Are You Telling Stories or Just Reciting Facts?

What’s the difference?

 

Great stories get remembered and retold;

Facts, on their own, just fade away and disappear!

 

I first heard this story a dozen years ago:

 

“Let me share what happened with another customer. She was close to completing a critical project when there was a terrific rainstorm, the roof caved in, and the server room flooded. Even worse, many of the systems had shorted out as the water engulfed them. All the storage, routers, switches, and servers were dead – even the ‘Uninterruptible Power Supplies’ were killed when they were inundated. The room was an absolute disaster!

 

When she heard the news and saw the photos of the flooded room, she was shocked and appalled. She called the facility right away and found the damage was even worse than the photos showed. That room was toast!

 

She thought all was lost, but because she had just implemented our Disaster Recovery software, she discovered that all the files were already on the machines at the backup facility – and she was able to complete her project ahead of time and under budget…!”

 

This story has been remembered and retold many times. I’ve heard it from DR vendors multiple times as well as a few customers!

 

Now, compare that story with the following:

 

“Our backup feature keeps you protected from disasters…” 

 

Those are facts: important, perhaps, but uninspiring. Retention will be low, and they won’t be retold!

 

Analyze your stories using this scale:

 

Level 1 – Feature Statement: you present a capability and describe what it does.

Level 2 – Advantage Statement: you present a capability, describe what it does, and communicate the potential business value for your prospect or customer.

Level 3 – Benefit Statement: you present a capability, describe what it does, and confirm the value, based on discovery.

Level 4 – Leveraging an analogy or metaphor: you use a metaphor or analogy to illustrate and connect to your prospect’s existing experiences.

Level 5 – Storytelling: you wrap the capability inside an effective, compelling story that engages, entertains, embeds, and enables recommunication of the capability and value by your audience.

 

Are you really telling stories or just reciting facts?

Intriguing Insights into RFPs and Scripted Demos

 

"There are two winners in every deal: the person who wins the deal and the first person out of it."

– Patrick McLoughlin

 

What’s in this article for you? 

 

Some tactical nuggets and the occasional strategic gem! This article explores practices that can improve your decision-making and response efficacy, including:

 

RFP Responses:

 

-       Should we participate?

-       Engaging your prospect’s consultant

-       Being first

-       The anchoring effect

-       Adding rows

-       Conversations with your prospect

-       Pulling back

 

Delivering Scripted Demos:

 

-       Basic principles

-       Rearranging the order

-       Death by corporate overview

-       The Menu Approach

-       Subverting the introduction

-       Using a checklist

-       Adding rows

-       Understanding the scoring

-       Engaging, entertaining, enlivening

-       Summarizing

 

Should We Participate?

 

“Yes, definitely…!” cries the salesperson, who believes he has little to lose by pursuing a response. “It’s a huge opportunity!”

 

“Oh god, no no no…!” laments the presales player, whose plate is already overflowing with doing discovery, demos, and the myriads of other activities that consumes her days. “This RFP was clearly written for our competition!”

You can find the full article here – enjoy!

https://greatdemo.com/rethink-rfps-win-smarter/

AI Is Changing PROSPECT Expectations!

 

AI isn’t just impacting vendors; it’s also driving changes on the buyers’ side of the equation. For example, prospects today expect that vendors will have done more complete and effective research before calling.

 

Twenty years ago, vendors were expected to use the web to research their prospects’ public filings, product offerings, and history.

 

Ten years ago, vendors needed to add reviews of LinkedIn profiles (company and individuals) before getting on a call.

 

Today, prospects expect vendors to be conversant with nearly everything in the public domain about their business, products, key thrusts and strategic plans, history, culture, individuals, buying habits, and more.

 

Effective use of AI enables this research to be executed in minutes, accomplishing what could otherwise take days (if done at all)!

 

 

And “Doing Discovery” provides the framework for superior research!

https://www.amazon.com/Doing-Discovery-Important-Enablement-Processes/dp/B0B8RJK4C2/

What is Situational Fluency?

 

“Situational fluency is the ability to accurately read and adapt to a specific situation, including understanding and responding to the needs and preferences of those involved to improve communication and connection.” – Google AI Overview

 

Using demos as an example, applying the DIKW pyramid provides more enlightenment:

 

D (Data): Collecting the discrete situational data through discovery and observations, including parameters like pain, impact, value, related pain (and their impact and value), environment, and culture.

 

I (Information): Synthesizing the data into a cohesive, specific description of your prospect’s situation. (Great Demo! Situation Slides provide a terrific framework for this!)

 

K (Knowledge): Understanding what to present in your demo, how to present it, when to present, and (sometimes) where to present, and then executing accordingly.

 

W (Wisdom): Leveraging your personal stock of experiences of other prospect and customer situations to adjust, tune, or pivot during your demo.

 

W2 (Additional Wisdom): Leveraging your team’s or organization’s stock of experiences of other prospect and customer situations to adjust, tune, or pivot during your demo.

 

 

Summarizing, situational fluency is being able to leverage the experience of numerous interactions and outcomes. It is a key part of methodology!

 

 

You’ll find the what, how, when, where, and why for discovery, demos, and other practices here:

 

Doing Discovery

https://www.amazon.com/Doing-Discovery-Important-Enablement-Processes/dp/B0B8RJK4C2/

 

Great Demo! Third Edition:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C9SNKC2Y/

 

Suspending Disbelief:

https://tinyurl.com/yc7rsrmy 

 

 

 

What Did You Learn…?

 

What did you learn yesterday?

What are you learning today?

What will you learn tomorrow?

 

Want some tasty bitesize learning morsels? Sample our Blog posts – here are few appetizers:

 

-       Whose Value Numbers Are Most Believable?

-       “Walk You Through Our Demo?”

-       “We Tell Great Stories but We Lose the Business…!”

-       In a “Bake Off?” Demo First!

-       Want a Demo Horror Story?

-       How to AVOID Discovery Feeling Like an Interrogation

-       The Myth of the Informed Buyer – And the Importance of Vision Reengineering!

-       Buyer Enablement and Transition Vision: Which Vendor Will Get Your Business?

-       Power Tools of Communication: Analogies and Metaphors!

-       “I Want This to Be Interactive…!”

 

And, of course, the short stories in Suspending Disbelief are like a dim sum or tapas restaurant – nearly three dozen tasty treats in one place!

 

Ready for a more filling experience? Order up a well-spiced article or two from our menu:

 

-       The Power of “You” In Demos

-       Debilitating Demo Diseases

-       A Perfect Demo Environment

-       Lunch and Learn Demos: A Potent Practice

-       Stunningly Awful Web Overview Demos: The Gruesome Anatomy of a Typical One-Hour Web Overview Demonstration

-       Critical Dates – Prevent Prospect Procrastination: A Never Stop Learning! Article

-       Doing Discovery with Your Prospects’ Executives

-       Discovery and Demos for Renewals and Expansion

-       The Incredible Value of Value Realization Events

 

Prefer a self-paced immersive experience? Curl up with one of our books:

 

-       Great Demo!

-       Doing Discovery

-       Suspending Disbelief

 

Or take the most effective approach and join a Great Demo! or Doing Discovery Workshop. They’re like a cooking class where you are guided by an expert chef learning and tuning your new skills to create entire meals!

 

The Great Demo! website Resources pages (Blog, Articles, Books, Podcasts, Webinars, and more) offer proven methods, perfected practices, and novel ideas for your consumption. Bon Appétit!

Type Two Fun and Storytelling

 

Of course, everyone knows the three types of fun:

 

-       Type One Fun: It was fun while it was happening, and it is fun to talk about it afterwards.

 

-       Type Two Fun: It was not fun while it was happening, but it is fun to share the story.

 

-       Type Three Fun: It was not fun while it was happening, and it is still painful to speak of it!

 

Intriguingly, Type Two Fun experiences often have many of the elements that enable a successful story, and “The Hero’s Journey” story structure, in particular.

 

For example, business travel frequently results in delays, cancellations, and other challenging experiences that, when overcome, can yield entertaining and satisfying stories. Most of us have endured these situations and, once the trip was over, turned them into stories that we retell (sometimes over and over!).

 

Similarly, seeing your customers overcome their business challenges (using your solutions) can provide you with great stories to use in your discovery conversations, demos, and other interactions.

 

If it was painful at the time, but is now enjoyable to relate, you’ve got a good candidate for a compelling story!

 

For a few examples, see the 35 short stories in Suspending Disbelief:

https://tinyurl.com/yc7rsrmy 

Whose Value Numbers Are Most Believable?

 

Whose value numbers are most believable?

 

- The vendor’s numbers? Hardly!

 

- Industry numbers? Believable, but generally not sufficiently specific.

 

- Other similar customers? Much better…

 

- Your prospect’s own numbers? Best, and completely believable!

 

Here’s an example of each:

 

Vendor’s numbers: “We calculate that you can save $100,000 annually by implementing our solution…”

Believability and relevance rating? Poor!

 

Industry numbers: “Gartner reports that customers average saving $100,000 annually with these solutions.”

Believability and relevance rating? Good believability but low relevance.

 

Other similar customers: “Another customer we worked with, in a very similar situation to what you’ve articulated, told us that they are saving nearly $100,000 annually using our solution.”

Believability and relevance rating? Good.

 

Your prospect’s own numbers: “And, if I recall correctly, you said you expect to save about $100,000 annually by implementing a solution like ours.”

Believability and relevance rating? High!

 

Moral? Uncover and use your prospects’ specific numbers when communicating value!

 

And here’s the guide to uncovering and calculating value: Doing Discovery

https://www.amazon.com/Doing-Discovery-Important-Enablement-Processes/dp/B0B8RJK4C2/