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Advanced Tool For Great Sales Presentations

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

As you develop your sales stories and presentations, one factor you’ll want to give consideration to is what’s referred to as the “arc”. This is more than simply the length of the story, although “long arc” stories are, as one might surmise, longer than short arc ones.

Stories are usually told in self-contained units. “Here’s the beginning. Here’s the middle. Here’s how it wraps up.” Certainly nothing wrong with that, and from a practical perspective most of your stories will be in this self-contained, short arc format.

However, some of the most successful sales stories, especially those that are used in presentations are in a long arc form. What this means is that the story is introduced early in the presentation. However the speaker or writer may leave the story periodically only to return to it later on. The long arc story provides bookends for the entire story although there may be shorter stories that are interspersed within the overall presentation.

The long arc story traces its roots to television. Historically TV episodes were self contained units. In the space of 30 or 60 minutes an entire story was told from beginning to end. The next week a brand new story was told. Aside from the main characters, there was little continuity from week to week.

The television show “Wise Guys” in the 1980s is largely credited with introducing the concept of the long-arc series. The season opener introduced a plot line that was not resolved until season end. Some individual shows made no reference to the long-arc plot line, while other episodes advanced the long-arc plot incrementally. It was a tribute to the writers that they were able to maintain audience interest for an entire season, while also including numerous single-show plot lines that were entertaining for the casual viewer. This long-arc format is now successfully used by many shows.

But what makes this particularly interesting is the application to sales presentations and other speeches you might give.

Let me share an example.

In my presentation on Unique Sales Stories that I deliver to groups, one of the key points I want to make is that people remember stories, they don’t remember facts. It’s my belief that one of the reasons why people don’t get as many referrals as they ideally would like is that they aren’t top of mind. When they describe what they do, it isn’t memorable.

Why?

One of the main culprits is that they use facts to describe what they do rather than telling stories. Thus if you want more referrals you need to tell more unique sales stories.

OK, simple enough.

One way I could get that message across is to simply communicate it as I just did. That would probably work OK, but since I’m advocating using sales stories as a tool for getting more referrals, I ought to do exactly just that. Thus to make this point, I use a long arc story.

I start the presentation by saying, “I went to Washington University in St. Louis.” Pause. “Fun fact to know and tell.” Longer pause.

I then go into my presentation during which I share that as the son of a university professor when it came time to apply to colleges, that was a big deal in the Satterfield household.

I applied to three schools. Since I always loved to read and write, one of them was Princeton University which was the school of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Plus, if you’ve ever visited it, Princeton looks exactly like what you would imagine, ivy covered walls, a university straight out of central casting.

I also applied to UCLA, the University of California at Los Angeles. Growing up in New England in the late 1960s, I wasn’t too much different from most other guys. If you couldn’t be James Bond, you wanted to be a really cool surfer dude. Thus, the appeal of UCLA.

I also applied to Washington University in St. Louis (you always have to describe it that way since there are so many schools with the name “Washington” in them.) Dad was from St. Louis, which is how it originally got on my radar screen, but what was most appealing to me was that it offered co-ed dorms. Quite the cutting edge in dormitory living circa 1973.

Anyway, Princeton sent me a very nice letter, “In the effect that hell does freeze over, we would be more than happy to reconsider your application.” However both UCLA and Washington University in St. Louis let me in. That led to a short conversation with Dad (who was financing this experiment in higher education) who said to me that he thought that if I went to UCLA I would probably become a pretty good surfer and flunk out my sophomore year. (Apparently he hadn’t noticed the mention of co-ed dorms in the Washington University materials.) Thus off I went in May of 1973 to St. Louis.

At this point in the presentation I stop and ask the audience to take out a pen and piece of paper. I ask them to write down the name of the school I went to and then the names of the two schools I applied to but did not go to. I then ask them to turn the paper over and tell them that we’ll return to it a bit later on.

My presentation then goes on to talk about other applications for using Unique Sales Stories. At one point I mention again that it’s my premise that people don’t remember facts, they remember stories and that we’ll find out if that is really true shortly. What I’m doing here is seeding and reminding the audience about the long-arc story which is about where I went to college.

I’m now about to wrap up the presentation so I ask the audience to find the piece of paper that they wrote down the answers to where I applied to school, but not to turn the piece of paper over. I ask them to write down on the back of the paper the name of the school that I went to. I then ask them to write down the names of the other two schools. Finally, I ask them to compare what they’ve written down on the back of the paper to what they wrote down on the front.

Here’s what typically happens.

Virtually everyone gets the names of the schools right the first time I ask them to write them down. That’s to be expected. But here’s what’s very interesting. Typically 85-90% of the audience gets the answers correct the second time as well. This is the tangible proof that people remember stories.

If I had simply said that I went to Washington University in St. Louis and by the way, I also applied to Princeton and UCLA, 10 minutes later no one would remember. (And I’ve actually tried this and the recall results are pretty depressing.) By telling a story, people remembered what they would otherwise likely forget.

This story is introduced very early in my presentation, referred to briefly in the middle and then concluded at the end. It’s one of my signature long-arc stories and does an outstanding job of making the specific point that if you want to be remembered, you need to tell stories.

Since I make the cryptic statement of “We’ll see if I’m right a bit later on”, interest and curiosity increases. That’s one of the benefits of the long arc story.

Granted a long-arc sales story requires a bit of time. Thus it’s ideally suited if you’re preparing a speech or a sales presentation. Naturally, if I can be of assistance to you in developing one, please let me know.

Talk soon,
Mark

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Your Assistance Would Be Appreciated

Monday, August 2nd, 2010

I wanted to let you know that my newest book, “Unique Sales Stories: How To Get More Referrals, Differentiate Yourself From The Competition & Close More Sales” comes out today.

As a subscriber to my newsletter I’d like to offer you a free copy of my book (for a nominal mailing and shipping charge). You can get HERE

Now…if you take me up on this offer, there is a favor I’d like for you to do me.

Once you’ve read the book (It’s not very long-but it’s packed with useful information) I’d greatly appreciate it if you’d go to Amazon.com and write a short review. The page is RIGHT HERE:

As you may be aware, Amazon tracks books by not only sales but by reviews. There’s an outside chance I could get some great publicity for my book if the number of positive reviews reaches a certain threshold. Your help would be much appreciated so let me thank you in advance.

Secondly…the book is a part of my launch for the Unique Sales Story sales training program.

Not surprisingly, I’m using a Gentle Rain style marketing campaign to launch this:
1. Create a free offer. In this case a book.
2. Motivate interested parties to raise their hand and express interest in this topic by opting-in to get a copy.
3. Follow up appropriately.
4. Drive targeted traffic to the page offering the book through a combination of direct mail, online & offline advertising and media/pr.

If you are a marketing or sales consultant, this program could potentially be a great addition to your portfolio of services. If you have clients or contacts that you think might be interested, please let me know and I’ll fill you in on how our partnership arrangement works. (Suffice it to say there is a large initial and ongoing commission along with great support.)

For my international subscribers, I am particularly interested in developing alliances in the U.K., Western Europe and South Asia. My last training program did very well in these markets, and I would like to have similar success with this one.

Again, your support for this latest project is greatly appreciated and I look forward to hearing back from those of you who would like to get involved.

Thanks,
Mark

To talk with me about becoming involved with the launch of the Unique Sales Stories training program, send an email to me at
mark@gentlerainmarketing.com

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Does Social Marketing Work In B2B?

Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010

Interesting article in the latest edition of BtoB Magazine about social marketing and Twitter specifically, as a marketing channel. According to their survey of nearly 400 marketers four of five said they could not directly attribute revenue to the Twitter micro-blogging platform.

The whole area of social media is one I’ve been discussing with many clients, colleagues and other marketers. While Twitter and Facebook have obviously received a lot of press, the more important question is-how does social media fit into the overall marketing strategy?

Here’s my view.

I think the benefit from social media comes when you move people from Twitter and Facebook onto your main website AND when they opt-in to become a member of your list.

Then (and only then) have they become a true “prospect” since you now can communicate with them via your newsletter, blog posts and ongoing email messages.

However it is a HUGE funnel from being on your Twitter or Facebook list and opting in on your house email list and only a very (very) small percentage of people will travel down the path.

(It’s my belief-and that of a lot of other marketers-that until you get people to opt in to your main website list, the odds of them actually becoming paying clients is somewhere between the proverbial slim and none.)

Let me share some statistics with you from a couple of clients whose names I must keep confidential.

Internet services provider. 25,000 people on his Twitter list. 86 people opted-in on his website. Zero sales. (This is over a 11 month period.)

Coaching services to executives. 38,000 people on Facebook. 127 opted-in on her website. One client. (Over 14 months.)

As the article in BtoB points out, whether you decide to do anything on Twitter and Facebook or not, you need to think of them as a channel, not a marketing strategy. (Other “channels” would include advertising, direct mail, article marketing, direct sales, ect.)

What about the “other” social marketing tool-LinkedIn? Actually that turns out to be far more effective. I’ve been sharing with a few coaching clients (and I’m doing this myself) on a specific strategy that moves people to your list. As a non-scientific statistic, I have 750 people on linked in-and a whopping 227 have opted in to my Gentle Rain subscriber list after they first joined me on Linked In.

I’ll be interested in your thoughts on social media and how it is working for you. For readers who operate in the B2C space, are you getting different results?

Talk soon,
Mark
***********Summer is a great time to update your website and get those free reports, white papers and lead-capturing articles done. If you haven’t already, don’t forget to request a copy of my Copywriting Portfolio and fee schedule and let me know if I can assist you on any projects. Mark@GentleRainMarketing.com
Thanks!

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Will the Gentle Rain System work for ME?

Tuesday, June 8th, 2010

That’s a good question, and it’s one that I’d be asking myself if I was in your shoes.

The honest answer is, “I don’t really know.”

But this much I can tell you.

It’s worked well for me. and since 1992, for my clients as well.

Let me share a bit more…

…Obviously I don’t know you, so I really don’t have a sense for how you’re currently attracting new clients. But the fact that you’re reading this tells me that you’d either like more clients, or desire some sort of system so that new business comes to you…rather than trying to push yourself onto prospects.

So, the question becomes, what’s the best way to do that?

In order to answer that, let me share with you a little bit about my own business, and how I developed the Gentle Rain process. I think that it will give you a helpful perspective on whether it’s right for you.

I came into consulting having worked in advertising and with Pepsi and Kraft Foods. These were great experiences and I learned a lot about marketing.

However, when I decided to hang up my own shingle as a marketing consultant, I discovered that I really didn’t have a large network of contacts. Pretty much everyone I knew, worked where I had worked. Thus, it wasn’t long before I had lapped the track more than a few times, hitting up my meager list of contacts for leads and referrals.

Like most people, I heard that networking events were a good way to meet prospective clients, so I joined a few groups, went to Chamber of Commerce meetings and even tested a couple of Rotary groups. The problem was that I’m just not real good at “meet & mingle” events, so I never got much out of them. Most everyone I met “said” they got a lot of business from these things, but for some reason they never worked for me-I found myself falling into that trap of hanging out with the few people I already knew.

To tell you the truth, I was getting a bit desperate when I borrowed an old cassette program from my cousin Jerry. It was Dan Kennedy’s Magnetic Marketing, and I’m not exaggerating when I say it transformed my life.

At first I rejected the program because what Dan was teaching focused on restaurant owners and plumbers, and his sales letters were pretty over the top. I thought to myself that my clients were different-they’re too sophisticated for the type of marketing that Dan advocated.

But, I really liked the idea of using free information to get prospects to raise their hands and then a pre-planned drip marketing sequence to build trust, credibility and eventually turn these prospects into paying clients.

I figured that I really didn’t have anything to lose, so I modified what I learned from Dan to focus on my niche which was consultants and others who offer intangible advice and services.

Anyway, to make a long story short…it worked. Really well as a matter of fact. I went from making $45,000 to $97,000 the following year. For someone like me, who had $1,800 in my checking account, that was a huge leap forward.

And it got better.

I kept experimenting with ideas, some didn’t work-but a lot did, and in two years my business got up to around $250,000. That was in 2002, and as you may recall, that was the year that the internet really started to take off. All of a sudden websites became a lot easier (and cheaper) to put up. Now there were these programs called autoresponders that enabled someone like me (who has absolutely no technical skills whatsoever), to automated almost the entire marketing system.

My income increased by 50%. And then it did it again.

I’ll admit this was pretty great. Instead of having to go out and try to strike up conversations with strangers at networking events, I literally had a waiting list of clients. Which meant that I could raise my fees, and even more importantly…choose whom I wanted to work with. (If you’ve ever had a jerk as a client you know how valuable it is to be highly selective about who you decide to work with.)

Anyway, that was my life for the next 3 years, and it was great.

But things change, and in my case the change came in the form of the international management consulting firm, A.T. Kearney. You may or may not have heard of them, but they’re one of the world’s elite consulting firms, up there with McKinsey, Boston Consulting Group and Accenture.

A.T. Kearney was going through a tough patch. Surprisingly, for a $1 billion consulting firm, they didn’t really do any marketing. Virtually all of their business came from referrals and repeat assignments.

Which worked fine until a number of their long-term clients didn’t renew their contracts, and the referrals started to dry up. Then they started to get worried about how they were going to fill their pipeline back up with new business.

One of their senior partners, Bill Jeffrey read a book I wrote called, Power Prospecting, liked my non-hard selling approach and asked me to fly up to New York to meet with him and some of the other senior partners.

That conversation led to a 5-year engagement in which I trained over 800 of their partners and directors on my Gentle Rain methodology.

Did it work? Obviously I wouldn’t be telling you this story if the answer was “No”, and to be totally honest the success they achieved was mostly due to their willingness to implement what I taught and embrace new ideas and approaches.

As you may be aware, A.T. Kearney staged one of the most dramatic turnarounds in the consulting industry. They recovered so well that the partners bought the firm back from their corporate owner EDS, and today are once again one of the most successful firms in the world.

That’s when word got out about me.

It was a pretty heady period of time. But there was a price.

A lot of my work wound up being in Europe. In the beginning it was terribly glamorous and I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. But it does wear on you. The 13th time you go to Düsseldorf, it really becomes little more than just a v-e-r-y long consulting trip.

Plus, while I really enjoyed working with some of the world’s top consulting firms, I had a desire to teach and apply the Gentle Rain methodology on a smaller canvas. Working with solo consultants…helping firms with 3-25 consultants who really want to make a mark in a particular niche. That’s what gets me the most excited.

Which leads me to where I am today. My clients are in consulting, insurance, financial services, real estate, training and a lot of other niche businesses.

The one thing that they all have in common is a focus on building relationships and a desire to become very well known for what they do within a particular niche. (Not to mention also making a very nice living with plenty of free time for family and leisure time activities.)

I realize that this is a very long answer to the simple question of, “Will Gentle Rain work for me?”-but it’s a good question and deserves a thoughtful answer.

Which is…Gentle Rain has worked very well for me and for my clients. I truly think that it will work well for you too, but ultimately that’s up to you to decide.

One thing I will tell you is that I sense you recognize a need for change. That whatever you are doing now, or have done in the past, isn’t producing the results you want. I also have the sense that you would like some assistance. (Since, from a purely practical perspective, if you were going to do this on your own, you probably would have done so by now.)

There are a number of ways I work personally with clients. Everything from my elite Platinum program is which I partner with you and earn the bulk of my income from the success we achieve together (although in fairness I will tell you that it does require a $15,000 retainer)…to a la carte assignments in which I’ll write a sales letter, landing page copy or success story for you. Others want advice and answers to the questions they have about differentiating themselves from the competition, and how to set up their marketing system-for which my Gentle Rain coaching program is a great option.

And here’s one final thought…which may be the best way to determine whether Gentle Rain is right for you.

As I’m sure you’re aware, you’re experiencing the Gentle Rain process right now. As a result of an ad, a letter, a referral or some other sort of lead generation method, you went to one of my websites and opted-in to get some free information. That triggered a series of automated messages that hopefully you’ve found helpful and interesting.

And something else has happened…

You’ve started to build a relationship with me. Which is even more interesting since it’s likely that we’ve never spoken or met.

Yet, you feel on some level that you know me. Perhaps even like me.

And no matter where the relationship goes from here (whether you decide to invest in Gentle Rain or not) it’s likely that you’ll refer me to others if the appropriate situation presents itself.

And that’s ultimately what Gentle Rain is all about. Building relationships. Gaining visibility within your niche market, and ultimately, getting you as much new business as you desire.

So, if you decide that Gentle Rain is right for you, I would welcome the opportunity to be of assistance. Please let me know how I can help.

Thanks,
Mark

Mark Satterfield
Gentle Rain Marketing Inc

http://www.GentleRainMarketing.com

mark@gentlerainmarketing.com
770-643-8566

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The End Of Boring Sales Messages

Monday, May 17th, 2010

OK…The first step if you want to capture attention is to focus on a problem.

But that’s only the first step. How do we go from “mild curiosity” to having our prospect really care about the story we’re about to tell?

Care so much that they’ll give us a call?

Care so much that they’ll pay us large sums of money to solve it for them?

The answer is by communicating the consequences of not solving the problem. This is the stage at which we make our prospect start to really care about the challenge that faces the character you’ve created.

Consequences address the question of, “Why should I care?” or “Why is that a big deal?” Sometimes a form of Socratic questioning can be highly effective in uncovering the consequences of a particular problem.

Dan and Stan are in conversation. Dan is struggling to hire a salesperson for the St. Louis territory. The search has been going on for over 9 weeks and he still hasn’t found the right person.

Stan: “I don’t understand why you just don’t hire the best person you’ve found thus far. I mean you must have interviewed over 30 candidates.”

Dan: “I tried that once and it really backfired on me. If all you’ve seen is grade C prospects you’re not going to get someone who is really going to solidify our sales position in the mid-west. Compromising just isn’t going to work.”

Stan: “I still think that you’re making too big a deal out of this. I mean you’ve got the majority market share right now-what is it, 65%? That’s huge. Any warm body would have to work real hard to mess that up. I still think you’re being too picky.”

Dan: “And I think you’re missing the point. Sure, I’ve got a majority market share at the moment, but that only because our largest competitors new it wasn’t worth their time to try to muscle in while Susan was working the territory. Now that she’s gone, you know they’ll be dog-birding the new rep to see if they’re as strong. I put an ‘also-ran’ in that job and I’m going to have competitors coming out of my ears in less than 30 days.”

Stan: “Well I really I think you’re giving your competitors a lot more credit for awareness than they deserve.”

Dan: “Suppose you’re right. Suppose they don’t bird-dog my guy. Here’s the next problem. Corporate is rolling out the new products at the end of the month. If this guy isn’t up to speed by then, he’s toast when it comes to being able to talk coherently about the new stuff.”

Stan: “I guess I hadn’t thought of that.”

Dan: “If this guy isn’t super sharp I’m not only not going to make my numbers on the new product, but dollar to donuts he’ll start falling apart with the prime products.”

Stan: “True, I guess the last thing you want is for someone to get overwhelmed.”

Dan: “Yeah, I’ve gone done that road before. Once they feel that they’re in over their heads, they start to get nervous and then embarrassed that they’re not doing better. The next thing I know I’ve got a resignation notice sitting on my desk and I’m starting over from scratch.”

So let’s examine this dialogue and see how it uncovered some real and substantial consequences to the problem of staffing a sales position that Dan faces.

The conversation starts out with the problem being, “not all that big a deal”. This is the attitude that many of your prospects will have as well. Although you may think that the consequences of not addressing the problem are obvious, your prospect is likely not to be as self-aware. As a result of the ensuing dialogue it becomes apparent that there are at least three consequences to compromising and hiring only a average candidate.

1) The competition is likely to find out and as a result put a greater emphasis on gaining market share.
2) There is a new product being introduced. It will be a challenge to get up to speed on both the existing product line and the new one. Unless the new hire is extremely sharp it’s likely that he or she will get overwhelmed and be effective at neither.
3) As a consequence of becoming overwhelmed, the odds of the new rep quitting become increasingly likely. This would put Dan back in the position he currently is with the added pressure of wasted time.

It’s likely that if we allowed the conversation between Dan and Stan to continue, we would uncover additional consequences for not addressing the problem. At this stage in the development of your sales story you may find it helpful to map out the consequences section by using this form of interactive dialogue.

This “devils advocate” approach can be highly effective in uncovering consequences that might otherwise not be readily apparent. Although one could use the discussion model to communicate these consequences, that may not be feasible or practical, especially if your story is to be told verbally. This Socratic dialogue technique is often best used for uncovering the key points rather than as a method for story telling. However, if your story is being told on your blog, website or through a sales letter, dialogue can be a highly effective tool.

The story that we have developed thus far might be told as follows:

Dan Sullivan wondered to himself why with the economy so poor was it so difficult to recruit a top flight sales rep? When he started the search 9 weeks ago, he felt confident that he would have it wrapped up by now. Unfortunately nothing could be further from the truth.

“Over 30 interviews and I’m not really impressed with any of these people” thought Dan to himself.

He pulled the schedule for the rest of the week up on his computer and groaned. Hardly an open hour remained. “Maybe I should just hire one of these people and hope for the best” he considered as he once again shuffled through the pile of resumes.

His hand paused mid-thought as he reflected on what had happened the last time he had gone down that road. It had been over 5 years ago but the painful memory still lingered. “What a bust that was. Not only did he only last in the job 6 weeks, but our largest competitor instinctively knew we had compromised our hiring standards. They’d stayed out of the territory when we had an A player in place, but this industry is so incestuous-everyone knows everyone-that they rushed in once I hired the best of the mediocre. I certainly don’t want to be sitting here 6 weeks from now starting this process all over again from scratch.”

Dan’s eye turned to his Blackberry and it’s most recent message. “Update on Sniffer New Product Introduction at 3 pm Today” read the subject line. “One more reason not to compromise”, thought Dan. “This person is going to need to not only get up to speed on the existing product line, but this new product is going to challenging to explain to our prospects. Great potential, it could be huge for us, but I really need someone who is going to catch on quickly.”

Realizing he had made his decision, Dan picked up the phone and placed a call he had been hoping to avoid. “These search consultants are awfully expensive, I was really hoping to do it myself, but I just don’t see how I’m going to find the person I need on my own.”

What makes your unique sales story compelling and interesting is the layering of facts it contains. At the early stages of the story, when your prospect is still considering in their mind whether to pay attention to you, we need to make them care about what you are communicating. If you think about stories that didn’t engage you, often times the reason was because the problem they focused on just didn’t seem to be “that big a deal”. By infusing your story with the consequences that can occur we make our prospects care. And that’s a very important step since if they don’t care about the problem they certainly won’t care about the solution. And if they don’t care about that, the odds of them becoming a paying client become very long indeed.
*******
Want me to write a client attraction sales story for you? I’m actively seeking a couple of great clients who are the “best kept secret” in their market. If that’s you and you’d rather be well known and in high demand, email me (mark@gentlerainmarketing.com) and I’ll send you the most current PDF with a list of the services I offer and the reasonable fees I charge.

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How To Get Your Prospects To Care About Your Solution

Monday, May 10th, 2010

One of the key challenges in any sales presentation is communicating a message that makes prospects pay attention. Amid all the clutter and noise that exists in the marketplace, how do we get those with whom we most want to do business with, to pay attention to us?

Obviously, that’s a complex question and the answer quite frankly is that there are a lot of factors. But if we go to ground zero, that point where we are first trying to get attention, there is one element that we most want to focus on.

The problem. That’s what gets attention. That’s what makes people say, “Perhaps I should learn a bit more.” It doesn’t mean that they’re going to get them to hire us. It doesn’t mean that they’re going to give us money. But, the right problem, presented in a way that is compelling and intriguing, can be the proverbial spark that starts the dry brush ablaze.

However, what do most people do? How do they try to capture attention? Ironically (and mostly ineffectively) they talk about themselves. The opening salvo usually takes one of two forms. Sometimes it’s the ubiquitous, “This is what I do.” “I’m a lawyer, realtor, financial advisor, headhunter, butcher, baker candlestick-maker. “ What’s the response? Typically, “Oh.”

Those that have been to sales training 101 (but didn’t stay through the whole thing) know that this is not enough. So they confidently answer, “We offer the worlds most researched solution on extrapolating data through software integration.”

“How very nice for you.”

Answers like these are what my friend Don refers to as “Hammers in search of a nail.” Realistically how many of us really know what software integration is? Or care?

So what’s the answer? How can we make people care? One of the most effective ways is to put the answer in the context of something that I can understand. Something I can relate to. And what might that be? Simply put, it’s a story.

What stories have in common is that they address a problem. Some sort of gap between what the main character desires and his or her current state. It could be desire for love, success, confidence or any of another basic human goals. From a business perspective it could be something a bit more pragmatic: increased sales, improved employee morale or reducing costs.

The point is that if you want to get someone’s attention you need to focus on the problems that you solve. Even if the person you’re speaking to doesn’t suffer from that particular problem, by focusing on problems rather than some bland recitation about what you “do”, you dramatically increase the likelihood that they will remember you.

Let’s take the marketing consultant as an example. She could try to get attention by saying, “I’m a marketing consultant.” In one ear and out the other. Let’s try again.

She could say, “I offer an integrated turn-key solution to help my clients get more new clients.” Hmmm. Still a bit of the “hammer in search of a nail.” It’s hard to visualize what she really does. And that’s the key. We need to get what we do visualized in the person’s brain. We need for it to come alive.

So how do we do that? We need to paint a picture. We need to tell a story. Like this:

“On a fundamental level I help my clients get more new business. The challenge most of them face is that they’re the ‘best kept secret’ in their marketplace. I show them how to get more referrals by communicating unique sales stories about what they do.”

So let’s examine this last answer in a bit more detail. Certainly it’s longer and that may take a bit of getting used to. Since most everyone describes what they do in 15 words or less we feel compelled to do so as well. Resist that temptation. If you have something interesting to say, your reader or listener will stick with you.

So this answer starts by framing the topic by focusing on a large problem-getting more new clients. However, she doesn’t stop there. She immediately drills down on a highly specific problem (being the “best kept secret”) that she helps solve. She then concludes by transitioning into what she offers. However it’s important to note, that she is very specific about how she helps.

What our marketing lady has done here is to paint a picture in our minds. We can now easily visualize a problem she works on. In all likelihood she probably works on many different problems and depending upon the situation she is in, she draws upon different answers. However, each answer follows the same format of hooking attention by focusing on a problem.

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Finding Prospects That Are Easy To Sell To

Thursday, April 29th, 2010

I think we spend a lot of time trying to get people to change their minds.

I also think it’s a waste of time.

No matter how many facts you list, you’re just not going to be able to change the way someone views the world. It’s a bit like the old joke about you can’t milk a cat. First it can’t be done, and all it does is annoy the cat.

Since we all have a limited amount of time, money and patience for marketing and sales, it’s a far better strategy to find a group with a certain perspective and frame your sales message so that it resonates with that viewpoint. Demonstrating that you understand the beliefs of your audience is the price of entry into the sales conversation. Only by starting at that point do you stand a chance of eventually encouraging someone to consider an alternative point of view at some point down the road.

From a purely practical perspective, if I don’t think that I suffer from a particular problem, I won’t pay the least bit of attention to the message you’re trying to communicate. It’s an amazingly noisy world so trying to convince me that something is important is largely a waste of time. You just don’t have the money or the marketing clout to make me care about something that I haven’t already decided is worth focusing on. The real trick is to make sure that your marketing story is both visible and interesting when I do decide to find a solution.

So what makes a sales or marketing story interesting? How do we frame the message so that it stands the best chance of getting attention? The answer is in both what is said as well as how it is communicated. You audience cares just as much about the choice of media, the tone of voice as they do the words that are used.

However once you get into the body of the message it’s important that it’s framed in a way that resonates with the reader or listener. Far too often messages are little more than a restating of the obvious. While this may be the safe path to travel it’s not a particularly interesting one. Which is why it is so important to have an opinion about your particular area of expertise.

Although that sounds perfectly fine in theory, what exactly is meant by developing an opinion? How does someone do that? One of the simplest ways is to develop a system or process for implementing your particular type of solution. Thus the opinion becomes that this process is what works. When people mess up the implementation phase, it’s usually because they failed to follow the process or did things out of order.

Another alternative is to develop a contrarian viewpoint. What is the prevailing wisdom among people in your field. Why might that opinion be wrong? People gravitate towards those who have a strong opinion about a topic and will at least tend to give them a hearing. It’s those that get stuck in the middle of the bell-shaped curve that get ignored. Don’t let that fate befall you.
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Want me to write a great sales story that differentiates you from the competition, or a sales letter that gets oodles (if not more) of prospects to raise their hands and say “I’d like to learn more about this Guy (or Gal)”?

Send an email to me at mark@gentlerainmarketing.com and I’ll tell you how we can work together. Thanks!

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How To Make Sure Your Business Is Remembered

Monday, April 26th, 2010

As a wise mentor of mine once said, “People don’t remember facts. They remember stories.” If you want more referrals for your business the key is to be top of mind when people have a need or learn about opportunities that make sense for you. As I learned from hard fought experience, simply educating people about what I did, simply wasn’t enough. In order to be remembered, I needed to make my services come alive through the use of unique sales stories.

Now, I will admit that this is hardly new news. Sales professionals have known for years that using metaphors, case studies and stories is a time honored method for standing out amid the competition. Which then raises the question, “Why are some people so good at this while others so painfully bad?”

It’s a bit like cooking. Most of us know the basics. So why are so few of us accomplished chefs? I think that great chefs are a lot like great storytellers. The key is that they understand how the ingredients fit together. They know when to add a “touch of this” or a dash of “that”. It’s part science but it’s also part art. I’m not sure that the art part can be taught, but the science of it certainly can. What that means is that while you may never publish the proverbial great American novel you can learn how to tell a story that gets your point across in a way that is both educational and memorable.

What great chefs and storytellers also share is a process that is more similar than dissimilar. By that I mean that they both begin with the end in mind. The great chef visualizes the outcome. The succulent crispy duck or the moist three layer chocolate and strawberry cake. They don’t simply start dumping ingredients into a bowel and hope that something delicious will emerge. They begin at the end which is the same thing that the gifted storyteller does as well.

However, unlike the chef, far too many fledgling storytellers think that they can just get away with “winging it”. After all we’ve told stories to each other for how many years? I mean, can it really be all that difficult?

Truth be told, there is a huge difference between telling a story to your friends and communicating a unique sales story to a prospect that will keep you in the front of their mind when they hear about opportunities that would be perfect for you.

Thus the first question you want to answer is what is the point that you want to make? This is a bit like working the puzzle maze backwards, or beginning with the end in mind.

For example, suppose I wanted to make the point that starting an entrepreneurial venture or small business is a path best traveled by those with a burning desire for independence? Now there’s nothing particularly earth shattering about that statement. It seems like common sense and the moment someone told you it, you’d probably forget all about it.

But suppose I really wanted to make that point? Perhaps I’m doing some career coaching and I’m concerned that the people I’m speaking with may be following the self-employment path for reasons that don’t make sense for them. If I really want to get the point across, what I want to do is tell a story. Like this:

My career has really had two distinct parts to it; corporate and self-employment. I had the great fortune to work for one of the great companies in the United States, Kraft Foods. It was a wonderful experience, I learned a lot and I had the opportunity to interact with a group of outstanding individuals.

One of them was my boss, Bob Morrison who at the time was the CEO of Kraft. Probably more than any other individual he had the greatest impact on the direction the second half of my career took.

I can still remember my final performance review (although I didn’t realize that it was my last one at the time) which took place on the 6th floor of Kraft’s headquarters. The 6th floor was far different than the rabbit warrens the rest of us worked in. This was the “executive floor”. The carpet was plusher. Each office was protected by a not one, but two executives assistants. And the offices themselves, a Hollywood set designer couldn’t do a better job. On the floor where I had come from, all my years of hard work had managed to secure for me a small office, with a plant and two guest chairs. Supposedly, if I continued to work hard and succeed some day I might get a couch. Now I realize that this all sounds somewhat silly as I type this but for anyone who has toiled in a world headquarters of Fortune 50 corporation, knows, this is the stuff we aspire to.

Thus, emerging on the hallowed lands of the 6th floor (with its own security guy no less) was to travel to the highest peaks of aspiration. Anyway, I digress.

As I entered Bob Morrison’s office for my performance review I noticed that Bob was dressed as he always was with the blue button down collar shirt, red tie and sleeves rolled up over the forearms. A look that said “senior executive who gets a lot of stuff done”. He was gazing in a slightly befuddled way at a sheaf of papers which I presumed were the HR forms that accompanied (or as some said, sucked the life out of) the performance review process.

With a sigh Bob tossed the papers onto the desk in front of him and motioned for me to take a seat.

“We’ll fill out these forms later”, Bob began. “Basically Mark, I can summarize your performance in just a couple of sentences, so here goes. Mark, if you’re interested in the topic there’s no one better than you. But Mark, if you’re not interested in the topic, everyone’s better than you.”

Not surprisingly that message stung a bit. (OK, it actually stung a lot.) But I didn’t dismiss it. After I cooled down I understood the point that Bob was making. In order to have a successful corporate career one needs to have a level of flexibility. One needs to approach assignments in which they have only a modest interest with the same enthusiasm that they do for those projects which match up well with their passion. Entrepreneurs by contrast have an overwhelming desire to focus just on their passion. It’s that single-minded devotion that causes the most successful entrepreneurs to overcome all the obstacles they face. Without that passion, the chances of success are slim.

That was what Bob was telling me. He knew I had passion around certain areas. However what he observed was that when the assignment called for me to focus on other areas, I wasn’t able to let go. The passion kept calling me back. That’s the hallmark of a successful entrepreneur but the Achilles heel for a corporate executive.

So let me take a break from this story. Suffice it to say that this conversation was the catalyst for my leaving the safety and security of a corporate career to embark on something far more in sync with my personal goals.

But the real point that I am making here is that what I just communicated would most likely be remembered and thought about if I was speaking to someone who was considering a career change. Simply stating a fact such as “entrepreneurs need to have a passion” would be dismissed as simply a blinding grasp of the obvious.

Thus, when you create your own unique sales stories, think about what the point is that you want to make. You’ll find that if you do, your story will not only resonate with your listener or reader, but it will also increase that they’ll remember you for a long time to come.
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This sales letter made me a lot of money. I’d like to share it with you for FREE. Go get it HERE

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Want Me To Write A Unique Sales Story For You?

Wednesday, April 21st, 2010

Here’s something that may be of interest.

I’m looking for 6 clients who would like for me to create their very own unique sales story that can be used to get more referrals, differentiate themselves from the competition and close more business.

(If you want to read more about WHY sales stories are such powerful tools go HERE)

You can use this sales story on your website, in your sales letters as well as in one-on-one selling situations.

Here’s how it works.

If you decide to take me up on this offer, I’m going to send you a very short questionnaire. Complete it, send it back and I’ll get to work. In less than 7 days, you’ll have a sales story that will grow your business.

Sounds good so far but…how much is this going to cost?

Well, according to my published price list, I typically would charge $3,500 for this. However, that’s not what it’s going to cost you.

How much? A mere, $395.

Now, you’re probably wondering why so much less and what’s the catch? It’s really pretty simple.

I’m in the final push for completing the manuscript of my next book, “Unique Sales Stories. How To Get More Referrals, Differentiate Yourself From The Competition & Close More Sales Through The Power Of Stories.”

I want to include in the book some case examples of sales stories for different types of clients.

That’s where you come in.

I’ll write you a great sales story for a ridiculously low price, but you have to give me permission to publish it in my book. (I’ll disguise your company name if you like, but candidly, this would be another great way to spread the word about who you are and what you offer.)

So, if you want to take me up on this you need to get back to me ASAP. I’m only looking for 6 people, so it’s first come first served. There’s no “additional information” to send you, so don’t email me back saying “you’re interested in learning more”. You’re either in or out.

Remember, the reason that you may not be getting as many referrals as you want, or are still the best kept secret in your market, is likely to be because people don’t fully understand the value you provide. That’s where sales stories become the competitive advantage for attracting prospects and converting large percentages of them into paying clients.

(Again if you want to read more about WHY sales stories are such powerful tools go HERE)

Thanks for reading this and I look forward to working with 6 of you.

Talk with you soon,
Mark

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How To Get Prospects To Pay Attention To You

Tuesday, April 13th, 2010

One of the key challenges in any sales presentation is communicating a message that makes prospects pay attention. Amid all the clutter and noise that exists in the marketplace, how do we get those with whom we most want to do business with, to pay attention to us?

Obviously, that’s a complex question and the answer quite frankly is that there are a lot of factors. But if we go to ground zero, that point where we are first trying to get attention, there is one element that we most want to focus on.

The Problem.

That’s what gets attention. That’s what makes people say, “Perhaps I should learn a bit more.” It doesn’t mean that they’re going to get them to hire us. It doesn’t mean that they’re going to give us money. But, the right problem, presented in a way that is compelling and intriguing, can be the proverbial spark that starts the dry brush ablaze.

However, what do most people do? How do they try to capture attention? Ironically (and mostly ineffectively) they talk about themselves. The opening salvo usually takes one of two forms. Sometimes it’s the ubiquitous, “This is what I do:”

“I’m a lawyer, realtor, financial advisor, headhunter, butcher, baker candlestick-maker. “

What’s the response? Typically, “Oh.”

Or they try this…

Those that have been to sales training 101 (but didn’t stay through the whole thing) know that this is not enough. So they confidently answer, “We offer the worlds most researched solution on extrapolating data through software integration.”

“How very nice for you.”

Answers like these are what my friend Don refers to as “Hammers in search of a nail.” Realistically how many of us really know what software integration is? Or care?

So what’s the answer? How can we make people care? One of the most effective ways is to put the answer in the context of something that I can understand. Something I can relate to. And what might that be? Simply put, it’s a story.

What compelling sales stories have in common is that they address a problem. Some sort of gap between what the main character desires and his or her current state. It could be desire for money, success, confidence, respect or any of another basic human goals. With business stories it’s usually something a bit more pragmatic: increased sales, improved employee morale or reducing costs.

The point is that if you want to get someone’s attention you need to focus on the problems that you solve. Even if the person you’re speaking to doesn’t suffer from that particular problem, by focusing on problems rather than some bland recitation about what you “do”, you’ll dramatically increase the likelihood that they will remember you.

Let’s take the marketing consultant as an example. She could try to get attention by saying, “I’m a marketing consultant.” In one ear and out the other. Let’s try again.

She could say, “I offer an integrated turn-key solution to help my clients get more new clients.”

Hmmm. Still a bit of the “hammer in search of a nail.”

It’s hard to visualize what she really does. And that’s the key. We need to get what we do visualized in the person’s brain. We need for it to come alive.

So how do we do that? We need to paint a picture. We need to tell a story. Like this:

“On a fundamental level I help my clients get more new business. The challenge most of them face is that they’re the ‘best kept secret’ in their marketplace. I show them how to get more referrals by communicating unique sales stories about what they do.”

So let’s examine this last answer in a bit more detail. Certainly it’s longer and that may take a bit of getting used to. Since most everyone describes what they do in 15 words or less we feel compelled to do so as well. Resist that temptation. If you have something interesting to say, your reader or listener will stick with you.

So this answer starts by framing the topic by focusing on a large problem-getting more new clients. However, she doesn’t stop there. She immediately drills down on a highly specific problem (being the “best kept secret”) that she helps solve. She then concludes by transitioning into what she offers. However it’s important to note, that she is very specific about how she helps.

What our marketing lady has done here is to paint a picture in our minds. We can now easily visualize a problem she works on. In all likelihood she probably works on many different problems and depending upon the situation she is in, she draws upon different answers. However, each answer follows the same format of hooking attention by focusing on a problem.
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Want me to work with you on developing you own Unique Sales Story? Send an email to mark@gentlerainmarketing.com and we’ll set up a time to talk. Please reference this blog post. Thanks!

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