The SAMA Podcast Heroes, Villains, And The Thrill Of Professional Selling With Adrian Davis
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Oct 10, 2023 Adrian Davis, President & CEO of Whetstone Inc. and author on sales storytelling, brings the hero's journey to selling. He explores aligning sales to buyer readiness. He explains using movie genres to frame client interactions. He outlines discovery techniques, storytelling templates, and the strategic account manager as the mentor who helps customers become the hero.
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Breaking The Process To Match The Buyer
- Adrian Davis recalled pulling executives into a last-minute sales meeting with a major Canadian telco and securing a $1M pilot that led to a larger opportunity.
- The meeting violated his company's sales process but matched the buyer's timeline, showing prioritizing the customer's buying stage wins deals.
Executives Praised A Sales Call That Upset Management
- Adrian described executives praising one of his organized sales calls as the most organized they'd attended while his manager was furious it bypassed the internal process.
- The outcome validated that serving the buyer's timeline can impress customers and executives even if it upends internal norms.
Use The Hero's Journey To Frame Customer Change
- The hero's journey frames customers as the hero, with their goal, external villain, suffering, introspection, and need for a mentor (your role as the special resource).
- Using this archetype simplifies complex change conversations into familiar narrative steps executives instantly understand.
