The challenges of sales. Making a sale can be a game of trial and error. What you said to one client that worked doesn’t always work for every client. Somedays, you don’t have it in you to approach people and talk them up about something they may not be interested in. It’s a hard job, but someone’s got to do it. Thankfully, there are some presentation storytelling techniques that can help you increase your sales. Here are two examples that you can apply to your sales tactics.
How to Use Presentation Storytelling to Increase Your Sales
Salespeople may not realize it, but there are stories that they tell or have heard that can be used to increase their sales. From customer interactions to personal experiences, you can apply these situations in a presentation storytelling structure to close a sale.
A Customer’s Perspective
A positive customer experience can work to reel in a doubtful client. Draw a connection between the client’s worries and a similar experience with a previous customer. Relatable experiences can build a common ground for you and the client. You can better express how you understand their concerns because they are familiar to you. Your client can open their mind to the solutions you are offering. This is a presentation storytelling tool where the presenter takes a customer centric approach to explaining their solution to a problem.
Example:
A client is hesitant to sign up for your home security service because they believe their neighborhood is safe and they don’t want to pay a monthly fee for the service.
Two years ago, I had a customer tell me the exact same thing. This guy just bought his first house and his wife was expecting his first baby. As they were moving in their furniture, he told me he noticed some teenage kids riding their bikes around the neighborhood. He didn’t think anything of it. Then, a few days later he gives me a call and says rocks were thrown through their windows. His wife was now terrified to be home alone, especially with a newborn baby. He wanted to gain back his peace of mind, so I made him a deal. I gave him a 2-month trial of our system and installed window monitoring devices.
In those two months, the monitoring device caught the teens on camera walking towards the house. The alarm went off and the teens were never heard from again. Now, my customer’s family can sleep well at night knowing our alarm system is always there to alert them. So, are you interested in a 2-month free trial for your home?
Another example can be seen in this TEDx Talk. Dr. John Story takes a customer-centric approach to explaining brand loyalty. He uses a presentation storytelling angle by keeping the audience as the main character. Notice how many times he says “you” and motions towards the crowd.
A Company’s Perspective
Sometimes clients only care about the results. Let your expertise do the selling. This client typically will do all their own research on every version of the product or service before they decide to come to you. Since they already know what they want or don’t want, your job is to get them to sign the dotted line. Don’t spend too much time promoting the features and differentiators. Instead, position your entire company as the best option and industry leader. One presentation storytelling technique is the company origin story. The story explains the ideas and passion that went into developing your entire business. If you can get the client to get behind your company’s history and mission, then you can get the sale.
Example:
A client is obsessed with smartwatches. They are always looking to buy the newest product as soon as it hits the market. They already know they want a watch that syncs with their smartphone, tracks their health data, downloads games and has a GPS. After weeks of searching, this client comes into your store but wants to know he is getting his money’s worth with your smartwatch.
I want you to know that our smartwatch is released just to compete with our competitors. Our mission is to provide our customers with the latest technology that works every time. This is why the founder of our company dedicates so much to researching and developing the most reliable forms of technology. Did you know that this company has tried and failed at creating the first smartwatch over a dozen times? It wasn’t until 2010 that we got our first investor to partner with us because they saw our attention to detail.
Since our first watch was sold to the public in 2011, we have the most repeat customers and the highest ranking when compared to other companies. We have even taken home awards for our innovative designs and high-speed technology. Our company has become the industry’s leader for innovation, design and dependability. If you feel that we do not meet those standards, then we offer a two week return policy with a full refund.
Another example is this commencement speech by the creator of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg. While this speech isn’t about sales, Zuckerberg goes into detail about how he developed the popular social media website.
To increase your sales, create relationships with your clients through storytelling. By placing the focus on the customer’s experience or the company’s expertise, you can create a memorable and impactful experience. For more presentation storytelling techniques for your sales strategy, check out these posts:
How Presentations Can Increase Sales
