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Commitment Summit · Dominican Republic
Story to Sell.
how to grow your business by telling a better story
Jay Owen.Business Builders, est. 1999 · jayowenlive.com
1999. My parents' house.
I could build anything. I could not ask for the money.
Story to Sell // jayowenlive.comJay Owen.
$5,000.
the glass ceiling of money.
Story to Sell // jayowenlive.comJay Owen.
A quick show of hands
Who here is a salesperson?
Story to Sell // jayowenlive.comJay Owen.
Here's the truth
Everyone in this room is in the sales business.
whether you call yourself one or not.
Story to Sell // jayowenlive.comJay Owen.
My uncle always told me
Everything's funny when you're making money.
and nothing is funny when you're not.
Story to Sell // jayowenlive.comJay Owen.
Why we resist it
We've all been burned by bad salespeople.
Story to Sell // jayowenlive.comJay Owen.
The thesis
If you have a product or service that will help someone, you are morally obligated to convince them to buy it.
and if you can't help them, sell something else.
Story to Sell // jayowenlive.comJay Owen.
The reframe
Selling is serving.
Story to Sell // jayowenlive.comJay Owen.
60-second exercise
Tell your neighbor about one person your business genuinely helped.
not a company. a person. what changed for them?
Story to Sell // jayowenlive.comJay Owen.
But here's the catch
Nobody buys until they're sufficiently disturbed.
Stage 01
No idea
Won't buy
Stage 02
Not enough pain
Still won't buy
Stage 03
Sufficiently disturbed
Buys, and buys today
Story to Sell // jayowenlive.comJay Owen.
The dentist test
Same cavity, three different people.
No pain
A little pain
Can't sleep
same cavity the whole time. only the pain changed.
Story to Sell // jayowenlive.comJay Owen.
Where the money actually is
Almost all of your marketing is aimed at stage three.
Where the customers are
Stage 1 · 2 · 3
Where your marketing goes
Stage 1 · 2 · 3
story is the only thing that reaches one and two.
Story to Sell // jayowenlive.comJay Owen.
Your actual job
Story is what moves people up the scale.
01Name the problemSay it out loud, in their words, before they can feel it themselves.
02Raise the stakesShow them what it actually costs to keep living with it.
03Show the way outA plan so clear and so small that saying yes is easy.
be the solution.
Story to Sell // jayowenlive.comJay Owen.
The thing we all say
People over profit.
Story to Sell // jayowenlive.comJay Owen.
What that looks like in your world
Underselling has a cost.
The roofer
Sell the patch instead of the replacement, and a family sits under a roof that fails.
The accountant
Skip the tax planning conversation, and your client overpays the IRS again this year.
The recruiter
Soft-sell the retained search, and that seat stays empty while the whole team covers.
Story to Sell // jayowenlive.comJay Owen.
The one rule of story
Your customer is the hero. You are the guide.
Luke had Yoda. Frodo had Gandalf. When your marketing makes you the hero, you're competing with your customer for the lead role. They'll cast themselves every time.
Story to Sell // jayowenlive.comJay Owen.
Donald Miller's StoryBrand framework
Every great story runs on seven parts.
01A characterYour customer is the hero, not your brand.
02Has a problemWhat's broken, how it makes them feel, and why it's not right.
03Meets a guideThat's you, with empathy and authority.
04Who gives them a planSimple steps that remove the risk of doing business with you.
05And calls them to actionHeroes don't act unless they're challenged to.
06That ends in successShow them the win.
07And helps them avoid failureName what's at stake if they do nothing.
that's the whole map. now let's compress it to three.
Story to Sell // jayowenlive.comJay Owen.
The framework
Every message that sells has three beats.
Problem
Start where your customer is stuck. Name the frustration underneath the situation.
Solution
Show up as the guide with empathy, authority, and a plan that fits on a napkin.
Outcome
Paint what life looks like after. Nobody boards a plane without a destination.
Story to Sell // jayowenlive.comJay Owen.
Beat 01 · Problem
A situation is not a story.
"Your AC died."
"You're sweating through dinner wondering if this repair guy is ripping you off."
The external problem gets attention. The internal one drives the purchase.
Story to Sell // jayowenlive.comJay Owen.
Beat 02 · Solution
The guide brings three things.
Empathy
"We know what that feels like."
Prove you understand their problem before you pitch your product.
Authority
"We've fixed 4,000 of these."
Give them a reason to trust you can actually do it.
The Plan
Three steps. Max.
People buy the option they can picture saying yes to.
Story to Sell // jayowenlive.comJay Owen.
Beat 03 · Outcome
Show them the after.
The house is cool, the invoice matches the quote, and your number is saved in their phone for next time. If you never show the destination, you're asking someone to board a plane without telling them where it lands.
Story to Sell // jayowenlive.comJay Owen.
Now compress it
The one-liner.
Most people you help struggle with problem. We solution so they can outcome.
Story to Sell // jayowenlive.comJay Owen.
What it sounds like
Roofing
"Most homeowners struggle with not knowing whether a roofer is being straight with them. We give a fixed, photo-documented quote in 24 hours so they can see exactly what they are paying for."
Accounting
"Most small business owners struggle with a surprise tax bill every April. We do tax planning all year so they can stop overpaying and stop getting blindsided."
Story to Sell // jayowenlive.comJay Owen.
Stand up, 90 seconds
Say your one-liner to two people in this room.
you won't know if it works until you hear yourself say it
Story to Sell // jayowenlive.comJay Owen.
What to do when you get home
Put it everywhere.
01Your websiteThe first sentence of your homepage headline.
02Your answerTo "so, what do you do?"
03Your proposalsTop of every estimate and pitch.
04Your teamYour best story dies if only the founder can tell it.
05Your contentEvery post, email, and video is one of your three beats told again.
06Your follow-upsThe people you already know and haven't called back yet.
stop making it harder than it is
Story to Sell // jayowenlive.comJay Owen.
Since 1999, one rule I won't break
Clarity beats clever.
If you have to choose between sounding impressive and being understood, be understood. Every time.
Story to Sell // jayowenlive.comJay Owen.
The commitment
Right now somebody is losing sleep over the thing you already know how to fix.
you're the only one who can go tell them
Story to Sell // jayowenlive.comJay Owen.
The challenge
Build a business that lasts.
and a life worth coming home to.
Your one-liner, three real conversations, seven days. Then go enjoy the people you brought with you. They're the reason this matters.
