Story Driven Growth

As a co-founder, I quickly outsold our salespeople. That confused me.

Sales professionals with experience, proven results, and polished presentations could not compete with a former engineer. Why? Because they did not own the story.

🔥 Getting on a call with a story gets results. It has far more impact than a well rehearsed presentation.

Most founders have a hard time building their story. This is because they focus on the wrong things.

Elements of a good founder story:

1️⃣ Make the customer the hero. Not the product.

2️⃣ It must be relatable to the prospect.

3️⃣ Don’t be boring. Describe a problem the hero must overcome.

4️⃣ The hero’s first attempt fails.

5️⃣ Then something happens to the hero that changes them.

Most founders make the story about them. That is wrong. The very best founders have a consistent focus on the customer.

Remove all discussion of technology. No one cares. Customers don’t want another login screen. They want a solution to their most painful problem.

The story builds trust, proves results, and removes sales pressure.

An example:

😞 Original: We found that most employees don’t realize the benefits they have. So we built an AI that acts as the face of HR. It tells employees about specific benefits at the point of need. Including how to access them.

🤓 Better: Most employees don’t realize the benefits employers like you provide. HR may know, but they are busy with more pressing issues. The usual solution is an all-hands meeting. But, that gets expensive. A better way is to automate benefits discovery at the point of need. Just have employees ask about what’s provided when they need it. That way, you can ensure each employee knows all of the benefits you’re paying for.

😎 Best: Most employees don’t realize the benefits their employer is paying for. HR may know, but they are busy with more pressing issues. A first attempt is usually the all-hands meeting. But, that gets expensive. A better way is to provide automation that acts as the face of HR. Just ask it about benefits without interrupting work. You quickly learn which benefits are most important and your staff feels more taken care of.

When you tell the story over and over again, it naturally improves due to instant feedback. For example, if someone interrupts half way through, then it’s too long. As you speak it, the words improve, it becomes more natural, and body language drives certain points.

Sales for Founders

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