Sell Your Story, Not Your Prospects

When I was in fourth grade, Miss Sawyer, an otherwise stern teacher of multiplication tables, history and geography, would start each day with a story, a chapter from the book she was currently reading to us. We worked our way through the school year with Nancy Drew, Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn, and the now un-PC Song of the South with it’s stories of Br’er Rabbit and Br’er Fox. It exposed us to some great stories. But looking back it was probably how Miss Sawyer engaged our attention, calmed us down and got us ready to focus on lessons for the rest of the morning. Stories still work to engage the attention of adults. I love stories. When I hear that The X Company had a problem, similar to mine, and that they successfully solved that problem by using your widget, you better believe I’m paying attention. I’ll be asking lots of questions. I’m engaged in what you are saying. I’m thinking how your widget or your service could perhaps solve my problem. Solving my problem means you just made my life easier, made my company a little more profitable, and prevented me from making an expensive mistake. Stories also humanize business by creating connections. They turn you from “that rep with that widget company” to “Jo, who really had some interesting ideas and a great product”. Stories make your product accessible by increasing the understanding of what you do and how you – and, oh yes, your product – can benefit me and solve my problem. Illustrate your story. Charts and graphs with circles and arrows can, as Arlo...

Inept sales call sparks creation of a better sales presentation tool

“There has to be a better way”, Greg Hofbauer, CEO of GroundWork Design, thought while watching a new sales rep for a large office supply company become more and more flustered during an in-person sales call. “She was desperately flipping through binders, sales sheets, and printed brochures in an effort to find answers to my questions. Because she was so new and the product lines she represented were vast, complicated, and constantly changing, she couldn’t find the right answers on the spot — and she didn’t make the sale”, noted Greg. Around the same time Bart Levy, President of Strategy by Design, was working with a financial services firm to design an iPad sales presentation for their face-to-face consultations. She quickly determined that none of the existing presentation tools provided the flexibility, ease of access, or depth of information her client’s sales reps needed. “PowerPoint, SlideRocket, Brainshark, and even Prezi are all based on a linear presentation model…Point A to Point B. That doesn’t work in sales as reps need to be able to direct conversation where their prospects want it to go and have the information they need waiting for them when the get there.” After a chance meeting at a local networking event, Greg and Bart met for coffee and 6 months later NimblePitch™ was officially launched. What NimblePitch™ can do for a sales team Shorten Sales Cycles – With everything prospects need to know at the reps’ fingertips, they are equipped to make the sale the first time. No more “I’ll have to get back to you on that” delays caused when they don’t have all...