If your salespeople don’t know how to begin crafting their stories, consultant and author Matthew Pollard has created a four-part structure that provides a working idea of what to focus on, how long the elements should be and the components a story should include.
1. The problem – The lead-in to the story. Start with where the person was: This was their problem, this was their situation, and this was their emotional state (the “before” picture). You want to describe what’s going on so your customer sees that you really do understand what they’re facing.
2. Analysis and implementation – You want to outline how you went about analyzing their situation and what you suggested would fix the problem. State their “aha!” moment: They now see that they were getting in their own way or that they didn’t have the correct perspective on their challenge. Above all, do not teach. The moment you sound like a teacher, you automatically place the listener in the role of the student. You’re not there to lecture; you’re there to motivate and inspire (like all good stories do) while sharing the moral that speaks to their needs.
3. Outcome – Here, you tell the “after” part of the story: The customer had this return or changed their outlook. In doing so, re-establish where they came from to where they are now.
4. The moral of the story – Why the prospect needs that implementation. This is why it’s so vitally important to spend time learning the sales process. It’s not a lot of work to learn the sales process, but it is a lot of work to continue to avoid it.
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