Sales decks are a cornerstone in the toolkit of sales professionals. They can captivate your audience, set the stage for your pitch, and be the difference between a signed contract and a missed opportunity. For seasoned salespeople, it’s not about the basics but about refining, evolving, and ensuring your sales deck is as effective as it can be. As important as these frequent adjustments are, you can’t spend all of your time customizing sales decks, so it’s important to know what can be templated and automated. Here’s how you can do just that.
Streamline the Content
There is a reason this comes first. Simple is quick. Simple is effective.
K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple and Straightforward): While it’s tempting to display every accolade and feature, focus on what’s absolutely necessary.
Design Matters
A simple presentation doesn’t have to be a boring one. In fact, the more compelling the visuals, the less words are necessary to convey your message.
Consistent Branding: Create a sales deck template with colors, fonts, and visuals that align with your brand’s guidelines.
High-Quality Graphics: Opt for visuals that simplify complex ideas and resonate emotionally. Remember, a picture is worth a thousand words. Nobody likes text-heavy slides.
Go Beyond Customer Logos
Let your existing customers sell for you. Trust symbols are a good way to show authority right away, but a great sales deck will go beyond plastering a slide with recognizable logos.
Embed Testimonials: Featuring logos of companies you’ve worked with is great, but diving deeper with impactful testimonials or case studies can build credibility.
Real Results: Highlight measurable outcomes and KPI improvements from past collaborations.
Use Storytelling: Frame your sales narrative as a story. Begin with the current situation (or problem), introduce your solution as the hero, and end with a vision of success.
Structure Strategically
Getting the structure right will help you build or customize an effective sales deck more quickly, as it helps organize your thoughts and keep the presentation on track. Get sample meeting agendas and presentation templates specific to the meeting. Stay focused by knowing exactly what goes into an effective sales proposal, demo, or introductory call. While each of these is going to require a different agenda, most of the best sales presentations are going to have these three key sections:
The Opening: Capture attention immediately. Start with a relatable problem or an intriguing statement.
The Core: This is where your product or service shines. Be concise and relevant.
The Close: End with a call-to-action that’s clear and compelling. Guide them on the next steps.
Rehearse, Revise, Repeat
Your sales deck template is never finished. Consider it a continuously improving work in progress.
Feedback Loop: Show your deck to colleagues or mentors. Fresh eyes can offer invaluable insights.
Practice: Knowing your deck inside and out builds confidence and allows for fluidity during your pitch.
Stay Updated: Regularly update your deck with new features, testimonials, or industry trends.
Continuous Learning: As you receive feedback, continuously refine your approach. What worked today might need tweaking tomorrow.
Use Technology to Customize Decks Quickly
Each sales deck starts with a template, but should be customized for every potential client. The trick is doing so with efficiency. Here are some tools to speed up the process.
Automate Slides with AI: Tools like Prezi, Storydoc and Plus AI to make creating slides a breeze. While Prezi and Storydoc both offer a more dynamic presentation experience than traditional slides, they require you to present on their platform. Plus AI is a plugin for Google Slides. Presentations can also be exported for use with PowerPoint. Use existing text to create slides, generate entire presentations with a single prompt, or automatically translate your sales deck in minutes.
Remote Pitching Tools: Platforms like Zoom or Microsoft Teams are in everyday use now that so many of us are working from home. But are you getting the most out of your meeting software? Meetingflow is a meeting plan generator, AI note taker, meeting summary writer, and follow-up assistant all in one.
An effective sales deck is more than just a collection of slides; it’s a strategic tool that communicates your value proposition in a concise and compelling manner. By focusing on these advanced strategies and always striving for improvement, you can ensure that your sales decks stand out and convert without spending several hours on each one.
Happy selling!
