What makes an A-class sales representative? Despite what many think, it’s not charisma nor a natural talent to charm people, in fact, things are much easier – it’s just proficiency in conveying the advantages of a service, product, or method they offer. That proficiency is not inherited, it’s built on a strong basis of knowledge and experience in their field, as well as on smart use of innovative techniques.

It’s common knowledge, visualization is key that opens a great many doors. Numerous studies show that not only kids but people of all ages learn best when they are offered images or videos to support words. That’s why sales reps that worth their salt prefer to do their homework and prepare an awesome deck chock-full of engaging visual content. Let’s learn from the cream of the crop and find out how to create a winning sales pitch deck in 6 simple steps.

 

What Is A Sales Deck?

Before turning to our step-by-step guide on how to create your striking sales pitch deck, let’s say a couple of words about the main subject of this article. To put it simply, a sales deck is a presentation that serves to complement your pitch, which, by the way, can be pretty generic to cover a wide variety of situations. Whatever industry you work in, a well-thought and well-put-together sales deck will help present your sales narrative most engagingly and effectively, highlighting the benefits of your product or service and letting the audience focus on what really matters. Depending on your preferences, you can use PowerPoint, Google Slides, Apple Keynote, or another tool of your choice that in your opinion suits your needs the best.

What’s In The Deck?

Even though a lot depends on your goals and ambitions, make sure to keep the number of slides reasonable, it is not the situation when more means better. Remember, quality is important, not quantity, therefore also try not to overdo information. Too many words and unnecessary details just distract from the main topic and make things either boring or too complicated, both are no good for a sales representative. To make a long story short, let’s take a closer look at some staple slides that are a kind of must-have for almost every deck:

• Also called a hook slide, this one goes first and introduces your reasons for being here at the current moment. It’s a key slide intended to shortly explain your goals and expectations from your would-be clients.
• Now, it’s time for the pain slide that has to remind the other side of the problem they have and which you are actually trying to fix most effectively and positively. Ideally, the problem should be explained with the use of their own words.
• Nothing can beat a cleverly made value slide that will present your future clients with what they can get and why your solution is worth a shot.
• This one is a no-brainer, people love to know that your solution is a tried and true thing that has already helped many others. Use a social proof slide to support the statement that your product or service really works.
• Finally, set aside enough time to create a truly impressive solution slide that provides a snapshot of what exactly you’ll do to bring your idea to life and solve their problem.
• If you think there is space for a more detailed presentation, you can include an options slide to supplement your main idea with available options, their differences, and eventual outcomes.

Now, let’s dive into the nitty-gritty of creating a top-notch sales pitch deck that will win the hearts of your customers. Here you have it: 6 simple steps to follow for reaching your goals.

Step #1: Get Your Customers Involved

To impress your customers and close the deal, you have to offer a solution that caters directly to their needs. Can you think of a better way to find one than learning it from your potential clients? Listen to your customers because everything they say to you is precious in terms of the success of future cooperation. Always ask for feedback, so you can detect its strong and weak points, and, naturally, make every effort to improve your performance.

Step #2: Don’t Be Afraid To Evoke Emotional Responses

Make sure your deck is focused on the benefits brought by your product or service instead of being a tribute to the product itself. It’s ok to mention some important features that are unique to your offer but don’t forget that people are generally not interested in how something is built or how it works but in what they can get by using a certain product or solution. When creating your sales deck, ensure it’ll evoke emotional responses based on numerous opportunities that derive from the leveraging of your product.

Step #3: Keep Things Simple

Nobody wants to puzzle over-complicated schemes, hence keep things simple when designing your slides. They should be customer-friendly and easy to read and understand, safely remove all stuff that is not important or can be confusing.

Step #4: Support Your Words With Reviews Of Happy Customers

It cannot be stressed enough that the great bulk of people need confirmation from others that your offer is worth paying for, all the more so, sales representatives are usually seen as persons that want to sell no matter the circumstances. Positive reviews of your product from satisfied real customers can become a real game-changer in the whole story, therefore make sure to get such reviews and include them in your winning deck.

Step #5: Personalise Your Deck

People don’t like one-size-fits-all solutions, they want to feel special, that’s why you will need to customize your deck for every client. Besides tailor-made content, it’s also a good idea to make a personalized cover, for instance, put a client’s name on it.

Step #6: Learn To Create Superb Visuals

This step is self-explanatory, upgrade your skills and make the most of the tools you use to create truly eye-catching presentations. Your efforts will pay off very soon.

Creating a winning sales pitch deck is really simple, just make sure you fully understand the needs of your customers and offer a viable solution to their problems. Only 6 steps to success!