As I finished the training he looked at me and said, that’s it?! You don’t sell anything? What if my company would like to work with you?
Nop, that’s it…
Situations like this started happening more and more. People were coming to me at the end of my meetup, wanting my help. Ready to give me money and I didn’t have anything to offer them.
Each time, I felt more embarrassed and frustrated.
I felt embarrassed because my imposter syndrome would kick in. They must think I’m an amateur for not having an offer. They can see right through me.
And then I felt frustrated with myself for not being able to figure out an offer. For wasting the opportunity to go deeper into something I’m passionate about. The chance to get paid while helping somebody make more money!
It was tough…
But of course, it all makes sense now. Going through this was absolutely crucial. Because it helped me figure out a fundamental element of my StorySelling framework.
What I didn’t realize at the time is so easy to see now. I had figured out a way to sell people by actually giving them value.
Gary Vaynerchuk says give, give, give, ask. What I discovered was the power of give, give, give, give, give, give, get.
Give value continuously and people will come to you. If people feel you understand them and can help them, they will go out of their way to see how they can work with you.
Give value continuously and people will come to you. If people feel you understand them and can help them, they will go out of their way to see how they can work with you. Click To TweetI know it because people booked 1:1 meetings with me without me even offering them.
Looking back, I can see it was too early for me to see it. I lacked the experience to realize what was happening. But actually, today, I’m doing the same, I just made it part of my strategy.
So often I hear entrepreneurs say “they better pay me for this or that” and while it may have short-term gains, your goal should be to provide long-term value.
As I learn more about it, it turns out, I wasn’t alone, this stuff works. And a big believer in it is the famous business coach Jay Abraham, he calls it the Strategy of Preeminence!
The idea is simple, what’s hard is coming to terms with it when you are an expert and you get paid for thinking. But that’s it, show people what they need to do to solve their problem and they will want to know how everything works.
Now, for this strategy to work, one thing is essential. What you give and how you give matters. This will make all the difference between people coming to you or running away.
Get this wrong and nobody will show up.
You Have To Play The Long Game
A quick warning before we proceed, all this stuff only works if you are playing the long game. Because it takes time to build up.
It takes time for you to get good enough that you start to speak with the confidence and clarity that attract people to you.
But when you do, everything will change.
So stop asking the universe, “will I be successful? Will this succeed?” and instead ask “can I hold on long enough to see success happen?”
The majority of people fail because they give up too early. Success takes time. Don’t underestimate the amount of pain, sacrifice, and work needed to earn it.
Life will constantly test you to see how much you want success.
With that being said, here is the framework.
What Is StorySelling?
StorySelling is the combination of storytelling with psychological principles of sales.
And it’s used with the purpose of getting people to see value in a product and want it without feeling sold.
As people interact with you, StorySelling helps them get value at each step of the way, pushing them to want more.
Which keeps them going further down the sales process. Until finally, the only way to resolve the tension is by buying the product.
Just like in a movie, where the characters go through a series of situations building up tension. And the writers start a story and then move on to another one without solving it first? That’s called a nested loop. These are related stories left open to keep you hooked.
Then, as you continue watching, they close one loop only to open another.
When it comes to your business, your company story is the movie, and the steps in your sales process are the nested loops. Keeping the buyer hooked, moving them along as they get value at each step.
That’s why what you say and how you say it is key. It needs to build an emotional connection so that people see get value and want more of it.
And guess what’s the best way to build an emotional connection?
A story.
Stories allow us to build emotional connections with our listeners.
So What Should Your Stories Be About?
Nothing is more powerful than helping your customers grow by providing them with a new angle on an old problem. A new way of seeing something that allows them to overcome the obstacle.
So how can you do that?
Simple, focus on identifying your customer’s fake beliefs and then tell them the story of how you overcome them.
Because of their past experiences, the place they grew up, their parents, etc. your customers have fake beliefs. These beliefs affect the way they see you, your product, your industry, etc.
These fake beliefs are limiting them from taking the action or decision they need to continue growing.
It’s your job as their mentor to help them break free from it. And you do it by telling the story of how you crushed that same fake belief.
Either for yourself or somebody like them.
But Juan, If I Do This, They Will Not Want To Work With Me!
No, this is exactly the reason they will want to work with you.
This process will make them want more. It shows them you have the expertise to help them. By overcoming the obstacle, they are now in a new territory and you clearly know how to navigate it.
They see progress and it’s thanks to you so they want to stick around.
This is why you should not put your best product in the back of the store but rather give it for free. It will hook them, pushing them to tell the world about you.
Then, figure out a business model that focuses on charging for helping them with the implementation, not the knowledge.
How To Figure Out Your Customer’s Fake Beliefs?
They are easier to spot than you think.
People will tell you their fake beliefs through their questions, objections, comments, feedback, complaints, etc.
Just make sure to listen.
Continue to get out there, talk to them, learning. Once you reach a certain level of expertise on the topic, you will see them all over the place.
Be more concerned about your fake beliefs because they are the ones holding YOU back.
I recently did a YouTube video on this, you can watch it here.
Since you made it this far, I’m guessing that you see there is a different way to grow a service business.
That means you also believe you don’t need to be begging and chasing customers to make a sale.
Instead, you want them to want to work with you. To see the value of your ideas, and how you can help them grow.
Then maybe you should join our weekly StorySelling for Service Providers Masterclass.
It’s delivered live, every Thursday, and it’s free.
You can join it by clicking here