Using reference stories may be one of the most underutilized, yet most powerful, methods to sell to your customer. Good companies will provide you a host of resources to help you sell your product. These include sell sheets, brochures, value propositions, data, publications, PowerPoint presentations, etc. The list goes on and on. However, they seldom provide you with powerful reference stories. That’s because these stories are often personal and something you hear from happy customers when conducting discovery out in the field.
Reference stories are so powerful because they are relatable to your customer. Unlike case studies and publications, these stories are personal in how your product created value for another customer, often one that the customer you are now selling to may know! In this free newsletter, I will cover the impact reference stories can have, the customer psychology behind why they work, and how to start building your own bank of stories. If you are a Premier subscriber, I will go a layer deeper in a separate newsletter and provide you a streamlined template that you can use to create and deliver an impactful and effective reference story.
The Impact of Reference Stories
Here are two common customer scenarios I see weekly while out in the field with sales reps:
Scenario 1: We sit down in a customer’s office and the sales rep conducts some discovery with the customer with targeted questions around a problem he is experiencing. Once the customer explains the impact that the problem has had on his business, the sales rep immediately jumps into feature and benefit (F&B) selling of our product and how we can alleviate that problem. Sometimes, the rep will even use a PowerPoint slide from our company’s Marketing team that shows an analytical ROI model to bring credibility to his sales pitch.
Scenario 2: After some discovery with the customer, the sales rep decides to not yet pivot into our product’s value propositions. Instead, he shares a reference story of a similar customer, in a similar business, with a similar problem. In 30-60 seconds, the sales rep shares how our product helped alleviate that problem for the customer and the impact it had on the customer’s business. No F&B selling, no elevator pitch, no PowerPoint slide. Just a story.
In my experience as a Sales Manager, the latter rep often has greater success in beginning a dialogue with a customer (that’s the goal, isn’t it?). That’s because customers don’t always trust data and claims we share with them if we have not yet established trust. But, they do trust experiences, especially if that experience is being shared by a proficient storyteller.
Why Reference Stories Work (Customer Psychology)
Reference stories tend to work for 4 main reasons:
Risk Reduction: While most customers believe in the credibility of a publication or market share data or an ROI model, they are typically thinking, “Yeah, but will this product work for me?”. The former information cannot often answer that question for a customer, but a good reference story can.
Pattern Matching: As humans, we are constantly asking ourselves (often subconsciously), “How do I compare?”. A good refence story needs to match your customer profile, his business, and his experience. If you try to compare the experience of a customer at a Fortune 500 company to a local mom-and-pop shop, your story will fall on deaf ears.
Social Proof: If your story specifically addresses the same problem your customer is experiencing, you will have his attention. Bonus points if your customer knows or has a relationship with the other customer you are referencing in your story.
Cognitive Ease: Stories are easier to process than data. Instead of trying to convey 5+ value propositions of your product, you only need to share one story of how your product solved a problem. And that’s what customers truly care about anyway.
How to Build Your Bank of Stories
The great news about reference story selling is that you likely already have some stories you can fine tune for sharing. If you don’t, you can start collecting them now. For every story, you’ll want to ensure you understand the situation, problem, and outcome. Start to categorize your customers and build a list of stories for each type. For example, if you work in pharmaceutical sales and sell to physicians in Primary Care, Oncology, and Bariatrics, fine tune 2-3 stories for each specialty that you can use for future sales calls.
Of course, you’ll want to practice the delivery of your stories prior to getting in front of a customer. On my team, we actively practice roll plays on one-on-one calls, team calls, and in-person meetings. You can do the same with your manager or coworker.
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Sincerely,
S.M.K., The Sale’s Mentor’s Playbook
For a more personalized approach to your career journey, I conduct one-on-one coaching through virtual portals (Zoom, Teams, etc.), and would be happy to schedule a free 20 minute introductory call to see if I can help you. To reach me, please respond to this email with your contact information.