Jeff Bloomfield - 28 May

Copyright 2014 by Jeff Bloomfield

All rights reserved. Published in the United States of America. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the permission in writing from the publisher.

This edition published by SelectBooks, Inc.

For information address SelectBooks, Inc., New York, New York.

First Edition

ISBN 978-1-59079-250-6

ISBN: 9781590792636

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Bloomfield, Jeff.

Story-based selling : create, connect, and close / Jeff Bloomfield. -

First edition.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references.

Summary: Founder of sales training and development organization presents his theories about storytelling that he believes to be the most powerful way to connect to feelings of trust in others. He teaches techniques, based on neuroscience studies of communication, to create engaging stories that breakdown barriers of mistrust and enable productive interactions with customers-- Provided by publisher.

ISBN 978-1-59079-250-6 (hardbound book : alk. paper)

1. Selling--Psychological aspects. 2. Storytelling--Psychological

aspects. 3. Interpersonal communication. I. Title.

HF5438.8.P75B56 2014

658.85--dc23

2013041869

Interior book design and production by Janice Benight

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To my beautiful, supportive, intelligent wife, Hazel. Thank you for your constant gift of patience, love, and forgiveness. You are the embodiment of faith, hope, and love. To my amazingly gifted dancer, musician, and people magnet, Gracie. You constantly remind me of all thats good in this world. You are a bright shining light. To my inventive, creative, brilliant son, Drew. When the teleporter is ready, Ill go first! You are going to change the world. You three are the source of my greatest joy, and Im humbled to be part of your stories.

And finally to Papaw. You planted the seeds of story in my soul, and I hope youre looking down with that famous smile, watching them grow.

They say it takes a village to raise a child. It also takes one to write a book! Especially when the author is, at times, the village idiot There are many folks who have had a hand in this book coming to life. First, to all my clients over the past few years who have walked the Story-Based Journey with me. Thank you for taking a risk to try something a little out of your comfort zone! A special thanks to Kim, Heather, Dominic, Matt, Chris, Steve, Mark, Bill, Mike, John and Joe for having the vision to take this program into your larger organizations. And thank you for the laughter, tears and friendship we share at every session.

To Ford, thank you for your mentorship and friendship. Transformational Leadership is changing the world! To Larry, thank you for getting me out of the author starting blocks and headed in the right direction. Steve, thank you for your trust and friendship. Greg, thank you for pulling me up by my bootstraps, smacking me around a little bit and forcing me to get this program officially into a book!

To my parents, Roger & Linda, thank you for your years of support and encouragement. To my little sister, Alisha, and brother, Brad, thank you for all the ammunition youve provided me for my stories over the years! I love you all very much.

Finally, to my Grandmother, Mary. You are the matriarch of all matriarchs and I pray that my story turns out half as well as yours.

W ho doesnt love a good story? From the youngest child to the most cynical adult, everyone has that tale that speaks to them. Their grandest hopes, their worst fears, their deepest loves, and, yes, their darkest anger are all on display in that one special revealing chronicle. I can remember as a child dreading going to the doctors office, while at the same time excited to pick up the latest addition of Highlights Magazine, which always featured stories of adventure, fantasy, and morality, with recurring stories about such unique and captivating figures as Baba Yaga, the Russian witch, whose cauldron sat atop two live chicken legs.

And for some of us over the age of forty we likely remember receiving our first Luke Skywalker light saber from the epic space odyssey Star Wars, and convincing our dad or brother to pick up the used gift wrapping paper roll and battling us for supremacy of the universe. Most of us have probably even committed many lines to memory (Luke Im youre father). Those over twenty grew up on adventure series like Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

The point? Stories are effective. They work. Stories influence us. They influence us because they lead to a point, because they bring someone to a realization. The greatest compliment you can give an author is to call him a great storyteller. With Mark Twain, writing was his craft, story was the art. Sometimes its about good and evil, and sometimes, as with almost every joke, its simply a laugh. How many jokes do you know that begin A guy walks into a bar? And how many of us remember crawling onto the lap of a parent or grandparent to hear stories that began Once upon a time ? If you have young children of your own, you are likely doing this same exercise nightly.

Our greatest historians, our most memorable writers, and our most influential religious figures all used stories to explain their principles. Jesus could have said, as did the Ten Commandments, Thou shalt not but instead, He chose A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho In fact, the entire Bible is full of illustrations, (parables) analogies, and metaphors. If the creator of the universe chose to communicate in story form, thats good enough for me!

Even though few people have read it cover to cover, everyone knows the story of Moby Dick, the great white whale. And some of our most famous stories may not have ever occurredyet they so perfectly capture truths that endure. (Think of George Washington and the cherry tree). Did Abraham Lincoln actually read pages of a book at the end of each row he plowed? The story makes it seem so, but to my knowledge, no credible clip has been posted to You Tube. The point is, from Thucydides to Tolstoy, from Herodotus to Hemingway, people have known even before the written word that the best way to explain something is through a story.

Truth is revealed in stories, fictitious or real, because this connects with an audience. A character will always deliver a greater impact than a pie chart.

We are our stories. We compress years of experience,

view, and emotion into a few compact narratives

that we convey to others and tell to ourselves.

D ANIEL P INK , A Whole New Mind

The purpose of this book is to show you how you can use a storybased approach to improve how you communicate and ultimately improve the way you influence others, not for control or manipulation but for mutual benefit. Companies of all sizes and shapes are using this program to improve sales effectiveness, but the underlying principles and science behind the program teach effective communication in both business and personal situations. Sales is merely one category of communication to greatly benefit from these concepts. Regardless of your position or title, this program will most assuredly change the way you communicate forever.