Transformation requires persuasion: six steps to selling your change story

When my clients’ companies are confronting major change, the first question clients ask me is “How do I explain this to my organization?” What they’re really asking is how to articulate a “new narrative” for their business. My response? To tell the story you have to sell the story.

Every good salesperson starts by figuring out what motivates their audience, anticipating objections and then crafting a pitch that’s premised on delivering compelling value. How persuasively you present that story might mean the difference between success – as measured by greater employee trust, customer sales or investor confidence – and failure.

But how do you shape and share a good transformation story? Here are six steps to getting your constituents on board when you’re preparing to steer the company ship in a new direction.

1. Know your audience(s)

First things first: Who are the audiences that will be impacted, either directly or indirectly, by what you’re planning? (Hint: There’s almost always more than one!)

Which aspects of the issue will be most relevant for each group? How are these audiences likely to react to the change you’re putting in place? Will they be positive? Negative? Neutral? And which spokespersons for this story will have the most credibility with each audience?

The answers to these questions will help shape how you develop and deliver your transformation story.

2. Size up the problem

In a sales context, it’s essential to understand the potential barriers to sealing the deal. Are there sensitivities, credibility gaps or other concerns that could derail the sale? How are they different (or similar) for each audience?

These communications challenges are the “problems” your story needs to solve. For example, one of my clients is working to knit together a single internal narrative for multiple groups that were previously autonomous; another needs a convincing message to enter a new market filled with aggressive competitors. These scenarios require very different stories. 

3. Keep it simple (even when it’s not)

A common stumbling block to selling a good story is making it so complex that it collapses of its own weight.

The best transformation storylines succinctly answer three questions: why do we need to change, what will we do differently, and where’s the payoff? For example, regardless of your views on Brexit (and for the record, I’m not a fan), there was a compelling simplicity to Boris Johnson’s winning campaign theme, “get Brexit done,” which encapsulated the (seemingly) straightforward story that “Europe is taking advantage of us. We need to escape our current limbo and finally separate. If we do, we’ll prosper and regain our past glory.”  

4. Back it up

In the courtroom, attorneys make their case with evidence; so too with sales. The most beautifully articulated messages won’t pass muster without proof, and when stories are unpersuasive it’s often because there’s no evidence to support them. Even worse, sometimes the evidence is directly contradictory (see: Boeing, safety of 737 Max).

An effective narrative provides compelling reasons – whether in the form of empirical data or testimonial anecdotes – for each of your intended audiences to think, behave and feel in a way that reflects your communications goals.

5. Take a test drive

Developing a compelling narrative means ensuring it’s tethered to the reality on the ground for employees, customers and other stakeholders.

So before launching your new story, ask a trusted colleague – or, better yet, a sampling of the people you’re trying to reach – to be brutally honest and poke as many holes in it as they can. One thing political campaigns and film studios have in common is that they’re relentless about testing how well alternative messages and storylines land with their target audiences, and adjusting accordingly.

6. Rinse and repeat

We’re all on the receiving end of thousands of messages each day. Think for a moment about how trained we’ve become to ignore most of these. It’s almost a survival skill today.

Inertia is a powerful force, and if you’re looking to reshape your organization’s narrative, you must commit to constant repetition through multiple channels and messengers. In fact, just when you’re getting tired of telling your story is most likely when your audience is first starting to hear it.

My son is in sales and I’ve learned a great deal from him about the focus, clarity and tenacity required to close deals. Increasingly, these same qualities are required for communicating change. If you need to shift the perceptions and behaviors of your stakeholders, use these six steps to make sure you’ve got a story worth selling – and one that your key audiences will be willing to buy.