As a salesperson you approach people nearly everyday in order to try and sell them on some product or service that would benefit them. Perhaps you feel that the product, price model, or service is all very self explanatory. More often than not, people leave a sales conversation without the intention of buying, rather than the opposite. How can you, as a salesperson, help the potential customer understand the benefits of what you are offering them? Consider this, maybe there is another way to help them see the advantages of what you’re offering?

Research has shown that 65% of the human population are visual learners, 30% are verbal learners and the remaining 5% learn through experiences. This means that over half the people you talk to, without some form of visual aid, will have a harder time understanding what you are telling them because they learn better when there are videos, images, pictures, illustrations, and other visual media. Using a pitch deck with infographics, videos, or images while you are explaining the product or service will allow you to reach 95% of potential customers, instead of merely 30%!

There are some very poignant examples of the effectiveness of visual aids. One excellent example can be found in education. Teachers are often encouraged to use powerpoint presentations via laptops and projector screens. Using an additional medium besides just the spoken word allows teachers to shorten the learning curve, and according to a psychology study, “improve comprehension, enhance retrieval and increase retention.” The students are empowered in their learning and are able to recall the information better after seeing and hearing concepts, instead of just one or the other.

Another example of the effective use of visual aids can be seen in advertisements. An entire page of a magazine is devoted to a picture ad with a few words strewn here and there. A TV advertisement shows through acting, cartoons, or images what companies want us to remember. For example, the opening of a soda can, the chewing of gum, the watches, cars, or shoes that businesses want us to buy are being shown to us everywhere. Advertisers choose to mix words with visual aids instead of words alone in their advertisements because it’s more effective.

Consider these examples and think of the countless others using visual aids in their professions. Whatever it is that you are selling, you can sell it better by using visual aids. Think about it! While presenting about long term investment options, which windows are better for a house, or which server to purchase for a company, you can reach your customers better by using images, charts, infographics, or videos! A testimonial video from another company or neighbor about the benefits of your product give credibility and a level of trust. Images can open the minds of your customers as they imagine the possibilities of how the service or product will help them at home or work. Remember, a picture is worth a thousand words. Instead of having the customer leave lacking understanding of the product or service, they will comprehend it better because of your visuals! The ability the customer will have of recalling the information 3 hours after you present is 3x higher when presenting verbally and visually than if you just talk to them. And even more incredibly, the ability of the potential customer to recall information 3 days after the presentation increases 7x when both visual and verbal are used in a presentation!

Whether you are an experienced salesperson, or just getting your feet wet, you can be guaranteed that visual aids will help you as you present your products or services to your future customers. You will go from reaching less than 1/3 of your audience, to reaching nearly 100%!