ServiceNow's platform makes enterprise operations smooth. But the work of ServiceNow's sales professionals is anything but smooth; they must navigate a minefield market with many competitors - from established behemoths to new startups - and price sensitive customers to close a deal.
'There are so many ups and downs in our line of work before we finally get the PO from the customer,' said Anamika Joshi, an experienced Solution Consultant working with ServiceNow Delhi.
Tanujha Patil, Sales Enablement Officer for ServiceNow India, reached out to Tellable to see if we could help their pre-sales and sales teams communicate their products and value better, and create a positive sales experience for all stakeholders.
A Fortune 500 problem
On our first call, Tanujha shared with us that her people were technically excellent - their technology acumen was on par with engineering teams, and domain knowledge rivaled that of the industry leaders they interacted with. Yet, their sales toolbelt had one tool missing, she felt.
'Storytelling can help my sales teams communicate better and make their pitch more imaginable and compelling.'
Being well-versed in troubleshooting problems, they realised that storytelling could be the missing link to better sales and happier customers. 'We need you to conduct a storytelling workshop for our Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi teams,' she concluded.
For us, it was surprising to note that a Fortune 500 icon grappled with communication challenges. That is when we delightfully realised storytelling has a role to play in businesses of every size.
Designing a customised 'Storyselling' workshop
Weaving clothes requires the right threads and tools, and the same goes for weaving a story. Instead of jumping into conducting our usual storytelling workshop for ServiceNow's sales teams, we took an entire month to understand the domain of high-stakes B2B sales. We spoke with multiple ServiceNow sales team members across India, went through HBR case studies and did mini courses. This training helped us understand not only the sales journey but also the use cases for storytelling in sales.
At the end of the month, we had a solid workshop plan, a well-prepared team, and the eagerness to meet one of the most talented sales teams in the country.
Day 1: Classroom
By the time we began, on a Monday morning, the gloom typical of the time had set in. 'Ugh! Another training we have to go through,' was the mind voice of the people we were facing. Knowing this would be the case, we had come prepared with an activity that would jolt them awake and rekindle their love for sales and communication.
We then moved on to discover what a story means and why it matters in B2B setting, bonding over shared experiences and anecdotes. We covered the theory of storytelling, but careful not to make it boring. Towards this objective, we included a lot of examples the professionals could relate to, interactive discussions that sustained the energy levels in the room, finally ending in a fun quiz where they competed in as teams and fought for the top position in the leaderboard.
Day 2: Playground
Despite unpredictable rains in Bangalore, and therefore a worse traffic situation, we were glad to see all our participants from Day 1 return looking forward to the second day.
With impromptu case studies and role plays to drive home the learnings from the first day, the team tightened their grip on storytelling. Their progression was evident as they fumbled with their new tools to craft narratives and fire imagination.
Confident, Compelling and Creative
Besides being a communication tool, the skill of storytelling had transformed the attitude of the ServiceNow team. Their behaviour at the end of the two-day workshop demonstrated confidence and an almost child-like creativity in holding B2B conversations.
At Tellable, we believe that listening is as important to storytelling as speaking, if not more. So we asked our participants for their oral and written feedback, which we eventually used to improve the experience for the next set of participants in other locations.
'My biggest takeaway was storytelling is a great communication tool not only in sales, but also personal relationships,' said Amit Sood, Global Client Director at ServiceNow.
I think that perfectly captures our company's vision to spread the superpower of storytelling in all walks of life.
Interested to conduct a customised storytelling workshop for your teams?
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