4 Storytelling Tips to Elevate Your Sales Pitch

May 2022

Let’s talk about our dear friend, Joanna. 

Joanna had been delivering turbo performances & winning praises from every corner. However, one setback broke her into pieces. She couldn’t understand what went wrong this time. She’s a Senior Sales Executive who can borrow your attention just as she speaks.

Rejection didn’t fall easy on her. She questioned her skills, abilities, and experience. Her confidence dropped by several steps. What she needed was introspection.

That’s when her experimental side worked. She created a pitch that sold a story to the client. Her idea was simple. She wanted the client to imagine himself as the hero of the story. Her digital marketing services were the weapons and competitors were enemies.

With simple illustrations, she won the best pitch of her entire career.

“When the choice is in between an idea that looks great and an idea that feels great; latter wins.”

Wondering, what did Joanna do to her sale’s pitch which went Nay to Yay?

Storytelling.

Here’s the secret of her amazing storytelling skills that will fine-tune your next presentation:

There are two ways to make your story stand out:

a. Show how miserable and badly placed the client’s business is. Tell them how you can help them through the situation. Earn their trust in defeating their competitors.

b. Show them how the market is failing. Create pity for the target audience of your client’s business. Make your client the hero, the world needs. Use your ideas and marketing strategies as the powers that the hero possesses.

If you are as intelligent as Joanna, you would pick the second storyline.

It is a common mistake that sales reps make. They tend to station their product as the hero. Your client wants to hear that he’s at No.1 even before he literally is. Make him happy and confident to earn his attention.

Don’t beat around the bush when you’re presenting an idea through a story. Stick to the concept of storytelling. Also, “less is more” when adding details. It helps you to stay relevant.

Work on the following structure outlined by Robert Carnes:

• Characters: define main players of the story
• Context: prepare the wireframe of what you are trying to narrate
• Conflict: what’s ‘the point’ of doing it
• Creation: solve the conflict with your solutions

The 4 Cs will keep you on track.

Things to remember:

• Brand stories need to be prompt and relevant to the time
• Think beyond words- try to illustrate
• Talk more about community; it helps people feel connected
• Focus on the emotion you want to depict
• Use customers’ opinions to build a business reputation

It’s good to have a portfolio that speaks all-good-things about your services. But if you think some slides are enough to prove your point then say hello to rejections.

Clients meet sales reps like you way too often than you think. Some have great presentation skills but others are narrators. To win the race, you need to be both.

When Joanna sells out our digital marketing service to a luxury fashion designer, this is how she would do:

“You remind me of my client, Nick who is a Texas-based designer. His concept was to create a line of merch that is 100% eco-friendly. The designs were a pretty good hit on social media but his website couldn’t perform well. The moment I saw the website, I could nail down the major issues that were barricading the sale of his product.

We utilized products’ USP and current environmental concerns to create customer stories through campaigns on social media which drove the traffic towards the site. We also uplifted the responsiveness & design of the website for better UI/UX. You wouldn’t believe but Nick called me within like 20 days, to thank my team for 8X to 10X sales he received in those weeks.”

Did you notice how Joanna sold the client that her services can get them 10X sales? The beauty lies in subtle expressions.

Be okay when a story doesn’t make an impact on your client. But do take notes. Improvize your sales pitch strategy while communicating. It might have to be impromptu.

Joanna enjoys this way of inculcating her ideas so much that we call her the best storyteller on our team.

Share your thoughts. 

Being a boutique creative agency, our idea is to sell brand stories. In fact, this unusual way leverages us the freedom to create expressive sales presentations. Want us to work on your brand? Let us put one of our many Joannas on work!