For many agency owners, sales is a necessary evil. For others, it’s your natural gift, and you look forward to doing it. Either way, you can always benefit from making it easier and better for you. One of the biggest benefits we cover in today’s episode is shortening the sales cycle. Many agencies struggled with elongated sales cycles last year, but that doesn’t need to become par for the course. Stephen Steers joined me on the podcast to teach us how storytelling in sales is one of the most effective ways to make sales faster and easier. He shares a ton of nuggets of info from understanding why people buy, why agency owners need to stay in contact with prospects (and how), and how to use storytelling to catch the attention of prospects and keep them interested. The bottom line is sales doesn’t have to feel icky. By embracing storytelling, you can build trust, forge deeper connections, and get prospects excited to work with you. A big thank you to our podcast’s presenting sponsor, White Label IQ. They’re an amazing resource for agencies who want to outsource their design, dev, or PPC work at wholesale prices. Check out their special offer (10 free hours!) for podcast listeners here. What You Will Learn in This Episode: Why founders and agency owners should aim to fire themselves from sales The Magnificent 7 reasons why people buy Maintaining relationships with prospects throughout the sales cycle What is storytelling in sales? Unlocking urgency for prospects 4 questions to ask yourself before telling a story to a prospect Why storytelling is so effective and what we get wrong about it Preparing for 3 types of objections from prospects The AREA Framework