Index · one page · keep it where reps already work
Sales story library index
SeventhSlate
seventhslate.com
Six to eight stories, filed by the doubt each one answers — because that is what a rep searches for ninety seconds before a call. Nobody has ever thought "I need a manufacturing story"; they think "she doesn't believe this will survive procurement." One line each. If it does not fit on this page, the library is too big to be used.
CONSENT: N = named use approved · A = anonymous only · P = pending. No entry ships to a buyer without N.
The objection story · build the highest-leverage one first
1 · Name the doubt before they finish saying it
2 · Name who else had it
3 · Say what happened — including the hard part
Why it beats a rebuttal
A rebuttal puts you in an argument, and the buyer's job in an argument is to hold their position. A story introduces a third party and changes their job to evaluation. You are not contradicting them; you are handing them a precedent.
Leave the friction in
A frictionless version reactivates the doubt you just defused. 30–45 seconds, spoken. Longer is a monologue.
Match story to stage
Discovery — before-state story, 30 sec, then stop talking.
Demo — decision story, 45 sec, attached to the feature they leaned into.
Objection — the card above.
Proposal — outcome story with a sourceable number, in writing.
Follow-up — the two-minute film your champion forwards.
Kill list · check before any story ships
☐ No composite customers
☐ No "a client of ours" used as proof
☐ Every number has a source you can produce
☐ We are not the hero of the story
☐ Nothing coached — it survives the buyer ringing them in eight months
~95% of buyers aren't in-market today. Specific beats polished, because the job is recall in nine months.
Free to copy and use · seventhslate.com/blog/sales-storytelling
Customer (named) — Industry / shape — The doubt it answers — The number — Where the asset lives — Consent