StoryQuest Blog

You’ve heard it a hundred times: The key to complex sales is building relationships and trust. The communication of a business story is an effective way to build those relationships, and to establish credibility. But what are your stories? How do you find them, and how do you get people to listen?

Finding Stories is Easy
Good business stories are plentiful. In every company, on every day, there are people and products that overcome adversity, solve problems and deliver results. There are two main problems when it comes to sharing stories in business. They are:

1. Failing to see stories in our lives and business.
Most of us are our own worst critics. Rather than see the adversity we overcame, we focus on the problem–that the customer didn’t completely love the product, or the solution initially didn’t fit the customer’s needs.

2. Over-simplifying stories.
Sooner or later, the act of telling a company’s stories falls to the marketing department. Marketing people are great at crafting and delivering simple and concise messages to the general public–but one-to-one communication is very different.

The simple value propositions and platitudes that work on the mass market sound obvious and oversimplified when told face-to-face, and the reason many corporate stories are not successful is because they follow an ineffectual format, the “ABC story format.”

A—Large company A had a serious problem and needed an X solution
B—Company B provided their “Premium Solution Set”
C—Large company is now $Z million better off

Over-simplified stories are not just boring; they are often perceived as dishonest. Stories like these may not be fraudulent or untrue. On the contrary, they are probably quite true in some regards–just as it is true to say the Titanic sailed from England on October 22, 1922 and four days later hundreds of passengers arrived safely at their destination.

That statement is true, but it is not honest. When important details are left out of a corporate story, it is impossible for the reader to judge how trustworthy the story is.

Telling good stories doesn’t have to be hard.
Once you understand that challenges are what makes your story believable, now you can tell it. Make your business stories personal and provide value. Once you accomplish that, your stories project credibility.

It’s Business, and It’s Personal
Unlike business stories on Web sites and commercials, first person stories told by real people are far more engaging and ultimately effective.

In a customer meeting, sales people are judged by their credibility first, and content second. Good sales people share what they know and believe, not what they have been told to say. They share the stories they know about other customers who engaged them. If those stories are too rosy, too simplistic or too good, you can be sure they will be discounted.

But, if the sales rep shares his personal belief, passion and the real details (good and bad) of prior customers, then the sales person–and ultimately the story and value offering–will tend to be believed.

Entertain to Educate
Consider why people listen to stories. Whether it’s around the water cooler or over dinner, people listen to stories because they are entertaining. People listen to business stories to be entertained and to learn: whether to trust, if your product fits theirs, how to do something.

Stories grant the opportunity to learn from other people’s experiences–both their successes and failures. The journey of pitfalls and triumphs is what makes a story both interesting and valuable.

Credibility: Superman, Spiderman, Love and Kryptonite
What makes Superman and Spiderman interesting? Is it their powers?

Sure, we can all imagine what it would be like to have such strength, sight and superhuman capabilities. But there are many superheroes that have come and gone. What is it about the stories of these two that keeps them around? Their weaknesses.

Spiderman must decide how to use his powers for good while keeping Mary Jane safe. Superman faces similar challenges with Lois Lane, but he must deal with this other weakness–kryptonite. Despite their immense power, both superheroes struggle with potentially crippling limitations. Their limitations make the stories.

There’s always a decision in both life and business where you have to decide between saving someone you love and the speeding train filled with women and children. Super powers or not, we all have our limits.Customers want to know what you will do when facing similar situations. Will you support them? Will you run for cover? Every company has power–it is easy to share those stories. Customers want to know what you will do when those powers are not enough. If you want your business story to really drive credibility, then trust your audience and share not just features and benefits, but the challenges and decisions of the company.

Harvest Your Stories
When harvesting stories (gathering the meaty business stories from salespeople and others in your company who have lived them), the most important thing is to create the right environment.

Don’t ask anybody if he has a story. His answer will always be no. But if you ask a specific question, like “Tell me about when you got engaged with X,” then they’ll tell you. Finding stories is about asking people the right questions, and helping them see the story themselves.