Sell with Stories

For nearly a decade I was an executive recruiter which is very complex selling when done well.  On the client side, there are multiple decision makers to be satisfied and complex needs to be met with a product (the candidate) that also has professional and personal needs that must be met.

One major reason for our firms success is that we did not sell with "features."  In other words, we were not selling those jobs, skills, and years of experience featured on candidate resumes.

We sold with stories!

We asked our candidates, if there were a hall of fame for professional __________, what things have you done that would get you in?

We would find the stories that demonstrated the candidate's ability to meet the needs of our client.

The ensuing conversation with the client would go like this:

When we began this project, you said the top three needs to be met were __________.  Has anything changed?

Great.  We have a candidate who has just the right track record.  Let me tell you what we have learned.

We would then proceed to tell the stories. 

Create your own stories!

Look back at the issues that past clients have had and the specific solution and the benefits that you have provided.  Start building a set of stories that demonstrate what you can do.

Here is how the conversation might go:

Ms. Prospect, if I understand correctly, the issues that you would most like to deal with are these.  First, ...  You want to solve them because the specific impact of each is ... The results you would like to achieve are ...  Is there anything else?

Great.  We have solved each of these or similar problems in the past.  For example ... (tell a short, to the point story).  Is this the type of solution for which you are looking?

This is a simple example and is not meant to demonstrate the entire sales process by any means.  It is just meant to show how powerful good stories are in sales.

How have you been able to use success stories to move a sale forward?  Tell us the story?

Photo on flickr by Notley