Challenge  I am a digital product manager working for a B2B enterprise organisation in India. At my  organisation we sell a lot of products (both online and offline) providing different benefits to  schools. The product which I was heading was the first SaaS product of our organisation. The  challenge that we were facing was that our user group was showing a lot of reluctance in  product adoption due to which the sales for the product had been stagnant for around a year.  There were a lot of complaints from the sales team that the small time players are eating away a  good share of their market on the grounds of pricing. After speaking to the sales teams and  trying to understand how they were pitching to the prospects I could understand that our  audience were not able to see value our product offered them. After seeing a lot of failures, the  sales team had their shoulders down, which if not checked would result in further decrease in  sales.     Selection  I chose storytelling as a tool because, I was addressing my target audience (sales team) during  a sales kick off conference and during such meetings a lot of numbers are thrown at the  participants with almost no 2 way interaction. I wanted my audience to feel connected to the  case I was about to make to them.    Application   I began the story pretending to be a person looking to set up a new school but with minimal idea  of managing a business. This person is seeking advice from people on how he should go about  setting up the operations side. As the story began, I kept asking the audience (the sales team)  for what are the steps needed to step up an operationally efficient world class school. As and  when a problem came up, I made a note of the problem on a board. All along the story I kept  taking note of the time and monetary estimation of all the problems mentioned on the board.  Need the end of the story, I began showing my audience how our product could help them  achieve the same goals in much lesser time and save money at the same time. When I summed  up the monetary benefits and the number of days our product could save for the client, there  was a pin drop silence in the room for about a minute. The amount a client had invested in  setting up our system for an year could be easily recovered in the first two months itself. I too  didn’t say a word for a minute to let the information sink in. Then I quickly concluded my talk in a  minute. To my surprise, I was greeted with a standing ovation of the type which only a CEO or  the MDs get.     Approach and insights    After the response I got from my pitch, I am very sure of two things. If you have to appeal to  anyone or atleast come in their notice, the most important thing to put yourself in their place  from where the listener can relate himself to. Once you have the person’s attention, the second  important component is having a story which asks them a question and eventually the story  itself answers the question.

I have used storytelling as a tool before also, but there were a lot of intricacies left unaddressed  which didn’t give the feeling of completion. With time I have learned to improve on all these  small points, and after doing this course I can clearly see all the places I could still improve  upon.  Next time I am set up with such a task I would love to use visualization to convey my message  in a more intriguing way to my audience.


Challenge I am a digital product manager working for a B2B enterprise organisation in India . At my organisation we sell a lot of products ( both online and offline ) providing different benefits to schools . The product which I was heading was the first SaaS product of our organisation . The challenge that we were facing was that our user group was showing a lot of reluctance in product adoption due to which the sales for the product had been stagnant for around a year . There were a lot of complaints from the sales team that the small time players are eating away a good share of their market on the grounds of pricing . After speaking to the sales teams and trying to understand how they were pitching to the prospects I could understand that our audience were not able to see value our product offered them . After seeing a lot of failures , the sales team had their shoulders down , which if not checked would result in further decrease in sales . Selection I chose storytelling as a tool because , I was addressing my target audience ( sales team ) during a sales kick off conference and during such meetings a lot of numbers are thrown at the participants with almost no 2 way interaction . I wanted my audience to feel connected to the case I was about to make to them . Application I began the story pretending to be a person looking to set up a new school but with minimal idea of managing a business . This person is seeking advice from people on how he should go about setting up the operations side . As the story began , I kept asking the audience ( the sales team ) for what are the steps needed to step up an operationally efficient world class school . As and when a problem came up , I made a note of the problem on a board . All along the story I kept taking note of the time and monetary estimation of all the problems mentioned on the board . Need the end of the story , I began showing my audience how our product could help them achieve the same goals in much lesser time and save money at the same time . When I summed up the monetary benefits and the number of days our product could save for the client , there was a pin drop silence in the room for about a minute . The amount a client had invested in setting up our system for an year could be easily recovered in the first two months itself . I too did n’t say a word for a minute to let the information sink in . Then I quickly concluded my talk in a minute . To my surprise , I was greeted with a standing ovation of the type which only a CEO or the MDs get . Approach and insights After the response I got from my pitch , I am very sure of two things . If you have to appeal to anyone or atleast come in their notice , the most important thing to put yourself in their place from where the listener can relate himself to . Once you have the person ’s attention , the second important component is having a story which asks them a question and eventually the story itself answers the question . I have used storytelling as a tool before also , but there were a lot of intricacies left unaddressed which did n’t give the feeling of completion . With time I have learned to improve on all these small points , and after doing this course I can clearly see all the places I could still improve upon . Next time I am set up with such a task I would love to use visualization to convey my message in a more intriguing way to my audience .