We have all heard the secret to selling is our talent to telling a good story. In other words, it is about story selling versus story telling. To be good at sales, we must sell a good story for the prospect to understand, feel and compel them to act or buy. There are 5 important elements to good story telling and selling.

• Passion—In order to be a good story teller we must have passion or energy when telling our story. Passion is important to pique interest in our product or service. No one really listens when they are bored. 

• Hero-—Our story needs a hero, a person who gives our story a point of view. We can be the hero if it is our story. Think of the hero as the person telling the story within the story without the hero doing the telling. This subtlety adds interest and emotion from your listener.

• Antagonist-—Our story needs a person or obstacle that can represent the problem of not having our product or service and must be overcome. The better the listener can identify with the antagonist the quicker our close will be.

• Awareness—That climatic moment in our story that reveals itself and allows the listener to learn the lesson of why they need our product or service. It is that “ah ha” moment when they realize they are now emotionally connected to our story.

• Transformation—Our prospect now understands and is emotionally tied and feels compelled to purchase our product or service based on their newly formed awareness of this need. This is our call to action to close the deal.

We must remember that a story is a fact, wrapped up in emotion that compels us to take action in such a way that it transforms us in some way. Master salespeople and insurance agents are masters of telling a good story. Whether it is one to one or publically speaking to a committee or crowd, we must master the art of story selling. Don’t just tell a story, sell your story.

“The history of storytelling isn’t one of simply entertaining the masses but of also advising, instructing, challenging the status quo”. —Therese Fowler

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Tim Wilhoit is owner/principal of Your Friend 4 Life Insurance Agency in Nashville, TN. He is a family man, father of 3, grandfather of 1, entrepreneur, insurance agent, life insurance broker, employee benefit specialist, salesman, sales trainer, recruiter, public speaker, blogger, author and team leader with over 29 years of experience in sales and marketing in the insurance and beverage industries.