Episode 210 of Anecdotally Speaking gives insight into how salespeople can increase value and customer buy-in through story.



In Episode 210 of Anecdotally Speaking, Shawn tells a story about how two journalists managed to increase the value of trinkets by 16,000% through the power of storytelling.

This episode provides insights into the significant value a story can bring, especially in a retail setting.

Mark and Shawn further discuss opportunities and pitfalls from their experience working with retail outlets and share some techniques to further immerse listeners in your stories.

To see details of the upcoming events discussed in this episode, visit our events page.

Visit the significant objects site discussed in the episode here.

For your story bank

Tags: Storytelling, Marketing, Retail, Sales

The story begins at 1:56

Back in around 2009 a couple of journalists by the names of Rob Walker and Josh Glen start an experiment where they go to thrift shops and garage sales and buy small objects that must be inexpensive, no more than a couple of dollars. They would photograph these objects and pair each object with a writer. This writer then has to make up a fictitious story about the backstory of the object. They would then put the photo accompanied by the backstory on Ebay. They sold a $1 plate with a cow on the front for $41 on Ebay. They sold a 50 cents bird figurine for $52. Most impressively, a 99 cent maiden statue sold for $157.50. Simply adding a story to these objects caused phenomenal increases in value.