Visual Communication - Valuable Templates and Next Steps (5/5)

Let's kick-off this, the final part of this series on Visual Communication, by sharing a few templates that you can make immediate use of.

Some I've repeatedly drawn in advance. Some I've also drawn live with a customer "in the moment" to frame up a concept, an idea or a solution in a really really clear way.

Consider a sales opportunity that addresses your customer's growth plan. It could be summarised as a tree. Resources as the roots, development steps as the trunk, investments from you and the customer as the watering can. Revenue for the customer might be represented by the apples.

"It is because I said it is"

There's a turn of phrase that really resonates with many whom I've coached through the workshop this series is based on. I mentioned it previously - "It is because I said it is". When I look at that on the page, without the context, it looks arrogant, dismissive even.

However, I made a conscious decision some time ago to never express that in an arrogant way (accept what I say because I said it) - and if you ever choose to use that phrase, please take note of the nuance.

When you draw something and call it out as such, it helps you cement a residual meaning with your audience. It never ceases to surprise me the power of suggestion combined with a simple image.

On to the templates

I promised to share some templates. They have relevance beyond Solution Engineering / Sales Consulting / PreSales. They are relevant anywhere that you're seeking to simplify complex ideas.

Having them in the room physically, or in a virtual call (Zoom and the like) ahead of time, featuring workshops, or just as a way of capturing your discovery work with a customer is a perennial favourite of mine. The same can be said for sharing a collaborative roadmap with them. Many have used this to plot their route to fulfil their vision and strategy with their customers & stakeholders.

Ultimately, it boils down to this: If you want people to follow you, show them a destination.

A roadmap is a classic way to explain that.

Consider using these as visuals next time you're in front of a customer to explain where you want to help them get towards.

I was Framed!

Whether it's a title or a box or a frame around the entire image, my advice to you is to write the words first.

As the image above says, ignore this at your peril, otherwise, you might run out of space. It was a hard lesson to have drawn a sketch, and put a title frame as the last piece only to realise I'd written myself into oblivion!

As we move towards the end of this final part of the series, I'd like to take all of the learnings shared so far, wrap them up and summarise them so you can make the best use of them with your Customers & Stakeholders so you can achieve the outcomes that you deserve.

My experience is that sales always happen(s) with other people. Anytime that you want someone to take action that is new, it's selling.

Now, you have a new weapon: Your Pen.

And the most basic selling tool of all: drawing pictures.

Visual Communication is Unexpected and Fun

Even now, years after I absorbed this skill. I still believe visual communication is unusual. Sometimes it's unexpected, and certainly, it's fun.

Customers want clear ideas, as pictures with as few words as possible. Pictures sell products. Remember how I suggested shopping is hugely visual and that ideas need pictures.

The very best ideas are the ones that you co-create together with your customers. Something that's "mine" sold to "you" suddenly changes to become "ours" sold to "us".

It feels analogous to being two parents and having a child. You're both responsible for the success of that child or in this case, the idea.

It's almost impossible to not be authentic doing this. The reason for this is that what you create reflects what you believe in.

So it looks genuine, but it also is genuine.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the world of advertising has the oldest visual selling technique, the before and after.

If the after state is unclear, then winning is unlikely. I often avoid blank sheets by drawing three-quarters of it first, then maybe hand the pen to the customer and ask them to fill in where I'm deficient.

You can draw ahead of time and just markup as you explain it. If you can encourage a customer to make it theirs and not yours, it can lead to a deeper conversation.

Do I think a sale can progress all because you drew something? No, not on its own, any more than anyone thing tends to be responsible for a sale. It's nuanced, of course, however, these visual conversations have a real capacity to create a bond like no other, and they can help progress a sale in a unique, differentiated and better way.

I'd encourage you to take a visual journey together with your customer, next time you engage with them.

So, what do you think you might use this skill for next?

You could use it for a follow-up meeting to illustrate the ideas that you'd captured in the previous meeting.

I've used this in a short email, where a JPEG was the attachment to an email that purposely didn't scroll on the phone.

The image was opened it was pinched and zoomed by the receiver, and then marked as unread before then being opened on their laptop and shared with their colleagues.

It's a really good way to make something viral.

Safety Nets and Increasing Confidence

If you're keen to draw live but you want a little bit of a safety net here's my inside track...

This one works better in-person, so even if that's not likely for a little while, I'll share it anyway in case you choose to draw live in a Zoom call.

First, use a really blunt pencil lightly on a sheet of flip chart paper to sketch what you want to actually ink in ahead of the meeting.

Second, when you're ready to ink it in live, your audience just won't see those blunt pencil lines, and as the ink covers them they will never be seen. Remember this needs a light touch with the pencil.

Capturing Ideas Live

If you want to capture ideas live, just a little bit of practice will make all the difference. Perhaps using it in a facilitated workshop? It's a superb way of summarising the outcomes or the stages you progress through.

You can always use one of the templates that you've seen here, and draw some of it live. Your choices are likely endless now that you are officially a Visual Communicator.

To wrap up, let's look through the lens of why, how, and what.

In the first part of this series, I suggested an outcome for you might be that you could collaborate, connect with and convince customers by communicating ideas simply quickly and memorably.

Or that you could differentiate yourself from your competition by visualising customer focus stories that you could make the complex simpler uniquely, honestly, and authentically.

You've certainly had exposure to this during the series. We covered that data is more and more visual, and that staying relevant to customers needs us to stay visual.

We covered that drawing isn't artistic it's just a thinking process. That starting with "Why?" could increase the acceptance of your visuals and increases your chances of earning you the right to say the "how" and the "what" of your message.

We also covered how simple pictures could help win business, and no formal artistic skills are needed. If most people don't self-identify as artistic, I truly believe we are all visual.

Finally, drawing is the same as thinking. Starting with a circle and giving it a name often helps.

Basic visual elements allow anything to be drawn, and you can easily combine them together to make more visuals. Colours can be a non-verbal communication medium. Simple shading can help to bring depth to 2-dimensional sketches in a really really simple way.

So, we're at the end.

You've got the power to make the complex simpler uniquely, honestly, and authentically. That is non-trivial.

If anyone scoffs or asks you why you draw in meetings. My answer is that pictures increase awareness, they add a little bit of beauty to business, and they improve clarity, comprehension & communication.

So when something isn't clear, start drawing.

If you've chosen to read this far across the series, that you have made a significant investment of time and effort. Don't stop that investment - convert it into value by developing and using this skill, especially during interactions with customers.

I sincerely encourage you to sell differently, sell more sell better, and go beat the competition.

Keep Visualising.

V