Episode 318: Janice B Gordon
Meet
Janice B Gordon
Janice B Gordon is listed as one of LinkedIn Sales 15 Innovative Sales Influencers to Follow, 2021, and founder of Scale Your Sales Podcast and Framework. Janice is The Customer Growth Expert. She energizes audiences and helps sales organizations reimagine revenue growth through customer excellence and sales.
Our Mission Is To Change The Negative Perception Of Sales People
Our Vision Is A World Where Selling Is A Profession To Be Proud Of
Buyers can read the features and benefits of products and services. They don’t need salespeople to tell them that. What do they need? Someone to help them imagine what the solution will feel like on the other side of the buying process. Storytelling helps the buyer relate the proposed solution to the buyer’s problem. It helps them believe that there is a solution and they gain confidence in you. When you tell stories, it activates oxytocin and makes people feel good. Storytelling fits the way humans are wired and that’s how you should communicate. Learn more about Janice’s imaginative storytelling process in this episode of Sales Reinvented!
Outline of This Episode
- [0:52] Why storytelling is an important skill to possess
- [2:27] Why anyone can become a great storyteller
- [4:25] The ingredients of a story that sells
- [6:16] Attributes of a great storyteller
- [8:09] Ways to improve your storytelling abilities
- [9:30] Top 3 storytelling dos and top 3 don’ts
- [13:26] Change the way you engage with your audience
The ingredients of a story that sells
Everyone knows how successful Apple has been. They have a program called the three “Fs” of empathy: feel, felt, found. It’s the key to their storytelling. Does your buyer or audience empathize through the medium of storytelling? Do they see themselves in the story and say, “That’s me!” Or, “I’ve had that experience?”
When you get these responses, you’ll know that your stories are empathizing with your audience. You can’t just tell a story. People need to engage with it. It must be relatable. When you use dialogue, it makes it more engaging. Nailing the delivery can make the difference. So whenever you get the chance, practice your stories on people you know. Even if you’re a gifted storyteller, you need to maintain your skills.
Janice points out that something happens in your life every day. Even if they’re personal stories, they can still be relatable to an individual buyer. Write down something that made you laugh, was unusual, or was memorable so when you’re looking for a story to tell, you’ll be able to find them.
Attributes of a great storyteller
The key attribute Janice believes is necessary is relatability. People need to see themselves as the hero of your story. Storytelling must contain novelty; something new. You’re selling them a solution that they don’t know about. Get them to imagine the new thing and relate to it. A great way to do that is to use the customer’s or buyer’s language.
Storytelling enables the buyer to feel comfortable with your new solution. It doesn’t feel as scary when they can imagine it and see themselves in it. And if they don’t see themselves as the champion of the story, you’ve missed the mark.
Top 3 storytelling dos and top 3 don’ts
What are some of Janice’s top storytelling tips?
- Add intriguing dialog to your stories—but don’t mimic accents if you do them poorly. If you’re mimicking the buyer’s accent and they think you’re doing a poor job—or are mocking them—they will disengage. Stick to your own accent.
- Practice your stories with family, friends, and coworkers.
- Where do you pause in your story? Amend your story by using pauses to add dramatic effect. It changes the emphasis and helps you get the transformation across.
- Don’t put your product in the story or yourself as the hero. The customer is always the hero. It helps them relate and see that there is a solution to their problem.
- Don’t use jargon and marketing speak. If you do, your story won’t feel personal or authentic. Use simple language when you tell stories.
- Stories are always based in truth. Never make up a story to fit what you want to sell.
Change the way you engage with your audience
Janice started working with a publishing company that was losing customers to new competition in their space. When Janice was brought in to consult, she immediately noticed they were trying to sell themselves based on features and benefits.
So Janice convinced salespeople to create stories of what they thought their customers were thinking when they were explaining features and benefits. They realized that they weren’t telling the stories their customers needed to hear.
You have to stand in the shoes of your customers. When you are able to see things from their perspective, you’ll have a revelation that can transform the way you sell. You want your customer to say, “If they can do that, I can do that too.”
It just takes a little bit of work to move away from features and benefits and get your customer to imagine the future. What happened when they changed the way they engaged with their customers? Find out in this episode of Sales Reinvented!
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Resources & People Mentioned
Connect with Janice B Gordon
Connect With Paul Watts
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Learn More About Janice B Gordon
Are there any books on or including Storytelling that you recommend? It is not on storytelling but is a great example of storytelling – Life of Pi
In the field of Business Story Telling – Who do you most admire and why? Patricia Fripp, she is a Jedi Master story seller, presentation expert, speaker coach.
Are there any aspects of your own Story Telling skills that you are working on improving at the moment? Yes, always it is never complete, what works with one audience or character, may not with another.
Hobbies, Interests? Traveling and exercise.
How can our listeners contact with you? https://scaleyoursales.co.uk or LinkedIn
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