Start Sales Pitches With Stories. Here's Why!

0:00When someone comes to my door, I know, because I'm using SimpliSafe. I get an alert straight to my phone and I can see, is this someone I should unlock the door for because I know them? Or is it someone I need to tell to get lost? But here's the thing I love most about SimpliSafe. It works when I am not looking at my phone too, because when I'm not keeping an eye out, SimpliSafe is. SimpliSafe is proactive with a double layer of defense that stops crimes before they start. First, AI-powered cameras spot potential threats outside, and then live agents step in, talking to the person through the camera and letting them know they're on video and police will be dispatched if they don't leave.

0:44They can even trigger a loud siren or spotlight. That's how you help stop a crime before it starts. And SimpliSafe makes it easy to use. There are no long-term contracts, no hidden fees. You can cancel at any time. It was named Best Home Security Systems by U.S. News and World Report for five years running. It offers a 60-day money-back guarantee, so you can try it and see the difference for yourself. This month only, take 50 % off any new system. This is one of the best prices you will ever see for SimpliSafe, so don't miss it. Just go to simplisafe.com slash problem solvers. Again, that is SimpliSafe, S-I-M-P-L-I, S-A-F-E, simplisafe.com slash problem solvers and lock in your discount.

1:33There's no safe like SimpliSafe. From Entrepreneur Media, this is Problem Solvers, a show in which entrepreneurs do what entrepreneurs do best, solve unexpected problems in their business. We were completely wrong. And I'm just like, it's not selling. It was like, we have to start from scratch. I'm Jason Pfeiffer, the editor-in-chief of Entrepreneur Magazine.

2:21Q &A session always produces something unexpectedly wonderful that adds value you could have not expected. And the reason for that is because people start asking questions that are driving towards their primary concerns. And they're going to prompt you to say things that you hadn't maybe even thought were all that useful or surprising or interesting. And turns out to be exactly the thing that they needed. And that's something that happened to me very recently when I hosted a storytelling workshop with my One Thing Better community. What does that mean? I'll tell you a little bit more about it later.

3:03I just want to stay on point here. But the point is that I brought together a bunch of people who have joined this community I built, and I hosted an hour-long workshop about storytelling. And then we got to the Q &A session at the end. And I'm going to play for you the moment in the Q &A session that I got the most feedback on. What you need to know for context is that I'd started the workshop by doing a 10-minute segment of a keynote talk that I give and then breaking down why the storytelling in that segment worked and why I structured it in the way that I did. And then at the very end, one of the people attending asked this really useful question, which was, okay, but what if you don't have a lot of time to tell a story?

3:50The example that I had given in this workshop was a 10 minute story that I do on stage as part of an hour long keynote. But what if you only have a few seconds to tell a story? What if you don't know how much attention you really will get from somebody? And here was my answer to that. So yeah, absolutely. Obviously not everyone has the space to launch into a 10 minute thing as a means of telling a story. That was drafted up because I was going to be on stage. But you can do much faster versions of all of that. Here's something that I often do, for example, when I'm starting off a sales call at Entrepreneur, is when it's my turn, I know my role.

4:30So for example, in my role, I'm not the salesperson. So I don't have to drive towards any numbers or any pitches or anything like that. I'm there to represent the brand and to help people understand the value of the brand and why they should work with us. So now that I know my role and I know my audience, I generally, this is one of the stories that I do. There are a number of others that I do, but I say, whatever, pleasantries, great to be with you. I got an interesting email just a couple months ago, which I just want to tell you about as a starting point to help you understand entrepreneur.

4:59I got an email and the subject line said, personal request from Jason Sudeikis. And you respond to that email as fast as you can, which is what I did. And an hour later, I'm on the phone with this woman who tells me that she works directly with Jason Sudeikis. And they're finishing up the final episode of Ted Lasso right now. And they shot a really quick moment where they used a generic magazine cover. And it told a little bit of a story about what was happening in the episode. And Jason was thinking to himself, last night, it would be better if that was a real magazine cover. It would be better if it was Entrepreneur Magazine.

5:36And so he had this person reach out to me to ask if we could put together a real entrepreneur magazine cover for him to use in the final episode of Ted Lasso. Of course, I said, absolutely. An hour later, I'm on the phone with Jason Zegas. He was so nice. We got the thing done. It was amazing. It was in the season finale or the series finale the next week. And the reason I tell you that story is because blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. That thing took about 30 seconds. But immediately, you're interested in whatever the next thing that I have to say is. And I didn't start by trying to sell you something.

6:08I started by telling you like a little interesting thing, a little peek behind the curtain. And I find that just starting off like that, starting off with a story instead of a piece of information, it brings people in. It lowers their guard. All right. So that's what I said. And that idea of starting a sales pitch, starting a sales call with a story instead of information, That was the thing I heard the most about after the workshop. The most specific comment that I got was that was such an interesting way of thinking about sales. And I realized this idea of starting a pitch with a story isn't as intuitive as maybe I thought it was.

6:56And maybe it deserves a little more unpacking, which is what I'm going to do here on Problem Solvers today. So we'll dig into all that after the break. But first, just very briefly, in case you were curious about that thing I mentioned a minute ago about the community to back up because the community is actually attached to a newsletter that I write. The newsletter, maybe you've heard, is called One Thing Better, One Thing Better. And each week, it is one way to improve your work, feel more successful and satisfied at work and build a career or company that you love. You can find it at one thing better dot email.

7:32That's a web address, one thing better dot email. And the readers are just so amazing. And they reach out and tell me about the ways in which the newsletter has helped them. And I wanted to create an additional layer of connection for people and bring people together so that they weren't just learning from me, but they were learning from each other too. And that's where the one thing better community came from. You'll see if you subscribe, there's an option to upgrade. And if you upgrade, what you get is access to these regular workshops that I host. And then also these great ways to bring people together so that they can interact and learn from each other.

8:06And then we also have a private LinkedIn group where people are connecting. It's really interesting. And I'd love if you wanted to check it out, you'll be able to interact with me and so many great, really smart, ambitious professionals at all stages of achievement and success from early stage entrepreneurs and employees trying to build their careers to later stage people who've been there, done that. Anyway, it's a lot of fun. I'll see you there if you want. Again, one thing better dot email. But for now, let's take a quick break. And then when we get back, we'll be talking about starting your sales pitches with stories.

8:41On this show, we talk a lot about entrepreneurs who tackled business problems and came out the other end more successful. It's about learning from those experiences so that you can grow your business the smart way. Well, now U.S. Bank is offering a new product called U.S. Bank Business Altitude Power World Elite MasterCard. With this card, you can earn two times the points on whatever you're buying for your business, as well as a 75 ,000 point bonus. Just spend$10 ,000 on the account owner's card in the first 120 days of opening your account. There's no categories to remember or hoops to jump through.

9:19Just use the card for any purchases related to your business and earn two times the points with no caps or expiration. How easy is that? Just because it's passive doesn't mean it's not powerful. It's the U.S. Bank Business Altitude Power Card. Power. See, it's right there in the name. So, work smarter, not harder with this great credit card that puts more point earning power in your pocket. Apply for the U.S. Bank Business Altitude Power Card today at usbank.com slash bizpower. That's usbank.com slash biz, B-I-Z, power. Limited time offer. The creditor and issuer of this card is U.S. Bank National Association pursuant to a license from MasterCard International Incorporated.

10:09MasterCard is a registered trademark and the circle's design is a trademark of MasterCard International Incorporated. some restrictions may apply. All right, we're back. Talking about why to start pitches or sales calls or anything where you're trying to convince somebody of something with a story rather than with a whole bunch of information. And before I really dig in, I'm going to add one additional point that I had set in the workshop, actually right after the clip that I had played for you before, just to orient you to where you might have seen this kind of speaking and interactivity before.

10:46It's funny, if you watch television or movies, you will see characters do this all the time. It's a way of writing dialogue, where one character will ask another character a question, and then instead of just answering that question, the character just launches into some story that finally gets back to the point. I remember watching that and thinking, does anybody actually talk like that. And then I realized actually people should talk like that because it's an incredibly compelling way to get your point across. All right. So in this episode, I'm going to share two things about this. Number one, why it works.

11:17Number two, where to get the stories from. Number one, why it works. Number two, where to get the stories from. And here we go. Number one, why it works. Here's why it works. Because scaffolding. I love that word, scaffolding. That is a word that I picked up from an academic who studies how people learn and remember things. And she told me that the way in which we remember new information is that we attach it to existing information that we already have in our heads. So this is the reason why, for example, if you learn something new about something you're an expert in, I don't know, let's just say that you're an expert in Python coding, which I don't know anything about.

12:08Watch me sound stupid. But let's just say you really know Python. And somebody tells you a new piece of information about Python. Well, you, in your brain, find the place where the new information attaches to, amends, expands upon information that you already have. It integrates into your brain. Your brain is basically saying, aha, because I have invested all this time in knowing all of this new piece of information, it must be very useful. Therefore, I will remember it and I will integrate it. It's now connected to other things that I know. That's why you remember it. Now, let's say that you just read an article about black holes.

12:49And I love articles about black holes. I love articles about crazy things in space. But the problem is that me and probably you, we forget what we read the second it's over. I read this article. I thought, this is so interesting. And then I couldn't tell you a thing about it. It's all gone. Why? Because I don't have any body of knowledge in my head to attach it to. I don't have any scaffolding. That's what the word means. Scaffolding is the structure of knowledge inside of your head. If you have that scaffolding and you can build it from the ground up, I wanted to know about black holes. I could go out and take a intro to astronomy class or intro to space science class or something.

13:30And I could build and build and build this knowledge that I know a lot about black holes. And then when I read this news story about black holes, I'll have the scaffolding and it will attach to it. But if that scaffolding doesn't exist, then you don't remember. And the reason why this is important for you to think about right now is because stories create scaffolding. If I were to call you up and tell you about a service that I have, and you don't really understand the service, even if it's useful to you, but it's just not a familiar way of thinking about your work or your needs, it just doesn't make sense.

14:04It doesn't connect. It doesn't attach to anything. But if I first tell you a story that sounds familiar, or it's a story in which I'm telling you about a relatable person or an interesting thing that happened, or this is just something for you to hook onto. Now you're engaged, you're involved. It's either a story that you're going to remember, or it's a story that's going to remind you of things that you already know, remind you of yourself. And by the time I get to the end of that story, and then start getting to the point, the reason why that story was valuable, the thing that happened in that story.

14:37Now you're oriented. Now it's easier for you to understand. It's easier for you to remember. I have a friend who does consumer insights research, and we were talking about the challenges that she has pitching for services because not every company understands consumer insights research. And I said, tell me a story of a client that you helped. And she told me this amazing story about the sock company. I've actually even told the story on problem solvers before, but the very short of it is that the sock company was started by an athlete and it was targeting athletes. And then my friend, whose name is Rochelle DeVoe, came in and discovered through a lot of research that the company's best customers weren't athletes at all.

15:21They were actually people with foot pain who are working on their feet all day, like nurses and teachers and stuff. And then once the sock company understood that, they completely changed their marketing and their product and product development. And as a result, they unlocked tremendous growth. And that story, a better version of that story than the one I just rushed through right now, but that story is what Rochelle now shares at the beginning of her presentations, at the beginning of her pitches, because it helps people understand it. They see themselves in the story of the sock company. They see how the thing that she's doing can benefit them.

16:03And then she can get into the details. It's orienting. It's building scaffolding. That's why it works. That's why you should start with it. It's also just so much more engaging, right? People have their gary up when you're telling them something you might want to sell them. But when you're just telling a story, anybody can get into a story. That's why commercials, advertisements are mostly just stories with a little pitch at the end. Okay, that's why it matters. Now let's move on to number two, which is where do the stories come from? Here's the amazing thing. They come from your life. They come from your work.

16:35Whenever you interact with a client and they tell you something great that happened because of the thing that you do for them, write that down. Start a folder somewhere. Start a file. Just jot all those things down. Start to repeat those things to other people. Find the stories that come out the nicest, that you have the most fun telling, that seem to resonate with people the most. Your life is full of material that is constantly passing you by because you're not going to remember it. You just won't. The number of people who have told me fascinating things that I don't remember is I could cry if I could see a list of it.

17:17But I can't. So instead, I create a list. If somebody tells me an interesting thing, I jot it down. I often write about it in my newsletter, which helps other people learn from it, but also, frankly, just helps me remember it because now I've gone through the process of sharing it with others and I've created a record of it. Anyway, those things in your life, that is your material. Those are the stories. Find the ones that matter the most and then leap into them at the beginning of your pitch. If you only have two minutes, fine. Two minutes of somebody's attention. spend the first 30 seconds on that story and then get to the point.

17:50But I am telling you, I have just, I've seen it work over and over again. I've been doing it for years. When you start with a story, you bring people in, you give them an orientation point, you help them build the scaffolding. And you're just telling the stories that mattered, that were proven through life, through experience. And that's the stuff that was going to resonate the most. It's not some piece of fiction. It's something that really happened, something that mattered to someone else, and it can matter to the person who you are telling it to. Tell those stories. Tell them at the beginning.

18:27People will be hooked. They'll want to know what is next. And that's our episode. I would love to hear what you think, and maybe even about a problem that you solved, you can find me at my website, jasonfeifer.com. J-A-S-O-N-F-E-I-F-E-R.com. Also, I have some more useful stuff for you. I write a newsletter about how to future-proof yourself and become more adaptable and optimistic. I would love for you to sign up. It is at jasonfeifer.bulletin.com. Also, check out my other podcast. It's called Build for Tomorrow. In each episode, I take on some belief that we have that holds us back from progress and show you why it is not as bad as you think.

19:09Problem Solvers is a production of Entrepreneur Media and comes out every Monday morning. So make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss an episode. Thanks to Deepa Shah for production. My name is Jason Pfeiffer. See you next week.