Stories sell...

Have you ever had a boring teacher in school?
Do you remember sitting in that class while the teacher mumbles away for 45 minutes without stopping, citing facts, statistics and a bunch of other stuff you can’t remember because you and the rest of the students were basically half asleep?
We all had teachers like that, and then there were some teachers that were actually exciting to listen to.
Going to their class was fun.
They could make the most boring subject in the world fascinating.
What was difference?
In one word LANGUAGE.
How they used language to describe their subject.
And those who were actually interesting used a very effective tool of influence…

… Storytelling!
I truly consider it to be the master skill when it comes to salesmanship whether face to face, in print or online.
We are WIRED to pay attention to stories.
It’s part of our DNA and it’s reinforced by stories our parents and grandparents used to tell us when we were kids.
But unlike telling a story in class, in sales you want to use your story to actually sell your product, service or business opportunity.
Take any successful product out there and you’ll find a compelling story attached to the selling process behind it.
Look at the testimonials in infomercials… they’re mini-stories that paint a very vivid picture in your mind of the outcome these people got (and you automatically place yourself in their shoes, into the story). Works like a charm.
Listen to this story:
Years ago, a friend of mine in that business delivered an insurance payment to a widow after her husband collapsed of a heart attack, he was in his early 40′s.
Leaving a stay at home wife and 2 young kids with no income, and very little English, they lived in the country for just a couple of years.
He died only 5 days after taking out a policy.
The insurance check my friend brought to the family saved their financial life.
She was able to move out of a bad Detroit neighborhood into a small house in the suburbs and had some money left over to get her life together while looking for a steady job.
This story is a true story and people will be able to relate to them.
And unless these people were complete morons, in my opinion, how could anyone with kids say no to a small monthly payment to protect them?
But in many cases I didn’t even have to ask them like that… because after I simply told the story, and painted this emotional picture, often they’d ask me how do we get this and how much does it cost.
Telling this one story over the years has brought a lot of fat commission checks, and provided quality product to many, many people.
What I didn’t realize at the time though, is that you can sell ANYTHING with a good story.
Now of course you have to believe in your product, and you have sell what’s in their best interest, that should go without saying.
But at the end, a compelling story with your product, service or business opportunity serving as the solution that saves the day, eliminates the pain, solves a major problem, etc… is the emotional push your prospects need to move them into the buying zone.
So here’s a question, how can you make your product, service or business opportunity more compelling with a story?
Do you have a testimonial in the form of a case study?
A personal story of success using or applying what you’re selling?
Is there a compelling story behind the creation of the product or the inspiration behind it… a story that your prospects can relate to and identify with?
Coming up with one could be worth a Million Dollars to you or more.
It is the difference between successful selling and making no or very few sales.
The most successful sales letter ever written, is the Wall Street Journal letter.
And guess what… it’s a story.
Right out of the gate, the letter starts out with… “On a beautiful late spring afternoon, 25 years ago, two young men…..”
This classic letter is considered the most successfully mailed letter in the history of direct response, producing over $1 Billion.
I’d say that’s pretty dang impressive and something you can learn from.
I actually swiped this very opening sentence awhile ago and used it along with what I’m sharing with you here, in an email to sell a persuasion course for a client.
It was so effective it landed me a big project and 5-Figures, just from one email.
Do you think it’s worth mastering this skill?
If you’d like to really hone your story-selling chops, I highly suggest you grab Copywriter’s Guild.
In one of the Modules, David Garfinkel gives you the whole Wall Street Journal letter with all the psychology behind it… why it works and how to use stories in your own marketing.
PS. You have to remember that you can not lie. The whole idea is that you have to tell like it happened and to yourself. Selling a health saving product when you did not have that ailment to start with is difficult!