How Unexpected Benefits Stories from Ignored to Irresistible

A long, long time ago, the great orator Daniel Webster served as auctioneer for the sale of a New Hampshire farm.

Here’s Webster’s pitch:

“Neighbors, we’re not auctioning Tom Brown’s good milk cows… or 80 acres of fine land… or a sturdy home that’s seen 20 winters.

“No. I’m offering you the chance of biting into a red apple with the juicy sap running over your lips… the smell of new mown hay… clear mountain stream water on your table… the crunch of snow under your feet… and the best neighbors in the world…”

Ferocious bidding followed, and the farm sold for far more than anticipated.

David Garfinkel tells this story in his book The Persuasion Story Code.

Garfinkel’s take: Webster went “above and beyond” the typical features-and-benefits pitch.

“Webster figured out and very elegantly described a future unexpected benefit of living at this farm. Namely, that the experiences you would get—at least for people who like cold winters—would be about as close to heaven on earth as you could get,” Garfinkel says.

The Unexpected Benefit Story

When you craft stories with unexpected benefits, your pitch is far more powerful and persuasive.

The unexecpted benefit transforms your ordinary story to a sales-generating “$tory,” says Garfinkel.

In The Persuasion Story Code, Garfinkel breaks down 25 types of sales-generating $tories — with simple, step-by-step instructions:

• Origin Stories (4 types)
• Stories About What Your Prospect Is Experiencing (4 types)
• Stories That Predict The Future (4 types, including the “Unexpected Benefits Story”)
• Reassurance Stories (4 types)
• Stories That Explain (4 types)
• Stories That Build Trust (5 types)

This is a GREAT Book

I’ve read lots of books about storytelling (and I wrote one). The Persuasion Story Code is my favorite. 

Why? Because it delivers powerful, proven frameworks to create sales-generating stories…

…and it keeps things simple. 

You can read this book in a day or three, and you can implement what it teaches right away. 

Meet the Author

David Garfinkel is a copywriting legend who also happens to be a very nice guy. 

When I told him how much I love his book and invited him to talk about it with the Mastermind Book Club, he agreed immediately. 

Every month, Ted Prodromou and I choose a great business book for Club members to read and discuss. 

Ocasionally, the author joins us for the discussion. 

The Club will meet on TUESDAY, October 21 (not our ordinary fourth Thursday) at 2:30 p.m. 

There’s no charge to attend the meeting. But you have to be a member of the Club (that’s free, too) to attend. 

Click here to join the Club. We’ll send notices (with the Zoom link) to members before the meeting.