The Best Way to Sell Is to Tell a Great Story

A question I get asked a lot has to do with selling. People who are starting their own side hustle or business ofter aren’t comfortable selling. In the minds of most people selling is a hard, forceful act that involves being brave enough to sit in front of a complete stranger and sell them a product or service by talking about the product features, price and then closing the sale. That’s not how I sell. That’s not how I’ve ever sold anything because I don’t have the guts to do cold sales.

I am not a salesperson. I am a person who likes to solve problems and that’s where the story starts.

If you have a side hustle and you’re wondering how to sell your product or service without irritating your friends, family and the fools around you (what I call the “3 F’s”) then you need to get your story straight. Literally, you need to work on your story.

Selling is a form of storytelling.

You probably sit on Facebook all day telling small stories. Moaning about something or someone. Talking about your children and their experience at school (pre-lockdown) or some other tiny little gem you feel the world of Facebook needs to know.

Let’s translate that storytelling skill into a sale.

Here’s the basic structure of any good story sell:

1. Present your problem statement

2. Love your product or service (people can tell when you do)

3. Truly believe in your solution (people can tell when you don’t)

4. Talk about your solution

If you’re struggling to sell, just tell a story about the problem and why you believe in your solution so much.

That’s really what I have been doing for the last 19 years in each business I’ve ever built. I find a problem that I want to solve, I tell the world why the problem needs to be solved, I solve the problem and then I tell the world about the solution.

Many years back I realised that there was massive interest from Western businesses to work on the African continent. The key markets were Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa. The problem was none of the Western businesses wanted to send their staff to work in the continent without having any experience. The solution was to use an intermediary, my company called Forefront Africa, to engage in an initial tour of the city and introduce the business representative to the local market.

The story was simple:

1. Problem statement: You don’t know Nigeria (Kenya/Ghana/South Africa) but want to do business there.

2. I love travelling on the continent and doing business in Africa.

3. I believe I am best positioned to take your businesses into key markets through my network and experience.

4. Solution: Talk through the incredible countries, businesses and people that Forefront Africa can introduce to the company.

If you can't break your sale into these four simple steps then you don't have your story right and won’t be able to sell anyways.

The middle two steps seem like the most obvious but are often the ones that trip most people up.

If you do not love and believe in your solution then your story is going to lack the enthusiasm and authenticity required to make this method of selling really work. You can’t fake authenticity, people can tell. If they don’t notice upfront they will notice as soon as they scratch below the surface and realise how little you care for the problem and the solution.

So if you’re struggling to start selling your side hustle just use the template above and work on your problem statement, your belief in your product and the solution you present.

Happy Side Hustlin’!