"Why Storytelling Matters In Sales"

This evening was a great night at Netsertive. Jim Doherty, EVP of Sales & Marketing at Netsertive, discussed "Why Storytelling Matters In Sales." He specifically addressed $10k/hour activities, unintended consequences, and the sad tale of “Creepy Bobby." A great message!
Everyone gathered around 5:30 @ Netsertive with Vince Beese & Eric Boggs leading the way from "The Triangle Revenue Exchange". TRE is a forum for revenue generating leaders who are responsible for driving growth at their organizations with a mission to empower learning and mentoring for the revenue generating community. Tonight was a wonderful evening of learning indeed as Jim Doherty shared helpful advice about why storytelling matters in sales. Here are some of the top wisdom points presented to support your career! Enjoy!

• Be mindful of unintended consequences. The more complex the system, the more likely consequences will happen that you need to be mindful of. Think through the 2nd and 3rd order of potential outcomes that can happen. Know potential impact and be prepared. Specifically be mindful around comp plans when launching a new product or service.
• Be aware of cognitive bias. Realize you have cognative bias and take the time to decide how you're going to decide. Two good resources to read, "Your Deceptive Mind" by the Great Courses and "Thinking Slow and Fast" by Daniel Kahnerman. For your sales process recognize that cognitive bias happens so ask your buyers how they decide and help them know how to decide.
• Know your 10,000 an hour activities. What are the special things you do that make the big payday difference and focus on those handful of things that make the big difference. All hours are not created equally. For sales executives it's your prospecting and ability to get calls/meetings to move forward with opportunities to propose. For a professional golfer it's the hours a day you focus on your putting and drives. Focus on doing what matters most and be ruthless about it. Manage your time!
• Remember the process and the key gates along the way you need to get through to be successful. You can't skip or jump gates. There is a best practice and proven process for being successful in your craft. For sales remember you need to be "invited in" before the next step in sales process. For example, people should ask for proposal and not be forced proposal. People need to be invited in. The sales process usually goes in order of Why? What? How? and How Much?
• Consider the gates in the sales process are everywhere and they all have sub-parts: Emails, pitch meetings, and relationship building. You only get to skip gates if the customer lets you. Ask for permission. Earn their time.
• Remember the power of story telling. It's what matters. It's what you remember and it's what resonates. Keep it simple. What you say has to survive the telephone game in sales to make it through the various decision makers in the sales process. Your message has to travel and be repeated to be successful. Because what you say to person A has to make it to other decision maker B. So use story telling to make things memorable and spread worthy.

A special thanks to Vince Beese & Eric Boggs from TRE for organizing event, Jim Doherty for leading the great sales talk, and Netsertive for hosting!

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