One of my first professional level speaking engagements was for John Wanamaker Department Store in their imported rug division. In my research for the event one of the managers told me about the time he and his wife were searching the Amish country of Pennsylvania for a quilt to be given as a wedding present.

They were having a grand old time driving around to the different quilt outlets shopping for that one special quilt to give to their best friends who were finally tying the knot.

They saw literally hundreds of gorgeous quilts in the two days they spent driving around Eastern Pennsylvania, but nothing seemed to jump out at them  . . . . UNTIL. they visited a quaint little shop somewhere around Lancaster, PA where a little old lady was the lone person running a little 2 x 4 mom and pop gift shop.

The manager told me, the lady nearly did somersaults when her first two customers of the century came in the door. She asked them excitedly where they came from and what they were looking for and generally made them feel like they were the most important people on earth (which they probably were when you consider she probably hadn't made a sale since 1942).

She had one quilt in the store. When the manager and his wife asked if they could see it, she handled it as if it was a half million dollar Stradivarius violin. She carefully took it off it's draped perch which was over an antique rocking chair and it appeared to the manager that she didn't even want them to touch it . . . UNTIL she told them this orphan's story.

I don't remember the details, but you might have guessed that they walked out of that little cubby hole with the most important quilt in the world on that day because it had a STORY.

Now I can't help but think that the other circumstances of being a little old lady, in a little tiny store by herself didn't evoke some sympathy that led to the sale. However, the manager reported to me that he and his wife bought because the story of the construction of the quilt and the person who made the quilt and where the material was made and the date the quilt was made was the reason they bought because now the quilt was SPECIAL. It had a story. It had a life history. It was one-of-a-kind because of that story. The manager also told me that the quilt wasn't really as beautiful or well constructed as some of the others they looked at, but the power of its story far exceeded the detriment of its flaws.

Well, the skeptic in me can't help but think that as soon as the dust settled from their car pulling out that the little old lady yelled upstairs, "Hey Harry, I just moved one of those imported quilts. Put some dust on another one and throw it on the rocking chair." hahahah

I'm hoping that wasn't the case, but you can see the power of simple stories to close the deal on your products and services. Stories paint pictures in the minds of the people that hear them. Think back over this article which is basically a story upon story article. I told you a story about someone telling me a story.

Could you see the manager and his wife driving around Amish country from store to store? Could you picture the "2 x 4 Cubby Hole" I described? Could you imagine the little old lady greeting the manger and his wife and the quilt draped over the rocking chair?

When you touch this level of emotional involvement in people you knock down sales resistance and exponentially increase your odds of making a sale.

I use a little snippets of stories (completely true by the way) all the way through my sales letter for my "Wake 'em Up Video Professional Speaking System" http://www.antion.com/public-speaking.htm

Here's one little sample:
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My story
I used to make $75.00 per speech and kill myself doing 4 or 5 a day just to barely make a living. NOW, by using the techniques I've learned, I just raised my fee so I make $9500.00 per speech / $10,500.00 per day, and travel the world accepting only the best gigs. Just think what it would mean to you and your family if you grabbed that same kind of success.