Sales decks can be incredibly helpful in boosting sales productivity and effectiveness. But how many slides should a sales deck have? Find out in this blog post!I remember when I was first starting out in sales, my manager gave me a stack of papers stapled together with the words “sales deck” written on it. He told me that this would be my key to success in selling our product.At the time, I had no idea what a sales deck was or how many slides should be included in one. So, I did some research and found out that most experts recommend between 20-30 slides for an effective sales deck.
Sales Deck
A sales deck is a presentation that salespeople use to pitch products or services to potential customers. A typical sales deck includes slides with information about the company, the product or service, customer testimonials, and pricing.
Salespeople use sales decks to persuade customers to buy their products or services.
What is a Sales Deck?
A Sales Deck is a PowerPoint presentation that is often used to explain your product and why a prospect should purchase it. It often accompanies a pitch or a demo.
What Should A Sales Deck Include?
A sales script should describe who you are and what problem you solve. It should describe how things used to be before the problem, and how things will be after the problem is solved.
The pitch needs to demonstrate how you will transport the client from point A to B.
What Are the Key Elements of Great Sales Decks?
A sales pitch is crucial to your sales process, but the majority of them end up poorly done.
Here’s what we do wrong with these:
(1) Focusing on the features of your product instead of telling a compelling story
(2) Overusing bullet points
(3) Presenting a scripted speech or reading a prepared script aloud.
That’s why we’ve put together this step-by-step guide to building a better sales pitch.
(1) Build out your storyline
(2) Creating and customizing visual content for your content
(3) Changing the format of your script based on how you will deliver it.
This advice is from experts, and we’re going to show you some examples of how you can put these tips into practice.
Part 1. How to Craft Your Story in Your Sales Presentations
When you’re creating your sales presentation, remember that your prospects don’t really care about the product.
Stories are a powerful way to convey information. While statistics only retain 5-10% of your audience, and 25% of images are retained, 60-70% of information is remembered when stories are told.
In this age where we’re constantly bombarded with information and advertisements, stories are the best way to connect with your audience.
Docsend recently overhauled their sales pitch, and the results were astounding. The revamped pitch saw a 300% increase in prospect engagement, meaning that their potential customers were much more interested in what they had to say.
This was an important step because it meant the salesperson could move the conversation forward.
How do you choose which stories to use in your sales pitches? It depends on the size of the business and the nature of the sale.
Generally, if you are speaking to a potential customer:
When presenting to executives, be sure to tell a story that appeals to their high-level thinking. For example, the now-legendary “Zuora Deck” is a great example of a presentation that does just that.
As a business leader, you need to present your proposal in a practical way. The approach outlined by Peter Kazanjy in “Founding Sales” will help you make the case and get the budget you require.
As a techy, you should define your market and execute a well-thought-out product demonstration. This is the best way to sell your wares.
You can adjust this based on the size and budget of each of your prospective clients.
1A. The CXO Deck
Getting top-level executives to believe in your solution and vision is key to accelerating your deals. Once they believe in you, they can apply top-down pressure on your prospect to close.
What is the cxo (chief x officer) pitch? The Chief X Officer (CxO) Pitch is a sales tool used by enterprises to concisely tell their company’s story. This powerful presentation highlights the most critical information a decision maker needs to hear in order to close a deal.
Here are the main elements of his work:
The number one most important part of your story is your opener: what’s the big thing that changed the world and made your business not only necessary, but cool?
Your happiest customers are your best resources when it comes to determining what big changes need to be made.
Choose 4-6 of your customers who are most excited about your product or service. Ask them:
How has [Company] changed in the last year? If [company] failed, what would be the reason? What other companies do you align with, and why? Finally, how has [product] affected [your company]?
From here, you will be able to view patterns that will help you understand the perspective of your buyer. This will help you better connect with them and increase your chance of making more sales and conversions.
1B. The Budget Holder Proposal
This is the “budget-holder” version of the “sales-deck” for the decision maker who will actually make the decision. Your goal is to show this individual that the investment will be worth it by demonstrating your value.
To share the core elements, here are the highlights of this approach to selling:
In this logic-based sales approach, you need to prove your return on investment. The CxO pitch is based around a big change in culture and business, whereas this presentation is centred around the cost of a problem right now.
Position your solution to your prospect as a problem solver by outlining the cost associated with their problem. This will highlight how much your solution is really worth.
1C. The Practitioner’s Demo
Your goal is to help your prospective customers adopt your software. Don’t jump right into demos, instead, start by getting to know them and learning about their daily routines.
By telling a story, you help your prospect visualize how the product works. Here’s how to do it:
When you present your pitch by framing your demonstration around the customer’s problem, you can tailor your presentation to their needs. This helps you focus on the most important features, and ensures that you address their pain points.
When giving a sales demo, it’s important to focus on only the three features that will solve the specific problem your customer has. By doing so, you’ll be able to give a tailored, personalized demonstration.
Part 2. How to Personalize and Enhance Your Content
With more businesses than ever before vying for your customers’ attention and dollars, it can be challenging to stand out from the pack.
How do you get your prospects to call you back?
Customization Personalized Emails Earn 26% Higher Click-Through Rates
If you’re not customizing your outreach, you’re missing out. Personalized sales decks are proven to earn 26% more clicks, and 6x more transactions. Imagine the impact this could have on your conversions.
Bullet Point Slides Compete With Bullet Point Slides
Over 65% of people are visual learners, and 43% more persuaded by visuals than by bullet points.
Don’t believe us? Look at your co-workers: They are scrolling their Instagram feeds, slacking off with funny gifs, and using emojis to text.
After, they are checking out Snapchat, Liking Facebook posts, and Commenting on YouTube videos.
How do your bullet points compare to the competition?
They won’t be able to.
2A. Customize Your Deck
As part of your sales story, you should customize your introduction and closing slides.
“Your First Slide Needs to be About What You’ve Learned from YOUR CLIENTS.” – Douglas Landis
If you want to really stand out, try customizing your deck to match your prospect’s brand. This can be as simple as using their colors as a theme throughout the presentation.
2B. Visualize Your Content
By visualizing your ideas, your conversations become more engaging with your prospects. Your message will actually stick with them, too.
Before customers buy anything, they have to understand how it functions.
Metaphors can help your prospect understand what you’re trying to do quickly.
CEO of Company X does this well when he describes their product as the salesman in your store. This metaphor and explanation evoke an emotional response that sticks with you longer than a laundry list of features.
Use Simple Visual Layouts For Sales Slides
As a salesperson, you’re not trained to be an artist, because your job is not to create works of art. Your job is to communicate.
Visuals are processed 60,000 times faster than text and 4 times better than reading. Using a simple layout in your slide deck can have a huge impact.
Even if you’re not an artist, here are some examples of great visual aids for your presentation.
Visualizing Your Case Studies
Visual Case Studies are the best way to provide credibility to your service.
Using visual aids like images, charts, and graphs is a great way to create a shared vision with your audience. These images are more abstract, so your customers will have to use their own imagination to picture the new product.
When creating your case study, you want to include as many concrete examples as possible.
Show that your customers are not just an idea, but a real person. You can do this by including pictures or videos of customers using your product. This will show your prospects that the product you’re selling is the real deal and can help them too.
Part 3. Flexing Format Based on Delivery Method
“The only time you should show a live demo to a sales prospect is when you’re actually talking to them. Otherwise, your sales team is wasting their time.” –Cole Fox, Lead IQ
Your new practitioner’s framework for presenting to end users of a product was a big hit. As you’re wrapping things up, your prospective client asks for something you can send to her boss.
If you send a text version of the presentation you just gave, your prospective client (your buyer) will be completely lost. If you simply email them the presentation, they’ll never open it.
3 Best Sales Deck Templates and Examples
Keep the text on your slides to 20 words and 60 for decks that people will be reading. If people are spending 5 minutes looking through your 10 page presentation, then that means they’re only looking at each of your 10 pages for 30 seconds before moving on.
At average reading speeds, that allows for 60-100 words per slide.
The fewer words you use on each slide, the more opportunity you have to establish your expertise and engage with your audience.
Here’s how this looks in action. Take your existing 60 word version of your deck and split it in two.
When it’s time to present, just remove the body text boxes for your 20-word version. This will help keep your audience engaged and focused on what you’re saying.
As buyers increasingly view content on mobile devices (up to 42% during the purchase process), limiting the text density of your content is more important than ever.
Your targets should be at least half the aforementioned limits if you want to keep your audience engaged. This is because reading speeds slow significantly when moving from a full screen to a mobile device.
What is a Sales Deck, Template and examples>
You only have one chance to make a first impression. Your sales deck will be the deciding factor in whether or not you close a deal or lose a prospect. Make sure your sales deck is up to par and makes a strong impression.
If you’re looking for a sales deck that will close deals time and time again, look no further. We’ve collected 3 of the best sales deck templates and examples out there that are sure to change your sales approach!
Let’s do this.
Zuora Sales Deck Template
If you’re looking for a top-notch sales deck, look no further than Zuora. This company sells a SaaS platform for subscription billing that is sure to impress.
It’s no surprise that Andy Raskin, a messaging and positioning expert responsible for crafting some of the most successful sales, marketing, and investor pitches in Silicon Valley, called this particular template “The Greatest Sales Deck.” After all, it’s helped Zuora close deals with some of the biggest names in business.
We’ve redesigned the original pitch deck using Slidebean to make it even more effective. Check it out here:
The Slide Show – The World Show
A big, relevant change happening in the world is that more and more people are becoming health conscious. There will be winners and losers with this change. The winners will be those who make healthy choices and live a healthier lifestyle. The losers will be those who don’t make healthy choices and continue to live an unhealthy lifestyle. The promised land for the winners is a life full of energy, vitality, and longevity. The features that will help them overcome obstacles to the promised land are eating healthy foods, exercising regularly, and getting enough sleep. The evidence that they can make the story come true is that many people have already made these changes in their lives and are reaping the benefits.
Sales Pitch Methodology
By studying the art of selling and the science of it, you can perfect your pitch. By incorporating the techniques of the best salespeople, you can close more deals.
Why we chose the Sales Pitch Methodology Deck:The sales pitch methodology deck is a powerful tool that can help you close more deals and increase your sales. The author, Siamac Rezaiezadeh, has used this approach time and time again with great success. We took the original guide and redesigned it on Slidebean to make it even more effective.
The big picture is that we are all looking for ways to improve our lives and make things easier. The problem is that there are so many different products and solutions out there, it’s hard to know which ones are worth our time and money. That’s where I come in. I have a solution that is guaranteed to solve your problem, and it’s backed by social and technical proof points. Plus, my team is the best in the business, so you can be confident that you’re making the right decision.
Conclusion
A sales deck can be a helpful tool in boosting sales productivity and effectiveness. However, it is important to remember that too many slides can actually hinder your presentation. The key is to find the right balance of information and visuals that will engage your audience without overwhelming them.
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