Sell with a Story: How to Capture Attention, Build Trust, and Close the Sale
- 4h 31m
- Paul Smith
- AMACOM
- 2017
Despite all the high-tech tools available to salespeople, the most personal method still works best.
Storytelling packs the emotional punch to turn routine presentations into productive relationships. It explains products or services in ways that resonate; it connects people and creates momentum. Stories speak to the part of the brain where decisions are made.
Paul Smith, author of the acclaimed Lead with a Story, shifts his best-selling formula to the sales arena. In Sell with a Story, he identifies the ingredients of the most effective sales stories and reveals how to:
Select the right story • Craft a compelling and memorable narrative • Incorporate challenge, conflict, and resolution • Use stories to introduce yourself, build rapport, address objections, add value, bring data to life, create a sense of urgency, and more
Complete with model stories, skill-building exercises, and enlightening examples from Microsoft, Costco, Xerox, Abercrombie & Fitch, Hewlett Packard, and other top companies, this powerful and practical guide gives you the tools you need to turn your experiences into stories that sell.
About the Author
PAUL SMITH is a popular speaker and expert trainer on business storytelling techniques. A former Procter & Gamble executive, his clients include Hewlett Packard, Bayer Medical, Progressive Insurance, Walmart, and other distinguished companies. As the author of Lead with a Story, his work has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Inc., Time, Forbes, The Washington Post, Success, and Investor’s Business Daily.
In this Book
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Sell with a Story─How to Capture Attention, Build Trust, and Close the Sale
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Foreword
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Introduction
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What Is A Sales Story?
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Why Tell Sales Stories?
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Introducing Yourself
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Stories You Tell Yourself
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Getting Buyers to Tell Their Story
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Building Rapport
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The Main Sales Pitch
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Handling Objections
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Closing the Sale
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Storytelling after the Sale
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Elements of a Great Story
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Choosing the Right Story to Tell
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Story Structure
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The Hook (Transition In)
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Context
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Challenge, Conflict, Resolution
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Lesson and Action (Transition Out)
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Emotion
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Surprise
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Dialogue, Details, and Length
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Delivery
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Telling Stories with Data
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Stretching the Truth
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Finding Great Stories
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Practicing and Saving Your Stories
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Getting Started
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25 Stories Salespeople Need
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Selling Story Roadmap
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Story Structure Template
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List of Sales Stories
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Additional Reading
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Endnotes
