1/2/2025-Share some holiday stories

PPT slides are boring, and so too are emails; neither have the power to engage your customer emotionally. Change the predictability of your interactions by telling stories your customers will enjoy.

Did something story-worthy happen to you over the holidays? …something you could share with a buyer?

Sharing a personal story with a buyer will help you connect human-to-human, which might be more impactful than engaging as seller-to-buyer.

Any day of the year is a good day to share a story, but this one is especially prime, given you’ve been accumulating memories the last few weeks. Your stories don’t have to be long; one minute of your dog throwing up eggnog on your baby niece is enough.

Think about something unique or funny that you experienced over the holidays. (There’s gotta be something.)

Next, package it into an anecdote you will use in the next few weeks when your customers ask, "So…what did you do over the break?"

Besides being proficient in your value prop and objection handling, your job requires entertaining your customers.

Share personal stories, and you’ll share yourself and build trust.

Somewhere along the line, email and slides took over as primary selling tools. It was assumed that they were all enough to get the job done.

It’s nobody’s fault…it just happened. Business got intense, and with it, everyone went with the flow.

Email and PPT slides will continue to be your primary communication tools, but adding stories to your repertoire will create a new dimension of engagement and bonding between you and your buyers.

Think about engagement this way: do PPT slides potentially make buyers laugh? Do PPT slides get remembered? Do PPT slides move your customer’s emotions?

And, of course, the same applies to using email.

Stories engage humans and bond them emotionally. In a world of commoditized offerings and value props that all sound the same, telling stories to your buyers is a differentiator.

Remember…
1. Keep your stories short. One to two minutes is all that is needed.

2. Create a good story to share about your weekend for your Monday interactions. Those personal stories will go far to bond you with your prospects.

3. Learn to frame your case studies and business anecdotes as stories…it’s all in the delivery. It’s all about how you tell the anecdote.

4. Follow the traditional story framework: intro, conflict, resolution, and payoff! The structure is important for your audience.

5. MOST importantly…tell your stories with enthusiasm and personality…that matters more than the content itself.

Always keep a few stories at hand ready to share…you’ll put smiles on their faces, and yours.

In this engaging TED Talk from filmmaker Andrew Stanton (Nemo, Wall-E), you’ll hear the punchline "Make them care."

And that’s a darn good reminder of what you’re trying to do with your customers.

Make them care about your business, and more importantly, YOU!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxDwieKpawg