Category: Uncategorised

Storytelling Bootcamp – Reimagining Sales

Posted on by Stanley Louw

Virtual introductory workshop – Friday 6th October

2pm-4pm BST

(9am-11am ET, 8am-10am CT)

Storytelling is recognised as a non-negotiable skill leaders and sales teams must develop to move from a traditional transactional sales mindset to a strategic narrative outcome-focused mindset. With customers becoming increasingly risk averse and in a state of FOMU (fear of messing up), the ability to shape the story and solution of your product to address their challenges and business outcomes becomes a critical competitive advantage.

Why storytelling?

Imagine captivating your audience – clients, prospects and your sales team – with compelling narratives that resonate deeply. Picture how this will activate the trust, belief and motivation to act, inspiring your team and creating the motivation and capability to adopt new ways of thinking and acting, giving your leads the confidence to invest and your clients the belief to commit to a strong long-term partnership.

What you’ll experience

This introductory session will focus on the development of storytelling skills. We’ll also provide guidance on utilising a story-driven approach to accelerate sales and digital transformation, activating your team to embrace change and apply the discretionary effort necessary to implement it.

Emotional intelligence in sales: Understand the psychology behind storytelling and how it taps into the emotional core of decision-making. Explore techniques to empathise, connect, and influence through the power of your own story.

Leading and motivating your team: Empower your sales team with effective leadership through storytelling. Learn to communicate your vision, values, and strategies in a way that inspires enthusiasm, camaraderie, and extraordinary performance.

Delivering story-driven outcomes in complex organisations: How are other high-performance organisations utilising the nine key drivers of activation to accelerate performance? Get insights based on research and evidence from over 200 global organisations, Fortune 500 and FTSE 100 companies.

Who should attend?

Sales leaders from complex organisations who are ready to transform their approach from transactional to transformational. Join us for an exclusive and immersive storytelling experience with a select cohort of your peers. Mark your calendar for 6th October, and prepare to embark on a journey that will elevate your sales strategy.

There are limited spots available. Register your interest now.

Reimagining sales: It’s time to walk in new shoes

Posted on by Stanley Louw

Six steps to transform your sales team through storytelling

Business leaders are facing substantial pressure to deliver above-market growth at the best of times. However, when the global economy is in a weak state, the demands from shareholders become even more acute. Strategic mergers and acquisitions can generate some of this growth, but the fact remains that consistently beating the market requires strong organic sales growth. 

Whilst most organisations have historically seen good sales performance, the stark reality is that buying behaviours have permanently changed and, as a result, so too has selling. In a recent survey by Korn Ferry, they found that 80% of salespeople feel their sales cycles have increased, while their average deal sizes have reduced. The primary reason is seen as corporate customers replacing their fear of missing out (FOMO) with fear of messing up (FOMU) due to recent social-economic events and adverse market conditions. In other words, where customers felt that if they missed out on the potential offered by new solutions, their business would lose out, the reverse is now true. Businesses are increasingly becoming risk averse – which is not good news for sellers.  

Where our sales teams were always brilliant at selling product and service features, thriving in the future will mean we need to build more trust by adjusting our go-to-market and ​sales strategies to be outcomes-based. Our sales teams need to walk in new shoes, and big shoes at that. Requiring a critical new skill – storytelling. In the words of Steven Reinemund, CEO PepsiCo Inc., “To have growth in products, you have to have growth in people”. 

74% of CSOs report they have recently or are currently updating their seller competency profiles for outcomes-based selling

According to Gartner, 74% of CSOs report they have recently or are currently updating their seller competency profiles for outcomes-based selling, and 61% of CSOs are already investing in new technology to enable virtual selling. This drive means a major paradigm shift for sellers, who not only need to build their ability to engage customers differently but must also be able to leverage new sales technologies. 

Storytelling is at the heart of this and goes beyond merely presenting information; it involves crafting compelling narratives that resonate with customers, engage stakeholders, and drive success. It allows us to shift from a traditional sales mindset where we talk to our customers, define our differentiators and then build a story around it, to a strategic sales mindset where we talk to our customers, define our story around their situation and challenges, and then only bring the solution that will provide them with the best outcomes. 

Let’s explore how your sales teams could step into your new shoes by leveraging storytelling – leading to remarkable results. 

 

1. Aligning your teams and vision at an emotional level

 Evolving your sales approach often requires significant changes in processes, strategies, and objectives. To achieve success, everyone involved needs to be on the same page. Storytelling serves as a unifying force, aligning sales teams and stakeholders around a shared vision. By narrating the story of the organisation’s journey, the challenges faced, and the desired future state, sales leaders can inspire their teams to embrace the transformation and work together towards a common goal. 

2. Reimagining your customer engagements 

 When reviewing your go-to-market strategy, products or services may be repositioned or updated to meet changing customer needs. Similarly, shifting your customer engagements from transactional to conversational is critical. Arming your salesforce with storytelling allows them to not only articulate value propositions in a more compelling way, but also to build long-term relationships based on outcomes and value – driving loyalty and increased revenue. By presenting real-life examples of how the transformed offering has delivered tangible benefits to other customers, sales teams can create an emotional connection and instil confidence in your organisation’s value. 

3. Creating a movement of change 

 Sales transformation often encounters resistance from sales representatives who are comfortable with existing ways of selling or sceptical about the changes. Storytelling can help address these concerns by sharing stories of successful transformations and the positive impact they have had on sales professionals’ careers. Stories of growth, achievement, and personal development can motivate sales teams to embrace the changes and see them as opportunities for growth rather than threats to their routine. Ensuring that your sales teams are emotionally connected to your unique story creates not only a willingness to change, but a powerful movement behind your change. 

4. Building customer empathy

Effective selling requires understanding the customer’s needs and pain points. Storytelling can help sales professionals build empathy with customers by sharing stories of similar challenges faced by other clients and how the transformed solutions addressed those issues. By putting themselves in the customer’s shoes, sales teams can better anticipate and cater to their needs, fostering stronger customer relationships. 

5. Differentiating in a crowded market

In competitive markets, customers are often presented with numerous choices. To stand out from the competition, sales teams must differentiate their offerings effectively. Storytelling provides a platform to create a unique selling proposition that goes beyond product features. By crafting narratives that emphasize your company’s values, mission, and impact, sales professionals can create an emotional connection with customers and differentiate their organisation in a crowded marketplace. 

6. Generating customer advocacy 

New sales motions not only impact the sales team but also influence your overall customer experience. Positive experiences lead to customer satisfaction and, ultimately, advocacy. Storytelling can drive customer advocacy by bringing your organisation and offerings to life in a manner through which your customer can “touch and feel” the value you will bring them. These stories serve to build long-term relationships based on outcomes – driving loyalty and increased revenue with powerful testimonials that potential customers can relate to, enhancing the organisation’s credibility and reputation. 

 

It is undeniable that storytelling is an invaluable asset in the future of any sales team. By aligning teams and vision, communicating value propositions, overcoming resistance to change, building customer empathy, differentiating in a crowded market, and generating customer advocacy, storytelling empowers your sales professionals to connect with customers on a deeper level and drive success in the midst of transformation. As organisations continue to evolve and adapt, the ability to craft compelling narratives will remain a key driver in achieving sales excellence and sustaining long-term growth.  

 It is no longer just a nice to have, it has now become a business imperative if you want to step into your new shoes! 

How important is it to have executive alignment?

Posted on by Alison Esse

One of the most frequent questions I’m asked is about Executive team alignment. When we develop a company’s internal narrative, one of the most important outcomes is to have the Executive team speaking as one: ‘one team, one story, one voice’. If you have dissent amongst the top team, the narrative will not hold weight or have credibility as it travels through the organisation.

The first question to ask is why there’s concern about them being aligned behind the narrative in the first place. Of course, they’ll all have different perspectives; that’s normal, and our job at The Storytellers is to distill pages of conflicting views into a single, credible narrative (no mean feat, I can tell you). But there are times when universal buy-in can be difficult to achieve, and requires sensitive and careful facilitation and listening.

The uncomfortable truth is that sometimes leaders prefer to hide in muddy water, through fear of being ‘exposed’ or because of politics, where their personal agenda is threatened. This is where the power of our approach really comes into play. Giving each Executive a voice through a 1-1 session to solicit their input is an important part of the process. Facilitating a group conversation with skill, listening to objections and being able to read and respond to body language is essential to bring the potential blockers with you as the narrative develops. And encouraging boldness and honesty (the key to a believable narrative) about the weaknesses of and threats to the business – or even admission of not having ‘got it right’ or not having all the answers – will build trust, empathy and confidence in leaders. The stronger the antagonist in the story, the stronger its credibility. What’s not to like?

The power of the narrative is not simply the final output. It’s the process we take those leaders through – a process of continuous alignment alongside the iterations of the narrative. It’s how we achieve true buy-in, belief and ownership, which provides the rocket fuel needed to fire up the wider organisation. It’s also a great team-building exercise in its own right. And it’s why an artful narrative crafted by the communications department may not be as effective as one which has been co-created by the top team themselves.

We are incredibly proud of our track record in aligning Executive teams. The development of the narrative is often a cathartic process for them, even described as ‘therapy’ in many cases. Watching a once-sceptical team morph into one which is genuinely passionate about the story they’re about to share with their entire workforce is simply magic.

Webinar: ‘The Future of Work’ with Peter Cheese – Chief Executive of the CIPD

Posted on by Kirsty Spencer

Enter your details to watch this episode of our Stories from the C-suite series.

We’re entering into a new era of work – driven by technological, social, economic, environmental and geopolitical change. How leaders shape their business to ensure that their people, organisation and wider society can thrive in the face of continuing uncertainty has never been more critical. 

In our ‘Stories from the C-suite’ series, we talk to leaders who we believe are expert storytellers and explore their approach to turning vision into reality. In this episode, Alison Esse, Co-founder and Director of The Storytellers was joined by Peter Cheese, Chief Executive of The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and author of the 2021 book ‘The New World Of Work’ to explore the future of work.

Peter is a Fellow of the CIPD, a Fellow of AHRI (the Australian HR Institute) and the Academy of Social Sciences. He writes and speaks widely on the development of HR, the future of work, and the key issues of leadership, culture and organisation, people and skills.

During this webinar, we covered:

  • The forces shaping how organisations will be run over the next 10 years
  • How leaders navigate their organisation through continuing uncertainty 
  • The skills and mindset required of future leaders
  • The role of storytelling in humanising business change and transformation

For the years ahead, leaders must seek new ways to stay nimble if they are to seize new opportunities and future-proof their organisation. Watch this timely conversation packed with essential insights and key takeaways for current leaders or those looking to step up into a leadership role in the near future. 

 

Register to watch

 

Webinar: ‘The Future of Health’ with Tracy Garrad – CEO, AXA Health

Posted on by Hannah Moyo

One shared outcome of the pandemic has to be the relevance of healthcare to all of us – no matter where we live, our age, or our profession. Globally, health has become an even more pressing priority for us all. COVID has accelerated issues in our healthcare system, highlighting inequalities, the need for greater personalisation in healthcare and also stressing an urgent requirement for easy remote access to it.

Tracy Garrad, CEO of AXA Health, has been at the helm of the Healthcare arm of AXA throughout the pandemic. She joined AXA from HSBC, where she held a variety of senior management roles, including Chief Executive of First Direct and Chief Executive of HSBC in the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. We wanted to know how Tracy has dealt with the challenges of the pandemic in an industry at the forefront of the crisis, how the business has adapted and what healthcare will look like in the future. 

In our ‘Stories from the C-Suite’ series, we talk to CEOs who we believe are expert storytellers about the challenges of leading through change, and what the next stage in the journey is for them. 

We explored topics such as: 

  • The impact of the pandemic on the health industry
  • AXA’s plan to improve its customers’ healthcare and general wellbeing moving forwards
  • How Tracy has led through such difficult times, and what she has learnt about leadership

As it becomes clear that this crisis has changed how people live, work and spend their free time, successful business leaders will need to continue adjusting to these seismic societal shifts by staying nimble, flexible and creatively future-proofing their organisations.

Watch this highly relevant conversation now by entering your details.

Webinar: ‘Food for thought’ with Duncan Everett – CEO, Noble Foods

Posted on by Olly Woodhead

The past year has thrown a lot up in the air – our plans, work, where we go and who we can see – but one thing has remained a constant in our lives: the food we eat. We have relied on stable food supplies throughout the pandemic and briefly, back in March 2020, when supermarket shelves were bled dry, we glimpsed the serious risks of losing control over our food supply. Duncan Everett has been at the heart of the food industry for over 20 years. He took over the role of CEO at Noble Foods, the UK’s largest egg producer in September 2020, during very turbulent times. Before Noble Foods, he was CEO at Kerry Foods, having joined its graduate programme in 1995 after studying economics. From this unique position, having experienced and led two different food companies during the pandemic, we wanted to know what Duncan has learnt and what he will focus on moving forwards.

In our ‘Stories from the C-Suite’ series, we talk to CEOs who we believe are expert storytellers about the challenges of leading through change and what the next stage in the journey is for them. 

We explored topics such as: 

  • The impact of the pandemic on the food industry
  • The sustainability challenges the food industry faces and how will they be tackled 
  • Future-proofing the industry so it is ready for innovation and transformation
  • The future of the world’s food supply

As it becomes clear that the pandemic has changed how people live, work and spend their free time, successful business leaders will need to continue adjusting to these seismic societal shifts by staying nimble, flexible and creatively future-proofing their organisations.

Watch this highly relevant conversation now by entering your details.

Storytelling helps leaders navigate choppy waters

Posted on by Alison Esse

In our article, featured in The Times Future of Work supplement, we explain how inspirational leadership is a core requirement for high-performing businesses in 2021. Moreover, storytelling has become a recognised skill for leaders in organisations worldwide and every industry sector. To attract and retain talent – and indeed customers – leaders need to be authentic, empowering, collaborative, involving, open to ideas and encouraging dialogue within their teams to solve complex problems and share best practice. 

In short, a business’s differentiator comes down to its people: how they personify the brand through their actions and behaviours, how this builds corporate trust, customer acquisition and loyalty. 

And for leaders to win over their people – to bring them with them on a journey of uncertainty and change – they need to win hearts and minds; create meaning and purpose in the workplace. It’s not enough to connect people rationally to change. Leaders need to create an emotional connection in order to stimulate the energy and collective spirit needed to power their teams through challenging times, where change is embraced rather than seen as a threat. And yet winning hearts and minds is without doubt one of the hardest parts of change to achieve.

What draws us to a story, and how exactly does it influence how we think, feel and act?

To read more out more about how the power and influence of storytelling can accelerate change and transform performance, and to get access to the full Raconteur Future of Work supplement published in The Times, fill in the form on this page.

StoryLive: discover the power of a story-driven virtual event

Posted on by Marcus Hayes

StoryLive is our live virtual event solution. Using innovations in virtual conferences, CGI, and interactive technology, we create an unrivalled level of emotional connection and immersion through our business storytelling programmes. Developed with organisations as a part of story-driven business transformation, the only limit to what can be achieved is imagination.

Humans are social animals. Interacting as a group or a ‘tribe’ is a fundamental need we have for our sense of well-being, and to enable us to make sense of the world and what is going on around us. Virtual events create the opportunity to bring people together across locations, regions and time zones in ways that may not be feasible or practical in person, building a sense of community and a space for leaders to open themselves up to those around them and hear their colleagues’ voices. 

At The Storytellers, we inspire and engage people on an emotional level through storytelling and narrative in virtual and blended gatherings and experiences for our clients. Through our work with over 200 major organisations around the globe, we have discovered what makes a powerful and memorable virtual event. 

StoryLive brings together our knowledge of putting on quality events with the endless possibilities of the virtual world.

There are three key components which make up any inspiring and memorable story-driven event. Discover more by downloading our ebook in full by completing the form on this page, and reach out to us if you need guidance and support in connecting your organisation through a virtual event. To arrange a demo with us, scroll to the bottom of this page and fill out the form and we will get in touch.

Webinar: ‘Talking Banking’ with Steven Cooper – CEO, C. Hoare & Co.

Posted on by Alison Esse

Watch the next episode in our ‘Stories from the C-suite’ webinar series, where we talked to Steven Cooper, CEO of the private bank C. Hoare & Co. His trajectory from a big banking behemoth with Barclays, to a smaller, private client bank gives him a unique insight into the evolution of banking. During our conversation, we explored how he has adapted to these different banking environments with their distinctive cultures. Simply fill in the details on this page to get access to the recording.

The challenges created by the pandemic are showing no sign of slowing down, and crises tend to accelerate change and innovation. As it becomes clear that this is changing how people live, work and spend their free time, successful business leaders will adjust to these seismic societal shifts by staying nimble, flexible and creatively future-proofing their organisations. 

In our ‘Stories from the C-suite’ series, we talk to CEOs who we believe are expert storytellers about the challenges of leading through change and what the next stage in the journey is for them. In this episode, Steven shared his insights into balancing a need to modernise to respond to customers ever-changing demands, while retaining a bespoke and unique banking experience rooted in a rich legacy of 350 years.

We covered topics such as:

  • The key to longevity, resilience and strength in banking to overcome major crises, including the pandemic 
  • The future of banking in the wake of COVID-19
  • What’s next as Steven’s next chapter at Aldemore, a new breed of challenger bank, begins in 2021

Watch this highly relevant conversation now by entering your details.