The truth is we all tell stories every day in a myriad of ways in varieties of situations for a variety of reasons.
In ancient times, oral storytelling was the original way we passed down our knowledge and wisdom to the next generation. Here in Australia, First Nations people call it The Dreamtime.
Storytelling is inherent in human nature. Storytelling is inherent in sales.
Stories told and aligned to the organisation’s purpose and principles, enrich, transform and sell.
Storytelling like Selling, is ubiquitous.
How well we tell stories, the right stories at the right time for the right reasons to the right people well that’s a whole other story.
This is what I would like to focus on here, especially as it relates to selling.
But I have to set the scene with you first.
Over 10 years ago I had the pleasure of meeting Sandy McDonald, an author, TEDx speaker, and a clarity and storytelling trainer and coach. I was presenting to a group of people at a public seminar on The Psychology of Call Reluctance and the Fear of Self Promotion. Sandy was in the audience. The reason I remember Sandy so well is that a few days post this session, she sent me a blog she had written about me, my topic and the stories I shared and the positive impact it had on her. This had never happened to me before and I was very moved by her narrative.
We connected on Linkedin, chatted every now and then but it wasn’t until early 2019 that we reconnected again on a much deeper level. You see I had just released my book ‘142 Days of Gratitude that changed my life forever’ and posted a chapter excerpt which explained what prompted me to write the book. Sandy reconnected with me again posting her story about what my story meant to her.
What became clear is that our relationship was being forged on storytelling and that storytelling is at the heart of every human relationship. Which is why we are now working together to help other people develop their craft in storytelling to build meaningful connections and forge better relationships that drive better business and create better outcomes personally and professionally.
I’m a storyteller by default because I have never studied the craft of storytelling like Sandy has. For instance, Sandy’s been working with us to Barrett to help us further develop our stories. She’s been working with us on how we tell the story of our 25 years of evolution at Barrett in 3 minutes for a video we’re producing. As the saying goes ‘It takes a long time to write a short story’ but not if you know how to get to the essence and heart of the story quickly then build the story arc, the key elements, find our purpose with clarity to achieve a compelling outcome. That doesn’t happen by accident. Our experience with a professional storytelling coach in Sandy has been nothing short of enlightening and clarifying. Just as we like to help people and businesses sell better, faster for all the right reasons, so too does Sandy when it comes to storytelling.
So how do we hone and craft our storytelling for better outcomes in sales?
Let’s start with creating a new conversation
Sandy says ‘Most people in business want to do more than their business. They want to educate and serve people, be seen as the best in their field or employer of choice, and be recognized by their peers.
They also want to make a difference in people’s lives.
Typically those I work with in business have massive value, but are juggling too much to clearly articulate their purpose and principles, or identify their stories. Unable to effectively capture and employ their stories, they have challenges attracting and retaining the attention of those they most wish to serve and work with – in marketing, sales, internal meetings, stakeholders, investors and so on.
Whether businesses have been operating successfully for years and are uncertain about how best to move their businesses or projects to a new level or it’s the excitement of a start-up they’re often caught in a vortex of ideas, effort, demotivation, and no time.
The clarity of purpose, principles, people, product and positioning straightens it all out.
Becoming clear on why you do what you do best for whom is a muslin-fine filter for all business activity. Many speak of purpose in business but don’t really understand why it matters so much.
Purpose is life-guiding. Principles are the frame-work for acting on your purpose. Together they inspire intention.’
Purpose driven, contextualised story telling changes the paradigm.
Connecting you to your most desired people, it opens doors to a new conversation based on trust and collaboration.
When you align this and your clients to a common cause for mutual benefit and to uplift lives, you have the means from which to create a loyal and advocating community.
Stories told from clarity of purpose and principles, fuel the human energy to propagate goodness.’
This approach to storytelling resonates and aligns strongly with our Selling Better ethos, ethical, human centred sales practices and developing a compelling value proposition as part of an organisation’s overarching sales messaging and focused sales strategy.
As CEOs, sales leaders and sales people the purpose of our business, our sales strategy and value proposition, our intentions to good work create the foundations for the stories we tell our clients and stakeholders about ‘Why us?’, ‘Why you should choose us’, ‘How we can help you’ and so on.
The power of clarity in storytelling for better sales, better relationships and better business is about sharing your wisdom through purpose-driven stories and that is your value.
Doing so will:
- Engage your listener and boost recall of your key messages
- Sustain your drive and energy by building on your purpose and principles
- Act as a well organised library of all your knowledge, expertise, and experience
- Persuade others of your leadership in the field
- Enhance your ability to present with impact.
You can only achieve this when you are clear on why you do what you do best for whom.
If you’d like to know more about this unique approach to finding clarity to learn to tell your purpose-driven, contextualised stories that help you sell better faster for all the right reasons, please contact us to discuss how we can ignite purpose driven storytelling in your organisation.
Barrett’s Selling Better Storytelling Services include:
Storytelling Coaching & Consulting
- INSIDE A POWERFUL PRESENTATION —individual storytelling coaching for CEOs and senior executives wanting to amplify their presentations and become compelling orators.
- ORGANISATIONAL NARRATIVE — guides organisations to capture the single narrative that illustrates their purpose, principles, and culture, and encapsulates their history. Developing this narrative equips all stakeholders with the tools and skills to share the company story with integrity.
Storytelling Workshops
- STORY AT WORK — Learn the art and craft of storytelling in an interactive group workshop which provides the tools to become a compelling storyteller and expert narrator
- POWERPITCH — works with individuals in organisations so that they can pitch the organisation’s narrative and the impact of their work to any stakeholder through engaging storytelling
Remember, everybody lives by selling something
Related topics
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Why I should give a damn about you
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