First, picture an apple.

Easy to do.

Why?

“Because you’ve experienced apples with your senses,” Erik Peterson and Tim Riesterer write in their powerful book Conversations That Win the Complex Sale.

“You’ve probably done some combination of touching, tasting, seeing, and smelling an apple,” Erik and Tim note.

“You’ve even heard the crunching sound that an apple makes when you bite into it.”

An apple is concrete because you’ve … continue reading

1: The competition to host the 2016 Summer Olympics was down to the final four cities: Chicago, Madrid, Tokyo, and Rio de Janeiro.

How much was winning the games worth, according to a Credit Suisse study?

The answer: ten billion dollars.

“Three of the cities had reason to be optimistic,” Erik Peterson and Tim Riesterer write in their book Conversations That Win the Complex Sale.

“Chicago had President Obama … continue reading

1: The salesperson rips a piece of paper out of a notebook.

The piece of paper is the prop, Erik Peterson and Tim Riesterer write in their powerful book, Conversations That Win the Complex Sale.

The sales rep says: “Imagine that this piece of paper represents all the information that your salespeople need to communicate to their prospects about your company.

“The question is, how much of that information … continue reading

1: On January 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger broke apart just 73 seconds after liftoff, killing all seven crew members.

The disaster stunned the nation and triggered an intensive investigation into what went wrong. President Ronald Reagan appointed a presidential commission to determine the cause of the disaster.

The hearings were broadcast on television nationwide.

According to Erik Peterson and Tim Riesterer in  Conversations That Win the Complex … continue reading

1: What’s the difference between a fact and a story?

A fact is, “The queen died and the king died,” Dan Pink writes in his book A Whole New Mind.

A story is, “The queen died and the king died of a broken heart.”

This week, we’ve been exploring the power of telling customer stories with contrast. Now, take a closer look at what makes these stories compelling.… continue reading

1: “Picture a room with about 10 people from Ford sitting around a table,” Erik Peterson and Tim Riesterer write in their book Conversations That Win the Complex Sale.

In front of the room, a salesperson stands with two flip charts.

“After several months of unsuccessfully trying to sell a laser device to Ford’s plant managers, this salesperson knew that she needed to change her approach,” Erik and Tim … continue reading

1: “Imagine that you are a prospect,” Erik Peterson and Tim Riesterer write in their powerful book Conversations That Win the Complex Sale.

Now, perhaps you are not a software engineer in real life, but play along.

You are on a Zoom call.  The face of a software salesperson fills your computer screen.

She says, “What if you never had to teach another programmer another programming language?”

(Pause)

“And, … continue reading

1: Imagine you are a salesperson. You and your prospect are sitting in a conference room.

You are competing with several large, well-known competitors. By comparison, your company is considered “small” and not substantial.

You take out a piece of paper.

You write down the following numbers:

28

500

8,000

85

11/65

Then, you say:

“28. . . That’s the number of years that our company’s been in business.

“500. … continue reading

1: It’s Wednesday. “You park your car at your home airport. You get on a plane for a business trip,” Erik Peterson and Tim Riesterer write in their book Conversations That Win the Complex Sale.

Two days later, you fly home. But what happens if you haven’t written down your parking space?

You can’t remember where you parked your car.

“Why not?” Erik and Tim ask. “You parked there … continue reading

1: Imagine a beautiful summer morning on Lake Erie.

“The sun’s out, but there’s just enough breeze to keep you comfortable. It’s not too hot and not too cold,” Erik Peterson and Tim Riesterer write in their powerful book Conversations That Win the Complex Sale.

Erik is lying in a hammock right by the beach. He’s reading a good book. On the table next to him is a cold … continue reading