Your Sales Story Should Not Be a Bedtime Story.

Is your sales team sharing a compelling story with your prospects that matters to your ideal customers?  Probably not.  If I was a betting man, I would wager that your salespeople are talking about your offerings in the context of what the product or service does, not the outcome or problem it solves for your prospect. 

It matters. It matters a lot!

What “story” are your salespeople telling your prospects? Does it put them to sleep or jolt the prospect into action? 

You want proof.  Go ask your reps how they differentiate themselves from your competitors.  This will be eye-opening and a little disappointing.  Once you get past the deer in the headlights look from the reps, they should be able to give you three to five points of differentiation that your competitors cannot.  

I will wait while you go ask.  

 

Think of differentiation like this.

• What problems do you remove for prospects?
• What are the customer problems you solve?
• How do you help the prospects gain?  Save time.  Make money. Save Money. Reduce Risk.

Here is the inside baseball, it is unlikely that your salespeople know how to tell a great story that gets the prospect’s attention.  You expect that they would.  They should have asked you during the interview or at least in their on-boarding process:  Why are we different?  The reps probably didn’t.  

However, it is the responsibility of the company to give them this story and the company means the senior executive. 

Sorry, if that stings, but the salespeople need help.  As the senior executive of the company, you are one of the best storytellers in the organization.  They need your help.  

When I help a company figure out their messaging, it is messy, frustrating, and definitely worth the effort.  We always start with getting super clear about who our ideal customer is.  A “manufacturer of furniture” is too vague.  

A short cut is to look at your customers.  If you could pick 25 customers to clone because they value what you do and you understand their problems, who are the “look a likes”? These clones are your sales team’s strategic targets. The messaging and differentiation is to attract these new companies as customers. 

Perhaps an example of a complete sales story will make the outcome clearer.  This is not used all at once, but it has all of the elements your team will need to be effective.

 

Helix’s Example

I am a sales improvement consultant, coach to salespeople and sales managers. I work with dedicated CEOs who are committed to realizing their vision by giving them back time, increasing revenue, and boosting profit.

CEOs invite me in when:

• They must have a revenue forecast that is accurate, and reliable. 
• They are seeking to reduce their annual turnover rate on the sales team, or they must retain & attract top sales talent.
• They are frustrated because their company offers a superior product in the marketplace, but the sales team discounts to close business.
• The sales team is under-performing, and leadership cannot figure out the root cause.
• The sales numbers are not meeting expectations, trending downward, and they must add to their market share.

I provide salespeople and sales manager coaching, sales force consulting to executives, and build consistent revenue growth with margin integrity. I am typically hired by small to mid-market companies committed to serious revenue growth for an exit, or double revenue in 3 to 5 years.

Clients experience more success than they thought possible because my approach is unlike their previous attempts at sales improvement because:

1. My approach is simple, but not a canned training program.  In fact, training is the last thing we might do.
2. I start with an analysis of the sales force to understand your team’s strengths and weaknesses. You are given data, and an ROI before I propose a solution. No canned training here.  
3. I roll up my sleeves, provide actionable ideas to your team that we can implement immediately while I fix the fundamental problems with the sales organization that frustrate you. 
4. Don’t call me if you want marginal improvement.  You only want to work with me, if you are serious about moving the revenue needle.  
5. I am not a recruiter.  I will teach your team a repeatable sales-specific hiring process that saves you time, money, and predicts the success of candidates with 91% accuracy. 

6. Your company and your sales team need a great story like this.  This messaging will help them frame conversations at an event or trade show.  It gives them the material for cold calls and emails that make them stand out.  

Compare this example to what your team is using now.  If your messaging is not this clear, maybe I can help your cause in 2023.