Make the Connection Tell A Great Story!
It is a highly competitive world we live in, and we can say that again without sounding cliche.
Even as you are creating your sales strategy or plan, you are at a loss to decide where to place your effort so that it does not look as though it is merely a mirror of someone else's thoughts or ideas.
You are always on the lookout to find something significant to put in your sales presentation or personal portfolio that will create interest.
Now, what can work better than a great story? We aren't talking about jokes or inaccurate stories, but if you could weave in a story of how you came up with the product, how you started in the business or a significant project you were on, it could add great human component to you.
You may even want to tell a story to create a link between you and the individual with whom you speaking, perhaps a story of where you have traveled, the motorcycle you ride or how you met your spouse.
A story has the ability to gain an individual's interest and link you together.
Believe you have a story to tell, because everyone has one.
You just have to deliver it in a manner that will generate interest and belief in you.
Was there some struggle you encountered in your progress in your career, it is a story.
Perhaps you succeeded with a first effort and were shocked, it is a story.
Maybe you lived in a different country or state that gave you insight into people in a different way, it is a story.
Or you could tell, to your great advantage, how your product or service made a big difference to someone, maybe even changing their lives or job for the better.
You could even get a referrals or references from friends, colleagues and clients with their picture and signature, and utilize it in promoting and selling yourself.
They are stories of how other people believe in you or used your product or service and what happened when they did.
The significant advantage to referral nd references are that they are said by someone else and hence they are viewed more favorably.
In any case, stories work whether they are your own or your users.
Stories create interest and a connection with the individual or individuals you are speaking with about you.
The key to determining what story to utilize to connect with someone, starts with extracting some information from them first.
You must make the initial interaction about them, who are they, what are they interested and what is their objective of the meeting? If you can extract the information you can connect with a brief but interesting story about yourself in order to achieve your objective.
This can be accomplished both in a personal or professional environment as the principles remain the same.
Below is a professional example Business meeting with a new customer, he works for a major Railroad and loves Longhorns Baseball.
He also contracts out work at his local rail yard.
I love college baseball too.
I used to have season tickets to LSU for about 6 years when I lived in Baton Rouge and I went to every weekend series.
In about 2001 I even slept at the tickets office to make sure I got tickets to the Super Regional against Tulane.
A couple years later I also had the opportunity to go to Omaha and watch the College World Series.
The Longhorns were there as well as LSU, what a great time even though LSU was two and out it was worth the trip.
It was pretty interesting for me as well, as a railroad client of mine has their corporate office in Omaha.
They have allowed us to gain extensive experience with dealing with railroad safety and the mechanical components of working in a rail yard and around rail cars.
This experience would obviously be an asset to you in meeting your needs in a safe and efficient manner.
First, find the interest and need, tell a story that generates a link and your ability in meeting the interest and fitting the need!
Even as you are creating your sales strategy or plan, you are at a loss to decide where to place your effort so that it does not look as though it is merely a mirror of someone else's thoughts or ideas.
You are always on the lookout to find something significant to put in your sales presentation or personal portfolio that will create interest.
Now, what can work better than a great story? We aren't talking about jokes or inaccurate stories, but if you could weave in a story of how you came up with the product, how you started in the business or a significant project you were on, it could add great human component to you.
You may even want to tell a story to create a link between you and the individual with whom you speaking, perhaps a story of where you have traveled, the motorcycle you ride or how you met your spouse.
A story has the ability to gain an individual's interest and link you together.
Believe you have a story to tell, because everyone has one.
You just have to deliver it in a manner that will generate interest and belief in you.
Was there some struggle you encountered in your progress in your career, it is a story.
Perhaps you succeeded with a first effort and were shocked, it is a story.
Maybe you lived in a different country or state that gave you insight into people in a different way, it is a story.
Or you could tell, to your great advantage, how your product or service made a big difference to someone, maybe even changing their lives or job for the better.
You could even get a referrals or references from friends, colleagues and clients with their picture and signature, and utilize it in promoting and selling yourself.
They are stories of how other people believe in you or used your product or service and what happened when they did.
The significant advantage to referral nd references are that they are said by someone else and hence they are viewed more favorably.
In any case, stories work whether they are your own or your users.
Stories create interest and a connection with the individual or individuals you are speaking with about you.
The key to determining what story to utilize to connect with someone, starts with extracting some information from them first.
You must make the initial interaction about them, who are they, what are they interested and what is their objective of the meeting? If you can extract the information you can connect with a brief but interesting story about yourself in order to achieve your objective.
This can be accomplished both in a personal or professional environment as the principles remain the same.
Below is a professional example Business meeting with a new customer, he works for a major Railroad and loves Longhorns Baseball.
He also contracts out work at his local rail yard.
I love college baseball too.
I used to have season tickets to LSU for about 6 years when I lived in Baton Rouge and I went to every weekend series.
In about 2001 I even slept at the tickets office to make sure I got tickets to the Super Regional against Tulane.
A couple years later I also had the opportunity to go to Omaha and watch the College World Series.
The Longhorns were there as well as LSU, what a great time even though LSU was two and out it was worth the trip.
It was pretty interesting for me as well, as a railroad client of mine has their corporate office in Omaha.
They have allowed us to gain extensive experience with dealing with railroad safety and the mechanical components of working in a rail yard and around rail cars.
This experience would obviously be an asset to you in meeting your needs in a safe and efficient manner.
First, find the interest and need, tell a story that generates a link and your ability in meeting the interest and fitting the need!