Sell with a Story Podcast

Just because you've closed the sale doesn’t mean the need for storytelling has ended. In fact, the best salespeople continue to use storytelling after the sale in three primary ways

Mike Weinberg is pissed off. And if you work in sales, you should be, too. And that very righteous anger is directed at people in his own industry -- the sales coaching and training business. In particular

This is the most creative use of storytelling in closing the sale that you're ever likely to come across.

Do you really need empathy to be a good sales rep? My podcast guest this week says no. He's Nicolas Vandenberghe, CEO of Chili Piper.

What’s the difference between ethical persuasion and manipulation? That was the primary topic of my conversation this week with Brian Ahearn. And it’s an important difference that any salesperso

Every salesperson worth their salt does their best to get in front of the ultimate decision-maker. But we all know that’s not always possible. The post Salespeople: Arm Your Sponsor with a Story, Not Just a Pitch appeared first on Paul Smith | Business Storytelling Coach.

Software demos are broken, and everyone who sells software knows it. Greg Dickenson realized that when his boys came home from college for a visit. They needed to keep up with their online courses while they were home The post Software Demos Are Broken — Here’s How to Fix Them appeared first on Paul Smith | Business Storytelling Coach.

Has this ever happened to you? You finish what seems like a great sales call. The buyer says that they definitely need what you’re selling, and the price and quality are both fine. They’ll definitely place an order. “But,” they say, “now’s just not the right time. Come back in six months.” Of course it … The post A Smart Salesperson’s Response to “Now’s just not the right time. . .” appeared first on Paul Smith | Business Storytelling Coach.

{The 19th in a series of the 25 most useful sales stories} Wouldn’t it be great if you could resolve your buyer’s objections before they’re even brought up? Turns out you can. And, believe it or not, the best example I’ve ever seen of that was in the hip-hop movie 8 Mile, starring rapper Eminem. … The post What Every Salesperson Should Learn from Eminem appeared first on Paul Smith | Business Storytelling Coach.

{The 19th in a series of the 25 most useful sales stories} One powerful use of storytelling in sales is to resolve your buyers’ objections before they’re even brought up. I’ve come across two different methods to do this, so I’ll cover one in this post and the other in the next. The first technique [read more] The post “That’s what I thought at first, too. But then. . .” Resolving Sales Objections Before They’re Brought Up appeared first on Paul Smith | Cincinnati, Ohio.

{The 18th in a series of the 25 most useful sales stories} One of the final, and most common objections buyers have to what you’re selling is price. So, if you’re at the point that you’re negotiating price, congratulations. You’ve got a prospect interested in what you’re selling, and you’ve probably resolved every other objection [read more] The post Defending Your Price Without Negotiating appeared first on Paul Smith | Cincinnati, Ohio.

{#17 in a series of the 25 most useful sales stories} As most salespeople have learned, the real selling doesn’t start until the buyer says no. That’s why there are all kinds of methods salespeople use for handling objections. Some of the more popular ones are:   LAIR: Listen, Acknowledge, Identify Objection, Reverse It) LACE: Listen, [read more] The post Resolving Objections with a Story appeared first on Paul Smith | Cincinnati, Ohio.

{Number 16 in a series of the 25 Most Useful Sales Stories.} Value-adding stories are stories that actually add to the attractiveness of the product. They literally make people willing to pay more money for your product than they would without the story. One example of that is the Pig Island story I told on [read more] The post A Value-Adding Sales Story You Need in Your Repertoire appeared first on Paul Smith | Cincinnati, Ohio.

{The 15th in a series of the 25 Most Useful Sales Stories.} “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood.” That’s the opening line of one of Robert Frost’s most famous poems, The Road Not Taken. It describes a difficult choice the narrator has to make between two different paths, and how important it was that [read more] The post A Two-Roads Sales Story appeared first on Paul Smith | Cincinnati, Ohio.

Customer success stories are probably the most common type of sales story. And they deserve to be. That’s because buyers trust what other customers have to say much more than what a salesperson says. So, your customer success story, even if you’re the one telling it, is far more credible than just your opinion. But, [read more] The post A Customer Success Story with a Twist appeared first on Paul Smith | Cincinnati, Ohio.