A sales presentation is one of the most vital aspects of a sales pitch. During an effective presentation, you make your value known and show prospective clients why your product or service is right for them.
As a sales rep, if you do not give a compelling sales presentation, how will your potential customers know anything about your company and make decisions as buyers?
Despite how vital sales presentations are, they are far from easy. You may need help deciding how to design and what to put in your sales presentation. If this sounds familiar, read on for the best sales presentation strategies.
This article will cover the basics of making a successful sales presentation, from the best presentation ideas to how to end the presentation.
What is a Sales Presentation?
In its barest form, a sales presentation is a persuasive speech to guide potential clients to closed deals. It is a tool that a sales rep utilizes during their pitch to help sell a product or service.
A sales presentation may utilize a variety of mediums or tools, such as a slide deck. Some TV advertisements, such as those by the famous Billy Mays, may count as sales presentations.
Ultimately, there are many descriptions of a sales presentation. Each presentation is unique in some way.
The Most Important Things To Include In Your Sales Presentation
Sales presentations are one of humankind’s oldest yet most reliable sales strategies and methods. Millions of salespeople worldwide have utilized presentations to present business opportunities to prospects and close a deal.
With such a long trial period, sales reps have figured out some of the most vital design elements to include in your successful presentation. Here are some of the sales presentation ideas you should include:
- The Title Slide
- An Introduction To You And Your Company
- Statistics And Graphics
- Before And After Pictures And Comparisons
- Bridge Slides To Maintain Coherency
Which Slides To Include
You will find nothing more important than your sales slides when making a presentation. Slides help keep your information convenient and organized, while your prospects will find it easier to follow along.
Slide presentations also help as visual aids. Slides that include images can help your prospects retain information. One study shows that people can remember over 2500 images with 90% accuracy for several days with only a few seconds of exposure.
However, this does not mean you should bog your slides down with statistics and images. Too many slides can slow the pace of your presentation and confuse or bore your audience.
It can be confusing to strike a balance and determine which slides to include in your presentation. Here are some suggested outlines for your sales pitch.
Remember that the best sales pitches are flexible, and you should not use these outlines as rigid standards. Find what works best for you and tailor it to your prospect’s needs.
Pitch Deck Outline
- Your Introduction
- Their Problem
- Your Solution
- Market Size and Opportunity
- Elaborate On Product
- Your Team
- You Versus Your Competition
- Cost
- Their Investment and Your Use of Funds
Presentation Outline For Particular Service or Product
- Your Introduction
- Their Problem
- Your Solution
- Elaborate On Product
- Cost
- Closing Statement
Sales Presentation Styles
No sales leaders build their presentations the same way. Each presentation will vary according to the pitch’s needs, the prospect’s needs, and the salesperson’s talents or strategies.
However, particular presentation ideas and methods are more common than others. Below are some examples of sales presentation techniques that you may find helpful.
Do not think that you are restricted to a single presentation style. The best sales leaders will find a way to utilize pieces of each style throughout their presentations.
The Visual Style
It is no falsehood that visual aids can aid your actual sales presentation.
When you apply this visual style to your presentation method, you ensure that an audience of any size has full engagement and attention to your presentation.
Even if you are using a remote presentation, such as over Zoom, you should consider showing your face during a visual presentation to keep their attention on you. One study showed that digital presentations involving a webcam were 41% more likely to close than those without.
Additionally, utilizing visual aids helps you stay on the message while emphasizing and highlighting your message.
Freeform Style
If you have improvisation skills, a freeform-style presentation may be the right fit for you. Freeform stylings do not rely on sales slides but utilize a speaker’s communication ability.
The freeform style is perfect for effective orators and conversation starters with charisma and a penchant for improvisation. In these cases, a salesperson will want to harness the power of repetition.
Several studies show the benefit of repetition on precise memory retention for prospects. One study showed that repeating a message 20 times over 20 minutes increased precision memory in half of the participants.
Another study showed that a combination of visual and verbal repetition led to increased precise memory in 74% of participants.
Ultimately, this style is at its best when a salesperson has an encyclopedic knowledge of their material, product benefits, or service.
A skilled sales professional pressed for time and can not complete a full slide deck presentation may find freeform an excellent option.
Connector Style
Suppose you are a charismatic salesperson with a knack for connecting with prospects and utilizing the power of human interaction. In that case, a connector style may be an excellent fit for you.
The connector style utilizes cues for audience engagement by encouraging participation, such as by hosting a free-form question-and-answer session.
These sessions help create an environment where prospective buyers feel more of a connection to each other, building a rapport and helping ensure that you close their deal.
A connector style forgoes the one-sided monologues that often come with presentations by building customer relationships and encouraging a dialogue that further involves the prospect in the sales process.
Excellent Sales Decks
In the rapidly-expanding world of technology, we always have new tools available. In the world of sales, there are few powerful sales deck design tools.
A sales deck is a slideshow that helps prop up your sales pitch, named for the traditional projector technique of having a deck of slides. Popular sales deck software includes Microsoft PowerPoint, Google Slides, and Keynote.
The purpose of a sales deck is to provide a visual aid for your presentation while helping organize your information and promote your company, product, or service.
Below are some of the best sales decks you may model for your actual sales presentation.
LeadCrunch Sales Deck
The LeadCrunch Sales Deck helps portray everything that a sales deck should feature. From a pleasing aesthetic to a brief nature and easy-to-understand graphs and references, the LeadCrunch Sales Deck is exceptional.
Planetly Sales Deck
The Planetly Sales Deck is the leading name in eye-catching sales decks. With minimalist text and highlighted statistics, this sales deck from Planetly helps ensure that prospects get valuable information without subjecting themselves to eyestrain or wasted time.
One notable aspect of this sales deck is how specific it is. When crafting your own sales deck, consider keeping it clear and simple. If your sales deck requires elaboration, you can do so verbally to keep your presentation from falling victim to clutter.
Sales Presentation Tips
You can have the best tools at your disposal, but they mean nothing if you do not use them effectively.
To create the best possible sales presentation, you must develop an effective strategy based on previous data on what works and what does not.
There are three key points to remember when designing your sales presentation. These key points are vital beyond sales presentations, as they are key pillars of sales as an industry.
Keep It Short
Nobody likes having their time wasted. You may believe your information is vital for your prospect, but if you do not present it well with the appropriate language, the prospect will not share your vision.
You want to provide a good overview of your product or service but avoid going into excruciating detail. Your prospect will not care just how good your company is as long as you can solve their issues.
Ultimately, you want to maintain brevity while proving you can offer something your competitors cannot.
Tell a Story
The power of storytelling is one of the best but most underrated tools you can use as a sales professional. By telling a story relating to your prospect’s issues, you can build a rapport and make them more comfortable with you.
Additionally, the storytelling technique can help you paint a vivid image of your vision for the future of your prospect’s company.
If you can convince your prospect that your vision matches their company’s goals, you are well on your way to the buying decision and closing the deal.
Do Not Memorize a Scripted Speech
Having a rough idea prepared is always a good idea. However, delivering a scripted speech is not conducive to delivering a sales presentation. Your prospects want to talk to a human being, and robotically reciting a speech can make you seem like a machine.
Frequently Asked Questions:
What is the Executive Suite?
The executive suite is a slang term for people with a high influence level over the conduct of an organization. This group comprises department heads, owners, CEOs, and other executive leads.
You must gain the approval of any applicable executive suite members before moving forward with any significant changes to your sales team or department. The executive suite may have the final say in every issue your organization may face.
What is a sales presentation?
A sales presentation is an effective sales pitch in which you present your information and persuasive argument to your prospect via several sales slides.
In an effective sales pitch, you should recognize your customer’s needs and verify how your product or service can meet them.
What is the most effective sales presentation?
There is no single most effective sales presentation. Even if there were, they might not apply to your industry or your prospect. However, there is a factor that makes presentations more effective, and that is confidence.
By projecting a more confident appearance and body language, you can instill a sense of trust in your prospects. Prospective customers will have more faith in your product, and you are more likely to close the deal.
What is the difference between a sales presentation and a sales report?
A sales presentation is a sales pitch to convince prospective customers to purchase your product.
On the other hand, a sales report is a document or presentation you may deliver to a higher-up in your organization that details your sales results and statistics.
Final Thoughts
Sales presentations may be one of the most vital aspects of a sales pitch, but they can be challenging.
Thankfully, it does not have to be. With our The Brooks Group Coaching, you and your sales team can take a more in-depth journey into crafting sales presentations, compelling pitches, and the best sales hooks.
Our coaching is your best option if you want more sales presentation tips. Contact us today to learn how The Brooks Group can help you and your sales team reach new heights and meet your goals.
