Welcome to Labor Day, 2013.

Lot’s of folks have a three day weekend, except those in retail sales.

Want to be more successful in sales?  Stop being a typical pushy salesperson.  Just be a person who helps people buy.  And follow this advice from RAB.com:

 

People Love a Good Story 

Over the years as a speaker, manager and facilitator, I have observed the greatest retention of my message was from stories that I told.

The impact went beyond facts and theories. Stories engage the audience, were conversational, and tapped into the emotions and senses. Often I would encounter people years later and they would playback a story I had shared with them, and more importantly, voice the point of the story and how it helped them overcome barriers or create solutions to problems.

How to use stories to educate and explain:

Listen. Learn to listen to your audience for clues as to what would resonate with them and what is important in their world. Be prepared to tell a variety of stories from your arsenal.

Use personal experience as a basis for your story. The greatest way to build trust and relationships is to be vulnerable. The story can demonstrate how you had to overcome an obstacle or barrier, reveal up-close and personal experiences that your audience can relate to, and encourage them to remember we are all human.

Be genuine. Share real-life stories that can demonstrate how you can learn from your mistakes (usually the best lessons are from our mistakes), and demonstrate effective techniques on how to overcome barriers.

Engage your audience. Stories capture the imagination by allowing people to paint their own pictures and images of what you are sharing. Have a beginning, a middle, and end with a clear take-away. Like a good joke, it is all in the delivery of the story and your conviction.

Be conversational. The delivery should be natural in a conversational tone. You are letting your audience behind the scenes with this revealing story about people and events. It can be fun, serious, sad, dramatic — all the range of human emotions. People love a good story.

Source: Sales coach Paul Anovick