Using Your Clients’ Learning Style to Close Sales

We were working with a client who owned several restaurant businesses. He was unmarried and our key point of contact, yet he was extremely difficult to get in touch with. He rarely answered his cell phone. It was even harder to get him to schedule appointments and when he did, he sometimes didn’t show. To make matters worse, he didn’t use email and traveled so frequently that he didn’t have access to a fax machine.

We learned quickly that he was an auditory learner and the only real way to communicate with him was by messages on his cell phone. We also changed our style of presentation to accommodate his style of learning. We used very little written information in our presentation, spoke through most of what he was to expect and provided only one final set of drawings at the end for his review. When we contracted, we changed the legalize from paragraph form to bullet points, read the contract to him and had him sign while we had his attention. The job turned out great and he was extremely satisfied.

THE KINESTHETIC LEARNER

Tactile stimulation is how the kinesthetic learner best absorbs information. Kinesthetic learners move their fingers all over an object to inspect it and will often discuss the object that has been touched and how it feels. They tend to not be observant of time and can be slightly disorganized. Along with the visual learner, kinesthetic learners thrive in a showroom or tactile environment where they can physically pick up samples or products.

They’re good prospects to take to job sites or finished projects where they can touch the products first hand, move around them and interact accordingly.

Sales presentations for these learners should include tangible products, samples and finishes. Use the fewest words possible to get the point across. In presentations, provide sales aids they can pick up. When providing brochures, product information or business cards, put them directly into the client’s hands. If you’re presenting drawings, try to provide three-dimensional drawings or sketches.

We had a builder we’d been trying unsuccessfully to get business from. Finally, we deduced he was more of a kinesthetic learner and we suggested he stop by one of our job sites so he could “touch and feel” the product in the middle of installation and meet our installer. The builder finally agreed. We met him on site and he must have felt comfortable in the job site environment because he immediately started opening doors and drawers and feeling all of the painted and stained finishes for quality. He must have looked in each wall cabinet, opened every drawer in the house and touched every surface! We set up a meeting that day to review house plans for two houses he was building, and got them both!

By better understanding prospects’ different learning styles, you can create a presentation and sales approach that caters to their individual personality and close that sale.