Front-line salespeople are desperate for new and varied stories. For them, compelling stories are ammunition, used to address prospects’ ever-shifting priorities and objections. Unfortunately, most sales teams don’t have a story library; they rarely collect and document stories for reps to use.
And if they do document them, these stories — and their supporting data — are typically saved in disparate departments or directories. Competitive information might be in a “Competition” folder. Industry trends are buried in the “Analyst” wiki. Product info is stored in the “Product” library, and so on.
This disorganization works against sales reps. Stories & supporting data should be stored in one place. Create a consolidated Story Library, and make it a front-line focused tool. It should be well-organized, and easy to access.
Create sections to address different front-line needs, such as:
- Selling Stories: This section includes industry, company, customer, competitor, solution and partner stories
- Objection Handling: Responses to the Why buy anything?, Why buy ours? and Why buy now? questions
- Demo Stories: Anecdotes that connect the features & functions shown in your product demo, to value
- Evaluation Plan Stories: Stories that illustrate why the prospect would benefit from additional evaluation steps and broader sponsorship for the project
This Story Library should live in your reps’ CRM system, and be ultra-easy to navigate and update. 
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Paul McGhee founded SharperAx in 2013. SharperAx develops role-play automation software.
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This article is the fourth excerpt from “10 Best Practices for a Great Storytelling Program,” an eBook written by Paul McGhee, based on years of research and practice in delivering great story programs. To download the entire eBook from Sharperax.com click here.
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