Why are some sales pitches more persuasive than others? Are the salespeople just naturally more convincing, or do they know secrets about creating a sales pitch that the rest of us don’t?

Well, in most cases, convincing salespeople use special elements within their pitches to help increase their persuasiveness. These elements are not heavily guarded secrets, though they are not commonly discussed in general conversation either.

Two of the most overlooked and forgotten elements to an effective sales pitch are:

1. The Visualization Step
2. The Call-to-action

Each element is easy to create and incredibly persuasive if done correctly.

VISUALIZATION STEP - PUT THE BUYER IN THE PICTURE

A Visualization Step is a sentence (or two) which helps the potential customer imagine or visualize what would happen if they did, or did not, do what you are trying to persuade them to do.

People think in pictures, not words. It’s so much easier to explain something with a picture than it is with a set of directions.

Just think about the last time you put together a piece of furniture or constructed a toy for a child’s birthday gift. Which was more helpful to putting the item together correctly: the picture of the item on the box or the printed directions? Of course, it was the picture.

Let’s look at an example of how you could use a visualization step while selling a new product - SuperPrint.

"Imagine how much better your life would be if you used the new SuperPrint product to handle all your printing needs - not only could you reduce your printing budget by up to 68%, you could also cut your printing time in half! What would you do with all the extra money in your budget or the additional time in your day?"

This example helps encourage the potential buyer to envision her life if she did what you wanted her to do - buy the SuperPrint product. She should start imaging herself doing the things she just can’t seem to find the time for - like reading, taking a seminar, or working on a new project.

In fact, to help solidify the image in her mind, get answers from the potential client on what she would do with the extra time or money gained by not using other slower, more expensive printers. Once the customer uses her own words to explain what would happen with the additional time or money, she is more likely to buy, buy, buy.

=======>>> "If you had an additional two hours a week, what would you do?"

=======>>> "If you had an additional $1,000 a month in your budget, how would you spend it?"

=======>> How would an additional $1,000 a month help your company?

This approach makes it personal to the potential customer and her unique situation. If she uses the new SuperPrint product, she’ll have more money and more time. What could be better than that?

Let’s look at another example, one where you have to persuade someone to give something up for nothing. This tough sales situation is one that non-profit organizations deal with all the time.

You work for a charitable organization that works to raise awareness about the need to donate blood. Your job is to increase the amount of blood which is donated every month, and therefore, you obviously want more people to be persuaded to give blood.

You need to create a Visualization Step that will cause the potential donors to think about all the wonderful things that would happen if they did give blood, or all of the terrible things that would happen if they did not give blood.

The visualization could sound something like:

"Think about your mother... brother... daughter... niece.... What if they were in an accident and badly needed blood for a life-saving operation, but there wasn’t enough blood available for them to have this operation because too few people donated blood? Donating blood could save the life of someone you care about."

"If they don’t donate blood, perhaps someone close to them may die. If they do donate blood, someone close to them may be saved."

Let’s use selling a house as a third example.

As the potential buyer wanders through the house, you can use the Visualization Step to get him to begin imaging what life would be like if he were to live in the house.

The potential buyer tells you he’s a consultant and author and that he’s looking for a house where he can set up a home office.

As you go through the house with the potential buyer, ask him, "Where would you put your office in this house?"

As he answers, he will start imagining where his office will be, where he will put his desk, and where he will set up his filing cabinets.

Once he answers you, ask him why he chose that particular room for his office.

This will make him think about his office in greater detail, imagining working in the office, looking out the window, and writing his next best seller.

How can you use a Visualization Step to help persuade your next audience?

CALL-TO-ACTION - TELL THE BUYER WHAT TO DO

In addition to a Visualization Step, you also need a Call- to-action in your persuasive speech. This is the easiest, yet most forgotten part of a persuasion speech.

A Call-to-action is simply telling the potential buyer exactly what you expect him to do once you finish your pitch. It should be a simple, unambiguous statement which causes the buyer to act.

For example, referring back to the sales pitch on blood donation, a Call-to-action could sound something like:

"Go to your nearest blood bank and donate blood today."

Referring to the SuperPrint product speech, the Call-to- action could be:

"Call the phone number today to order your SuperPrint product and start saving money and time!"

Referring to the house sale:

"Let’s put in an offer now."

Each of these elements are effective by themselves but work much more effectively when used together. So many salespeople use only one of these two elements and miss opportunities to sell their product or service simply because the didn’t get the potential client to imagine themselves using the item or didn’t ask for the sale.

Get your potential buyer to visualize what their life would be like if they did (or did not) do what you want them to do, then hit them with the Call-to-action. If you use them effectively and together, your close ratio should increase as well as your commission check!

Kirstin Carey is a consultant, award winning speaker, and author of "PowHERful Communications for Women Who Want to be Heard." As a woman business owner, Kirstin fully understands what is necessary for women to be successful entrepreneurs. To find out how you too can love your business everyday and live the entrepreneurial life you want, visit http://www.powherful.com