Stories are a part of the sales process, but there are better strategies and tools to help sellers refine their storytelling abilities. In today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, Donald is joined by sales speaker and managing partner of Amp, Todd Mitchem, to learn how he utilizes storytelling to make more sales.  What’s wrong with storytellers today? Sellers tell stories thinking they should be solely personal anecdotes before the work conversation begins.  In actuality, the most powerful stories are upfront with a purpose that launches into the pitch, intro, or discussion. Second common mistake? Not setting up the story. Sellers either set up too much or don’t set up enough to give the listener the correct amount of information to engage properly. Three elements of a sales story: Set up the customer's struggle, allowing them to see how the story relates to them.  Dictate the solution and derive benefits or successes from implementing the seller’s product or service. Explain what the story means to the prospect - why should they care? A story’s impact is only as good as the person telling it: The best salespeople are the ones who care about (or at least respect) what they’re selling. The story has to be honest to be impactful. While it doesn’t have to be your story, it should be genuine.  Great storytellers practice their craft; a salesperson can’t expect to nail it just by winging it during meetings. If done right and truthful, storytelling is the most powerful element to any sales process. Lead with what matters: Think from the perspective of the prospect; why does the sale or the pitch matter to them? They don’t care how many sales you’ve done or how close you are to hitting a quota. Todd’s final takeaway? Take your ego out of the sale, and you’ll find more success. Instead, focus on what you do differently and stand with that. To learn more from Todd, email him directly at toddm@ampld.com. If you reach out, he’ll send you a free learning PDF to research and learn more about today’s discussion. This episode is brought to you in part by LinkedIn Sales Navigator. The Great Resignation has become the Great Reshuffle, meaning it can be difficult for sales professionals like you to find leads and close deals. Luckily, Sales Navigator from LinkedIn is here for you! Sales Navigator from LinkedIn is the only tool that uses real-time alerts and up-to-date insights to help you know when prospects are ready to buy. And, with over 30 advanced filters, sales professionals can quickly find genuine leads with the intent to purchase. Gain the advantage of accurate, quality lead generation data from LinkedIn Sales Navigator. You can get a 60-day free trial of Sales Navigator at www.LinkedIn.com/TSE.  This episode is brought to you in part by Skipio. Are you sick of crickets? As a salesperson, the pain of reaching out with phone calls or emails and not receiving a response is real. But all text messaging is not created equal. 85% of people prefer text over email and phone calls because they want to engage in a conversation, not listen to bots. Be more like people and start having conversations that end in the conversions you want. Try Skipio at www.Skipio.com. This episode is brought to you in part by Scratchpad. Are you tired of a digital workspace cluttered with notes, folders, files, and half-filled spreadsheets? (Not that we’re speaking from personal experience.) Luckily, we’ve found the solution. Scratchpad is the first Revenue Team Workspace specifically designed to adapt to each salesperson’s workflow, so you don’t have to change your habits. Scratchpad creates a streamlined workflow that allows everyone to be a little more productive each day without the hassle of updating a database with whatever info you can find. Get Scratchpad free at Scratchpad.com.  As one of our podcast listeners, we value your opinion and always want to improve the quality of our show. Complete our two-minute survey here: thesalesevangelist.com/surve