Build A Winning Sales Force With Visual Thinking

Ever feel like your sellers are saying the same thing as everyone else? In this marketplace, many brands are competing with the same style of presenting, the same values, and the same claims. How can your sales force stand out and win?

Popular strategies for selling do not focus on visual presenting or visual thinking. Instead, they focus on process, procedure and systems. While this is valuable for the sales organization, it may miss the point of connecting directly to the customer’s buying preferences.

Many CEOs and top decision makers are highly visual. Research shows that 65-80% of the population relies on visuals to make decisions. Yet, sellers continue to compete on verbal presentations and word-heavy slides.

While using similar language as most competing sales forces, your teams won’t differentiate themselves as the top choice.

What’s the alternative? Through visual thinking and a clear focus on visual presenting, your sales force gains a competitive edge. Use these 5 steps to get started right now.

1. Build Visual Skills

As powerful as visual language is, many sellers will avoid picking up a marker and drawing on a whiteboard. Why? They have illegible writing and believe they can’t draw a straight line.

To embrace visual selling, build a solid foundation. Don’t worry. This isn’t painful or difficult. With a short, targeted training even the most ‘untalented’ seller will gain confidence and poise sketching out a value proposition in front of important clients.

2. Identify Key Opportunities

Evaluate the biggest opportunities to share visual stories in your selling process. Many of my clients are shocked and delighted to realize how simple this is. From showing a landscape to describing a complex process in 3 steps, visual opportunities are abundant.

Hint: start with simple steps. It’s a whole lot easier to build on successes than overcome barriers and jump hurdles.

3. Build Rapport Interactively

Look for ways to interact and build trust during sales calls. More and more sellers are mapping out ideas during a sales event. Think of your presentation in terms of a give-and-take conversation.

Give your client room to talk. Take notes in pictures and words. Once you get the hang of this, you’ll run to the whiteboard without hesitation.

4. Share A Visual Story

Tell, show and share a visual story about your company, product and offers. Involve your client with visual examples, metaphors and meaningful imagery.

As much as your drawings clarify value, so do your words. Use colorful expressions to differentiate. This helps you paint a positive picture in your customer’s mind.

5. Reinforce Post-Event

Look for ways to strengthen your visual story after your meeting. From photos, printed collateral to graphic slides, align your message to stay fresh in your customer’s mind.

Additionally, use your sketches and doodles. Often a personal note with a sketch specific to your conversation will spark ideas and build connection.

Looking for ways to engage your clients with visual stories? Use these 5 tips right away. To get more answers and grab the leading edge in visual presenting, check out the step-by-step online training in Visual Storytelling.