We’re hardwired for story. Our brains crave it. And yet, every day, sales and sales enablement teams are stuck trying to sell with slides and stats instead of stories that make customers feel something.
Let’s be honest. People don’t buy because of your data, even in the most technical of sales. They buy because your story reshapes the one they’re already telling themselves.
Here are the three biggest storytelling mistakes I see every day:
1. Selling Features Instead of Beliefs
You’re not selling “software with seven integrations.” You’re selling the belief that this software will finally make the chaos go away. Your customers aren’t buying what your product does. They’re buying what they believe about themselves once they have it.
2. Starting in the Wrong Place: You Instead of Them
If your pitch starts with “We are,” you’ve already lost. People are tuned into WIIFM, the signal that says “What’s In It For Me?” Great storytelling begins where your buyer is now.
Not with your timeline. With their tension. Not with your product. With their pain. And if you’re selling into a complex environment, remember this: you’re not telling one story. You’re stepping into a room full of them.
Multiple buyers. Conflicting priorities. Old beliefs that no longer serve the organization, but still anchor decision-making. The sale isn’t just about persuading. It’s about aligning. Helping people with different goals agree on a shared future they haven’t seen yet.
That doesn’t happen with bullet points. It happens with stories.
3. Telling Stories Without Structure
Too many sales stories sound like this:
“We talked to the prospect, and then we showed them the demo, and then we sent the proposal.” That’s not a story. That’s a checklist.
When you stack “and then” on top of “and then,” the brain tunes out. There’s no tension. No curiosity. No movement. Great stories use “but” and “therefore.”
“But” creates friction. “Therefore” creates momentum.
Try this instead:
“They were growing fast, but their onboarding was a mess. Therefore, they were losing customers they hadn’t even won yet.”
Now the story moves. Now it matters. And most importantly, it mirrors how your customer actually experiences pain, not as a list of tasks, but as a conflict that demands change. If your story doesn’t move, your deal won’t either.
The best salespeople aren’t great talkers. They’re great storytellers. And the best enablement teams?
They don’t just hand out battle cards. They teach reps how to change beliefs, create alignment, and help buyers navigate the unseen friction that kills deals before they start. If you want to change outcomes, you have to change the story. That includes the one you’re telling your customers, and the one they’re telling themselves.
Time to rewrite the stories you sell.
