The art of storytelling and your sales presentation
Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2025 9:33 am
Stanford professor Chip Heath demonstrates the importance of storytelling in his book, "Ideas That Stick ." He recounts an exercise with his students in which he divided them into groups and asked them to give a one-minute persuasive speech based on the data he had just shown them.
After the presentations and a short break, he asked the class to write down everything they remembered about them. Sixty-three percent remembered the story presentations, while only 5% remembered a single piece of information from a statistics presentation.
Therefore, it's a good idea to use stories in your sales presentation to help potential customers remember the key points.
On this, Particular Audience sales manager Thomas Dredge says:
Analogies or relatable stories are an extremely powerful technique for avoiding the use of internal jargon and allowing the customer to understand the product/service in the real world. For example, explaining an online display ad can be compared to a professionally designed billboard on the side of a building. Salespeople often confuse customers by using complicated language. They may believe this makes them appear more knowledgeable, but it's not a good way to sell. People buy ig database things they understand. Help them understand!
Start with a problem
Your sales presentation should begin with the problem or pain point your customers have that your product or service solves.
Selling value is key. It's important to understand your buyer and tailor their journey to what you can do for them. First, you need to understand what motivates them to have a conversation, which allows you to identify their pain points and present how your offer solves them. Everything you present to a potential customer should be based specifically on their value.
Keep your audience engaged by focusing exclusively on the most important features. Avoid talking about irrelevant elements or issues, as this could distract your listeners from building a sense of using your product themselves.
Rather than simply presenting your product, a good sales presentation paints a picture of what a customer's life could be like with a solution to their problem. How will it change their business or their lives for the better? How will it change their world? And most importantly, how will it reduce expenses and increase revenue?
After the presentations and a short break, he asked the class to write down everything they remembered about them. Sixty-three percent remembered the story presentations, while only 5% remembered a single piece of information from a statistics presentation.
Therefore, it's a good idea to use stories in your sales presentation to help potential customers remember the key points.
On this, Particular Audience sales manager Thomas Dredge says:
Analogies or relatable stories are an extremely powerful technique for avoiding the use of internal jargon and allowing the customer to understand the product/service in the real world. For example, explaining an online display ad can be compared to a professionally designed billboard on the side of a building. Salespeople often confuse customers by using complicated language. They may believe this makes them appear more knowledgeable, but it's not a good way to sell. People buy ig database things they understand. Help them understand!
Start with a problem
Your sales presentation should begin with the problem or pain point your customers have that your product or service solves.
Selling value is key. It's important to understand your buyer and tailor their journey to what you can do for them. First, you need to understand what motivates them to have a conversation, which allows you to identify their pain points and present how your offer solves them. Everything you present to a potential customer should be based specifically on their value.
Keep your audience engaged by focusing exclusively on the most important features. Avoid talking about irrelevant elements or issues, as this could distract your listeners from building a sense of using your product themselves.
Rather than simply presenting your product, a good sales presentation paints a picture of what a customer's life could be like with a solution to their problem. How will it change their business or their lives for the better? How will it change their world? And most importantly, how will it reduce expenses and increase revenue?