225: Buyers Remember Our Stories When We Are Selling

<p>We do a great job on building trust with the client.  We get permission to ask questions and away we go on that magic journey of buyer needs discovery.  We have a clear idea that we can help, know what will happen and what the likely outcomes will be for the buyer.  We are doing a good job as a sales professional, then suddenly we drop the ball, we stumble at the finish line, we flub it.  We are presenting our solution, but we are not persuasive and we don’t get the business.</p> <p> </p> <p>The solution provision component of the sales process has a number of clear steps.  Just going through the motions reciting the features of the solution like a pirate’s tired parrot is so very 1970s, you can hardly believe there are salespeople today still doing this.  These features are dry facts, basic information about what is involved.  If we only do this, we are relying on the client to get excited about a solution, but we are underpowering the persuasion part to push them to buy.</p> <p> </p> <p>The hole we make in some materials such as wood, brick, concrete, steel etc., with a drill is the result the client wants and the drill is the mere tool to provide the outcome.  We need to know what we are going to be drilling into, by asking basic questions.  All good and here is where the storytelling becomes important.  When we get to the benefits part of the conversation we need to weave storytelling into the conversation.  We relate how our solution made a dramatic difference for another client by relating the background and context.</p> <p> </p> <p>For example, “This Super Drive 4 Speed Supremo Model is just what you need for this concrete drilling job you have in mind.  This is the preferred model for professional construction crews.  They are required to get the wooden framing attached to the concrete base as quickly and rigidly as possible, because these crews are always under tremendous time pressure.  Weather problems, supply delays, missed deadlines are the bane of their lives. They cannot work with inferior equip