Stories that connect with a client sell products, services

My company was recently hired by a third-generation Madison business to help grow their sales operations. I was introduced to the owner by an existing client, to whom I was providing coaching services.

After meeting the owner, I met with the general manager, and then with the sales manager. After gaining a thorough insight into their business operations, successes, challenges, opportunities and ambitions, I laid out a proposal for how I believed we could successfully work together.

The other day in a lunch meeting, the owner of the business shared that he had "very low expectations of our first meeting."

He also shared that by the end of that meeting he wanted me to quit my job and work for him. Very flattered by his feedback, I thanked him and asked him why he felt that way. After a long pause, he said he never once felt like I was trying to sell anything to him.

Client's choice to buy

I was delighted by his answer because there is much research to support the view that customers don't like to feel "sold." They like to feel that they made a choice to buy.

What actually happened in my meeting with our new client is that I asked him a great many questions about his business… from its founding by his grandfather to the present day… and I paid thorough attention to his answers.

In between questions I shared stories from my professional life that demonstrated my understanding of his answers. These stories were not about me. They were stories about other businesses with which I have worked, or about my job, or about other parts of my professional life, or about my volunteering experiences.

What all of the stories had in common is that they were relevant to the owner's comments; they ended with successful outcomes and they connected to Sakowski Consulting without putting Sakowski Consulting at the center.

Value of stories

Stories have been used to inform, educate and persuade since time immemorial. The parables in the Bible underscore the expected behaviors of the faithful; Aesop's fables were told to us as children to help impart society's rules so we could integrate when we commenced school; trainers use stories and case studies to underscore the impact of new skills they are passing on to their students.

Relevant stories that enable clients and prospects to make connections between their situations and the products and services offered are one of the most significant tools a sales professional has in her armory.

An important concept for sales professionals to remember is that clients don't buy products and services for what they do. They buy products and services for the difference they make.

• A true story that clearly articulates the difference a product or service makes will sell a lot more product than any technical specification ever will.
• A true story about the experience of one delighted client that connects your product or service to the desired experience of your prospect will create an eagerness to buy that reduces almost all resistance and eliminates most of the buyer's objections.
• A true story that demonstrates that successful people and companies use your products and services will attract other successful people and companies to do business with you.

So ... what's your story?

Jacqui Sakowski is president of Sakowski Consulting, a Middleton-based sales coaching, training and consulting company.