not only does this serve to engage your prospect, it also will provide them with reasons that they should ultimately listen to you and buy your product or service.

3 Tips: Effective Storytelling for Sales Professionals

Effective storytelling for sales professionals entails being natural.

You cannot expect your prospect to give you the time of day, much less buy from you, if what you say doesn’t sound natural. Make sure that when you do tell a story, it is something you are comfortable delivering. This confidence will increase your chances of coming across as natural.

Talking about something that you have a personal connection to (that is also relevant to your conversation) will help everything you say come across as natural and not fake. While you’re at it, be confident and genuine as well.

Use stories to show your prospects how you solve problems.

A key factor in a prospect's decision to buy lies in understanding how the product or service they are purchasing will solve their problems. By uncovering what problems they are looking to solve, you can tell a story that shows how your product or service works to solve specific problems.

For help on figuring out what client problems your product or service solves and how to uncover them, click here or on the image below!

Use stories to help overturn objections.

A strong salesperson has a list of common objections that their prospects give them, along with a list of ways to overcome them. In addition to that, create a list of stories to tell when working to overcome objections a prospect may have.

Moreover, speaking from experience is the best option. Bear in mind that this list of stories will probably differ slightly from the list of stories you tap into to demonstrate how you can solve a client’s problems, but they will most likely overlap.

The most important thing is for you to have a thorough understanding of how the story you tell is relevant to your prospect. Similarly, whether it tells of solving a problem or overturns an objection, which is often tied to a hidden problem. With practice, your stories will sound natural and help you generate more business and close more sales.

Have any other tips for effective storytelling for sales professionals? Let us know in the comments!