Engage your Customers with Stories
Tags: Edtech, Bootcamp, Tunisia, Storytelling, Sales

This content is a short summary of the Skills21 session ‘Storytelling’ delivered by Amine Lamine

Storytelling is a powerful business skill and when implemented effectively, it creates a strong brand and increases customer engagement.

Indeed, our brains are wired to love stories and hate numbers. When reading straight data, only the language parts of our brains work to decode the meaning. But when we read or listen to a story, not only do the language parts of our brains light up, but any other part of the brain that we would use if we were experiencing the story becomes activated as well. This means it’s far easier for us to remember stories than numbers and hard facts.

What is storytelling?

Storytelling means using a narrative to communicate a message. The aim is to make the viewer feel something — enough that it’ll inspire them to take action. Telling a story helps consumers to understand why they should care about something.

Why should you learn storytelling?

Great stories can easily catch your audience’s attention especially in a very noisy world where getting attention can be very challenging. Storytelling can also trigger emotions when done, emotions are key especially when you are selling because people buy with their emotions first before their wallets.

However, it’s not only limited to sales only but also marketing as well. Many companies use storytelling as a tool to spread their brand awareness. Lastly, stories leave a lasting impression on people which makes them memorable.

Now, let’s learn how you can create a story that moves people!

How to craft a powerful story? Use this map.

Are you a believer?

If you want people to believe in your story, you have to be a believer as well. You need to believe in what you are the product or service that you are offering by going beyond the why, the when, and the what of what you are doing. In other words, understanding the core value that you can bring to the customer and how your offer can change your customer’s life.

Make a catchy intro

Of course, assuming that you know your audience or buyer persona, the first step is to create an introduction that catches the attention of your target. People will judge if your story is worth it or not from the first words that you use. You can start your story with an interesting fact or truth in which case be sure to get your facts straight. The more controversial and meaningful the fact, the better. Make sure to convey a feeling at the beginning of the story. Again, storytelling is a mix of feelings and facts working together.

Set your move

When creating a story, it’s always important to keep one thing in mind. You are selling an experience. That’s what makes storytelling so special. Don’t stress about how your product/service has a lot of features etc. Instead try to sell an experience, immerse your customers in a journey that he will enjoy if he commits to your offer.

Your goal here is to set the stage by highlighting the core elements that we are going to discuss in the next step.

Oh Yeah! moment

This is the most crucial and challenging step in storytelling. After the setup, your goal here is to keep up the intensity of the emotional side of your story. You need to make sure that your audience is hooked and emotionally invested throughout the whole story. It requires a lot of skill and practice.

Another alternative is to either raise the intensity or lower it. Have you ever watched a TV commercial that made you feel excited and then there is a moment of suspense or perhaps something bigger happens in the ad that made you feel more excited? That’s the kind of effect you should be aiming for. Putting the audience on an emotional rollercoaster.

Conclude with a memorable ending

There are various ways to conclude your story. The best way is to give a memorable ending. You can leave your ending open and let your audience imagine the rest of the story. In that case, a conclusion is not necessary and can be filled with your CTA instead (Try to create a swift transition between the 2 elements).

Call to Action

The key to a great call to action in storytelling is to express as implicit and as smooth as possible. A good tip here is to reflect on the experience that you just share with your customer. Assuming that you shared a great story, your customer is thirsty for more, all you have to do then is bring up your CTA and invite them to have more of that experience.

If you are interested in pursuing a sales career, Skills21 is the right solution for you. We help you, not only develop tech sales skills but join promising startups in the MENA and Africa. To get more details about us, please visit https://www.getskills21.com/