207: Virtual Selling - Virtual Story Telling

<p>We all know that buyers remember stories more easily than facts and data points.  In fact, the ratio is twenty two times more likely than being able to remember simple detail.  Data is like swimming in six foot surf.  Each data point is overwhelmed and replaced by the next towering wave of data points.  It just keeps coming, so that we are being bashed by the constant data waves hitting us.  Stories on the other hand envelop us in a way where we are drawn into the detail. Because it is arranged in context, we can recall the details. Given this sale’s truth, you would expect salespeople would be storytellers extraordinaire.</p> <p> </p> <p>Actually, they used to be!  The sales rep would turn up with new funny jokes every meeting.  They would tell stories about their product or service to the client, such that buyers looked forward to meeting them.  Their only competition was newspapers, magazines and the radio. Then television appeared and buyers had other means of being entertained and what once worked in sales was lost. </p> <p> </p> <p>Storytelling works and science can now tell us why.  Listening to stories releases a chemical called Oxytocin into our system, which makes people feel more trusting, charitable, bonded and less anxious about trusting strangers.  That sounds like the type of buyer I would want to be selling to, especially if they are a new client.</p> <p> </p> <p>Stories are good but like everything, there is a degree of best practice required.  Jokes are similar.  Not everyone can tell a funny joke, which is why so few comedians make it.   Unlike the good olde days, where we were competing for buyer attention against very few distractions, today we are being walloped by constant buyer preoccupation and sensory stimulation. This is the Age of Distraction and getting the attention of the buyer is not a given.</p> <p> </p> <p>Authors of fiction, only have text to work with and so they make sure the first lines of their novel grabs us and persuades us to keep reading.  Our sales story has to be th