Published February 12, 2019 | Updated April 18, 2022

Your dealership’s strongest salespeople share similar characteristics. Persistence, work ethic and dedication, for sure. But the best of the best are also great storytellers.

The ability to help prospects connect with your solutions by sharing a story of how it worked for someone else is very powerful. But if this technique is so effective in the sales process, why is it so often left out of the marketing and web experience?

The Changing Customer Journey

B2B experts will tell you that customers complete between 40% and 60% of the sales process before they talk to a salesperson.

Before they ever contact you, today’s customers have gathered more information, all of it right at their fingertips, than months of sales meetings might have provided 15-20 years ago.

If you don’t make an impact during this critical time before you first speak to them or connect by email, social media, or other channels, you are probably missing opportunities. And one of the best ways to do that is with a success story.

Success Stories in Today’s Customer Journey

When a recent study asked decision makers what influenced them most when deciding on a new approach to their technology needs, they said stories – relatable stories about a company you worked with, the challenge they faced, and how you helped solve the problem.

The more visible these stories are, the easier it is for decision makers to put themselves in those shoes and visualize a similar solution to their problem. And if you want to make a story visible today – and reach decision makers before they reach out to you – you share it online.

But wait – does sharing stories online give away too much to the competition?

Competitive Concerns

Dealers can be hesitant to put success stories online because they feel it might offer a roadmap for competitors to target the customers mentioned in those stories. While that’s a rational thought, your competitors are calling on those prospects regardless of whether your success stories are online.

But if potentially helping competitors lure away your customers is just too much of a concern, you can easily create a “blind” version of your online success stories. Instead of “Joe at ABC Call Center Company”, you feature the “CFO of a National Call Center”. By taking this approach you can leave out key customer details without losing the impact of the story.

Let Us Help You Tell Your Stories
Want to share stories that turn prospects into customers? LEAF can help. We offer more than just leading customer finance programs. You can leverage our marketing capabilities to help you tell a more powerful story – and effectively reach prospects earlier in the sales cycle.

Let’s talk.