How to write stories your sales team will actually use
May 29, 2024
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Experts April Dunford, Kyle Lacy, and Marcus Andrews discuss crafting compelling B2B stories for sales teams: tailor-made storytelling, avoiding writing by committee, the importance of strong positioning, customized narratives, adaptability, internal alignment, and buy-in. They share tips on resonating with audiences, updating strategies, and aligning sales and marketing efforts. The chapter descriptions include clashes over PowerPoint slides, humorous turd analogies, and strategies for success in the age of technology.
Effective marketing begins with strong positioning and tailored storytelling that resonates with the audience.
Quality storytelling trumps quantity; centralized storytelling ensures a resonating message for sales success.
Regularly review and adapt your positioning and storytelling based on market changes, competitor actions, and customer feedback.
Internal alignment with sales leaders and organization-wide buy-in are crucial for successful storytelling implementation.
Iterative testing, customer insights, and collaborative storytelling drive organizational success and alignment across teams.
Deep dives
Validating the Story with Sales Team Feedback
The podcast episode delves into the importance of testing a story with the sales team to gauge effectiveness. By involving the sales leader early and training the top salesperson, they ensure a successful rollout. The qualitative feedback and customer reactions during test pitches are crucial indicators to assess if the new pitch is better than the old one. Through iterative testing and continuous evaluation, the team aims to refine and enhance the story for optimum impact.
Measuring Story Success with Quantitative Metrics
Quantitative metrics play a vital role in evaluating the story's impact. The podcast emphasizes tracking conversion rates, loss reasons, and pipeline-to-bookings ratios across the sales funnel. By observing changes in bookings, conversion rates, and loss reasons, they ascertain the effectiveness of the new story. These metrics help gauge the story's success in driving sales performance and aligning internal teams toward shared goals.
Embedding Positioning Into Sales Pitch Optimization
Integrating positioning into sales pitch optimization is highlighted as a key strategy in the podcast. By aligning the story with the sales team's needs and training the reps effectively, the narrative gains traction. Iterating on the pitch based on quantitative and qualitative feedback ensures a compelling and aligned message. Success is defined by achieving improved sales velocity, quality pitches, and aligning sales and marketing efforts for measurable outcomes.
Enhancing Internal Alignment Through Compelling Storytelling
The podcast underscores the pivotal role of compelling storytelling in fostering internal alignment. By crafting a narrative that resonates across the organization, from sales to marketing, and through internal training sessions, they cultivate a unified message. The collaboration with the sales leader, alignment with the organization's strategy, and the shared understanding buoy the effectiveness of the story. Internal champions who embody the story essence further drive adoption and success.
The Power of Iterative Testing and Continuous Improvement
Iterative testing and continuous improvement are vital components discussed in the podcast episode. By iterating on the pitch, listening to customer feedback, and refining the narrative based on sales performance data, the team aims to enhance the story's effectiveness. This iterative approach involves testing, gathering insights, and making strategic adjustments to prioritize the story's impact on sales outcomes. The emphasis on continuous improvement ensures a dynamic and evolving narrative that resonates across the organization and with customers.
Leveraging Customer Insights and Internal Collaboration
Customer insights and internal collaboration play a crucial role in the story's success, as highlighted in the podcast. By leveraging inputs from sales teams, product teams, and cross-functional stakeholders, the narrative gains depth and relevance. Internal buy-in and alignment with the sales leader are focal points in ensuring the story resonates with the organization. Emphasizing customer-centricity and aligning internal teams through iterative testing and data-driven insights further bolster the story's impact and effectiveness.
Strategies for Improving Sales and Marketing Alignment
The podcast episode elucidates strategies for enhancing sales and marketing alignment through effective storytelling. By aligning sales pitches with the organization's strategic goals, training sales reps to embody the narrative, and tracking key performance metrics, they foster alignment and success. Customer reactions during test pitches, qualitative feedback, and continuous iteration shape a compelling narrative that drives alignment across teams. Strategically combining quantitative metrics and qualitative insights ensures a holistic approach to optimizing the story's impact.
Driving Organizational Success Through Compelling Narratives
Compelling narratives are shown to be instrumental in driving organizational success in the podcast episode. Through training the sales team, aligning with strategic objectives, and utilizing quantitative metrics, they measure the impact of the story. Enhancing internal alignment, fostering collaboration, and iterating on the story based on feedback enable the organization to achieve its sales targets. The power of storytelling lies in its ability to resonate internally and externally, driving improved performance and customer engagement.
Achieving Alignment and Performance Through Story Evaluation
Story evaluation serves as a cornerstone for achieving alignment and performance, as outlined in the podcast episode. By assessing the story's impact using quantitative metrics and qualitative feedback, the team refines the narrative for optimal results. Sales velocity, quality pitches, and internal collaboration are prioritized to enhance the story's resonance and effectiveness. Continuous evaluation and alignment with strategic objectives pave the way for organizational success driven by a compelling narrative.
Are you sick of spinning average products into marketing magic? Do you feel like a “poo polisher” as April calls it?
Today, April Dunford (Ambient Strategy), Kyle Lacy (Jellyfish), and Marcus Andrews (Pendo.io) dive into storytelling and how to write stories your sales team will actually use.
What’s working in B2B marketing:
TAILOR-MADE, ENTHRALLING STORYTELLING
Draw in your prospects with a compelling narrative that screams relevance. Skip the generic fluff. Dive deep into the psyche of your customer. Make them the hero of your story.
What’s not working in B2B marketing:
WRITING BY COMMITTEE
Chuck out the too-many-cooks approach. Embrace a dedicated "words person." Quality trumps quantity, always. When storytelling is focused and centralized, your message not only resonates—it reverberates.
The key takeaways:
The importance of positioning: Effective marketing starts with strong positioning. Understanding your competition, unique value proposition, and ideal customer fit are crucial for creating compelling stories and pitches.
Tailored storytelling: Craft customized, engaging stories that resonate with your audience. Skip the generic fluff and make your prospects the heroes.
Adaptability and regular review: To stay relevant and effective, regularly revisit and update your positioning and storytelling based on market changes, competitor actions, and customer feedback.
Internal alignment and buy-in: Ensure alignment across your organization, especially with sales leaders. Their buy-in is crucial for successful implementation and consistency in messaging. Engage executives early in the storytelling process to secure their support.
Measuring effectiveness: Use both quantitative metrics (conversion rates, deal sizes) and qualitative feedback (customer reactions, sales team input) to measure the effectiveness of your storytelling.
The things to listen for:
[00:00] Intro
[02:02] "Polishing the poo" in marketing
[05:23] Challenges of corporate messaging and writing by committee
[09:42] Value proposition and its importance in storytelling
[12:04] Who owns the story in B2B marketing?
[16:38] Importance of differentiated value
[19:56] Revisiting and regularly updating positioning
[24:48] Adapting messaging to market changes
[26:29] Getting internal buy-in on storytelling
[28:53] Testing and iterating on new pitches
[34:36] Aligning sales and marketing teams with effective messaging
[39:12] Measuring the effectiveness of your story
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