When you can share stories that demonstrate the value of your product or service—while making your prospective client the hero—it makes what you offer come alive. Patti Pokorchak likes to say, “When people see the value, they will find the money.” Learn how Patti crafts stories that show value in this episode of Sales Reinvented!
Patti jokes that she’s living proof that you can take a shy geek and turn them into a more outgoing multi-million-dollar sales professional. Storytelling is another tool in her arsenal that she uses and teaches. She believes that if you want to improve, it helps to have a board of advisors and accountability partners so you can practice your stories and get feedback.
You have to set the scene. What is the conflict or problem that needs to be resolved? The climax involves turning your potential client into the star of the story. Patti emphasizes that you have to pace yourself and use different tones. Make your story concise so your listener doesn’t tune out. The least amount of words makes the maximum impact. Lastly, don’t forget to pause at the crucial moment of the story.
Patti breaks down some other useful storytelling dos and don’ts:
Listen to find out how Patti makes her stories concise and customer-focused.
Patti was asked to come in to give a dreaded second quote to train a department that was already working with someone they trusted. To prepare for the quote, Patti started asking questions. She asked what the other consultant was charging. It was only $1,000 a day. Patti’s target quote was $10,000 a training day. She was 10 times more expensive. But that didn’t deter Patti.
Patti had been working for Learning Tree for a few years by then. She was confident that they provided world-class training. So when she gave the quote, she shared how they developed courses, which included beta testing, six months of training, and constant evaluation of trainers. In comparison, their consultant had never taught this course before. Their consultant wasn’t qualified in comparison.
Did they want their 20 engineers to waste two days of their time on an unproven course? Patti won their business by showing the value of their training. When people see the value, they will find the money. It’s why Patti always preaches value.
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