Want something? A sale? Somebody's help? You may be leading with the wrong strategies and tactics. Fine tuning objection handling techniques. Product comparative analysis. Ensuring your SEO target words are driving inbound leads. A clever way to argue your point. Sure, all that’s important but masterful stories are critical as an upfront approach. Tell great stories or, better yet, create 'viral' stories and look what happens next...

Every one has a trip tradition. Buy a spoon or a mug. Drink a local brand of beer or keep the coaster. Hold onto a piece of currency or make sure you get “that stamp” on your passport. What has been our trip-tradition? Buy a piece of art. Over the years, we have aquired works from Ireland, Cuba, India, New Zealand and Russia. Closer to home, Dallas, San Antonio, New Orleans, Chicago and New York. It wasn’t until Paris in January, 2002 did we realize how important ‘story time’ is in our buying decision. So important that it crucial in the corporate landscape as well.

Paris in the winter will drive you indoors. The denture jangling, bone twisting, don’t stick your tongue on that bronze gargoyle COLD - gets you running for heat behind welcoming doors. Once inside you are compelled to buy something. By design, you go to the district in Paris where art galleries are waiting for appreciative buyers.

At the closest art-shop you see, you stumble through the door. The tiny brass bell designed to flip a latch and ding decides to ring into non-existence. The entire latch and bell blast off the hinge and ding, klang, bang its way across the worn wood floor. You turn to your spouse and say, “It’s so cold, the doors are freezing their bells off.” Your spouse would laugh but it was so frosty her lips aren’t ready for action just yet. Things heat up when she scans the room for a piece of art waiting to be the next in the acquisition tradition.

The art is appealing and has potential. You envision what pieces could go on which walls. A cherished memory from this trip is waiting for your Amex card.

“Could you tell us about this piece?”

The gallery attendant has her head buried in something on her screen. Her wood desk has nothing but a lamp and a computer on it. It is a tired desk ready for some paperwork. She looked up with a confident gaze and said, “It is one sousand Euros.”

Expecting more of a description we realized the attendant, the resident pro, the sales goddess was clearly not enthused about the first attractive piece.

“Could you tell us about zat one?” you accidentally ask in a French accent.

“Zees is seecks ‘undered Euros,” the ‘sales person’ says with more interest.

“Yes. Thank you. What can you tell us about it?” asks your spouse, giving the ideal person the room the chance to put the “sell” into sales.

“It is oil. It is possible to ship. It is elegant – oui?”

You try to like what you see but nothing is connecting. Could we rationalize the purchase anyway? It is, after all, our tradition. But, a half an hour later you leave the store empty handed. Unable to contain her annoyance, your spouse says under her breath, “Why buy something without a story?”

Immediately upon going back outside the temperature froze any further inclination to spend money or time on a piece of art. The moment was gone and the French GDP would have to do without our contribution.

Now, let’s talk about your sales strategy?

What are the tactics and strategies you use to close a sale? Do you sell products, services or both? Or, are you selling a specific initiative at work? Are you attempting to convince an external client or a colleague of a certain direction? Chances are, if your lips are moving you are trying to sell something. If that is the case, what will help your cause? Story Time.

Story Time in Sales has three key elements in common:

1. Story Time is Personal. The purveyor of the story needs to connect with the story. In the case of the art work, the attendant should have said something about how she enjoyed meeting the artist. If it was a widget, the seller would say how he uses it at home.
2. Story Time Paints a Picture. When telling the stories, bring the listener into the experience. For example, the art gallery dud of a saleswoman could have said, the art was painted on the cold spring day where the artist had to warm her oils in her pants pockets. The widget seller could say the invention was an accidental result of trying to design a motion sensitive light and the widget became a better item.
3. Story Time is Experiential. Bring your purchaser into an experience rather than just being an observer. That means the art gallery lady could have engaged more. She could have asked about the design of our home. Mentioned how the artist was the same age as we were and how he always wants to keep every piece he paints.

If you want your stories to travel, make them compelling.

If you want to add rocket fuel to the sale, turn the sale into its own unique story that is a personal, picture painting experience. Do this and your product or service comes with an echo effect.

Case in point: I was test driving a Tesla. The copilot said, “At this straight away, step on it. Don’t worry. You won’t scare me.” I had no idea what he was talking about until the accelerator touched the carpet. With a zero to 60 mph in under 4 seconds, head pinned back, wheel gripping ride, the ‘copilot’ created a story I’ve told over and over. It was personal! The car painted the picture! It was tantalizingly, spine-buzzing experiential!

When a product, service, direction or idea captivates someone’s imagination it gets told repeatedly at the “purchaser’s” home or office. Like an objet d’art, the story about what you sell ripples across time and distance.

When others come through your door looking for the same thing, this means more sales.

Want to make your intentions sticky. Use story time and the improvement in your results will amaze.

Promotional Capstone about the Author: Vince Poscente has been described as an invigorating and masterful story teller. He is an in-demand motivational keynote speaker on the topic of Full Speed Ahead and inductee into the Speaker Hall of Fame. Vince is a New York Times bestselling author and Olympic competitor. Encounter his story about going from recreational skier to the Olympic Games in just four years, and you’ll have your own personal experience of Full Speed Ahead painted in your imagination. www.VincePoscente.com/video He can be reached through info@vinceposcente.com

A recent Wall Street Journal article affirms, Parents, let it happen instead of coaching your kids from the stands. Yeah. Makes sense. But, don’t be so sure with my Senior Citizen mom. Press the point and she’d probably mutter, "Well get off the ice if you’re not going to hustle."

Back-checking in hockey is a term primarily for forwards chasing down opponents on their offensive rush. Much like Horse-to-Barn, players find extra energy with the puck, while the opposition’s net is the barn. Your legs pump harder. Motivation increases. But without the puck, fear of being scored on increases while the muscles don’t get any motivational message.

It’s a paradoxical phenomenon. Salespeople agree... “The fear of loss is a greater motivator than the opportunity to gain.” Example? Black Friday shoppers line up at midnight to ensure they don’t miss out on a limited inventory's great deal. Put a sign out that says, "Sale" and you may get a few curious shoppers. Meh… Put a sign that says “Sale. Today Only” and interest spikes. Giddy up.

Flip the scenario for hockey forwards. The second you sense a chance to score a goal, adrenaline spikes. (The opportunity to gain.) But, the second you lose the puck to the opposing team, it’s a collective, “Oh crap. Now I have to chase a smelly guy around the ice to prevent him from scoring.” (The fear of loss.) 

This is where Mom’s voice kicks in. Each winter, Mom bugs-out of Edmonton to warmer Dallas climes.  God knows she has seen enough youth-hockey games in the sixties and seventies. But, she gets a kick out of coming to her 53-year-old son’s hockey contests. Trust me on this one, being a back-checking forward in your 50’s is NOT enticing. But, the sound of her familiar voice yelling out, “Hustle back Vince. Hustle!” is enough to reach down and get after the play. Amazingly, back-check hard enough and you’ll catch your opponents off guard a little – sometimes, a lot. Case in point: Playing hockey in Australia.

Thirty plus years ago, a chance to play a few weeks of hockey popped up in Sydney. Within seconds of starting the first game, it became clear both teams had an unwritten rule. “Mate, if you’re good enough to take the puck away from us, then you can skate down ice and take on our defensemen and goalie. I’ll get there in a tick.”

Cue Mom’s voice (despite being 8,258 miles away), “Hustle Vince. Hustle!” All neglected to point out their unwritten rule. I’d skate back, lift the stick of the unsuspecting offensive rusher and take the puck. Eleven players, teammates and opponents alike, seemed shocked to suddenly flip directions. We won every match during that stretch of games.

Finding an advantage in the business of life starts with what the competition is not willing to do.

Who’s cheering you to back-check?

Thanks Mom!

The trail held treasures for those willing to stop and look. Yet, the most delicious fruit was within reach - but untouched. Most were willing to comfortably pick low-hanging fruit. The best berries required stretching through some prickly branches. Human nature revealed itself in Mother Nature. When there is some form of resistance, our natural tendency is to stop short - even when there are treasures just beyond that invisible comfort-zone.  

John Steinbeck's iconic novel, The Grapes of Wrath, is about a depression-era family looking for hope and a better life. After their farm is seized by the bank, the family heads to California. On their difficult journey the Joads family discover their destination is not what they expected.

Ok, let's get one detail out of the way. Our “grapes” were actually blackberries. The combination of the Steinbeck metaphor, a blackberry's resemblance to grapes and this writer's pension for alliteration; made the title, The Grapes of Resistance, irresistible. The Blackberries of Wrath really doesn't have the same resonance to it. Think of this poet’s license as a way for you to stretch your imagination.

Let's carry on the trail.

Funny enough, the insight on human nature in Mother Nature didn't occur until; nature called. Tucked into part of the trail, out of sight from other hikers, the blackberries called out, "Pick me." Immediately, blackberry bushes were obvious every few steps on the path. The berries were in season and the most accessible bushes were picked over on the Lacamas Lake Trail. Take a step towards the very edge, saddle up to the branches, carefully reach into the chaotic web of barbs and you could rescue the tastiest berries destined for an unceremonious date with gravity and terra firma.  

Short people are regularly reminded of their vertical challenges when reaching for anything. We fantasize about comfortably reaching for stuff on higher shelves. (Those annoying tall people never fantasize about being short - unless, of course, they fly in coach.) Today was no exception. The Grapes of Resistance became an epiphany. If a Hobbit like me could access these berries with a little extra effort, anyone could. But they didn't.

What is the opportunity within your reach but mired in some form of resistance?

First, recognize opportunity just off your path.

Second, step as close to the resistance as possible (without getting hurt) and reach in.

Third, carefully choose the fruit that will nurture you.

Fourth, there's no need to be greedy. Ever. Abundance is everywhere with plenty of people stopping short when there is resistance.

Fifth, pick what you can comfortable hold, share and enjoy.

The Great Depression impacted millions of lives and inspired a classic narrative about struggle. You have delicious opportunities waiting for you and your family. Reach past human nature. Go through the resistance. Share HOPE and enjoy.

Being quick to judge puts one’s judgment into question.

Go on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, TV shows, Shock Jocks on the Radio and see/hear examples of people being quick to judge someone else. Is this helping our society or tearing it down one judgment at a time?

Eight years ago, and seconds after the media released a recording of Alec Baldwin saying his eleven-year-old daughter was a “rude, thoughtless little pig,” people were judging him a terrible father. Assumptions quickly followed that ex-wife Kim Basinger leaked the voicemail with malicious intent. 

Baldwin regretted losing his temper. He referred to his words as a mistake like other parents make now and then. Later, Basinger denied leaking the voicemail. Yet assumptions without facts still swirl. Was it appropriate what Baldwin said? Of course not. But, was it right for people to be quick to judge him as an unfit father?

Mr. Baldwin continues to get caught up in the swirl of controversy and judgment. 

More than twenty years ago, I had my own bad experience of people quick to judge. It was at the tail end of an executive director job I held for a sport association.

One of the initiatives I coordinated was a combination of two half-time employee grants to hire a full time employee. After serving the association for four years I moved on to pursue my dream of competing in the Olympics in Speed Skiing.

A few short weeks after I left there was a new volunteer treasurer who announced to the board that I had embezzled money from the association. There were ten people sitting around that boardroom. Nine immediately said, “Wow, Vince is a crook.” Only one called me, without the board’s consent, and asked what was up. Eventually we figured out there were those two govenment hiring HALF-grants that were combined into one position. But, for some reason, the rookie treasurer assumed this represented two employee positions and questioned where their halves of the money ended up.

Nine people ignored all the hard work and commitment that I gave their association. They turned on me. Ouch! Twenty plus years later it still hurts to think about it. Turning your back on someone can cause pain and do damage. Being quick to judge is the fastest way to make things worse, not better.

A few years ago I heard a friend spit venomous comments about Bob who, "left his wife and kids." My friend was quick to judge without any understanding of both sides of the story. He went on to say how others also turned on Bob.

I sent Bob a letter about how painful it must be and the unfortunate reaction some people had. I iterated how my experience of Bob was always positive. I hoped he was able to take the high road in all things. Bob wrote back moved that "at least one person wasn't quick to judge."

To avoid the pitfalls of jumping to conclusions there are three things to consider:

1. If it’s your business then make it your business to find out both sides of the story.
2. It it’s not your business; mind your own business. You gain or contribute nothing by being quick to judge without the facts.
3. Reach out to those who may have been judged unfairly and write them a non-judgmental message. You will turn the tides of distrust and contribute to a solution. 

Do this and your judgment cannot be questioned. Society will be the better for it.

When someone believes in something, they fall somewhere on the What Happens Continuum. On one end, there are those who believe “Everything happens for a reason.” At the other end, they vehemently hold the belief, “There is no destiny, only chance.” In between? “Is it a coincidence or a clue?” The ultimate truth has more to do with an intersection of passion than reason.

On January 30^th, 2009, Max was in sixth grade. His passion? Music. Eleven year-old Alex had a flair for theater. Isabella was dipping her nine year-old toes into ballet. On the same day Dallas schools closed for teacher service-training. On impulse, we turned the family car into the Booker T. Washington High School parking lot. We knew very little about the arts magnet school and thought we would, “Just look around.”

A family unit, walking into unfamiliar territory has a certain look about it. All eyes are a little wider and heads are on a swivel. At that exact moment a man approaching his retirement years was passing through the lobby. Clearly he was headed for something else but the gaggle of Poscentes compelled him to extend assistance. “May I help you find who you’re looking for?”

“Actually, we were just driving by and wanted to show our musician son the High School he said he wants to go to.”

“What grade are you in son?”

“Sixth grade,” said Max.

“Wow, you like to plan ahead. Why don’t I take you on a little tour before I head off to my meeting.” 

Thus began an intersection of passion(s). Bob Marshall, our overqualified ‘tour guide,’ eventually, and humbly revealed he was the past Chairman of Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts Advisory Board. His corporate successes backed up his passion for the arts and ‘Booker T.’

A couple of years later, out of 86 guitar player auditions, Max was one of the five selected. The next year, his sister, Alex auditioned and was chosen for the Theater Cluster. Last week, their youngest sister, Isabella found out she was one of 50 bound for Booker T. out of 200-plus talented dancers across the Dallas metroplex.

We reached out to Bob to let him know Isabella’s good news plus the question if Booker T had ever had three siblings attending the school at the same time. In his reply he mentioned, “(intersecting with your family was) probably one of my greatest and most cherished ‘opportunities.’” He also wrote, “… the question of how "things" happen in this world - fate, luck or an opportunity simply borne out of participating in life.  Whatever - it is wonderful when it happens.”

If you are wanting to foster a hand of fate or luck – lead with your passion. Wide-eyed and curious, pass through the next door you find. Its in those moments you will intersect with others following their passion.

Isn’t it wonderful when passion happens!

Life balance? HA! But think about how fun balance can be when you're on a see saw. You're up. You're down. Sometimes your skinny butt stays up because the 'husky' kid won't let you down. During this time, take a breather, sharpen your (SEE things clearer) SAW. 

Senior Covey's 7th habit, "Sharpen your Saw" reminds us, "... preserving and enhancing the greatest asset you have–you. It means having a balanced program for self-renewal in the four areas of your life: physical, social/emotional, mental, and spiritual."

There is that word again, balance. HA! HA! We are so busy, we simply drive past logic. We each, unconsciously believe we need to keep driving forward, cutting wood, bouncing up and down on the see saw. 

YOU ARE DOING IT RIGHT NOW.

You are likely blasting through this article so you can get onto your next activity. Odds are your time is tight and you can't rationalize taking anything more than a 70 second break. Unless you take control of your life starting now. 

Take control of your life, one of two ways.

1. Be Impulsive about slowing down. Here's a little test. Let's see how you do. To the left is an 8 minute video. It is PACKED with powerful information designed to improve your life. If you impulsively took 8 minutes and dedicated it to sharpening your own (SEE things clearer) SAW you may just be yelling "Timber" more often today. Take time to sharpen you - and you get more done.  

2. Be Tactical about taking a break. Every Wednesday, fellow hockey buddies invest time with a Stanley Cup champion (Brent Severyn) for skills training. We love the one on one learning with an NHL professional. Is it manditory we each take time to sharpen our skills for beer league hockey? No. But it makes playing the game more fun. The same goes for the game of life in your world. As for the business of life... leading up to each Wednesday, a few hours are spent writing this eBrief for you. Is it essential you get to read a free eBrief from yours truly. No. But each week, my writing skills get sharpened, a little at a time. With your welcoming mind, I plan on being a better writer and motivational keynote speaker.

Hopefully, you took a moment and watched the video clip above.

Fingers crossed you will get more tactical about forcing some balance into your life.

Balance? HA HA HA... this SEE SAW is a great ride.

An excuse is never a good idea, unless there's a gift in mind. The gift doesn't have to be tied in a bow. The excuse doesn't have to be a set-back.

Anniversaries, special events, an idle Wednesday or most recently, Valentine's Day can be an excuse worthy of a gift you'd like to give a loved one. Recently, Mom opened an email. It was a 90 second video acknowledging the extraordinary person she is, and the gift she was a part of with health care professionals.

This past Saturday, she sent an email to her inner circle.

My son Vince has always liked to make his own Valentine gifts for his mom.
When he was age 7 or 8 he took an empty metal juice can.
He turned it upside down. Vincent envisioned a work of art that his mom could treasure.
On his own, he found hands full of flat-head 3 inch long nails in a jar on his Dad's workbench.
The family-sized juice can was about as tall as our, then, glass milk bottles or my vase which sometimes held flowers from my garden. But this was February 14th, in Edmonton. My flower garden was covered with snow. Obviously, Vince wanted to give me a bouquet of flowers.

I still have it at home in Canada. It certainly is true; it's the thought that counts.

This year, Vince edited some meaningful words from a DVD of a speaking engagement.
He was addressing a room full of pharmacists.
This home-made Valentine showed up as one of my emails.
Hope you enjoy it as much as I did/do.
Happy Valentine's Day. (Sent from Patricia Poscente's iPad)

It helps to have an excuse to remind someone special in your life how special they are. Maybe this 70 second eBrief is excuse enough for you to send a gift of your time... or a tin can with nails in it. The thoughts you share do indeed count as a treasured gift.