ariel-group

Drop the Sales Pitch—Use Storytelling Instead

Sat, 01 Feb 2025 05:21:27 GMT

Creating trust and connecting to clients and prospects is an enduring and effective sales strategy.

If your salespeople aren’t connecting with your clients and being viewed as trusted advisors, they’re likely to be losing business. Effective salespeople are able to move between initiating new ideas and responding to the needs of their client with agility and confidence.

So how can your sales teams build trust, demonstrate confidence, and be flexible and agile at the same time?

Storytelling.

Storytelling is a powerful sales tool that can:

Develop strong relationships
Paint a clear picture of success for clients or prospects
Facilitate the client making an emotional connection to your brand or service.

Storytelling is a powerful tool for creating connection—neuroscience proves it!

When humans listen to stories, the same areas of both the speaker’s and the lightener’s brain “light up”—even though one is producing information and the other is receiving it. This creates coherence and ensures that you and your listener are on the same page.

Furthermore, when humans listen to engaging stories, our bodies release a neurochemical called oxytocin that’s associated with connectedness and trust. This boost in trust and empathy allows sales people to build stronger relationships with clients and prospects—a crucial aspect of sales.

How can you leverage storytelling while staying true to the in-the-moment dialogue?

Storytelling should remain conversational, so it can’t come across as forced, over-rehearsed, or even worse, loaded with self-interest. The moment a client perceives a story as lacking relevance or scripted, the connection in the moment is lost.

To avoid the scripted sound, use agile storytelling. It’s a type of storytelling that’s responsive and connected to what you are hearing in the moment.

Agile storytelling is about being able to develop a set of storytelling skills, techniques, and approaches that can be applied, in the moment, to any example that might be relevant to the client. It’s about having a library of possible stories ready to go in your mind, rather than just pulling out the same one or two over and over and trying to make them fit into every context.

With a library of stories that reflect the variety of client needs, challenges, industries, etc., salespeople are then curating stories in the moment that meet the client’s needs and mindfully contextualising the stories to the unique situation, context, and client.

Remember that sales isn’t about “pitching” anymore—it’s about listening deeply and authentically to build a relationship with the client and to offer (or create) a solution for them that meets their needs. This is where storytelling fits in through so many channels.

Storytelling for Sales Professionals is an Ariel Group course specifically designed for sales professionals and relationship managers to help them distinguish themselves from the competition, build trust fast, develop credibility, and make an impact on prospects and clients.

3 Rules to be a More Authentic Leader

Wed, 01 Jan 2025 01:22:43 GMT

When I was 19 years old I was madly in love with Sandra (Sandy) from afar. I eventually got the courage to ask Sandy out on a date, and to my complete amazement, she agreed. This was a high stakes situation for me and I wanted to impress. So on our first date I decided to pick her up from her parents’ home in a Mercedes Benz. No, it wasn’t my car, but belonged to the parents of my closest buddy at the time. And yes his parents were away overseas so the coast was clear.

The first predicament I found myself in occurred early. Picking Sandy up from her parent’s home, her father opened the door to greet me and saw a shining red Mercedes Benz in his driveway. “Is that your car?” he asked. Being a naïve 19 year old I hadn’t considered being asked this question. How do I respond? Do I lie and say yes? Or do I show my hand as a complete fraud and fess up to the fact I borrowed it from a mate to impress Sandy and her parents? What did I do?

We will come to that later.

I guess I am no different to most other people who from an early age try and project themselves as something more than who and what they really are. We put on a mask to pretend to be someone or something else, perhaps to cover up our insecurities and vulnerabilities.

Masks People Wear

I am now older and wiser (arguably!) and I have come to learn that these masks we wear also appear in our corporate world. As a business leader, consultant and executive coach I interact with people at many levels. I frequently come across the various masks each person wears, trying to portray an image of something they may not really be. Masks that show ‘aggression’ or ‘funny’ or ‘indifference’ or ‘tough nut’ or ‘controlled’ among many others.

As an example, a manager I was working with (Jamie) didn’t outwardly show his passion and excitement to his team. When we took a deeper dive as to the cause of this reluctance, we discovered he had developed a strong belief from previous managers that one should never bring emotions into work. He believed that expressing feelings undermines authority and was irrational. I’m sure you have heard people use that phrase “leave your feelings at the door”. Accordingly he had unconsciously built a persona at work as analytical and controlled, dispassionate and sometimes aloof. He took off this mask in a non-business situation. Whether with his family or friends, he was much more relaxed and where he was able to express feelings and his passion for many things. He laughed more.

We came to the realisation that Jamie’s business persona – his mask – was actually holding back the engagement levels in his team. It was also causing him anxiety as he often felt constrained by this mask he chose to wear. Jamie slowly changed and discovered that by showing his real self – his sincere excitement and other emotions – made a huge difference in the climate in his team. One of Jamie’s direct reports said to me “We look to Jaimie as a gauge of how the business is tracking. Previously we didn’t think he was all that interested, but recently we are starting to see that he is backing this new product line and we are with him all the way – and probably for the first time since I’ve been working for him. The team is much more galvanised now that Jamie comes across more enthusiastic about things and that is rubbing off on all of us.” Additionally Jaime felt liberated that he had discovered a way to be his authentic self.

Authenticity in Leadership

The conversations around leadership today are often centred on authenticity and the impact of authentic leaders on followers. We need to be more authentic as leaders.

There are practical things we as leaders can do. Here at Ariel we have identified the three rules of authenticity:

Authenticity Rule #1: ACCEPT YOURSELF AND BE OPEN TO GROWTH.

Acknowledge your shortcomings and while trying to work to improve them, also accept them and work with and around them. Don’t try and cover up mistakes, instead draw out key learnings from mistakes you may have made. Most importantly while always trying to grow, don’t try to be someone or something you are fundamentally not.

We find in our workshops how inspiring it is to hear individuals talk about difficult passages in their lives and what they had learned from them. They see such situations not as failures but as opportunities for learning. Shift your thinking about an experience from “It was terrible” to “What did I learn from this?” Don’t cover up mistakes from your past, put it on the table and draw out your learning. You may be surprised how that inspires others.

Authenticity Rule #2: LIVE YOUR VALUES.

You want to find ways to make your values visible to others. For example, if you value forthrightness, then you may want to create a quarterly meeting where people can speak their minds candidly. If you value creativity, you could institute open brainstorming sessions at the start of every project.

The penalty for incongruence between espoused and lived values is being branded a hypocrite. Don’t let this happen. Ask others if they perceive you as someone who lives your values and if they are visible in your actions. You can also be courageous by asking people to call you out whenever your actions don’t reflect your values.

Authenticity Rule #3: CREATE AN AUTHENTIC CONNECTION TO WORK.

When a leader has an authentic connection with work, the work becomes more than a way to pay the mortgage or meet quarterly targets. They focus on something bigger than themselves and their own self-interests – they create significance in their work.

They say that people work for three things:

Money
A good leader
A cause

A good leader motivates more than money does. And a cause motivates more than a good leader. Find your cause – the significance – in the work you and your team does and enrol your people in that cause.

The bottom line is to be authentic because it is unlikely you are fooling anyone. Neuroscience research is now scientifically proving that human beings have an uncanny ability to identify incongruence no matter how well we try and cover it up with our masks. We need to be intentionally more authentic as leaders.

Finally back to Sandy’s dad when he asked me if the Mercedes Benz was mine. I was amazed by my own response, as a naive 19 year old I didn’t expect to say what I did. What is said was “Yes it is sir… just for tonight… and just for your daughter” – one of the coolest responses I think I have ever made! Sadly for me, I was not Sandy’s soul mate and the relationship didn’t last. Perhaps all she saw was the mask and not me.

To find out more about how Ariel can help your people.

Deconstructing Presence – 4 Critical Abilities for Everyday Leaders

Mon, 02 Dec 2024 01:16:27 GMT

The leadership attributes of the likes of Steve Jobs, Arianna Huffington, Sir Richard Branson and numerous other famous business people have been sliced and diced, dissected and analysed innumerable times. While we all aspire to be like some of the greats, what can we learn from the everyday leader – these unknowns that don’t attract the attention of celebrity – who are making a significant difference in the lives of people who work for them?

Let me share a personal story.

Summer 2017. Ambience Mall, Gurgaon, India. A normal Saturday afternoon. My wife and I walk into a well-known retail clothing chain store. She is looking for an unusual t-shirt. One of the shop assistants sees us and approaches us as most shop assistants are programmed to do. He holds up a sign which is hanging on a lanyard around his neck, which indicates his name is Piyush and that he is deaf. He signals with his fingers that he can lip read. “This is most unusual” I think to myself as I have not experienced this in countless retail experiences. My wife says she is looking for a t-shirt, Piyush lip reads her message correctly and he walks her over to a rack of t-shirts and she selects a few to try on. She asks him where the change room is, and he shows her where. She proceeds to try on the t-shirts.

As I wait for her to come out I observe something unusual. The manager of the store, who has just finished speaking to someone on the phone, starts conversing with Piyush. He is conversing in sign language and this goes on for a few minutes. They are obviously sharing something humorous as they are both laughing. The store manager is totally engrossed in the interaction. I am struck by the authenticity and goodwill that is present in this moment.

The banter is broken by my wife who comes out of the change room wearing the first t-shirt. Piyush gives her the “thumbs-up” sign and asks my opinion, “looks great” I say and she goes back to try on another.

Leadership Through Communication

I observe the store manager who is now behind the cash register looking through some dockets. I walk up to him and we have the following exchange:

Me: “I noticed that you were using sign language with your colleague.”

Store Manager: “Yes sir. I was trying to sign. I am still learning.”

Me: “How are you learning?”

Store Manager: “I found a course through Google and I do some study and practice every evening after work.”

Me: “Wow! That seems like quite an investment on your part.”

Store Manager: “Well I’m learning something new.”

Me: “So why do this? If Piyush can lip read, would you be able to get by without signing?”

Store Manager: “Yes. We can get by and we have. But sir I want us to be able to have a two-way communication with him, not just one-way, from me to him. He is a smart guy and I want to hear his ideas and his opinions on how we can make things better in this store. I’m his manager so I also want to understand how he is doing and how I am doing as his manager.”

I ask his name and he tells me it is Manick. I walk away as my wife has come out with another t-shirt, I give the second t-shirt a thumbs up and she goes back in to try on a third.

As I wait, I reflect on the interaction I have just had with Manick. I continue to observe him as he goes about his work. He offers a job to an applicant who has come into the store and embraces her emotionally, not physically, as he welcomes her to the company and agrees a starting date. She is thrilled beyond words and genuinely excited. I observe him taking in everything that is going on in the store, jumping in to support his team when they are busy. I am most impressed with this guy as there is definitely an X-factor about him. In my experience with retail chains, shop assistants are generally not treated with the respect they deserve. Store managers generally don’t care about the opinions of shop assistants, nor care about how they may be doing as their manager. It is very obvious to me that Piyush enjoys working for Manick. From everything I can observe in the 15 minutes in the store, he is fully engaged as an employee and completely connected with his manager. Manick is different and I can see, hear, and feel that this X factor is his leadership and personal presence.

The Pres Model

In our work in Ariel Group , we have been working with leaders and professionals for over twenty five years to help them build their leadership and personal presence. We know from our experience with hundreds of thousands of leaders and professionals that presence is something that can be developed. Our purpose is to help leaders and professionals amplify their presence and show up as their very best selves. We deconstruct presence into four critical leadership skills which we call the PRES Model:

Being Present:

The ability to be completely in the moment, undistracted by anything past or future, sharp as a razor, and flexible enough to handle the unexpected.

Reaching Out:

The ability to build relationships with others through empathy, listening and authentic connection.

Expressiveness:

The ability to express feelings and emotions appropriately by using all available means – words/voice/face/body – to deliver one congruent message.

Self-Knowing:

The ability to accept yourself, to be authentic, and to reflect your values in your decisions and actions.

Applying Presence To Leadership

So in that moment of reflection about Manick and his presence as a leader, he ticks every one of these boxes. As an everyday leader I observe him:

being Present – not pretentious
Reaching Out – not looking down
being Expressive – not trying to be impressive
being Self-Knowing – not self-absorbed

I have no doubt that with the right guidance, this young leader is destined to become someone significant affecting the lives of many. He can go far in his business and personal life if he chooses to do so.

My wife comes out of the change rooms and she buys a couple of the t-shirts. I thank Manick and Piyush and ask them if I can take their picture. They are curious. I explain that I want to write a blog and I ask their permission. Manick signs something to Piyush. They both seem chuffed at the idea. They smile and agree. So here is the blog and in the photograph below, Piyush is on the left and Manick on the right.

And if you are interested, the retail chain is called Being Human.

The Ariel Formula for Business Storytelling

Mon, 17 May 2021 02:18:03 GMT

Told any good stories lately? No? Well you might want to start.

Professionals often use stories to connect with the hearts and minds of their clients to influence action, and here we explain our formula for business storytelling.

The Power of Storytelling

A powerful communication tool, stories can:

Capture attention
Build trust and credibility
Deliver messages and insights with impact
Differentiate your team in an increasingly commoditised world.

Business discussions and presentations can easily fall into facts-and-figures conversations. Stories present information in a format that makes it easier for the audience to receive, comprehend, and retain.

At Ariel Group Australia , storytelling is a central leadership competence we develop in many of our courses and programs , not only because it connects messages to the head and the heart, but also because it is a powerful tool for building a relationship with the audience, whether an audience of one or many.

The Ariel Formula for Business Storytelling

1. State The Business Context

“We are meeting today to talk about the recent HR announcement …”

2. Segue To The Story

“But before I do that, let me tell you a story.”

3. Tell The Story

“As a student I…”

4. State What You Learned

“What I learned from this experience…”

5. State What We Can Learn

“What we can learn from this experience…”

6. Connect To The Business Challenge

“So, as we face this challenging period…”

Need help telling your story?

Ariel Group Australia also offers Storytelling with Presence, a course specifically designed to help leaders, managers and subject matter experts convey information with impact and influence.

And don’t hesitate to contact Ariel Group Australia or follow us on Linked In .

Good Storytelling Means Greater Influence

Sat, 20 Mar 2021 02:49:43 GMT

In my early career when in my late 20’s I was assigned a mentor/coach from within the organisation as part of my development as a leader. His name was Bruce. Bruce was in his 60’s, part of the Executive Team, a wise person, and a few years away from retirement. He took me under his wing and I became his project. Little did I know that his good storytelling would have such an enormous impact on my life.

He suggested fortnightly catch-ups. At first I thought this was an overkill. Why did we need to meet this regularly? After the first month and a couple of meetings in, my fortnightly ‘catch-up’ with Bruce became a highlight for me. I found myself engrossed in our conversations and the time went too fast. I learnt an immense amount from Bruce which I still apply to this day some thirty-something years later.

I have reflected over the years about the conversations with Bruce and what made them so effective and so memorable. I have tried to dissect what he did so I could learn from a master of influence. There were two things that Bruce did that I value to this day.

The first thing was that he listened to me empathetically – really tried to put himself in my shoes. He was curious and asked great questions.

The second thing he did was he shared his perspectives with stories. I was amazed how he managed to always have a memorable story to address every issue I was facing. As I look back now to these conversations 30 years ago, the reason they have stuck with me was the stories. Bruce’s stories, both professional and personal, was the vehicle he chose to deliver his wisdom.

So here is my ingredients for passing on value to others, effecting change and enhancing your influence.

First ‘listen with curiosity’ as this is the prerequisite needed and earns the right to then share a perspective. A perspective shared is necessary, but insufficient to cut through the noise and really be heard.
Then use a story to deliver the perspective. A story without relevance or perspective is entertaining but of little value other than momentary entertainment.
Combine Listening with Curiousity + Perspective delivered through a story and you begin to facilitate change between people, generations, workgroups and cultures. So here is my formula:

Listen Curiously + Share Perspectives through Story = Enhanced Influence

Bruce was a storyteller and it was a skill he had developed. If you want to increase your influence and impact professionally and personally, then you need to invest in building your storytelling skills.

Leading from A Distance: How to Stay Connected with your Hybrid Workforce

Thu, 04 Feb 2021 01:47:57 GMT

Until 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic forced employees in Australia out of workplaces, the ability to stay connected was something we took for granted. Remote work was considered an exception, or even a luxury, rather than the rule.

Most management strategies still centred around ‘in-person’ management style, with regular personal contact with employees. However, the new ‘hybrid’ workforce has no doubt massively impacted your life and the lives of your people, and you now need to stay connected and lead from a distance.

To help you navigate the new hybrid reality, we’ve put together a series of tips on how to lead remote and hybrid teams. This month we will focus on the importance of presence.

Being Present Is More Than Just Paying Attention

Presence is a combination of your attention and who you are at the core of your being. It creates an emotional and intellectual connection with those around you. Presence is important because it is a key way to build motivation and trust.

So how can you show your team you are being present?

1. Listen, Really Listen

When you are on a video call, it’s much easier to get distracted—even briefly—by an email alert or other pop-up. So turn these off!

2. Make Eye Contact

On most video calls, all anyone can see is your head. This means making eye contact is especially crucial—and yet many of us fail at it without knowing! To make ‘direct’ eye contact with someone on the other end of a video call, you want your eyes to be focused on your computer or phone’s camera when you are speaking. It takes a bit of getting used to, but it makes a big impact. If you aren’t speaking, it’s ok to look at their faces rather than the camera.

3. Share Challenges

The ability to express feelings and emotions appropriately and to truly empathise with the challenges you and your team are facing is key to building trust. Take the time to be curious for a little bit longer and try and put yourself in their shoes as they share their challengers. Hold off on judgment as long as you can so you guide your team through these challenging times.

Next Month: How To Build An Inclusive Hybrid Workforce

Next month we will focus on how to build an inclusive hybrid workplace, so stay tuned.

And lastly, Ariel Group Australia offers a range of leadership courses including our very popular Virtual Presence course to help you build relationships and stay connected with people in a virtual context.

Don’t hesitate to contact the Ariel Group team to find out more or discuss how we can help.

Why Leadership Presence Is An Essential Leadership Skill

Fri, 30 Oct 2020 00:36:33 GMT

You may have heard the terms leadership presence and executive presence being mentioned more and more these days, however, there are different interpretations of these terms and what they represent, so we’ve provided so clarity around defining leadership presence and explain why leadership presence is an essential leadership skill for today’s senior executives.

What Is Leadership Presence

Leadership presence is the ability to connect authentically on both an intellectual and emotional level to motivate and inspire others toward a desired outcome. Also referred to as ‘executive presence’, leadership presence is the ability to project gravitas, confidence, poise and decisiveness.

Think of actors and leaders who immediately command your attention – Winston Churchill, Bill Clinton, Meryl Streep, Al Pacino. It’s not because they are famous; it’s because they possess presence.

Importance of Leadership Presence

Teams and organisations working under individuals with strong leadership presence have greater productivity because they trust and respect their leader. In turn, their leader inspires confidence in the team that they can accomplish their goals by modelling positive workplace behaviours and delivering results.

Leaders like Bill Clinton possess a presence that commands attention.

The Four Critical Skills of Leadership Presence

The elements of leadership presence can be explained by a model called the ‘PRES’ model , which has been conceived based on years of theatrical and performance experience, along with learnings from teaching presence to leaders.

The four key ‘PRES’ model skills are:

Being Present

The ability to be completely in the moment, undistracted by anything past or future, sharp as a razor, and flexible enough to handle the unexpected.

Reaching Out

The ability to build relationships with others through empathy, listening and authentic connection.

E xpressiveness

The ability to express feelings and emotions appropriately by using all available means – words/voice/face/body – to deliver one congruent message.

S elf-Knowing

The ability to accept yourself, to be authentic, and to reflect your values in your decisions and actions.

The Power of Storytelling in Leadership Presence

A key element of leadership presence is to effectively use the power of storytelling to convey concise messages, build trust, inspire ideas and move people to action.

In the business world, storytelling is an essential communication tool. It can make complex data accessible, build relationships with products and people, motivate teams towards a strategy and fuel compelling narratives that shape organisational culture.

How Storytelling Can Make You A Better Leader

A business with a remarkable story can win over its audience and influence its brand perception. It is up to every person in your business to share their version of the business story – from your leaders and managers to your individual contributors.

We have been telling stories for as long as we’ve been human–they are an absolutely essential part of everyday communication. When done well, it can:

turn a brand into a business legacy
create a robust marketing strategy
drive sales
win the loyalty and affection of audiences

The Science Behind Telling Stories in Business

Neurological research on the way we process information through stories has proven what the most effective leaders and communicators have known since the Stone Age: that storytelling in a powerful and effective way to infuse ideas into the hearts and minds of others for lasting impact. Read more about how storytelling helps connect and engage your listeners.

How Leadership Presence Can Improve Relationships

Great leaders and client-facing professionals know how to create long-lasting relationships by connecting authentically with the hearts and minds of others in order to motivate and inspire them to achieve a desired outcome. Effective leadership presence can help forge deeper, richer connections with others to inspire trust and motivate people to follow their lead.

Using leadership presence to develop stronger workplace relationships can make the workplace more enjoyable, motivate staff, improve collaboration and deliver a host of other benefits.

How To Improve Your Leadership Presence

Ariel Group Australia has been working with leaders and professionals for over 25 years to help them build their leadership and personal presence. We know from our experience with hundreds of thousands of leaders and professionals that presence is something that can be developed. Our purpose is to help leaders and professionals amplify their presence and show up as their very best selves.

The Power of Storytelling Course – 16 June 2021

If you’d like to learn how to influence and inspire others through the power of storytelling, sign up to Ariel’s Power Of Storytelling live virtual course on 16 June 2021. Book Now.

Contact Ariel Group Australia today to find out more or to book a leadership presence skills course .

How to Stay Engaged When Working Virtually

Mon, 12 Oct 2020 00:25:54 GMT

If you are among the estimated 4.3 million Australian workers who have been working remotely due to COVID-19 restrictions, you may be struggling with focus, motivation, and how to stay engaged when working virtually.

During this time we have been on a listening tour with our clients. We are hearing that after many months of remote work, the novelty of the collective experience is now wearing off, and many are finding it hard to sustain motivation and positivity.

We are hearing that in some cases people are working longer hours to meet increased demand, in other cases their hours and responsibilities have been reduced. Some are struggling to manage home and life boundaries and others just suffering from isolation.

At Ariel we have been studying remote working for many years. Here are some ideas to stay engaged when working virtually.

Ideas to Stay Engaged When Working Virtually

Stay focused and tuned in

It’s up to you to be present in the moment and also be aware if you’re feeling disconnected or isolated. If you are struggling, take a moment to reach out, and access any health and well-being services your company offers.

Maintain a routine

One of the best ways to stay engaged and focused is to establish and maintain a regular routine. Plan out your day with a regular work start and finish time, exercise, and social time. Ensure the daily work goals you set are realistic and can be checked off so you can feel a sense of achievement.

Communicate expressively

Because you won’t always be able to rely on face-to-face interactions when you have ideas or concerns you want to get across, your ability to communicate with presence – communicate in a clear, compelling way – is more important than ever.

Be open with trusted colleagues and managers about how you’re feeling. Discuss challenges and your workload, and consider the type of support from your manager or team that can help.

Take advantage of the tools

Email is great, but don’t let it be your sole method of contact. Verbal (phone) and visual (Skype, Zoom and other web conference) communications as frequently as possible.

Set clear deliverables

Ensure that you understand what you’re expected to deliver, and that it includes work you find motivating. Discussions or clarification from your manager can help you feel valued and find meaning in day to day work. Also understanding how your contribution fits into team goals or the bigger organisational picture can help you feel valued.

Don’t let your imagination get the best of you

Without context there’s a tendency to “fill in the blanks” of what’s going on. Any time you notice that happening, it’s a warning sign that you need to reach out and get into conversation with others.

Undertake ‘Working in a Remote Environment’ Training

There are some great virtual courses for team members that provide guidance on how to conduct yourself remotely and show up with confidence and authenticity in a virtual environment.

Take Time for Yourself

Be kind to yourself both in terms of work and your personal life. Take regular breaks, maintain an exercise and health routine, and ensure you stay connected with family and friends.

Ariel Group Australia’s online Working in an Engaging Remote Environment course will help you to harness your virtual presence to connect authentically with remote audiences. From phone calls and web conferences to video chats and presentations, you’ll learn how to show up with confidence and authenticity. Contact us today to find

Common Reactions by Sales Leaders to Storytelling

Mon, 01 Apr 2019 05:31:26 GMT

There are usually four common reactions when I mention to sales leaders that their salespeople need to be selling using stories. They sometime roll their eyes and dismissively suggest one or more of the following:

My salespeople can’t tell stories. It is a waste of time as they are not natural storytellers;
They already tell stories;
We don’t need that soft fluffy storytelling stuff in hard core sales roles. They just need to close more deals:
Customers don’t want to hear stories

Here is my take on each of these objections:

My salespeople can’t tell stories.

It is a waste of time as they are not natural storytellers. At Ariel we have proven that storytelling is a skill that can be learned just like building rapport, asking questions, handling objections or closing a sale. Our focus at Ariel goes beyond simply crafting, creating or story boarding a story, but learning the skill of actually telling it in a way which grips the listener like a Hollywood movie might.

They already tell stories.

Actually what I have observed is that they think they tell stories, but in most cases they are parroting something created by their marketing department or sharing an already crafted case study or delivering a pitch. Unfortunately the word “storytelling” has become so diluted that any narrative is considered a story.

Real stories have a dramatic arch. They must have certain elements to qualify as a story such as a time and a place, a main character or characters trying to achieve something, an event or obstacle that prevents them from achieving their goal, and a resolution with learning. Salespeople need to tell much better stories than they are able to at present.

We don’t need that soft fluffy storytelling stuff in hardcore sales roles.

The advances in neurosciences and FMRI (Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) a technology which allows us to look into the brain under various conditions and see how it reacts have now proven that storytelling and the brains responses to stories are no longer soft and fluffy. It has gone from art to science. We can now prove that receiving data and opinions are not our minds natural language and is difficult to assimilate. We also now know that stories are a natural, low-effort way for a brain to take on new information. Stories can also inoculate objections if delivered well. Stories will persuade better than any pitch ever.

Customers don’t want to hear stories.

Actually there is quite a bit of research that customers do. As outlined in the last blog post, there are 4 types of stories customers want to hear:

A) Who you are and what they can expect from you;

B) Who you have helped;

C) Who you represent – your company.

D) How your product or service came into existence – how and why it was invented.

At the end of the day if your salespeople are effective in adding the storytelling skill to their sales process, they will win better and sweeter deals faster while building great trust based relationships with their customers.

They win, customers win, your company wins, and you as a sales leader wins.

Find out more about how to sell more effectively.

10 Reasons Why Salespeople Must Start Using Stories to Sell

Mon, 25 Mar 2019 05:20:54 GMT

In previous blog posts we have discussed the challenge of selling in a digitally transforming world and the limitations of the question-based approach to selling .

Here are 10 reasons why salespeople must start using stories to win the hearts and minds of buyers:

1. Natural Language

It matches the minds natural processing style. The dominant approach in selling is using facts and rational arguments to sell. Unfortunately facts and rational arguments are not our brains natural language. Our brains have evolved over generations to receive information via storytelling. Neuroscience imaging shows that facts and figures activate just two areas of the brain: those responsible for language comprehension and processing. But stories activate up to eight areas of the brain: those having to do with touch, movement, scent, sound, color, and shape in addition to language comprehension and processing.

If you’re skeptical, think about why you became emotional when Nemo’s mother is eaten at the start of Finding Nemo or when all the toys holds hand when they say goodbye to Andy for the last time in Toy Story 3. Even though logic tells you that the story and characters are fictional and animated.

2. Fostering Trust

Today’s buyer is experiencing information overload. By the time they weed through the endless online information, they are likely confused and a bit overwhelmed by all of their options. Sharing personal stories at the initial stages of a sales process helps you connect with the buyer emotionally. Sharing stories also allows the buyer to open up and share their stories with the salesperson. The process of swapping genuine personal stories builds the trust necessary to be successful through the rest of the sales process.

3. Building Credibility

A salesperson establishes their credibility by demonstrating their character and competence. This can take a long time to do. However when a salesperson shares genuine stories effectively about his or her personal experiences with similar clients, it accelerates the credibility building process. Personal stories can also reflect a salesperson’s values in a gentle way without bragging. And after all one of the buyer’s primary, but often unstated needs are “who are you and what can I expect from you?”

4. Persuasiveness

When we use stories, the brain requires low energy and low effort to take it in. Stories match the brains natural style. We have all experienced how a two minute story can move us emotionally. Can you recall the last time a 30 minute presentation persuaded you as much as a well told and relevant story? Stories persuade buyers.

5. Dropping the Defense Mechanism Buyers Put Up

Nobody likes being sold to. When we hear a salesperson expressing a perspective or opinion, our natural tendency is to be suspicious of their assertions and put our defenses up and to passively (and sometimes not so passively) resist. We most likely keep their resistance to ourselves by politely smiling and nodding while not really accepting what they are asserting. However our natural tendency when we hear a story is the opposite. We relax and open up our listening channels.

6. Stories Command Attention

Have you ever noticed what happens when someone tells a story? The listener relaxes, eager to hear what happens next. Salespeople want a buyer’s complete attention, but reality is that they seldom get it. A buyer’s mind may jump in and out of attention quite regularly during a 30 minute meeting. The human brain has a strong tendency to lose focus. In fact, it is estimated to engage in up to 2,000 daydreams a day and spend up to half its waking time wandering. However, a compelling story causes the brain to snap to attention and focus on the message.

7. Gives the Salesperson Permission to turn up their Expressiveness

When you tell a story you get tacit permission from the other person to take on roles, speak in the voices of characters, laugh and whisper. So not only do stories lift up the listener, it also lifts up the speaker. We now also know from the ground breaking work of Albert Meharabian that when we speak only seven percent of what is conveyed is the words. The rest – ninety three percent – comes for the way we use our voice and our body. When salespeople turn up their expressiveness by using stories, the buyer is receiving information on all channels at potentially 100 percent rather than through once channel – the words at seven percent.

8. Makes it Difficult to Forget

Most people have heard the ‘urban myth’ about a man waking up in a bathtub full of ice with a phone and a note to call the emergency number because his kidneys were stolen. It is a chilling story and completely untrue. However as you read this, that very story is being told somewhere in the world. That story does not have a PR agency working for it nor a distribution strategy. It is repeated because it creates impact. Salespeople who can create impact with stories will make themselves memorable and although it’s unlikely their story will travel the world, it is highly probable the story will be taken out of the room and shared with others. Whereas a PowerPoint driven pitch will stay in the room. Stories create a meaningful scene in your mind that a simple list of facts doesn’t. The scene is easier of your mind to remember than the list of facts. Stories create scenes, facts don’t.

9. Creates Deep Connections to Products and Increases their Perceived Value

In a classic experiment in 2009, experimenters Rob Walker & Josh Glenn purchased 100 junk instruments in a garage sales at an average cost of $128.74, or $1.29 each item. Items like piggy banks, bottle openers, wooden hammer etc. They then got people to write a fictional story about each item. These items were then auctioned on EBay without any enhancement other than their fictional story attached. Buyers were told the stories were fictional. The resale price on EBay for the 100 items which all sold in five months for a total of $3,612.51 or $361.25 per item – an increase of 2,800% and the only difference was that there was a story attached. Experimenters showed stories transforms insignificant objects into significant ones.

10. Buyers want to hear relevant stories from salespeople

Michael Bosworth and Ben Zoldan in their book “What Great Salespeople Do” assert that most buyers want to learn about three things.

A) Who you are and what they can expect from you;

B) Who you have helped;

C) Who you represent – your company. We have added a

D) How your product or service came into existence – how and why it was invented.

The Ariel Group Australia offers two courses to help you use stories to sell:

Sales Presence Course

Building Relationships Course

Remaining competitive in a changing landscape of digital disruption

Mon, 18 Mar 2019 05:14:16 GMT

“Stop running towards the digital bling and forgetting about the analogue thing”

So warns Anders Sorman-Nilsson , global futurist, innovation strategist and author of the bestselling book Digilogue – How to Win the Digital Minds and Analogue Hearts of Tomorrow’s Customers . It is a warning I happen to agree with, especially when it comes to sales people and the sales process.

Let me explain.

“Digital Disruption” aka “Digital Transformation” is very real. It has changed the way we engage with and serve our customers. They have instant access to information and more control than ever before in the buying process. Purchase decisions are being made before ever speaking to a human being. Bots can now provide customers with product and service information in a way that these customers believe they are speaking to a real human being.

Digital Transformation is forcing sales leaders to review how it is they compete and reexamine the role of salesperson.

In Ariel we describe salespeople operating at one of four levels:

Reactive Positions

At the Order Taker level, salespeople react to the client. The client asks the salesperson to do something and the salesperson does it brilliantly. Not much value is added to the client.

As a Solution Provider , we are also reactive as a client understands their needs without the salesperson’s involvement. The salesperson can provide a customized solution that may be thoughtful and creative to match the client’s needs.

Proactive Positions

As a Needs Developer , the salesperson helps the client understand their true needs. Too often the client doesn’t understand or realise what their needs are. At this level, salespeople act as consultants and create value by bringing clarity of the problem and solution to the table. This is a proactive role the salesperson plays in helping define needs. A prerequisite is a trust-based relationship between salesperson and client.

As an Advisor, salespeople add the most value and salespeople can become a key member of the client’s inner circle. The client will turn to the Advisor for advice when they sense trouble. Advisors influence the clients to think longer term and explore new thinking. It requires the highest level of trust for a salesperson to be at this level.

The Extinction of the Reactive

In the world of digital transformation, the Order Taker and Solution Provider are destined for extinction. Their primary roles as providers of product and service features and benefits are about to be or hav already been, replaced. Clients can find that information from, what they believe are, more reliable and trustworthy sources.

“The factory of the future will have only two employees, a man and a dog. The man will be there to feed the dog. The dog will be there to keep the man from touching the equipment”

Technology (bots and the like) are cheaper to react to customers need for information. They are more accurate and reliable – they don’t have bad attitude or take time off for illness and rest as human employees do. Neither do they ask for more money or complain because of poor leadership. As leadership guru Warren Bennis once said,

“The factory of the future will have only two employees, a man, and a dog. The man will be there to feed the dog. The dog will be there to keep the man from touching the equipment”

The Future of Sales

What does this mean to the role of a salesperson? The salesperson of the future must go beyond product and service information to win the deal. They need to operate at the proactive levels as Needs Developer and Advisor. Essentially this means they have to become proficient at building trust – the prerequisite to operate at these levels.

The advances in neuroscience have highlighted a number of drawbacks from the traditional approach to building selling capability.

Learn more about Ariel Group Australia sales training courses to improve sales results:

Building Relationships course

Sales Presence course

Why doesn’t traditional sales training work anymore?

Mon, 11 Mar 2019 05:02:50 GMT

I have been training salespeople for over 25 years. I have carried a sales bag for around 30 years.

The first sales training program I attended was called Counsellor Selling by Wilson Learning in the 1980’s. I learnt a lot about “Discovery Agreements” which was the output of good questioning.

In the early 1990’s I became accredited in Professional Selling Skills (Learning International/Achieve Global) and was excited to learn about the “Need behind the Need” by asking “probing questions”.

Then when I joined The Forum Corporation in 1995 I became a master trainer of the classic Face-to-Face Selling Skills and Consultative Selling Skills programs. I fell in love with “High Gain Questions” and use them to this day.

Later I went through SPIN Selling from Huthwaite and in the last 5 years I have also facilitated Consultative Selling Skills form The Baron Group.

All of this has taught me a significant amount about how to engage with a customer or prospect.

In the last couple of years I have come to the shocking realisation that these skills were no longer enough in this digitally transforming world.

The common model of sales training over the last 40 years has been around a question based approach to selling. The question based approach is a rational left brain model which assumed that if you asked great questions than the customer would tell you everything they know so that you could put together a proposal. It works sometimes at the Order Taker and Solution Provide Level (see previous blog post (insert hyperlink)). It is not enough at the Needs Developer or Advisor level. At these levels trust is the essential ingredient. The question based approach does not correlate with building trust. It provides valuable information for us to develop a solution and meet a customer’s needs, but does not necessarily build trust.

Neuroscience has turned the question based approach to selling on its head. The advances in brain imaging technology (FMRI – functional magnetic resonance imaging) allows us to now look into the brain and better understand how decisions are made and what factors form trust.

The Trust Formula

In Ariel we use the Trust Formula developed by John Phillips of SYNECTICS in our sales training as it breaks it down into a simple and easy to understand concept. It simply shows that trust is an outcome of:

Credibility (Demonstrating Character and Competence) plus
Intimacy (Emotional Understanding between Salesperson and Buyer) over
Risk (the perceived uncertainty).

We increase trust by increasing our credibility, increasing our Intimacy and reducing risk.

Without going into the intricacies of neuroscience, we are uncovering a fascinating enhancement to this skill of salespeople who now need to operate at higher levels of trust. One that we believe provides a more effective way of not only understanding customers more intimately, but also building trust between salesperson and customer. That skill is selling through the skillful use of stories.

When we look into the brain we see that stories build relationships. A story is the shortest distance between being a stranger and a friend. We believe that a salesperson’s skillful use of storytelling will do three things:

Enhance their Credibility with the buyer
Increase the Intimacy between the buyer and salesperson
Reduce perceived Risks by the Buyer

Neuroscience now shows us that receiving data and opinions are not our minds natural language and is difficult to assimilate. A salesperson speaking in data and opinion is causing the buyer to put in a lot of unnatural effort to understand. If the salesperson switched to skillful storytelling we now know that it is a natural, low-effort way for a buyer to take on new information. Moreover, stories can also inoculate objections if delivered well. Stories will persuade better than any pitch ever.

This is why stories will turbocharge the sales process and why the question-based approach which got us here is no longer enough to take us where we need to be in this digitally disrupted world.

To learn more about the impact of neuroscience of sales training .

Are you ready to increase your sales? Sign up to one of our sales training courses:

Sales Presence course

Building Relationships course

4 Steps to Increase Staff Productivity

Tue, 22 Jan 2019 03:51:01 GMT

When I talk to CEOs today, they tell me that revenue growth in itself is no longer enough for them and their leadership team. It’s now about profitable growth. Which means not just grant the top line but also reducing operating costs, the bottom line.

Creating a competitive business structure

Charles Handy, one of my favourite futurers, tells a story about a conversation he had with the chairman of a large pharmaceutical company who stands up his formula for remaining viable and competitive as this: A half, times two, times three, equals P. And, if you’re trying to work out what that means, here it is: It’s half as many people in the core of the business in five years, being paid twice as well, and reducing three times as much, equals P (Productivity Profit). That is the basis of competitiveness.

So we, as leaders, are attempting to drain out more with less. Add to this the fact that we are working in an environment of decreasing trust, decreasing engagement, and scarcity of talent. It’s a bit like rebuilding a plane while trying to still arrive safely at your destination, and on time. So, we have to rethink leadership.

Using leadership skills to increase staff productivity

At the end of the day, the greatest leaders will get there by accessing the discretionary effort of their people. Managers & leaders do this by connecting authentically with the hearts and minds of their people and stakeholders in order to motivate and inspire them. This process starts with identifying the strengths of employees in order to help them reach their full potential.

Identify your team’s strengths.

Employees need to know their strengths and understand that those strengths are also recognized by managers, but the answer to that isn’t always in a performance evaluation.

Effective leaders can actively engage with their team members to not only discover their strengths but also reinforce them. Being present in every interaction, slowing down and taking notice of what employees say and do can reveal much more than formal settings and evaluations. Low-pressure environments such as lunch breaks, or after work activities can be a great way to discover team members’ key strengths as well as receive feedback that might not always be given in more structured settings.

Empower your team to use those strengths

Understanding employees’ strengths is only half the battle towards unlocking a company’s potential for increased productivity.

Once a leader has identified their team’s strengths the next stage is to empower those strengths & demonstrate through action that they were indeed present in those low-pressure interactions with employees. In addition to playing to employees’ strengths, this will also boost morale as employees realize that their voices have been heard.

Organizing teams according to core strengths

Once empowerment has been achieved on an individual level, the next stage is to manage it on a group level.

By leading by example in discovering employees’ strengths, managers can motivate their teams to do the same with their coworkers when working together. This, coupled with bringing together workers that hold different, but complementary skills, creates stronger, more complete teams capable of achieving more. These new groups can then be assigned tasks that match their strengths, these tasks will then be completed faster and to a higher standard.

Keep the process going

Sustaining a competitive business is a question of constant progression. It’s not enough to run through the process once and leave things as they are. Stagnation can lead to reduced morale & decreased productivity. In order to avoid stagnation & demotivation, make these steps of continuous engagement in order to not only keep staff motivated but also to keep up to date on how to reward them for their efforts.

By engaging employees from start to finish, leaders can not only increase productivity, but they can also increase the longevity of that productivity by keeping employees motivated, but it all starts with authentically connecting with employees and leading actively not passively.

Talk to us about how building leadership presence in your company will shift the needle on engagement, trust, and, ultimately, profitable growth. And, isn’t that what is all about in the game of business?

Learn more about our Leadership courses or speak to the Ariel Group today to find our more.

How to create & manage workplace diversity

Wed, 02 Jan 2019 03:18:49 GMT

We all know that leaders today need to embrace diversity and inclusion. Research has consistently proved that more diverse teams get better results and we know that because the benefits impact not just the moral and ethical standing of a business, which is so critical, but also on the bottom line.

Benefits of diversity in the workplace

McKinsey found that ethnically and culturally diverse companies are 33% more likely to outperform competitors in their industry. Diverse teams can pull from a broader range of perspectives and approaches to solve problems and generate new ideas. Furthermore, diverse teams have the advantage of being more representative of the ever-diversifying consumer market and the general population of most industrialized countries.

How to create diversity in the workplace

Organizations have invested heavily in policies and practises for a top-down approach, but this issue is so much more. Our view at Ariel is that a bottom-up approach is also required. Regardless of gender, or age, or background, companies have to invest in empowering employees to embrace their diversity

By encouraging employees to develop meaningful communication skills to showcase their different points of view, and giving them the leadership skills to flourish up the corporate ladder, businesses can reap the benefits of a diversified workforce in practice, not just on paper.

Diversity management in practice

We worked with one of the leading global law firms in Australia, to help their female partners break through to the upper tiers of the business both internally and externally. We conducted classes & workshops to help them find their voice and make their points of view heard in their business.

Our courses empowered them to show up to meetings with greater personal presence and to be their authentic selves, not trying to be someone else. By allowing them to maximise their personal presence, and use diversity as a skill, not a hindrance, they were able to not only advance within the business, but they become more effective when communicating with clients & prospects throughout the Australia & Asia Pacific region.

Leaders have a greater duty, now more than ever, to ensure that not only are they embracing diversity inclusion, but investing in the right skills for their people. Skills that allow their managers and team members to harness their differences through to maximise their productivity, problem-solving abilities, and their capacity to build meaningful working relationships within and outside the organization.

To find out more about how to create and manage workplace diversity in your business, contact us to discuss your team’s goals and requirements.

3 Leadership Skills for Managers to Become Leaders

Thu, 29 Nov 2018 03:12:39 GMT

I am sitting with the HR Director of a major Australian organisation. She whispers about another round of cost-cutting created by the latest restructure and the total number of jobs that have been eliminated from the organisation.

As I probe a little it is that the segment to get the hardest hit was middle managers. Her rationale is no different from the stories I hear from other HR Directors around the industry. Cut out the fat in the middle to protect customer facing roles.

What was the impact of this? Reduced employee engagement rates and higher turnover rates? Research by Gallup shows that:

75% of the reported reasons people quit their jobs are directly tied to their manager.
Only 30% of U.S. employees and 13% of employees worldwide are engaged at work—and these low numbers haven’t improved in nearly 12 years.

Sadly the contribution of middle managers has often been overlooked in the rush to reduce costs.

Understanding the role of middle managers

Let us look through a different lens into the value of middle managers. Managers play a critical role, not just in making sure work gets done, but in really engaging employees to be more vested in the organisation and motivated to contribute their best they can. They are vital in helping organizations keep and grow top talent.

After the cuts, the implications for the remaining middle managers are clear: The new middle manager role is more important than ever, and it also requires new skills and behaviours. Companies that want to maximize productivity and avoid the risks and costs of turnover need to develop managers who can effectively “lead at the middle.”

Do your middle managers lack the required leadership skills?

Here are nine questions that can help diagnose whether managers in your organization lack leadership skills:

Do they have “tunnel vision” and have lost interest in the broader picture?
Do they lack empathy and are unaware of their impact on others?
Do their relationships with their employees, peers, or higher-ups be perceived as weak?
Do they run confusing or unproductive meetings?
Do they communicate in an overly technical, unclear, or uninspiring way?
Are they are able to influence outside of their own “silo?”
Do they have trouble making an impact with diverse and virtual audiences?
Do their employees do the minimum to get by?
Do their employees feel disconnected from the organization’s vision?

If you answered “yes” to three or more questions, you have a leadership problem in the middle of your organisation.

3 Steps to Help Managers Behave More like Leaders

The words “manager” and “leader” are often used interchangeably, but there are some distinct differences between management & leadership . The primary role of the manager is task allocation and deadline supervision. It’s all about keeping the day-to-day running and ensuring assignments and projects get completed. Leadership behaviours, on the other hand, are more relationship-based and future-focused. Leaders see both the wide and the long view, and they know how to connect to people and to the broader organizational vision. They have the skills, confidence, and credibility to inspire people to act, rather than demand compliance with their orders.

Leadership and management must go hand-in-hand, so it’s important for your managers to learn how to balance both sets of skills. Ariel’s work with middle managers over the last 25 years have identified three strategies that middle managers can exercise to develop their leadership abilities:

1. Reach out & find common ground to build strong relationships.

Authenticity is key. When confronted with sleek businesspeople, our natural instinct is to be sceptical. Authentic leadership requires that one’s actions and words align, which in turn develops credibility and trust. The best leaders can balance their identity while still effectively managing and influencing.

Explore their story

Help your managers consider the people, places, and events that shaped them as individuals. Encourage them to share this experience with others to help inspire them, build trust, and find common ground.

Seek honest feedback

Managers should ask for feedback informally from their colleagues and employees, and more formally from their own boss or HR managers.

Take time for personal reflection

Effective leaders switch from being action-oriented to spending the time to reflect on improvement and the team. Managers should book time in their calendars to review actions and conversations, and plan future conversations and mentoring discussions with their teams.

2. Focus on the big picture, not just the deliverables

Good leaders don’t “dump” their work on people. They delegate in a way that provides an opportunity for others to add value. This approach requires managers to understand their team members’ strengths and interests and give their full attention while describing the project so the employee feels invested and personally accountable for its success. To delegate more effectively, managers need to provide employees with a better understanding of how their role fits into the bigger context.

Build relationships with affirmation & respect

The formal performance review shouldn’t be the only time managers tell their team members why their contributions are valued. When a job is well done, your managers should acknowledge it and reward the person responsible. When there’s room for improvement, your managers need to appropriately offer feedback – this is how people grow, full stop.

Ask for help with warmth & empathy

Managers need to remember that their team comes to work each day by choice. If you’ve done your hiring right, your employees know how to do their jobs and expect you to need them. Managers should have enough of a relationship with each person on their team that they can confidently know they’ve assigned every task to the right person. Active listening and communicating to get buy-in are more effective in the long run than orders and demands. Be present and listen. By regularly asking for feedback and really listening to the answers, managers can improve their own effectiveness as well as that of their teams, and ultimately get better overall results.

3. Develop Social Antennae

Effective leaders are not just concerned about delivering clear, articulate messages. They also listen carefully and watch how messages are received. To develop their social antennae, managers should:

Ask questions & practice active listening

This will signal to others that the manager is open to feedback and advice.

Practice cognitive observation skills

This will help them be more sensitive to subtle cues and recognize opportunities to offer support and empathy.

Encourage participation

Some leaders let junior colleagues speak first in meetings, which is a great chance to empower the team to collaborate more effectively.

Demonstrate a sincere interest in others

A good leader has at least one conversation every day with a team member that is not about work.

What makes a manager a leader?

People are looking for opportunities to grow in their role and apply their talents, and they’re looking to their middle managers, not just for direction on tasks, but for connection, example, and guidance. The good news is that these are leadership qualities that your managers can develop with the right self-reflection, training, and support.

Middle managers connect with over 80% of the people in an organisation. They are the fuel to mobilise people if they engage in the right way. Their impact on the return on investment of your total people costs is huge. So can you afford not to make the training of middle managers in leadership skills your top priority?

At the Ariel Group, we offer a range of leadership courses & programs focused specifically on helping managers cross the line into true leadership.

Contact us today to discuss how we can help your managers evolve & develop the leadership skills they need to motivate & inspire their teams.

If you are not a storyteller, then you haven’t read the science

Fri, 16 Nov 2018 03:01:36 GMT

Early October 1990. Wellington New Zealand. I am sitting in the boardroom participating in a quarterly business review meeting with the leadership team as the CFO presents the financials for the quarter. I am the HR Director of this leadership team. The CFO continues with the company’s year-to-date performance, the committed revenue projection versus actuals, the budget variation, blah, blah, blah. I am struggling to remain focused as my mind wanders and I metaphorically float out of the room to my happy place.

Suddenly I am snapped back into the room as the CFO breaks the monotony with,

“I want to share a story. You see I never wanted to be a finance guy and as a child, I imagined being a pilot. Sadly when I was in my late teens I discovered I was colour blind which was the end of my flying aspirations.”

The CFO goes on to tell his story of how he found immense satisfaction in managing the finances of organisations and the unlikely parallels between flying and finance. For example, as a CFO and a pilot, you are both heading on a predetermined flight plan which has to be submitted. Also, the gauges on the aircraft dashboard give you vital information on how you are tracking along your journey in the same way financial metrics reveal how a business is traveling. He used flying as a metaphor and he had me and the rest of the audience in the palm of his hand. It all started to make sense to me. I not only understood but was interested. Now 30 years later I still recall that experience.

The science behind telling stories in business

The work we do in Ariel is all about communicating to engage others. We have examined the advances in neuroscience and it has revealed some interesting facts as it relates to storytelling. Here are some:

Lighting up many parts of your brain

Neuroscience imaging shows that facts and figures activate just two areas of the brain: those responsible for language comprehension and processing. But stories activate up to eight areas of the brain: those having to do with touch, movement, scent, sound, colour, and shape in addition to language comprehension and processing. This implies that the brain responds to the story events as if they were actually happening to the listener. If you’re sceptical, think about why you cry while watching a movie, even though logic tells you that the story and characters are fictional.

Our inbuilt tendency to daydream

The human brain has a strong tendency to lose focus. In fact, it is estimated to engage in up to 2,000 daydreams a day and spend up to half its waking time wandering. In the presence of a compelling story that creates tension, however, the brain snaps to attention due to the release of a stress hormone known as cortisol.

Connecting with a story

In a series of studies, neuroscientist Paul J. Zak tested the brain’s response to engaging stories. When humans are presented with something that is familiar and deemed trustworthy, our bodies release a neurochemical called oxytocin that creates a feeling of connectedness.

Perhaps the most fascinating research is evidence of connectedness through mirror neurons. A study by Uri Hassen of Princeton University found that when a speaker is telling a story, the same areas of the both the speaker’s and the listener’s brains light up despite the fact that one is producing information and the other is receiving it. This creates coherence between a speaker’s brain and the brains of his/her audience members—it ensures that you and your listener are on the same page.

We all desire connectedness in some form.

Emotion and Memory

According to Stanford Graduate School of Business’ research, stories are 22 times more memorable than facts alone. This is likely because stories universally activate brain regions dealing with emotional processing and memory. The study by USC linked above found that:

the medial prefrontal cortex plays a role in decision making and memory recall.
the posterior cingulate cortex: active in episodic memory recall.
the inferior parietal lobe plays an important role in understanding emotions and interpreting sensory data.
the lateral temporal cortex: active in the emotional association and visual memory.
the hippocampal formation: where long-term memories are processed.

The science tells us that storytelling helps to connect with the thoughts and feelings of others in the moment, enhances memory, commands attention, builds trust, and influences behaviour. So if you rate yourself as a great communicator, then you must also be a storyteller. If not, then you haven’t read the science.

Improving Communication Skills

We specialize in teaching people how to apply the elements of executive presence to their storytelling . Make sure you become the storyteller people will remember for a long time to come.

At Ariel Group Australasia, we’re committed to helping professionals communicate more effectively.

For more information on how to become a better communicator, look at our communication courses, or Contact Us today.

How managers can inspire employees and replace cynicism with motivation

Sun, 11 Nov 2018 01:58:39 GMT

"That is really impressive",I say to a senior leader of a multinational technology services company as I remark on the floor-to-ceiling posters in the boardroom in which we are meeting. The posters are made up of striking images captioned with words like “Respect” and “Teamwork” and “Customer First” and a couple of others I can no longer recall.

“Yes,” he replies “we commissioned an agency to produce the artwork of our company values. And it wasn’t cheap!”

“Well, you certainly cannot ignore them,” I say.

The senior manager who I have known for many years leans over and confesses “I wish I could say the same for the people of this company who ignore them with regular monotony”. He adds “Two years ago we went offsite for a couple of days and came up with our values as part of a strategic planning offsite. Ha! The good old days when times weren’t as tough as they are today. With the squeeze from our investors to ramp up profitability in an ultra-competitive market today, well, let’s just say those values are no longer front and centre. I am not sure how much meaning they really carry.”

I found myself quite disturbed by the conversation as it brought up deep seeded emotions buried in me.

How managers lose credibility

Some years before, when I was leading a team, we had gone offsite to define our strategy and values. When it came to selecting our top values it was unanimous that “Integrity” be one of our top five. We had the five values put on signs around the office.

Some months later I discovered that one of my senior consultants was ‘moonlighting’ on company time. i.e., this person was doing paid work for a private client while they were on paid sick leave. This consultant was one of our top performers at the time and was bringing in more business than anyone else. I was angry beyond words and went to my boss with the request to dismiss this person. Clearly, they had violated our stated value of “Integrity” and it was clear to me that they needed to go. Or at the very minimum be placed on a final warning.

My boss, a very bottom line focused businessman said to me “Business isn’t great and you want to fire one of our best revenue generators? What’s wrong with you?” Suddenly the perception of inadequate performance shifted from the moonlighting consultant to me. I was told not to raise the matter with this person as it may “destabilize” the revenue they were bringing in. The conversation distressed me greatly. What tormented me afterwards was that I just folded. At that stage in my career, I didn’t have the skills or the self-belief to stand up to and influence my boss as I needed to. I allowed something like integrity that was important to me, to be sidelined.

(How did this sad story end? See the postscript below.)

I guess many of us reading this are familiar with scenarios such as this. Aspirational values are created in good times, but when times turn difficult, they are put aside.

How employees become cynical

How often have we seen frugality become more important than customer satisfaction or employee engagement?

How many times have we seen pressure on the bottom line compromise safety standards?

How would you feel witnessing command and control leadership replace the aspiration of empowerment?

The result is increased levels of cynicism by employees. And for leaders who fold in such times as I had done, well they have started down the slippery slope of losing both the hearts and minds of their people. In those organisations where the treatment of publicized values don’t reflect reality, it becomes a breeding ground for cynicism and toxicity.

Inspiring employees & building confidence

There are champions demonstrating how it should be done. I read that Jeff Bezos of Amazon is known for his obsession with customers. He is quoted as saying “Start with the customer and work backward.” Bezos instigated a process in his management meetings in Amazon, that an extra chair is placed around the board table to represent the customer. When making decisions, they ask how the decision may impact the customer. Apparently, this practice is used extensively down the Amazon organisation. It may sound cheesy for outsiders, but I have heard that people inside Amazon say it really works. It reflects one of their values in action in a very visible way. Amazon is held up together as the poster child for exceptional leadership.

So whose job is it to ensure that the values are real and meaningful? If you are a leader at any level in your organisation reading this, then the answer is “it’s yours”. It needs to be reflected in your leadership behaviours. It is one of the few elements of your role that cannot be delegated.

3 Ways to create inspiring company values

Here are three tips on how you can make values a source of inspiration rather than cynicism.

As you prepare your agenda for your meetings, ensure that a discussion about one of more of the company values becomes a fixed agenda item at every meeting . And don’t drop it if time is running short.
People require evidence that you as a leader believe in the values. They need evidence that decisions are made explicitly around the core values . Highlight such instances. Evidence to back up the values removes cynicism.
Ask people to share stories of how one or more values are being used by them and others across the business. First, stories are memorable. Second, it provides social proof – the reassurance that someone gets from others when they are unsure of the correct way to behave.

Most of all you as a leader needs to project the leadership presence to show up with authenticity and transparency to your team around your organisation’s values. You require courage and self-belief to not fold as I did as a young leader. And that is what we do in Ariel. We help leaders learn how to show up as the very best version of themselves. We have witnessed such leaders go a long way to winning the hearts and minds of their people after learning about leadership presence .

Improving leadership skills

At Ariel Group Australia, we’re committed to helping managers become better leaders for their own and their team’s benefits.

For more information on how to become a better leader, look at our leadership courses , or Contact Us today.

PostScript

So what happened to that senior consultant who got away with moonlighting? In the proceeding months, their behaviour just deteriorated and they increasingly snubbed me and the company – the lack of action contributed to making the team climate toxic. Not long after my boss who I folded with left the organisation, I had a new boss in place. When I explained the situation and how the climate had deteriorated, my new boss said to me “no breath is better than bad breath”. I dismissed the moonlighter. Integrity was more than creative graphics on a poster. A lesson learned.

4 Keys to elevate your analogue personal brand in our digital world

Fri, 26 Oct 2018 01:51:20 GMT

Writer, poet and civil rights activist, Maya Angelou once said: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

What is personal branding?

Ex-US President, Bill Clinton, has established a reputation for making people feel as if they are the only person in a crowded room when he interacts with them. He looks them in the eye, listens to what they have to say and is 100% present in that moment he shares with them. Paying attention is his secret weapon. And as Maya Angelou intimated, people never forget how Bill Clinton makes them feel.

Consider this as you reflect on where you invest your time and effort in elevating your personal brand. Is it your LinkedIn profile? Maybe your Instagram or Facebook posts? Perhaps your website?

In this digital world we live in, the brand image we portray is the very best version of our ‘edited selves’. The pictures we post are the ones that compliment us the most. The posts we write are corrected and rewritten to ensure we get the message across with maximum impact to paint us in the right light – is it humorous enough? Poignant enough? Intelligent enough? Attractive enough?

I would hazard a guess that most of us pay most attention to establishing an impactful digital brand.

Analogue Brand vs Your Digital Brand

Andres Sorman-Nilsson, Australian/Swedish global futurist and innovation strategist, warns that too many “rush toward the digital bling and forget about the analogue thing”. His book Digilogue promotes the sweet-spot in the convergence of the digital and the analogue.

How much thought and effort do we actually put into showing up as the very best version of our analogue selves? The way we show up at each interaction, focused on the other and not ourselves; how we listen, really listen to the subtext of what someone is actually saying to us. The way we use not only words, but our voice and body to communicate congruence in our expression. We strive to be authentic, and reflect our values in our decisions and actions. These are all analogue elements. We can edit digital, we cannot edit analogue. Once we engage with someone it is done, we have not yet developed the ability to hit rewind and then edit.

I believe the time is now to bring back into focus our analogue brand in this digital world. Consider how you make people feel after you have interacted with them. Our clients, our colleagues, our friends, our family.

4 simple ways to elevate your personal brand in an analogue way and show up as the best version of yourself

1. Be Present – not pretentious.

Channel Bill Clinton, by being 100% in the moment, undistracted by anything past or future. We live in a world where there is a constant battle for your attention. Your ability to resist those distractions and really pay attention to the other person is a point of differentiation.

2. Reach Out to others – not look down

Build relationships with others through empathy, that is, walk in their shoes and by listening to the subtext of what they may be saying by not just focusing on their words but also their heart, their body, and their eyes.

3. Be Expressive – don’t try to be impressive

When you express yourself use all available channels – your words, your voice, your face, and your body to deliver one congruent and authentic message. When we mute any one of these available channels, we are just making it more difficult for the other person to grasp our meaning. One of our clients said to us “I thought expressing myself was an act of self- indulgence, and then I learned that it was an act of generosity”.

4. Be Self-Knowing – not self-absorbed

Are you hiding behind masks to cover up your weaknesses? Many of us do. The advances in neuroscience indicate that people can see through the masks you wear. Remove those masks by admitting mistakes and failures. We have all made them and that doesn’t make you a flawed human being. Get in touch with your values and know what you stand for and make sure you reflect them in your decisions and actions.

Our analogue personal brand is our differentiator. It’s difficult to copy and it carries a far greater punch. You also cannot outsource your analogue self as you can your digital self.

Isn’t it time you paid more attention to your analogue brand? Our work at Ariel is all about developing the very best version of your analogue brand with our personal presence and professional skills courses .

How to improve sales performance through communication training

Wed, 10 Oct 2018 01:40:31 GMT

Wednesday 11:00am . I have just come out of a major sales presentation, delivered to the buying committee of a key prospect I have been chasing for the best part of a year. It is a major opportunity and winning this logo will carry huge personal credibility with my boss and my boss’s boss.

As I walk towards the elevator, I can feel it in my bones. That sensation of doing a great job in the sales presentation. I was able to highlight their needs. The solution I proposed was a great fit. The price was competitive. I handled the objection from the finance guy really well. As I walk out of the building, there is a real bounce in my step. My mind goes to how this deal will smash my annual sales quota. Full of confidence, I take out my mobile phone and call my boss to let him know how well the presentation went.

Friday 3:30pm . I get a text message from my prospect on my mobile phone. It simply says “Please call me”. Adrenalin starts pumping through my body. “This is it” I say quietly to myself. I stick my head in my boss’s office with a huge smile on my face. I say my prospect wants to speak to me about the deal. “This will kick our weekends off to a great start André”, my boss replies also smiling.

I make the call and after a few moments of banter about the weather the conversation goes something like this:

Prospect: “We wanted to let you know we really liked your presentation and the work you did to put this deal together was impressive. But I’m sorry to inform you that we have decided to go with another provider”.

Me: “Can I ask why you chose them?” I ask in disbelief and trying to maintain composure while feeling that knot in the pit of my stomach. “I thought we had a great solution at a great price” I add.

Prospect: “You did, but we just felt a little more comfortable with the chemistry of the other company”

I get off the phone. My lizard brain is activated. “How could this be?” I think to myself. “What the hell? Chemistry?” and other thoughts swirl through my head like a tornado. The predominant thought is “What am I going to tell my boss now? And how do I explain this chemistry thing?”

Building Rapport

If you are a professional salesperson, you can probably empathise with this situation. We have all been through it. Since the time of Aristotle we have been trying to decipher how the mind works. Way back then, Mr Aristotle stated that reason and logic drove decision making processes. And that has been a central tenet in how we influence people for many years. This thinking has flowed over into sales and sales training. You identify needs. Provide a solution that meets the needs. Price it competitively. Handle the objections. Close the deal. That is essentially it. So why doesn’t it work every time?

The recent advances in neuroscience is starting to uncover the mysteries of the brain. And it turns out that reason and logic proposed by Aristotle no longer carry the weight we were led to believe they did in the decision making process. Empathy, passion, authenticity are much bigger determinants of trust and influence in the sales process, hence chemistry and rapport.

Leveraging Emotion

Without delving deep into neuroscience and the facts now emerging, we do know that emotion arguably carries about ten times the power that reason and logic can ever provide in the decision making process. What this means in the sales process is this: identifying needs; coming up with competitively priced solution that meets the needs; addressing objections; and closing, although logical, are no longer enough. You need to do this anyway. It is the price of entry into the game. But it will not get you the deal. We need to find different ways to tap into the emotion centre of the brain so we are better able to create trust and connect our message into the hearts and minds of our prospects and customers. It is emerging that the communication skill of storytelling does just that – it taps into the emotional centre of the brain and disrupts the logical decision-making process.

The London Business School states “People retain 65 to 70 percent of information shared through stories while only 5-10 percent of information is retained through dry presentation of data and statistics.”

Geoff Mead, Author of Coming Home to Story says “A good story, well told, can slip past the defenses of the rational mind, pluck at our hearts, and stir our souls.”

Entrepreneur and author, Peter Guber says “In any situation that calls for you to persuade, convince or manage…the ability to tell a purposeful story will be your secret sauce.”

Our recent work at Ariel has focuses on both strategic and agile storytelling for sales professionals. We contrast both types of storytelling in a sales situation.

Strategic storytelling

Strategic storytelling describes the ability to intentionally leverage a story to achieve a specific outcome or move the sales process to the next stage. Strategic stories are usually crafted ahead of time with a specific purpose and situation in mind. We believe there are four critical stories every salesperson needs to use:

Personal story (who I am, why I do this, why you should trust me)
Client story (how we have done this before, what the future could look like for you)
Product story (what’s possible with this product, the dramatic transformation you could experience)
Organisational story (why we’re here to serve you, how we’re different from our competitors, why you should care about working with us).

Agile Storytelling

Agile storytelling describes the ability to spontaneously select and insert small, informal stories or pieces of stories into conversation in reaction to what the other person has just said. While a salesperson may be armed with potential strategic stories to pull from, waiting for the time to strike with a story rather than actively listening to the person’s needs. Doing this is obvious to your prospect or client and can make your story feel programmed and inauthentic. Salespeople need to practice and prepare ahead of time with stories that are responsive to the client’s particular situation and stage in the sales cycle. Here is an example of agile storytelling:

Client says: “This is a complex marketplace and we are struggling to get the attention of our customers. People seem too busy to even return e-mails or phone calls”

You say: “Yeah. Let me share something interesting that happened as I was walking to your office for this meeting. I passed a homeless guy begging at a corner a couple of blocks away. Sadly there seem to be more and more appearing and they all seem to have similar sad signs and we have become somewhat desensitized to them. However this guy was holding a sign which said “My family was taken by Ninjas. Need money for karate lessons.” I couldn’t help but smile and I am the type of person who continues to walk past without engaging, however this time I felt this urge to put a handful of loose change into his basket. I observed quite a few other people actually doing the same, smiling and dropping coins in his basket. The homeless guy is also struggling for the attention of his customers who happen to be busy passersby and by changing his message to something unconventional he appeared to have greater success. I hear you say that the customers you are trying to reach appear to be drowning in a sea of busyness and you are finding it challenging getting their attention using traditional approaches.

Applying Storytelling To Increase Sales

Storytelling, both strategic and agile, is a learned skill that sales professionals can use to tap into the emotional centre of our prospect or client’s brain. The ultimate success comes in the interaction between a prospect/client and you, when he/she is able to establish an emotional connection with the possibility of working together through the power of story – be it through strategic or agile storytelling. You as the storyteller use vivid detail, imagery, and emotion to connect with the heart and mind and influence the prospect/client. You walk out of the meeting and the prospect/client is able, and eager, to tell that same story to key decision makers. Helping you get your message across to others about your product or service. He/She may not remember all the facts, but they will remember your story.

In order to find success, your sales team must be able to better leverage the power of storytelling? Read our e–book on storytelling for sales or get in touch to learn more about our sales effectiveness training programs.

Presence and Capacity Theory

Mon, 19 Mar 2018 00:54:35 GMT

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It’s April 1995 and I am participating in a wine appreciation course conducted by Len Evans . Len is famous and a highly regarded winemaker – well known, high profile, and often on TV.

The evening is most engaging and thought provoking. As the win tasting moves along, there is a moment when Len gets the dozen or so people there laughing with his “capacity theory.”

What is Capacity Theory?

The theory can be summed up like this: He tells us he opens and drinks one bottle of wine every day. This equates to 365 bottles a year. He is 65 at the time and tells us his estimated his life expectancy to be another ten years from that night as most of the male ancestors in his family had died at 75. This means that he has capacity for only drinking another 3650 bottles of great wine in his life. There is much laughter at this point. And he goes on to explain that if he opens a bottle that is not great, he has compromised his life as his capacity is reduced by one and it is not recoverable! This appeals to the self-deprecating sense of humour of Aussies, and it got me thinking.

Len’s ‘capacity theory’ has remained with me since that night. Fast forward almost two decades later and I am participating in an Ariel Group Personal Presence workshop in Sydney. I am learning all about “Being Present” and the importance of this in high stakes meetings. At Ariel, we say,

being present is being totally in the moment, undistracted from anything past or future, sharp as a razor, and alive to everything around you.

As I learn how to do this, Len’s Capacity Theory enters my mind once again.

Let me explain why.

Applying Capacity Theory to Business

Part of my role is to attend many client meetings, I calculated that on average I would attend about one high-stakes client meetings every fortnight. By high-stakes I mean those critical make-or-break meetings, usually with CXO’s — the ones that lead to somewhere profitable or out the door. Typically over the course of the year, with an average of 48 working weeks, I would attend only 24 such meetings. That is my capacity. And if I am not fully present at every meeting, i.e., “not totally in the moment, distracted by thinking about the past or future or what to say next, and closed off to the signals happening around me,” then I have wasted my capacity. In Len Evan’s terms, I have opened a ‘dud’ bottle of wine. I can’t really go back as the time is irrecoverable.

This ‘capacity theory’ has many applications and I’ve since adopted it as a universal model for high performance. Here are some examples:

Leaders hold monthly management team meetings. This equates to a capacity limit of just 12 meetings a year that this leader has to be fully present with his or her team so they can work together to steer the organization through stormy weather.
Technical experts make presentations to important stakeholders to get their idea heard and adopted. This is a once only chance and the technical expert has a capacity of just one such meeting. If he or she doesn’t get understood, then the opportunity has vanished.
An applicant is on the final interview with the decision maker for a dream job she really wants. If she is unable to present her best self, it’s unlikely the job will be offered to her. She has a capacity of just one.

Capacity Theory also applies in our personal lives. How many more Christmas gatherings do you have with the entire family? How many family holidays do you have left? Perhaps only a few and you have to make every one special and not a dud.

In your business life, every day you are placed into high stakes situations such as:

A job interview for that role you have always aspired to.
An important meeting with a senior leader in your organisation, maybe the CEO.
Delivering a critical presentation to get funding for a new project.
Significant negotiation with a skilled negotiator who seems to be holding all the cards.
Meeting that customer for the very first time in a make or break interaction.
Participating in a meeting and getting your voice heard and your message listened to.
Situations where you have no authority and have to rely on your ability to influence those around you.

There are many more.

What can you learn from capacity theory?

Ask yourself this question:

How important is it to be fully present in these very limited high stakes situations – totally in the moment, undistracted from anything past or future, sharp as a razor, and alive to everything around you?You don’t have the capacity for such opportunities to turn into ‘duds.’ You have to make every one count.

The really good news is that you can develop the skill of ‘Being Present’. Just ask us at the Ariel Group Australia.

PS – I will leave you with this bit of trivia: Len Evans died in 2006, 11 years after the night I attended his wine appreciation class. He was 76. He was only a year off about his wine capacity theory so he was able to cherish an extra few bottles.

ariel-group

Drop the Sales Pitch—Use Storytelling Instead

Storytelling is a powerful tool for creating connection—neuroscience proves it!

How can you leverage storytelling while staying true to the in-the-moment dialogue?

3 Rules to be a More Authentic Leader

Masks People Wear

Authenticity in Leadership

Authenticity Rule #1: ACCEPT YOURSELF AND BE OPEN TO GROWTH.

Authenticity Rule #2: LIVE YOUR VALUES.

Authenticity Rule #3: CREATE AN AUTHENTIC CONNECTION TO WORK.

Deconstructing Presence – 4 Critical Abilities for Everyday Leaders

Leadership Through Communication

The Pres Model

Being Present:

Reaching Out:

Expressiveness:

Self-Knowing:

Applying Presence To Leadership

The Ariel Formula for Business Storytelling

The Power of Storytelling

The Ariel Formula for Business Storytelling

1. State The Business Context

2. Segue To The Story

3. Tell The Story

4. State What You Learned

5. State What We Can Learn

6. Connect To The Business Challenge

Need help telling your story?

Good Storytelling Means Greater Influence

Leading from A Distance: How to Stay Connected with your Hybrid Workforce

Being Present Is More Than Just Paying Attention

1. Listen, Really Listen

2. Make Eye Contact

3. Share Challenges

Next Month: How To Build An Inclusive Hybrid Workforce

Why Leadership Presence Is An Essential Leadership Skill

What Is Leadership Presence

Importance of Leadership Presence

The Four Critical Skills of Leadership Presence

Being Present

Reaching Out

E xpressiveness

S elf-Knowing

The Power of Storytelling in Leadership Presence

How Storytelling Can Make You A Better Leader

The Science Behind Telling Stories in Business

How Leadership Presence Can Improve Relationships

How To Improve Your Leadership Presence

The Power of Storytelling Course – 16 June 2021

Further Reading

How to Stay Engaged When Working Virtually

Ideas to Stay Engaged When Working Virtually

Stay focused and tuned in

Maintain a routine

Communicate expressively

Take advantage of the tools

Set clear deliverables

Don’t let your imagination get the best of you

Undertake ‘Working in a Remote Environment’ Training

Take Time for Yourself

Common Reactions by Sales Leaders to Storytelling

10 Reasons Why Salespeople Must Start Using Stories to Sell

1. Natural Language

2. Fostering Trust

3. Building Credibility

4. Persuasiveness

5. Dropping the Defense Mechanism Buyers Put Up

6. Stories Command Attention

7. Gives the Salesperson Permission to turn up their Expressiveness

8. Makes it Difficult to Forget

9. Creates Deep Connections to Products and Increases their Perceived Value

10. Buyers want to hear relevant stories from salespeople

Remaining competitive in a changing landscape of digital disruption

Reactive Positions

Proactive Positions

The Extinction of the Reactive

The Future of Sales

Why doesn’t traditional sales training work anymore?

The Trust Formula

4 Steps to Increase Staff Productivity