Selling and Telling your Company Story
WHAT’S YOUR STORY?
“It’s like everyone tells a story about themselves inside their own head. Always. All the time. That story makes you what you are. We build ourselves out of that story.”
― Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind
Every company has a story because every company started for a reason. It had a purpose. You stand for something. You are passionate about making a difference..
So make sure that story gets told..
CAN YOU AND YOUR SALES TEAM TELL THE STORY WELL ENOUGH?
We often see the Company story on the company web site or in the company brochure. The real question is, ‘Can the sales team tell the company story well?’
It’s all very well reading it on the web site, but can the CEO, the MD, the National Sales Manager or the local rep tell the same story equally well?
Your sales team, your staff should be able to tell the story well.
Alignment. Consistency. Congruency of storytelling makes all the difference.
SALES TEAM AS STORY TELLERS
Your sales team needs to be able to tell the story well, they need to engage the listener, they need to be relevant to the listener and they need to add value to the listener.
Here are just a few case studies of storytelling I’ve seen over the past month or so.
BLACKBURNE REAL ESTATE
There I was at the Blackburne built Aria Apartments in Swanbourne.
The company banner told the company story as it stood there large as life in the corner of the luxuriously appointed foyer.
How the company was founded in 2003 and how they have a passion for property.. for progressive, innovative thinking and attention to detail..
How Blackburne stands for quality and an exceptional lifestyle experience…
How Blackburne has an integrated service of not only building great properties and lifestyles, but finance, property management and strata management – a complete one stop shop..
etc etc..
The words on the banner told and sold a great story..
The challenge is this..
The challenge is for the Managers and owners of the business to make sure the Sales team not only know the story, but engage with it and tell that story with interest and passion.
To make sure the sales team actually use the power words and concepts in the banner – to bring the banner to life..
To not only know the story but live it and deliver on the promises of that story.
The interesting thing is, in our 35 years of coaching and working with sales teams, this happens in less than 50% of cases – yet it is a powerful underutilised strategy that delivers big on sales conversions and sales results when done correctly..
AMELIA PARK WINERY
As part of me speaking at the Liquor Barons conference, we all went to dinner at Amelia Park Winery Margaret River.
Stunning architecture. Stunning venue.
Stunning food and company.
Owner Jeremy Gordon got up and spoke briefly at the dinner.
To do what? Tell the story of the business.
He engaged us intellectually and emotionally.
Now it wasn’t just a nice dinner in a lovely venue.
We now had a deeper relationship with the brand, the company, Jeremy and his family.
Amelia Park now wasn’t just a bottle of wine and winery – it was a new friend.
And it was a story many people would re-tell to their friends.
Jeremy had just created a scaling of his marketing just by sharing that story in an interesting way.
How can you scale your company story?
CAPE MENTELLE WINERY
While we were down Margaret River last month we did a tour of the Cape Mentelle Winery with Team Leader Nicolai the Frenchman.
His passion and interest in wines shone through.
He explained some of the intricate detail Cape Mentelle go through to pick and choose not only the best grapes, but crush them at just the right pressure to ensure the best juice is used (not the juice from the skins or the stems..).
When you buy the case of wine, you are not just buying the wine in a bottle, you are buying the story.
It’s the story that adds the value.
How are you capturing and training your people to tell, share, leverage your company story?
COACHING TIPS – 5 Practical Steps to ensure consistency around your company story
- At your next Sales Meeting go around the table and see who tells the company story best
- If you want to be fair, tell the team in advance you are going to do the Company Story Test.
- Get them to go to the company brochure or website and get them to learn the story.
- What are the key words, key values and key points in the company story?
- What are the key points of difference and key selling points you want your team to be able to emphasise and deliver on?
Key Point: If you can’t tell the story, how can you live it?
Leigh Farnell
Business Innovation and Growth through Sales and Service Teamwork
If you are interested in learning more about Leigh and his workshops on Essemy, please visit this link.
