Adapt Your Sales Approach to Close More Deals with Every Learning Style

As any experienced sales professional knows, no two prospects are exactly alike. What resonates with one potential buyer may leave the next one cold. While factors like budget, authority, need and timeline (BANT) certainly play a role, another important variable is how each individual prefers to learn and process information.

Broadly speaking, there are four recognized learning styles:

1. Visual
2. Auditory
3. Reading/Writing
4. Kinesthetic

Understanding these different ways of absorbing knowledge, and tailoring your sales approach accordingly, can significantly boost your ability to engage prospects and guide them to a buying decision.

In this post, we‘ll take an in-depth look at each learning style and share expert techniques for selling to all four more effectively. We‘ll also discuss why being adaptable in your communication style is so critical, and provide some tools to help you master this important skill.

The Four Learning Styles

Educational theorists have been studying learning styles since the 1970s. Building on the influential work of researchers like David Kolb and Neil Fleming, most agree that there are four main ways people prefer to learn:

• Visual: Absorbing information through images, maps, graphs, videos, and demonstrations
• Auditory: Learning by listening to lectures, discussions, and audio recordings
• Reading/Writing: Processing information through the written word, both reading and writing it themselves
• Kinesthetic: Learning by doing and getting hands-on with the subject matter

Source: Ourboox

While everyone uses a mix of all four styles to some degree, most people tend to gravitate to one primary mode. According to a study by the University of Alabama, 35.9% of the population are mainly visual learners. Auditory learners make up 25.9%, while kinesthetic learners account for 18.8%, and reading/writing learners just 1.8%.

Interestingly, these proportions can vary based on demographics like age, gender and even occupation:

• Women are more likely to be auditory learners, while men lean more visual
• Millennials heavily favor kinesthetic learning compared to older generations
• Engineers and IT professionals are predominantly visual learners
• Teachers, counselors and others in "helping" roles have high auditory preferences

The implications for sales professionals are clear. Not only do you need to be able to spot different learning styles and adapt your pitch, but also consider your buyer persona and adjust your base approach for different roles and industries.

Identifying Learning Styles

The first step in selling to different learning styles is figuring out which one your prospect favors. Formal evaluations like the VARK questionnaire exist, but administering a test is usually impractical in a sales situation.

Thankfully there are more subtle cues you can pick up on in the course of your initial discovery and conversations, even virtually:

Visual Learners tend to:

• Speak quickly and use phrases like "I see" or "Let‘s map this out"
• Ask to see charts, graphs, or product screenshots
• Gravitate to video calls over phone
• Take meticulous notes or sketch ideas during meetings
• Maintain strong eye contact and watch facial expressions and gestures closely
• Make decisions rapidly, sometimes on first impression

Auditory Learners usually:

• Have a measured, melodic speaking style and use sound-related phrases like "I hear you"
• Prefer phone calls to email communication
• Repeat important points back to you to confirm their understanding
• Close their eyes or look away while thinking deeply
• Hum, talk to themselves, or call out questions during presentations
• Take time to mull things over and consider all angles before deciding

Kinesthetic Learners:

• Often speak in an energetic, staccato rhythm and use movement-oriented words like "run" or "grab"
• Gesture frequently and have confident body language/posture
• Want to get hands on with your product through a demo or free trial
• May pace or tap a foot during meetings
• Rely heavily on gut instinct to guide decisions
• Are motivated by being able to take concrete action quickly

Reading/Writing Learners:

• Communicate more formally, with precise word choice and complete sentences
• Strongly prefer email, chat, or text communications over phone or video
• Ask for written summaries, reports, case studies etc. to review
• Take copious, methodical notes
• Appear still and focused, seldom fidgeting, gesturing or interrupting
• Make decisions deliberately after reviewing all documentation thoroughly

By observing a combination of speech patterns, body language, and communication preferences, you can zero in on your prospect‘s primary learning style pretty quickly and start to adapt your approach.

Selling to Visual Learners

Visual learners think in pictures, so your sales presentations should paint a vivid mental image.

DO:

• Use infographics, product screenshots, graphs and diagrams liberally
• Share links to product demo videos or tutorials
• Turn data into colorful charts or dashboards rather than listing out numbers
• Provide high-quality printed or downloadable brochures, case studies, and whitepapers
• Set up screen-sharing and use engaging visuals in virtual sales calls
• Leverage Instagram, Pinterest or other visual social media in your outreach

DON‘T:

• Expect them to remember what they hear without visual aids as reinforcement
• Use dense, text-heavy slides or documentation
• Go overboard on audio-only content like podcasts or phone consultations

Visual learners make decisions quickly, so have a contract ready to sign and be prepared to ask for the sale early and often.

Selling to Auditory Learners

Auditory learners absorb information best when they hear it, so the inflection and tone of your voice is crucial.

DO:

• Have in-depth conversations and let them talk out their thought process
• Ask open-ended questions and practice active listening
• Incorporate sound bites, mnemonics and catchy taglines into your pitch
• Use descriptive language to help them imagine the experience of using your product
• Record and share audio testimonials from current customers
• Leave succinct, engaging voicemails as part of your outreach

DON‘T:

• Rush them through your pitch or pressure them to make a decision on the spot
• Negotiate primarily over email – hash out terms in real-time discussions
• Overload them with lengthy documentation to read through

With auditory learners, a call is worth a thousand emails, so keep them on the phone as you talk through the deal.

Selling to Kinesthetic Learners

Kinesthetic learners need to physically engage with your offering and experience it in action to fully grasp its value.

DO:

• Provide a hands-on demo, product sample, or free trial as early as possible
• Walk them through an interactive ROI calculator or value assessment
• Get them actively participating in meetings with role-playing, Q&A, or gamification
• Use tangible metaphors and examples to make abstract concepts concrete
• Share customer stories and testimonials they can step into and relate to
• Reduce friction in your process with e-signature tools and one-click purchases

DON‘T:

• Expect them to make a decision without getting their hands dirty first
• Lead with lengthy explainer videos or product documentation
• Get bogged down in technical minutiae – focus on the "so what" behind features

Kinesthetic learners are often motivated to take action and decide quickly once they‘ve tried your product for themselves. Make the path to purchase as much of a straight line as possible.

Selling to Reading/Writing Learners

Reading/writing learners feel most comfortable when they can see information written out systematically in front of them.

DO:

• Share long-form content like whitepapers, ebooks and detailed case studies
• Provide spec and comparison sheets laying out product details side-by-side
• Conduct a written needs analysis or RFP-style questionnaire
• Support verbal explanations with bulleted summary slides
• Encourage them to take written notes and share their own thoughts in writing
• Follow up calls with thorough email recaps hitting all key points

DON‘T:

• Spend too much time on high-level overviews or abstract concepts
• Rely heavily on audio/video content or in-person meetings
• Push them to make a decision without allowing time for careful consideration

Reading/writing learners tend to have a more extended decision-making process as they methodically collect and analyze information. Build trust by giving them ample material to study and space to draw their own conclusions.

Training for Learning Style Versatility

As you‘ve probably gathered, selling effectively to diverse learning styles requires real versatility. The most successful salespeople can fluidly shift between communication modes, often mid-conversation, to connect with their prospect‘s preferences.

This adaptability is both an innate talent and a skill that can be honed through practice and training. In fact, some of the core concepts of sales enablement and methodology, from SPIN selling to the Challenger model, map closely to different learning styles:

Style	SPIN	Challenger	MEDDIC
Visual	S: Situation Slides P: Problem Visuals	Teach: Whiteboard Insights	M: Metrics & KPIs
Auditory	I: Implication Discussions	Tailor: Verbal Value Prop	E: Economic Buyer Conversations
Kinesthetic	N: Needs-Payoff Questions	Take Control: Demo	C: Champion Coaching
Reading/Writing	S: Situation Emails	Teach: Written Insights	D: Decision Criteria/Paper Process

Mapping Sales Methodologies to Learning Styles

Integrating learning style awareness and techniques into your sales training and coaching helps ingrain these skills as habits. You can also use tools like:

• Assessments like VARK or Kolb‘s LSI to determine reps‘ own learning preferences
• Call recordings to identify how reps are pacing conversations and modulating their tone
• Content audits to ensure a good mix of sales assets for different learning modes
• Buyer persona research to understand the learning style patterns of your target audiences

The goal is to equip reps with the emotional intelligence and tactical skills to engage buyers with diverse learning preferences, as well as arm them with enablement content to appeal to each style.

The Learning Styles of Decision Makers

It‘s worth noting that learning style prevalence tends to shift as people move up the org chart into more senior decision-making roles.

A 2011 study of 251 business decision-makers found that C-Suite and VP-level execs heavily favor visual learning, while directors and managers lean more auditory and reading/writing:

Source: Journal of College Teaching and Learning

This has implications for enterprise sales in particular, where closing a deal often requires appealing to a whole buying committee. Reps must be prepared to toggle between a heavily visual approach for the C-suite and a more balanced, auditory and reading/writing style for the manager and director-level stakeholders.

Learning Styles in the Age of Virtual Selling

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the shift toward virtual selling, with 75% of B2B sales interactions expected to happen remotely by 2025. That means sellers must become adept at appealing to different learning styles through digital channels.

Some best practices for engaging each type of learner in virtual sales:

• Visual: Use video conferencing with screen-sharing to provide live visual aids. Leverage digital whiteboarding tools and interactive presentation software. Provide on-demand product demo videos.

• Auditory: Simulate the back-and-forth of in-person meetings with real-time voice conversations using VoIP or conference lines. Share audio testimonials and podcasts. Host live virtual events.

• Kinesthetic: Provide virtual 3D product models that can be manipulated and explored. Use digital contract and e-signature tools. Allow for easy online scheduling of live demos.

• Reading/Writing: Provide detailed technical documentation and benchmarking reports in downloadable formats. Share written case studies and ROI analyses. Offer an email course to nurture prospects.

With a little creativity, sales reps can adapt proven learning-style techniques to a virtual environment and create digital experiences that appeal to every kind of buyer.

Flexing Your Learning Style Muscle

At the end of the day, selling is about connecting with people. And people learn and process information in different ways.

By taking the time to understand your prospects‘ learning styles, and training your sales reps to flex their own communication skills to match, you‘ll build stronger relationships and win more deals.

Use the strategies we‘ve outlined here to make learning style versatility a core capability for your sales team. Audit your sales process and enablement content to make sure you‘re enabling reps to succeed with every type of buyer.

With a little effort, you‘ll be well on your way to giving every prospect the personalized sales experience they need to become a happy customer. And that‘s a lesson we can all take to the bank.