How to Be a Better Salesperson in Your Small Business

Feel free to share… Every week as SmallBizLady , I conduct interviews with experts on my Twitter talk show #SmallBizChat. The show takes place every Wednesday on Twitter from 8-9pm ET. This is excerpted from my recent interview with sales expert, Mike Adams @MikeAdamsSales . He taught himself storytelling ‘on the job’ while selling and managing sales teams for international corporations including Siemens, Nokia, and Halliburton. Since 2014, he has been helping companies win more business through his storytelling consulting practice. He is the author of Seven Stories Every Salesperson Must Tell . Mike is based in Melbourne, Australia . For more information : www.thestoryleader.com SmallBizLady: What is the biggest challenge small businesses have with sales? Mike Adams: Small businesses don’t have the advantage of being a well-known brand, so they must grow organically via the stories their clients, partners, and friends tell about them. We call that referral-selling, and it can (and must) be managed as a process . SmallBizLady: How can leveraging stories enable a salesperson to shorten their sales cycle? Mike Adams: Sales cycle times reduce as trust increases. The right story at the right time in the buying cycle dramatically increases trust and speeds up the process. “Connection stories, such as your personal story and company story, position you as relatable and as an authority in your field. Values stories teach your buyer how your company will behave if things go wrong – which reduces your buyer’s perception of risk. Success stories allow your buyer to ‘experience’ your products and services before they buy – again, reducing risk and increasing buyer comfort. SmallBizLady: You wrote the book ‘Seven Stories Every Salesperson Must Tell.’ What are the seven stories? Mike Adams: There are 3 story types: HOOK, FIGHT, and LAND. HOOK stories are stories that connect: […]

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