Seven Stories Every Salesperson Must Tell

by Mike Adams
Copyright: 2018
Price Paperback: $14.95 / Kindle: $2.99

A great book to get you started on storytelling

There are a lot of good books out there about storytelling. They talk about the importance of telling stories. They always indicate how people are more interested in listening to stories than they are listening to presentations. And, of course, we all know that when people hear a good story, they are entertained enough that they remember it and, yes, might even repeat it to others.

However, very few of these books, take the time to go into the actual dynamics of storytelling, such as what kind of story to tell; how to develop the story; or the right story for the right occasion. Frankly, of all of the books I have read, none have done that. Until this one.

In “Seven Stories Every Salesperson Must Tell,” Mike Adams breaks this all down for the reader. He describes exactly what the title indicates, the seven stories that every professional needs to tell. From what he calls the “Hook” stories, the ones that are personally about you or a person you know, to the “Land” stories, to close the deal, which are stories that show the value of your services or products, Mike makes a good, clear and comprehensive study of each type of story, including breaking them down and showing true life examples of each.

He also spends a lot of time focusing on the all-important success stories, which he includes in the section he calls “Fight-stories to differentiate.” He even includes a reference table for the seven stories, which is actually a breakdown on how to not only use each kind of story, but when to use it, who to tell it to and when.

In a chart, at the end of the book, Mike also includes a story catalog describing all of the stories he used in the book and on what page they appeared so that the reader can easily find them for future reference.

Engineers and technical people will find this book very useful, especially because Mike himself is an engineer turned salesperson who writes the way a left-brained person would find easy to follow and understand. This is especially important for those of us in technical fields where we are dealing with a lot of left-brained people.

“Seven Stories Every Salesperson Must Tell,” is a great book for technical people to learn the art of storytelling, but also good for anyone who wants to tell a better story.

Dan Beaulieu is the president and founder of D.B. Management LLC, a consulting firm specializing in all aspects of sales, marketing and branding with a focus on rep-principal relationships. His latest book is The PCB 101 Handbook which can be purchased online by emailing danbbeaulieu@aol.com. Dan is also the author of “It’s Only Common Sense,” a weekly sales column appearing at pcb007.com. Dan can be reached at 207.649.0879.