Why and how to use storytelling in sales

May 6, 2021

Among the tools at our disposal in sales techniques, we find active listening, the capacity to present arguments in benefits for the customer, and there is as well one very important tool that is common to literature, theatre and cinema: storytelling. Telling stories is often seen as an art in itself, some people being particularly gifted at it. However anybody can learn how to tell compelling and emotion-inducing stories. Let’s see why and how to use storytelling in sales.

Why should you use storytelling?

First of all let’s take a step back and try to understand, in a broader context, where lies the strength of storytelling.

Storytelling defines us as humans

In his book Homo Deus, A Brief History of Tomorrow, Yuval Noha Harari describes how humanity distinguishes itself from other species by its capacity to tell stories and elaborate scenarios around which humans have universally built large and complex societies. Since the apparition of language 100,000 years ago humans have always told stories.

Stories are about fundamental elements of life

We generally relate to stories because they incorporate fundamental elements of life: good vs. evil, love, betrayal, adversities, victory, family, etc. The stories that have crossed time reflect the great myths of humanity: Icarus and hubris (overreaching oneself), Peter Pan and the never-ending childhood, or more recently the Lion King and the journey to adulthood. Stories resonate deeply in us, we relate to their characters. Stories reflect our lives, to the point where a story is a representation of our own “hero” journey in a life with its fair amount of challenges.

Why and how to use storytelling in sales — **Photo Credit: Disney Enterprises**

Storytelling causes the release of good hormones

When you are listening to a good story teller, you feel certain emotions that cause the release of hormones in your body. You want your customer to feel these emotions and have these hormones in their system when deciding whether they want to buy your products. For example, dopamine is the hormone that triggers focus, motivation and memory. Oxytocin favors bonding, trust and generosity. Finally, endorphines put you in a creative, focused and relaxed state. We will see later on how storytelling causes their release.

How to tell a compelling story?

Now that we understand why storytelling can help us in the selling process, let’s see how.

The narrative components

Any good story includes the following components:

The hero: the main character of the story. Ideally he or she should share some traits with the customer, so that he or she can relate to the hero.
The stimulus: something that pushes the hero toward solving their own problem or changing the situation for the better.
Tension or conflict: problems, struggles, trials, and dangers the hero needs to overcome.
A crossroad: the moment the hero needs to choose a path to bring him or her to the solution.
The moral of the story: sentence summarizing how the hero’s problem is solved by the solution he or she found, and what can be learned from that.

Creating emotions

Contrary to dry presentations of data, stories appeal both to logic (right brain) and emotions (left brain). Emotions definitely play a role in purchasing decisions, all the more so in the case of luxury goods. For example, if a story contains a lot of suspense, with a cliffhanger moment. dopamine will be released. If the story provokes empathy (for example a sad story), the body secretes oxytocin. Finally, when the story is very funny and causes laughter, endorphines are created. If you manage to gather all three in one story, it is a winning recipe. To go further on this topic watch the Ted Talk of David JP Phillips.

Making your story lively and dynamic

First of all to make your story livelier, use your voice: speed variations, silences (they help your interlocutor to “digest” your message), intonation (or prosody). Be attentive to your audience and adapt to their reactions and look for signs of buy-in.

Second of all use your body: use your hands to emphasize some important words, stand up straight to be able to breathe correctly, with your stomach if possible in order to both relax and master your voice speed. Look at your interlocutor in the eyes and if you have 2 interlocutors, switch from one to the other regularly.

When should you use storytelling?

The first key moment is when you give some information about the brand, generally in the first part of the presentation. For example you explain the creation of the brand. Let’s take the example of a legendary brand, Rolex, and have a look at the narrative components:

The hero: Hans Wilsdorf, the founder of Rolex
The stimulus: at the end of the 19th century, wristwatches were mostly regarded as women’s jewelry, no one believed it possible to make a wristwatch rugged enough for a man’s use.
Tension or conflict: the true challenge, for Hans Wilsdorf, was to develop and produce a water-resistant watch.
A crossroad: in 1927, one year after the release of the world’s first water-resistant watch, the Rolex Oyster, a young swimmer, Mercedes Gleitze, became the first woman to swim the English Channel, in over 10 hours, wearing an Oyster.
The moral of the story: the very first achievement of Rolex reflects the ethos Hans Wilsdorf instilled to push back the limits of the possible, which underpins every aspect of the brand’s interests, from watchmaking to its support for testimonees and partners.

The second key moment is when you introduce the model to the customer. There are often interesting stories to tell about the creative process, a technical development or an innovation. The product could be launched to celebrate an anniversary, or it could be a limited edition: build a story around that, try to gather extra-information about the human adventure it has been, and the challenges faced along the way. But never make it up, you risk losing credibility.