Selling the Story, Not the Product

By Robyn Johnson

“We buy with emotion, and we justify with logic.” This is the insight behind Mark Satterfield’s book “Unique Sales Stories.” We had

the chance to talk with Mark on Expert Access Radio to better understand how to get referrals and differ from the competition. Here Mark gives insights into how to tell the perfect story.

Why We Buy

When you are trying to sell someone on something, whether it is tangible or intangible, we connect with people emotionally. “If we start talking facts and figures, we lose people,” says Satterfield. “When you connect emotionally with people, telling them stories, you enable them to visualize the outcome. When a buyer is able to visualize the outcome, that’s when we are able to reach into their pocketbook, pull out the money and pay for our products or services.”

Being able to tell stories well is the problem. “Everyone says, ‘Yeah, ok that’s cool; we know stories. I have told stories all of my life. I can go do it,’” says Satterfield. “Then in the heat of a sales situation, they fall short—most just draw a blank.” Memorizing a story is not going to solve all of your sales problems either. When you try to memorize a story, it’s going to sound like a story you’ve memorized. In order to get people emotionally connected with you, you have got to be speaking from the heart, in your authentic voice. Use real-life examples that have happened in your life that illustrate points that you want to make when you are in a sales situation.

Finding Your Unique Story

Start with the end in mind. Satterfield recommends that you ask the following questions of yourself:

• What do you want the person to believe?
• What do you want the person to do after you have told them the story?

Don’t just tell a story for the sake of telling a story. Create a story with the end in mind. “When you are able to get them to see and connect with a problem they were currently not aware of, or to get them to take a particular point of action, you can construct the sales story from there,” says Satterfield. “If you can tell your prospect a compelling story, you are going to be able to get them to believe things that statistics would not.”

Just keep in mind that the performance is sometimes as important as the story itself. The biggest issue is to just practice. Practice the story and delivery; get it out of your mouth. At first, it will come out as babble, but the more you practice, the better your story and sale will go.

Bragging Rights

The easiest way to get your clients to brag about your business is to get them to tell a story about you. You have to leave your clients with some kind of story/impression that makes them re-tell what you told to them. When you leave that impression and story, you want it to stick with them. “The idea is to create a chain reaction, where the same story is told again and again, traveling by word of mouth until it gets back to you via someone else who needs your products or services.”

LISTEN to the complete interview with Mark Satterfield on Expert Access Radio.

For more information, go to Mark Satterfield’s website.