Is there any link between synthesising information and selling? Yes, there is. Can you synthesise information to achieve a desired objective? Yes you can and one easy way to do it is storytelling. When you tell stories, you are synthesizing information in a very natural way and there is no research data or technical information to confuse your audience.
You can use stories to sell without pain. And so as you read every edition of the Great Storytelling Network, think beyond stories, think selling. If you can make a good link between storytelling and selling, you will expand your business.
Marketers and salesmen/women
There are just too many marketers in the global economy today, but there are not enough salesmen and women. Why is this so? Maybe many professionals charged with sales are not storytellers. They are tall on marketing strategies but very short on storytelling. That may be why many organizations are not selling enough. This is the time to sell if you want to enlarge your coast, remain in business and be your market leader. You call sell more with storytelling because it helps you to synthesise information easily.
The time
There is a time for everything. A time to plant and a time to pluck that which is planted…. A time to keep silent and a time to speak….A time of war and a time of peace. So what do you make of these key statements?
If I relate them to today’s marketplace, I would say … A time to market and a time to sell. This is the time to sell. Whether your business is for profit on non profit, you have to sell. If you are a writer, non-governmental organisation or motherless babies home, you have to hit the streets to sell your book, ideas, programmes and services or else you fold up. This is the time sell and not just to market.
You may argue that marketing incorporates selling. You are right but in many cases, writing professionals for example, are carried away by their status or big-pen thinking that they can do all market research, new product development and marketing communications that they forget to sell.
Selling
Selling in this case is not limited to commercial products and professional services. If you have an idea that will benefit your organisation, the workplace or the society, you have to sell it to your boss, community leader or government. Even website owners, authors, pressure groups or any body looking for subscribers or support have to sell their products, services and programmes to make impact.
You may have a fantastic product but if you do not go out to sell it, your cash registry will not ring.
And so I ask the question again: Are you selling enough? Check out the official designations of those who are supposed to sell in many corporate organizations, you will see a string of managerial marketing portfolios, but few on selling. Some examples: Marketing Director, General Manager (Marketing), Marketing Manager, Marketing Services Manager and more. Then you will see Sales Manager or Sales and Marketing Manager. Have you ever heard of Sales Services Manager?
The sales teams of many organisations now are designated as marketers, maybe to sound managerial. The thinking is that being called a salesman or woman is derogatory. Wrong strategy. And so ab initio, the psyche of a sales person is that selling is a minor part of her job. In that case, she does not need training in salesmanship. If only she can do product development, communications, adverstising and PR, write and send proposals, she is in business. So she thinks. But it wrong judgment.
Selling skills
Acquiring the skills for selling is related to background. Many marketers are tall on sending mails and proposals but very short on going out there to convince a customer to buy. They think the selling job is for supervisors and junior officers and not for managers and the CEO and other directors. They are making mistakes. This is the time for every writer, any professional to sell if you are to remain in business and compete well.
How many CEO’s can really say they go out to sell? Mondays are for management meetings. The rest of the week is for strategizing, networking and other managerial duties that have no place for selling.
The Number 1 salesperson in any organisation is theCEO. And every employee should be drilled in basic courses in selling and salesmanship. Enough of high sounding marketing designations that keep managers in air-conditioned offices while the business of the organisation is suffering.
This is the time too sell. Why do I say so? Competition is becoming stiffer; too many brand alternatives are emerging fighting for consumer attention and patronage; and marketing messages and promotions are multiplying by the day; even confusing customers. The battle for consumer attention and mind is becoming more intense. What makes the difference now is selling.
And you do not sell only to logic now; you have to sell to human nature to increase sales because our desires, dreams, feelings, state of mind and emotions now play a big part in deciding which brands to patronize.
Use storytelling
If you want to sell to human nature, tell stories. The present day consumer is bombarded daily with hundreds of messages. It is only storytelling that can help you easily make the emotional connection with the consumer now.
This is how your subscription to the Great Storytelling Network should benefit you. This newsletter will transform you into a storyteller. And your aim should not just be to use storytelling for fun. Aim at using storytelling to sell. This is the latest mantra in salesmanship. Try it. You will certainly increase sales. Forget all the high sounding management strategies we all learn in Business Schools. Nothing wrong with them though. Simply know that storytelling can help you to win in the marketplace. All the resources in this newsletter will help you to do that.
Tell stories and sell. This is my charge to you today. Any professional, no matter your field who is not a storyteller cannot sell much today. Markets are changing and consumers are becoming difficult to persuade. You can sell more with storytelling.
This is the time to sell and not only to market. And when you do so, please tell stories and sell to human nature. When you tell stories, you can synthesise information from different sources be they domestic, personal, your family and interests, and your professional experiences.
This is why Infosynthesis is now featured in the Great Storytelling Network.
Eric Okeke is a storyteller, editor, business writer, motivational speaker and author of the best selling book: I Want a Husband. He is one of Nigeria’s most experienced financial journalists. He has published several articles in local and foreign publications and in websites such as http://www.ezinearticles.com, www.ezinearticles.com and www.writingcareer.com. He is currently running Infomedia Company, a media consulting and information marketing company. Visit his blog at http://sallywantsahusband.blogspot.com
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