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Why Change Selling Blog

 

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2 min read

How to accelerate B2B saas revenue in 2024 -video

By Mark Gibson on Jan 24, 2024 8:00:00 AM

The script for the video

The video below runs for 3 minutes and explores essential activities to accelerate revenue.  The place to start sales performance is with your existing customers.  All of the methods discussed build on a fundamental understanding of the jobs your customers are trying to get done and are based on proven concepts. It is read by my wife Robin.

Topics: B2B selling process marketing messaging alignment visual storytelling
1 min read

Getting Channel Sell Through - Video Case Study

By Mark Gibson on Dec 16, 2022 12:33:00 PM

Storytelling, Visual Storytelling, and asking insightful questions are three of the most important skills for all customer-facing professionals for learning, retaining, and engaging buyers in conversation around their issues. They are equally important for conveying your story to prospects and customers in a way that makes an impact on them and that they are likely to remember.

Topics: visual storytelling story whiteboard storytelling
3 min read

What story are you telling about change?

By Mark Gibson on Oct 19, 2022 2:25:52 PM

This charcoal drawing by Susan Krough from San Jose is a prize-winner, entitled "The Letter."

Topics: sales enablement visual storytelling
1 min read

Whiteboarding with IdeaPaint beats a Whiteboard hands down

By Mark Gibson on Sep 11, 2022 12:00:00 AM

Two weeks ago at the HubSpot User Group Event #HUGS11, I saw a great idea in action that I thought could be of interest to readers of this blog....it's IdeaPaint.
                                      
I've been using the same whiteboard in my home office for the past 15 years and I was happy with it until the HubSpot event. Now having seen IdeaPaint in action, my whiteboard looks small and dull; flat surfaces in offices I visit loom as a potential surfaces for visual storytelling.

Click me
IdeaPaint is a urethane-based paint that comes in a 50 Sq. ft. kit, with roller and requires only one coat. It's the invention of two young Boston entrepreneurs who conceived the idea of creating paint that could cover any smooth surface and turn it into a surface for dry erase markers.

Think of any smooth surface, curved or flat; table top, bench, door; literally anything can become a whiteboard. Use IdeaPaint to help you make your work space work, whether you are in sales, marketing or a student interested in using a whiteboard to capture ideas and write down your thoughts.

IdeaPaint position their paint as more cost effective, easier to apply, longer-lasting and works well with all dry erase markers. In addition it provides:-

Topics: whiteboard selling visual storytelling whiteboarding
4 min read

Downton Abbey - Great Storytelling and its Importance in B2B Selling

By Mark Gibson on Jan 12, 2022 12:00:00 AM

The PBS Masterpiece Theatre period costume drama, Downton Abbey is a masterful example of visual storytelling, featuring superb British acting talent, staged in the magnificent Highclere Castle, (hailed as the best castle in England).
It's the best TV drama I have seen for a very long time and a welcome departure from the US election news; I'm a huge fan and recommend it to anyone interested in quality entertainment.

For those who have not yet seen Downton Abbey, Series 2 is playing on Masterpiece Theatre on Sunday evening in the US, on the PBS channels. 

Downton Abbey has enormous appeal across age groups from 10 years old to 100 and is being shown in 100 viewing territories. It is hugely popular in the US, UK and is the biggest television hit in Spain for 10 years.

Downton Abbey is a beautifully written and visually compelling story from a time of tremedous social upheaval, World War 1. The characters are fully developed; the aristocrats restrained and rule-bound by the mores of the era and the servants, subjugated by dutiful obedience. The superb grounds and the setting of Highclere is stunning.  

The essence of great storytelling is our ability to identify and connect with the aspirations and frustrations of the characters in the story as they confront their personal challenges. The tension and excitement in the struggle to overcome them as the story unfolds makes the next episode a compelling must-watch event and a reason for staying in on Sunday evenings.

How can we apply these lessons in selling?

John Kotter, Harvard Business School professor, and author of "Leading Change" who comments on the power of visual storytelling states, "Over the years I have become convinced that we-learn best-and change-from hearing stories that stike a chord within us. Those in leadership positions, who fail to grasp or use the power of stories, risk failure for their comanies and themselves".
Salespeople are leaders running their own business franchise and John Kotter's advice is highly relevant. 

Top Salespeople are Natural Storytellers

I'm currently working on a whiteboard story for a leading technology company and have received contributions from some of the sales and marketing stars in the company over the course of its development.

What struck me about a number of the salespeople and marketing team members is their use of story in discussing their products. 

  • They use anecdotes and simple, yet powerful metaphors when talking about how their products are used. 
  • Use cases come alive through examples that are relevant and compelling.
  • They create tension in their discussion around the use of their products to differentiate themselves from the competition. 
  • They have figured out how to tell their story naturally....without a script.

Bottling your Story

Our goal in creating Whiteboards is to capture and bottle the magic from the top performers and create a story around how the products are used to overcome problems with the status-quo and have everyone on the customer-facing team learn it and have fun telling it.

When the buyer is at the center of your story vs. your products and the story captures their current situation and their struggle, then you are well positioned to have your capabilities unfold naturally in conversation. 

Combining Visual Imagery and Story

The earliest evidence of Visual storytelling is 35,000 years ago in the paleolithic cave paintings in Chauvet Cave, South of France. With the advent of the slide projector and then PowerPoint, we forgot how to tell stories and let the bullets and slides do the talking.

The best presentations in sales communication successfully integrate simple images with product value-creation and weave a story around the buyer condition.

When we use whiteboards to tell our story vs. PowerPoint bullets, we use simple hand drawn images (that are immediately meaningful in the context of the discussion), interwoven into a story around issues that the buyer is potentially struggling to overcome.

In a WhiteboardSelling enablement symposium, everyone on the customer-facing team learns to draw the whiteboard and to tell their story and in half a day, they will have learned the story well enough to use it with prospective customers the next day...although they may be somewhat uncomfortable until they have mastered it.

There is massive difference in the level of cognition in the audience between an un-trained novices scrawled notes on a whiteboard and the whiteboard created by a person trained to present a visual story and to use icons to convey meaning.

Buyers will often remember a well constructed whiteboard story months after the interaction; scrawled notes on a whiteboard will not be stored in our brain in the same way a poor PowerPoint presentation is discarded from our memory.

Take-Aways:

  1. The essence of selling is effective communication and the most effective communication uses simple visual images interwoven into a story.
  2. For those who enjoy British humor, a spoof of Downton Abbey for last year's Red Nose Day charity fundraising event is hilarious. Links below. 
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5dMlXentLw 
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3YYo_5rxFE
  3. PBS Interview with the producer and cast members
  4. Learn more about the science behind WhiteboardSelling Enablement.
Topics: sales downton abbey sales & Marketing effectiveness visual storytelling
2 min read

Visual Confections that Sell (video)

By Mark Gibson on Oct 27, 2021 11:23:06 AM

This "Visual Confections that Sell" video below, defines what visual confections are, how to use them in sales situations and outlines our process to create them. 

The video requires no registration form to play and runs for about 14 minutes.

It will be of interest to a broad audience who want to communicate their ideas more effectively in a shorter space of time. It will be of particular interest to those interested in leading with an opinion, supported by a visual confection, to disrupt status-quo thinking.

If you would to download the visuals and script or discuss converting your PowerPoint presentation into a visual Confection, or give feedback on the video, please complete this Let's discuss Visual Confections form.

How Visual Confections Create Value in Selling

  • Visual Confections help sales people convey their value creation story, creating confidence that leads to better buyer engagement. 
  • Visual Confections combined with visual storytelling technique, help sales people get their big idea across more effectively in conversation.
  • The process of of creating Visual Confections aligns sales and marketing messaging and brings value creation into clear focus.
  • Visual confections when used in sales training can help reduce sales ramp time and foster stronger message ownership, leading to improved sales results.
Topics: sales and marketing alignment visual confections brain rules visual storytelling
3 min read

Visual Storytelling and Presentations that Sell

By Mark Gibson on Oct 27, 2021 11:23:06 AM

Selling with Pictures and Emotion

What makes a great sales presentation and what's the difference between a good presenter and poor presenter?
Lets get crystal clear about the purpose of a sales presentation.

Here's my new definitiion, "the purpose of a sales presentation is to have the audience interact with both the presenter and the material to engage, transform and activate the audience to create change."

The best presenters successfully weave a story around the buyer's current condition... "what-is"; they engage emotions and lead the buyer to understand "what-could-be" as a result of using your products/services and conclude with a call to action or logical next steps.

Great presenters make the buyer the center of the story. Great presentations are delivered in a true dialogue with the audience....images and props serve as visual aids - where appropriate.  It's not about Powerpoint slideshow technique or bullets.

Steve Jobs' 2007 iPhone announcement is continually referenced as an exemplar presentation. Steve uses emotion, humor and props as well as dramatic music.... his images are simple and powerful and add clarity and weight to the point he is making. His timing is perfect and he knows the material and this comes from rehearsing the presentation more than 20 times.

The Hero's Journey Story Structure

In the development phase of a whiteboard story or visual storytelling structure we loosely follow the Hero's Journey structure to create contrast between "what is" and "what could be" and engages the buyer in conversation around the challenges of the "now".

The Hero's Journey from Nancy Duarte's Resonate

Topics: effective presentations visual storytelling whiteboarding
4 min read

A Guide to Engaging Sales Presentations - Do not use PowerPoint

By Mark Gibson on Oct 27, 2021 11:23:06 AM

On Wednesday last week, I had the pleasure of sitting in a one day course entitled "Presenting Data and Information" presented by Prof. Edward Tufte.

Topics: powerpoint visual storytelling edward tufte
4 min read

10 Reasons to Leave the Laptop and PowerPoint behind on a sales call

By Mark Gibson on Oct 27, 2021 11:23:06 AM

With so much at stake in every prospect encounter, why would I promote the idea of leaving the laptop, PowerPoint presentation and LCD behind?

I've been working with sales and marketing teams for the past 8 years as a consultant to help align sales and marketing messages and create clarity around value creation. With one or two exceptions from the hundreds of presentations I've seen, they all follow the same format.

It's all about me, my big office, my stuff, my awards, my customers (slide 4), my partners, my products, my compelling features and my unforgettable and highly differentiated benefits. 

It's like there was a gold standard master PowerPoint presentation written 20 years ago and every presentation since has inherited the format....only the buildings and the names change.
If you want a good laugh and some introspection take a look at the Chicken, Chicken, Chicken video below (Thanks to Neil Warren for making me aware of this).

Topics: presentation skills powerpoint visual storytelling communication skills.
1 min read

Whiteboard Selling Best Practices Group started on LinkedIn

By Mark Gibson on Oct 27, 2021 11:23:06 AM

Whiteboard Selling Best Practices

If you are interested in Whiteboarding, you are invited to join a new LinkedIn group set up to promote and share Whiteboarding best practices, tips and to advance the art of whiteboarding in sales.

Whiteboard Selling Best Practices is an open group created to share and disseminate Whiteboarding tips, ideas and best practices.

WhiteboardSelling alumni and sales, marketing and enablement professionals with an interest in using whiteboarding techniques for in-person and remote whiteboarding are most welcome.

The goal of this group is advance the art of whiteboarding so as to improve engagement, discovery and differentiation through visual storytelling.

Click on the whiteboard to go to the group.

Topics: whiteboard selling visual storytelling whiteboarding