The Power of Story in Effective Prospecting - Chris's Story

Aug. 4, 2010 - PRLog -- Let me tell you a story about a salesperson named Chris. Chris used to make a hundred sales calls a day with the hope of making a single sale. With all of his past sales training and product expertise at his disposal, Chris found that selling was still just a numbers game.

Each of his sales calls started with the same messaging; “At ABC Co., we’re the world’s leading…” Upon hearing this, his buyers would immediately raise their Salesperson Barrier, rejecting all of Chris’ messaging. Even when Chris asked intelligent questions, his buyers would cross their arms, respond with product questions and plan their exit. “Yet another salesperson. I can’t trust them!” The buyer’s instinctive response, “No thanks, I’m just looking.”

When a buyer did talk, Chris was a poor listener. He was The Expert, equipped with planned questions and anticipated answers. He never appreciated his buyer’s skepticism and was not able to consciously lower their guard.

http://www.visiongroupmn.com/mike-storyleaders.htm

Over time, Chris became aware of the recurring pattern from this disconnect. He became conscious of the fact that when a sale was made, a connection was formed. However, he wasn’t clear why this was so rare.

Chris needed to find a way to more purposefully build a connection with prospects.  He discovers the missing link in effective prospecting.

http://www.visiongroupmn.com/effective-sales-prospecting.htm

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About Vision Group: Customers tell us we help train and educate their personnel on what their best do naturally. Telling stories woven with how their products/services are “used” by their customers to help satisfy their needs, while using empathetic listening skills during needs discovery. In addition, stories of the company, others they have helped and who they are becomes second nature.

http://www.visiongroupmn.com

They go on to tell us the power of story is allowing their personnel to connect, inspire and influence, leading to more effective prospecting and faster decision making.

The end result is our customers are using a consultative sales methodology “combined with” the ability to develop a human connection via the “power of story”, which leads to the best buying experience for their new and existing prospects/customers.