ArrowHead3 Consulting

Cynthia’s heart sank as she drove by Madison Elementary School on her way to work at the hospital in Jackson, Mississippi. Her ten-year-old son, Will, wants to be an anesthesiologist when he grows up and he’s working hard to get good grades. Sadly though, Will is in a bad school, by almost any standard and next year he will enter the middle school, which is even worse, and where Cynthia’s older son dropped out because of his involvement with drugs. Cynthia wants to send her son Will to a Madison County public school, where education appears to be a higher priority and the kids are succeeding. But she is not able to because Mississippi does not have school choice. Cynthia can’t afford to send Will to a private school, or move into the Madison County Public School District. She fears the same fate for Will that swallowed her older son. She feels trapped, trapped by her own zip code.

Grant Callen of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy uses this real-life story when speaking to civic clubs about Mississippi’s dire need for school choice. Grant told me, “When I use this story, the response is tremendous. People will stay long beyond the allotted time telling me they know a ‘Will’ and asking how they can get involved to help Cynthia and her son, Will.”

Last year I was invited to attend some classes at the Harvard Business School. I was fascinated about their use of the case methodology in teaching. Students would read a case story, which was always incomplete with the chief executive at a professional “low point.” Working in teams the students would strategize how they would handle the case’s business dilemma. When the class would meet together, the Professor would lead a discussion of the various team approaches. The incomplete story and the solidarity they felt for the executive of the case fired the passion of the students. Only in the last 15 minutes of a two-hour class did the Professor share how the dilemma was dealt with in real life.

There’s something about leveraging the low point of a story that makes you want to get up and do something! Whether it is a plea to give money to a family whose father has terminal cancer; a software sales person talking about a plant manager who cannot get his product out on time; or a pharmaceutical rep telling a story of a multiple sclerosis sufferer who cannot afford the $4,700 a month treatment cost. Each one of these stories has a “low point” with potential energy. We as human beings are naturally empathetic to one another, what happens to one potentially could happen to all.

The “low point” is where the hero (the analog for your client) in your story has exhausted all their efforts on trying to reach their goal; the goal that only your solution can provide them. Paradoxically, the “low point” occurs at the height of tension in your story, a type of seesaw correlation, and the lower the low point, the higher the tension.

Imagine your power when you know what “low point” to look for in your prospects. Think how that will affect who you talk to, what questions you will ask, and how you will sell to your client.

Below are seven tips to help you better leverage your hero’s “low point:”

1. TRY FOR REAL-LIFE: Find a real-life hero and their low point; otherwise create an analog patterned after the ideal client you can uniquely serve.
2. DON’T EXAGGERATE: Avoid hyperbolic stretches; keep your hero’s low point credible and believable.
3. PORTRAY FULL IMPACT: Portray the full impact of the low point on your hero both professionally and personally. Many times it’s a small personal impact that tips your hero to action.
4. MIRROR OPPOSITE: Your hero’s low point should be the mirror opposite of your hero with a “happy every after” ending; poor and friendless becomes rich and popular.
5. EXHAUST ALL OPTIONS: Make certain your hero has exhausted all options to attain their goal, their back is up against the wall; this is where you want to riddle your competitors with holes. Everything has been tried and nothing has worked… except you and your solution.
6. START, PAUSE or FINISH: Consider starting your story with your hero at their low point, then go back to show how they got their; or start from the beginning and pause at their low point to create suspense; or finish at your hero’s low point for a very unsettling story.
7. SERVE, DON’T EXPLOIT: These storytelling techniques are effective persuasion tools. Make certain your intention is to serve your client and make their life better, not to exploit them for your sole benefit.

My experience with sales people is that they short cut the painful part of a story being too anxious to get to the “happy ever after” of their product. I believe there is danger in this. Your clients are in some type of pain; they want to know you understand where they are, and then they will be more likely to explore your solution.

As the great story expert, Robert McKee, said, “conflict is to story as sound is to music.” Leverage your hero’s low point, and you’ll be adding a wonderful symphony to your presentation… and closing more business!

Great persuaders and effective sales people know the power of a well-crafted question. The question opens the buyer’s mind to a new potential with the new product or idea. But what many don’t understand is the added power they have when they can uncover the polar nature of sales opportunity: the problem (pain) and the solution (gain).

A sales person stood at the head of a conference table, about to begin her sales pitch to a buying committee of eight people. She had no PowerPoint, just a whiteboard. She knew the client was unhappy with their current software solution. Standing by the left side of the large whiteboard she asked, “What is it you don’t like about your current solution?”

Hesitant at first, each person gave her an “issue” with the current solution. Using a red pen she wrote each issue on the left of the whiteboard and followed up asking for specific examples of how that “issue” impacted them. She was having a productive discussion with her prospect and half of the whiteboard was filled with “pains.”

She paused, looked at the list, then walked to the right side, picked up a black marker and said, “Well, I can see that would be tough for your business. What would you like to see in a new solution?” The responses came more easily this time. She would repeat back what she heard, and then would write it on the whiteboard. Drilling down further she would ask what specific gains they would like to see in the new solution.

Looking at the list of desired “gains” she circled the ones that her solution could provide and asked, “Would you like to see how our solution could help you with these gains from your list?” The answer was an excited yes, and she soon got the deal.

Polar Questions empowered our sales person to do a deep-dive into the prospect’s pains, giving her specific examples that she could refer to later; she was knee-deep in the prospect’s pain! She empathized with a crossover statement and did another deep-dive into the prospect’s desires for the new solution. She helped clarify and amplify the gulf between the prospect’s pain and desired gain; her buyer felt the urgency.

Value lies between the pain and the gain; the greater the gulf the greater the potential value. If the distance is indiscernible, the value will be soft and your buyer will drag their feet.

Polar Questions may help you if:

• You’re a sales person moving heaven and earth to get a prospect to make a faster buying decision
• You’re a CEO trying to convince your team to pursue a new course
• You’re a parent trying to persuade your child to do something that’s good for them
• You’re a spouse hoping to sway your other half of the benefits of purchasing of a new home
• You’re a politician trying to win over a voter to your policy change

The benefits of Polar Questions are many, but most importantly they will:

• Get your buyer to move faster
• Increase your leverage with your buyer
• Illustrate how to best serve your buyer

So if you want to improve your persuasive ability, asking effective questions. But if you really want to ramp it up, use Polar Questions to help your buyer better understand the real value of your solution or idea. They will have a greater sense of urgency and you will know how to best serve them.

You’ve probably heard of a “unique selling proposition” (USP) and perhaps ignored it thinking it was something your “marketing” had under control, or perhaps you’ve worked on one and believe you have one.

For me, a USP is like an arrowhead. Without an arrowhead, an arrow will not fly true nor will it penetrate its target. This is like selling with features and functions, and not leading with a unique benefit to the buyer. Your sales message may fly, but it’s chance of penetrating your buyer is low.

Have you ever had a sales cycle that dragged on and on? Have you ever had your sales and marketing teams disagree about your product? Have you ever had to discount your price because you struggled to communicate your product’s real value? If so, then maybe you don’t have a clear and effective USP, or ArrowHead, as I like to call it.

Some well-known USPs would include:

• Head & Shoulders (shampoo): “You get rid of dandruff”
• Domino’s Pizza: “You get fresh, hot pizza delivered to your door in 30 minutes or less — or it’s free.”
• FedEx: “When your package absolutely, positively has to get there overnight”
• M&M’s (candy): “Melts in your mouth, not in your hand”

I’ll never forget a work session I did with a group from all over the world, where I
would present them with a list of internationally known products, then ask them to
tell me the USP for that product. Each person, one at a time, came to the front of the
room, and unveiled a product name that was covered with post-it notes on the
flipchart, and they were asked to give the USP on the spot. One participant, a man,
unveiled the product “Victoria’s Secret” then without skipping a beat said, “the gift
that keeps on giving.”

There are five reasons why you should have a USP or ArrowHead for your product or service, but first let me share with you my company’s ArrowHead:

As you can see, an ArrowHead has one unique benefit as its point, which is supported by 3 other unique benefits as blades. Now, why is a ArrowHead so important to you, your company and your product? Let me give you five reasons:

1. Answers the question, “Why should I buy YOUR product?” – Don’t make your buyer think about why they should buy your product. Make it easy for them. Don’t beat around the bush; tell then exactly what your product will do for them, and how it is different from all their other alternatives (your competitors).
2. Everyone sings from the same songbook – Nothing is more confusing to a potential buyer than to hear different promises from different people at the same company. An ArrowHead gives your team a shared purpose and common flag to march under; it is a common chorus that your team can harmonize to.
3. Speeds the buying decision – When you force your buyer into an “intellectual exercise” about how your product can help them, it slows down and sometimes stops the buying decision. An ArrowHead empowers them to quickly evaluate your product.
4. Reduces the “tire kickers” – Without an effective ArrowHead you may be marketing to the wrong buyers, wasting your time and theirs. Increase your closing rate with a clear ArrowHead that helps buyers know that your product will help them.
5. Gives Purpose & Passion to your sales force – Sales people that know exactly what their product can do (and not do) have laser-focus and confidence in their product. This translates into success with your buyer.

Your ArrowHead does not need to be a catchy tagline or a long mission statement. In fact, it’s best if you can deliver your unique selling proposition in 10-15 seconds. A single idea may be all that you need, as long as it gives sufficient promise to your buyer, shows your uniqueness, and is strong and credible. You will be most successful if your leadership team helps create your ArrowHead so that they own it.

Create a winning ArrowHead, align your team around it, and then learn how to deliver it with passion (not a sterile PowerPoint). An ArrowHead can be a sharp message in your quiver that will create purpose, passion and power in your marketing, sales, business and life.

For more info on the ArrowHead, check out the book, “The ArrowHead: Winning the Story War” available on Amazon.

Have you ever been around a great storyteller? They could say anything to you and you’d be immediately drawn in? I was in Portland a few months ago on business and spent the evening with my sister-in-law, Sheri, and her family. Listening to Sheri talk about the daily routine of her dog Scooter can be the most engaging theater in the northwest. She will have me laughing one moment and crying the next.

On the other hand, we all know people that can completely suck the energy out of a conversation, regardless of the topic. Recently I listened to a man discuss a life and death situation of his friend. After a few painfully boring moments it was easy to drift off and think about dinner; not the train of thought you want someone to have when they are discussing your mortality.

The lesson? HOW you say something is more powerful than WHAT you say. Let me repeat, HOW you say something is more powerful than WHAT you say. I like how story authority, Robert McKee, author of the screenwriter’s bible “STORY” said it:

“Master storytellers know how to squeeze life out of the least of things, while poor storytellers reduce the profound to the banal. You may have the insight of a Buddha, but if you cannot tell story, your ideas turn dry as chalk.”

Why is this? Why is the HOW more powerful than the WHAT? Much of the answer lies in research done by Albert Mehrabian (Professor of Psychology, UCLA), on the relative importance of verbal and nonverbal messages, in his book “Silent Messages.” It has become known as the 7-38-55 Rule. Although the work was done in 1971, it has been corroborated with many other studies since then. The 7-38-55 Rule states:

•         7% of our communications come through our WORDS

•         38% of our communications come through our VOICE

•         55% of our communications come through our BODY LANGUAGE

Notice that 93% of our communication is non-verbal (38% + 55%), this is the HOW. 7% is verbal, this is the WHAT.

If you don’t believe this statistic, try this little experiment. Next time you are with your significant other, tell them “I love you very much, you give my life meaning and happiness.” But when you say it, never make eye contact, mumble your words, look at your phone like you’re checking for a text, and finally roll your eyes. Let me know who ended up paying for dinner.

Think about your last business presentation or speech, how much time did you spend working on your WHAT? How much on your HOW? Chances are, most of it was on your WHAT and very little, if any, on your HOW. So if HOW we say something is more powerful than WHAT we say, how can you ensure you’re creating the right buzz in your business communications, speeches and presentations? Here are some tips:

• Show your passion: Let your excitement show; we enjoy watching passionate people talk, even when they’re selling us something.
• Lose the fluff: Put your words on a diet, and cut the fat. Narrow your communication to a few ideas so they can be easily recalled and retold. Use “coffee shop” (conversational) words, not “marketing” (excessive) words.
• Find your “magnet words”: Certain words can be highly charged to your listener; find these words and use them. When I speak to sales people I talk about “deal-killers;” or yours might be a unique benefit you provide. Draw attention to your “magnet words” with your volume, tone or speed.
• Be the mime, but lose the grease paint: Practice communicating your message with your body alone, like a mime, and see if you don’t pick up some “added impact.” But remember, be YOURSELF, or you will scare the children.
• Discover your WHY: Three men were working on a building site. When asked what they were doing, the first man answered ‘I am laying stones.’ The second said ‘I am making a wall’ and the third replied ‘I am building a cathedral.’ Purpose leads to passion, and passion gives you power. Keep asking yourself, who benefits from my product? How is my product changing the world? Your WHY will drive your HOW for either good or bad.
• Learn the power of the pause: Few things can draw attention like a pause; it’s the wind-up to a pitch, it’s the silence before the starting gun, it’s the moment right after “and the winner is…” Pauses create suspense, and it lets your audience chew and digest what you just gave them.
• Don’t be afraid of humor: You don’t need to be a stand-up comedian, but if you have an ironic or humorous element to your message or story, have a little fun with it. A fun comic strip, a story about yourself or a coworker will work if it is pertinent to your message.
• Read your audience: You’ll be able to see if your delivery style is engaging your audience if you look for it. If they’re drifting, try a more engaging approach; you can tell by their eyes if they are with you.
• Practice: Poor delivery can neuter your message faster than anything. Practice, practice, practice! But don’t just practice, practice perfection. Practice makes permanent, so have a trusted coach give you feedback until you’re happy with the delivery. If you have access to a 6+ year old child, try practicing part of your pitch to them, if nothing else you’ll have your funny story about yourself.

Whether you’re trying to sell the big deal to make quota, or just looking to not embarrass yourself at the next business dinner, HOW you deliver your message or story can make all the difference. Few things will pay off more for you than improving your ability to be an effective storyteller and communicator.

As the American Poet, William Carlos Williams said, “It is not what you say that matters but the manner in which you say it; there lies the secret of the ages.”

The president of a company was frustrated with the poor sales traction he was getting out of his sales team. He told me they were getting the leads and the appointments. Yet when it came time to close the deal, invariably they found an unwelcome guest lurking about the prospect… their competition.

Frequently the competition would come in at the 11^th hour and hijack the deal from my friend’s company. He summarized his sentiments with, “I feel like we could write a manual in how to sell our competition!” We both laughed, but I could tell he wasn’t happy about it.

It got me to think, how could someone help to sell his or her competition? Really, if they put their mind to it, how would it be done? I’ve seen it done unwittingly dozens of time, in sales situations around the globe. Perhaps there might be some wisdom garnered by shining a satirical light on the ways to help sell your competition. Here’s a funny but serious look at how I would coach you to help sell your competition, rather than your own solution.

First, I would be a generalist, be everything to everybody. Don’t try and be different, or claim any specific niche or expertise. If you’ve spent years developing specific features or traits to your product, do not plant your flag at the top of the mountain; instead wait for everyone else to arrive at the top with you and take a group picture, you and your competition… now isn’t that nice?

Second, be the one doing the talking; don’t let the prospect control the conversation. Try not to ask any questions, unless they are yes or no questions. Remember you have many features and functions about your solution you need to get out there for your buyer to choose from. Just assume you know your buyer’s problem, then spend most of the time telling them about your “solution.” In time, you might just wear them down so they buy from you.

Third, the more information you give the better. Obviously the buyer will buy the minute they hear the right solution, so you need to just keep carpet-bombing them with your feature-list and company information. Tell them all about your company, how many employees, number of offices with a map of the world, a slide with all your client logos, and don’t forget the executive pictures. Don’t talk about your unique features unless you mask them with a litany of less compelling features and functions. Throw as much up on the wall as possible and see what sticks.

Forth, impress your prospect with your technical expertise. Don’t try and solve their issues, it’s better if they know that you know your stuff. If they challenge you, push back; don’t let your prospect push you around. Remember, you’re the expert, not their servant. You may need to come down to your prospects level and teach them; never grovel or show your desire to serve them.

Finally, discount, discount, discount. If all else fails, lower your price. You buyer is more concerned about the price they pay than solving their problems. Value, especially, unique value, is over-rated. It’s just silly to think that someone would value quality over price when buying a car for his or her family; or someone choosing expertise over price when selecting a heart surgeon for their mother; or someone choosing location over price when selecting the neighborhood to build their dream home. The only thing that buyers care about is paying less for a product.

So there you have it, the best ways to help sell your competition.

• Be a generalist, don’t be an expert & try to be different
• Be the one doing the talking and don’t ask questions
• Carpet-bomb the buyer with information, don’t focus on your unique features
• Show-off your expertise, don’t worry about persuasion & service
• Discount, discount, discount is more important than trying to solve their problems

Now re-read this article and see if you can spot how you can spot what it take to outsell your competition, rather than helping sell your competition. Happy selling!

In 2011 I was asked to deliver a keynote speech to the State Policy Network (SPN). SPN is a network of state think tanks with the focus on the free-market.

Since then, I’ve enjoyed our work with this organization. I’ve seen firsthand the struggle of telling the free-market story; in my research for the SPN work I found that Ronald Reagan was perhaps the finest messenger of the free-market story.

SPN asked me to write an article to summarize how their think tanks can better tell their story. We were honored to make it to the cover.

Download it here

One of the most painful things for a sales person is losing a deal they thought they had. Trust me, I know! Awhile ago, I lost a big deal that I thought was going to close, but at the last minute the client went with another vendor. The deal was big and strategic; I knew our solution was the best thing for the client, but it wasn’t to be.

It reminded me of an experience of one of my heros, Walt Disney. In 1927 Disney was a budding cartoonist and introduced a new character called “Oswald the Lucky Rabbit” for Universal Studios. He had just finished a successful series called the “Alice Comedies” and “Oswald” was just starting to become popular. In the spring of 1928, Disney and his wife Lilly went to New York City to ask his employer Charles Mintz to have Universal increase his budget for “Oswald.”

But Mintz had gone behind Disney’s back and signed most of Disney’s employees to a new contract with Universal. Mintz then demanded that Disney take a 20 percent budget cut. As leverage, Mintz reminded Disney that Universal owned “Oswald.” Mintz was unrelenting, and further demanded that Disney give up his own business and work exclusively for him. Disney refused and said, “you can keep the staff.” Disney left New York without most of his staff and without “Oswald.”

Before Disney and his wife Lilly boarded the train home, he sent his brother Roy a telegram: “LEAVING TONIGHT STOPPING OVER KC ARRIVE HOME SUNDAY MORNING SEVEN THIRTY DON’T WORRY EVERYTHING OK WILL GIVE DETAILS WHEN ARRIVE — WALT.” Disney’s unflappable faith and optimism would soon pay off. He was already working on a way to make the telegram come true by the time he arrived home. He knew that he had to come up with a new character. And so he dreamed up the idea of a mouse on long train ride back to California. At first Disney thought he’d call his new creation Mortimer. But Lilly didn’t like that name. “How about Mickey?” she asked.

Soon after Disney got home, he finished his commitment to Universal for the first season of “Oswald” and began creating three cartoons starring his new character, Mickey Mouse (a slightly altered Oswald the Rabbit to avoid litigation). And the rest is what you might say is history.

Perhaps the most important benefit to Disney was his conclusion to never again use a “middle man” and to own his own characters. Mickey Mouse would become The Walt Disney Company’s most lasting symbol: Mickey Mouse, the most famous of Walt Disney’s characters.

Shortly after I lost that deal, I made some small but fundamental changes to my business that became the core of my current business. Without the loss, that improvement would never have been made. So when you think you’ve lost a big deal, pull up your bootstraps, get on the train and go make Mickey!

Happy Selling,
Kevan Kjar

I’ve been taking a class from a renown profession from Emory University entitled “The Art of Teaching: Best Practices from a Master Educator.” I enjoy seeing how he and other professors capture the attention of their students and make their teaching principles stick.

In one lecture, Professor Patrick N Allitt said that professors are not taught how to teach, but rather they learn all the details of a particular field of knowledge, then they are handed a class and told to teach what they know. I think the same is true to some extent of sales; when someone learns enough about a product they are handed a bag and quota and told to sell.

Professor Allitt teaches his students to go back to the basics, and teach them well. He spoke of professors who began the first day of a semester regurgitating an overloaded syllabi of content and then spending the semester speeding through the content hoping the students would memorize all the material and details. His conclusion to this lecture was to “teach less better.” His intention is not to be less better, but to teach less, and to do it better; focus on the basics, then they will have the foundation within themselves to learn the rest in the future.

Sales is the same way. Have you ever noticed how a sales person would pack all the features of their product into a presentation with the hopes that the buyer might see something they like? We have names for this:
    “Spray and Pray”
    “Drive-by Demos”
    “Show-up and Throw-up”
Remember your buyer will likely only take away three to four things away from your presentation. So if you give them twenty things, what are the chances that they will take away the three things that you really want them to take? Things that you’re really good at, and that competitors can’t do as well. You see the problem!

So as you pull together your presentation and your messages, think what really matters most to your buyer, and what can you do better than anyone else? Now prioritize your presentation down to these three to four messages. This part of the secret to our ArrowHead process… Sell Less Better; sell less, and do it better so it sticks with your buyer.

I like the quote by Antoine de Saint Exupery (author of “Le Petit Prince”). He said, “You know you’ve achieved perfection in design, not when you have nothing more to add, but when you have nothing more to take away.” I like it so much I put it on the back of my business card. This simple practice always challenges you to focus on what’s most important.

So next time you’re prepping for an important buyer meeting, bring all you know about the buyer to the table, and narrow your focus to those items that would be most important to them, then zero in on the items that they respond to. If you don’t know what’s most important to them, do better discovery so you can narrow your discussion to those three to four items that are most critical. Put all your efforts around these areas and make them stick; your closing rate will go up, and your story will be much clearer. Remember, sell less better!

Happy Selling,
Kevan Kjar

Viktor Frankl 1905-1997

On a cold fall morning a few years ago, my college son and I boarded a bus in Krakow, Poland for Auschwitz. The verdant rolling hills were spotted with beautiful hamlets. It was cold, and a gentle drizzle fell that morning. We walked the cobbled roads, stood in the dingy prison quarters, and even walked through the gate of Auschwitz I with the sign overhead which read “Arbeit macht frei” (“work makes you free”). One of my driving forces for visiting this “off the beaten path” landmark was a book I read years earlier by an Austrian psychiatrist named Viktor Emil Frankl. His famous book? “Man’s Search for Meaning”

Frankl was Jewish prisoner in various Nazi concentration camps, including Auschwitz. Because of his psychiatric background, Frankl was asked to establish a special unit to help newcomers to the camp overcome shock and grief. He later set up a suicide watch unit, and all indications or attempts of suicide were reported to him. In that unique crucible, he was able to observe many that were physically strong and healthy and who should have survived, suffer and die. He also observed many weak and sickly prisoners who should have died, struggle yet survive. What gave the weak the power to survive? Meaning, a purpose to live.

Frankl uncovered a simple, yet powerful truth… men and women’s search for meaning gives them the passion and power to not only survive, but to inspire and help others. Frankl codified his findings into a new treatment he called “logotherapy” which literally means “meaning therapy.” The basic tenets of logotherapy are:

- Life has meaning under all circumstances, even the most miserable ones.
- Our main motivation for living is our will to find meaning in life.
- We have freedom to find meaning in what we do, experience or take a stand with.

Now, what does this have to do with selling, marketing and storytelling? Everything! At about this same time I was doing much research in story structure, and I was trying to understand what the irreducible essence of “Story” was, and why was “Story” so omnipresent and effective. I was reading Joseph Campbell’s landmark book “The Hero with a Thousand Faces”, Christopher Vogler’s “The Writers Journey”, and Robert McKee’s classic “Story”.

After Auschwitz it hit me, the crystallization of “Story” is PURPOSE, or using Frankl’s word, MEANING. A great story describes a hero trying to accomplish some purpose, typically with great obstacles, but the hero struggles and either succeeds or fails. Our minds and hearts are attracted to “Story” like teenagers to texting; it’s been built into our DNA after generations of problem-solving and storytelling. We intuitively see stories as a rehearsal of someone, somewhere trying to overcome or accomplish something, and we know if we hear the end of the story, it just might give us a new tip or trick in how to better survive. We just can’t help loving stories.

Think of your favorite movie and ask yourself, who was the hero, what was their struggle or purpose, and what was the outcome. Wizard of Oz… Dorothy’s PURPOSE was to get back to Kansas and ultimately she confessed that “Oh, Auntie Em, there’s no place like home!” Star Wars… Luke Skywalker’s PURPOSE as to become a Jedi, and he deftly used the Force to destroy the Death Star. I love it when all these things come together!

But have you ever tried to put your product or solution into such a story? If you can, your buyer will quickly grasp what you do (because the story is about them), and they will easily be able to re-tell your story to others. That’s why I created the StoryArc to do just that, but that’s another discussion. Suffice it to say, “Facts tell, but Stories sell.” Contrast this to a dark room, 45 PowerPoint slides overloaded with bullets and tiny text, and gobs of features and functions and a dull, lifeless presenter… how hard will you make your buyer work to buy your product?

Yet when a team can determine the Purpose of their product or solution, they discover the heart of their Story, and it’s much easier to then wrap a story structure around it, and see how the buyer neatly fits in. When a team can know what their product can do, and how it can change the world… that is Passion!

What does Passion do for any sales person? Have your ever purchased a box of cookies from a Girl Scout because you liked their attitude when they showed up at your doorstep? Or did you ever forego a purchase, even something that you really, really wanted because the sales person was dull and lackluster in their enthusiasm for their product? Passion leads to POWER.

Trust me on this one. Over the years I’ve learned that if you can help a team discover their Purpose, you will notice a step-change in Passion for the product, and that Passion will close business; it’s pure power! So if you ever hear me ask you, “what is your story?” know that I’m asking you to tell me your Purpose. Your Purpose leads to Passion, and your Passion results in Power.

Happy Selling,
Kevan Kjar

A few weeks ago one of my dogs, an Airedale Terrier named “Chalet” had a bad abscess on her bottom, right near the tail. It was swollen, oozing and causing her a great deal of pain. I will spare you all the gross details, but your mind can imagine the issues with this condition.

I took her to our vet, a very capable and caring professional. I learned that my dog had an “anal gland abscess” and needed minor surgery to have it drained and cleaned. Fortunately it would only take a few hours. So I ran some errands while Chalet had this procedure done to alleviate her pain. I was walking the aisles of Home Depot when I got the call that my dog was out of surgery and all went well and that I could come pick her up.

When I came to pick up Chalet, I overheard the nurse tell the person in the back that the “anal gland guy is here to get his dog.” Now the lesson here is NOT that I was called the “anal gland guy” (but I can see how some might not like that), but rather why couldn’t they refer to my dog by her name, Chalet? Now I know the nurse cares for my dog, but imagine how much better it would have been for them to refer to my dog by name. THE most important word to your client is their name.

A week later, I took my two other dogs, miniature Schnauzers, Thumper and Maya, to a doggy daycare while we were traveling in southern Utah (Chalet was still at home with our friends). When we arrived at the Red Rock Pet Center, they took pictures of my dogs, gave them bright orange collars with their names on it and carefully took them to the play area. When I picked them up this morning Thumper and Maya were in great spirits. I picked up their old collars from a cubby with their names on it; also in the box was a stuffed toy with their names on it and report cards for each dog. I will go back there again!

Now contrast that to the “anal gland guy.” So next time you refer to your client, double-check that you use their name, rather than the problem they are having. Is it the “missed the quota guy” or is it “Tom, who wants to blow out his quota this year?” It’s more comfortable for your client and easier for them to use your services to work past their problem. I am not the “anal gland guy,” but rather I’m “Chalet’s owner”… or truth be told, I’m “Chalet’s servant” and she is the owner.

Happy Selling,
Kevan Kjar