Story Seekers Open Workshop
This honest review of Story Seekers will look at the good and the bad.
Mike´s headache
It turned out that Solution Selling made the top 20 % even better. But it did not make the other 80 % better. The gap even increased.
From a technical point of view, Solution Selling was (and is!) perfect. But there was one link missing.
In early 2008 Mike discovered the power of Story.
But story is not story. The best story told the wrong way is not captivating the listener. The most captivating story might not influence change in the listener.
At first, Mike thought that these soft skills cannot be trained. But Mike would not be a legend of sales training if he would have left it at this.
Mike discovered and analyzed and was able to create a framework that will allow anyone to influence through connective listening and the power of story.
Who needs Story Seekers and why?
Story Seekers is not limited to salespeople. It is for anyone who is in the position of influencing change in others. From online marketer to fundraiser, board director, coach to a lawyer, public speaker, realtor...
Naturally, Sales Managers with a team of sales guys with empty pipelines and a track record of lost RFP´s can help their teams with this tool. Story Seekers takes the salesy, the sleazy and the pushiness out of sales. It teaches how to influence change through the art of storytelling and most importantly story tending.
Salespeople are not very good listeners. You could say that we have a tendency to suffer from selective hearing. We learned not to think in features but solutions. Soon solutions became our new features.
As soon as a customer mentions A-NY-THING that could allow us to propose our solution we stop listening. While we look at the client, we count the commission in our brains and wait for the next best moment to interrupt or for when the prospect needs to take a breath.
At the point you throw in solutions, it´s too late to learn about the story of the prospect. The discussion will drift to discussions about the "solution" or even technical environment. At this point, you do not know the vision of the prospect and you are rather lucky if your solution happens to fit and you get the deal.
The Story Seekers Workshop
Rob Stenberg and John Kratz, two of Mike´s Affiliates invited me to come to Minnesota for a Workshop.
The Workshop is 2.5 days long.
You already know the agenda of the training - teaching us how to influence change through connective listening and a powerful sales/influencer story so that I will focus on the quality of the WS.
The rotation of team tasks, tasks, listening mode and reflection kept everyone's attention throughout the 2.5 days. I do not find anything to criticize.
Mike Bosworth´s Workshops are not the type where you just sit passive. In the evenings, you will have to do homework.
The good
- Extremely skilled, qualified and also likable set of trainer
- Excellent trainer that are not just talk but have "street" experience and sales success
- It was amazing to see how the attendees grew in the course of the 2.5 days
- It is not a "story teller" workshop but a story influencer training
The bad
- I would have wished for some follow-up support until Story Seekers becomes a habit and maybe a few tools to make it even easier for me to implement Story Seekers. Well, it´s maybe not "the bad" because no other training offers this
- You will have to discipline yourself after the training to further your art
Conclusion
Story Seeker will change the way influencer communicate for good.
Besides all of the testimonials (we all know how that sometimes works, right?) I have seen other people and myself grow in just 2.5 days.
But do not take my word for it. Take my life for it.
A "LinkedIn expert" has recently deleted my entrance jobs from my profile (data entry, team assistant). The expert was not impressed that I have no formal education. I did not study or earn an MBA or anything like that. My LinkedIn starts at when I became a secretary. http://linkedin.com/in/aurorasa.coaching
What you will see is that I took one course: Mike Bosworth´s Solution Selling. Followed by years of successful sales and sales management career at companies like SAP and Logica UK (Management Consulting, Enterprise Intelligence, Data Mining, Export Manager). Pretty impossible, huh? I had no idea what performance indicators or neural networks are.
What you will also discover is that THE sales trainer legend Mike Bosworth has asked me if I wanted to work with him. I have a great business and have no intention to work for someone. So I waited a while until I said: OH, YES, MIKE!!!!!! I am now holding dream jobs at once.
For information on company training and the next open workshops click HERE
