![]() ![]() Now, before they even have time to wonder what they've gotten themselves into, I want to blow their mind with that lightbulb epiphany moment that suggests (using a dirty little film trick called the Kuleshov Effect) where this Maddening they're experiencing comes from. Disrupt the Status Quo with a Paradigm Shift ![]() Which is to set my prospects up for the next technique. I felt quite vulnerable going through these first few slides at first, but after seeing how literally everyone reacts to this pitch, I've gained a ton of confidence that this section does what it needs to. ![]() These are characteristics of a new era we’ve entered called The Maddening. ![]() I wanted also to invoke the feelings of a darkly epic tale where the fate of the world hangs in balance. I spent hours combing through newspaper archives to find headlines related to each of these generator functions, then came up with a snazzy name for our lovely modern predicament: The Maddening. I studied the 3 major generator functions of existential risk. I did some pretty crazy sensemaking here. And so whether my prospect was selling life-saving medical devices or simply a better way to send emails, I knew invoking those feelings would be a good way to catch their attention. You need to immediately earn their respect and position yourself as an authority.Īs a snot-nosed 30 year-old upstart selling to startup CEOs, I knew this was going to be doubly important for me, so I pulled all the stops and reached deep into the collective subconscious to… Frame the Prospect’s Ordinary Life In order to dazzle your prospects, you need to capture and hold their attention. Sales pitches are won or lost in the first act (oftentimes on the first slide). Ready to jump in? Act 1: Seize Their Attention I’m going to share with you the insight that informed its creation, with the hope that this will inspire you to drive career success with your own story-based sales deck. I’m going to walk you through it act-by-act. Today, I’m going to share with you that deck. This deck played a crucial role in landing my first strategic narrative project, and has since put me in the running for over a dozen Head of Marketing roles. A palpable sense of understanding and alignment between myself and my audience, quickly followed by a push for next steps. I’ve used this deck over a dozen times now, and nearly always the effect is the same. It’s a crazy ridiculous sales deck I’ve used to sell my StorySeer strategic narrative consulting, and is easily my most prized creation to-date. It’s a riff on Andy Raskin’s 2016 article. I call it… The Greatest Sales Deck You’ve Never Seen Seven years of hard work and self doubt finally paid off, and I owed it all to one single project that completely changed the course of my life and career. These were two of my biggest career victories to-date. And not only did I sell my first strategic narrative, but shortly after delivering it, I was able successfully deliver my second strategic narrative as a first-time VP of Marketing at a tech startup. What happened was something that’d never happened before. I’d have to re-enter employment with my tail between my legs, telling my dad and my colleagues and the big bad shame committee in my head that I hadn’t been enough, and would now need to start all over. My entire self worth was about to take a nosedive. I’d been on the cusp of selling one of these projects for over a year to a well-regarded FinTech client.Īnd so when suddenly it felt that my long desired storytelling business might be a failure, I have to admit-I was scared. I’d attempted it at both my full-time jobs and failed. I’d struggled for seven years-the entirety of my career at that point-trying to drive hypergrowth with strategic narrative. I had just a single prospect in the pipeline, and if I didn’t close them, I’d have to shut the business down and get a job. It was September of 2021 and I’d just lost my only 2 clients. ![]()
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