While many salespeople focus on making their sales decks flashy, fun, and exciting, they do little to ensure that their presentations address the prospect's top concerns and offer an irresistible solution.
As a result, many presentations are met with wishy-washy responses that drag along the sales process and waste valuable time.
What does a great sales deck look like? We'll take a look at some of the best, and provide tips for creating your own stellar sales deck and presentation.
What is a sales deck?
A sales deck is a slide presentation (e.g., PowerPoint, Keynote, etc.) used to supplement a sales pitch. The sales pitch, given by a salesperson to a prospect, often includes an overview of the product or service, offers a value proposition and solution for the prospect, and includes examples of success stories from other clients.
The primary purpose of a sales deck and presentation is to introduce a solution (ie, your pitch) that ultimately leads the prospect to purchase from your company.
If you've done everything right during the discovery process — digging deep into your prospect's challenges and understanding exactly what they need — only to get a noncommittal response, then your presentation needs some major adjusting.
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Sales Deck vs Pitch Deck
A sales deck is a pitch meant to convince a prospect to make a purchase by showcasing your product features, benefits, and value proposition.
A pitch deck, on the other hand, is usually created for investors who want to learn more about your company, vision, products, financials, and target audience. Think of the pitch deck more like a synthesized version of your business plan.
Ready to see some sales deck examples? Here are a few of the best, in no particular order.
Sales Deck Examples
- Leadnomics
- UpstartWorks
- QS
- Attention Media
- Freshworks
- Soraa
- Planetly
- MEOM
- Leadgeeks.io
- Accern
1. Leadnomics Sales Deck by Katya Kovalenko
Leadnomics has done something few companies successfully do in presentations: Showcase their brand identity.
The internet marketing agency hired a designer to create a sales deck that reflected their sleek, techie brand.
So while prospects learn about Leadnomics and what it offers, they can also get a peek into what it represents as a brand.
2. UpstartWorks Sales Deck by BrightCarbon
This slide deck for UpstartWorks starts with an image of the road to success, followed by a value proposition and a list of benefits buyers can enjoy from working with the company. They provide an overview of what they deliver to customers, who their clients are, and the results their customer base has seen.
The sales deck touches on all the key points a sales presentation should cover. And when it includes graphics and logos, they are clearly organized and not cluttered.
3. QS Sales Deck by BrightCarbon
QS, a platform that ranks colleges and universities, effectively uses icons and visuals throughout its sales deck to communicate its messages. At just a few slides, this is one of the shortest sales decks featured on this list.
If you’re going to make your sales deck short, make sure the information you include gets straight to the point, and be sure to front-load the most important information.
In terms of content, QS showcases its features, value proposition, and client impact.
4. Attention Media Sales Deck by Slides
Attention Media, a B2B creative agency, hired a presentation design agency to create a sales deck that features statistics and reasons businesses should work with them.
Key figures and messages are either in a bold, large, or bright font to make them stand out from the rest of the text.
While their slide deck is on the shorter side (the typical presentation is around 10 to 15 slides), they include intriguing visuals and statistics that grab attention and keep viewers interested.
5. Freshworks Sales Deck by BrightCarbon
Freshworks is a B2B software platform that promises an all-in-one package for businesses. Its sales deck emphasizes simple text and organization. The problem and solution are introduced using graphics, which makes the text easier for readers to prioritize.
They include a dedicated slide to their mobile app, one of the product’s key differentiators and most salient benefits. The following slides provide a step-by-step walkthrough of how customers are onboarded and what they can expect on a regular basis.
Since the slides aren’t text-heavy, the salesperson can easily elaborate and answer any questions the prospect might have.
6. Soraa Sales Deck by BrightCarbon
Soraa, a lighting company, starts its sales deck with a visually appealing table of contents that contains three items: “Quality of light,” “Simply perfect light,” and “Why Soraa?”
The brand then dives into what its prospects care about most: How the light will look in their spaces and how they can apply Soraa’s offerings to their specific use case. It sprinkles in the benefits of using Soraaa as a lighting supplier. And it does this all while maintaining its strong branding.
7. Planetly Sales Deck by OCHI Design
The first thing Planetly does in its sales presentation is present an eye-catching statistic about customers wanting more eco-friendly brands. Then, they present the reasons behind that data.
The deck doesn't overwhelm prospects with too much text, opting for more graphics and visuals instead. It introduces a hard-hitting stat about the problem their prospect is facing, engages them by asking a question, and provides a solution to the issue.
The slide deck continues to outline specific product details and what sets the solution apart from others, ultimately leading to a slide that represents the expected outcome for the prospect.
8. MEOM Sales Deck by Katya Kovalenko
What you’ll first notice when scrolling through MEOM's sales deck is that it’s straightforward and easy to scan.
The brand kept it simple with their deck, making it easier for consumers to take in the information. Too often, companies overload their decks with information, and by the end of the presentation, consumers can’t remember anything.
On every slide, MEOM has one main message with supporting information in smaller font. In addition, the brand incorporates a detailed look at one of its staff members — a powerful tool when trying to attract consumers.
9. Leadgeeks.io Sales Deck by Paweł Mikołajek
Sometimes, the best way to explain a concept is through a series of process maps and timelines. In this sales deck, Leadgeeks.io takes this approach to explain its product process and onboarding process.
This method helps consumers visualize how this software will help them reach their goals and how they can adopt it at their business.
10. Accern Sales Deck by Katya Kovalenko
Similar to Leadnomics, software company Accern puts its branding at the forefront of the sales deck.
In addition to the use of design to make the sales deck stand out, Accern also highlights customer case studies in its deck, another form of social proof that shows the success other customers have found with this tool.
Each of these presentations provides a general overview of the products, problems, and solutions, and they can easily be tailored and customized to each prospective company. A custom presentation not only piques the prospect's interest but also increases the likelihood that they'll buy from you.
Curious as to how you can word your presentation during your meeting with prospects? Below, we go over the best examples we’ve seen so far.
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Example Sales Presentation
While there are plenty of videos online on how to deliver a sales presentation, there aren’t quite as many live sales presentations to watch.
That’s because sales presentations are delivered in the privacy of a meeting between the sales rep and the prospect, and are often not recorded with the intention of sharing online.
As a sales rep, though, you have an excellent resource for inspiration: explainer videos. Companies publish explainer videos to pitch their products to qualified leads. (Sound familiar?) Use the below examples to hone your own pitch to buyers, and pay close attention to the structure of each video.
1. Leadjet
This explainer video for Leadjet starts with an urgent problem: Finding leads on LinkedIn and moving them to a CRM loses valuable time and minimizes lead opportunities. Leadjet then presents its product as the solution.
The video jumps into the benefits users can enjoy, such as synchronizing conversations over both your CRM and LinkedIn, keeping the lead status updated, and adding custom details. In this video, Leadjet follows the ideal sales presentation structure: problem, solution, and benefits.
2. Node Influencer App
The Node influencer app allows small business owners to connect with influencers on social media. It starts its video with a simple question: “Looking to promote your brand with social influencers?” The presentation effectively identifies and addresses the target market before pitching the product to viewers.
This presentation is more tutorial-based, making it ideal inspiration if you’re creating a sales deck for someone who’s closer to making a decision. People most often want to see actionable demos when they’re ready to choose a provider.
3. UpSend
This explainer video from Upsend, a former customer service software, begins with a problem: Most customers want instant responses to their queries, but customer service systems can be expensive for new companies. Enter Upsend.
The presenter addresses the target market — startups and small businesses — while assuaging their concerns about budget. In addition, it covers the most important features of the platform and the end result for the user. If Upsend were still available, this would be a product a new business would immediately want to add to their tech stack.
4. Algoplanner
Within a few seconds of the start of this presentation, Algoplanner drives home the critical urgency of adopting a supply chain software. It uses a scary number to pull your attention, citing a possible “loss of millions of dollars” if you fail to adopt the right tool.
It then introduces its product with a breakdown of what the software can do for users. Plus, it provides powerful stats to back up its claims, including that users can reduce automation development costs by 80%. The call to action at the end is powerful and simple, telling viewers to schedule a demo.
Sales Deck Presentation Tips
Ready for your presentation? Sticking to these five simple sales presentation guidelines, recommended by Marc Wayshak, will help you blow your competition away while dramatically increasing your chances of closing the sale.
1. Lead with solutions.
Have you ever met with a prospect who was excited about your product or service – and used your presentation to keep on selling? This is called over-selling, and it's the leading cause of death for sales presentations.
When you start your presentation, first lead with solutions. Don't talk about the benefits of your product's features or tell the prospect how great your company is.
Simply dive into how you're going to solve the deepest frustration your prospect is facing right now.
2. Incorporate case studies.
Once you've addressed the specific solutions you can provide to the prospect, it's time to add some color to your presentation.
Turn your sales presentation into an engaging story by sharing case studies of similar prospects and the results they've achieved with your help.
This step is important for building trust and credibility with the prospect. At the same time, case studies bring your solutions to life in the real world, making your presentation more engaging.
3. Ask for feedback throughout.
Most presentations are a one-way monologue by the salesperson. This approach is boring – and it's certainly no way to connect with a prospect.
Instead, ask short questions throughout your presentation like "Does that make sense?" or "Can you see how this would work for you?" Asking for feedback periodically ensures your prospect stays on the same page.
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4. Welcome interruptions.
If you want to close more sales, you have to care about what your prospect is thinking throughout your presentation.
Any interruption is the perfect opportunity to find out. Whenever a prospect interrupts you – either with a verbal remark or subtle shift in their facial expression or posture – stop immediately.
Acknowledge the interruption, and welcome the opportunity to explore it with the prospect. Never ignore signals just to stay on a roll and conclude your point. Invite prospects to ask their questions or share their concerns.
The opportunity to respond to those concerns is always more valuable than whatever you were about to say.
5. Wrap it up quickly.
Your presentation should be ASAP: as short as possible.
It's natural for salespeople to get excited about what they have to share, but this causes most of them to ramble on for far too long.
Prospects only care about themselves and their challenges. Present the information they'll be interested in and nothing more.
Practice your next sales presentation with a colleague or friend and ask for their honest feedback on its length.
Sales Deck Template
Ready to start creating your own sales deck? Get started with these free templates.
It includes ten Powerpoint templates, each with a different focus.
How to Find a Sales Deck Template
Haven’t found what you’re looking for? Here are additional resources to find a sales deck.
Pitch
This presentation platform allows you to pick from hundreds of templates and fully customize the template you choose. The best part? It’s free and offers premium packages for teams who want analytics, multiple users, and live video collaboration.
Canva
On this graphic design platform, you can search through countless presentation templates and customize them. Canva also offers extensive collaboration features, such as file sharing and commenting.
Get Inspired With These Sales Presentations
When delivering a sales presentation to a prospect, you can do so with the knowledge that thousands and millions of others have been in the same position as you. Luckily, we can see their work online to guide our sales deck creation process. Use these decks to structure your own, and you’ll be well on the road to closing more deals and exceeding your quota.
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in April 2019 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.