Go offline with the Player FM app!
748: Leading with Stories, with Paul Smith
Manage episode 253341105 series 2394498
Paul Smith, author of Sell with a Story: How to Capture Attention, Build Trust, and Close the Sale, and Ten Stories Great Leaders Tell, joins me again on this episode of the Sales Enablement Podcast.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Paul Smith trains people to tell stories; his customer base is increasing. He says only 10% to 15% of the time you talk to people should consist of stories, two to three minutes long. That is six to nine minutes an hour.
- Stories are not like jokes with a punchline. Paul will not supply you with stories to tell. They are conversational. Some of them should be planned within your pitch, some are extemporaneous from a repertoire you’ve built.
- Paul shares the eight specific questions a sales story should answer. Don’t memorize a story but remember the short answers to those questions in the story.
- Andy shares a John Steinbeck quote: “If a story is not about the hearer, he will not listen. … The strange and foreign is not interesting — only the deeply personal and familiar.” Andy works to build the buyer’s vision story.
- Perfect delivery is not necessary. You are speaking, not performing a role. If you tell a story that is helpful to them, you are providing value, not wasting their time. Paul doesn’t train people about delivery.
- Andy’s stories are drawn from his experiences, including things others have shared with him.
- A story starts to sound like a pitch the moment it starts sounding like a script. Scripts make people defensive, not prone to listen. Converse with people, don’t talk at them. Stories are engaging and relaxing.
- Paul shares 10 stories great leaders tell. The first four are: “Where we came from,” (founding); “Why we can’t stay there,” (the case for change); “Where we’re going,” (vision); and “How we’re going to get there,” (strategy).
- The values stories are: “What we believe,” “Who we serve,” “What we do for them,” and “How we differ from our competitors.” The personal stories are: “Why I lead the way I do,” and “Why you should want to work here.”
- Every leader needs at least one good story each for sales, marketing, and recruiting. Salespeople, marketing people, and HR people will each need lots of stories to tell.
- Paul shares a story from Ben Koberna, CEO of EASiBuy. Because the concept is unfamiliar, Ben Koberna constantly retells a story about what a reverse auction service is and what it does.
- Paul summarizes how you can apply the 10 leadership stories. For example, in a strategy story, the heroes in the stories are the people whom you are trying to convince to embrace your vision and help you accomplish it.
Powered by ringDNA: the revenue acceleration platform that helps businesses scale growth through AI.
Visit ringdna.com/andy for exclusive Sales Enablement content.
_
Formerly the Accelerate! Your Sales podcast with Andy Paul
1336 episodes
Manage episode 253341105 series 2394498
Paul Smith, author of Sell with a Story: How to Capture Attention, Build Trust, and Close the Sale, and Ten Stories Great Leaders Tell, joins me again on this episode of the Sales Enablement Podcast.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Paul Smith trains people to tell stories; his customer base is increasing. He says only 10% to 15% of the time you talk to people should consist of stories, two to three minutes long. That is six to nine minutes an hour.
- Stories are not like jokes with a punchline. Paul will not supply you with stories to tell. They are conversational. Some of them should be planned within your pitch, some are extemporaneous from a repertoire you’ve built.
- Paul shares the eight specific questions a sales story should answer. Don’t memorize a story but remember the short answers to those questions in the story.
- Andy shares a John Steinbeck quote: “If a story is not about the hearer, he will not listen. … The strange and foreign is not interesting — only the deeply personal and familiar.” Andy works to build the buyer’s vision story.
- Perfect delivery is not necessary. You are speaking, not performing a role. If you tell a story that is helpful to them, you are providing value, not wasting their time. Paul doesn’t train people about delivery.
- Andy’s stories are drawn from his experiences, including things others have shared with him.
- A story starts to sound like a pitch the moment it starts sounding like a script. Scripts make people defensive, not prone to listen. Converse with people, don’t talk at them. Stories are engaging and relaxing.
- Paul shares 10 stories great leaders tell. The first four are: “Where we came from,” (founding); “Why we can’t stay there,” (the case for change); “Where we’re going,” (vision); and “How we’re going to get there,” (strategy).
- The values stories are: “What we believe,” “Who we serve,” “What we do for them,” and “How we differ from our competitors.” The personal stories are: “Why I lead the way I do,” and “Why you should want to work here.”
- Every leader needs at least one good story each for sales, marketing, and recruiting. Salespeople, marketing people, and HR people will each need lots of stories to tell.
- Paul shares a story from Ben Koberna, CEO of EASiBuy. Because the concept is unfamiliar, Ben Koberna constantly retells a story about what a reverse auction service is and what it does.
- Paul summarizes how you can apply the 10 leadership stories. For example, in a strategy story, the heroes in the stories are the people whom you are trying to convince to embrace your vision and help you accomplish it.
Powered by ringDNA: the revenue acceleration platform that helps businesses scale growth through AI.
Visit ringdna.com/andy for exclusive Sales Enablement content.
_
Formerly the Accelerate! Your Sales podcast with Andy Paul
1336 episodes
Все серии
×Welcome to Player FM!
Player FM is scanning the web for high-quality podcasts for you to enjoy right now. It's the best podcast app and works on Android, iPhone, and the web. Signup to sync subscriptions across devices.