Here are a few different story arcs that you can play with as you prepare and improve your sales content for customers:
1. Man in Hole
A character’s doing fine, gets herself into a huge problem, and must overcome it. They end up better than they started.
“You see this story again and again,” Vonnegut says. “People love it, and it is not copyrighted.”
Example — Die Hard.
2. Boy Meets Girl
The protagonist finds something wonderful (usually love), loses it, and then goes on a journey to get it back again.
Example — The Proposal.
3. From Bad to Worse (Kafkaesque)
The protagonist starts off bad but things manage to get worse from there. Sometimes, you turn into a bug.
Example — Metamorphosis.
4. Which Way is Up? (The Complicated One)
The character(s) goes through a series of seemingly random ups and downs. Often, the overall line slopes up despite the constant zigzag.
Example — Game of Thrones.
5. Creation Story
This represents the idea of coming out of chaos and moving toward order and happiness. The shape slopes upwards but isn’t common in western culture.
Example — The Lion King.
6. Old Testament
Characterized by cycles of good fortune and bad fortune, but typically ends in a downward direction. Think of it as a series of ups and downs that finally go down.
Example — No Country for Old Men.
7. New Testament
The main character has progressively better fortune until, one day, something horrible happens. Then they have to figure out how to find “off the chart bliss.”
Example — Shawshank Redemption.
8. Cinderella (Rags-to-Riches)
Getting others to think differently
I love Banksy artwork.
We recently attended the exhibition, “The Art of Banksy”.
The rat clock made me realise not to waste all my life thinking about work. I will be dead one day.
A sales person’s job is similar to an artist.
We help others to adopt our perspective.
Here are some examples of getting people to think differently:
Develop strong listening and empathy skills
Understand your customers’ “Job to be Done” and help them to achieve it
Share a customer story on how your business solves a specific problem people are needing
“Come back with more than a hug”😂
Over a decade ago I worked as a Business Development Manager (BDM) for a large, tier one law firm.
A colleague of mine managed a national practice was enthusiastic about supporting an event in Perth (Western Australia).
The business case stacked up, so it was approved.
Then a very wise, Senior Partner remarked to her, “Make sure you come back with more than a hug”.
I was astounded! Come back with more than a hug? 😂
What was he saying?
After a whirlwind trip, she might come back with nothing? Maybe this had happened before?
He wasn’t trying to scuttle her trip, but to focus on the long-term benefits of that investment.
It got me thinking. How many vanity projects do I start that end up with no real value?
It could be a doomed marketing campaign. Pitching a product that you know you will lose. Or taking on a customer with terms that are more trouble than what they are worth.
What empty projects tangle us up? How much more freedom would we experience in saying, “no”?
So in the future, don’t be fooled by the hug!
Learning to ignore the things you can’t change
You need to figure out what to ignore and what to pay attention to.
But which is which?
It’s best to ignore things that are outside our circle of influence.
Some examples for sales people to ignore:
Your company’s past performance: ignore the past. Only focus on the future.
Politics at work: keep away from office politics.
Products you cannot sell: don’t waste time on products that are not ready for market. The successful ones will help you reach your target.
A Fool with a Tool is still a Fool (2023 Update)
My most popular article A Fool with a Tool is still a Fool, posted 7th June 2018 needs an update.
Let’s accept that a CRM is not designed to help sales people do their job (i.e. bringing in new customers). It has always been a management and reporting tool for their bosses.
I have seen some crazy stuff on how companies have turned a reasonably functional CRM tool into a steaming pile of dog 💩. You know its lost when the the sales reps resort to updating 3*5 cards instead.
If you want to help sales, then make the CRM user-friendly for the sales people. Think of ways to gamify or at least simplify the data capture.
Do not turn your sales people into expensive clerks. They should be working on deals, not data entry.
Improving the user experience will improve the quality of data which can only help companies to better function.
Working across two time zones
A few years back I was getting heat from management about not reaching specific product “numbers”. Although I was hitting the overall revenue target, product numbers were needed for the company’s KPI’s.
It felt frustrating because I was worked exceptionally hard, but the lead-time was 18-24 months.
When the next year rolled around, I exceeded my annual budget in the first six months.
I was the highest performing salesperson globally.
It felt weird to go from zero to hero in the eyes of management. In the first year I was working hardest while they were criticising me.
Good managers will give you the time and space needed to reach your targets in the first two years. Delivering value now while preparing for the future.
When product life cycles collide
Let me tell you a story about a successful company whose main product was the category leader in its industry. They made a lot of money and profit for their shareholders.
The product was so successful that despite strong competition it still maintained a 60% market share.
Then one day, its leadership realised it needed a more diversified portfolio of products.
Unfortunately the next few products could not get traction to get any real market share. They were commercial failures.
What went wrong?
Did they have the wrong engineering or product leadership? Many believed it was the sales force! They were not good enough to demonstrate the value proposition.
Management could not bring themselves to drop these products, so they became product zombies. Neither alive, nor dead.
Then one day, they realised:
The founders of this company had built a rocket-ship with their first product.
It was assumed that all products afterwards would be just as easy.
The new products were launched into mature markets. They did not get to sell to the “Innovators” and “Early Adopters”. They were selling to the “Late Majority” where higher competition caused expectations to be higher.
Only then did they realised they had applied the wrong strategy.
In summary
When you launch a new technology, it needs to grow through the different stages on the Product Life-cycle Curve (see below). You can’t skip the first two group (Innovators and Early Adopters) and make it to the Early Majority. You need the previous groups for the momentum.
At the same time, if you are entering a product into a mature technology curve, you don’t have the same opportunities to build momentum. Competition is all around you and it will be difficult to nurture the Innovators and Early Adopters. Entering a mature market is harder than it looks. In the immortal words of Peter Thiel, “Competition is for Losers”.
For further information on this principle, please read “Crossing the Chasm” by Geoffrey A. Moore.
Harnessing the Principles of Persuasion: Scarcity (Part 6)
Prior to writing his groundbreaking book, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, the author, Robert Cialdini went undercover to understand why people say “yes”, and what techniques can increase compliance (getting to yes) with others. His book uncovered six principles of influence. “Scarcity” is one of them.
Scarcity: When something is less available, others will both value and desire it more.
Scarcity is a very useful tool in sales because it helps the customer make a decision sooner.
Your goal is for the customer to be in a state of discomfort so that they make a decision.
A faster decision is always good. A “No”, you can move on quicker. A “Yes” means that you have brought forward your revenue.
Here are some ways to use Scarcity:
Quantity based: First you anchor the price at a premium rate. Then you you make a limited offer for the first 20 customers who purchase will be able to get a discount rate in the first two years.
Time based: Find an excuse to provide a deadline. End of Financial Year. Prices go up next year. So long as its justifiable you can use almost any excuse.
Access to limited resources: Make an expert available to support customers on a limited basis. We all love to feel that we are getting a special deal.
Harnessing the Principles of Persuasion: Authority (Part 5)
Prior to writing his groundbreaking book, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, the author, Robert Cialdini went undercover to understand why people say “yes”, and what techniques can increase compliance (getting to yes) with others. His book uncovered six principles of influence. “Authority” is one of them.
We use “Social Proof to outsource our decision making to the crowd.
Authority is when we outsource our decision making to the “experts”.
These experts have unique qualifications and/or experience to solve given problems. For example, we see a doctor when we are sick and a dentist when we have a tooth ache.
Here are examples on how we can enhance our authority:
Whitepapers: Reports may be influential with customers when compared with advertising. They need to be balanced and not directly be selling your products. For example if you produce a business software that reduces administration, write a whitepaper on improvements to the workplace and cite five different examples (including your product).
Partnerships: If you have a small business, leverage the brand awareness and capability of much larger companies. For a systems integrator, become a Microsoft, Amazon or Oracle “Gold Partner”. Their magic will rub off.
Customers Testimonials: Use customers to speak about how they utilise your product/s. Customers who are respected in the industry will carry significant authority which will influence your buyers.
Harnessing the Principles of Persuasion: Consistency (Part 4)
Prior to writing his groundbreaking book, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, the author, Robert Cialdini went undercover to understand why people say “yes”, and what techniques can increase compliance (getting to yes) with others. His book uncovered six principles of influence. “Consistency” is one of them.
Consistency is about how People align with their clear commitments.
People make commitments all the time. They don’t always keep to them.
However when one is made that is Active, Public and Voluntary then they are most likely to keep it.
Back in 2008 I was selling an e-learning platform called, Learning Seat. I was working with a corporate waste removal business that needed an staff induction and HR system. After a few months with the Coach and UBI, we had secured a meeting with their leadership team and their General Manager. The GM was an enthusiastic guy in his 30’s. He was part of the family that owned the business. The Coach told me, if you get this guy excited the deal will be 90% done. Fortunately I was well prepared and comfortable with my material. We jumped all over the place thanks to his enthusiastic questions. Thanks to my Coach, I knew the deal would be done.
In reflection, the GM’s commitments to his team were Active, Public and Voluntary. Once he had made those commitments, it would be difficult to walk back.
My advice is to give an “electric” presentation that engages with your audience. When a major commitment is made in a Active, Public and Voluntary way, you can take it all the way to the bank.
