Rob Polster

This article provides a way to quickly get the customer to lower his guard and tell you what you want to know.  Shaping an RFP requires inspiring the customer with a better way to meet his objectives. But learning a customer’s objectives can be difficult without trust.

You can use stories to create trust. Stories engage and disarm people. If you have the right kind of story to tell prospects – one that conveys insights that they will value – you can rapidly build the trust and connection you need to learn and solve the customer’s real problems.

But reciting past performance won’t do it. Too boring.  To create engaging stories you must:

  • Choose the Right Hero
  • Choose the Right Problem
  • Choose the Right Results

CHOOSE THE RIGHT HERO

Make the customer the hero of your story.  You should be the guide (like Yoda in Star Wars). This hero/guide interaction is widely used to create blockbuster movies, bestselling novels, and award-winning commercials.  The same formula works for sales stories.

CHOOSE THE RIGHT PROBLEM

To resonate with government executives, make the story describe a real Government agency problem. Example: Agency program heads need funding to support mission critical systems, but they can’t get funding because the IRB never approved their systems. So what happens next?  That’s the question you want listeners to ask.

CHOOSE THE RIGHT RESULTS

Conclude the story with real results addressing the original problem.  How were stakeholders affected by the solution, and what did they say about it? What was the career impact on the hero?  (Did she get promoted?)

You can’t learn a customer’s objectives without first building trust.  Stories are great for trust building, if they convey useful insights. Develop sales stories by extracting insights from past projects and identifying the right hero, the right problem, and the right results.