how to write a sales presentation

7 Amazing Sales Presentation Examples (And How to Make Them Your Own)

7 Types of Slides to Include In Your Sales Presentation

Inside the mind of your prospect: change is hard, before-after-bridge: the only formula you need to create a persuasive sales presentation, facebook — how smiles and simplicity make you more memorable, contently — how to build a strong bridge, brick by brick, yesware — how to go above and beyond with your benefits, uber — how to cater your content for readers quick to scan, dealtap — how to use leading questions to your advantage, zuora — how to win over your prospects by feeding them dots, linkedin sales navigator — how to create excitement with color, how to make a sales pitch in 4 straightforward steps, 7 embarrassing pitfalls to avoid in your presentation, over to you.

A brilliant sales presentation has a number of things going for it.

Being product-centered isn’t one of them. Or simply focusing on your sales pitch won’t do the trick.

So what can you do to make your offer compelling?

From different types of slides to persuasive techniques and visuals, we’ve got you covered.

Below, we look at data-backed strategies, examples, and easy steps to build your own sales presentations in minutes.

• Title slide: Company name, topic, tagline
• The “Before” picture: No more than three slides with relevant statistics and graphics.
• The “After” picture: How life looks with your product. Use happy faces.
• Company introduction: Who you are and what you do (as it applies to them).
• The “Bridge” slide: Short outcome statements with icons in circles.
• Social proof slides: Customer logos with the mission statement on one slide. Pull quote on another.
• “We’re here for you” slide: Include a call-to-action and contact information.

Many sales presentations fall flat because they ignore this universal psychological bias: People overvalue the benefits of what they have over what they’re missing.

Harvard Business School professor John T. Gourville calls this the “ 9x Effect .” Left unchecked, it can be disastrous for your business.

According to Gourville, “It’s not enough for a new product simply to be better. Unless the gains far outweigh the losses, customers will not adopt it.”

The good news: You can influence how prospects perceive these gains and losses. One of the best ways to prove value is to contrast life before and after your product.

Luckily, there’s a three-step formula for that.

• Before → Here’s your world…
• After → Imagine what it would be like if…
• Bridge → Here’s how to get there.

Start with a vivid description of the pain, present an enviable world where that problem doesn’t exist, then explain how to get there using your tool.

It’s super simple, and it works for cold emails , drip campaigns , and sales discovery decks. Basically anywhere you need to get people excited about what you have to say.

In fact, a lot of companies are already using this formula to great success. The methods used in the sales presentation examples below will help you do the same.

We’re all drawn to happiness. A study at Harvard tells us that emotion is contagious .

You’ll notice that the “Before” (pre-Digital Age) pictures in Facebook’s slides all display neutral faces. But the cover slide that introduces Facebook and the “After” slides have smiling faces on them.

This is important. The placement of those graphics is an intentional persuasion technique.

Studies by psychologists show that we register smiles faster than any other expression. All it takes is 500 milliseconds (1/20th of a second). And when participants in a study were asked to recall expressions, they consistently remembered happy faces over neutral ones.

What to do about it : Add a happy stock photo to your intro and “After” slides, and keep people in “Before” slides to neutral expressions.

Here are some further techniques used during the sales presentation:

Tactic #1: Use Simple Graphics

Use simple graphics to convey meaning without text.

Example: Slide 2 is a picture of a consumer’s hand holding an iPhone — something we can all relate to.

Why It Works: Pictures are more effective than words — it’s called  Picture Superiority . In presentations, pictures help you create connections with your audience. Instead of spoon-feeding them everything word for word, you let them interpret. This builds trust.

Tactic #2: Use Icons

Use icons to show statistics you’re comparing instead of listing them out.

Example: Slide 18 uses people icons to emphasize how small 38 out of 100 people is compared to 89 out of 100.

Why It Works:  We process visuals 60,000 times faster than text.

Tactic #3: Include Statistics

Include statistics that tie real success to the benefits you mention.

Example: “71% lift driving visits to retailer title pages” (Slide 26).

Why It Works:  Precise details prove that you are telling the truth.

Just like how you can’t drive from Marin County to San Francisco without the Golden Gate, you can’t connect a “Before” to an “After” without a bridge.

Add the mission statement of your company — something Contently does from Slide 1 of their deck. Having a logo-filled Customers slide isn’t unusual for sales presentations, but Contently goes one step further by showing you exactly what they do for these companies.

They then drive home the Before-After-Bridge Formula further with case studies:

Before : Customer’s needs when they came on

After: What your company accomplished for them

Bridge : How they got there (specific actions and outcomes)

Here are some other tactics we pulled from the sales presentation:

Tactic #1: Use Graphics/Diagrams

Use graphics, Venn diagrams, and/or equations to drive home your “Before” picture.

Why It Works:  According to a Cornell study , graphs and equations have persuasive power. They “signal a scientific basis for claims, which grants them greater credibility.”

Tactic #2: Keep Slides That Have Bullets to a Minimum

Keep slides that have bullets to a minimum. No more than one in every five slides.

Why It Works:  According to an experiment by the International Journal of Business Communication , “Subjects exposed to a graphic representation paid significantly more attention to , agreed more with, and better recalled the strategy than did subjects who saw a (textually identical) bulleted list.”

Tactic #3: Use Visual Examples

Follow up your descriptions with visual examples.

Example: After stating “15000+ vetted, ready to work journalists searchable by location, topical experience, and social media influence” on Slide 8, Contently shows what this looks like firsthand on slides 9 and 10.

Why It Works:  The same reason why prospects clamor for demos and car buyers ask for test drives. You’re never truly convinced until you see something for yourself.

Which is more effective for you?

This statement — “On average, Yesware customers save ten hours per week” — or this image:

The graphic shows you what that 10 hours looks like for prospects vs. customers. It also calls out a pain that the product removes: data entry.

Visuals are more effective every time. They fuel retention of a presentation from 10% to 65% .

But it’s not as easy as just including a graphic. You need to keep the design clean.

Can you feel it?

Clutter provokes anxiety and stress because it bombards our minds with excessive visual stimuli, causing our senses to work overtime on stimuli that aren’t important.

Here’s a tip from Yesware’s Graphic Designer, Ginelle DeAntonis:

“Customer logos won’t all necessarily have the same dimensions, but keep them the same size visually so that they all have the same importance. You should also disperse colors throughout, so that you don’t for example end up with a bunch of blue logos next to each other. Organize them in a way that’s easy for the eye, because in the end it’s a lot of information at once.”

Here are more tactics to inspire sales presentation ideas:

Tactic #1: Personalize Your Final Slide

Personalize your final slide with your contact information and a headline that drives emotion.

Example: Our Mid-Market Team Lead Kyle includes his phone number and email address with “We’re Here For You”

Why It Works: These small details show your audience that:

• This is about giving them the end picture, not making a sale
• The end of the presentation doesn’t mean the end of the conversation
• Questions are welcomed

Tactic #2: Pair Outcome Statements With Icons in Circles

Example: Slide 4 does this with seven different “After” outcomes.

Why It Works:  We already know why pictures work, but circles have power , too. They imply completeness, infiniteness, and harmony.

Tactic #3: Include Specific Success Metrics

Don’t just list who you work with; include specific success metrics that hit home what you’ve done for them.

Example: 35% New Business Growth for Boomtrain; 30% Higher Reply Rates for Dyn.

Why It Works:  Social proof drives action. It’s why we wait in lines at restaurants and put ourselves on waitlists for sold-out items.

People can only focus for eight seconds at a time. (Sadly, goldfish have one second on us.)

This means you need to cut to the chase fast.

Uber’s headlines in Slides 2-9 tailor the “After” picture to specific pain points. As a result, there’s no need to explicitly state a “Before.”

Slides 11-13 then continue touching on “Before” problems tangentially with customer quotes:

So instead of self-touting benefits, the brand steps aside to let consumers hear from their peers — something that sways 92% of consumers .

Leading questions may be banned from the courtroom, but they aren’t in the boardroom.

DealTap’s slides ask viewers to choose between two scenarios over and over. Each has an obvious winner:

Ever heard of the Focusing Effect?

It’s part of what makes us tick as humans and what makes this design move effective. We focus on one thing and then ignore the rest. Here, DealTap puts the magnifying glass on paperwork vs. automated transactions.

Easy choice.

Sure, DealTap’s platform might have complexities that rival paperwork, but we don’t think about that. We’re looking at the pile of work one the left and the simpler, single interface on the right.

Here are some other tactics to use in your own sales presentation:

Tactic #1: Tell a Story

Tell a story that flows from one slide to the next.

Example: Here’s the story DealTap tells from slides 4 to 8: “Transactions are complicated” → “Expectations on all sides” → “Too many disconnected tools” → “Slow and error prone process” → “However, there’s an opportunity.

Why It Works:   Storytelling in sales with a clear beginning and end (or in this case, a “Before” and “After”) trigger a trust hormone called Oxytocin.

Tactic #2: This vs. That

If it’s hard to separate out one “Before” and “After” vision with your product or service because you offer many dissimilar benefits, consider a “This vs. That” theme for each.

Why It Works:  It breaks up your points into simple decisions and sets you up to win emotional reactions from your audience with stock photos.

Remember how satisfying it was to play connect the dots? Forming a bigger picture out of disconnected circles.

That’s what you need to make your audience do.

Zuora tells a story by:

• Laying out the reality (the “Before” part of the Before-After-Bridge formula).
• Asking you a question that you want to answer (the “After”)
• Giving you hints to help you connect the dots
• Showing you the common thread (the “Bridge”)

You can achieve this by founding your sales presentation on your audience’s intuitions. Set them up with the closely-set “dots,” then let them make the connection.

Here are more tactical sales presentation ideas to steal for your own use:

Tactic #1: Use Logos and Testimonials

Use logos and  testimonial pull-quotes for your highest-profile customers to strengthen your sales presentation.

Example: Slides 21 to 23 include customer quotes from Schneider Electric, Financial Times, and Box.

Why It Works: It’s called  social proof . Prospects value other people’s opinions and trust reputable sources more than you.

Tactic #2: Include White Space

Pad your images with white space.

Example: Slide 17 includes two simple graphics on a white background to drive home an important concept.

Why It Works:  White space creates separation, balance, and attracts the audience’s eyes to the main focus: your image.

Tactic #3: Incorporate Hard Data

Incorporate hard data with a memorable background to make your data stand out.

Example: Slide 5 includes statistics with a backdrop that stands out. The number and exciting title (‘A Global Phenomenon’) are the main focuses of the slide.

Why It Works:  Vivid backdrops are proven to be memorable and help your audience take away important numbers or data.

Psychology tells us that seeing colors can set our mood .

The color red is proven to increase the pulse and heart rate. Beyond that, it’s associated with being active, aggressive, and outspoken. LinkedIn Sales Navigator uses red on slides to draw attention to main points:

You can use hues in your own slides to guide your audience’s emotions. Green gives peace; grey adds a sense of calm; blue breeds trust. See more here .

Tip: You can grab free photos from Creative Commons and then set them to black & white and add a colored filter on top using a (also free) tool like Canva . Here’s the sizing for your image:

Caveat: Check with your marketing team first to see if you have a specific color palette or brand guidelines to follow.

Here are some other takeaways from LinkedIn’s sales presentation:

Tactic #1: Include a CTA on Final Slide

Include one clear call-to-action on your final slide.

Example: Slide 9 has a “Learn More” CTA button.

Why It Works:  According to the Paradox of Choice , the more options you give, the less likely they are to act.

Step One : Ask marketing for your company’s style guide (color, logo, and font style).

Step Two: Answer these questions to outline the “Before → After → Bridge” formula for your sales pitch :

• What are your ICP’s pain points?
• What end picture resonates with them?
• How does your company come into play?

Step Three: Ask account management/marketing which customers you can mention in your slides (plus where to access any case studies for pull quotes).

Step Four:  Download photos from Creative Commons . Remember: Graphics > Text. Use Canva to edit on your own — free and fast.

What are the sales presentation strategies that work best for your industry and customers? Tweet us:  @Yesware .

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Sales presentations: templates, examples and ideas on how to present like a pro

A good sales presentation is more than a simple pitch, a demo or a list of facts and figures. Done well, at the right time in your sales process , it’s a tool for getting your prospects’ attention, drumming up excitement and moving prospects toward a buying decision.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to use the power of storytelling to drive decision-making and close more deals. We’ll also cover the fundamental elements of an effective sales presentation strategy, what to include in your sales decks and practical ideas on how to deliver them.

What is a sales presentation?

A sales presentation is a live meeting where your team showcases your product or service and why it’s the best option for your prospect.

Although the terminology differs from company to company, a sales presentation is not always the same as a sales pitch.

A sales pitch is what your sales professionals do all day long, on the phone, over Zoom or in person with clients.

A sales presentation (although it’s still a sales pitch) is a point-in-time event that usually happens when your sales team is trying to close a more lucrative deal. It’s not a simple phone call, as it often involves a meeting and a demo.

Because you’re likely presenting to a group of senior decision-makers and executives, sales presentations require ample prep time and coordination across multiple team members.

Key takeaways from this sales presentations article

Deliver effective presentations: Make your sales presentations compelling with storytelling, effective slide decks, tailored content and strong delivery techniques. Benefits of great presentations: Sales presentations grab attention, excite prospects and drive decision-making, helping close more deals by showcasing your product’s value. Pipedrive’s tools, including customizable sales dashboards and Smart Docs , help you create professional, tailored presentations that enhance your sales strategy. Try Pipedrive free for 14 days .

How (and why) to use storytelling in your sales presentation

Use stories in your presentations to help people remember and relate to your brand.

Statistics, facts and figures can help when you’re trying to persuade a prospect to become a customer, but they’re more impactful if you can frame them with a memorable story.

For example, tell a story about a customer who faced the same challenges as your prospect and supplement it with powerful data, they are more likely to listen and want to know more.

Human beings have a deep relationship with storytelling. Stories move, teach and, in a sales context, persuade audiences.

Chip Heath, a Stanford professor and the co-author of Made to Stick , demonstrates the importance of storytelling by doing an exercise with his students. He divides them into groups and asks them to deliver a one-minute persuasive pitch based on data he’s just shown them.

After the pitches are delivered, he asks the class to jot down everything they remember about them. Although most students use stats rather than stories, 63% remember the stories, while only 5% remember an individual data point .

The stickiness of stories makes them a useful tool for developing a sales presentation outline. They help prospects understand and remember the key points of the presentation and your product.

Thomas Dredge Sales Manager, Particular Audience

Start with a problem (and a deadline)

Your presentation is about the solution you’re offering your prospects, but it shouldn’t start with that solution.

Instead, lead with the problem your solution was designed to solve.

“ Value selling is key,” says Bradley Davies, business development at Cognism . “It is important to understand your buyer and tailor their journey to what you can do for them.

“First, you need to understand what is motivating them to have a discussion, which allows you to identify their pains and present how your offering solves their pains. Everything presented to a prospect should be based on the value for them specifically.”

You might choose to tell a story that positions your product as the hero, helping the customer vanquish a villain: their pain point.

Your story should be tailored to the pain points of the prospects in the room. For example, a change to their business, industry or the technology they use.

“If an element of your offering is not relevant, then don't distract them from the important features. It will keep them engaged and help to build their user story,” adds Bradley.

Recommended reading

Digging deep to determine customer pain points and make the sale

Create a sense of urgency around your product: It’s a solution to their problem, but if they don’t act now, they could miss an opportunity. Tell a story about what might happen if your prospect doesn’t change, framing the consequences of inaction.

Focus on outcomes

You’ve outlined the problem and, if you’re doing your job, your audience is nodding along. Now it’s time to start talking about the solution.

However, that doesn’t mean you should launch into the features and benefits of your product just yet.

Rather than presenting your product, a good sales presentation draws a picture of what life could look like for a customer once they start doing things differently. How will their workload or productivity improve? What will they be able to do with additional time and resources? How will they reduce spending and increase revenue?

From there, introduce your solution and the features that can make this brave new world possible. Do this in a few ways:

Position your features against the old way of doing things

Present those features as “superpowers” that will solve your prospect’s problems

Compare those features to competitors’ features

Quantify the value your features bring vs. the cost of doing nothing

Use a combination of some or all of the above

Creating a winning sales presentation slide deck

Most sales presentations include a slide deck to deliver facts, case studies and statistics that convey the value of your solution.

Create your sales pitch deck in an application like PowerPoint or Google slides to ensure your presentation is visible to everyone in the room (or in a virtual setting).

The best sales decks have a few key elements:

A great cover image or opening slide. Like the story you open your presentation with, your cover slide should grab your audience’s attention.

Data and key points . Charts, graphs, infographics, quotes and other information back up your presentation. Your slides should support your presentation by visualizing data, not repeating what you’re saying. You can get metrics from third-party sources or (if appropriate) from your own sales dashboard .

Testimonials and case studies from other customers. Quotes and success stories from or information about other customers, preferably in the same industry as your prospects, will act as social proof and go a long way to backing up your claims.

Competitive context. In all likelihood, your product isn’t the only one a potential customer is evaluating. Savvy sales professionals take the opportunity to proactively communicate how their product stacks up to their competitors’ and anticipate objections.

Customized content. While it might seem tempting to use the same content for every presentation, you should personalize your presentation for each meeting. You might want to use your prospect’s brand colors, find data specific to their market or industry, or reference an earlier exchange. You can find ready-to-use customizable sales decks through a graphic design app, such as Canva.

A glimpse into next steps. Give your prospects an understanding of what new customer onboarding looks like with a slide that includes a direct call to action offering next steps. For some companies, the training and customer support experience can be a value proposition in and of itself.

A note about text in your sales deck : Keep the slides simple and light on text. Your prospects don’t want to look at a wall of words to read. According to data from Venngage , 84% of presenters use visual data in their presentations – and for good reason: You don’t want to overwhelm your audience with text as they listen to you, look at your sales deck and watch the demo.

When you do include text, ensure you use a font (and font size) that can be easily read by everyone sitting in on your presentation.

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What else to bring to your sales presentation

Now that we’ve discussed the story elements of a sales presentation and your slide deck, what else should you bring to the meeting?

Most sales presentations are in-person affairs and include visual elements like a sales deck, handouts or even an in-person demonstration of the physical product. Here are a few things to think about including in your pitch.

13 examples of sales collateral you need to drive revenue

The product.

Nothing sells a product like seeing it in action.

Take Scrub Daddy, a sponge that changes shape depending on the heat of the water. When Aaron Krause, Scrub Daddy’s founder and inventor, presented the product on Shark Tank in 2012 , he demonstrated the sponge cleaning dirty kitchenware and greasy countertops. He also used bowls of water and two 10-pound weights to show the sponge’s amazing morphic abilities.

The tactic paid off: Scrub Daddy partnered with Lori Greiner for $200,000, in return for 20% equity in the business and is now considered one of Shark Tank’s most successful products.

Not all products are easy to demo, so you may have to improvise.

With a physical product, think of the perfect environment for a demo. What would show the product at its best?

With a digital product, make sure you have the technology on hand to show what your product can do (and check beforehand that the tech works). If it’s a mobile app, have your prospects download it. If it’s a platform, consider producing recorded or interactive product demos that can be embedded in your sales presentation.

For items that are too big to be brought in or which are location-specific, you may have to rely on a video as part of the presentation.

7 steps to putting together a brilliant sales demo

Leave behinds.

Depending on the nature of your solution, you may want to have materials you can leave with the prospects in the room.

This can be as simple as contact information or sales literature you pass out at the end of the presentation. It can also be something that’s part of the presentation, like a QR code that allows them to download the demo on their phones. Whatever format you choose, make sure the material is concise and to the point.

Tailoring your sales presentation to speak to your audience

Once you develop a strong sales deck template, it’s tempting to use it over and over with your target audience. Remember, personalization is essential in sales.

During lead generation , prospecting and sales calls, you know that prospects are more interested in buying if your pitches are tailored to them. It’s the same with your sales presentations, especially if you have an unusual prospect.

Let’s say your product is a CRM that’s normally used by sales organizations, but a human resources department is interested in using it to create a recruiting pipeline.

You wouldn’t use a sales deck with sales-related examples to sell it during the presentation.

Instead, you’d research talent acquisition challenges, ask your product department to create a template or a demo aimed at recruiting and build your sales deck accordingly.

Different industries have unique challenges and opportunities. It’s your responsibility to tailor your value proposition and key bullet points accordingly.

“To craft the perfect sales presentation pitch,” advises Danny Hayward, Sales Manager at Unruly , “ensure you take care of these three things:

Ask the right questions beforehand to understand the needs of the client, especially their flaws

Learn your product inside and out

Rehearse, rehearse and rehearse again

Danny Hayward Sales Manager, Unruly

How to nail your sales presentation delivery

Here are a few tried and true sales presentation techniques to make sure you close the deal.

Whether you’re presenting solo or as part of a team, it’s important to plan in advance. Follow these sales presentation tips for preparation.

Practice, practice, practice . You’ll need to get the timing right, especially if your presentation has a lot of moving parts. Go through it to make sure your timing works, so that you can nail the meeting itself.

Make sure everything works . You don’t want to go into a meeting with a faulty PowerPoint presentation or a broken sample – or find out there is no whiteboard when one is integral to your demonstration. Do your best to make sure everything goes to plan.

Decide on everyone’s roles . This one is just for those presenting as a team. Will different sales reps speak through each section? Will one rep talk while the others handle the sales deck and demo? Decide who will do and say what ahead of time.

Know your attendees. Make sure you know who from the prospect company will be in the meeting, their titles and the roles they each play in the buying process. Conducting light social media research can also clue you into attendees’ past experiences or alma maters (information that can fuel pre-presentation small talk and forge closer connections with your audience).

Practice confident body language

Presentations usually happen in person, which is why you need to practice strong body language. You want to look relaxed and confident (even if you’re shaking in your shoes).

Here are some ways you can improve your body language:

Eye contact . Make and maintain eye contact, even in virtual meetings. This shows people you’re interested in them and invested in what they have to say.

Stand up straight . Pull your shoulders back and straighten your spine; fixing your posture is an easy way to convey confidence. You’ll also feel better if you’re not hunched over.

Chin up. It’s hard when you’re in front of people, but don’t look at the floor or your shoes. Face straight ahead and make eye contact (or look at the back wall rather than the floor.)

Have a firm handshake. Some people judge others by their handshakes. Offer a firm handshake to make a good first impression.

Engage your audience

Presentations can span 30 to 60 minutes or more, so you need to be able to hold your prospects’ attention. There are a number of ways to keep everyone interested:

1. Understand your audience’s attention span

The beginning and the end of your presentation are the most memorable, so that’s where you want to use your strongest material.

Rather than leading with your product’s features, use the first few minutes of a presentation to briefly introduce yourself, and share the compelling story we mentioned earlier. If your demo itself is compelling, lead with that.

Then talk about product features and pricing. Your prospects might have already researched it or can look it up afterward, so it’s fine that it’s occupying real estate in the middle of the presentation.

Lastly, finish strong. Return to your story, sharing how your product solved an important problem. Close with confidence, and open the floor for questions.

2. Be funny

Humor can be tricky, so if you’re not comfortable making jokes, don’t force it. If, however, humor is part of your brand voice and you think it will be well-received by your audience, go for it. Humor can be a good way to connect with prospects, make your presentation memorable and relax everyone in the room.

3. Use a little showmanship

The best thing about a sales presentation is that it lets you show off your product. Unlike a pitch, a presentation lets you pull out the stops, make a splash and showcase your solution.

Use this to your advantage and be as memorable as you possibly can.

Sophie Cameron Business Development Representative, CAKE

What to do after the sales presentation to close the deal

The sales cycle isn’t over when the sales presentation ends. Here are some tips on how to wrap up loose ends and close the deal.

Take questions

Encourage questions to show prospects you care about their experience.

Sometimes prospects may want a question answered right in the middle of a presentation. Interactivity is a great sign of engagement. If that happens, stop the presentation and take their questions head-on to show you’re listening and validate their thoughts.

Other times they may sit silently waiting for you to give them all the information they need.

In either case, proactively ask for questions once you’ve ended your presentation. Encourage them to share their concerns. This is a consultative selling approach that works to build a relationship with your prospects.

By the end of your sales pitch, your prospect should be ready to come along with you and start your business relationship.

Outline the next steps of the process. The first could be offering a trial of your product, scheduling a follow-up meeting or sending over a proposal.

Whatever the steps, make sure they’re clearly defined. If you don’t hear from the prospect soon after the proposal, check back in with a follow-up email or call.

How to write a response-worthy follow-up email (with 15 templates)

Great sales presentation examples (and why they worked)

Here are some sales pitch examples you can use to inform your next sales presentation; these examples range from great sales decks to presentations and we’ll explain why they worked so well.

The successful demo

Stephen Conway of vegan chocolate brand Pure Heavenly opened his elevator pitch on the UK’s Dragons’ Den in 2019 by handing out samples of his chocolate. The product, paired with Stephen’s story about wanting to create an allergen-free treat that his young daughters could enjoy, led to three offers.

Why it worked: Conway knew the strength of his product and packaged it in a personal story, betting (correctly) that it would sell itself.

The data-driven presentation

Lunchbox is a restaurant technology company that specializes in online ordering, customer loyalty and guest engagement software. The sales deck the company used to raise its $50 million Series B in 2022 relied on bold visuals and graphs to illustrate its market opportunity, ARR history and competitive differentiators.

Why it worked: The deck tells two stories, one about the company itself and another about the way consumer dining habits have changed in the wake of COVID-19. Lunchbox used data to show how it met the industry’s new pain points for both itself and other companies.

Sales data: How to analyze sales data and a sample Excel spreadsheet

The presenters with overwhelming confidence

When Brian and Michael Speciale went on Shark Tank in 2017 to pitch their product, The Original Comfy, they had very little – no numbers or inventory, just a prototype of a big fleece blanket/hoodie and video of that hoodie being worn everywhere from the couch to the beach. What they did have was a good product and confidence in that product. Their presentation earned them an offer of $50,000 for 30% from Barbara Corcoran.

Why it worked: Corcoran says she bought in because the Speciale brothers had a good idea, the guts to present it and knew they had to strike while the iron was hot. While you probably should be more prepared for your own sales presentation, the Original Comfy story shows just how important confidence is in a sales presentation.

Begin your sales presentation by capturing your audience’s attention and establishing a solid foundation for the rest of your presentation. Here are some steps to consider:

Greet and introduce yourself

Establish rapport

State the purpose and agenda

Address the pain points

Present a compelling hook

Outline the benefits

Establish credibility

Set expectations

Remember to maintain a confident and enthusiastic demeanor throughout your presentation.

The ideal length of a sales presentation can vary depending on factors such as the complexity of the product or service, the audience’s attention span and the context in which the presentation is being delivered. However, keeping a sales presentation concise, focused and within the timeframe is generally recommended.

The conclusion of a sales presentation is a significant opportunity to leave a lasting impression and inspire action from your audience. Here are a few steps you should take to end your presentation effectively.

Include a call to action

Summarize key points

Showcase success stories

Open the floor to questions

Offer additional resources

Here’s an example of how to end your presentation:

“To quickly recap, we’ve covered these key points today: [Summarize the main features and benefits briefly].

“Now, let’s revisit our success stories. Our clients, like [Client A] and [Client B], achieved [mention their specific results]. These successes demonstrate how our product/service can deliver tangible benefits for your business.

“I’d be happy to address any questions or concerns you may have. Please feel free to ask about anything related to our offering, implementation process or pricing.

“Before we finish, I’d like to encourage you to take the next step. Schedule a demo, request a trial or start a conversation with our team. Don’t miss the opportunity to experience the advantages firsthand.

“Lastly, we have additional resources available, such as case studies and whitepapers, to provide you with more insights. Feel free to reach out to our team for any further assistance.

“Thank you all for your time and consideration today.”

Final thoughts

It can be tempting to play it safe with a sales presentation by keeping it to a sales deck and a speech – but a sales presentation should be a show-stopper.

The best sales presentation tells your customer’s story, validates with data, offers a demo and more. It’s a major undertaking that shows the strength of your product. Done well, it keeps your prospects engaged and will make them want to do business with you.

Show customers how your product can push their business forward (or better yet, how your product can make them the superhero) and you’ll have a winning sales presentation that sparks your customer’s interest and drives revenue.

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Blog Marketing 15 Sales Presentation Examples to Drive Sales

15 Sales Presentation Examples to Drive Sales

Written by: Danesh Ramuthi Oct 31, 2023

A sales presentation is not merely a brief introduction to a product or service. It’s a meticulously constructed sales pitch tailored to showcase the unique features and key elements of what’s being offered and to resonate deeply with the prospective customers. 

But what stands out in the best sales presentation is their ability to weave an engaging story, integrating customer testimonials, success stories and sales performances to maintain the audience’s attention span and to persuade them to take action. 

The right tools, like those provided by Venngage presentation Maker and its sales presentation templates , can greatly aid in this endeavor. The aim is to have a presentation memorable enough that it lingers in the minds of potential clients long after the pitch. 

Its ultimate aim is not just to inform but to persuasively secure the audience’s commitment.

Click to jump ahead:

6 Sales presentation examples

What to include and how to create a sales presentation, sales presentation vs pitch deck.

• Final thoughts

A sales presentation can be the differentiating factor that turns a potential client into a loyal customer. The manner in which a brand or individual presents their value proposition, product, or service can significantly impact the buying decisions of their audience.

Hence, drawing inspiration from various sales presentation examples can be an instrumental step in crafting the perfect pitch.

Let’s explore a few examples of sales presentations that cater to different needs and can be highly effective when used in the right context.

Clean sales presentation examples

The concept of a “clean” sales presentation reflects more than just its visual aesthetic; it captures an ethos of straightforward, concise and effective communication. A clean presentation offers a professional and efficient way to present your sales pitch, making it especially favorable for brands or individuals looking to be perceived as trustworthy and reliable.

Every slide in such a presentation is meticulously designed to be aesthetically pleasing, balancing visuals and text in a manner that complements rather than competes.

Its visual appeal is undeniably a draw, but the real power of a clean sales presentation lies in its ability to be engaging enough to hold your audience’s attention. By minimizing distractions, the message you’re trying to convey becomes the focal point. This ensures that your audience remains engaged, absorbing the key points without being overwhelmed.

A clean design also lends itself well to integrating various elements such as graphs, charts and images, ensuring they’re presented in a clear and cohesive manner. In a business environment where attention spans are continually challenged, a clean presentation stands as an oasis of clarity, ensuring that your audience walks away with a clear understanding of what you offer and why it matters to them.

Minimalist sales presentation examples

Minimalism, as a design and communication philosophy, revolves around the principle of ‘less is more’. It’s a bold statement in restraint and purpose. In the context of sales presentations, a minimalist approach can be incredibly powerful.

It ensures that your content, stripped of any unnecessary embellishments, remains at the forefront. The primary objective is to let the core message shine, ensuring that every slide, every graphic and every word serves a precise purpose.

This design aesthetic brings with it a sense of sophistication and crispness that can be a potent tool in capturing your audience’s attention. There’s an inherent elegance in simplicity which can elevate your presentation, making it memorable.

But beyond just the visual appeal, the minimalist design is strategic. With fewer elements on a slide, the audience can focus more intently on the message, leading to better retention and engagement. It’s a brilliant way to ensure that your message doesn’t just reach your audience, but truly resonates with them.

Every slide is crafted to ensure that the audience’s focus never wavers from the central narrative, making it an excellent choice for brands or individuals seeking to create a profound impact with their pitches.

Simple sales presentation examples

A simple sales presentation provides a clear and unobstructed pathway to your main message, ensuring that the audience’s focus remains undivided. Perfect for highlighting key information, it ensures that your products or services are front and center, unobscured by excessive design elements or verbose content.

But the beauty of a simple design is in its flexibility. With platforms like Venngage , you have the freedom to customize it according to your brand voice and identity. Whether it’s adjusting text sizes, incorporating vibrant colors or selecting standout photos or icons from expansive free stock libraries, the power to enhance and personalize your presentation lies at your fingertips.

Creating your ideal design becomes a seamless process, ensuring that while the presentation remains simple, it is every bit as effective and captivating.

Professional sales presentation example

A professional sales presentation is meticulously crafted, reflecting the brand’s guidelines, voice and core values. It goes beyond just key features or product benefits; it encapsulates the brand’s ethos, presenting a cohesive narrative that resonates deeply with its target audience.

For sales professionals, it’s more than just a slide deck; it’s an embodiment of the brand’s identity, from the great cover image to the clear call to action at its conclusion.

These presentations are tailored to address potential pain points, include sales performances, and present solutions in a compelling and engaging story format. 

Integrating elements like customer success stories and key insights, ensuring that the presentation is not just good, but memorable.

Sales performance sales presentation example

A company’s sales performance presentation is vital to evaluate, refine and boost their sales process. It’s more than just numbers on a slide deck; it’s a comprehensive look into the effectiveness of sales campaigns, strategies and the sales team as a whole.

This type of sales presentation provides key insights into what’s working, what isn’t and where there’s potential for growth.

It’s an invaluable tool for sales professionals, often serving as a roadmap guiding future sales pitches and marketing campaigns.

An effective sales performance presentation might begin with a compelling cover slide, reflecting the brand’s identity, followed by a brief introduction to set the context. From there, it delves into specifics: from the sales metrics, customer feedback and more.

Ultimately, this presentation is a call to action for the sales team, ensuring they are equipped with the best tools, strategies and knowledge to convert prospective customers into paying ones, driving more deals and growing the business.

Testimonial-based sales presentation examples

Leveraging the voices of satisfied customers, a testimonial-based sales presentation seamlessly blends social proof with the brand’s value proposition. It’s a testament to the real-world impact of a product or service, often making it one of the most effective sales presentation examples. 

By centering on customer testimonials, it taps into the compelling stories of those who have experienced firsthand the benefits of what’s being offered.

As the presentation unfolds, the audience is introduced to various customer’s stories, each underscoring the product’s unique features or addressing potential pain points.

These success stories serve dual purposes: they not only captivate the audience’s attention but also preemptively handle sales objections by showcasing how other customers overcame similar challenges.

Sales professionals can further augment the presentation with key insights derived from these testimonials, tailoring their sales pitch to resonate deeply with their potential clients.

Creating a good sales presentation is like putting together a puzzle. Each piece needs to fit just right for the whole picture to make sense. 

So, what are these pieces and how do you put them together? 

Here, I’ll break down the must-have parts of a sales presentation and give you simple steps to build one. 

What to include in a sales presentation?

With so much information to convey and a limited time to engage your audience in your sales presentation, where do you start?

Here, we’re going to explore the essential components of a successful sales presentation, ensuring you craft a compelling narrative that resonates with your prospects.

• A captivating opening slide: First impressions matter. Start with a great cover image or slide that grabs your audience’s attention instantly. Your opening should set the tone, making prospects curious about what’s to come.
• Data-driven slides: Incorporate key points using charts, graphs, infographics and quotes. Instead of flooding your slides with redundant information, use them as a tool to visually represent data. Metrics from your sales dashboard or third-party sources can be particularly illuminating.
• Social proof through testimonials: Weave in testimonials and case studies from satisfied customers. These success stories, especially from those in the same industry as your prospects, act as powerful endorsements, bolstering the credibility of your claims.
• Competitive context: Being proactive is the hallmark of savvy sales professionals. Address how your product or service fares against competitors, presenting a comparative analysis. 
• Customized content: While using a foundational slide deck can be helpful, personalizing your presentation for each meeting can make all the difference. Whether it’s integrating the prospect’s brand colors, industry-specific data or referencing a past interaction, tailored content makes your audience feel acknowledged.
• Clear path to the future: End by offering a glimpse into the next steps. This can include a direct call to action or an overview of the onboarding process. Highlight the unique value your company brings post-sale, such as exceptional training or standout customer support.
• Keep it simple: Remember, simplicity is key. Avoid overcrowding your slides with excessive text. Visual data should take center stage, aiding in comprehension and retention. 

Related: 120+ Presentation Ideas, Topics & Example

How to create a sales presentation? 

Crafting a good sales presentation is an art that blends structure, content and design. 

A successful sales presentation not only tells but also sells, capturing the audience’s attention while conveying the main message effectively. 

Here’s a step-by-step guide to ensure that your sales deck becomes a winning sales presentation.

1. Find out your ideal audience

The first step to any effective sales pitch is understanding your audience. Are you presenting to prospective customers, potential clients or an internet marketing agency? Recognize their pain points, buying process and interests to craft a message that resonates. This understanding ensures that your presentation is memorable and speaks directly to their unique needs.

2. Pick a platform to Use

Depending on your target audience and the complexity of your sales literature, you might opt for Venngage presentation maker, PowerPoint templates, Google Slides or any tools that you are comfortable with. Choose a tool that complements your brand identity and aids in keeping your audience’s attention span engaged.

3. Write the ‘About Us’ section

Here’s where you build trust. Give a brief introduction about your organization, its values and achievements. Highlight key elements that set you apart, be it a compelling story of your brand’s inception, a lucrative deal you managed to seal, or an instance where an internet marketing agency hired you for their needs.

4. Present facts and data

Dive deep into sales performance metrics, client satisfaction scores and feedback. Use charts, graphs and infographics to visually represent these facts. Testimonials and customer success stories provide that added layer of social proof. By showcasing concrete examples, like a customer’s story or feedback, you give your audience solid reasons to trust your product or service.

5. Finish with a memorable conclusion & CTA

Now that you’ve laid out all the information, conclude with a bang. Reiterate the value proposition and key insights you want your audience to remember. Perhaps share a compelling marketing campaign or a unique feature of your offering.

End with a clear call to action, directing your prospects on what to do next, whether it’s downloading further assistance material, getting in touch for more deals or moving further down the sales funnel .

Related: 8 Types of Presentations You Should Know [+Examples & Tips]

Sales presentation and the pitch deck may seem similar at first glance but their goals, focuses, and best-use scenarios differ considerably. Here’s a succinct breakdown of the two:

Sales Presentation:

• What is it? An in-depth dialogue designed to persuade potential clients to make a purchase.
• Focuses on: Brand identity, social proof, detailed product features, addressing customer pain points, and guiding to the buying process.
• Best for: Detailed interactions, longer meetings and thorough discussions with potential customers.
• Example: A sales rep detailing a marketing campaign to a potential client.

Pitch Deck:

• What is it? Pitch deck is a presentation to help potential investors learn more about your business. The main goal isn’t to secure funding but to pique interest for a follow-up meeting.
• Focuses on: Brand voice, key features, growth potential and an intriguing idea that captures the investor’s interest.
• Best for: Initial investor meetings, quick pitches, showcasing company potential.
• Example: A startup introducing its unique value proposition and growth trajectory to prospective investors.

Shared traits: Both aim to create interest and engagement with the audience. The primary difference lies in the intent and the audience: one is for selling a product/service and the other is for igniting investor interest.

Related: How to Create an Effective Pitch Deck Design [+Examples]

Final thoughts 

Sales presentations are the heart and soul of many businesses. They are the bridge between a potential customer’s needs and the solution your product or service offers. The examples provided—from clean, minimalist to professional styles—offer a spectrum of how you can approach your next sales presentation.

Remember, it’s not just about the aesthetics or the data; it’s about the narrative, the story you tell, and the connection you establish. And while sales presentations and pitch decks have their distinct purposes, the objective remains consistent: to engage, persuade and drive action.

If you’re gearing up for your next sales presentation, don’t start from scratch. Utilize Venngage presentation Maker and explore our comprehensive collection of sales presentation templates .

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Effective Sales Presentations: 11 Tips to Win Deals + Templates

What makes a sales presentation truly effective?

Is it that secret-sauce font, the comprehensive case studies, intricate graphs, or your shining personality? Or is it… something else?

It might seem like a simple question, but understanding the answer unlocks a world of opportunities for sales reps.

If your sales presentations are truly effective, they should accomplish these 4 things:

• Give prospects confidence in your brand
• Develop a deep relationship and mutual understanding of needs and priorities
• Convince potential customers of the value of your product
• Give clear direction for the next conversation

How many of your recent sales meetings have fallen short of these results?

A study by Forrester of more than 300 C-level buyers found that many reps are lacking key information for a successful sales meeting:

Put simply, most salespeople go into meetings:

• Unprepared for questions
• Without knowledge of the business or industry they’re selling to
• Without understanding the prospect’s situation and problems
• Without relevant social proof

Want to avoid falling into the trap of generic, ineffective sales presentations?

While preparing for and delivering a really good sales presentation isn’t an exact science, the following best practices will lead you to better results.

Let’s dive into the top methods sales professionals are using to nail their presentations and deliver killer sales pitches .

How to Prepare the Perfect Sales Pitch Presentation

Think you can get away with giving a great sales presentation on the fly? Think again. A PowerPoint presentation that was thrown together over lunch is not going to impress your decision-makers.

Preparation is a key aspect of every effective sales presentation.

Here are five ways you can prepare for success:

1. Set a Clear Agenda

Your sales presentation is built to guide the conversation and gives you a structure to work with throughout the meeting. But the prospect doesn’t know how your presentation is structured.

Does this situation sound familiar?

Prospect: “This is really interesting, but how does your product solve XYZ?”

You : “Actually, we’ll talk about that in a few slides. Anyway, as I was saying…”

These kinds of interruptions are common, and the popular response of “We’ll get to that” doesn’t normally go over very well with prospects.

Here’s how to avoid this: Set a clear agenda for the conversation, and share that with your prospects.

This could mean sharing an outline of the presentation topics you’ve prepared, or it can mean sharing the whole sales presentation with your prospect.

This way, your prospect can review the information before your meeting, see where you’ll cover certain topics, and save their questions for the right moment.

2. Adapt Your Script and Presentation

Above, we saw that 77 percent of reps enter meetings without a clear understanding of the issues that their prospect is facing, or areas where they can help.

There are two clear ways to fix this problem:

First, do your homework. The more you know about your potential client's business and current situation, the better. Also, try to understand their industry and target audience, read up on current news in the sector, and get a feel for the particular pain points this person is likely feeling the most.

Second, base your presentation and accompanying sales script on your ideal customer profile. If your sales team has multiple ideal customer profiles to sell to, discover which profile this prospect fits into and base your arguments, questions, and main points on the specific needs of this profile.

3. Pick Three Main Points for Each Prospect

No matter how many crazy statistics and fun features you throw at your prospect, they’re still only human. Shocking, we know.

In other words, they’ll probably forget at least half of what you say.

To create effective sales presentations that your prospects will remember, focus on three main bullet points that you want to highlight.

This isn’t a number we pulled from a hat. It’s based on an experiment performed by Kurt A. Carlson and Suzanne B. Shu. Their study found that, when your audience knows you’re trying to persuade them, the ideal number of positive claims to make is three. After four claims, your audience will start to become more and more skeptical of anything you say.

The title of their paper is a catchy phrase to help you remember this principle: Three Charms but Four Alarms .

So, go through your slides and pick three key points that you want your prospect to remember. Maybe these will be product features or maybe not, but once again, base these points on the real, felt needs of your prospect. You’ll see better results.

During the presentation, draw your audience's attention to these points as you introduce new ideas. Phrases like these draw attention at the right moments:

• Here’s the point…
• This is crucial…
• But this is what matters…
• But it gets even better...
• This next point is really important...
• This is what XYZ could mean for you, Jack…

And make sure these key points lead directly where you want them to—to your call to action. If they aren’t leading you to that, what’s the point?

For more, check out this video, where I talked in-depth about captivating and directing your prospect's attention during a sales conversation. Remember: whether you're delivering in-person or via video conferencing, maintaining eye contact and using body language to draw attention to main points works.

4. Use Visuals to Show, Not Tell

A sales deck can have several different functions. For example, if your sales deck is going to be read and discussed among stakeholders at your prospect’s company, it will need to include text that explains the visuals presented.

However, if you’re giving a sales presentation with that deck, it doesn’t need all that text.

To prepare a sales presentation for a product or service, make sure you include infographics and visuals that complement what you’re saying. You can use Canva or even a responsive whiteboard to do this.

Think of your slides as visual aids that give more meaning and context to your words.

These visuals can help to:

• Simplify complex processes
• Provide a clearer understanding of data/metrics
• Add credence to your words
• Keep your audience engaged
• Help your audience remember main points (this one is backed by science )

In short, for an effective sales presentation, keep your script and your slides separate. Use your words to add meaning to the visuals, and use your visuals to maximize the power of your words. With this approach, you will elevate your value proposition —and increase your close rate.

5. Show Them You Know Their Pain

Using a narrative in your presentation shows that you’re sympathetic to the problems your prospects are facing and that you know how to solve them.

So, what’s the narrative for your product?

Generally, the story you tell with your presentation will follow this pattern:

• There is a problem caused by a shift in the market, a change in the company’s circumstances, or the world situation
• That problem is solved, the business is saved, and your product is the hero

A compelling narrative that captures the feelings and frustrations of your prospect shows them that you understand them, you’re on the same page, and you’re here to help.

Maybe this is the story of how your product was born, to solve a problem internally at your own company. Maybe it’s the story of one of your successful customers. Or maybe it’s just a narrative that they can relate to and see themselves in.

In any case, using stories instead of just facts makes your presentation more memorable. According to one study, people only retain about 5-10 percent of the statistical information they hear. But they’ll remember 65-70 percent of the information they hear as stories.

Take advantage of this fact: Turn your data into a narrative.

Once you’ve prepared your sales deck and accompanying script, you’re ready to nail your next sales presentation.

Or are you?

Day-Of Sales Presentation Tips: Nail Your Next Sales Presentation

Ready for the big day? Here are six more tips you can use while actively presenting to your prospect, to give a truly effective sales presentation.

6. Open With Your Biggest Selling Point (Don’t Save it for the End)

Many sales reps like to save their product’s biggest selling point for the very end of their presentation, as if they’re coming to some grand crescendo.

But your prospect didn’t come to this meeting hoping to hear the Philharmonic Orchestra play Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5. So, don’t play this pitch deck like another day at the theater.

Instead, open with your big selling points. Dazzle your prospects from the get-go, and you’ll have them hooked to the end.

To be counted among the Sales Success Stories and Stars of your organization… just go for it. Get the show on the road with a big opening. Leave them in (happy) tears.

7. Ask Open-Ended Questions

To understand your prospects and to keep them engaged with your presentation, questions are essential.

But wait, if you’re giving a sales presentation, aren’t you the one that’s supposed to be doing the talking? You answer the questions, right?

True. But, how do you know if your prospect is paying attention? How can you highlight the relevant points in your presentation if you don’t know what interests them?

To engage your prospect and draw them into your presentation, ask questions like:

• Can you walk me through how your team handles [problem]?
• Have you found any clever workarounds for when [issue] happens?
• What would your ideal solution to this problem look like?
• How would you expect a solution to this problem to affect your team?

It’s true; you’ve probably asked a lot of similar questions during the qualifying stage . But with these questions, you can lead the conversation and keep your prospect engaged with what you’re saying.

Open-ended questions will also help you with the next tip:

8. Build Context Around Your Biggest Value Points and Differentiators

The same questions we shared above can help add context to what you’re saying.

Don’t just tell the prospect: “ Our product helps you solve X problem. ”

Add meaning to that value point by asking questions:

• How often do you face X problem?
• How much time/money do you lose when this happens?
• How does X problem affect the morale/productivity of your team?

When you have the numbers clear, reiterate the problem: “ So, you lose $X every week because of this problem. That’s more than $Y per year that’s going down the drain until you solve this issue. ”

Then, bring in your value point: “With our product, you could save $Z every year by eliminating this problem for your team.”

The same method works for highlighting your key differentiators.

Instead of telling prospects that your product is the best because it’s the only one that does X, lead prospects to the features and benefits that set your product apart with open-ended questions.

This creates value and context around a problem that only your product can solve.

9. Make Social Proof Engaging: Mirror the Prospect’s Situation

This data blew our minds and will probably blow yours, too: According to studies from our friends at Gong , sellers who use social proof in their sales calls have a 22 percent lower close rate .

Have you noticed a similar pattern with social proof in your sales presentations?

We all know that social proof is a powerful tool in the hands of sales reps and marketers. No need to throw out all your social media customer quotes or company testimonials. But, it must be used correctly to work effectively.

Otherwise, you could actually hurt your chances of closing.

So, what’s the correct way to use social proof in your presentations?

Favor customers that are part of this prospect’s tribe .

For example, imagine you’re selling to an SMB, and you tell them that Facebook is your customer. They’ll be impressed, sure… but they’ll also start to wonder if your product is really a good fit for their small business.

Instead, when selling to SMBs, talk about your other SMB customers. Use examples of happy customers who are in the same field or industry. Or, find customer stories that mirror this prospect—with similar pain points.

With tribal social proof, you’ll gain the respect of prospects while demonstrating that you truly “get” them.

10. Never Talk Price Before Value

Chances are, you’re talking price somewhere in this sales presentation. At this stage in the sales pipeline , it’s normal that your prospect is ready to hear what your solution will cost.

But don’t open the conversation like this.

Sometimes, you get into a room (whether in-person or virtual) with your main point of contact and important stakeholders, and the first thing they want to know is: “How much will this cost us?”

One of the golden rules of sales is this: Never talk price before value .

If you fold to the pressure and start off by talking about the price of your solution, your audience will view your product as a commodity, not as a valuable solution to their problem.

When stakeholders push you for a number, don’t be afraid to push back. If they’re insistent, turn the question back around on them:

“Before we talk about price, let me ask you this: How much will it cost your company if you don’t get these issues solved by next quarter?”

By focusing on the real monetary value that your product provides, you’ll help position your product as a premium solution, not a wholesale band-aid.

11. Keep It Less Than 10 Minutes

Did you know that every presenter at Apple’s product launches speaks for just 10 minutes or less?

This is because science tells us that the brain gets bored easily—our attention spans just can’t expand beyond a certain point. However, you can reengage your audience by introducing a change every 10 minutes.

Apply this principle to your keynote sales presentations: If you’re presenting longer than 10 minutes, the prospect’s interest will steadily decline. Wrap it up.

Our friends at Gong found that there’s a sweet spot for winning sales presentations: 9.1 minutes. It’s like the ideal elevator pitch for sales presentations.

So, stick to this rule of thumb: Keep your presentations under 10 minutes.

Sales Presentation Templates: Use These Sales Pitch Decks to Win More Deals

Want to build a stellar sales pitch presentation? Steal these presentation templates and customize them to your business—including stunning visuals, striking text, and a presentation process that wins deals.

Get the Powerpoint or Keynote version of these templates, and start creating your own effective sales presentations!

Ready to Give the Best Sales Presentation Ever?

You’ve got all the pro tips you need to nail your next presentation.

In the end, you want to demonstrate that you understand your prospect’s needs and concerns. Show you “get” them by adding a compelling narrative and including customer stories that mirror their own situation.

An effective presentation must also be engaging, which is why it’s essential to highlight three main points and add context with open-ended questions.

With this info, you’re ready to deliver a winning sales presentation. ( Psst... don't forget to use our sales presentation templates to get started!)

But what happens next? There are still some unaccounted-for areas of the sales process. If you want to really crush the follow-up and close more deals, you need a CRM to help you do it.

Close CRM does all this—and so much more. Watch our demo or try Close free for 14 days.

More articles from The Close Blog

Discover our latest free sales tools powered by AI

Learn from the sales pros with our free sales guides.

👀 Turn any prompt into captivating visuals in seconds with our AI-powered design generator ✨ Try Piktochart AI!

7 Sales Presentation Examples for Successful Pitches

A successful sales presentation can significantly influence a potential client’s decision-making process. It needs to be engaging, informative, and persuasive.

This guide explores the components of an effective sales presentation, and best practices for creating one, and provides seven exemplary sales presentation templates from various sources.

What Is a Sales Presentation?

A sales presentation is a strategic dialogue designed to persuade a potential client or customer to purchase a product or service. It typically involves a detailed explanation of the product’s features, benefits, and potential return on investment.

What Is Included in a Sales Presentation?

A sales presentation typically includes sections on:

• Introduction : Brief introduction of the company and the presenter.
• Customer Needs : Identification of the client’s needs and how they align with the product or service.
• Product/Service Details : Detailed information about the product or service, highlighting unique selling points.
• Success Stories : Real-life examples or case studies demonstrating the value of the product or service.
• Pricing and Packages : Overview of pricing options and any customizable packages.
• Call to Action : Strong conclusion that prompts the audience to act or decide.

Sales Presentation Best Practices

Creating an effective sales presentation involves several best practices:

• Tailor Your Message : Customize the presentation to address the specific needs and interests of your audience.
• Keep It Concise : Focus on key points to maintain the audience’s attention and keep the presentation within an appropriate timeframe.
• Use Visuals : Employ charts, graphs, and images to make your points clearer and more engaging.
• Rehearse : Practice your presentation multiple times to ensure smooth delivery.
• Engage Your Audience : Encourage questions and interact with the audience to make the presentation more dynamic.

7 Sales Presentation Examples

1) piktochart: “sales pitch examples”.

Piktochart’s Sales Pitch Examples illustrate how to effectively communicate the value of your product or service. These examples showcase various strategies to capture and retain the audience’s interest, making them highly practical for anyone looking to enhance their sales presentations.

Canva Sales Presentation Template offers visually appealing templates designed to make sales presentations more engaging. These templates are easy to customize and suitable for a wide array of industries, helping presenters create professional-looking presentations effortlessly.

2) Slidebean Sales Pitch Deck Template

Slidebean Sales Pitch Deck Template is designed to streamline the creation of impactful sales presentations. The template guides users through structuring an effective pitch, emphasizing the art of storytelling to captivate potential investors and clients.

3) Prezi Sales Plan Presentation Template

Prezi Sales Plan Presentation Template offers a dynamic way to engage audiences with its distinctive zoomable canvas. The template allows sales professionals to outline their strategies and goals in a visually engaging sequence that captures the natural flow of a sales process.

It is designed to help presenters illustrate complex sales plans through a structured yet flexible narrative, enabling the audience to follow along through a visual journey of targets, tactics, and expected outcomes.

4) Queza : Pastel Color Sales Marketing Powerpoint

Queza : Pastel Color Sales Marketing Powerpoint from Envato Elements is designed with pastel colors and a clean, modern aesthetic, making it ideal for sales and marketing presentations that require a fresh and inviting look. This PowerPoint template is versatile, featuring a range of slide layouts that can be used to showcase products, market analysis, sales strategies, and more.

5) SlideSalad Sales Deck PowerPoint Templates

SlideSalad Sales Deck PowerPoint Templates ****offer a comprehensive sales deck that is robust and creatively appealing, ideal for making impactful sales presentations. It features hundreds of unique slides designed for various sales niches, allowing for extensive customization.

6) Solua : Cyber Monday Sale Event Powerpoint

The Cyber Monday Sale Event PowerPoint on Envato Elements is a powerhouse for creating high-impact sales presentations. This template features a modern design that effectively combines bold colors and sleek layouts to capture audience’s attention. It includes multiple slide options to showcase products, promotional offers, and pricing strategies.

7) SlideModel Sales Pitch Presentation Template

SlideModel Sales Pitch Presentation Template offers professionally designed templates tailored for sales presentations. These templates are structured to facilitate clear communication of complex data, strategic alignment, and persuasive storytelling. They are particularly useful for sales teams looking to present data-driven arguments effectively.

Other Posts

How to Make a Presentation (Guide With Tips & Templates)

How to Nail Your Brand Presentation: Examples and Pro Tips

Presentation Design: A Step-by-Step Guide

• Sales Career
• Sales Process
• Sales Software
• Sales Management
• Sales Report
• Account Management

How to Create & Deliver a Sales Presentation (+ Template)

Related articles, lead vs prospect vs opportunity: what's the difference, 52 lead generation statistics to consider in 2024, top 14 email nurture campaign best practices.

Selling Signals content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More .

A sales presentation is the act of verbally explaining a product or service and delivering your sales pitch to a potential buyer, usually with the assistance of a sales deck. The ultimate goal of the presentation is to convince the buyer to take next steps with you, such as accepting a proposal. To accomplish this, sales reps follow a key outline that includes sections like the prospect's pain point, how the product or service solves this problem, and a strong call-to-action.

For help crafting your presentation, hire a design expert on Fiverr to custom create an appealing slide deck and write the talking points that will present your offering in the most professional way possible. Freelance gigs start at only five dollars — take a look at your best options below:

How Do Sales Presentations Work?

Salespeople typically give a 20- to 30-minute sales presentation as a  lead nurturing  activity once a lead has been qualified as a high-value prospect — by this point, you've determined it's time to show them in detail the value of your product or service and recommend next steps. The stage of your sales pipeline in which the presentation occurs depends on your business, but it's usually done toward the end of your  sales process  as one of the final steps before deal closing.

As you build your presentation's talking points, you'll follow an outline that typically begins with small talk and introductions, then moves on to agenda-setting. The outline will then dive into the problem, your solution and the benefits that it brings, and stories about a current customer who had a similar issue before working with you. Finally, you'll end with a concrete CTA to entice your prospect to move forward with you.

Keeping this outline in mind, there are steps you can follow to first plan the sections of a general outline and then personalize them to each unique prospect, plus templates and software you can use to build a supporting sales deck. It also helps to consider tips to prepare for and deliver the presentation and take a look at examples of quality presentations to emulate.

This article addresses how to create your entire presentation, including building a visual sales deck and creating and delivering your talking points. If you’re looking specifically to learn how to craft a written slideshow, check out our article on creating a sales deck .

Free Sales Presentation Template

So that you don't necessarily need to start from scratch, we've gathered several sales presentation templates for various scenarios and created our own free general sales deck template to help you create a slideshow to complement your presentation. This deck template can act as a base for you or a Fiverr freelancer to customize into your own deck according your needs and presentation outline. It also comes with recommendations for specific written content to put on each slide.

Now that you have a template to work from, let’s look at the key elements all salespeople should use to structure their sales presentation.

Common Sections of an Effective Sales Presentation

Regardless of your business or customer, there are some common elements to include in your sales presentation to make it as effective as possible. Where in the presentation or deck you place each element is up to you, as there are slight strategic advantages to different arrangements, but the outline below is the best place to start so you can sucessfully give a presentation and communicate your sales pitch .

Here is the common structure of a sales presentation, plus how to communicate each section: 

Small Talk & Intros

Solution & benefits, social proof.

As people enter the meeting, take five minutes to build rapport and engage your prospect in light conversation by asking them personal or professional questions like “Last time we spoke, you were working on {project} . How’s that been going?” Small talk like this gets everyone comfortable and in a good mood.

After the conversation has run its course, thank your audience for attending, then briefly introduce (or reintroduce) yourself and state your company's elevator pitch . Bring up relevant credentials or experiences that will paint you as the right person or team to help them in this area. Then, ask each person in the audience (if there are five or fewer) to say their name and job title. All of this should take another 3–5 minutes.

Before you start flipping through slides, set the agenda in three sentences so the audience knows what to expect. When they know what’s coming, they're on the lookout for the elements and topics you mentioned. This increases their comprehension and engagement. Plus, stating an agenda makes you look organized and professional.

Use the "purpose, benefit, check" method when setting the agenda:

• State the Meeting’s Purpose: Preview the main topics you'll be covering. “We’re here to go over how {product or service} can help you overcome {problem or challenge} .”
• List the Benefits of Attending:  Explain how the prospect will benefit from being here. “Besides learning about our solution and how to use it to reach your goals, you’ll also come away with valuable industry insights that will change the way you think about {topic} .”
• Check for Alignment:  Make sure you’re all on the same page with a simple check. “Does that sound like a plan?”

Once your prospect agrees, you can dive into the problem.

Talk about your prospect’s problem that you found during your discovery call or another method. Mention what you believe is causing it and the negative consequences the prospect will experience if they let it remain unsolved (including any relevant statistics). Because the problem is likely why your potential customer is in the meeting, dedicate five minutes to laying out their pain point and discussing it a bit if your prospect has anything to add.

This could sound like "During our discovery call, you said you're trying to reach {goal} but you've been experiencing {challenge} . It sounded like your main concern is {implications} , and the problem is stemming from {issues/pain points} . Anything I'm missing?"

In a few sentences, tease three benefits they could enjoy if they simply solved this problem. Paint this better world as desirable and free of the pains caused by their current problem. Then, introduce your product or service and take two minutes to explain how it solves the problem and helps reach the promised land.

For example, "If you were to solve this pain point, you could {benefit 1} . {Product or service} is designed to {high-level purpose/benefit 2} for {role or company type} so they can {more impactful action/benefit 3} . Specifically, it does this by {product/service overview} ."

If you'd like to dive deeper into how your product works, you could extend this to a 15- to 20-minute product demo instead of a two-minute overview. Plan this beforehand so as not to run over the time you've allotted.

If there are specific ways in which customers similar to the prospect have used the solution to their advantage, share them in the presentation. This can include social proof like testimonials, case studies, and anecdotes to show how buyers love your solution.

A good way to state this is "One of our longest clients is {similar company} , which {brief, relevant company description} . Before working with us, they were also having {similar problem} , but they've solved it by using our {feature and brief explanation} . I could see your team loving {feature} , too."

Your relationship with the prospect, the amount of people in the room, and the price of your product or service will determine how you end your presentation and make your ask. If you're presenting a pricey B2B solution to three executives, your CTA will be different than if you’re presenting a B2C product to a 1,000-person audience.

Here are three ways to close your presentation:

• Strong CTA:  Make a direct ask like “Over 500 satisfied clients are currently using our solution to {function/benefit} . Are you ready to join them?” or “Are you ready for us to draft up a proposal so you can rid yourself of {pain point} once and for all?”
• Open-Ended Question:  Ask an open-ended question that will prompt them to think about and discuss their key takeaways. For instance, you might ask, “How did I change the way you think about {topic} ?” Higher-priced items that need further evaluation use this.
• Objection-Response Question:  If you sense any objections lurking behind their eyes, ask, “Based on what you’ve just heard, what would hold you back from buying today?” Then, you can address the concern or hesitation while you have them in the room.

In almost all cases, it makes sense to end your spoken presentation by inviting the prospect to ask questions, either before or after you give a CTA such as accepting a business proposal .

As we've shown above using bolded prompts, it's a good idea to create a standard outline of your presentation and generally what you'd like to say to every prospect, then use that as a script template and leave room for personalization to each prospect. This helps you stay on track and sound confident while making the prospect feel as if the presentation were developed just for them.

How to Create a Winning Sales Presentation

Before delivering your sales presentation to a room full of buyers, you have some preparation to do. This includes creating the bones of your presentation, personalizing it to your prospect, and designing a sales deck to support your talking points. Check out the slider below for an overview of each step, or dive right into steps and how to do each.

Craft a General Presentation

First write an outline of the sections and topics you want to cover in every presentation, including a script template to guide your words. 

Personalize the Presentation

Learn about the attendees via a discovery call and independent research, and tailor your presentation to the prospect.

Gather Supporting Materials

Gather relevant marketing messaging, photos, data, and anything else you’ll need to deliver your personalized presentation.

Create a Personalized Sales Deck

Build out the visual slideshow you’ll use during your presentation. 

1. Write Your General Presentation Outline & Script

First, incorporate the common sections of a sales presentation outline — write the main points you want to hit and a general sales script of the words you want to say, but leave room for personalization to each prospect. You can either write this outline from scratch or start with a sales presentation template .

Here is a potential outline of the spoken portion of a sales presentation: 

• Small Talk and Introductions:  Build rapport, thank your prospect for attending, and introduce yourself and your business using an elevator pitch.
• Agenda-Setting: Remind the prospect of the purpose of the meeting and why it's good they're attending. Get their buy-in to move on and talk about the problem.
• Your Prospect’s Main Problem:  Summarize the prospect's problem that you learned about during discovery, plus the implications of leaving it unsolved.
• Solution and Benefits:  Talk about a better world in which the problem is gone, using about three benefits. Reveal your product or service and pitch how it solves the problem.
• Social Proof:  Share a case study, testimonial, and/or anecdote from a company or person that's similar to your prospect to help prove you can help them.  
• Call-to-Action:  Wrap up with a closing statement that includes a CTA inviting them to begin this partnership or take another action.

The outline of a sales presentation will vary across different businesses and presentation situations. Generally, though, you’ll be presenting your product or service in front of a group of decision makers in an office room, so the above is a potential sales presentation outline of the main points to hit for this situation. You can always modify your general outline later on.

If you include some of the above elements within stories, your audience will be more engaged and interested. For example, when giving your company overview, tell a brief story about the issue or opportunity that prompted your founder to create the business and how it's changed over the years to reach its current state.

2. Personalize the Presentation

Once you've developed a general presentation structure that you can reuse for each prospect, use a discovery call and online research to learn about the specific prospect to whom you're presenting. This will help you craft a personalized presentation that captures your audience’s attention and makes them feel understood. It will also ensure the lead is qualified before you start building a presentation for them.

Research these three areas to fill in the blanks within your presentation: 

• Your Prospect’s Business:  Learn about their company size, mission, sector, and goals, plus their internal processes. This will help you plan your small talk and select relevant social proof. 
• Your Prospect’s Problem:  Learn all about their pain point and its associated consequences. If you know the specifics, you can bring up targeted problem insights and solutions. 
• Who Is Attending:  If the decision maker(s) are from high-level management, focus on how you’ll help them achieve long-term goals. If they'll use your solution day-to-day, focus on efficiencies and problem-solving.

While this is most helpful to personalize the general sections you planned out in the previous step, it can also help you to add more sections or modify your outline if needed. It'll also support the next step in which you gather relevant information that will impress your prospect and make the presentation feel even more personalized.

3. Gather Supporting Materials

Now that you’re familiar with your prospect and their needs, begin gathering the materials for the elements you want to include in your sales presentation. You can get these online, in your CRM , or directly from your data, marketing, and/or customer success team.

The best personalized presentation materials and information to gather include: 

• Case Studies or Testimonials: Find a great story or review from your current customers who are similar to the prospect.
• Client or Product Photos:  Highlight clients using the product or service by gathering photos from marketing or the client themselves.
• Data or Statistics: Collect ROI, industry trends, or other data that supports your claims about the prospect's problem or your solution.
• Marketing Messaging:  From your marketing team or your content, find the solution's benefits, unique selling proposition , and story details that will be most relevant to this prospect.
• Props or Demonstrations:  If your product lends itself to physical or virtual demonstrations, gather the required materials or set up the virtual environment. 
• Graphs:  Create graphs that back your claims, illustrate trends, and supplement your stories. If you say Facebook ad prices are trending upwards, show a graph of this. 

Because you might have to get this material from another department or person or even create it yourself, it’s best to handle this at least two or three days before you plan to begin building your sales deck so you can plug them in immediately when you create the deck.

4. Create a Personalized Sales Deck

A sales deck is the slideshow that acts as a visual backdrop and guide for your sales presentation, usually created using  sales presentation software  like PowerPoint. If you choose to use a deck with your spoken presentation, make it about 10 slides in length, light on text (fewer than 30 words per slide), heavy on images, diagrams, and other visuals, and personalized to the prospect's situation so they feel understood and can imagine how your solution will help them.

These are a few ways to personalize the sales deck for your prospect:

• Add Them to the Cover Slide: Your cover slide should include your company name and logo, but adding your prospect's will help them feel more engaged at the start of the presentation.
• Include Components of Their Current Situation: When talking about the problem and its implications, add related images and light text to your problem slide to drive the point home. 
• Highlight Specific Use Cases:  Think of ways you envision your prospect using your solution to their benefit, and add related images or videos of those features to the solution slide. 
• Add Similar Customers' Images or Logos:  When you talk about a case study or testimonial of a company like your prospect, show images of them to promote legitimacy.

Just like your presentation outline, consider creating a general version of your sales deck and leaving a few prompts that you can simply personalize for each prospect. This will help you keep the overall structure that you know to be effective while also helping the deck feel as if you crafted it especially for the prospect.

Additional Reading:

For help on creating the best sales deck for your presentation, check out our detailed article on  how to create a sales deck . There, you'll find key steps as well as templates and examples to craft the best one possible.

How to Properly Deliver Your Sales Presentation

An effective sales presentation is personalized to your prospect and makes them active participants, sparking questions from them and prompting run-off conversations about their specific interests. This helps you build a relationship. Let’s go over some key tips for delivering a sales presentation that wins over your audience.

Start With Highly Personalized Small Talk

Depending on your prospect, you may want to begin your sales presentation with a rapport-building question that asks about their personal life such as “How was the football game last weekend?,” or they may respond better to a more professional question like “I saw you opened a new office in {location} . Congrats! How's it progressing?” Starting off the presentation with the right type of small talk can help your prospect relax and drop their “No one can sell me!” attitude.

Use a Conversational Tone

Resist the urge to speak too formally. It's important to be respectful of your prospect, but positioning yourself as their peer will help them picture you as both a subject matter expert and a quality potential partner. Stick to simple language and try to sound more casual so your prospects see you as a pleasant person to work with rather than a stuffy salesperson.

Switch Speakers Often

If you’re presenting with multiple people, it makes sense to switch speakers whenever you move on to the next main point. When assigning main points to different team members, take into account their levels of expertise and enthusiasm for given topics. For example, if one of them spent days analyzing the prospect’s main problem, let them take that part. Genuine confidence is powerful. For this reason, also let your best closer make the closing statement.

Encourage Questions Throughout

Consider building in extra time so you can encourage your audience at the beginning of your presentation to ask questions and make comments while you’re presenting. This makes your presentation more of a conversation and lifts the audience's engagement level and comprehension. Say something like, “Don’t be afraid to ask questions or make comments throughout. If there’s something you want to discuss in greater detail, let me know.”

Follow Typical Presentation Best Practices

As you go through the outline and any supporting materials (e.g., a slide deck) you've created, keep in mind the communication tactics that help your presentation go smoothly. Here are some best practices for delivering your sales presentation in a way that both captivates and sells the audience:

• Leverage Body Language Tactics:  Put your shoulders back, smile, and feel free to move around naturally. Use your hands to emphasize key points or transitions. The Presentation Training Institute has additional tips on  body language for presenters . 
• Maintain Eye Contact:  Alternate eye contact between the people in the room. Try your best not to leave anyone out for too long. 
• Keep Things Moving and Changing:  Don’t spend more than a few minutes discussing a slide. When you frequently change the visual stimuli, you maintain the audience’s attention.
• Be Confident:  Avoid apologizing if you make a mistake. This indicates nervousness or discomfort. Instead, take it in stride and keep presenting with confidence.

Learning these presentation tips can also help you be a better salesperson in general since they can be applied outside of presentations, as well.

Go Off Script When Needed

The presentation outline, the sales deck, and any sort of script that you write all contribute to a well-organized presentation, but a truly professional presenter knows that it's important to be flexible throughout the presentation. If your prospect asks a question that you were planning to answer later in the presentation or not at all, consider taking a moment to address their curiosity or concern. This will help them feel more engaged and view you as a helpful potential partner.

Ultimately, go with the flow. Expect the unexpected to occur, like a confusing question from the audience. If you lack the knowledge on the specific subject, say you’ll do some research and send them the answer in a follow-up email. They’ll understand.

Top 3 Sales Presentation Software

Most of your prospects will better follow what you're saying and understand your product and what it does if they can view a visual slide deck as you speak. While there are many sales presentation software options out there, we've found Visme, Google Slides, and Prezi to be some of the best ones in terms of key factors like cost and features. We've briefly covered each platform below:

Google Slides

Visme is an online software that allows you to create, store, and share visual materials such as sales presentations and infographics. Its searchable library contains over a thousand presentation layouts and themes to get you started, and its free educational resources such as tutorials, webinars, and courses make it a great option for those new to sales presentations. Visme has a free version and available upgrades.

Google Slides is a free slideshow tool that helps you create simple, professional-looking sales decks to accompany your verbal presentation. Start with one of their templates, then invite your team members to collaborate on the slides in real time. Slides is a great option for Google Suite users since it integrates seamlessly with other Google apps.

Prezi is a highly interactive presentation builder that uses features such as zooming in and out to keep the viewer engaged. Because the zoom function is nonlinear, you can bounce between slides as your prospect asks questions, helping you to keep the conversation flowing and give the buyer more control than they'd normally have in a typical presentation. The basic platform is free, but you can upgrade for more functionality.

When choosing the right platform for you, consider factors such as your budget and any particular features you need. Also think about the number of employees who will use it, their level of experience with presentation software, and whether they'll use the software for their own individual presentations or collaborate on a presentation as a team.

For more on these platforms plus additional options, read our independent editorial review of the best presentation software available. In the article, we cover their pricing, core features, ease of use, and more, plus each option's primary use case.

3 Best Sales Presentation Examples From Top Companies

You can learn a lot about sales decks and presentation skills by reading through exceptional sales decks and watching great sales presenters. Here are example sales presentations from Facebook, Zuora, and Steve Jobs (Apple), and what makes them so successful. Click the images below to see each example presentation.

LinkedIn Sales Navigator Presentation

First off, LinkedIn does a great job of using color to create a visually appealing slideshow of their LinkedIn Sales Navigator product. As for the presentation, they begin with an elevator pitch that gives context to the prospect. Then they talk about the current environment of their customers (salespeople), emphasizing that sellers in this age need to be focused, informed, and trusted.

After backing this claim with data, they introduce their solution and describe how it can help them be more focused, informed, and trusted, dedicating one slide to each attribute. They repeat these three words throughout the presentation so that they stick in the prospect’s mind. This is a good example of using three key benefits and the power of repetition.

Zuora Sales Presentation

Zuora  does a fantastic job in this sales deck of using little text and still making a big impact. The presentation begins with an explanation of a big change (the new subscription economy) in the customer’s industry. This hooks the audience immediately, since it’s top of mind.

Zuora then goes on to explain how there will be winners and losers in this economy and offers case studies of companies who have used this change to their advantage. Then, they show how their solution can help the prospect do the same.

Steve Jobs Sales Presentation

In this presentation, Steve Jobs introduces the first  Apple  iPhone. The presentation is an illustration not only of what it means to present with confidence, wit, and charm, but also of solid presentation structure. Steve begins by building credibility, listing past successes. He then describes the problem with current smartphones — their static, plastic keyboards. After dismantling the competition, he introduces the solution to the problem and its many benefits.

Examples such as these are a great place to get inspired and think of similar ideas for your own presentation outline or presenting style. Seek out as many sales presentation examples as you need, then pick a few key tips to keep in mind as you get ready to host your next few sales presentations.

Top 4 Sales Presentation Tips

We listed best practices for delivery above, but there are also best practices for preparation that can help you get your presentation in good shape before your attendees arrive in person or virtually. These include planning a certain closing technique, rehearsing your presentation, sharing your sales deck in advance, and testing the technology. Keep these four main tips in mind, especially after you finish creating your presentation and start getting ready to deliver it.

Plan a Personalized Closing Technique

It's important to personalize your sales closing technique to your prospect. As you personalize your CTA, consider the relationship you have with the prospect plus what's realistic.

For example, if you have great rapport with them and you think they might buy soon, you can try an assumptive close, using language that assumes they'll make a purchase. If you don't know them as well or they seem like a tougher client, you may want to try using an inoffensive close to reiterate your product's benefits and ask if they'd be open to receiving a business proposal .

Rehearse Your Presentation

Practice your sales presentation at least five times all the way through. Do it alone first and then in front of others so they can spot your weak points. The reason you are rehearsing is to memorize the material enough so you can field questions and comments throughout the presentation, then easily get right back on the track.

For instance, if a CEO in the audience says “That’s a super cool idea” during your presentation, you won’t have to bulldoze to the next slide in order to keep your rhythm and memory if you’ve rehearsed properly. You can pause and discuss it before picking up where you left off.

Share Your Sales Deck Beforehand

Share your sales deck with the attendees two days before the meeting. In most cases, they will look it over and build interest. Some won’t read it, but it’s courteous to give them the option. Most importantly, emailing your deck to the attendees will also help them prepare any questions, so the discussions will be top-notch.

If you know a lot about the prospect’s current situation, day-to-day, and goals, take this approach a step further and send them a written vision statement that explains how you see this product or service changing their life or business. It can be as short as a single paragraph or as long as a page. It’s meant to show the prospect that your presentation will be personalized to their needs.

Prepare & Test the Technology

Your presentation could be in-person in an office or meeting room or virtual via a conferencing platform like Zoom. In both cases, it’s crucial to prepare the environment and smooth out any wrinkles by testing the technology. If in person, make sure your screen and projector or laptop and the necessary cords are functioning properly. If virtual, test the conferencing software, your mic, and your webcam. In both cases, ensure your slideshow is ready to go.

You'll naturally come up with additional best practices as you give more presentations, but even implementing these four can drastically change the success of your presentations.

For more information on creating and optimizing your sales presentation, check out our article on the top  sales presentation tips and ideas  from verified experts.

Bottom Line: Sales Presentation

Your audience should come out of your sales presentation different than they were at the beginning. Give them insights about their industry, a deeper understanding of their problem or challenge, and ideas about how they can reach their goals and dreams with the help of your product or service. If you follow the steps and tips we’ve presented to you today, you should be able to do just that.

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How to make the ULTIMATE sales presentation

• Written by: Joby Blume
• Categories: Sales presentations , Sales messaging , Visual communication
• Comments: 8

Sales presentations are the cornerstone of many companies’ sales efforts, yet so often they aren’t given the time and attention they deserve. Thrown together at the last-minute, often your sales reps stand up in front of a sales presentation that’s nothing more than a glorified page of notes.

The right sales presentation can be the Excalibur to your rep’s King Arthur. But if you’re sending your troops into battle with a wooden sword, they won’t be terribly successful – or do much dragon-slaying for that matter.

How to use this article

In this article you’ll find everything you need to know about sales presentations – what they are, how to go about writing a killer one, and how to deliver it like a pro. We’d recommend starting at the beginning – we’ve heard it’s a very good place to start – but you can also use the links below to jump to your favourite bit.

Sales presentations: An overview

Writing a sales presentation: the process, writing a sales presentation: context and competition, writing a sales presentation: persuasive structure, writing a sales presentation: sales presentation introductions, writing a sales presentation: content, writing a sales presentation: a powerful close, designing a sales presentation: visuals.

• Preparing to deliver a sales presentation
• Delivering a sales presentation

Outside of the telephone and email (and CRM), what’s the most important sales tool in most B2B companies? After careful consideration, I think it’s PowerPoint: salespeople use presentations all the time when talking to prospects.

What is a sales presentation: A sales presentation is a talk which promotes a product or service that you are trying to sell, which includes illustrative material such as slides, sketches, or props.

• Can most reps use PowerPoint properly?
• Can most marketing departments use it well?
• Are most reps given adequate slide decks to sell with?
• Do most reps have the content to enable great visual sales conversations?
• Are reps still wasting good leads by inflicting ‘Death by PowerPoint’?

The problem: How many opportunities do you create each month? Think about how valuable those opportunities are – not just in terms of whether you have enough of them, but also your cost per opportunity – all that marketing spend that gets you face-to-face with a prospect. And then how much did you spend on your sales presentation – the sales tool that helps tell your sales story and communicate value to prospects? For a lot of companies, it’s nothing.

People must think that creating sales tools is easy. Just open PowerPoint and type some bullet points to get your message across. Maybe if you’re feeling fancy, ask a graphic designer to take a look.

Never mind that arming your sales teams to read bullet points (even pretty bullet points) won’t work.

Never mind that the same techniques that work for a charismatic speaker talking to 1000 people at a conference don’t work when your average sales rep is delivering their sales presentation to four people from a laptop.

Why change: The figures on how buyers feel about sales people and sales meetings suggest a communication failure:  just 22% feel that sales people understand their issues and how they can offer value ( Forrester ). Looking at the sales presentations that many companies use confirms the same view: this isn’t an area that marketing has mastered.

Improving conversion rates at the bottom of the funnel is equivalent to sourcing many more ‘sales-accepted leads’ or finding 1000s more prospects. For this reason, improving your sales presentations is one of the most impactful things that a marketing team can do .

If your sales tools aren’t persuasive and compelling, if your sales people are spending time creating their own clandestine collateral, or if your conversion rates are too low – you need to do something different.

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A PowerPoint sales pitch allows you both to capture the messages you want to present to prospects (straight from the minds of your best sales people) and to distribute these messages in a way that others can use too. So how do we make sure we write a good presentation?

Always prepare properly: I’m going to begin with a disclaimer – creating an effective sales presentation takes hours. Before you even open PowerPoint, there’s a whole pile of stuff that it’s better to know beforehand: content, length, who will be presenting, how complex will your slides be, will you use icons or pictures, colour scheme, deadlines…and the list goes on.

You see, you can’t just make a sales tool and then throw it over the fence to the sales team. You need to work with them to find out what they need. When do they talk to prospects? What messages are they trying to articulate? What objections are they seeing? Where are competitors gaining ground? In summary, what conversations are sales people having that visual slides could support?

Gathering this kind of information does (and should) take time – and it’s definitely worth investing in it to do it properly.

The voice of the customer is often missing in sales messaging.  The solution? Just ask customers why they buy from you, or what you do that they value. Better yet, ask them what challenges  they  face (in your field of influence); now you can start to identify opportunities – areas where they need help but where you don’t currently have competitive advantage.

One word of caution though. Stated preferences and revealed preferences aren’t the same. Just because customers say they want something, doesn’t mean that they do. Offer them a real choice of products, and see what they choose – that’s a revealed preference.

To acquire new –  different  – customers, it makes sense to talk to those who  aren’t  currently buying from you, not just those who are. They may have different thoughts, value different things, and have a different view of your competitive strengths.

Here are some good questions to find the answers to:

• What are your prospects doing now?
• What do you want them to do?
• What are they thinking now?
• What do you want them to think?
• How are they feeling now?
• How do you want them to feel?

With all this data gathering done, you can move on – no, not to PowerPoint – to understanding what kind of a change you want your prospects to make, and then with that knowledge, you can set clear (and SMART ) sales presentation objectives.

Sales presentation objectives: Setting the wrong goals – unrealistic goals – for your sales presentation won’t help you. Before you work out what to say, you need to be clear about what you are trying to achieve with a sales presentation or sales conversation.

There are plenty of possible objectives, beyond making the sale immediately:

• To be invited to respond to a tender
• To be down-selected to the next round of a bidding process
• To be allowed to help write the tender
• To be invited back to meet with the decision maker
• For the prospect to meet with your technical consultant
• To get permission to run a study
• For your prospect to start a trial
• For your prospect to commit to a technical evaluation.

There are dozens of things you might want or need en-route to a sale. Be very clear about what you are trying to achieve  before  you write your sales presentation.

Understanding who you are competing with – in terms of how prospects are currently approaching the issues that you address – is fundamental to your sales messaging. If your sales messaging is directed against other companies, but your prospects aren’t even aware that they have a problem, or are thinking in terms of whether to keep on doing things in-house, you are selling the wrong thing.

There is one crucial question you need to ask:

Who are you competing with?

• Are you competing with the status quo or apathy?
• Are you competing with a DIY approach to solving the problem?
• Are you competing with solving the problem in a different way?
• Are you competing with companies you recognise as competitors?
• Are you competing with companies that you don’t even recognise as competitors?

‘Why change’ vs. ‘Why us’

Sales messages when selling a category ( ‘Why change? ’, whether to buy) should be different from those used when selling a particular solution (‘ Why us? ’, which one to buy).

• Have they decided to change, or do you need to persuade them?
• Do they know what category of solution they are looking for, or is that still open?
• Have they got established decision-making criteria, or can you shape their thinking?
• Will they talk to other companies, or could you win this before anyone else is involved?

Why change: At the start of the sales cycle, prospects might not be aware that they have a problem. They might not recognise that a problem they have can be solved. They could have no knowledge of the market you are in, or the vendors who might want to help them. At this stage, messaging needs to focus on bringing out the problems that they have , and all the messy implications. Fear of change, and a certain inertia are the main obstacle to overcome. You need to make it very clear that the prospect has a problem – if they realise it or not – and that the problem is hurting them – perhaps in subtle ways – but it is hurting.

Why us: Once a prospect acknowledges they have a problem, they start to try and find somebody who can help them to solve it. At this point, messaging needs to answer the question ‘Why us?’.

There’s no single way to structure a sales meeting or a sales presentation – as you move through the sales cycle, different things are required. At the very first meeting, you are likely to be fact-finding, exploring whether your company’s solutions are a good fit for the prospect, and discovering what challenges they feel most urgently. At a best-and-final pitch presentation, you may be responding to an entirely prescriptive meeting agenda, with scoring on how well you answer certain questions.

Here are a few good starting points to make sure, at whatever point you are in the sales cycle, your content is always structured in a compelling way.

How not to structure: Did you ever notice how a journey seems to take longer when you don’t know how far you have to go? Sales presentations are the same.

Those sales presentations that  do  make the structure visible – by using agendas – usually make the mistake of using headings that mean more to the presenter than the audience, or that are so dry that they do absolutely nothing to help sell.

Focus on the benefits: One way to make an audience-centred agenda is to think in terms of benefits: what’s in it for your audience. Don’t make the mistake of only talking about benefits in a summary slide right at the end of your presentation. The benefit slide can be used as an agenda that appears as a segue between sections.

This benefit slide ought to be written to answer the key question around which the sales presentation revolves – Why Change? or Why Us? We call this the value proposition – for more great insights on writing value propositions, take a look at this article . Value propositions help us in three ways:

• The advantages or benefits are stated early enough to be noticed
• The agenda is now audience-focused, not product-focused
• By showing a slide with the benefits multiple times during  your presentation, you help your audience to remember your key points

Now that’s a powerful and persuasive presentation structure!

How to write your value proposition: Though it may seem like a dark art, writing a value proposition is something anyone can do. There’s quite a simple formula that you can use:

• Decide whether you are answering ‘Why change?’ or ‘Why us?’
• List the three to five best answers to the question
• Create a slide that shows these answers
• Use that slide as an agenda to help structure your sales presentation, and show it each time you segue from one section to the next
• Arrange your content into sections according to the benefits or advantages they support. Typically, you might want a few slides in each section.
• Use the agenda slide to close the presentation

How many points should a value proposition have: Value propositions should be comprised of 3-5 statements about what your solution or type of solution offers. Any more becomes harder to remember. Any less can fail to structure the presentation content effectively and memorably.

In this  fascinating article  reporting on research by  Weaver et al in the Journal of Consumer Research , Heidi Halvorson points out that adding additional arguments doesn’t always help. If a value proposition has three very strong sections, adding an additional section that’s weaker (but still valid) actually dilutes the overall strength of the argument.

How to write a value proposition statement: Value proposition statements work best if they are of similar length and format. If one item is a single word (‘flexible’) and another is a long phrase (‘standards compliant for SIA accreditation’), it often looks and sounds awkward.

The best way to get the phrasing right is to note a question that the value proposition answers, and format all items to work with that question. So, for example:

• Why change?  ‘You should change in this way because you will get ___’
• Why us? ‘Choose us because we offer ___’

Category vs. solution: When selling the category , the key messages of your sales presentation will typically be made up of benefits, and focus on what your prospects will get if they try a new approach – ‘increase turnover’, ‘reduce risk’, or ‘improve efficiency’.

When selling your  solution , the key messages (or value proposition) will typically be made up of advantages that your product or service has over competing alternatives. If you used benefits here, there’s a risk that competing solutions would all just say the same thing, and you wouldn’t be able to differentiate.

Ordering your value proposition: Once you know your value proposition, you need to decide on the right order for your sections. Many presenters fail to look at structure from the audience’s point of view, and, as such, they make incorrect assumptions about what should go where. Stop and imagine you’re seeing this content for the very first time. What do you need to know first? What is the logical order to approach and take in these points? Opt for logic and simplicity and you won’t go far wrong.

Interactive presentations – let your audience choose: One way to structure a sales presentation is to do something interactive – non-linear. That means you can have a conversation without any pre-determined flow, and show things in response to the way in which the sales conversation develops.

Break your content up into smaller chunks – a few minutes of material at a time. Switch between topics of conversation based on what your audience says to you. So, instead of a single presentation with 30 slides, think more in terms of six topics with five slides in each. You might use some of them, or all of them. You might present them in a different order each time. The point is that you have a conversation and respond to what you are hearing.

A lot of presentations we see are very front-heavy: the presenter talks for slides and slides about the company, about their amazing product, and about why you would obviously want to be a part of what they’ve got going on. The trouble is – I’m sorry – no-one cares.

The problem: Often sales presentations are written from the point of view of Product Marketing, and not the audience. If the first few slides are about ‘ My Company ’, ‘ Company Structure ’, ‘ Company History ’, ‘ Office Locations ’, and ‘ Revenue by Division ’ – chances are the audience is getting bored before the presenter even gets started.

Lose the slides about your company history and awards and clients and internal structure. Nobody ever bought anything because Division A accounts for 36% of turnover.

They already know about your company, from your website. You don’t need to build credibility – they accepted the appointment. And it wastes precious time… Why spend the first five minutes of your sales presentation talking about you, when they want to know what you can do for them. It will just risk boring them, and ensure that attention levels plummet before you get going.

The solution: The start of a sales presentation should be interesting. That means encouraging reps to stop playing 20 questions, stop talking about the size of their company, and start challenging prospects to see the world in new ways. Explain  why  something is an important issue, and why current attempts to solve the problem don’t and won’t work.

Your sales presentation introduction ought to build credibility – but the way to do that is by showing that you  understand the prospect’s challenges , that the standard ways of meeting these challenges don’t work, and that  the prospect may need to do things differently .

Credibility is gained by having something interesting to say, not just by going on about your company in an entirely predictable way.

Do not rest on the assumption that just because you are standing in front of a screen dressed nicely that people will want to give you their attention. Many people you present to will not be inclined to care about what you are saying until you give them a really good reason to. In order to get your audience engaged, you have to bring them into the presentation by identifying their needs or addressing a problem they may be having.

Questions to consider:

• What challenges do companies like your prospect’s tend to face?
• Why have they been unsuccessful in overcoming these challenges so far?
• What do these problems cost them?
• What would a solution to these challenges look like?

In  The Challenger Sale ,  Dixon & Adamson reveal research into what customers want from sales reps. Ranking right at the top (below only ‘professionalism’) of things influential buyers want from sellers is a rep who:

• ‘Offers unique, valuable insights’, and
• ‘Frequently educates me on issues and outcomes.’

Don’t just tell customers what they  want  to hear. Educate them , and tell them what you think they  need  to hear. Challenger reps ought to deliver a teaching pitch: ‘A teaching pitch makes customers feel sort of sick about all the money they’re wasting, or revenue they’re missing, or risk they’re unknowingly exposed to.’ (p.67)

A  successful teaching pitch  in your introduction will be more useful than five minutes about your company history and office locations shown on a map.

Once you have created a structure for your presentation based around ‘Why change?’ or ‘Why us?’ you need to create the content to go into each section. You have the answer to the big, overarching question about why prospects should choose your solution – now you have to prove it.

There are loads of different ways to prove the overarching sales claims that you make:

• Do you have any unique features that provide unique advantages? Are there any performance figures that show that you can deliver benefits more effectively than others?
• Do you do things in a different way, or have a unique process that delivers better results?
• Have you won any important awards or been judged a leader by independent industry analysts?
• Do you have particularly impressive case studies or testimonials that back-up your claims?

‘New’ content: You can’t just repeat what’s written on your website  – they’ve already seen it. You need at least some content that’s somewhat new. There’s an argument that holding back some messages for use by sales (and  not  by marketing) helps in the creation of a sales presentation.

Section length: Keep sections relatively short and reasonably paced – to ensure that attention levels don’t drop off too fast.

Targeting competitors: It can make sense to create targeted sales messaging aimed at taking customers from a certain competitor. Work out what these customers want, what they are unhappy with, and what you can do better. You don’t need to mention competitors by name if you don’t want to – but think about what major competitors do badly, particularly if they have problems that you have solved.

Make the most of your best content: Don’t save your best content until the end as the audience might have stopped listening before you ever show it.

All killer, no filler: Don’t let your presentation have a ‘boring bit’. If you think it does, you need to tighten the content. Remember – sales presentation content doesn’t get better and better the more arguments you use. Putting in too much content risks making things boring, and risks giving audience members something weaker to fixate on and pick apart. Edit aggressively .

Length: And if you  really  want to know how long a sales presentation should be, the right answer is probably as short as it can be to work . Do you need to present for more than 20 minutes? Often, no.

With a great opening in place, and some great content supported by a great structure, it would be a shame if your ending let you down.

Don’t let your presentation fizzle out to nothing. Close with a call to action that moves your buyers on to the next stage and pushes your sale towards a satisfying conclusion .

The close slide needs to be powerful. I’m not talking about a vague ‘Any Questions?’ but a  slide summarising the value proposition , and then another slide with a very clear recommendation of what should happen next .

PowerPoint is often used badly. Of course. But that doesn’t mean that PowerPoint is a bad tool – you know what they say about poor workmen… PowerPoint really is an excellent tool for creating persuasive visual sales content that sales professionals are comfortable using, it’s just about how you use it.

Why bad sales presentations are so bad: Bad sales presentations are overladen with text , and cause ‘ death by PowerPoint ’. Typically, the presenter shows the content on their slide, and then repeats the same information verbally. But as the audience have already read the words on the slide, the presenter becomes unnecessary, and the audience gets bored.

The Weiss-McGrath Report (McGraw-Hill, 1992) demonstrated that, after 72 hours, people retain 10% of what they experience as audio only, 20% of visual only and 65% of audio-visual (or video).

How to increase audience engagement: Content that is well-designed, that uses visuals and animation in an intelligent way, is going to draw in and engage audience members. It compels them to pay attention and helps them to understand and remember what even the least charismatic presenter amongst your team has to say.

What to include: Bullet points are so 2004. Reading text and inflicting death by PowerPoint isn’t the way to make your prospects feel like you’ve made an effort. Sales presentations should use relevant images to help you explain complex concepts, paint a picture of what you are selling, and have your messages stick. Not clip art, not stock images of handshakes , but  relevant visualisations and charts that get your points across. Here’s a few tips on using photography effectively for storytelling .

Keeping it on-brand: PowerPoint – done well – can support your corporate brand and visual identity. Why abandon your brand when you engage people in conversation?

If you provide text-based slides to sales, there’s no reason why individuals can’t just start making edits and doing their own thing. Which can be terrifying in some heavily regulated industries, and often helps to undermine your brand… On the other hand, if you provide something that’s visual, animated, and generally compelling – most reps are going to realise that they can’t make a completely new version, and they will want to use what they’ve been given, in the manner you want them to use it.

Design hacks: Apologising for your slides is not a ‘get out of jail free’ card for not putting in the effort. Not being ‘tech-savvy’ isn’t an excuse for not trying to make something more visual. But it really is possible for anyone to make slides they can be proud to stand next to. If you need some help, why not take a look at this blog post giving you design hacks for more professional-looking presentations.

Preparing to Deliver a Sales Presentation

Preparing to deliver your sales presentation is a much overlooked stage in the process. For a lot of people it consists of flicking through the slides a few minutes before the big event. But great content can be completely let down by poor preparation. Here are some best practice tips to help you prepare like a pro.

Preparing your audience: Before you go to deliver a sales presentation, consider sharing an agenda for your sales meeting . This helps the prospect know you are professional, makes them aware you will respect their time, allows you to take some sort of control of the sales process, sets you apart as being clear in your communication, and lets the buyer know what you expect from them.

Tailor to each opportunity: Always think about how to tailor your sales presentation to each specific opportunity – even if you use a standard credentials overview presentation. Trotting out the same presentation to completely different types of audience won’t work. It doesn’t make sense to waste an opportunity by just presenting a canned presentation in the exact same way to every prospect regardless of their situation.

Tailor to your audience: Your slides and your language need to be tailored to whomever you are speaking. CFOs will have different concerns to technical experts; IT communication firms will have different needs to oil and gas operations. By contextualising information and making it relevant to your audience, you’ll make a much greater impact.

Name-dropping: Don’t be afraid to add specific details targeted towards key attendees or decision-makers. A good example would be to throw in a reference to the security standards that your IT solution is compatible with. It may not mean anything to nine out of ten people in the room, but the compliance officer at the back might be listening out for it.

Rehearsing: Time after time we hear of sales presentations being knocked together the day or even the night before an important pitch, often being tweaked and fiddled with well into the small hours, thereby giving the presenters no chance to learn and practice delivering the content.

Rehearse properly, and make it a priority. Make sure senior people with parts to play rehearse too, and don’t just fly in an hour before and mess things up.

And this doesn’t just mean flicking through the slides and going through what you want to say in your head. Stand up, and practice out loud .

To script or not to script: Writing out a script only ever hampers your delivery – it’s difficult to learn and even harder to deliver naturally. Instead, work out what the key points are you want to cover and practise talking through them. Don’t get caught up on your wording, instead concentrate on getting across the meaning, the value, and your passion.

For more presenting tips, head over to our ultimate guide to presentation skills .

Delivering a Sales Presentation

And with most of the hard work done, there really isn’t that much left to do but knock your excellent sales presentation out of the park. But you’re not quite out of the woods. Here are some things to consider whilst presenting.

Sorry, not sorry: When you’re delivering your presentation you need to be assertive. Don’t apologise for taking people’s time. Don’t apologise for your content. Don’t apologise for yourself. The more you give your audience excuses, the more you give them excuses not to listen and take note of what you say. Even if you’re not a hugely confident person, you can still give a good presentation. In fact if you’d call yourself an introvert, you might want to have a look at this .

‘We’ vs. ‘You’: Old-fashioned sales presentations are all about what the presenter’s company does. ‘We’ this, ‘we’ that, ‘we’ the other. In terms of the message, and also in terms of delivery, the audience is left thinking that the presenter is a narcissist, and only somewhat relevant. Talk about ‘you’ the audience, use ‘ you phrasing ’, and the audience will start to see how what you are offering applies to them.

Wave goodbye to the waffle: Keep things interesting by providing only relevant information. Refer back to important points throughout the presentation to help facilitate understanding.

Something missing: If you don’t have the right slide, blank the screen with the ‘B’ key (fade to black) or ‘W’ key (fade to white) and draw something. Or just talk instead.

Humour vs. passion: Be careful with humour in a presentation – it’s not always appropriate and needs to be handled carefully. Passion however, is rarely out of place – and is something that can make a real difference. Don’t be afraid to show that passion, your enthusiasm, and even your excitement when speaking to prospects. If it is genuine, it will make an impact. If you think something is great, say that it is great.

Train your reps: If you can manage it, think about training. If you are providing an awesome new sales presentation, consider actually training your reps to use it. This sort of practical training goes down well with sales people – people who would rather learn to deliver  their  particular presentation than sit through soft skills training on stuff like body language.

Consider an on-demand version of your slides: Buyers want information – but not all buyers can meet with your sales people. In this world of complex sales and collaborative buying – let your supporters sell on your behalf by providing an on-demand version of your sales presentation for busy buyers to view. Consider recording a narrated version of your slides, or add some labels to the slides that you presented so that they make sense to someone who wasn’t there to hear how you presented them. Then ask your contacts to distribute on your behalf if you can’t get face-to-face with everyone you would like to talk to.

If you enjoyed that, we have plenty more resources and insights to share on all things presentations and eLearning.

• For more help on writing presentations, have a look at these free resources .
• If it’s PowerPoint and design you want some help with, we have a free toolkit crammed full of layouts and elements to make your presentations pop and sparkle.
• We run online masterclasses regularly, so check out the events page to see what’s coming up.
• If you still need a bit of help with your presentation, read about our Presentation Creation or Slide Revamp services.
• Didn’t know we did eLearning too? Have a look at some of our insights here . Or read more about what eLearning services we provide over here .

Did you find this article useful? Let us know in the comments box below. Or if you have any questions, drop them below and we’ll get back to you!

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Wow, super thorough and helpful. Thank you so much for putting this together! As a content creator, I appreciate all the work that went into this article.

So glad you found it helpful Maggie. Good luck with your next sales presentation!

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Really Good Idea for Create Sales Presentation … Thanks for Sharing this Great Idea with us.

This is literally the best article I’ve ever read on creating a sales presentation, or just sales in general.

Thank you so much for writing.

Thanks Jay.

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How To Write A Perfect Sales Pitch: Best Practices, Examples, And Templates

When I hear the phrase ‘sales pitch,’ I have ambivalent feelings about it. On the one hand, it’s just something inevitable, something every sales rep has to deal with. On the other hand, there’s…well…negative shade to it. Pitch? Really? I don’t like people pitching me any sort of thing.

Mulling over this confusion, I dare to infer: a good sales pitch can’t be pitchy.

Otherwise, it will make your prospects experience not the best feelings.

But what makes a sales pitch good? In this post, I’ll answer this question and share sales pitch examples and templates to make your pitch not pitchy but perfect .

What is a sales pitch?

Elements of a good sales pitch.

• How to make a sales pitch
• Sales pitch templates

A sales pitch is a concise sales presentation in which a salesperson makes a sales offering. They explain their business and non-intrusively show the value of their product/service. Salespeople commonly make their sales pitch at least once a week, so for sales teams, this is a regular part of the sales process .

You might deal with various sales pitch types depending on which channel you use for it:

• Cold calling. ‘Call the damn leads’ – the phrase you might have heard hundreds of times, which reflects how you can reach a sales prospect with your offering – by phone.
• Email outreach. Alternative to calling a prospect, you can use email to present your offering.
• Social selling. You can contact your prospects on various social media platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and more.
• Elevator pitch. You typically use it at business events or when meeting someone in your industry for the first time.

Interestingly, you might come across the term ‘elevator pitch’ as just a synonym for ‘sales pitch.’ It emphasizes the very short time frame within which a sales pitch should be made – within the time of a single elevator ride.

I won’t tell you that your sales pitch must have a strict structure. To be honest, I’d prefer to deal with creative sales reps who afford a sort of freedom, as they sound more personal and emanate credibility.

Anyway, creativity is something that should follow knowledge. So, if you’re planning to get some understanding of how a good sales pitch differs from a bad one, I would say that a good sales pitch is commonly based on 6 essentials and advise that you keep them in your pitch.

When you contact a person for the first time, you can’t expect them to embrace you with both arms wide. Just put yourself in their shoes; what would you think? I bet you’d think, ‘What do you want from me?’

There must be something that will show them you are not a stranger – a good hook. As a salesperson, you should do thorough research and find information about the prospect that will let you catch their attention from the start.

You’ve read a prospect’s post? You’ve heard their company launched a new product? Or maybe you’ve just looked through their LinkedIn bio and think you have much in common? All this information can work well.

Here are some examples of hooks you can use:

“I see you’ve been promoted to the position of ___. Congratulations!”

“I’ve read your post about ____. I find your tips really useful.”

Alternatively, start your pitch with a direct explanation of why you’re contacting a person:

“The reason I’m calling/emailing is that ____.”

Even after impressing the prospect with your hook, you’re still a stranger to them. It’s time you told them a bit of information about your company. Just be careful here: you might be tempted to speak/write a lot. Resist it. Your intro must be short and straightforward, something like this:

“I am a sales manager at ____. Our company specializes in ____.”

3. Pain points

You’re making a sales pitch without pitching, remember? In your sales pitch, you’re not someone who is selling; you’re someone who is helping the prospect solve their problem. Your task is to identify your prospect’s pain points and highlight how your solution can help.

For example:

“I’ve read your company is using multiple services for ____, _____, and _____. It looks like you’re spending a lot of money on monthly subscriptions while your team has no single platform for cooperation.”

4. Benefits

I would say that’s the most crucial element of your pitch, your best moment to convince the prospect to buy your product/service.

Sadly, but very often, salespeople mix benefits with features. Don’t do this. In fact, your prospects don’t want to hear how excellent your solution is. They want to hear what they’ll get; they want a result.

Provide them with your value proposition.

Try to create a vision of success your prospect will experience after trying your solution. Will they become more productive? Will they spare money? Will they grow their revenue? You should know particular benefits your prospect will get and clearly state them, better with facts and figures.

For instance:

“With our tool, you’ll be able to manage all your workflow on one platform. This will help you enhance your productivity, sparing up to 5 hours daily, which your team can spend on most important tasks, and saving 30% of your budget.”

About 72% of customers say positive testimonials increase their trust in a business. That’s because people need proof, so give it to them.

A good way is to reference companies who are your current customers, especially those who are your prospect’s direct competitors. And don’t forget to support it all with facts and numbers.

“We have been able to help companies like _____ grow their productivity by 30% and increase revenue by 15%.”

6. Call to action

The closing element of your sales pitch should hint at further cooperation with the prospective customer. Here I would advise you to ask your prospect an engaging question and call them to action, for instance, get together for a sales interview . But don’t just appoint a meeting; concentrate again on the value it will bring to your potential client.

“What if we arrange a video call next week for me to show you how we have helped companies like yours specifically. Would it be worth your time to see how our solution could save effort and money?”

Now that you understand the basic elements of a sales pitch let’s walk through some working tactics that will help you make your pitch irresistible.

How to make a sales pitch: best practices and examples

Do your research.

Before making a pitch, the first thing to do is to study your prospect from different angles. You should be clear about who you’re pitching to , so don’t neglect to find the basic demographic and firmographic data, like a person’s name, position, and information about the company.

A good option is to rely on LinkedIn , from which you can collect lots of data, such as the company’s news, industry-related posts, and comments, and use it as a compelling hook for your sales presentation.

Use storytelling

Did you know that a great story can lead to the release of oxytocin, which creates a deeper connection between the storyteller and their audience? Not a surprise, storytelling is considered one of the most powerful sales techniques.

I highly recommend that you build your pitch around a narrative. Tell your prospect how other companies started using your product/service and what improvements they got. If you feel your prospect is inclined to object to your offering, you can even tell a brief story of how you have overcome problems by adopting a new technology after several objections.

Focus on the prospect

Even if you provide an example of your company in your sales pitch, make sure you don’t go too far telling your prospect about your best functionality for another long hour.

A good sales pitch is a story where the main hero is a prospect, not you. So concentrate on your prospect’s current challenges and the bright perspectives they’ll get when they buy your offering.

Balance between emotions and reason

In one of my previous posts about B2B sales psychology , I talked about the importance of appealing to emotions during a sales pitch. Here I would add that you should harmonize it with the appeal to the logical side.

You can appeal to emotions while talking about the prospect’s pain points, say, by asking them how they feel about their current problem. Or you can draw a positive picture of future improvements with your solution by asking them how they would feel if your product/service solved their problem.

Create the FOMO effect

FOMO (fear of missing out) is a perception that you’re lagging behind others in experiencing the advantages of your current life. In sales, you can use the FOMO effect as a psychological trick to stimulate your prospect’s motivation to buy.

Try telling them success stories of direct competitors who have been using your product/service for a while. I’ve mentioned it in the previous chapter while talking about proof. This way, your prospects might feel anxious about missing out on something important their rivals already have in their pocket.

Personalize your sales pitch

Make sure your sales pitch is relevant to your prospect. Avoid a one-size-fits-all approach and focus on specific needs and pain points of a company you’re going to sell to. And let me remind you again: do research before you start your pitch and learn about your prospects, so you can address them personally, win their positive attitude, and build trust.

Another way to build trust with your prospects is to position yourself as an industry expert. Why not add interesting facts to your sales pitch that your prospective customer might not know about?

For example, if your offering concerns a sales CRM , you can add some general information about the CRM market or statistics about how companies are adopting a new CRM. That will show you are well-versed in the subject and only add to the value of your offering.

Be prepared to handle sales objections

It hurts, but your sales pitch won’t always be accepted as something your prospect has been waiting for. Prospects do object, and yes, they do it quite often. Just be prepared to come up with counter-arguments to back you up.

Collecting a list of typical sales objections is important to the process of strategizing your sales pitch. When you know how to handle objections quickly, you’ll appear more credible and professional to the prospect.

It might be strange to imagine yourself talking aloud, but you need to practice your sales pitch beforehand. Make a plan of your presentation, including all the elements mentioned above, and exercise what you’ll be saying, in what order, figuring out possible questions and prospects’ reactions to your sales pitch.

The top 5 sales pitch templates for your business

Wow, it seems you’re now ready to conquer the hearts of your prospects. Just one last bonus – I’ve prepared 5 templates to support your sales pitch email efforts.

Just remember: templates are fine, but your pitch must be highly personalized, so use them as convenient backing for your creativity.

Sales pitch email template #1 – Sales introduction

Use this template in case your prospect hasn’t heard about you before. Your key goal here is to give them a reason to start communicating with you, so prepare a hook and demonstrate you’ve done your homework, researching a company you’re going to pitch to.

Sales pitch email template #2 – Prospect’s website visit

Never miss a chance to make a pitch to a prospect who has visited your website. You don’t need to look for a specific hook in this case, as you’ve got one already. This template will help show you are attentive to your website audience and ready to help immediately.

Sales pitch email template #3 – Responding to content

Most of your prospecting customers are publishing regular content, usually blog articles. This is a wonderful opportunity to use one of their posts as a hook to build links and make a sales pitch.

Sales pitch email template #4 – LinkedIn connection email template

LinkedIn is one of the best platforms for getting new customers, so once your prospect has accepted your connection, you can use it as a hook for making a non-intrusive sales pitch. You can do this through LinkedIn messages, InMails, or email. The latter will be a better solution to deal with LinkedIn limits and restrictions .

Sales pitch email template #5 – Objection handling

This template will help you to stay in the game even after your prospect objects. As you see, a bit of storytelling can save the situation. If you don’t have a similar story to share, you can always use one of your customer’s use cases .

Wrapping up

A sales pitch is an inevitable part of your job as a sales rep. And while there are dozens of prospects who have negative associations with it (yes, just like me), you already know that making a good sales pitch is possible without being pitchy.

I hope all the above tips, examples, and templates will help you come up with a sales pitch that will melt your prospect’s hearts the way none ever did. Meanwhile, Snov.io will take care of your sales process from start to finish.

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13 Powerful Sales Pitch Presentation Templates to Land Your Next Client

Written by: Orana Velarde

An effective sales process has seven cyclical steps; prospecting, preparation, approach, presentation, overcoming kickbacks, closing the sale, and following up.

Every step is as important as the next for landing a client or closing a deal.

But when crafting your sales pitch presentation, you need to make a solid case for your product or service.

Using storytelling, design and sales techniques , you can impact prospects and clients' minds. The slides will persuade them to get in touch or make a purchase by showing them product features, benefits and your value propositions.

Are you ready to land your next client? Today, we’ll look at step 4 in the sales process: the sales pitch presentation.

We’ve got sales pitch presentation examples, templates and tips to help you land deals quickly.

Let’s get started.

Here’s a short selection of 8 easy-to-edit sales pitch presentation templates you can edit, share and download with Visme. View more templates below:

Table of Contents

What is a sales pitch presentation, what should a sales pitch presentation include, 13 sales pitch presentation templates, sales pitch presentation tips to close deals quickly.

• A sales pitch presentation is essentially a sales pitch in presentation form. It’s not an elevator pitch or a cold-call scrip.
• The purpose of a sales pitch presentation is to sell. It’s used to bring you one step closer to closing a deal.
• Sales pitches and pitch decks resemble each other in terms of content, but they’re used differently. Sales pitches are for selling services or products. Pitch decks are for convincing investors to back your startup with funding.
• Visme offers an extensive library of sales pitch presentation templates . Each is professionally designed to meet your needs and industry standards. Instantly create branded templates with our AI-powered Brand Wizard and more.

A sales pitch presentation is essentially a sales pitch in presentation form. It’s not like an elevator pitch or a cold call script; it goes deeper than that.

The initial sales contact, be it a cold call or an email, goes straight to the point and is mainly about the prospect. That’s how you get their attention, letting them know you have a good grip on their pain points. When you get to the presentation, they’ve already heard from you several times, and it’s your opportunity to share more information like pricing, benefits, product features and use cases.

Yes, the principal purpose of a sales pitch presentation is to sell, but it’s not usually the last step toward closing a deal. You’ll likely need to follow up and keep the conversation going until you get a yes.

That said, your sales presentation needs to inspire, engage and make the prospect feel that they need what you are offering; otherwise, no amount of follow-ups will help.

If you're dealing with busy executives who won't sit through your presentation, try using a startup one-pager . It'll help you capture their interest faster and more efficiently.

Once they're hooked, you can arrange a meeting to present the entire pitch deck with all the juicy info and data to seal the deal.

Sales Deck vs. Pitch Deck

Occasionally, a sales pitch, otherwise known as a sales deck , is confused as being the same as a pitch deck.

Sales pitches and pitch decks not only sound similar, but they also resemble each other in terms of content.

As we mentioned above, sales pitches are for selling. On the other hand, pitch decks are for convincing investors to back your startup with funding. Yes, both involve exchanging monetary funds, but in different ways.

Made with Visme Infographic Maker

Sales pitch presentations follow a standard format that most business people recognize. But that doesn’t mean you can’t get creative with the content and the types of slides.

To structure a sales pitch presentation, start with these slides, some of which can be combined:

• A branded cover slide
• An introduction
• State the problem clients want to solve
• How are current solutions failing
• Suggestions for better solutions (don’t name your product or service yet)
• Your value proposition
• Presentation of your product or service
• What benefits does the client receive
• Examples, reviews and social proof
• Pricing and call to action

Here are other supplemental slides you might want to include:

• Message from the CEO and a bio
• An introduction to the team
• Explainer videos
• Comparisons

When creating your sales pitch presentation, don’t make it too long or else the viewer won’t swipe to the end. Aim for a number between 8 and 13. You can combine some of these slides as long as they are easy to understand and follow a sequence.

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In this section, we’ll showcase a wide range of essential sales pitch slides from various industries and services.

Each example of a sales pitch presentation comes with actionable tips you can use to polish your template to make it your own.

1. Simple Theme

The Visme Simple Theme is more than just a presentation template; it’s an all-in-one library of ready-to-use slides. They all follow the same aesthetic, making creating a sales pitch presentation easier. Don’t feel tied down by specific design compositions; choose from hundreds of options in the slide library.

And FYI, two other presentation themes are available if you want to try another style.

2. Consultancy Services

State your short and sweet elevator pitch opener on the first slide. This practice is reminiscent of what a landing page does, showing the viewer quickly what you’re about and how you can help. In this case, a consultancy service sales pitch deck starts with a bang.

Continue with a few introductory slides before explaining exactly how your company will fulfill the promise it offers on the opening slide. Finally, add relevant contact information so the prospect can get in touch with you and close the deal.

3. Business Presentation

This business presentation is perfect for your sales pitch presentation if you’re looking for a sales pitch slide that doesn’t have contextual content to fix or improve. All your content is ready to go, you just need to input it into a template. Use any or all of the infographic slides to showcase important data about your company.

Add the content about the client's pain points and your solutions in the introduction and company overview slides. Explain how each team member of your company will help you reach your business goals. This sales pitch deck template is perfect for a lively and creative business that offers services to small businesses and young companies looking to grow.

4. Marketing Strategy Services

This sales pitch template for a marketing agency is perfect for personalized communication with prospects.

The table of contents is straightforward and can be made interactive with hyperlinks to each section. Early in the deck, some slides lay out the prospect’s problem and how you plan to solve it.

A timeline slide gives more details about an ideal roadmap to reach the common goal, and the pricing section is self-explanatory. The “Get Started” buttons can lead to landing pages or booking platforms to schedule a call with the sales team. A testimonial slide brings it all home with social proof.

5. Promotion of Services

Not all sales pitch presentations need to look corporate or somber; take a look at this holistic-style slide deck for a creative business. White backgrounds and golden details transmit the brand values of a company that could be a content creator platform or modeling agency. The style is clean and inviting while also fresh and inspiring.

The What We Do, Services and Process slides are perfect for laying out how you’ll help a potential client achieve their own goals. Use the quote slide to add a special tidbit about what it means to work with you. The Mission & Values slides are perfect for clients looking to work with a business that shares ideals.

6. Tangerine Business Presentation

Your SaaS company needs a sales pitch presentation showing your personality and vitality. Color block slide designs are super easy to brand with your colors . The white backgrounds will combine with everything and make your sales pitch content stand out.

Share your SWOT analysis for honest communication and how your company has grown over time with a timeline slide. Show off your social proof in the User Reach slide and share the pricing plans on a slide with links to landing pages with more info or a booking site to get in touch with you.

7. Corporate Presentation

Who says creative and corporate can’t go hand in hand? Look at this template for a media and design agency offering its services to larger companies and enterprises.

The design is catered to appeal to high management and the C-Suite with just enough eye-catching slides to inspire further communication with the sales team.

The second slide will set the tone for the rest of the presentation. Alternatively, use your short elevator speech or personalize it for the client by adding their name. Add a short bio about the CEO and why he started the company; make sure to make it relatable!

8. Colorful Business Presentation

Grab and keep the prospect’s attention with this stand-out presentation design. Keep your content short and to the point about how your services will help clients reach their goals. This style of sales pitch deck is ideal for a serious business with a creative edge, like a coworking space or a talent recruiter.

Cut out team photos and use circle frames to match the style of slides in this presentation. Use device mockups to showcase portfolio work or special pages on your website and app. Share details that will entice the client to know more.

9. Comic Style Business Presentation

Young and lively Gen Z startups need sales pitch presentations too. This is one of the best sales pitch decks you'll find out in our library.

With this template, you won’t have to settle for serious and dull; make your slides fun instead. Show the client how your team will help them with creative roadblocks they can’t solve themselves. Transmit your business personality through the slide designs.

Create a powerful mission slide where you share what your company is all about. Being honest is the best way to reach the clients that will click with your team.

Businesses and professionals are looking to work with companies they can relate to and brands with which they have things in common. Reach the clients you deserve with a presentation that represents you.

10. SaaS Product - Easy Design App

Unique layouts grab attention. For example, this template stands out before you even see the content. This presentation style is perfect for a company that likes to stand out and be disruptive in its field. They’re not only selling a product or a service; they’re also selling a feeling.

Veering away from the corporate look and feel, this presentation works for digital editorial companies, social media agencies, freelance portals and other vibrant online entities. Add some background music to these slides to create a full experience.

11. Product - Coffee Machine

Sales pitch presentations for specific products are detail-oriented and full of reasons why the product is a great buy. This sales presentation for a multipurpose coffee machine takes you on a journey of existential coffee conundrums that the machine aims to solve with its many functions.

This template is a great example of how feelings and emotions sell more than images and content. The milk coffee color background throughout the slides sets the tone for the message and the product features.

12. Product - Portfolio App

When your potential clients and prospects are freelancers, you must tap into their major pain point: landing new job contracts.

How will your service or product help them? This presentation for a writing portfolio app is simple and to the point, getting a freelancer’s attention fast.

This sales pitch presentation example is not content-heavy but still imparts a message of dependability and ease of use. Use calm and subdued colors to share a feeling of trustworthiness and calm.

You want to make your freelance clients feel like they need you, and this sales pitch presentation does just that.

13. Product - Home Appliance

How do you sell a home appliance without falling into gender stereotyping? You concentrate on talking to a specific audience, in this case, people who don’t have time to cook for themselves after a long day. And how do you get their attention fast? By asking the right questions and doing so in vibrant, happy colors.

Sell your product easily with a sales pitch presentation that delivers your message without the fluff. Share data to support your claims and offer real life-changing solutions through empathy and excellent copywriting.

For a sales pitch presentation to be effective and help your team close the deal, it has to cover the basics and go beyond. We’ve put together some tips to help your sales pitch presentation be the best it can be in the present and future.

Let’s get started with some Do’s.

Sales Pitch Presentation Do’s

1. share the presentation as a digital experience.

Sales pitch presentations are more effective when they’re digital and interactive. A PDF sales presentation is fine, but why not create a digital experience? Presentations made with Visme offer so much more for both the sales rep and the prospect than many other tools.

When you create a digital experience sales pitch presentation, you can use all sorts of features that aren’t available in a static PDF. We’ve included several of those in the sections below.

When you’ve finished creating the branded, personalized, and interactive sales pitch presentation, send it to your prospects with a live link . Add password protection for extra security, and choose the option for the presentation not to be tracked by search engines.

2. Track The Views on Your Presentation

Sending sales pitch presentations without tracking their progress or views won’t help the sales process. When you are sure that a prospect has seen the presentation, you have a better chance of succeeding during follow-up. It’s not surprising that 50% of sales leaders say demos or sales presentations are one of the most important productivity metrics to track.

With Visme, you can track analytics for every presentation you send out, including sales pitch presentations. When you personalize each sales presentation and save it individually with the prospect's name, you’ll be able to track activity in more detail.

3. Personalize Your Sales Pitch Presentation Template

Sales pitch presentations don’t generally exist independently and are rarely sent out to just one prospect.

Your sales process is repeated with every new client, and in turn, each receives a sales pitch presentation after initial contact. In this case, automation is a time saver, but some level of personalization can improve the outcome.

Personalize sales pitch decks with the recipient’s name, position, company, and a specific pain point or solution, as well as references to the conversation you had with them previously. Of course, how much personalization you add will depend on your brand communication style.

The main goal is to close the gap before the buy-in, and personalization helps with that. Clients subconsciously appreciate personalized communication; it breaches the gap between prospects and loyal clients.

The technicality behind personalization starts with the sales pitch presentation template. As a brand, you can create a branded template as a base on which to add all general and personalized content. Once in the editor, Visme business plans include a dynamic fields feature , which helps your team input the same content on multiple slides with one edit.

4. Employ Interactive Features

When your sales team designs slide decks with Visme, they’ll be able to add interactive features like animations, videos, hyperlinks and popups. First, create an interactive table of contents linking each item to its corresponding slide. Don’t forget to add a back-to-home button on every other slide!

Another feature your team can take advantage of is pop-ups with supplemental information to create an interesting reading experience. Add explainer videos about your product and use animated icons, illustrations and slide transitions.

5. Add a Voice Over or Embedded Video of Yourself Presenting

Earlier, we mentioned the option of personalizing sales pitch presentations with dynamic fields. But there are more ways to make your presentations even more personal. With Visme, any sales rep in the dedicated workspace can add a personalized voice-over or use Presenter Studio to record themselves presenting a sales pitch to the prospect.

6. Always Follow Up

Not exactly a design or content tip, but an important one all the same. Never send a sales pitch presentation to a prospect without following up.

When you follow up, send them the live link or attachment again, just in case they didn’t see it the first time. Not following up after sending a sales presentation is a lost opportunity to keep a conversation that could potentially lead to a sale going.

The conversation after the presentation is usually about overcoming kickbacks and objections. This is the opportunity to clear doubts and reassure the prospect that your product or service is the solution they need for their pain point.

7. Do Some A/B Testing and Iterate

Finally, if your team sends out numerous sales pitch presentations—automated or personalized—conduct A/B testing to see what works better. One obvious choice would be to test automated presentations versus personalized ones. Others include the length of the presentation, whether it's PDF or interactive, whether it uses Presenter Studio or not, etc. Use Visme’s integrated tracking features along with your team’s analytics to come to conclusions and iterate new presentations.

Sales Pitch Presentation Don't’s

1. don’t make the presentation too long or complicated.

Avoid adding too many slides or making the sales presentation too complicated. You want the deck to convince the buyer to close the deal or be more interested, not scare them away with heavy content and confusing visual compositions.

2. Don’t send the presentation without an intro email or cold call first

Don’t rely on a sales pitch presentation as the only point of communication with a prospect. Use it as part of a repeatable sales process where the presentation comes after initial contact. Depending on your sales process, this can be an intro email or a cold call. It can be both if either one goes unanswered first.

After you’ve gotten their attention, kindly inform the contact that you’ll send over something they want to see. Confirm their email address and send them the sales pitch. Sending a presentation without an introduction first is a waste of time for your team.

Create Branded Sales Pitch Presentations With Visme

There you have it: we've shared templates and examples of sales presentations to get you started.

Now, it’s your turn to create a sales pitch presentation for your business. Hopefully, one of the templates in the collection above has inspired you to put together your next best slide deck.

When using Visme as a presentation maker, your sales team has all the tools on hand to create interactive, engaging and effective sales pitch presentations. The best part of all is that they can do so collaboratively.

Do you need to brainstorm first? Use the Visme whiteboard feature to lay out ideas with the team and draft out a structure to work with.

Have you used Visme to create branded material yet? Try the Brand Wizard to generate a large selection of templates for all your business needs. We promise that none of your visual graphics will ever be boring again.

Easily craft compelling sales pitch presentations using Visme

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About the Author

Orana is a multi-faceted creative. She is a content writer, artist, and designer. She travels the world with her family and is currently in Istanbul. Find out more about her work at oranavelarde.com

How to create an effective Sales Presentation

Sales presentations are one of the most effective tools to increase sales. Here’s everything you need to know to create a powerful one

If you are a salesperson, you are likely to be constantly thinking about how to increase sales. You may wonder what are the ideas, concepts or tools that could help you do that.

What if I tell you that there is one magical tool you can use to increase sales?

This is my number one tool to increase B2B sales. I have used it in multiple organisations as well as in channel & reseller sales with fantastic success – great sales and revenue results.

This magical tool is: The Sales Presentation . 

In this article, I will in detail share everything I know about this tool. I will discuss the following topics:

Why the sales presentation is important

• What are the components of a great sales presentation

How do you create a really good sales story? 

An example of a successful sales story , five steps to build the perfect pitch, what presentations often do wrong, you need to transfer knowledge .

While working with your sales team, it is important to transfer information and knowledge to them as efficiently as possible. If you can educate your sales persons about your product or solution and train them to present it at the same time, they can start selling it immediately, saving valuable time.

All salespersons need to learn a sales pitch 

To grow your business to increase sales, you need a sales pitch. All salespeople should have a consistent sales pitch. It is best if the sales leadership creates the best sales pitch they possibly can and then trains every sales person to present that pitch to your end customers. In doing this, you ensure that you make the sales person’s job easier, enabling them to make more sales.

A presentation is easy to consume 

A sales presentation made using PowerPoint or Google slides is fantastic because if done well, it allows the receiver to easily understand the story you are telling. It is easier for a person to comprehend information presented slide-by-slide than to process a mass of text contained in a brochure or email. Once your sales person understands your story, it’s not only easier for them to tell the story to others, they will also be hugely motivated to do so.

A presentation is easy to update 

Products change, offerings change, we make things better, and with all this we must update our sales presentation and sales materials. Presentations are way easier to change than, say, brochures. We can quickly add a slide, remove a slide, change some text or replace a graphic.

Presentations are easy to send to prospects 

After sales people hold a call or a meeting with a prospect, presentations are great to send as follow up material. If you want to be extra helpful you can provide the deck in original PPT format via a link so the prospect can use your slides when creating internal presentations about your solution. 

Prospects can share presentations internally  

When sales people have meetings with prospective customers, many times there are people such as colleagues or decision-makers who cannot attend the meeting, and it might be difficult or time-consuming for you to deliver the sales pitch to them at another time. A really well-done presentation that you send your prospect via email is easily shared with bosses, colleagues or senior company leadership. That way, your sales pitch can reach them without you even being present.

What are the components of a great sales presentation?

I believe a great presentation is all about the story. Looking at it technically, however, a great sales presentation comprises two main parts – the core pitch and the appendix.

‍Part 1: THE CORE PITCH – A great core pitch must tell a great and focused story. To tell a great story, you will need to understand your B2B customer, your end customer and your product or solution really well. For this, you will need to create detailed customer profiles , build a proper value proposition and do your research on the market.

PART 2: THE APPENDIX –  Because the core pitch must be focused on the story you are telling, any other information (which is important but doesn’t really contribute to the story) must go in the appendix.

‍ Why a great story makes a great presentation

So here’s the thing, if you are selling a B2B solution, you are probably spending a lot of time getting that one meeting with a prospective customer where you can explain what value you can deliver to them. But the prospect is probably meeting several of your competitors too, so you need to think of what you can do to stand out.

The presentation is the number one factor as to why a customer chooses one vendor over others , says a Gartner research report.

So, if you want to stand out, you must have a presentation that stands head and shoulders above that presented by your competitors.

‍How do you ensure your presentation stands out from that of your competitors?

You create an amazing sales story that focuses on value propositions. 

Creating a really good sales story is an art form and takes time and energy. One of the best presentations I ever made was developed over 45 iterations.

It led to fantastic results – the company managed to find partners all over the world for a new product and closed deals with over 100 of the world’s biggest telecom operators – with a minimal budget. But that’s not all, our partners were willing to pay our company a $20,000 recoupable guarantee to close a deal. I wrote this article on that project: How I built a hugely successful partner program and you can too (in-depth).

When I am building my sales story, I work with the following outline:

BUILD THE FOUNDATION

• Agree: One or several slides that state something we can all agree on. This could be something about the field of business you are in, the industry, a problem or something else that is connected to what you do.
• Explain the problem: In a few slides, explain the problem without mentioning or discussing your product or solution. The problem description should be high level. 
• What could be a solution: One slide where you explain what the solution could be without mentioning your product or service. 

EXPLAIN YOUR SOLUTION AND VALUE PROPOSITION 

• Your offering: One slide with text and an image that explains your offering in one sentence.
• Value proposition: Next, explain your value proposition in several slides. While you draft it, remind yourself that you are explaining your product or solution’s value proposition – that is the value it brings to the customer – and NOT its features and functions. 
• Explanations: It all depends on your offering, but make sure you subsequently add explanations about the features or functions of your product or service. 
• Why choose us? Answer this question here. Create one or several slides that explain how you are different and why you should be the chosen vendor.
• The value we offer you: Conclude by reiterating the value you offer the prospect. 
• Company info: Add some slides with information about your company.
• Case studies: It’s always great to add examples of how you delivered value to customers.
• Typical questions: Create slides that answer the most common questions you get from prospects. Preferably address one question in each slide. 

I also think you should read this article that really helped me polish my sales pitches: The Greatest Sales Pitch I’ve Seen All Year – The Mission – Medium .

I created a sales story for Appland , a company that offers a mobile games subscription service. The B2B customers in this case were telecom operators around the world, and mobile phone users were the end customers. 

Appland built a channel partner program so that its partners could help them sell its Games Clubs to mobile phone operators in their countries who would include the product in their offerings to their customers. The program was so successful that in just three years, the Sweden-based company had signed on over 100 of the world’s biggest telecom operators as its customers.

This was how I structured the story for Appland’s channel partners according to the pointers I gave in the previous section: 

• Slide 1 (Agree): We all want quality content. Subscription streaming services like Spotify, Netflix and HBO show us that people want really good content and are prepared to pay for it. 
• Slide 2 (Agree): People love to play mobile phone games. 82% of all apps sold in Google Play and Apple App Store are games. Revenue generated by mobile games is an astonishing $40 billion per year. 
• Slide 3 (Agree): Over 1.8 billion people on the planet play mobile phone games. 
• Slide 4 (Problem): But you know what? These games have become boring. 
• Slide 5 (Problem): If you get a free mobile game it will nag you to buy coins and berries. You see advertisements on it all the time. Some games suddenly stop and make you wait three days before you can play them again. Some games implement a type of gameplay where you have to constantly wait for stuff. 
• Slide 6 (Problem): This “harassment” happens because it is the only way for a game developer to make money. 
• Slide 7 (Solution): We need to bring back the fun in games. 
• Slide 8 (Solution): We can do this by creating a business model that makes it easier for developers to make money and for consumers to get amazing content so that they can play without being nagged to buy things.

EXPLAINING THE SOLUTION 

• Slide 9 (Our offering): Let us introduce the Games Club – a service that offers subscribers 400 of the world’s best games.
• Slide 10 (Value proposition): The games are the absolute best of the millions on offer. Users get free in-app purchases and the service lets users play games for as long as they like. Customers are offered a free trial and there are no advertisements or interruptions.
• Slide 11-16 (Value proposition): Details of the super popular games that billions of people are playing, all of which are included in the Games Club subscription.
• Slide 17 (Explanation): A summary of all the content of the games on offer and also data on how popular the games are.

CONCLUSION 

• Slide 18 (Our Secret Sauce): Consumers can play games offline in a model where they pay a low price and can play as much as they like. In addition, there is a digital rights management system that will lock all games installed when users unsubscribe to the service. 
• Slide 19 (Conclusion/The value we offer you): The Games Club is a high-quality service and together we can launch and market the solution to your customers. The value you get is a revenue share of the service, your branding and you will have an amazing offering for your consumers. 

This summary is slightly simplified but I hope it still works as a good example of how we can build a story. As you see, I did not talk about the features and functions of the service. I discussed value for users and values for the prospect Appland wanted to work together with. 

You now know how to create a really good sales story. Next, you need to put together a convincing pitch. How do you do that?

My approach to create the perfect pitch are these five steps.

Step 1: Create detailed customer profiles

If you don’t understand your customers well – B2B as well as end customers – you will never be able to craft a good message and presentation to attract them to your product or solution. Click here to learn How to create customer profiles / buyer personas for B2B Sales .

Step 2: Build a proper Value Proposition

You need to create a really good value proposition for your product or service. Click here to learn How to Create a Strong Value Proposition for B2B .

Step 3: Do research 

To find a really good story you need to do research. You need to understand the industry, the problems there and how you can connect this to your product or service. You need to dig and find that story. 

Step 4: Build an outstanding presentation 

I think there are many ways to design a good sales presentation. It all depends on how it will be used. Will it only be used for presentations or will it be sent to clients via email? Do you think the prospect will forward the presentation to colleagues? All these questions need to be considered when you draft your presentation.

As I mentioned earlier, I design presentations with two major sections. The first section contains my “Core pitch”, which can be between 10-45 slides. (I try to restrict the presentation to a maximum of 25 slides). The second section is the “Appendix” where I put all other slides.

Here are my general rules when I work on each slide:

• Only one message or story per slide.
• A super headline, sub headline, additional mini headlines and possibly a little text. You can see an example below. In this slide, you can quickly read and understand the consumer value proposition of the Games Subscription Club I wrote about earlier. 

• A slide can also only have an image and a little bit of text.

• It is ok to be succinct and not give out all details. If information is missing, the prospect will ask for it. 
• I always make sure to use standard fonts in presentations. Many people will use your presentation to present your pitch to their colleagues or customers and missing fonts can complicate matters.
• It should be easy for both internal and external personnel to make changes in the text.
• There should be “master slides” that make it easy for any channel partners to change the company logo and so on.
• The end slide should have contact information.
• The presentation should have divider slides so it is easy for the prospect to understand when you move to another section.
• Create BIG message slides for important conclusions.

• Make sure the design of the slides changes constantly so the prospect stays active and interested. 
• I add page numbers to the slides so it is easy to reference in discussions. 

Step 5: Continue to improve 

Version 1 of your presentation will not be perfect. Continue to improve your presentation as you learn new things. The sales presentation I created for Appland was on version 45 when I left the company. To create a really good story we need to test, evaluate and improve and this process never ends. 

So, you now know how to create a compelling sales story that will form a part of your presentation’s pitch.

Before we conclude, let’s talk about what people often do wrong while drafting their presentations.

I have seen a lot of sales presentations over the last 20 years and there is always room for improvement. Here are the most common mistakes I see:

• Egocentric: Presentations are often egocentric and all about the company and your product. The problem with this is that the customer doesn’t really care about you or your product or service. Customers care about themselves and they want you to tell them how you can make their lives better.
• Too much text: No one wants to read a mass of text. A presentation should be as succinct as possible or it will risk confusing people. Each slide should address one idea or point. When you have too many ideas on one slide, instead of paying attention to your next point, people are more likely to be distracted trying to digest what you said in your previous one.
• No storytelling: Humans love to be told stories. Presentations that are only a list of features and functions don’t command as much interest as those that tell a story of how the product or solution can add value to a customer’s life.
• Lack of value propositions: A presentation should be about the values that you offer to the customer. 
• Bad and ugly design: People like to look at things that attract them, and those things are usually well designed. You may not be an ace designer but there are plenty of designers you can find on freelancing platforms such as Upwork who will help make your presentation look professional.
• Difficult to understand: Some presentations use difficult language and also lack a structure, which makes them difficult to understand. 

You now know why the sales presentation is important, what makes a great sales presentation, five steps to build the perfect pitch and what sales presentations often do wrong.

I hope this article has given you the inspiration to create your own storytelling-based sales presentation that you can share with your sales team as one of the best sales tools you ever created. Go ahead and do it. Good luck!

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Learn How to Start a Sales Presentation

The opening of a sales presentation is key, as it can determine its outcome . How you start a sales presentation will influence your audience’s impression of you. It can influence them positively towards what you’re going to say afterward, or on the contrary, make them decide that they’re not interested at all.

We know how important the start of your sales presentation is for your business’s success, and we want to help. That’s why we interviewed our Head of Sales, Robert Juul Glaesel , to give you the BEST tips and insights on making a strong first impression with your sales presentation’s opening. Let’s get started!

We’ll go over:

How to start a sales presentation: Why first impressions matter

• How should you begin a sales presentation? Let’s check out what our experts are saying

Let’s begin! Or, feel free to skip to your preferred section.

Research shows that first impressions are usually built between the first 7 to 10 seconds of meeting someone . And sales presentations are no exception to this rule! The opening to your presentation can definitely play a key role in how effectively you close business deals.

The beginning of any presentation has a strategic significance. It defines how the rest of your presentation is going to be read by your audience. The start of a sales presentation can help you convey trustworthiness and professionalism and make the rest of your presentation more credible.

Learning how to start an effective sales presentation is all about connecting with your audience . The more engaging you are, the more likely they will be positively predisposed to the rest of your presentation.

How should you begin a sales presentation: Lets check out what our experts are saying

There is no one true formula for how to start a successful sales presentation. Like most things, it can depend on many different factors. For example, the previous relationship you have with your audience, what kind of product or service you’re offering, how far into the sales funnel you’re working on, and so on. All these elements come into play when creating the perfect opening for your sales presentation.

Let’s take a look at some insights from Robert , our head of sales so that you can put them into practice in your next sales presentation:

Insight #1: Show curiosity

It’s important not to give the impression that you are going head-on to sell but that you genuinely care about the customer . How can you show that you care? First, give yourself some space at the beginning to show curiosity and see if they could actually benefit from your product or service.

Start by asking questions to see if they are the right prospect and if they are similar to your other success stories. As Robert says:

“First, you talk to the customer to understand their situation and see if they are experiencing the same kind of needs as other customers you’ve seen.”

You could ask these questions:

• How do you typically approach this situation or challenge in your organization?
• Could you share more about your business's usual process when dealing with [specific issue]?
• In your experience, is [the problem you’re discussing] something you see in your business?
• Have you identified any specific needs related to [the issue]?

Curiosity allows you to see if you actually are a good fit, and it allows you to create a good bond with your prospects from the start, as they feel that you’re really trying to understand them. As Robert mentions:

“They don’t feel like you’re just jumping in and trying to sell them something. They see that you ask them questions, challenging questions. It’s key that they feel like you’re asking them those questions to really understand their situation.”

Only when you have a clear picture of their business and needs, and their need actually fits with what you want to sell them, then you can start talking about solutions.

Insight #2: Create trust

Building trust is another of the best ways to start a presentation. For many salespeople (most, actually), their approach to selling is to push their solution , regardless of whether it will actually be valuable to their prospect. This way, they come across as untrustworthy, showing they only care about selling and not about improving the potential customer’s business.

Now, how can you get your prospect to trust you? Robert mentions a couple of ways:

• Show that you are incredibly competent about what you’re talking about

Obviously, you must show that you deeply understand your business: you know exactly how it works, the processes, the features, costs, etc. However, it goes beyond that; your speech should also reflect that you understand your audience . Avoid sounding like you’re repeating a rehearsed script, and instead, customize your message to them.

Demonstrate that you've done your homework by knowing:

• Their specific industry
• Their brand values and mission
• The pain points they probably face
• Their target audience
• Show that you are willing to put the collective over your own needs

It is crucial to show you’re not only interested in selling but that you’re really invested in helping them deal with their pain points. You should express that solving your prospect's need is more important to you than your need to sell . In Robert’s words:

"Instead of pushing your product, your message should be, "I don't want to sell you something; I rather want to improve your business." Because I don’t only care about selling something, but that it provides real value."

This should be a key message from the start of your sales presentation in order to foster trust. Let it be clear that you getting some revenue is a byproduct of them being more successful at whatever they want to achieve.

Something to keep in mind…

Along with being trustworthy comes the acknowledgment that sometimes, the prospect might not be a good fit for your product . It's essential to communicate this openly, promoting transparency. You can express it like this:

"You know, this solution may not be the best fit for you; having [your product] might not be ideal unless you [meet certain conditions]. Our goal is to provide you with something that truly benefits you.”

While it may not be the most pleasant conclusion, it's important to be honest. In such situations, you should keep looking for examples where your product aligns seamlessly, much like the success stories you've previously encountered. Remember, for a successful sale, there must be a match .

Insight #3: Connect your audience with a need

Another successful way to start a sales presentation is to connect your prospect with a need . How can you do this? Let them see a problem, a shift in the industry, or an undeniable transition. Present it as something they're definitely going through or will be soon. You can use Zuora’s first sales presentation slide as guidance:

This will allow you to swiftly present your service or product . Once they have recognized and accepted the need or pain point, you can start discussing your products as a solution, and it will come on as a logical answer to their problem. As Robert says:

“When the person recognizes that it will be a problem for their business, then they will be motivated to find a solution. They will start getting uncomfortable, thinking their company might face trouble soon, and getting eager to solve it. That's when... voilà, you step in and show them how you can solve it."

In this way, you are not pushing a product or forcing a sale, but rather, you are making them connect naturally. When you talk about your product or service, they are already looking for a solution . In Robert’s words:

“The best way to approach sales is to tie their needs together with your solution.”

Insight #4: Use storytelling techniques

Using storytelling is a good option for tackling how to start a sales pitch presentation. Storytelling gives a presentation an emotional charge and makes the audience feel closer to the issue presented . Stories can enhance a message and illustrate a point. And, they can also help you break the ice and make yourself feel closer to your audience.

These are some ideas of stories you could tell in your sales presentation introduction:

• Your customer reviews
• The employees’ success stories
• Your company’s mission
• Challenges you’ve overcome with your team

However, it’s important to remember that storytelling should be carefully planned out . It’s not just about sharing any emotional story; it should be strategically crafted to connect with your goal. You need to be clear on WHY you’re telling your story and HOW you’ll tailor it to a specific audience to promote a particular course of action.

Shawn Achor’s TEDTalk is the perfect example for those looking for examples of how to use storytelling to begin a presentation.

You might also like 7 Essential Storytelling Techniques for Your Business Presentation

Insight #5: Share statistics

Statistics can be a powerful tool to start your sales presentation with. They can help you show your value proposition, create a sense of urgency, and really connect your prospects with a pain point . Likewise, they demonstrate your commitment to thorough research and investigation, showing dedication to understanding their needs.

You can use statistics to prove how your product or service can improve your prospect’s performance and save them time or money. Check out how Spendesk is doing it:

Check the complete presentation for a sales presentation introduction example .

However, there are some things to keep in mind about starting your presentation with statistics:

• Make sure to show where your numbers came from. Like in the example, you should definitely cite your sources; they could be articles, research, a study, or a poll you conducted. Remember to ensure that you use reliable sources.
• Be careful about using too many statistics: Use just enough statistics to prove your point, but not too much that you bore the audience and end up sharing irrelevant information. You could end up distracting and distancing them from the main message.

Insight #6: Add an inspiring quote

When thinking about how to start your sales presentation, a quote might be an idea to consider. Especially when it comes from a renowned source, a quote can help give authority to your presentation . Letting your audience read and reflect on the quote can be a great starting point for a more engaging, participative presentation!

Check out the quote that Klima starts their presentation with . Just from the first slide, you can feel that your company, and the world, will be better once you start using their product:

Click here to view another great sales presentation introduction example.

Insight #7: Engage with your audience

Building rapport with your audience is one of the most effective ways to get them to listen to you. PowerPoint offers a wide array of options for making a presentation more engaging. Polls and quizzes are a great option to make your audience feel like an active participant .

How can you engage with your audience? Encourage them to talk, you can say something like:

“Feel free to jump in with any comments or questions at any time…”

“It would be great for this presentation to be a discussion…”

“You’re the experts in your business here, so feel free to share your insights..”

By opening your presentation this way, you’ll not only create a more friendly environment by inviting them to participate in the presentation, but also make them more receptive to learn more about the potential solutions you’ll offer.

You might also be interested in how to improve your business presentations .

The beginning of your sales presentation can determine the outcome

Preparing a sales presentation takes time and effort, and there’s no easy way around it . If you want to get the results, you must work on it first! There’s no one magic formula for learning how to start a sales presentation. But putting some work into it will definitely pay off. Whether through a quote, a story, or a poll, engaging your audience will help you get a better disposition toward the rest of it.

Don’t forget that the visual elements also play a huge role in your sales pitch first impression . Just like you should invest some time and effort in looking as polished and professional as possible, the same goes for your PowerPoint! Your presentation slides can become an exceptional tool to convey your message more effectively. Professional custom PowerPoint design can help you get outstanding results you couldn’t achieve on your own.

And, it’ll free you some time to invest in improving your delivery and content! Learning how to start a truly outstanding sales presentation is a process of trial and error. It’s all about defining your personal style, what works best for you and your product, and what values and messages you can convey through your slides.

Want to learn more?

• The Best Sales Presentation Services for Winning Sales Decks
• How to Create the Perfect B2B Sales Presentation
• +10 Sales PowerPoint Presentation Examples to Get Inspired!
• Top 20 Free Templates for Corporate and Business Presentations
• +20 Self Introduction PowerPoint Templates: Download for free!

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9 Incredible Sales Presentation Examples That Succeed

In our analysis today, we’ll be reviewing the top sales presentation examples.

Why? Because customers want to understand how you’ll be able to add value to their businesses. As such, how you deliver your sales presentation in of the essence.

As tempting as it may be, you need to steer away from thinking of a sales presentation as a “pitch”. This is because, in baseball, the best of pitchers tend to strike batters out.

Since this is not something we want to do, we’ll look at creating convincing pitches that resonate and get hit right out of the park.

By the end of our review, you should have the tools you need to make that home run and meet all your goals.

What is a Sales Presentation?

Elements of a great sales presentation, 1. 21 questions, 2. clarify the priorities, 3. customer is always right, 4. moving pictures, why sales presentation is important for businesses/sales reps, 1. face-to-face, 2. engagement, 3. flexibility & versatility, 4. consistency, overview of the top sales presentation examples, 1. snapchat, 4. salesforce marketing cloud, 5. office 365, 7. immediately, 9. talent bin.

A sales presentation refers to a formal and pre-arranged meeting online or at a location where a salesperson gets to present detailed information about a product or product line.

A great sales presentation is one that endears a brand to prospects. For this to happen, you first need to ensure that it’s not purely focused on products. Rather, it should be tailored to connect with your audience.

The trick, therefore, lies in making your narrative compelling.

Living in the informational age has forced salespersons to change tack when handling customers. This is because more than ever, prospects have all the relevant data about what they want right at their fingertips.

As such, before you make your presentation, you need to first ensure that the information you have is relevant. You can then use that as a Launchpad to connect with prospects.

Importantly, you need to practice listening and avoid religiously sticking to a script before responding to objections.

Often times, salespeople tend to spend plenty of time preparing for what they want to say to customers. While this is perfectly okay, it’s also essential to dedicate enough time to draft the right questions to ask.

With an objective outline of questions, you may actually find yourself deeply engrossed in conversation with prospects.

If you find that prospects are not willing to fully confide in you, it’s good practice to tweak your setup with leading questions before tabling open-ended questions . The responses they share will be able to inform you on how to proceed with the interaction.

Before you begin your sales presentation, you need to first clarify what their priorities are. It’s also good practice to inform them that you’ll be making logical pauses during the presentation to query about what they think about certain points raised.

If you’re unsure about what kind of questions to ask, try to frame the questions from the prospect’s point of view.

Questions like, “How do you see that fitting into your existing process?” and “How does that compare to what you’re currently doing?” are great ways to frame your inquiries.

As always, the end-goal is to close sales. You can facilitate this happening by promoting engagement levels.

When handling prospects, it’s best to first talk more about them, and less about you. If you have prepared “about us” slides, then have them featured right at the very end of the presentation.

Ideally, you want to put more emphasis on your customers’ goals, expected outcomes, and then divulge how you’ll lead them towards success.

To further convince them to join your bandwagon, it’s important to showcase how others have benefitted from your initiative.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then video is the real deal.

By incorporating videos as part of your sales presentation, you’ll be able to break the monotony that usually exists in text-only slides. While making your presentation, try to also walk about the room and engage your audience.

If you follow through on these steps, you’ll realize you have plenty of talking points throughout.

As a suggestion, try to also make a video about how you can aid your prospect’s company. It also wouldn’t hurt if you interview a couple of team members and hear their take on a range of issues.

As a salesperson, you can use sales presentations to inform, educate, inspire and persuade prospects to buy your products.

A well-crafted and detailed presentation can actually help a business reinforce its reputation and act as a showcase of the level of professionalism.

Before we list out a host of sales presentation examples, it’s best to first note that they are a great way to meet up with customers and prospects in person.

Through face-to-face interactions, you can build trust and reinforce existing relationships . When done right, you may realize an influx in the number of purchases after such meet-ups.

Sales presentations are great when it comes to audience engagement. This is because images have the power of captivating audiences while bullet points can help them follow the logic of the entire presentation.

By injecting theatre during the presentation, you can leave a lasting impact on individuals. This is quite in contrast than if you decided to just talk to them. This heightened sense of engagement is great since your message is properly relayed to your audience.

Sales presentations are fantastic because you can swiftly change up the content and make modifications on the fly. They are vastly better than printed mediums like brochures where you have to stick to the agenda and making tweaks is usually an expensive undertaking.

Presentations are also a versatile communication tool. You can employ them in one-to-one meetings or in large meetings that require you to make use of a projector. Alternatively, you can choose to expand your reach by making them available for online viewing and downloading.

Sales presentations offer you a structured way to communicate about different products, services, and companies.

If you’re working in an organization, you’ll realize that people in various departments are capable of communicating information in a consistent fashion.

Having revealed this, it’s worth pointing out that you need to make good use of bullet points/prompts to ensure that you always remain objective and stress on the key points.

Snapchat , the impermanent photo messaging app, is a big hit among millennials.

Having been conceived as part of a Stanford class project in 2011 under the initial name of Picaboo, it’s has quickly risen through the ranks. Today, it’s one of the most dominant social media platforms out there because it encourages self-expression in the here and now.

• From this sales presentation example, you can clearly see what Snapchat was trying to do. While a large portion of it is filled with fine print and explanations, they’ve divided it into major talking points that readers simply can’t miss. This strategy is great since it ensures even readers who simply want to skim through the content are able to catch all the highlights.
• Impressively, they also created content that resonates with prospects of varying levels of knowledge. This is a fantastic strategy since it increases the probability of closing a deal.

The self-proclaimed “front page of the internet” has been shaping trends for a good minute now. Eager to impress, the sales honchos at Reddit decided to go the sales presentation route and won hearts while at it.

• Reddit’s opening image of a cat riding a unicorn has great visual appeal and helps leave a lasting impact with audiences
• This is one of the best sales presentation examples because Reddit strives to remain objective and stick to its brand identity
• Reddit also makes great use of memes and pop-culture images to get their message across. This is a great strategy since Redditors love this kind of content. In addition, it helps the brand stand out from the rest because of the “X” factor in their presentation.
• The round data figures shared by Reddit are also striking since they help their audience to digest the information and get to thinking how a product/service can help them grow

This social media management tool gives you the freedom to manage multiple social media profiles in a single dashboard.

• Their sales deck is fast-paced and begins with them sharing how they have left an impact on the social media scene. This is a brilliant strategy since it helps audiences get a breakdown of the services offered without much ado
• In other slides, Buffer goes at length to share their milestones and how they’re planning to grow their reach in the years to come. This is one of the finest sales presentation examples because it’s systematic and they manage to bring the message home with every slide

Salesforce is renowned as being the driving force behind one of the world’s top CRM solutions, Sales Cloud. Through their ventures, they’ve been able to transform how enterprises (including fortune 500 companies), connect with clients.

• Salesforce crafted one of the best sales presentation examples because they were able to simplify the sale and help prospects further down the sales journey
• They also broke down the complex processes involved in simpler formats using visual diagrams and flowcharts
• By incorporating images and text overlay slides, Salesforce made a point of ensuring that you have a better understanding of what their services were all about

Microsoft’s subscription-based productivity suite is great for collaboration in the workplace. We’ve listed them out as one of the best sales presentation examples because they came up with a comprehensive layout that really spoke to the masses.

• The color scheme employed was in line with their productivity apps. By doing so, the designers sought to maintain synergy with the move acting as a clear show of consistency all around.
• The images used on every screen is a pointer to the fact that they have a dedicated team that aims to foster collaboration at the workplace. Commendably, the text sections also have a bright, vivid block of color to ensure clarity. This is a fantastic strategy since colors allow audiences to dart their eyes across the screen and focus on what really important

This end-to-end product management software comes in handy in supporting the product journey. If you’re a product manager, you’re surely going to love having it as a go-to tool since you have the power to convert great ideas into great products.

• The minimalist concept behind this approach makes it one of the most exemplary sales presentation examples
• The content layout is also super-duper. As you read through the informal tone, you get an impression that you’re actually conversing with a friend over coffee than actually sitting through a meeting getting pitched on why you should adopt a product
• The short sentences are also super engaging and the text in parenthesis gives you the impression that you’re actually getting the scoop on a trade secret

This fantastic platform was built with the sole intent of making the workplace a happy place to operate in. With Immediately, you get the opportunity to focus on the tasks that really interest you.

• By making use of stock photos and callout bubbles, Immediately perfectly illustrates various audiences’ pain points and helps create a sense of relatability
• There’s great personalization involved throughout the slides which helps the brand connect with various audiences. As a salesperson, you can borrow a leaf from this approach and embrace it to drive home the essence of your product.

Zuora is an enterprise software company does a great job of providing bespoke subscription-based services.

Through its ventures, the company has been able to produce one of the standout sales presentation examples. Here’s why we think they are definitely winning:

• Their presentation largely constitutes images and minimal text with thought-provoking facts
• The backgrounds are laden with images. This is a masterstroke since it helps personalize and distinguish the brand from the competition.
• The wordplay is excellent and the imagery used gives you a contemporary feel about things. This is perfectly in line with their brand message of how important it is to adapt to the times. If you think that they can help you position yourself in the market, then, you need not look further!

This online applicant sourcing and tracking software enables organizations to discover top talent by gathering implicit data from a large pool.

• Great graphical layout and use of white space to represent numbers. The colors incorporated are quite brilliant and go a long way in telling the narrative.
• The bulleted points have greatly help compartmentalize detailed content. You can implement this same approach if you’re looking to ensure that your audience follows the message.
• Compelling imagery is used to convey their brand message and compel prospects to take up their services

So there you have it. We’ve highlighted nine of the top sales presentation examples to get your creative juices flowing.

Hopefully, you’ll be able to convert more prospects into paying customers !

Do you think there are some sales presentation examples we’ve missed?

Which ones do you fancy?

Let us know in the comments section below!

Jack is known for leading the charge in sales innovation. He has a proven track record of working with top organizations to help them integrate social into their traditional sales process.

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How to Make a Sales Presentation

Last Updated: May 10, 2022 References

This article was co-authored by Michael R. Lewis . Michael R. Lewis is a retired corporate executive, entrepreneur, and investment advisor in Texas. He has over 40 years of experience in business and finance, including as a Vice President for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas. He has a BBA in Industrial Management from the University of Texas at Austin. There are 12 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been viewed 225,699 times.

An effective sales presentation not only educates prospective customers about your product or service, but it also explains how you can meet a customer's specific needs and help them achieve their goals. Creating a successful sales presentation requires thorough research and careful preparation. Time invested in doing your homework will lead to a higher percentage of closed sales.

Doing Research

• Keep separate files for product information, company information and details about your prospective customers.
• Include lists of sources for all of your data so can refer back to them as needed.
• Create an organized filing system and naming conventions for your files so you can access them as needed.

• Take care to distinguish between features and benefits. A product or service can have many features, many of which are not important to a prospective customer. The salesman's task to show how a specific feature will have a meaningful benefit to the prospect.
• For example, features may include cost, size, usability, lack of maintenance, easy repair, or warranty, among others.
• Have an exhaustive understanding about how the product is manufactured and packaged.
• Know the history of your product and learn about any advances in product development.
• Familiarize yourself with shipping procedures and policies.
• Study the history of your company and how it has grown, and be prepared to discuss your company's values.
• For services, identify important features and benefits like peace of mind, security, cost, ease of use, etc.

• To beat a competitor, first try to determine their competitive advantage. That is, why customers buy their products rather than yours. Again, it is not the features that count but the perceived benefit that the customer expects to receive from the purchase.
• Scrutinize the details of their product or service and how yours compares. If you are a caterer, for example, determine if you use fresher food or better ingredients, or if you prepare food in a unique way.
• Learn their marketing and communication strategies and how they differ from yours. Perhaps you offer special discounts that they do not, or your printed materials are in full color and are printed on higher quality paper.

• Learn your potential customer's needs. If you can, talk to them before you pitch (by phone or in person) and learn as much as you can about what will really make them interested in buying. Do they need a lower price, better reliability, finance terms, faster delivery? Try to figure out their "trigger."
• Consult the company's annual report, trade publications, website and the local chamber of commerce to learn this information. [5] X Research source

• Analyze their business and current economic indicators to determine if their product and services are in demand. A food services distributor, for example, could help a coffee shop improve their menu with new equipment or better ingredients.
• Determine their biggest competitors and the benefits the competitor provides to the customer. [6] X Research source To get a sale, you will need to offer a better benefit than what they might be receiving.
• Consult trade groups, business magazines and academic institutions to learn about business trends and how your prospect could use your services to be more competitive. [7] X Trustworthy Source U.S. Small Business Administration U.S. government agency focused on supporting small businesses Go to source

Writing Content

• Shape your presentation to the power-level of attendees in the meeting. Are they decision-makers, influencers, or gate-keepers? Understand (ask if you don't know) the process for making a purchase decision and who will be making it.
• If the audience will be small, deliver a short, interactive presentation and then lead a discussion. Ditch the Powerpoint and instead try printing out a few detailed slides to pass out to the small group. [9] X Research source Keep in mind the importance of body language and eye contact with your audience.
• For a large audience, prepare a staged, formal presentation with polished visuals. Avoid distracting colored text or ClipArt. Use clear language, show enthusiasm for your product, and keep things moving at a lively pace. [10] X Research source

• Use simple, short terms for more punch. Try using action verbs when possible.
• A caterer pitching to a wedding planner, for example, would discuss their proven history of providing high quality food at a reasonable price.
• A cleaning service presenting to an office manager would state that they can enhance employee productivity by keeping the office clean and organized.

• Your opening should include a restatement of their objectives and the assurance that you will meet those objectives during the presentation.
• A caterer's objectives, for example, would include planning a menu, ordering food, preparing food and arranging for delivery within a given time-frame.
• A cleaning service would list daily tasks, such as cleaning the floor, sanitizing bathrooms and removing the trash. Less regular tasks, such as cleaning the windows or equipment dusting, would also be listed with the expected frequency.

• The steps for planning a menu, for example, might include meeting with clients and setting up taste tests. The deliverable would be a written copy of the menu.
• The details a cleaning service would specify include how long it takes to complete tasks, the materials and number of personnel used and whether or not they bring their own equipment.

• A caterer would use this opportunity to emphasize their skill at timing food preparations so everything is perfectly cooked and doesn't get cold before it is eaten.
• A cleaning service would highlight the positive impression that a clean, organized space makes on clients and how this also maintains property values.

Creating Graphics and Visuals

• Find fresh graphics instead of using stock ClipArt or templates. If the budget permits, enlist the help of a graphic artist.

• Make sure you check the visual aids and sound equipment that might be available in the venue, and find out the requirements for use.

• If a smart board is available, use it to annotate graphics with your customer's feedback. Save your annotations at the end of your presentation so you can review them later.
• Bring a flip chart or whiteboard and an easel for taking notes and recording comments if an interactive smart board is not available. Test your markers ahead of time and only bring those that work. If your paper is unlined, draw lines with a pencil to keep your handwriting horizontally aligned.

• You would only distribute them if you are not talking to a decision maker who is not ready to make decision.
• Be aware that anything left with the client may wind up in the hands of a competitor.

Delivering a Successful Presentation

• Avoid slang and jargon and never, ever curse.

• If you are giving a presentation to a very large audience, don't just stand on the stage as people file in. Mill about, introducing yourself and greeting people you know.

Closing the Sale

Expert Q&A

• Build genuine rapport by discussing sports, asking about family, or mentioning common acquaintances or colleagues. People like to do business with other people they like and trust. [31] X Research source Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 0
• Don't put your customer in a superior position by saying, "I won't take up too much of your time," or "I really appreciate you making room in your busy schedule to see me." These statements sound like you think they are doing you a favor, when you should communicate with your demeanor and confidence that you are there as an asset to them. [32] X Research source Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 0
• Understand your audience and follow their lead. Executives may be under time crunches and dislike small talk or extended presentations. Be prepared to shorten your presentation upon request. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 1
• Be aggressive but honest about what you can offer to a prospective customer. Remember that it's better to under-promise and over-deliver. Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

• ↑ http://edwardlowe.org/digital-library/how-to-create-and-give-a-sales-presentation/
• ↑ http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/225778
• ↑ https://www.sba.gov/content/do-your-market-research
• ↑ http://www.duarte.com/best-practices-for-sales-presentations/
• ↑ http://changethis.com/manifesto/50.06.PresentingSmall/pdf/50.06.PresentingSmall.pdf
• ↑ http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/ld/resources/presentations/large-groups
• ↑ http://www.proedgeskills.com/Presentation_Skills_Articles/visual_aids_undermine.htm
• ↑ http://www.presentationmagazine.com/presentation-skills-1-use-visual-aids-7320.htm
• ↑ http://www.skillsyouneed.com/present/visual-aids.html
• ↑ http://www.businessknowhow.com/marketing/sales-presentation.htm
• ↑ http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/222405
• ↑ https://www.salesgravy.com/sales-articles/closing-techniques/5-closing-questions-you-must-be-asking.html

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Home » MTD Sales Blog » 13 Steps For Creating Your Sales Strategy Presentation

13 Steps For Creating Your Sales Strategy Presentation

But when it comes to ‘how to write a sales strategy’ and ‘how to present a strategy’ , where do you even begin?

We’ve got 13 useful steps to help you create an effective Sales Strategy Presentation that your stakeholders will love! From start to finish, we’ll cover everything you need to make it a huge success. Including a sales presentation structure to follow, and a strategy slide template to use. Let’s get started!

• What Is a Sales Strategy?
• What Is a Sales Strategy Presentation?
• How to Create Your Sales Strategy Presentation
• Effective Sales Strategy Presentation Template
• Wrapping Up

A Sales Strategy is a plan which aims to maximise sales whilst coordinating the plan across your whole sales team and aligning it with the corporate strategy.

Research giant Gartner defines Sales Strategy as “an organisation’s detailed plan to drive sales performance, innovation and growth by better penetrating existing markets and growing share of current customer wallet.”

This definition downplays the corporate alignment aspect and focuses on sales performance. However, a Sales Strategy does not merely consist only of delineating your sales approach.

In brief, a well-written Sales Strategy can be said to have three main aims:

• To ensure all reps are working to the same playbook and adopting a uniform approach
• To ensure that sales methods, messaging, and media reinforce corporate priorities
• To maximise sales revenue, within given targets and KPIs

The above list is not ordered in terms of priority—all three aims contribute vitally to your Sales Strategy.

When we’re talking about a presentation, it’s important to distinguish this from the pitch you’ll give to your clients. A Sales Strategy Presentation is where you obtain corporate buy-in for your sales approach, making sure that messaging, pricing, product specs, sales media and other details of your campaigns are clarified and agreed across the board.

In this presentation you’ll describe your target market, competitors, sales techniques , and the composition of your sales team, amongst other information. The aim is to secure support for your strategy, which may include budget approval. It’s important to include enough detail to convey the main information, without overburdening your audience.

Below, we’ll look at how best to go about preparing your presentation, alongside some tips for maximising audience attention and approval. If you can nail this presentation, you’ll be off to a flying start with your strategy, so it’s worth putting the hours in to get it right.

The most important thing to get right is your structure. This should be logical and narrative-driven, leading the audience from big picture to fine detail. It should be compelling and as brief as possible, without short-changing your audience. Remember that you’ll be asked plenty of questions when your presentation is complete!

1. Start with an Overview of Your Company

Begin by outlining the current state of play within the company. If you are an agency selling your strategy to a company, here’s your opportunity to demonstrate a rounded understanding of the company and its priorities, as well as giving a summary of your agency, and what it does.

If you are heading up an in-house sales team, you have the chance to maximise corporate buy-in, and ensure your strategy is fully supported with the necessary resources.

Don’t go into exhaustive detail – offer the sort of brief “executive summary” you find at the front of annual reports. Do use bullet points and figures where these are impressive enough to support your case. Highlight the opportunity your Sales Strategy will address, whether it’s a gap in the market, the chance to cross/up-sell a new product, or some other benefit you’ll bring.

2. Touch on Your Target Market

Here’s where you identify who your ideal customers or clients will be, and really hit home that you understand your customer.

You can use buyer personas , which may include graphics depicting “typical” customers, to help your audience visualise who you’ll be selling to. In terms of aggregate markets, you can include Venn diagrams or other graphic means to delineate core customers and subsidiary consumers.

For instance, if you’re selling an app for video editing, your core customers may be corporate content producers, but your subsidiary audience may be far wider, touching upon anyone who regularly uploads content to YouTube or other social media platforms.

You’ll need to describe how you’ll approach all your significant markets elsewhere in your presentation (see step 5).

3. Discuss the Value of Your Proposition

USP or Value Proposition (VP) is a concise statement of what makes your product stand out in your chosen marketplace. It’s a vital concept for sales reps to grasp because it’s the main reason why a consumer would choose your product over a rival’s. It’s important that all stakeholders buy into the value proposition because it’s a key factor in building brand identity.

For instance, some footwear brands stress comfort as their USP, while others highlight value, durability, style, or exclusivity. Your VP could also be a combination of factors, i.e. going back to the app for video editing example, “we offer the most accessible, best value for money and most fully featured video editing app on the market”.

Key to your VP is describing the “problem” a customer might have and how your product is the perfect solution to that problem. How will your customers uniquely benefit from the product you’ll be selling?

You can use comparisons with rival products, and data taken from market research, showing what consumers want, and how your product addresses those needs. Literal quotes taken from review sites can be helpful, revealing how real customers feel about their purchases.

The main takeaway is that your sales team are enthusiastic about the value they are offering customers, and that they understand how to characterise the benefits and features of the product.

4. Consider Any Competitors

It’s essential at this stage to factor in your competitors. Unless you are first to market or are offering a very niche product, the chances are you have a host of rivals eager to bite off chunks of your customer base. Here you need to emphasise that your sales team have the answers to the question “why us?”

Differentiation is key! What solutions does your product offer that rivals cannot? It’s important not to underestimate the competition and respect the successes that other players in the sector have scored. Much can be learned by studying the achievements of legacy brands, while offering something that builds upon previous offerings.

It can be a good idea to tabulate your top three or five competitors and show how their success provides an opportunity, rather than a threat. Remember that competitors should be understood in the broader context and can help you turn your weaknesses into strengths.

For instance, Netflix hasn’t only got to worry about Amazon Prime TV, Disney Plus and other streaming services. It must compete with cinema, social media and podcasts too. These are all popular draws upon customers’ leisure time.

5. Outline Your Marketing Strategy

Now you can summarise how your product will be marketed. Will conventional advertising be used? Will social media play a significant role? Is this a B2B campaign or will the product appeal to individual customers? Will buyers be targeted at work, or at home?

Perhaps you have partners working on marketing campaigns. If so, introduce them, and their best work to date. Provide examples of finished campaign materials if you have them or works in progress if that’s all you have at this stage. This is a good opportunity to use dramatic visuals or video, rather than text or graphs, which can become boring if overused.

Your marketing strategy should include the following five elements:

• The target audience for the campaign
• The goals or objectives
• How your brand will stand out against competitors
• What content has or will be created
• Any KPIs that have been agreed

You can finish by briefly describing how marketing and sales departments will cooperate and coordinate their efforts.

6. Go Over Your Sales Process

Here you can drill down into the specifics of the sales process. What does your sales funnel look like? Where are you getting your leads and how are you qualifying them? Will cold calling or email drip campaigns be a major part of the process? Will you have a presence at any trade shows or events?

Do you have scripts that you can share to offer an example of a typical sales contact? Provide concrete examples to help your presentation feel solid. If you have incentives planned for your sales team, or KPIs you expect them to achieve, then outline them here too. You can break down your sales activities into:

• Prospecting (including lead sources)
• Lead segmentation and qualification
• Research processes – market research, customer surveys
• The sales pitch – a typical call or contact
• How your team will handle sales objections
• The process for closing .

Once you have outlined what you’ll do to make sales, it’s time to explore who will do what.

7. Review the Current Sales Team Structure And Roles

Begin with an organisational diagram of your sales team, so that your audience will get a clear picture of command structure. Outline the responsibilities of each role, lines of reporting and (if relevant) base salaries.

If you are creating a sub-team for this project, then show the diagram for that sub-team. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel with an organisational chart since everyone understands the traditional flowchart model. Use that, to save valuable time.

Explain any unfamiliar roles or unexpected team members. Perhaps you have an in-house social media researcher, or a CRM specialist . Make sure you highlight and explain anything unexpected. You can also identify roles that are not filled yet, which will help when it comes to steps 10 and 11.

8. Summarise Any Sales Materials Used

If you have leaflets, landing pages, product listings, demonstration videos or anything else that will be key to the sales process, then here is a suitable time to hand out samples or give demonstrations. If you’re offering a free demo version of a piece of software, you can quickly run through its features and how you plan to convert free users to paid subscribers.

Remember that if you provide handouts, your audience will lose eye contact with you while they pore over them, so use this option sparingly. You can always provide supplementary handouts or follow-up emails, after your presentation is over.

9. Talk Through Goals, Sales Metrics and KPIs

All goals and objectives expressed should conform to the SMART principle, being specific, measurable, achievable, relevant , and time-based.

Try to be specific with sales targets, without promising more than you can reasonably deliver!

You can have nested targets—fair, good, and excellent anticipated results—while stressing that you’ll always be aiming for the latter. You can also express goals in terms of short, medium, and long-term. This is especially relevant when you’re launching a brand-new product, or entering a new market, where it would be unrealistic to achieve full market penetration immediately.

It’s very important to obtain buy-in on your goals and targets, so that there’s transparency across the organisation, and you can be held accountable if you fail to deliver. That’s the downside of getting specific with KPIs, but it’s also a great motivator for sales teams. On the plus side, you can also mention any incentive or bonus structure you’ll be offering your sales team for achieving ambitious goals.

10. Explore Training and Development Requirements

If you know you’ll need to train up staff to understand a new product, software system, or working process, then it’s valuable to admit this upfront. Training needs affect the bottom line, as well as your process timeline. You have the opportunity here to demonstrate that you’ve thought through all human resource requirements and researched training opportunities. You may already have Sales Training Providers you’ll partner with (mention them now) or if you’re still looking why not check out our Essential Selling Skills Training or Telesales Training Course.

Spending time on this aspect of your Sales Strategy will also build stakeholder confidence. They’ll know you aren’t throwing your reps in at the deep end. Instead you are preparing them properly for success.

11. Consider Any Budgeting Needs

With resources in mind (IT, human resources, content creation, research costs and other expenses) outline what you expect your operating sales budget to be. There is no point in understating your anticipated costs, since overruns may occur, and senior management will often try to make cost savings. It pays to build in a little wriggle room for negotiation.

Don’t blind or bore your audience with spreadsheets; just give the headline figures. Highlight any areas of expenditure that are loosely estimated, or unclear. Remember to allow for hiring costs for any unfilled sales team roles you described in step 7 (see above), and for staff training.

Remember also to include cash flow, as well as overall expenditure. How much money will you need and at what milestones? Sometimes success can be more expensive than failure; for instance, when it necessitates a sudden recruitment drive to expand your sales team. It’s vital for stakeholders to appreciate key dates when funding must be made available.

12. End With Next Steps And Future Action Plans

If you’ve prepared a simplified GANTT chart, you can show where in the project timeline you currently sit. Explain what your next actions will be, and what the future holds. Here you can build further confidence by demonstrating that you’ve thought everything through.

Remember to build in a little more time than you think you’ll need for more flexible stages like research, training, and lead prospecting. Make sure you highlight any immovable deadlines, like sales events or product launches, and how you’ll ensure you’re prepared for them.

You should also be building excitement and enthusiasm here, so don’t make it too dry. This is a thrilling time—you’re about to hit the go button on a brand-new sales campaign. Get your audience to feel your enthusiasm and you’re halfway to achieving buy-in.

13. Don’t Forget To Use Engaging Visuals Throughout!

The cliché is true – a picture is worth a thousand words. Sometimes a short video or meme can make a more dramatic point than yet another set of bullet points, facts, or figures.

There’s a popular rule of thumb with PowerPoint slides, called the 7 x 7 principle. This states that no single slide should contain more than seven lines of text, and each line should contain no more than seven words. How many presentations have you witnessed that fail to pass that test? Too many, most likely!

Avoid this issue by preferring visual content over words. After all, you are there to deliver the verbal component of the presentation. You can do this so much more effectively with your communication and interpersonal skills. You already know this — you’re a salesperson!

Finally, make sure you leave time for questions (and prepare some answers to likely ones in advance). Thank your audience for their time… and relax!

Now you know how to create your presentation, it’s time to have a go at making it! Here’s a PowerPoint template you can download to kick you off.

The deck includes 13 slides covering all the sections we’ve touched on. Just customise the template by adding your own branding font and colours – and don’t forget to add some of those engaging visuals we’ve spoken about!

Perhaps it’s worth leaving you with a simple thought – you can enjoy this moment! After all, it’s the culmination of a complex sales planning process, and now you get to share your vision with everyone who matters. That opportunity doesn’t come around very often. So, take a moment to congratulate yourself on your hard work, and have fun!

Finally, here are some parting thoughts on presentations, from writers and speakers who’ve been there:

“They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel.” –Carl W. Buechner, politician and church leader.

“The first 30 seconds and the last 30 seconds have the most impact in a presentation.” –Patricia Fripp, Sales presentation expert and speech coach.

“You are not being judged, the value of what you are bringing to the audience is being judged.” –Seth Godin, dotcom executive and bestselling author.

Hopefully, this article has reminded you of some principles you already understand and has given you the inspiration to really smash your Sales Strategy Presentation!

If you need any extra sales support for you or your team, please contact us for further information on our Sales Management Training and Account Management Training solutions, also take a look at our popular portfolio of Sales Training Courses .

Happy Selling!

Sean McPheat Managing Director MTD Sales Training

• General Sales Skills

Updated on: 13 June, 2023

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How to Make a “Good” Presentation “Great”

• Guy Kawasaki

Remember: Less is more.

A strong presentation is so much more than information pasted onto a series of slides with fancy backgrounds. Whether you’re pitching an idea, reporting market research, or sharing something else, a great presentation can give you a competitive advantage, and be a powerful tool when aiming to persuade, educate, or inspire others. Here are some unique elements that make a presentation stand out.

• Fonts: Sans Serif fonts such as Helvetica or Arial are preferred for their clean lines, which make them easy to digest at various sizes and distances. Limit the number of font styles to two: one for headings and another for body text, to avoid visual confusion or distractions.
• Colors: Colors can evoke emotions and highlight critical points, but their overuse can lead to a cluttered and confusing presentation. A limited palette of two to three main colors, complemented by a simple background, can help you draw attention to key elements without overwhelming the audience.
• Pictures: Pictures can communicate complex ideas quickly and memorably but choosing the right images is key. Images or pictures should be big (perhaps 20-25% of the page), bold, and have a clear purpose that complements the slide’s text.
• Layout: Don’t overcrowd your slides with too much information. When in doubt, adhere to the principle of simplicity, and aim for a clean and uncluttered layout with plenty of white space around text and images. Think phrases and bullets, not sentences.

As an intern or early career professional, chances are that you’ll be tasked with making or giving a presentation in the near future. Whether you’re pitching an idea, reporting market research, or sharing something else, a great presentation can give you a competitive advantage, and be a powerful tool when aiming to persuade, educate, or inspire others.

• Guy Kawasaki is the chief evangelist at Canva and was the former chief evangelist at Apple. Guy is the author of 16 books including Think Remarkable : 9 Paths to Transform Your Life and Make a Difference.

Partner Center

BUS633: Sales Management

Making Your Presentation Work

In these sections, you will learn when a videoconference makes more sense than a face-to-face meeting. You will also learn about the dos and don'ts of a PowerPoint presentation.

Preparation: Your Key to Success

Learning objective.

• Learn how to prepare for a sales presentation.

You've made it! After all your hard work you have reached the point in the selling process where the qualifying, researching, and planning stages pay off. Finally, your story and the customer's story are about to connect in an exciting way. Most salespeople think of the presentation as the best part of the selling process. It's the opportunity to show the prospect that you know your stuff - and the chance to deliver value by putting your problem solving skills to work. So get ready, visualize the best possible outcome to your sales presentation, and take the necessary steps to make this outcome a reality.

Keep Your Eye on the Prize

As excited as you might be about your product, or as eager as you are to demonstrate your solution, keep in mind that your sales presentation is primarily about building a relationship and beginning a partnership, especially in the business-to-business (B2B) arena. When Selena Lo, CEO of Ruckus Wireless, is gearing up for a sales presentation, she focuses her final preparations on making it personal. Lo's company specializes in wireless routers that handle video, voice, and data capabilities for businesses. When she identifies a prospect, Lo's first priority is finding the person she refers to as "the fox": her ally in the prospect company who wants to see technological changes take place in his organization. Lo gives this relationship special attention, often inviting this individual out to dinner before the presentation to win his loyalty and get any additional details about his company.

Several days before the presentation, Lo researches everyone who will be in the meeting. She reads their bios and googles them to find out their employment histories. "You don't want someone to think you checked out their entire past," says Lo, but "you try to strike up more links between you and that person". She prepares the seating arrangement for the sales meeting strategically, making sure that she will be sitting directly across from the highest-ranking person there so that she can make eye contact. On the day of the presentation, she asks a member of her sales team to write down each person's name when they walk in the door - and to make a point of using the names during the presentation.  Lo's efforts to give the sales presentation a personal touch are a reminder that in relationship selling, you can never lose sight of the most important thing: your customer. Coach yourself on this on the day of your presentation and keep it in mind in the days leading up to it. What can you do to personalize this presentation and show your customers that it's all about their organization?

Taking a customer-centric approach lies at the heart of delivering value. In these terms, value isn't about offering a good price. It's not just about solving the customer's problems either. As Tom Reilly, author of Value-Added Selling: How to Sell More Profitably, Confidently, and Professionally by Competing on Value, Not Price, explains it, delivering value means that you "define value in customer terms, ask questions, listen to customers, and put the spotlight on customer-centric solutions".  This might mean that it takes more than one meeting to close your sale; you might need several visits to adequately respond to your customer's needs. According to one study, "Today's presentations typically are conducted over several meetings, with the salesperson often doing more listening than talking". Make it your goal to see that you and your prospect get what you want out of the meeting.

It's a good idea to visualize this outcome before going into the meeting. Review your precall objectives. What will it look like to achieve these objectives? What steps will you and your prospect have to take? How will it feel when you both have achieved your goals? This isn't just about calming your nerves; visualizing the outcome you want is actually a powerful tool to help you achieve that outcome. For one thing, it's another form of planning. If you mentally run through a "movie" of the sales presentation, allowing yourself to picture your reactions and the steps you will take to close in on your objective, you will be better prepared when the meeting takes place. Each step of the presentation will come naturally to you because you have already mentally rehearsed, and you will be better positioned to sell adaptively because you have already imagined a number of possible scenarios and customer responses.

For another thing, mental rehearsal fools your subconscious mind into believing you have already achieved your goals. Sales trainer and CEO Brian Tracy says, "Your subconscious mind cannot tell the difference between a real experience and one that you vividly imagine," so if you imagine a successful presentation and its outcome several times before your actual presentation, you will be as calm and confident as if you had already closed the sale. You will smile more easily, you will speak more slowly and clearly, and you will command attention. In addition, if your subconscious mind believes you have already been in this situation before, it will direct you to say and do the things you need to achieve your objective.

The Power to Adapt

The sales presentation is where adaptive selling makes all the difference. Up until this point, you have researched and prepared and developed a solution that you think will meet your prospect's needs, but walking into the presentation and delivering on that preparation requires a different set of skills. Among other things, it requires flexibility and the ability to think on your feet. The best salespeople adapt their presentations to their prospect's reactions, and they go in knowing they may have to adapt to surprises for which they were unable to prepare (maybe the building has a power outage during the slideshow, for instance, or maybe one of the people from the customer organization decides to send another employee in his place at the last minute). These top-performing salespeople know that keeping a customer-centric focus, visualizing a successful outcome, and mentally rehearsing your presentation before you deliver it will give you the power to adapt with confidence and ease.

Adapting is all about listening. As Paul Blake noted in the video ride-along at the beginning of the chapter, your sales presentation is really a compilation of all the listening you have done to this point. And listening doesn't stop there. It's impossible to adapt if you're not listening. When you are creating your presentation, keep in mind that it is not a one-way communication. Presentations are for listening, adapting, and solving problems.

Listen and Sell

This video highlights the power of listening and tips to listen effectively during your presentation.

Logistics Matter

There's nothing worse than putting hours into preparing a killer sales presentation, only to blow your chances because you forgot to bring an important part of your demonstration or because you got lost on your way to the meeting. Don't let disorganization hold you back: take charge of the details so that your only concern on the day of the presentation is the delivery.

The Night Before

The evening before your meeting, read over your precall objectives; practice your presentation a number of times out loud; and walk through your mental rehearsal, visualizing success. You can't practice too many times. The content of your presentation should be second nature by the time you get up in front of your audience so that you can focus your energy on your prospect. Rehearsal is one of the best ways to calm your nerves so that you can focus on delivering your presentation naturally and connecting with your prospect.

Power Player: Lessons in Selling from Successful Salespeople

Rehearse your way.

Andres Mendes, global CIO of Special Olympics International, says that rehearsing out loud makes him too nervous; he likes to leave room for spontaneity and adaptation. Mendes develops the big themes of the presentation and maps these out into PowerPoint slides that tell the whole story. "I time the slides to move exactly at my pace, so I rehearse the mechanics and make sure those are right," he says. 

CIO Magazine columnist Martha Heller, on the other hand, likes to rehearse in the traditional style, delivering the presentation out loud and pacing the room as if she were in front of an audience. She never rehearses the opening though. She likes to adapt her comments to the immediate situation and energy in the room. 

The bottom line? While nearly all top-performing salespeople rehearse, not all approach rehearsal in the same way. Find the style of rehearsal that works best for you. Additionally, don't let your rehearsal lock you into delivering a rigidly defined set of remarks. You have to leave room for flexibility and adaptation.

The night before, you should also get together all the materials you'll need for your presentation - handouts, files, product samples, and contracts - and have them ready to go for the following morning. This will save you time tracking down loose supplies at the last minute, when you're trying to get out the door to make it to your meeting. It's also a good idea to set out your clothes the night before for the same reason.

If you are planning to use multimedia equipment in your presentation, make sure in advance that your prospect will have everything you'll need to make it run. If you aren't sure, bring everything (e.g., cables, adapters, remotes) with you. And of course, make sure you know how to use all your equipment. When Keith Waldon, CEO of Earth Preserv, was preparing for a meeting with JCPenney, one of his biggest prospects, he spent hours rehearsing with his multimedia equipment. The technology was a key element of his presentation, and he wanted to make sure everything would work perfectly for the big day. "I had to learn how to use all the remote-control equipment," he says. Waldon also brought a technical assistant with him as backup to safeguard against any glitches.

Getting There

It might surprise you to know how often salespeople show up late to their own presentations because they get lost on the way to the meeting. When you are traveling to an unfamiliar place for your appointment, get directions in advance, and allow extra travel time in case of traffic delays or wrong turns. Make sure you also research the parking situation beforehand. If your prospect is a large corporation with its own complex, are there reserved employee lots and visitor lots? Will you have to walk a considerable distance from your car to the meeting room? If you'll be meeting in an urban area, is street parking available, or will you have to find a parking garage? You don't want to arrive on time only to get delayed because you spent twenty minutes driving around in search of a parking spot. It's a good idea to make a "test" trip in advance of your meeting. That will help avoid surprises with traffic, parking, security, or other areas that might cause a delay. If something unavoidable does come up to set you back, make sure you call ahead to let your customer know you will be arriving late.

Besides the extra time you allow for travel, plan to arrive at the meeting a little early. Not only does this convey professionalism, but it also gives you the time to mentally prepare once you arrive and to set up any equipment you'll be using. It's a good idea to allow time to stop in the restroom and take one last look to be sure you're at your best (and it's a good time to use a breath mint). Finally, bring something to read in case you have to wait: a business magazine, a newspaper like the Wall Street Journal, or maybe a Kindle. Figure 10.1 Prepresentation Checklist

Key Takeaways

• When preparing for your sales presentation, stay focused on the essentials: your relationship with the prospect and your precall objectives.
• Practice mental rehearsal by visualizing the best possible outcome to the sales presentation.
• Delivering value to the customer means practicing adaptive selling and listening to the customer to understand her needs. Keep this in mind before and during the presentation.
• The night before your presentation, make sure you have all the logistics worked out: your equipment, your wardrobe, directions to the location, and parking information.
• You are preparing for a presentation with three executives to be considered for the internship or job you really want. List the steps you would take to rehearse your sales presentation, making sure to leave room for adaptability.
• You are preparing a presentation for representatives from a large department store who are considering buying your line of men's shoes. There will be six representatives present, none of whom you have met in person before. You have heard from your original contact at the company that one person in the group is against purchasing your product because he believes he already has something in the line that has the same look. List some things you can do to prepare for this presentation that will address the prospect's concerns.
• Assume you are a real estate agent and you are selling the dorm room, apartment, or home in which you live. Create a short sales presentation. Rehearse it so that the presentation takes only three minutes. What is the way that works best for you to rehearse?
• Assume you are sales rep for a major telecommunications company and you are preparing a presentation for a buying group at a national retailer. Identify four sources you would use to personalize the presentation to the people in the room. How would you research each of the appropriate people?

51 AI Prompts for Sales Teams to Use in 2024 [+Expert Tips]

Published: July 11, 2024

Everyone and their brother is talking about how AI can help improve sales and marketing efforts, but exactly which AI tools and prompts should you be reaching for in 2024?

From analyzing a prospect's LinkedIn profile to helping you understand your target audience, AI has endless uses in sales. But it needs to be leveraged intelligently , or your prospects will feel it's disingenuous and will write you off faster than chatGPT can spit out a response to your prompt.

As a service-based business owner, my inbox and LinkedIn DMs have been hit with many poorly executed AI sales pitches. I'm not alone here, either: we've all seen businesses leveraging AI for sales in a way that makes us cringe.

There have also been countless times we've engaged with sales processes that were using AI seamlessly .

Like it or not, AI is here to stay (per our AI stats guide):

• More than 80% of surveyed industry professionals say they're already using AI in their marketing.
• The AI market is expected to grow twentyfold by the year 2030.
• Adoption rates are skyrocketing.

I talked to founders, sales reps, and CEOs about how to use AI prompts to make the sales process more efficient. This is what they had to say.

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Table of Contents

How do sales teams use AI?

Tips for writing ai prompts for sales, ai prompts for sales research, ai prompts for social selling, ai prompts for sales emails, ai prompts for sales videos, ai prompts for sales scripts, ai prompts for sales training.

How are real sales professionals using AI to lighten their loads and improve productivity? Industry-leading sales tools have already integrated AI into their platforms, but what money is being left on the table?

No fluff. No vague descriptions that raise more questions than they answer. I asked sales reps and marketing teams to share exactly how they're using AI in their sales process. Here are AI success stories and insights for you to apply to your sales process.

AI-Powered Chatbots

“One of our frontline sales tools is our customer service chatbot,” shares Soumya Mahapatra, CEO of Essenvia . “It's capable of answering basic questions about our products and services, and directing interested queries to the representative who can best help them.”

Soumya isn't alone: in one survey, more than 25% of participants said that chatbots helped grow their lead generation by 10-20 volumes ( source ).

Basic chatbots can handle predictable consumer concerns, like booking a meeting or offering support. More advanced chatbots ( like ours ) can even help qualify leads and gather lead information.

You can build a chatbot for your website with HubSpot's free chatbot builder :

Oleg Segal shared his best advice for novice users of AI looking to increase sales: understand your audiences’ ecommerce journey. Analyze customer data so you can offer tailored website suggestions.

"Knowing where the gaps in satisfaction lie will help clarify where AI will be most useful. This is because AI is the most useful when it augments an already successful strategy . Profiling your customers by observing their habits and preferences is the best first step when looking to fulfill a need in the shopping experience,” Segal says.

Statistic : 73% of surveyed sales professionals said that AI helps them find insights from the data they would've otherwise missed ( source ).

Drafting Email and Phone Communication

“The most common way we use AI right now is to help draft good email and phone call content,” shares Marty Bauer, director of sales at Omnisend . “We test other ways to use AI but they are currently producing mixed results.”

Bauer’s team is using AI to:

• Help generate answers to common questions potential clients may have.
• Pick the most compelling subject line or email structure.
• Help write personalized proposals to potential clients.
• Write cold emails and call scripts.

Bauer noted that AI is very useful for drafting of any kind, but " it's a tool to enhance our outcomes , not a replacement for great team members who can connect with prospects and customers."

Personalizing Ad Placement

“At Ultimate Kilimanjaro, artificial intelligence is revolutionizing the way we engage with prospective climbers,” shares Michael Sawyer, operations director at Ultimate Kilimanjaro .

The AI works through algorithms for targeted advertising, Sawyer says. These highly developed algorithms look at user preferences and data to find possible climbers who want to summit the mountain.

“Through careful placement of our advertisements based on these findings, we attract a specific population that is most likely to be enthralled with the mountain's charm, thus raising our conversion rates,” Sawyer says.

At first, you may only think of money saved with improved ad placement. Another huge benefit is improved lead qualification , which can be improved in other ways with AI.

Qualifying Leads

“We use AI to analyze lead and prospect data such as age, geographic analysis, purchase intent, acquisition cost analysis, and more,” shares Randy VanderVaate, CEO and founder of Funeral Funds of America . "AI helps us assign scores to leads and prospects to help our agency prioritize the most promising leads."

Investing in lead qualification will help your sales team know exactly where to focus their time, while also improving their ratios and results. Lead more in our comprehensive guide to sales qualification .

Summarizing Meetings and Creating Action Plans

Not all AI tools handle high-level tasks — some can be used to free us up from mundane tasks that used to be done manually. All sales teams can implement AI in meeting summaries.

“Earlier, it was quite time-consuming to note down all the minutes of whatever you’ve pitched to your prospective leads. However, thanks to AI now, this process is no longer time-consuming but rather raises your efficiency levels as well,” shares Sofia Perez, content manager and owner of CharacterCounter.com .

Let AI listen to your meetings, transcribe the conversation, and then summarize key points. Then use that to:

• Quickly send a meeting summary to your team or the potential client.
• Prompt AI to take the transcript and draft follow-up emails.
• Compare your conversation transcript to your sales playbook and see which selling points you haven't discussed yet.

“This saves a lot of time and effort that could be invested into priority areas, such as thinking about how to pitch and convert even more,” Perez says. “AI not only streamlines the work processes for salespersons but makes their future course of action easier.”

Download Now: Free Elevator Pitch Templates

E-pitch templates to better sell your product, fund your business, or network.

• 4 Fundraising Pitch Templates
• 2 Networking Pitch Templates
• 2 Sales Pitch Templates

Finding the best AI sales tools is just step one - now you have to learn how to use AI correctly. Use these tips from sales teams to help you get started now.

Leverage your ideal client persona.

“I've tested pretty much every AI tool that claims to help you in sales. Most of them are terrible and too generic and won't help you at all,” said Mario Lucas, owner of ListBuilders.io .

However, Lucas found that AI helped him drill down into ideal client personas (ICP).

“I use ChatGPT to talk about my ICP, and build it out, and then integrate it. It really helps me understand the language the customer uses and the different challenges that person might face in their role, which I can help with,” he says.

Lucas also shared this warning for beginners: “Trying to use an AI tool to take shortcuts in your prospecting is just not going to work. Your prospect can tell a mile off if you've used AI, and you'll just get ignored.”

Giving Feedback

When you‘re underwhelmed by AI’s content, or you see that it went the wrong direction with your prompt, provide feedback and keep tailoring the response.

I consider every initial response from an AI tool to just be “draft 1.” Consider tailoring the feedback with prompts like these:

• Reconsider the below data and rewrite the response to incorporate that information.
• Change the tone of this response to [business professional, etc.].
• Make this response [more actionable, time-sensitive, etc.]
• Keep that response but reformat it [in a table, etc.].
• Rewrite that for my target audience [description].

Generative AI tools are meant to be dynamic. Be sure to refine what you receive.

Providing Enough Context

“No matter how much you train AI, a bad prompt will lead to an underwhelming sales copy,” warns Mark Gadala-Maria, co-founder and CEO of Post Cheetah .

Mark shared that AI prompts should consist of intrinsic details, including:

“With more information and understandable prompts, a beginner can get a sales pitch worthy of social media engagement and increased sales,” Gadala-Maria says.

Inputting Data to Train AI Systems

Invest ample time in training your AI model using high-quality data.

“When working with AI tools, especially in sales where customer behavior history is essential, it’s important to remember that your results will only be as good as the data your AI model is trained with,” shares Baidhurya Mani, CEO and founder of SellCoursesOnline.com .

For salespeople who are first-time AI users, Mani suggests that you start by using tools like Resolve Tech Solutions to gather enough data or help you clean up any existing data you’re working with.

“I've had the most success with this approach when using chatGPT,” Mani says. “I create a custom chatGPT using OpenAI’s API model training tools, so I can feed it with the specific datasets I want. This way, the answers it generates are fine-tuned using the unique context of my business data.”

Exploring Need-Specific AI Tools

ChatGPT can do a lot, but it‘s just a general AI tool. There are many AI tools that can serve specific tasks better. Take HubSpot’s AI tool ChatSpot , for example.

2. "What does the buyer's journey look like for the below product and target audience? My audience typically invests [$X] on my brand."

3. "I'm a business that [offers this] to [target audience]. Help me find my brand voice . It should have a [professional/friendly/funny/etc.] tone."

4. "Below is a description of my company, product, and target audience. Make a list of pain points that I can market towards."

5. "You're doing market research for [company name], a business that offers [product summary]. What public research and statistics from the last five years are relevant to [industry]? Include sources."

6. "I sell [product description] to [target audience]. What kind of user experience considerations should I have for my sales page?"

7. "Do a competitive analysis between my brand [name] and [competing brand name]. Gather strengths, weaknesses, and marketing opportunities. Display these in a table."

8. "I sell [product] to [target audience]. What are some objections buyers might have?"

9. "You are conducting pricing research . Compare [my company] pricing to other competing [business type]. Include company name, features, pricing tiers, and plan names. Compile data in a table and include a summary of what features my company is missing versus my competitors."

10. "I work for [company name] selling [product] to [target audience]. Help me develop a strategy for cold email outreach . Who should I be targeting? Which companies? Which job titles at those companies? Generate this information in a table."

11. "Develop a customer feedback survey for [product] for [company name], a business that [company summary]. The survey should touch on their purchase satisfaction as well as areas for improvement."

This is a simple customer feedback form prompt.

Dig deeper : Use HubSpot's free ChatSpot AI tool for your customer feedback survey. It's specifically designed for sales and comes with plug-and-play templates.

2. "Turn the below blog post text into social media posts for Facebook . Include the hook for each post, a detailed summary of the content, and end with the call to action to learn more on our website."

3. "Generate a list of Instagram video ideas and scripts for [audience description] with the call to action to book a sales call. Make five ideas for each product listed below. Highlight [your unique value proposition].

4. "Below is my sales playbook for [brand name, description]. Pull 20 points and make a list of potential social media posts that help sell [your product]."

5. "Create an outline for a LinkedIn post that summarizes the key takeaways of the below industry news article for [description of your LinkedIn connections]."

50+ for Social Selling on LinkedIn and Beyond

Use this guide to improve your social selling efforts and close more deals from platforms like...

6. "You are creating a YouTube video showing how your product works for potential customers who are considering buying it. Use the product description below to write a video script that answers viewers' questions."

7. "I want to publish content on X that establishes me as an authority in the [your niche] niche to sell [product]. Below is a list of my authority points. Come up with a list of X threads that build my personal brand and end with selling my product."

8. "Do a competitive analysis between [competing brand name] and my brand [name], then come up with a table of social posts that market my brand's strengths over [competing brand name]. Include five ideas per platform, and include a hook and summary for each post."

9. "Below is an Instagram post by [your job title] for [target audience]. Pretend you're a social media manager and write a list of potential questions that I can pin in my comments section to inspire easy audience engagement."

10. "Using direct messaging on social media is a delicate balance between genuine conversation and discussing business. I sell [product] for [company]. What are some ideas for engaging with [target audience] authentically in the DMs without immediately selling?"

2. "My product description is below. Write a cold outreach email sequence targeting [description of lead]. It should have five emails with the CTA [your CTA]."

3. "Generate a snappy subject line for the below sales email for [target audience]. This is the second follow-up email in a series of cold outreach."

4. "I work for [company name and description] and sell [product] to [target audience]. I want to send emails that generate responses from recipients. The goal is to foster a genuine connection with readers and get them to engage with my email marketing. Generate a list of email subject lines, hooks, email body outlines, and closing questions that will inspire a response and build a genuine email community. Format in a table."

5. "You're doing sales prospecting for [target audience description] selling [product description] by [company name]. Generate 20 email topics that can be used to introduce our product to potential new leads. Include a brief and catchy subject line, plus a summary of the email body text."

6. "Help me A/B test email subject lines . Compare the email subject lines below and tell me which one will get better open rates for my audience."

7. "Below is a cold sales email that didn't receive a follow-up when sent to [prospect description]. Write a catchy, concise follow-up email trying to get a response out of the recipient. The email CTA is [CTA]."

8. "You're developing an email sales strategy for Black Friday. Create an email schedule for pushing my [product]. Include a calendar detailing which emails should go out to email prospects when."

9. "The below cold outreach email sequence to [description of lead] for [product description] didn't generate a response. Craft a final email that includes a down-sell offer of [your down-sell offer] for this lead."

10. "Below is my product description. Come up with creative email freebies related to the product to help incentivize [target audience] to join my email list."

Video is one of the most powerful mediums at our disposal. Simplify the process with these AI prompts for sales videos.

1. "Analyze popular videos on TikTok in the [name] niche. Based on what's performing well on TikTok, come up with a list of video suggestions for me to make promoting [product description]."

2. "Help me optimize my video for YouTube SEO . Take the below video transcript and write a title and video description that's optimized for [keyword]."

3. "Below is a list of our positive customer feedback and product reviews for [product description]. Create a list of short-form video ideas for TikTok and Instagram based on the positive feedback. Include a hook and video script for each concept."

4. "My product description and features are below. List five ways in which life for my [target audience] will be better with my product, and generate video ideas based on each benefit. Display these in a table with video hooks, outline, intended platform, and close with a CTA."

5. "What type of videos about [topic] perform best on TikTok? Looking at what performs best, come up with video scripts for [product] sales videos. Have these topics be genuinely helpful to viewers and not full of fluff or sales pitches."

6. "You are trying to sell [product] on YouTube. What are the most-searched keywords in the [your niche] niche on YouTube? Using this information, give me 10 SEO-optimized video titles targeting popular search terms. Include a detailed video outline for each video title."

Sales scripts can be intimidating, but you'll never have to start with a blank page again.

1. "Below is my product description and my target audience. Write a brief, catchy sales script trying to get this [prospect's job title] to try a demo of my product."

2. "Take the below meeting transcript and create five follow-up sales call scripts based on this lead's expressed needs and interests."

3. "You sell [product name and description] to [target audience]. Which pain points should be highlighted in your sales scripts?"

4. "You're a [job title] trying to sell [your product description]. Write a sales script focusing on [ your product differentiators ]."

5. "Below is my product description. Come up with a list of sales script questions for a call with [job title] at [company description]."

6. "You sell [product] to [target audience]. Create five personalized templates for sales scripts that have fill-in-the-blank personalization options. Each [prospect's job title] who I read this script to should feel like I took time to look at their company and their current [niche/pain point you solve] standing."

7. "I sell [product name], a solution to [pain points]. My prospect's company uses the competing tool [tool name]. Draft a custom sales script that outlines the benefits of using [your company name]'s tool over our competitor."

Did you know you can see which digital tools your prospect's company uses with ChatSpot?

Your sales team is only as good as your training. Here are AI prompts for sales training that you can try today.

1. "My company [company name] sells [product] in the [market/industry/niche]. What are the main pain points that our targets face? Explain these at the beginner level to educate new sales reps."

2. "You're explaining the landscape of the [market/industry/niche] to a brand-new sales associate who will sell [your product]. What points should be covered? Draft a training presentation outline . Start with the basic information and scale up to cover the pain points."

3. "We are selling [product] to [audience]. Some of our new sales reps are brand new to the [your industry] industry. Pull public data, research, and statistics about our niche and summarize it in a table by topic of history, current state, and growth predictions."

4. "Below is a list of poor customer feedback and negative reviews for [product name and description]. Make a list of counterpoints that a new sales rep could reference during a sales call."

5. "Below is a list of great customer feedback and positive reviews for [product name and description]. Make a list of talking points that a new sales rep could reference during a sales call."

6. "Take the below sales call transcript and turn it into a training resource for our new sales reps."

7. "We are training our new sales reps to understand our product. Below is an export of our customer survey results . Pull key data, talking points, and themes from the below customer service results and develop a summary for our trainees."

So, where does AI fit into the sales workflow?

AI chatbots build relationships, but obvious AI emails ruin them. Why?

Because people feel duped when they realize something that should've been human was actually AI.

You don‘t need to have studied customer psychology to understand that your customers and clients don’t want to feel your sales team fading into chatGPT. A sales team that abandons the human touch can toss customer retention right out the window with it.

My biggest takeaway from interviewing sales teams that use AI is this: AI should enhance a system that already works. A lot of people are leveraging AI incorrectly in sales, but those who make it work are reaping the rewards.

Use HubSpot's AI sales tool to start freeing up your time and maximizing your efforts today.

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How to compete and win with your listing presentation (+ scripts)

Win your next listing by acing the fundamentals of the listing appointment, including a knockout listing presentation

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In this article, I’ll share close to two decades of experience as a licensed agent and small brokerage owner in Boston to help you compete and win listings with a dynamite listing presentation. As agents, we compete for a finite number of available homes to list and sell. That’s why it’s crucial that you stand out amongst your competitors to get those listings.

The real estate listing presentation is one of the most critical tools in your arsenal for demonstrating your knowledge, expertise, experience, and above all — your authenticity. A well-done listing presentation not only distinguishes you from your competitors — it also elevates the seller’s experience of working with you from day one. It may sound cliché, but you never get a second chance to make a first impression. We break it down for you, sharing how to create a knockout listing presentation AND how to crush your next listing appointment.

• Research market data
• Prepare a pricing strategy
• Prepare your pitch
• Update your listing presentation 
• Prepare for your listing appointment  
• Set the stage for success
• Actively listen
• Be honest & authentic
• Conduct a needs analysis  
• Demonstrate your value
• Share your market analysis
• Present your marketing strategy
• Discuss pricing strategy
• Reiterate your value proposition
• Close the deal

The full picture: How to win more listings with a knockout listing presentation

How to create a knockout listing presentation in 5 steps.

Creating a knockout listing presentation requires detailed research, solid data, market knowledge, marketing acumen, organizational skills and excellent design to clearly communicate all the information you want to share with your client. We’ll walk you through the steps to creating an impressive, concise, and attractive listing presentation document, which you can present in hard copy or digital format.

Step 1. Research market data

Your work begins once you and your client have set an appointment to meet. It’s crucial for you to know the market and understand the numbers. Your local MLS and association can help you find these crucial data points. You may also want to research the client on social media to understand their needs and circumstances. What is their family size? How long have they lived in the home? Here’s a checklist of information you should include in your listing presentation (or have on hand when you arrive at the listing appointment). Find out the answers to these questions before you arrive so you can come armed with all the necessary information.

• Market Inventory: What is the current market and micro-market inventory?
• Days on Market: How long does it take for properties to sell? Understand Days on Market (DOM) in the area
• Average Sales Price: What are the average selling prices for similar properties in the area
• Property Costs: Understand the property’s current HOA fees, property taxes, and other costs
• School District: Look up the school district and local schools
• Walkability Score: Research the area’s walkability score
• Market Type: What type of market are you in? (Seller / Buyer/ Balanced). Numbers and market types can differ locally, regionally and nationally and it is helpful to be able to communicate how your market compares and fits into a broader context.

Step 2. Prepare a pricing strategy

Many sellers think they understand pricing as well as you do. It’s important to do your research and determine the selling price of the property yourself.

Pricing properties is not an exact science, but there are pricing strategies you can apply to help get you there. The first is on a macro-level and considers market conditions. Understanding the type of market you’re in and the current inventory are significant pieces of information that can help you determine the selling price of a property. You may find it easier to discuss pricing with sellers if you can explain current market conditions. You can find the data to determine the market type in your local MLS. The three different types of markets, based on inventory, are:

• Seller’s Market – Less than six months of inventory in the area. Key indicators of this type of market are multiple offers and properties that sell very quickly.
• Balanced Market – Six months of housing inventory in the area. There is no advantage to either buyers or sellers in this type of market.
• Buyer’s Market – Greater than six months’ worth of inventory in the area. There are usually many properties available at different price points in a buyer’s market and properties generally take longer to sell. Listings often receive offers under the asking price from buyers.

Another important pricing strategy on the micro-level involves understanding the “comps” or comparable properties that are currently listed or that have recently sold in your client’s area. This can be accomplished by preparing a full Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) , or it can be a less formal conversation about comps at your listing appointment. Alternatively, you can make it an addendum to your listing presentation to be added at a later date, after you’ve viewed the home at the listing appointment (more on where and when that should be held later!).

Step 3. Prepare your pitch

It’s important to have your “elevator pitch” ready. Developing and communicating this pitch is essential to your listing presentation. We refer to this as your value proposition and it’s a unique, very concise statement about what you offer your clients and why they should choose you — in one or two sentences.

While you may feel challenged to develop your value proposition, it may be easier than you think! One strategy is to look at your past client or employment reviews (if you’re new to the business) and circle the descriptive words that others use about you, like “communicates well,” “hard worker,” or “knowledgeable.” You will likely see a pattern in how others describe you, and you can use those descriptors to help define and create your unique value proposition. 

Step 4. Update your listing presentation 

Designing a winning listing presentation may seem challenging, but you don’t need to reinvent the wheel! Many resources and templates are available (both free and paid) to help you design a knockout listing presentation. Most large real estate brokerages have tools available for agents already branded with logos and colors and ready for you to input your information. Smaller brokerages may not provide the same, but you can find easy-to-use, customizable real estate listing presentation templates online: 

• Breakthrough Broker

The real estate market fluctuates and constantly changes and so should you. When those changes happen, you need to be mindful of how recent market changes need to be communicated in your listing presentation and you must adapt accordingly. Updating your presentation before each listing appointment is a surefire way to ensure that your information and presentation remain accurate and impactful as possible. 

Step 5. Prepare for your listing appointment 

Aside from your winning personality, don’t forget to bring these items with you to your appointment:

• A professionally presented real estate listing presentation: Bring enough copies for all sellers to review.
• Pre-filled listing paperwork: Prepare the listing paperwork both digitally and in hard copy. Most information can be pre-filled prior to the presentation.
• A fully charged tablet or computer if you are presenting digitally: Remember that technology doesn’t always work the way you expect it to. Additionally, digital presentations can sometimes be awkward depending on the setting or location, or if you are presenting to more than one person. Always be prepared with hard copies even if you are expecting to present on your tablet or computer.
• A pen: Some sellers still use them and you may need one to sign the paperwork.

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How to crush your listing appointment in 10 steps

What does a successful listing appointment look like? The goal of a successful listing appointment is to win the listing and walk away with a signed contract in hand. It’s that simple. As an agent, you are a facilitator of the home-selling process. The most important thing to remember about the listing appointment, your listing presentation and the entire selling process is that it’s about the seller — not you. Here’s how you can crush every listing appointment and leave with a signed contract.

Step 1: Set the stage for success

Real estate agents are famous for selling the importance of location, location, location . The location of your listing appointment sets the stage for your successful listing presentation, and the best opportunity for you to see the home is when you’re making your pitch. That’s why your listing appointment should always take place at the seller’s home. While it seems that everything can be done online these days — this can’t. You must see the home to accurately assess it and offer valuable advice to the homeowners.

Step 2: Actively listen

While highlighting your skills and experience is important to establish your credibility and success, a key portion of your listing appointment should be spent listening carefully to the seller. Following the rule of listening twice as much as you speak will always pay off in your listing presentations.

Always keep in mind that selling a home is often a highly emotional experience for the seller. It can be happy, sad, exciting or a tangle of conflicting emotions. Sellers want to feel heard and will almost always tell you exactly what they want, need, or expect from their experience. If you listen — really listen — and genuinely strive to understand their motivations, needs, concerns and fears, you’ll be able to direct the conversation or adapt your presentation to better address their specific needs.

Pro tip: Listen twice as much as you speak to understand your client’s needs.

For example, a seller may tell you they want to sell their home quickly to relocate out of the country for a new job opportunity. In hearing and understanding those needs, you should focus your presentation on marketing, pricing, staging and other pre-market strategies that favor a faster timeline so you can list and sell their property quickly and efficiently.

Here’s a script you can use to kick off your real estate listing presentation:

Listing presentation script:

“I’m looking forward to sharing your wonderful home with the market and generating a pool of buyers who want to compete with each other for it. Let me show you how we can do that with a mix of advertising, marketing and leveraging our market share here in (local market).”

Step 3. Be honest & authentic 

An authentic agent who listens to sellers and always advises them honestly is a successful agent. Telling a seller something they don’t want to hear is uncomfortable, but you will earn their respect by being honest and forthcoming. Avoid oversharing information about yourself or becoming a storyteller in a listing presentation. Sure, you want to assure them of your skills and experience, but saying less about yourself (and again — listening more! ) can be much more impactful.

Step 4. Conduct a needs analysis 

This can be formal or informal, depending on your personal style. But if you’re actively listening, you can weave some of these questions into the conversation to help get to know the seller and their situation:

• What is your desired timeframe for listing and selling your home? 
• Are you looking to upgrade or downsize? 
• Are you relocating out of the state or the country?
• Is your timeframe dictated by the school year or a job?
• Do you have an idea of the pricing of your home? 
• What renovations or updates have you made that you believe could add value to your home?

Please remember that if the seller is not your client (yet!), you must advise them against sharing information you could inadvertently leverage against them if they choose another listing agent. Should you later bring forth a potential buyer, some of their answers to the questions here could compromise negotiations — so be sure to give them fair warning before delving too deep!

Step 5. Demonstrate your value

You can stand out with sellers by providing value and sharing information other agents may not have provided in their presentations (and you should always assume you’re not the only agent vying for their business!). Some examples of topics that you can discuss that provide unique value to your sellers:

• Safety – Many sellers don’t consider the potential dangers of opening their homes to strangers. I recommend that sellers secure or remove all medications, personal photos, small electronics, bills, financial papers, and any artwork that can identify them, including names from bedroom walls. This step is especially important if they have children. You’ll help your clients prevent theft, identity theft or other more serious crimes.
• Decluttering/staging – When touring the home as part of your presentation, provide decluttering and staging advice. While not every seller can afford professional staging, your recommendations can be invaluable in helping them prepare their property for sale.
• Repairs, renovations and updates – Discuss any repairs, renovations or updates (both big and small) that could significantly increase the selling price of your client’s home. Point out small repairs that can make a big difference, like fixing water stains on ceilings. Updating a bathroom might substantially add value to the selling price relative to the cost of the update. Conversely, some repairs, renovations or updates may not be worthwhile. Advising the client and boosting their selling price can help solidify you as a valuable and knowledgeable agent.

Pro tip: Listings can be won by providing information that no other agent has provided!

Step 6. share your market analysis.

Understanding the market and your ability to communicate clearly about it are two of the most vital skills of a successful real estate agent. Always be mindful of the changes in the market locally, regionally and nationally. Be sure that you also understand what is happening in the financial world with mortgage rates and other factors that may impact the market — and ultimately, your home seller’s transaction.

While understanding the current market is important, it is also crucial to understand the direction that the market could be headed in the coming months or year ahead. For instance, if mortgage rates are projected to increase within the coming months, sharing that information with your seller can help them make a more informed decision about listing their property. Here’s a timely example. Early this year, the National Association of REALTORS® announced the settlement of the Sitzer/Burnett Commission Lawsuit that will undoubtedly change the way that real estate commissions are handled. If you aren’t clearly explaining this settlement and what it means for sellers in your listing presentation, you’re not doing your job. Here is a script to help you communicate with your clients about buyer’s agent commissions:

Buyer’s agent commission script:

“(______), there are new changes in the real estate industry with respect to the payment of commissions for sellers agents and buyers agents. I would like to take a few moments to explain to you how this impacts you as you prepare to sell your home …”

Step 7. Present your marketing strategy 

Even in a highly active market, you should still have a comprehensive plan for marketing your seller’s property. Some ideas that can help you kickstart your listing marketing plan include: 

• Video marketing. Get creative with videos of your listings and post them to Facebook, Instagram Reels or YouTube. Try using drone footage for a unique perspective, but make sure to follow all local and federal aviation laws.
• QR codes + hot sheets. Create real estate flyers or virtual hot sheets for your listing and include a QR code so potential buyers can easily view a short video of the property’s highlights.
• Canvas the neighborhood . Knock on doors, call or leave flyers for neighbors and give them a sneak peek of your listing. 
• Facebook community groups. Spotlight your listing in groups that allow it (or start your own group) and share livestream videos (“lives”). Offer sneak previews to build interest in your listings. 
• Social media marketing : You don’t have to crush it on all platforms, but pick one or two, build an audience, and market your listings. Check out our 11 social media marketing strategies that work!

We love Coffee & Contracts because they deliver done-for-you, polished graphics and daily posts made to fit every social media channel — all for just $54 per month. Here’s what your Just Listed post might look like:

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Paige Steckling | Utah Real Estate Agent (@utahrealestatepaige)

You can also check out agent and coach Ashley Harwood’s foolproof marketing plan and template to help you determine which marketing activities yield the best results for you, and her advice on how to get more listings:

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Step 8: discuss pricing strategy.

Sellers are more savvy than ever, and with countless online tools and resources available to them, most sellers already know the value of their home or how much they expect to sell it for before they sit down with you. While you may need to discuss pricing with them if you disagree with their number, agents spend much less time on this aspect of the listing presentation these days. However, it’s essential to set clear expectations at the outset. It may be challenging to discuss how a change in the market positions their property at a lower price point than they expect. However, that discussion is far better to have early rather than pricing their property inappropriately high and having it stagnate on the market. If you later need to lower their selling price, you’ve laid the groundwork for that discussion by pointing out the gap between their expectations and current market conditions.

Step 9: Reiterate your value proposition

Now that you’ve cleared the pricing hurdle, shared your expertise and market data, shown your client comps, toured the home and proven your value — it’s time to remind them of your elevator pitch. Circle back to the reasons this seller should hire you and only you to successfully list, market and sell their home. It’s important to be mindful of how they’re feeling, since selling a home and moving can signal big changes in their lives. A little empathy can go a long way here, and that’s a surefire way to cement your value proposition with any client. People want to work with people they like. While you may have cited your successes earlier in the meeting, now is the time to really focus on the client.

What do they need to move forward? How can you help make this big life change seamless and hassle-free for them? Be attentive, listen and show that you’re going to take care of them through this daunting process. After all, this may be the launchpad for a lifelong agent-client relationship.

Step 10: Close the deal

Ok, this is the tough part where you have to ask for your client’s business, bring out your prepared contract, and ask them to sign on the dotted line. As we said at the beginning, a successful real estate listing presentation ends with a signed contract . If you’re unsure how to broach the topic, you can use Boston-based listing agent and coach Ashley Harwood’s helpful and proven closing script to ask for your client’s business:

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With the many tools and templates available to help agents create winning listing presentations — and armed with your value proposition, market and comps data — we’re confident that you can crush your upcoming listing appointments if you follow the advice we’ve shared here.

Remember: When you deliver your listing presentation to a seller, always listen to them as a trusted advisor, present yourself honestly and authentically, and accurately explain the market conditions to them. If you follow these steps, we’re confident you can leave your next listing appointment with a signed listing agreement. We’re rooting for you!

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