Connecting: The Power of a Good Story

Features and benefits are essential to your product or service, but we can't forget that people are doing the buying, and those people love a great story; especially one they can relate to and retell. Steve Jobs said, "Story is job one." Andy Andrews read biographies that led to The Seven Decisions and his best selling book The Traveler's Gift. He is a master storyteller and the power of these stories helped Andy connect with his audience and sell hundreds of thousands of books and build a worldwide platform. I recently read a blog from Kimanzi Constable explaining the struggles he experienced selling his first two e-books. I asked him to elaborate and he responded, "I would tell people why they NEEDED the books and how they'll benefit their lives, no one would listen. I even had close friends that stop being friends with me on Facebook because of the spamming." "I figured out the best way to connect with people is through my story, so instead of posting the links and sharing the benefits, I started sharing something specific from my story. People clicked because they can relate to the things I did and was going through. They just didn't want to be preached at." Kimanzi stopped spamming and started connecting and went on to sell over thirty-thousand books and is becoming a sought after speaker around the world. Ask yourself, am I pushing or pulling people? Anytime you take short cuts and try to close the deal without leading people through the proper steps of a sales process, people feel pushed and they will resist. Take the time to connect by telling a good story. Listen closely to theirs. When they know you better, they may like you and trust you. Then you will have earned the right to ask for their business. Have a good week! Pierce