Over the holiday season we did our version of the TV game “Would I lie to you”. For those who don’t know the game, one person has to tell a personal story and the rest of the participants have to guess if it’s true or false
The most complicated of ideas can be made simple by the power of a vivid anecdote – a story.
We started our training initiative focusing exclusively on the UK market but when training budgets were cut in the Recession, we extended our offer internationally. [We’re working in Toronto in early April and should be back in Switzerland in May.] Canada will be our 28th international market – proof that a “Love of selling makes the world go round!”
Stories add value to you and your recommendations. Significant Objects, a US Research company, decided to test the value of sales stories written to describe and enhance the value of a number of items they planned to sell on e-bay. All the items cost just over $128 but after putting a story behind each item, they eventually sold them all for $3612 in total – a staggering 2,700% increase on the cost price!
Use your own stories – they’re more powerful, authentic and you can remember them more easily. When you tell your own stories, you ‘re-live’ them again for your audience.
A “storybook” is as relevant today as it was in 1864 when Lincoln stood for re-election and his live audience was limited to the people in the room….