Distribution & Sales

One of the most powerful ways to get distribution is to combine the three strategies of leveraging existing networks, automation and virality.

Johny Fiala

Product Market Fit

How to Build Out Your Storyline

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“When you’re building your next sales deck, keep one thing in mind: Prospects don’t care about your product.” – Courtney Chuang, DocSend

“Story” is a buzzword in sales today, but for good reason. While prospects remember 5-10% of statistics and 25% of images, retention increases to 60-70% when stories are used to convey the information. In this age of information overload, stories – not feature lists – are the best way to make your message stick.

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To prove it, DocSend recently overhauled their sales deck: “Once we overhauled the DocSend discovery deck, we saw our completion rate triple. This meant prospects were actually finding our story compelling enough to complete the entire deck. This was crucial because it meant prospects were ready to convert to the next stage of the sales process.”"

BIG CHANGE IN THE WORLD

No matter what you’re selling, your most formidable obstacle is prospects’ adherence to the status quo. Your primary adversary, in other words, is a voice inside people’s heads that goes, We’ve gotten along just fine without it, and we’ll always be fine without it. How do you overcome that? By demonstrating that the world has changed in such a fundamental way that prospects have to change, too."

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How do you know what that big change is? The best resources are your happiest customers. Pick 4-6 customers most passionate about your product and ask them:

What has fundamentally changed in your business in the past year?

If your business fails, what will be the cause?

What companies do you align yourself with, and why?

Finally, how has [Product X] impacted your company?

From here, you will start to see patterns to show you how to present your story from the perspective of the buyer, not the seller."

WHY CARE? STAKES

Show There’ll Be Winners and Losers

All prospects suffer from what economists call “loss aversion.” That is, they tend to avoid a possible loss by sticking to the status quo, rather than risk a possible gain by opting for change. To combat loss aversion, you must demonstrate how the change you cited above will create big winners and big losers.

In other words, you have to show both of the following:

That adapting to the change you cited will likely result in a highly positive future for the prospect; and

That not doing so will likely result in an unacceptably negative future for the prospect"

OBSTACLES THAT MAKE IT HARD (Name the enemy)

Luke fought Vader. Moana battled the Lava Monster. Marc Benioff squared off against software. One of the most powerful ways to turn prospects into aspiring heroes is to pit them against an antagonist. What’s stopping marketers and salespeople—the heroes of Drift’s strategic story—from reaching prospects in the new, changed world?

Naming your customer’s enemy differentiates you — not directly in relation to competitors (which comes off as “salesy”), but in relation to the old world that your competitors represent. To be sure, “circle-slash” isn’t the only way to do that, but once you indoctrinate audiences with your story, icons like this can serve as a powerful shorthand. (I bet the first time you saw Benioff’s “no software” image, you had no idea what he was talking about; once you heard the story, it spoke volumes.)

In declaring the old way to be a losing path, Drift plants a question in audiences’ minds: OK, so how do I win?

PROMISING LAND (WHY TO BOTHER)

It‘s tempting to answer that question by jumping right to your product and its capabilities, but you’ll be wise to resist that urge. Otherwise audiences will lack context for why your capabilities matter, and they’ll tune out.

Instead, first present a glimpse of the “Promised Land “— the state of winning in the new world. Remember, winning is not having your product but the future that’s possible thanks to having your product."

BENEFITS TO OVERCAME THEM (Best evidence)

Of course, even if you’ve laid out the story perfectly, audiences will be skeptical. As they should be, since your Promised Land is by definition difficult to reach! So you must present evidence of your ability to deliver happily-ever-after. The best evidence is stories about people—told in their own voices—who say you helped reach the Promised Land.

Once audiences buy into your Promised Land, they’re ready to hear about your capabilities. It’s the same dynamic that plays out in epic films and fairy tales: We value Obiwan’s gift of a lightsaber precisely because we understand the role it can play in Luke’s struggle to destroy the Death Star.

So yes, you’re Obiwan and your product (service, proposal, whatever) is a lightsaber that helps Luke battle stormtroopers. You’re Moana’s grandmother, Tala, and your product is the ancient wisdom that propels Moana to defeat the Lava Monster.

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