April Dunford - How To Craft a Story That Sells (Turing Fest 2022)

We understand stories are a great way to connect with customers but few startups really take advantage of a good narrative to help them market and sell their products. Are you losing deals to competitors with clearly inferior products? Do your sales meetings leave customers excited or confused? Is your marketing closer to a feature list or a set of compelling reasons to buy? In this talk, April will give you a framework you can use to build a story that focuses on WHY you built what you built in a way that is differentiating, compelling, and most importantly, gets you business.

Head to www.turingfest.com to learn more about Europe's best cross-functional tech conference.

Transcript

1. How to Craft a Product Story that Sells April Dunford @aprildunford aprildunford.com
2. Selling is HARD
3. Buying is HARD
4. Example: April Buys a Toilet
10. 3 weeks 2 showroom visits on the internet 0 New Toilet
11. 3 weeks 2 showroom visits on the internet 0 New Toilet
12. 3 weeks 2 showroom visits on the internet 0 New Toilet
13. 3 weeks 2 showroom visits on the internet 0 New Toilet
14. How hard is it to buy your product?
15. Before prospects buy, they need to figure out how to make a short list
16. Sales Puts Customers in the Windtunnel of Features FEATURES!!!
17. If I make a poor choice Bad things happen
18. 40% of B2B Sales Purchase Processes end in “No Decision” The lowest risk decision is to 
 do nothing
20. Salesperson Guide
21. Buyers Want Our Help Question: What do you want in a sales meeting? • Perspectives on the market • Help me navigate alternatives Challenger Group - 2019 https://www.challengerinc.com/resource/how-b2b-buyers-choose-their-suppliers-a-decade-of- analysis/
22. How do we Build a Better Sales Narrative?
23. Why Pick You Over the Alternatives?
24. Our Current Frameworks Weren’t Designed For This Pitch Advantages Shortcomings Product Walk- through Shows the product Why pick you over the alternatives? Problem / Solution More focus on Value Why pick you over the alternatives? The VISION Pitch (Old way/ New way) Investors love it Gives buyers a reason to delay a purchase Other “New Ways” exist so - why pick you over the alternatives?
25. What would a Perfect Sales Narrative Look like? • Starts with our insight into the market • Discusses the Pros & Cons of different approaches • Helps a customer understand what a perfect solution for them looks like • Demonstrates how we map to that
26. Sales Pitch Structure: Insight Alternatives Perfect Solution Value We Deliver How We Do It
27. Example: Help Scout
28. Example: Help – Product Walkthrough Here’s how you get started Here’s the shared inbox Here’s how this works across channels Here’s how you do assignments, prioritization Look at these workflows & integrations Blah, blah, blah, features, blah, blah, blah blah, blah, blah, blah, blah
29. Example: elp Scout – Sales Narrative Insight Alternatives Perfect Solution Customer Service as a Cost Center vs a Growth Driver
30. Example: elp Scout – Sales Narrative Insight Alternatives Perfect Solution Customer Service as a Cost Center vs a Growth Driver Approach Pros Cons Shared Inbox Easy Limited Service Features Traditional Help Desk Full-featured Complex cost reduction focus
31. Example: elp Scout – Sales Narrative Insight Alternatives Perfect Solution Customer Service as a Cost Center vs a Growth Driver Approach Pros Cons Shared Inbox Easy Limited Service Features Traditional Help Desk Full-featured Complex cost reduction focus • Easy to use/adopt • Advanced features we grow into • Customer Experience – that drives loyalty, growth
32. Value we Deliver How We Do It Example: elp Scout – Sales Narrative Easy to use/adopt • Start in minutes • Shared inbox Features/Scale grows with you • Workflow • Integrations Customer Experience • No “tickets” • Customers choose channel
33. A good pitch starts with good Positioning
34. A Great Sales Narrative Paints a Picture of the Market and Positions Your Product within it
35. Alternatives Capabilities Value Best Fit Customers Market Category Positioning Sales Story The Story Maps to Our Positioning Insight Alternatives Perfect Solution Value We Deliver How We Do It
36. Alternatives Capabilities Value Best Fit Customers Market Category The Story Maps to Our Positioning Insight Alternatives Perfect Solution Value We Deliver How We Do It Positioning Sales Story
37. Alternatives Capabilities Value Best Fit Customers Market Category The Story Maps to Our Positioning Insight Alternatives Perfect Solution Value We Deliver How We Do It Positioning Sales Story
38. Alternatives Capabilities Value Best Fit Customers Market Category The Story Maps to Our Positioning Insight Alternatives Perfect Solution Value We Deliver How We Do It Positioning Sales Story
39. Alternatives Capabilities Value Best Fit Customers Market Category The Story Maps to Our Positioning Insight Alternatives Perfect Solution Value We Deliver How We Do It Positioning Sales Story
40. Alternatives Capabilities Value Best Fit Customers Market Category The Story Maps to Our Positioning Insight Alternatives Perfect Solution Value We Deliver How We Do It Positioning Sales Story
41. Example: Leveljump
42. Example: Help Sc – Product Walkthrough Here’s how you get started Here’s how you set up the training Here’s how reps access the training Blah, blah, blah, features, blah, blah, blah, features, blah, blah Here’s how you track results
43. Example: elp Scout – Sales Narrative Insight Alternatives Perfect Solution Every day your reps aren’t fully enabled costs you money
44. Example: elp Scout – Sales Narrative Insight Alternatives Perfect Solution Every day your reps aren’t fully enabled costs you money Approach Pros Cons Shared drive Easy No good version control CMS Know who accesses what Can’t design courses Can’t measure impact Learning Management System Can set up courses Can’t measure impact
45. Example: Help Scout – Sales Narrative Insight Alternatives Perfect Solution Every day your reps aren’t fully enabled costs you money 1/ Measure the impact of your onboarding with sales metrics 2/ Use metrics to improve onboarding to sell more faster Approach Pros Cons Shared drive Easy No good version control CMS Know who accesses what Can’t design courses Can’t measure impact Learning Management System Can set up courses Can’t measure impact
46. Value we Deliver How We Do It Example: Leveljump – Sales Narrative Measure Impact of enablement on Sales Metrics • Track time to make quota, time to first deal, etc. Improve Onboarding to sell more faster • Take what’s working and improve on it
47. Homework Answer these questions • What are the reasons to pick you over the alternatives? • What does a customer need to understand to understand your value? • Is it time to check in on your Positioning?
48. Key Takeaways 1. Buying is hard 2. If buyers can’t decide, they will do nothing 3. Your Sales Narrative should answer “Why buy us over the alternatives?” 4. Positioning is a fundamental input
49. Thanks. april@aprildunford.com @aprildunford aprildunford.com