People remember what they see. And that goes for your sales prospects, too. It’s the science behind visual selling. That’s great, but you’re no Picasso. So what about the art side of things? No worries. All you need is a whiteboard, napkin, or business card … something to write with … and one of these five outrageously simple starting points: (1) The Wordster, (2) Numberboard, (3) Pie-licious, (4) The Lineup, and (5) X Meets Why.
5 Instant Whiteboards for B2B Selling
from PitchMaps
Enough with all the talk already! Here’s why your prospects need you to draw them a picture…
83% of learning is visual*
People remember 6X more when they hear and see it*
600 pictures. 6 seconds each. 98% retention.
How powerful is visual memory? In a landmark study** from the 1960s (groovy!), observers were shown 600 pictures for only 6 seconds each. Afterwards, they were asked to pick out those pictures from alternates. How many did they remember? An amazing 98%.
Imagine if your prospects had a 98% retention of your main selling points
Sold on visual selling, but can’t draw?
No worries. Anyone can whiteboard. Don’t try to repaint the Sistine Chapel. Start with simple visuals like the five below…
Five instant whiteboards for your next B2B sales presentation
#1 The Wordster
#2 Numberboard
#3 Pie-licious
#4 The Lineup
#5 X Meets Why
#1 The Wordster
Identify the one word or phrase you want your prospect to remember. Write it down. Circle it or underline it as you’re talking. You’re done – you’ve just drawn the simplest of all whiteboards.
Just one word?! Yep. Writing one word can change the dynamic of a conversation. It also serves as a reference point for the rest of the meeting. No one will forget it.
#2 Numberboard
Find a great, eye-opening stat. Write it on the whiteboard. Do this before you tell your audience what the number means (to spark their curiosity). Now make your point.
Numberboards rattle the status quo. Use them when you want to get your buyers more engaged and to challenge their assumptions.
#3 Pie-licious
Bake out your stat. Start with a circle. Pause, and ask your prospect what they think the percentage will be. Then, draw your slice. Write the percentage in (or next to) one section. Shade in the other. Now you’re cooking.
How do you draw 17.8% accurately? You don’t. This is no time to become a pie-fectionist. Just create a slice and write “17.8%” beside it.
#4 The Lineup
Describe an opportunity or a challenge your customer faces. Make it about getting from point A to point B. Draw a line, tell your story, and mark the key milestones as you tell it.
Your lineup can represent stages of a process, industry history/future, inflection points, or a continuum from, say, least optimized solution to most optimized.
Pro Tip: Backs of napkins & business cards are whiteboards, too!
#5 X Meets Why
Make your point on a simple XY axis. It’s one thing to tell someone, “the more this happens, the more that happens.” But when you show it to them on a graph, the facts suddenly come to life.
The best graphs have an element of surprise. If your curve goes up when people would expect it to go down (or vice versa), you’ve got their attention.
Isn’t there more to whiteboarding than this? Sure. We create more sophisticated whiteboards for B2B companies all the time. But even the simplest mini-board will make a message stick. Try it and see.
Sources:
(*) “Presenting Effective Presentations with Visual Aids” U.S. Department of Labor, OSHA Office of Training and Education, May 1996.
(**) “A review of visual memory capacity: Beyond individual items and toward structured representations.” Journal of Vision, May 2011.
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Brilliant as usual! Well Done!
Thanks, Senour!