Sales and storytelling – a powerful combination! We’ve written extensively about the power of storytelling noting that success comes more quickly to salespeople who are able to share engaging stories that resonate with the listener. It is one thing to list why a customer should do business with you; it is another to be able to relate past success stories that brings that list to life. The latter is memorable and repeatable – the former is just another list of features.
It’s always interesting to hear from customers. Here’s a good example from the healthcare space that can apply to all sales.
Dr. Jan Gurley asked: How do you move from the realm of transferring knowledge to physicians to changing their behavior? Dr. Gurley answers this question by sharing several tips healthcare salespeople might embrace when storytelling.
Make it personal. If you want someone to care about making sustained behavior change, you have to individualize the story. The more personal you can make the link between the story and the behavior change, the greater your chances of success.
Keep it positive. We’re wired to need and want a narrative. But not just any narrative. For behavior change, we need a narrative that moves us along a path. Shame or blame will yank a person right out of participating in change.
Relate details. For physicians, it’s details, details, details. Set the stage for the story with details that the person you’re speaking with can relate to.
Probe why your customer would make a change. Ask your customers why they make changes from one product to a competitive one and why they don’t change. Weave this information into the story.
Stay on message. What is the primary issue and how can it be a goal that is sustained over time? What story can you share that illustrates how working with you and your company can help them move closer to achieving their goal?
Plan the next step. When it comes to behavior change, relapse is a normal part of the process. What’s the plan if a physician agrees to try your medical device but never gets around to it?
Storytelling in healthcare sales is a powerful and effective tool for selling to doctors, administrators, and clinical staff. It allows medical device salespeople to translate their sales message from solely a clinical product pitch to a positive patient experience with health outcome. It holds true for every other industry, too. Successful salespeople don’t pitch products … they leverage storytelling tied to the customer’s situation to make their key points. And, these key points resonate more powerfully with customers than a barrage of product features.