Narrative Sales Archives

21 Feb

Have You Ever Seen An Elevator Pitch in Action?

It takes 40 seconds to ride an elevator to the 61st floor of the Salesforce tower in San Francisco. On the day of the pitch competition, the elevator doors opened and inside stood Salesforce President and Chief Product Officer, Bret Taylor. The door closed and the elevator started to rise. Mars Mundy, one of the eight finalist had a frustrating experience with…

29 Nov

Sales Storytelling : Harry Potter is our revenue generator

Some business stories I hear are worth telling and this is one of them. About a year ago I had the opportunity to work with a large technology company headquartered in San Jose, California. The task here was for me to work with their sales team to draw real life business stories that could be used in the future for sales storytelling.…

22 Apr

Sales Storytelling: You wasted your customer’s time!

This blog is for you if you are in sales. What we are focussing on in this blog is the most overlooked, but the most important part of the sales process. No, its not the sales presentation. Let’s find out what exactly it is. Over the last one month I have worked with senior sales teams of a few organisation where the…

10 Feb

Sales Storytelling: I couldn’t remember. So, I did not say

I couldn’t remember, so, I did not say is what leads to wasted sales opportunities. I learnt this at Paul Smith‘s Book Club on SPI and I am so glad that I attended this book club. Why am I glad? Well, its simple. When you want to learn something you look for information but the problem we face is in finding…

01 Feb

Sales Storytelling : Statistics who cares ?

Last week I shared an update on Linkedin (screen shot below ) A reader requested an example and I am most thrilled when I am asked more questions because in finding answers to these questions I learn. So, thank you for asking. This is a great example of how Beyond war made 5,000 (…

14 Dec

Sales Storytelling: A Sprint or a Marathon?

Sales Storytelling is on the rise, and it should be, because it’s the most compelling way to talk about anything that you wish to sell. But as a sales person, a key question you need to ask yourself before telling sales stories is – Am I telling this story for a sprint or a marathon with my customer? Sprint = Short run…

04 Oct

Relationship building with a sales prospect is a myth

My last post on Pharma Sales Storytelling concluded that Relationship and Features & Benefits Storytelling were 2 key areas of focus for product sales people. In this post I will dig deeper into Relationship Sales Storytelling. Relationship is a meaningful word used loosely in a sales environment. In 2009 I was working as a Director of Sales in Australia and one of …

21 Sep

A key insight in to Pharma Sales Storytelling with Dr Tara

Recently I gave a talk on Sales Storytelling at a leading Pharmaceutical Company. In preparation for this talk I researched on Pharma sales industry, spoke to a few pharma sales reps and doctors ( key client for pharma sales reps). In this preparation, there are insights I discovered which I think can be of great use to the pharma sales industry and…

06 Sep

Remember the last time you went to buy something that is not an everyday purchase like milk, bread etc. Lets say you go to buy a washing machine. Most likely, you will do some research online and then may be talk to a few friends and ask for recommendations. You now have an idea of what you want but you are still…

26 Aug

So what if your sales person is a great talker and listener?

Some beliefs that we don’t question when it comes to sales persons’ skills Belief 1 – You have the gift of gab and you can sell ice to Eskimos. You are a great sales person. Belief 2 – Talk is cheap. Its your ability to listen that makes you a great sales person. My belief – It is important to be able…