How To Sell More With Stories

In this episode, the one RIGHT BEFORE MY VACATION... We'll talk about why I'm drinking Wild Turkey Bourbon and how a story sold me on it! And of course we'll dive deep into why stories work so incredibly well, and how to use them in various areas of your business to build a better relationship with your audience, have more fun, and sell a heckuva lot more! Resources Mentioned [email protected] Transcript Jeremy Reeves: Hey, what is going on guys and girls. This is Jeremy Reeves and you are listening to another episode of the Sales Funnel Mastery Podcast. And today, I am in a very, very good mood. I am actually sitting here drinking a little bit of Wild Turkey Bourbon, so I am very excited and feeling good. I am actually going to talk about that. Talk about why I am drinking that in a minute, right. So before that, a couple of things right. So number one, I am actually very excited because we -- my wife and I found out that we are having a boy, right. So child number 3 will be boy number 3. So there is going to be a lot of testosterone running around our house. My wife is very excited about that. Lots of fishing and camping and hiking trips and dirt and just disgustingness in our future which is awesome you know, I love that. I was cool with either of them you know, because if it was another boy you know, I have a blast with Connor and Logan and so I already know that I love you know, having boys you know, they are ton of fun and actually I just got home. I spent the whole day with them. And if it was a girl you know, then I would have gotten to experience that whole side of things you know, having a girl and kind of everything it goes along with that you know, daddy’s girl and all that kind of stuff and then all the hormones and craziness that happens during teenage years and all that. So anyway, we are having a boy. So we are very excited about that. We actually just got home from buying Logan a bed and because Connor and Logan are going to be you know, going into the same room and the baby will get you know, it is on separate room just you know, because when baby is crying it is not waking up the other boys and all that kind of thing. So that is number one. Number two is right after I record this which you are probably not going to hear this until you know, roughly Wednesday or so. It is usually when Andrea publishes it. I am going to be on vacation. I am going to be on vacation the whole week from about 3rd until the 9th. Actually, from right after I record this, it is Saturday, it is 5:19 on Saturday. So think about what you are doing in 5 o’clock on Saturday and I was recording this. So I am just taking the week off. Normally, I would not be this excited about taking vacation because I love what I do you know, I love waking up and writing copy for clients and putting together campaigns and all that kind of stuff, but I really, really needed a break because the last 6 weeks I have been -- I have been pushing very, very, very hard, basically, too hard. I actually ended up getting myself sick and that kind of thing which I normally do not do. There is just kind of a couple -- it was like a perfect storm situation. The whole bunch of things kind of came together at once and they just you know, it is one of those things where you got to just you know, I was talking about hustle a couple episodes ago and it was time, I just had the you know, bury my head and hustle you know what I mean. So I did that for 6 weeks and now I am you know, taking a break. Taking a mental break just to recharge my batteries. Spend more time with the family. I mean it is not like I do not already, but you know, spend some more time on stuff that I like to do you know. So this week, I will be, I am going to go hiking. I am going to go fishing. I am going to go golfing. Probably do a little day drinking. I am going to meditate and exercise a little bit longer than I normally do you know. Play some playstation and watch movies. I actually have a setup in my garage where it is a 100-inch projector screen setup out in my garage and it is a big fancy setup out there so I can actually like sit out there and have some Bourbon and a cigar and watch movie you know at night which is pretty bad ass. All my guy friends love coming over and hanging out in the garage. So you know, read a couple extra books you know, some novels this week you know, spend some time you know, with family and friends. I will probably do some -- probably smoke a pork butt. Have the guys over for couple of beers and pork butt stuff like that you know. A couple of day trips. We are going to go on -- and lots and lots of just good old plain shenanigans you know, just plain practical jokes with my wife which will be funny and stuff like that. So I am excited about it. So anyway, that was a very long way of getting to the main topic here which is stories, okay. Now what I just told you is a story and believe it or not, me going through what I just did is actually helping me make more sales, right. It is actually conditioning you to buy more from. And the reason is because the stories -- and I will get into this a little bit more. Stories are very good way of establishing a bond. Establishing like a connection with people. So you know, establishing a relationship. It is a good way to get people to trust you. If I tell you about my life right, if I tell you about the things that I am doing and the things I am excited about and the things that are hurting me you know, the things I am vulnerable with you know, the things that I am scared off, the things that I am excited about, the things that I am happy for, the things that you know, bring me joy, that kind of thing. Think about it. It makes me seem like more of a friend right, because you know me better. So who do you know the best. You know your best friend is the best you know. You know what makes them scared and what makes them excited and happy and playful and you know, whatever. So it is a good thing to do and that is why I tell you (inaudible 6:00.0) of stories you know what I mean. First of all, I just like telling them. You know, (inaudible 6:05.3) they are just -- they are just magical for making sales right. So I was telling you before when I first started, I am drinking some Bourbon, right. I was having some Bourbon. I am going to take a sip actually. Oh God, that is good stuff. So I am drinking Wild Turkey, right, and this is actually my first bottle of Wild Turkey. So if you like Bourbon by the way, check out Wild Turkey. It is very good. It is a very light kind of Bourbon. So if you are kind of new to Bourbon, it is not going to like there is -- I am just drinking straight Bourbon. I am not -- I mean there is no water, no ice cubes or anything. And it is smooth you know what I mean. As you just noticed I went from drinking it right to talking. It is very, very smooth Bourbon. It is very -- I think it is very good for like you know beginning kind of like a transition into Bourbon because sometimes it can be a little bit harsh you know what I mean. And the reason that I am drinking Wild Turkey right now is because of Matthew McConaughey, right, the actor. So basically, what happened was, I was on Facebook probably -- I do not know about a week ago, something like that and I saw a thing -- Matthew McConaughey, he is one of my favorite actors you know, first of all because he just does awesome movies and I also -- I have heard several different times that he is just a very like kind of cool down-to-earth person, so I always like that with people who are really big like that, that they keep their you know, just become down-to-earth they do not get all like pompous and frilly you know just annoying like the Kardashian’s. So anyway, so I am watching the video and basically he is going to be their essentially, their spokesperson. He calls himself the creative director of Wild Turkey, right. And he is going to tell their story. So I watch it was like this little 6 minute like documentary type of thing that he did with Wild Turkey and like they take you through the distillery, you do like this little virtual tour of the distillery and he has the owners on there and you know they are kind of just talking about how they got started, I think it was before prohibition where they got started and like that kind of thing. And it instantly made me want to buy their brand, right. And it is because of the origin story. That is called the origin story, right. Another example of this is, is I just did -- I just did a promotion for a client -- a client name Mark and we did a promotion and made -- we each made tons and tons of money which is awesome because I was doing a percentage of the sales so we each made a ridiculous amount of money which is you know, which is very cool obviously. And one of the reasons that that happened is that during this launch, we launched his origin story. It was actually right before the launch, right, and that was one of the ways that we generated some buzz like right before the launch you know, we got extra eyeballs on his business right before the launch and we did it through an origin story, right. And basically, it was him and he has some really crazy like video skills, so he kind of put the whole thing together, but it was basically just his story about how he started the company and the struggles that he went through and the struggles that they are going through now you know. And it kind of you know, his vision for the company and why he started it and you know, exactly like kind of who it helps and some stories from some of his customers and you know, like I just said, the vision you know, for his -- for the future and that kind of thing. And we got -- it was like, when he put it on Facebook, he was getting like 15% or 20% engagement rates in terms of like views to likes and shares you know what I mean. So like if it was a thousand views, he was getting like 200 likes for every thousand views which is insane you know, like that is really high and I mean tons of comments and people saying how you know, it changes life you know, by working with them and that kind of thing and it is just goes to show you the power of stories and it is like I said, when you tell stories, it kind of just -- it brings down the barriers in people’s minds because when you are telling story it does not sound like you are selling, right, and that is the important point. It does not sound like you are selling. I used stories all the time in the sales letters that we write and in webinars and things like that and it is because you know, it is because they sell just very well you know. And there are a lot of different types of stories and maybe I will get into that. I am actually for this webinar product that I am coming out with that I told you guys about. I already had the name. I am not going to say the name yet for a couple different reasons, but I will say that if you are even considering buying one in the near future, do not yet until mine comes out because I am telling you this thing is game changing. It is so freaking ridiculously awesome. I actually just sent it to somebody. He is a buddy of mine and I said, Hey, you know, I will send you what I have so far and like as I update things if you will send me feedback, right. So he is like, oh yeah, awesome, you know, we are actually going to put together a webinar soon anyway. So I send it to him and he wrote me an email back and he is like, holy God, this is freaking awesome. I forget his exact -- I forget the exact phrase that he -- this is so freaking cool. I do not know something like that, but he was blown away and he said, I literally do not even know anything that I can tell you to make this better because it is like perfect you know. And he got a very, very, very beta version. I actually work on it all day today. That was one of my conditions with my wife before taking vacation off. I said, I am just going to work -- there was a certain like kind of thing that I want to get done with that product and I said, I am just going to work until that is done. Soon that is done I am on vacation and I was until I forgot to record this podcast. So now I am just doing this real quick. But anyway, so in that training I am going through like kind of the story making process right, and -- but there is different ways that you can use your story, okay. And one of the ways that I love using stories is through email, right. And you know, there is -- I can do a podcast. I can probably do 10 podcast on stories and you know, maybe at some point I will come out with like a story telling course or something like that. I know after this webinar product, the next one I am going to do is an email course because I just feel like there are very few really good email courses out there. There are just a very, very small handful and they are just not good you know what I mean, but anyway, so I got an email from someone and I have got this a lot over the years. Just saying like that people -- when they got my emails, they came into my list just kind of check out what I was doing and got on my list and I get this compliment all the time, they are like -- once I started getting your emails, by like the 3rd day, I would actually wake up in the morning and would go to my computer waiting to find your email and they are like they would scroll down and look for the email that I was going to send that day, right. And that like -- can you imagine how powerful that is in your business? Can you imagine like what kind of bond is there you know for someone to say that, right. That is obviously -- and that is through email, like that is the most cold just like just machine like you know, way to connect with someone. Like there is no -- God, it is not even -- you know, I am talking to this guy personally now because you know, I love compliments like that. So we started conversation about it, but you know, he was telling me like, he was just you know, he kind of just wakes up and he cannot wait to actually read an email. And when you get -- that is the power of stories. When you can tell stories in the right way and make yourself so in tune with that person and bond with them so well through email that they cannot wait for you to sell them something. That is a really, really good position to be in, right. So you know, what are the ways -- I guess, you know, for a more -- before I hop off here for like a very practical way of doing this, right. Here is my kind of template, right for writing emails, okay. So basically, you start -- I am trying to think of an example. Maybe I will try to write one off the top of my head and I will give you an example here. I did not plan on doing this, but maybe I will try to do and just off the top of my head, I will look around the room, right. So basically, you start off with a story, okay, and then you transition into the lesson of that story, okay. And then, after you transition into lesson, then you transition into how that lesson like basically why they should buy your product because of that lesson. So we will do something like this, right. So I am going to try (inaudible 15:20.6) right off on top of my head. So let us see, so we just came from a pumpkin patch so you know, alright, here is the email, right. I probably cannot come up with the subject right off on the top of my head. Number one because I am a little bit tired because it is 5:30 and I work from 6 until 2 and then basically went right from there to a pumpkin patch to buy Logan a bed and now we are home and I am drinking, so my brain is not exactly going full speed here. So here is the story right. So subject line (inaudible 15:55.5) hey that is the subject line or you know, cool story could be the subject line. So it could start off with something like, you know, hey first name. So I just got back from a pumpkin patch with my kids, right. Just got back from a pumpkin patch with my kids. You know, it is a yearly tradition that I take with my family. Every single year we go up to the same place. We get on wagon. We go and we find the pumpkins. My wife gets apple cider donuts that she loves because they (inaudible 16:30.0) seriously like the best donuts ever. So especially now that she is 21 weeks pregnant. She especially likes the donuts. And I what I just said could actually be in parenthesis. You could put a little joke in there, right. It helps create bonding. It also demonstrates your personality you know and people that like your personality will cling to you more. People who do not like your personality will kind of go away and you want them to go away anyway, right. And then you start bringing into lesson, right. So you start to kind of introduce a lesson. So you could say, you know, while we are riding on you know, on the wagon you know, the wagon is really bumpy you know, this is big huge wagon. There is no shocks on it. You are going through this big pumpkin patch. There are ruts. There are ditches. There are bumps so you are bouncing around on this wagon and as we were doing that something you know, a thought occurred to me and that thought was, isn’t it funny that this wagon ride is very similar to what most entrepreneurs go through you know. You get in the wagon. You are really excited and you start moving. Everything is great for the first couple feet and then all of the sudden you hit some bumps you know, you hit some road blocks. You hit some curves in the road. You hit some things that are stopping your progress and bouncing you around and all of the sudden you do not know where to turn. You do not know what to do you know, you are holding for dear life just trying to keep your business moving forward and like do you see where this is going to start to go. So that is the lesson right. So then you move in to the transition and you can say, look you know, and let us just say, I am going to pretend that I am selling this webinar product, right, so that will be the product that we are going to sell in this email, okay. So you could say, you know look, you are probably going through that right now. You know, you are selling a high ticket service and you know, you are really excited. Every time you get a sale you are super excited, but then the in between spots are what kills you, you know. The in between spots are where you get that fear and that concern for you know, because you are hitting road blocks way too often. You are bouncing around way too much from thing to thing to thing. You are really never you know, moving forward and that is not what you want. You want a more straight path. You want a path you know, to get right to you know, the pumpkin patch so to speak rather than going around turns and you know, going over bumps and getting bruises and you know, getting thrown around the cart that kind of thing. And that is what my product helps you with you know, rather than you trying to figure it out on your own and beating yourself up and you know, dwindling down your cash account and you know losing most of your money in testing and spending you know, spending 4 times as long to get there. I am going to show you the straight path to go right from where you are now right to being able to sell your high-ticket product without any of that you know, that negative stuff you know. So like you can see you know, obviously, the copy is not perfect, right, but even what I just said, as I am you know, half of the bag and doing it off on top of my head is probably better than most people’s emails that they are using to sell their services, right. And what is really cool about that is that you can send an email like that every single day of your life and people will not get annoyed by it because you are still selling your product, but do you see how it is positioned differently, right. Most people it is like hey, do you have, you know, are you suffering from this? Are you you know, do you ever deal with this? Do you ever blah.. blah.. why don’t you buy my product and it is so awesome and blah.. blah.. right. That is the typical email versus mine where you are still resonating with the struggles that they are going through. Do you see how I did that? You are still resonating but you are telling it through a story, right. You are telling it through an experience. So not only are you accomplishing that same level of resonation we’ll call it, the same level of bonding, but you are actually taking it a step further because you are telling them something about your life. You are telling them a story. Another big part of this is that they are actually going to read it, right, and that is obviously important because if you are sending these emails every single day that it is just, oh hey, buy my product. Here is why. Buy my product, here is why. You hear about blah.. blah.. Like it is the same thing every day. They are going to open it. They are going to see it is the exact same format, delete. They are not even going to read it. Whereas if you tell a story, people get sucked into stories. They want to know what happens, right. If you are telling a story about how you took your kids to the pumpkin patch you know, very few people are going to start reading that and not care, right, because if they like you which stories are very good way to get people to like you. If they like you, they are going to care what happens right. As I was telling that story you guys probably care you know what I mean. It actually turned out that my little one, Logan. He is -- so Connor, this is really quick like kind of side note. Connor is very, very like unbelievably sweet kid, right. He is our 5-year-old. He is the one with autism. He is unbelievably sweet you know. He is the one that comes up to you and tells you that your hair looks beautiful and like you know, that you look really nice today and that kind of thing. Logan is different. He is just one of those kids that just has his own personality and he does not give too freaking shits if you like it or if you do not and he just is who he is and I love that about him because he is so independent and he just is who he is and he has no apologies for it. On the other hand, sometimes, it drives you nuts right, as you know, anybody listening to this if you have kids you know, probably one of them is like that. So you know where I am coming from, but anyway, so he, of course, rather than picking a typical orange pumpkin with the stem, he picks the green one and it was just so typical of him that -- my wife and I were laughing. So going back to stories you know, that is kind of like the story template that you can use and again like in the future I think I am going to come out with something like that because you just make, I mean it just the way that you can bond with your audience is so much better you know, than just like these generic emails. Hey buy my thing. Here is why. Oh, here are the benefits you know, blah.. blah.. With stories you know like I said, you can still resonate with your audience on what they are struggling with, but you do it through a story, right. So yeah, so that is it today you know, the big lesson here is you know, what I want you to work on this week is -- you know, look at the emails that you are sending out to your audience you know. Are they engaging? Are they really helping establish a bond you know. You guys know that I am very much about trust, right. Not only being trustworthy as a person, right, but you know, I am trying to think of like, having a little brain fry here, but just being building trust in your marketing you know what I mean, and stories are one of the best ways to do that you know, like I always say, if you want someone to like you right, basically, all you have to do is tell them stories and be vulnerable, right. The more vulnerable you are, the more people are going to like you because everybody has vulnerable spots in their life, right. And when you are vulnerable, and you can do that through stories. I do that -- one of my -- my one story about how my wife fell down the steps when she is pregnant with Connor, right, because she has seizures. She has seizure falling on the steps and I caught her coming down the steps. That story, like that is in my autoresponder, I get probably -- I get more responses to that email probably by a factor of 5 than any other email in my autoresponder and I have like, I do not know, probably 100 in my autoresponder, right. And it is because of that vulnerability, right. So, anyway, so if you guys like this subject, let me know. Because I can kind of go into more details and give you more examples and stuff like that. Maybe I will come out with a course for it, I do not know. We will see if you know, if there is enough response to it, but let me know. Just shoot me an email [email protected]. I would not get it this week. When I take a vacation, I am fully unplugged like as soon as I -- basically, when I click end for this, wow (inaudible 25:03.4) way longer than I thought. When I click end for this, I am going to upload it into Dropbox and Andrea is going to get it and then I am officially done. I am officially on vacation. So at the end of this, I will be officially done for about a week, about 8 or 9 days or whatever it is, but yeah, anyway, so if you enjoyed this let me know because you know, I always like to hear you know, what topics you guys enjoy you know and I think you know, telling stories is just such a powerful way of making sales and building a bond with your audience you know and so I can maybe I will put something together, probably closer to next year I would say you know, I will kind of figure out when to do it but yeah and we can talk about it more on podcast and all that kind of fun stuff. But for now, I am going to hop off because I am going to go, enjoy my vacation. I am going to go, enjoy some relaxing time and basically doing nothing, right. And I am very, very excited about that because my mind has been on overdrive for the last 6 weeks so I need a break. So I love you guys. I will talk to you when I am back and in the meantime, look through your you know, whatever emails that you are sending out and see if you can upgrade them by adding stories in there you know. Yeah, that is my big -- that is my big lesson here for today. So go and do that. Otherwise, if you enjoy this you know, you are not paying for this, remember. I just spent 26 minutes of my vacation to do this for you. So do me a favor, share it with somebody. Give us a review on iTunes, that would be the biggest compliment you could possibly give me because that helps grow the audience and the more audience grows, the more I want to do this, right. So go ahead and do that now. Do not be a wanker. Go and you know, do your responsibility and give us a review, alright, and a good one. No. Give us whatever you think it deserves. But anyway, have a good one. I will talk to you next time and yeah and go on and do some stories in your business. It is really good. See you.