Paul Smith is well-known speaker and expert trainer on storytelling techniques for business purposes. His writing has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Inc., Time, Forbes and The Washington Post among other publications. His latest book, Sell with a Story, is a guidebook to learning a new skill, storytelling.
It’s destined to become a bestseller. The book covers a topic that I’ve heard people talk about for years. I’ve worked in sales, marketing, teaching, and management roles. Storytelling has been a business buzz word for many years. The problem for many who want to use storytelling is that they’re uncertain of how to begin.
This book answers so many questions about storytelling. It provides step-by-step on how to build a library of stories, how and when to use them. The author details story “roadmaps,” and story wish lists such as the “25 Stories Salespeople Need.”
Smith provides readers with the “six attributes of a story.” The six include a time indicator, a place indicator, a main character, an obstacle, a goal, and events.
He writes, “Compared to other forms of communication used in sales, storytelling has a number of unique abilities. It can help capture your buyer’s attention and build your mutual relationship.”
Some of the ten compelling reasons why Smith believes that telling stories is one of the master sales tools include telling stories help buyers relax, they help build strong relationships, stories speak to the part of the brain that makes decisions and it makes it easier for the buyer to remember you, your ideas, and your products.
Smith’s recipe for good stories reveals how to craft a memorable and compelling narrative, and how to incorporate challenge, conflict and resolution among other tools. This book is a great resource for people new to the sales profession and those who are seasoned and looking for a new skill to master and a new tool to use.
The first half of the book details the benefits of using stories to sell while the second half of the book details how to craft sales stories. I’ve been on the receiving end of sales stories and on the giving end.
A really good sales story to me is one that really makes me think about the product or the service I’m about to purchase. It always proves the experience of the person selling with the product or service they are selling. To me, for the salesperson to be able to deliver a good story or two, it demonstrates a level of commitment to their profession and the industry they are representing.
I really like the way the author presents storytelling as a skill that can be learned. This book will help salespeople build that skill to sell more, build better relationships with customers, and be more successful.
Smith aims his topic to sales people but I think the book can be used by a list of different professions. I recommend reading this book to all persons in business be it sales, human resources, management, teachers, trainers, or other high level positions.