Sell Me a Story!
by Richard White
Case studies produced by IT companies
are normally dry enough to send a prospect to sleep!
Sales presentations are little better. How is it that
two key tools in the sales process lack the sparkle
and charisma normally associated with sales people?.
How do we make them more engaging and entertaining?
The answer is actually child's play! By taking lessons
from story telling and using metaphor we can bring our
case studies and presentations to life.
Good stories and metaphors engage our imaginations.
They create pictures in our minds and also enable us
to visualise complex concepts. We relate to the characters
in a story and follow with interest how they overcome
their struggles. Stories and metaphors can therefore
be a very powerful way of helping our prospects to appreciate
the value of our products and services, understand what
we are like as a company and imagine what the future
will be like when they are a customer.
Stories do not have to be brilliant works of fiction
and we certainly do not need to kiss the Blarney stone!.
Indeed, some of the best stories are based on real life.
The beauty of real life stories is that they make it
easy for the listener to relate to you and will often
spark off memories from their own experience.
Adding spice to your case
studies
Case studies are typically written in a very logical
way, specifying the problem and the solution with a
lot of techno-speak thrown in for good measure! They
do little to help the prospect to create pictures in
their mind of what actually happened. Instead of case
studies, why not write customer stories instead? Tell
the reader what actually happened like you would a true-life
story. When describing the customer's situation and
the problems they were facing, make it personal. Include
and refer to real characters from the client company
and your company. Help the reader to imagine the situation
that the main characters were facing and how your company
came to the rescue.
XYZ Systems are good medicine for ADVA
John ran the busy accounts department within the rapidly
growing pharmaceutical company ADVA. The accounting
system they used once worked well but after a string
of mergers and acquisitions the system was now creaking
at the seams. Every night after everyone else had
gone home, John and his team was still there until
dark, battling against the odds to get all their work
done. The morale in the accounts department was at
rock bottom. They were overloaded by the constant
stream of requests for information from other parts
of the business. John's previous boss had already
been fired and John was worried that he was next.
Luckily, the new finance director, James, had previously
worked for several large pharmaceutical companies
and was familiar with the types of systems needed.
He had used the market leading system by XYZ Systems
in his previous company and the first thing he did
when he joined ADVA was to call in Sandra Keys from
XYZ Systems for a meeting. John and his team breathed
a huge sigh of relief when.........
In this first paragraph the scene is being set and
two characters from the client are established - John
and James and Sandra Keys from XYZ Systems. The finance
system is the 'monster' and Sandra Keys and her colleagues
will develop into the heroes that slay the monster and
save John and his team from a grisly fate. Notice the
use of descriptive language like 'battling against the
odds' and 'string of mergers'.
Making presentations memorable for the right reasons
Sales presentations are often referred to as 'death
by PowerPoint': emotionless monologues about the company,
the products and potential solutions. Such presentations
do little to engage the prospects' imagination and help
them to 'see' what you mean and 'see' how working with
your company will solve their problems. Great communicators
weave stories and metaphors into their presentations.
Add some relevant customer stories to your presentation.
Add your company's own story such as how it got where
it is today.
Joe Cummings founded XYZ Systems ten years ago
on three key values:
1. To strive for the success of their clients;
2. To deliver renowned products and services to their
clients; and
3. To maximise the potential of staff
Even during the bleakest times of the earlier
years, when money was scarce, Joe held true to the
values even when it seemed like financial suicide.
"We're not like other companies" Joe would
say "We are going to stand for something".
It is an approach that clients of XYZ found refreshingly
different and has meant that XYZ retained a very loyal
customer base. Some of the earliest clients like Sally
Biggs from ABC corporation are still singing their
praises. "They may not be the cheapest option
on the market" Sally loves to tell prospective
clients "but I know where I stand with them.
If they say they will do something then it's as good
as done! That counts for a lot in today's world. Quality
is cheaper in the long run!"
Joe has taken care over the years to ensure that
as the company has grown to its current size, the
values have not been diluted. Every product and every
service has the core values at it's heart like a stick
of rock from Brighton............
This short example includes two elements of human interest,
Joe and Sally. It has some dialogue from Sally and Joe
and they are both communicating important messages on
behalf of the presenter. Stories with dialogue can be
used as a powerful way to influence your prospects with
selling messages indirectly.
Use Metaphor to simplify complex concepts
Where there is something complex or difficult to understand,
such as abstract concepts, metaphors can help the listener
to 'see' what you mean. It is almost impossible for
the listener to make mental pictures of abstract concepts.
Metaphors, however, will enable the listener to visualise
the metaphor instead. For example, it may be difficult
for a prospect to picture a multi-dimensional database
but they could imagine a Rubix cube - you know, the
toy puzzle with the coloured sides. You could liken
a multi-dimensional database to a Rubix cube of data
that you can rotate, allowing you to view the data from
many different perspectives. Just like a Rubix cube,
you can slice the data in different ways.
In the previous example, Brighton Rock is used as a
metaphor to help create a mental image for the core
values.
Stories and metaphor are great way to bring your case
studies and presentations to life. You do not need to
be a Steven Spielberg or JK Rowling to come up with
simple, meaningful stories and metaphor that help your
prospects and customers to 'see' what you mean and relate
to you and your company more easily. By adding real
human interest and drama to your presentations and case
studies, you will differentiate yourselves from your
competitors and ensure that the audience is deeply influenced
by your delivery.
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