Tiffany is a senior account executive at DataServ, a company that helps businesses go completely paperless and manage all their payables, receivables, and human resources processes and documents online. One of the more common objections she gets during a call with a new prospect goes something like this: “I know your system would save us…
Category: After Care Module
Problem stories
These are stories about people who encountered exactly the kind of problem your product is designed to solve. They’re especially helpful if buyers don’t even know they have a problem. Importantly, such a story allows buyers to understand the problem in a more personal, visceral way than just being told, “I’ll bet you have this…
Founding story
Backroads Active Travel Company When our founder, Tom Hale, was a kid, he wasn’t much of a fan of mass tourism. You know, big theme parks where people are shuffled around in herds and stand in line for hours just for a three-minute ride. He felt like he was trapped in an artificial, sedentary environment…
"I'll go to bat for you with my company" story
Although they might not complain about it, most buyers would admit that they wouldn’t respect a salesperson who caved on every special request. But they won’t do business long with someone who never does. The truth is that in disagreements between supplier and customer, sometimes one side has a better argument and sometimes the other.…
"I'll tell you when I can't help you" story
One of the things I learned from interviewing professional buyers was that there are two things salespeople can do to immediately earn buyers’ trust and credibility. In the words one buyer used to explain it, “First, tell me when you cannot help me. And second, tell me when you made a mistake before I find…
"Why I do what I do" story
The major premise of Simon Sinek’s bestselling book Start with Why can be summarized in his statement “People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it.” It should make sense, then, that in order to know you well enough to trust you, a buyer needs to understand why you do what you…
Storytelling with data and starting your story with a mystery
The following is an example of both storytelling with data and a story that’s kicked off with a mystery — one of the most effective story starters you’ll find. IN THE SUMMER OF 2000, I worked in P&G’s diaper business, where we make and market the Pampers and Luvs brands. I was given a unique…

Fixing story structure
Instructions: Read this short story. Then re-order it to be in the proper Hook-Context-Challenge-Conflict-Resolution-Lesson/Action sequence. The story takes place in a leadership team discussion about how to get employees to follow the clean desk policy better. Specifically, they were talking about how to get everyone to not leave their documents on the printers overnight. I…