ChChaapter pter ChChaapter pter 55 55 The rootThe prorootb leprom:b feleam:r ca feuasr caed busye lad bcky of lacckre of dicbreilitdyi.bility. We teWache te saalechs srepaless torep csall to high call highinto theirinto theircusto cumstoer orgmeran orgizatioanizations witnsh with the intentionthe intention of eng ofa engginga gisenngior-level senior-level decis deionc-imasionk-ermas. kTheers. probleThe problem is m is mostmost sales salesreps arerep sn areot, nornot, h norave hbaeeven b, coeemn, pcoanmyp eanxeycu etivexecus.tive Theys. Theymay may not unnotdersta undnerstad whnda twh it’sa tli kite’s tolik bee to in be the in s thehoe ss hoeof thes of people the people they ’theyre ’re askedas toke calld to. Ucallnfortu. Unfortunatelnay, ltelacky, oflac cok ofnfi codennficed ecausnce ecausd bye da dbyim ai ndisheimind ished sensesen ofs ecre ofd icrebilitydib cilityan becan a bebig a bbigarrier ba rrierto c utosto cmuserto menerg aegengmaegentm, ent, especiespecially forally ne forw, neyoungew, younger, or ler, ssor e lexperiess experiencednc saleeds srepaless. repOns. the On fli thep flip side, sida messe, a message delivereage delivered withd wtheith f uthell gr fuallvit grasa vitof asyo ofur yoorguanr orgizaantioniza ctionan can be highly cobe highly compellimnpellig. ng. Here Hereare aare fe wa sfeuwggestio suggestions forns inforfu siinngfu syoinur sales g your salerepss repwiths wthithe the confidenconfidence ancde creandd ibilitycredibility they theyneed n toeed bre toa kb rethroaku throgh theirugh theiraudie audnceie’s nce’s inertialinertial resista resistance. nce. 1. Write your stories down.1. Write your stories down. ChanChaces narcees, ifar yoe, uifr yoorguran orgizaantioizna htioasn bheeasn b ieen nbus ini nbusessi neveessn eve forn a for a little whillittlee whil, youe ,have you havesome some happy ha cusppyto cusmertos — mercs — ustocmuserstom forers w forhom w hoyomur your solutionsolu htionas delivere has delivered valude val. Theseue. These custo cmuserto smtorieser stories are yo areur yogreuar tegrest atest sourcesource of credibility of credibility in a sinale as scaleycsle c, yyetcle ,you yet wyouou lwd obuel dsu brprie suserprid hosew d how rarelyr atheserely these storie sstorie are sw areritte wnritte downn d orown m eorm morieamlizeorida lizein thed in for them forof cam sofe case studies,stu dwhiteies, white paper papers, or tes, sortim teosntiialmo vindialeo vis.d Ifeo yos.u If wyoanut w yoanutr yosaleurs srepales s reps to be crediblto be credible, theye, they need n toee kdn toow k ntheowse the storiesse stories. . Don’tDo juns’tt wjuritest w theritem the domw nd oandwn mandak em suakree sutheyre theyread retheadm. the Holm.d Hold themthe acmco uantccoableunt aforble k nforow kinnogw theingm! the Ham!ve them rattle Have them r atheirttle theirstorie sstorie off s off to youto inyou a poiin as epoid, csoed,nfi cdoennfit,d setorytellingnt, storytelling mann manner. Haever. H themave them be ver bey very clear cleabaoutr a btheout v thealue v areluealized rea lizedand theand le thesso lensss boothns byoothur yoorguran orgizaantioizn ation and theand cu thesto cumserto lemaerrn leeda ralonedn galo theng wa they. waThey . bTheetter b etterthey theyare a at retelli atn tellig ng thesethe storiesse stories, the ,more the more cred icrebled theyible ’theyll be,’ llthe be ,m theore m vorealue v theyalue ’theyll add’ll tao dd to the custothe cmustoer, amnedr ,the and m theore m caorells theycalls ’theyll ma’klle m toa khigh-levele to high-level stakeholder stakeholders. s. 2. Remember who the credit belongs to.2. Remember who the credit belongs to. Let’s Lbeet ’cs lebear: c Ifle ayor: uIf oryo youru or yourcom pcanomyp aanrey n aerew, nyoewun, yog, unor gles, ors elesxpse expe- - rienceriedn, chacedn, chaces nacesre yo areu haveyou havevery verylittle littlecred icbreilitdyi.b Thilitay.t ’sTh wahyt’s wsahyyin sag ying thingsthi linkgse “ liWkhe a“tW I’hveat foI’veun dfo iusn . d. .i”s or. . “.”I orthi n“Ik thi . .n .”k ca. .rrie .” cas rrielittles littleweight weight. . GuesGues whsas t? wNhaot? onNeo c oarenes w carehas wt hyou think. at you think. 6060 6060