sales process presentation example

Researched by Consultants from Top-Tier Management Companies

Powerpoint Templates

Icon Bundle

Kpi Dashboard

Professional

Business Plans

Swot Analysis

Gantt Chart

Business Proposal

Marketing Plan

Project Management

Business Case

Business Model

Cyber Security

Business PPT

Digital Marketing

Digital Transformation

Human Resources

Product Management

Artificial Intelligence

Company Profile

Acknowledgement PPT

PPT Presentation

Reports Brochures

One Page Pitch

Interview PPT

All Categories

Sales Process: A Step-by-Step Guide With PowerPoint Templates

The term ‘sales process’ may invite several astonished cries from a company that is habitual of selling every product in an informal fashion. And there’s no need to blame these go-getters as well. After all, managing sales demands you to be on your toes at all times. With their ears (and fishnets) at the ready, salespeople have to be on a flight mode to grab every opportunity there is.

But there’s a catch when it comes to how sales materialize today.

You see, today’s consumers are way more skeptical and way more informed than they were at the time when dishwashers had just rolled out. Thanks to the constant deluge of information readily available on mobile devices, convincing customers to buy a product needs more than just a chance email or a cold call.

So what’s the way out of this randomness and guesswork?

It’s time for you to have a formalized sales process for your company. This blog will shed light on why structure beats uncertainty every time while offering you handy PowerPoint templates for each step of your sales process. Also in tow are actionable tips that can help you become a sales whiz. Read on!

What is a sales process?

A sales process is a specialized iterative process that enables a sales representative to convert a potential buyer into a paying customer. It is the customer’s journey from a prospect to a closed deal with your business. A formalized sales process is the standard playbook for every sales rep in the company.

Not to be confused with sales funnel, which is a graphical representation of each customer interaction along the sales pipeline, a sales process is the roadmap that reps need to follow to strike a deal. In other words, a sales funnel is from the customer’s viewpoint, while a sales process is from the sales rep’s viewpoint.

But why have a sales process?

In any company, the very foundation is the sole revenue-generating activity – a sale. But even if the company’s sales managers had just winged it while closing the first deal, the generations of sales reps ahead have their seniors to look up to and learn from. In such a situation, it will not be feasible for a sales manager to teach the tricks of the trade to each newbie as efficiently as desired by the company.

Moreover, learning the ropes without definitive guidelines can lead to a lot of back and forth and time consumption. Besides, guesswork will stall closure rates for those who are not “born with a selling instinct”. Therefore, having a standardized sales process can help keep your sales activities in order besides boosting revenue.

Related read: Top 10 Sales and Operations Planning Templates to Cope With Market Volatility

Don’t take our word for it. Even top industry-specific research says so too!

Take a study by Harvard Business Review, for instance. It says that B2B companies with a well-accounted sales process can witness 28% more revenue than the companies that don't have one.

Another study by the institute indicates that close to half of the high-performing companies have a structured and automated sales process. In contrast, close to half of the under-performing companies had no sales process or were taking the informal selling approach.

These figures indicate that companies would do better to adopt a full-fledged sales process that serves as the blueprint for unlocking growth. Each study gives us an insight into how a well-structured sales process helps enhance revenue and performance. Therefore, establishing a formalized sales process is the hallmark of a business looking to become a customer favorite.

Before, we tour the PPT Templates, are you looking for a comprehensive module to train your sales team and improve their performance? Access our Sales Training Curriculum with content-ready, well-researched slides that will make your training program a terrific success!

Click Here to Download our Comprehensive Curriculum for Sales Training

Steps involved in a sales process

Charting out a comprehensive sales process can be tricky. The reason for that is the uphill climb while figuring out how to map a customer’s buying decisions with your sales process. But if you get your basics right, you can leverage a standardized sales process for all your selling endeavors. Basically, a sales process constitutes seven key steps as depicted below.

Let’s discuss these steps and explore the related PowerPoint templates that you can download and deploy to craft an unbeatable sales process. Each of these PowerPoint templates is designed by experts and researched by industry stalwarts. The formats are fully editable, so feel free to tweak these for maximum output.

1. Prospect

Prospecting kicks off a sales process roadmap as the most crucial part of it. By definition, prospecting involves identifying and research potential clients that will be interested in your product. Additionally, it constitutes a lot of market research and setting qualifying parameters for the prospective buyer.

You can also reach this prospective buyer by asking your existing clientele about their peers. The result is you have a set of leads that fulfill the criteria as per your unique value proposition (UVP). To start smart, here are the templates that will enable seamless prospecting on your end.

Download this template

Grab this template

2. Approach

Once you lock your target, it’s time to make contact. The next step of the sales process involves establishing a connection with the qualified lead via engaging techniques like emails, cold calls, or other digital or print forms of communication. The plan here is to grab some eyeballs by gathering info on what keeps the prospective buyer up at night.

The approach step paves the way for a communication channel between you and your buyers. It also includes generating the lead’s interest in your product by engaging them with your product UVP. Since this is where a sales rep needs to step up their convincing game, the sales process must clearly define the medium to engage the buyer the most. The following PowerPoint templates will help you ace the game every time.

3. Interview

Get down to business. Ask all the right questions. Get to know what keeps the prospect fidgeting for a solution. In the sales interview, the sales rep strikes a conversation that helps them know the prospect better. These right questions come from proper research and brainstorming about the client beforehand.

The interview phase is also a good opportunity for the sales rep to impress the potential buyer with knowledge of their issues. Thus, you can assemble all the crucial info and use it in the following PowerPoint templates.

4. Proposal

The exercise to gather info specific to the customer’s issues gives you the roadmap to a closed deal. In the proposal step of your sales process, you will pitch your product or service as the tailored solution to the customer’s problem. With the pain points in mind, you need to prepare visuals and gather testimonials to support your proposal.

At this point, you are giving the buyer a chance to consider and research your company. So make sure you hit the nail on the head with a spectacular proposal. The following PowerPoint templates will let flexible design be your greatest weapon.

5. Demonstration

It’s time to walk the talk. Once you have had a preliminary discussion with the client and proposed your product or service, you have to demonstrate the customer’s problem getting solved. Your task is to schedule the demonstration and make arrangements as suited to the client.

During the demonstration, you have to hit the critical points while showcasing the advantages that the client will get once they associate with you. A good demonstration also focuses on the unique selling point of the product, which helps make the prospective client an informed choice. The following PowerPoint templates are your best companions for a demonstration.

6. Negotiate

Unless your product or service is one of a kind, you can stay assured that the prospect will be researching for alternatives at this point. Even your product demo at some point may not be able to answer all of their questions. Nevertheless, the client is in the deciding mode and will submit their objections and queries for a precisely tailored product or service.

As a sales rep, your job is to tackle each query at the negotiation step to allow further modifications in the product. The more precise is the solution, the better are the chances of closing the deal. The negotiation phase also gives you a chance to prepare your list of objection resolutions for the future. Download and utilize these PowerPoint templates for liaising the best deal.

Once the negotiations lead to an agreement and contracts are finalized, the prospect makes a purchase, or, in sales vocabulary, the “deal is closed”. After that, the next step of the sales process is support, wherein you tackle all the issues, if any, that the client reports about the product or service. The support phase can also include extensive onboarding and follow-ups to ensure that you are off to a good start.

Support is a crucial part of a sales process as it opens avenues of repeat sales and upsells. Moreover, you can nurture your professional bond with the client and then ask for referrals to grow your client base. The following PowerPoint templates will make sales follow-up a breeze.

Effective tips for leveraging your sales process for faster deals

Whether you have put a solid workable sales process in place already or are working your way towards one, what doesn’t change is the salespeople’s flexibility. While learning and adapting to the changing course of a consumer’s journey, sales reps are responsible for listening and responding at every step of the way.

Therefore, sales representatives need to follow a proactive approach towards each of the seven steps of sales process to close deals. Here are some handy tips that you can use to exceed expectations.

1. Talk to the reps first

Before you devise your sales process, sit down with your team and get to know their sales tactics. How do they approach a prospect that moves them forward in the sales process? What do they do that leads to a sure-shot closed deal? Asking these questions will give you an idea of the strengths and weaknesses of your sales operations. Once you have gathered this knowledge, you can start describing your sales process.

2. Don’t give creativity a go-by

Following a structured approach does not trump creativity. In fact, it acts as the framework to accomplish lucrative deals the right way. This also includes using your gut instinct and creative flair to pose the right queries. Ultimately, selling will depend on how you use your skill and talent to draft your sales communication.

3. Have your customer in mind

Often sales managers think that a sales process is a to-do list for the sales reps. But they couldn’t be more wrong! What works while drafting a sales process is starting from the end result and then working your way to your company. The result here is the purchase decision made by the customer and what you do to make that happen. To ensure that the result is beyond promising, you must define your USP by being in the customer’s shoes. The bottom line is to show how your product or service will enable the customer to be in a better position.

4. Don’t rush it; build a connection

Modern-day consumers anticipate a special treatment of their problems instead of being another number in the sales analytics dashboards. Therefore, sales reps mustn’t rush the customer down the sales process and build a trustworthy relationship instead. Also, sales reps should ideate methods to offer value and a fruitful experience to the prospects. If the customers feel heard, they will be drawn towards your business.

5. Follow-ups are a must

Sure, a closed deal has its charm. But more often than not, sales reps tend to just log the numbers into a software and call it a day. They do not realize that follow-ups are their key to grow those numbers. Right from the point when the deal is closed, sales reps should maintain a balance of communication and assistance with the customer to develop a cordial relationship. This is why a formalized sales process matters as it serves as a key reminder for the sales team.

6. Reinvent your sales process

A well-structured sales process enables better sales forecasting and lead generation. However, over time, your sales team can acquire enough data on how well the sales process performs.

Related read: Top 30 Sales Metrics Templates to Effectively Monitor Your Revenue Streams

Therefore, you should use sales data to reinvent your sales process for better performance. This is possible via consistent feedback loops from the seller as well as the buyer. As you fine-tune the sales process to the highest standard of output, you can use the revised sales process to train your reps better and close more deals.

A sales process is the ultimate tool for any sales manager. It helps them distribute leads, prioritize tasks, and forecast sales figures accurately. Additionally, it helps sales newbies navigate the ups and downs of the sales cycle effortlessly while avoiding mistakes. The overall impact of a sales process generates spectacular revenue while conditioning your business process to thrive. Our sales process templates will definitely be the icing on the cake. So what are you waiting for? Incorporate a sales process into your business today and reap the benefits of a structure that succeeds.

Related posts:

• [Updated 2023] Top 10 Sales Campaign Templates To Boost Revenue
• [Updated 2023] Top 10 Sales and Marketing Google Slides Templates for Sure Shot Business Success
• Why Product Management Templates Are a Must for Every Business in 2021
• Top 10 Word-of-Mouth Marketing Templates For Meaningful Customer Engagement

Liked this blog? Please recommend us

10 Best PowerPoint Templates to Use in Your Sales Conference

Top 10 Sales Strategy Templates to Help You Maximize Your Revenue

2 thoughts on “sales process: a step-by-step guide with powerpoint templates”.

This form is protected by reCAPTCHA - the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Digital revolution powerpoint presentation slides

Sales funnel results presentation layouts

3d men joinning circular jigsaw puzzles ppt graphics icons

Business Strategic Planning Template For Organizations Powerpoint Presentation Slides

Future plan powerpoint template slide

Project Management Team Powerpoint Presentation Slides

Brand marketing powerpoint presentation slides

Launching a new service powerpoint presentation with slides go to market

Agenda powerpoint slide show

Four key metrics donut chart with percentage

Engineering and technology ppt inspiration example introduction continuous process improvement

Meet our team representing in circular format

We use essential cookies to make Venngage work. By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.

Manage Cookies

Cookies and similar technologies collect certain information about how you’re using our website. Some of them are essential, and without them you wouldn’t be able to use Venngage. But others are optional, and you get to choose whether we use them or not.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

These cookies are always on, as they’re essential for making Venngage work, and making it safe. Without these cookies, services you’ve asked for can’t be provided.

Show cookie providers

• Google Login

Functionality Cookies

These cookies help us provide enhanced functionality and personalisation, and remember your settings. They may be set by us or by third party providers.

Performance Cookies

These cookies help us analyze how many people are using Venngage, where they come from and how they're using it. If you opt out of these cookies, we can’t get feedback to make Venngage better for you and all our users.

• Google Analytics

Targeting Cookies

These cookies are set by our advertising partners to track your activity and show you relevant Venngage ads on other sites as you browse the internet.

• Google Tag Manager
• Infographics
• Daily Infographics
• Graphic Design
• Graphs and Charts
• Data Visualization
• Human Resources
• Training and Development
• Beginner Guides

Blog Data Visualization

15 Sales Presentation Examples to Drive Sales

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 .

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 .

Get sales tips and strategies delivered straight to your inbox.

Yesware will help you generate more sales right from your inbox. Try our Outlook add-on or Gmail Chrome extension for free, forever!

Hit your number every month

Works on Outlook or Gmail (+ many more integrations)

Related Articles

10 Best Persuasive Techniques for Sales and Marketing [2022]

Melissa Williams

SPIN Selling: All-In-One Guide for 2022

High-Ticket Sales: How to Sell High-Ticket Products and Services

Casey O'Connor

Sales, deal management, and communication tips for your inbox

We're on a mission to help you build lasting business relationships.

75 Kneeland Street, Floor 15 Boston, MA 02111

[email protected]

11 Sales Presentation Examples That Explode Your Pipeline

See uniquely effective sales pitch presentation examples and learn how to make a sales presentation that deeply engages buyers and helps you close the sale.

6 minute read

helped business professionals at:

Short answer

What makes a successful sales presentation?

A successful sales presentation deeply engages buyers by setting your product apart from competitors. It should be unique, avoiding static and generic slides.

Key elements include an attention-grabbing cover slide, a clear introduction, problem identification, solution proposal, social proof, key benefits, detailed implementation, and a clear call-to-action.

Interactivity enhances engagement, making the content more memorable. Addressing common sales objections and weaving a coherent story further ensures success.

A generic sales presentation is a silent sales killer

One of the biggest challenges for B2B sales and marketing teams is creating a presentations for sales that truly sets your product apart from the competition.

The main reason why most sales presentations fail is because they all look the same. Sure enough, certain designs are more attractive than others, but the delivery falls short all the same—static, generic, boring insufferable slides. To help you make your offer outshine the rest and leave the competition behind, I rounded up our best sales presentation examples we’ve seen used with tremendous success!

What to include in a sales presentation deck

Regardless of the industry you’re operating in, any outstanding sales presentation deck should contain the following 8 slides :

• Cover slide: your company name and logo next to an attention-grabbing tagline outlining your unique value proposition.
• Intro: here you present what your company does, why it's relevant to buyers, and how you fit into the overall picture.
• The problem: identify the main problems buyers in your niche face and why they need to be solved.
• The solution: the way your solution contributes to solving the problem mentioned in the previous section.
• Social proof: customer testimonials and case studies.
• Key benefits: the unique features of your solution that make it stand out from comparable products or services.
• The “details”: describe how the implementation process works, what the key benefits and integrations are, and what your pricing structure looks like.
• Next steps (Call-To-Action): a clear explanation of the next step a prospect is supposed to take after reading your sales presentation deck.

If this info is not enough, you may wanna read our killer post on the ins and outs of how to create exceptional sales decks .

6 questions any successful sales presentation needs to answer

If you want to turn a prospect into a client, there are 6 basic questions you’ll have to address in your sales presentation deck .

What are the benefits of switching to your product or solution over the status quo?

Why should a potential customer adopt this change now rather than later?

Why should they pick your industry solution instead of those outside of your industry?

Why should a potential buyer choose you and your company specifically?

Why should they pick your product and service? What unique value will it bring them?

Why should you get their hard-earned money?

According to David Hoffeld , these 6 basic questions are the reason behind all sales objections. If you answer them in your sales presentation, you can lead prospects through the buying process and get them to become paying customers .

Now it’s just a matter of weaving the answers to these questions into a coherent story using the outline we mentioned in the previous section.

Stop boring your prospects with static sales presentations

Static presentations should be a thing of the past. By giving your prospects an interactive presentation they can “play around” with rather than trying to decode, you enhance engagement.

Case in point: look at this example of the same presentation for sales designed in 2 different ways, one static and one interactive.

Which one would get you interested? Which would you rather keep reading?

Static PowerPoint

Interactive Storydoc

Dynamic content has big implications for your ability to make successful sales presentations. They increase the average reading time, scroll depth, conversion rate, and internal shares, and are generally seen as more informative.

Using interactive sales presentations brings real business results

Our data from analyzing over 100K Storydoc sessions suggest that these are some outcomes you can expect by moving to interactive content:

146% increase in your presentation’s average reading time (as compared to the PPT benchmark)

41% increase in the number of people who get all the way down to the end of your presentation

2.3x more internal shares within your buyer’s organization

Storydoc users report a 2x increase in conversion over their competitors. So, now that PowerPoint is no longer stopping you from achieving full potential, let's dive deeper into some sales presentation examples .

Best sales presentation examples that bring big results

Instead of wasting your time and effort on sales presentations that look pretty but don’t bring the desired results, I’ll let you in on a little secret of what makes a sales presentation highly effective and compelling .

These sales presentation examples are not your average PowerPoint decks, and rightfully so. PPTs are a 30-year-old technology that fails to meet the needs of modern-day buyers.

NOTE: All of the sales presentation examples presented below have been crafted using Storydoc. They consist of modern scroll-based interactive slides that have proven to bring great results. They're also 100% replicable, meaning you can take any of these samples and use it to create your own high-performing sales presentation in a matter of minutes.

Sales pitch presentation

What makes this sales presentation great:

• Interactive slides are perfect for leading prospects through a compelling story narrative.
• Various data visualization elements allow you to present hard data in a more digestible way.
• Tiered slides can be used to outline the key features and benefits of your solution in a condensed way.

Sales mastery guide presentation

• Contemporary design in line with the freshest trends helps position your company as youthful and cutting-edge.
• A variety of image and data visualization placeholders that can easily be customized to convey the key insights.
• A perfect balance of text-based and visual slides helps add context to your numbers.

Sales impact presentation

• It comes with plenty of image placeholders that can be edited in just a couple of clicks to include industry-relevant visuals.
• Running numbers slides can be used to present the most important metrics.
• Interactive slides are ideal for guiding prospects through a captivating storyline.

Winning sales presentation

• Minimalist design doesn’t detract from your main message while providing value.
• Timeline slides and grayed out content are perfect for walking readers through complex processes or directing their attention to the main benefits of your solution.
• The calendar integration on the last slide makes it easier than ever for prospects to book a meeting with you straight from the deck.

Sales excellence showcase presentation

• A video on the cover slide boosts engagement by up to 32% , increasing the chances of prospects reading your entire deck and taking the desired action at the end.
• Easily customizable slides which are perfect for delivering ultra-personalized sales pitches.
• A vertical timeline allows this template to be repurposed for the next stages of the sales funnel too, for example client onboarding.

High-performance sales presentation

• The narrator slide allows you to walk prospects through even the most complicated solutions in an easily understandable manner.
• Video placeholders help ensure that more prospects will get to the end of your deck .
• The ability to embed case studies helps legitimize your solution in the eyes of prospective customers.

Light mode sales presentation

• Tiered slides allow you to present a variety of services or use cases of your solution in a single deck.
• Animated slides boost user engagement and make your presentation more user-friendly, maximizing the chances of your deck getting read in full.
• A library of data visualization elements to choose from helps position your company against competition and compare key metrics.

Dark mode sales presentation

• High-contrast colors make the presentation easier to consume and interact with.
• A fully interactive layout increases user engagement, as well as the average reading time.
• Tiered slides make it easy to present your service offer or snippets of your portfolio.

Modern sales presentation

A selection of dataviz elements is ideal for demonstrating the most important business metrics and performance indicators.

• Slides combining text and images can be used to present the main features of your solution in a user-friendly way, without overloading prospects with technical specs.
• Dynamic variables can be easily edited in just a few clicks, allowing you to send out ultra-personalized versions of your sales presentation at scale.

Sales pitch presentation essentials

• The sleek layout allows you to convey key details in fewer slides, respecting your prospects' time.
• Versatile slides are readily customizable for diverse sectors and applications.
• Straightforward, easy-to-use editor guarantees that any additions or tweaks you make will seamlessly fit the existing deck design, so you don't have to worry about disrupting the layout.

Sales presentation insights

• The smart editor instantly extracts your company's branding, ensuring your presentation remains on-brand.
• The scroll-based interactive format simplifies the presentation of your offering to prospects, leading them through an engaging story.
• Our AI assistant can be used to generate relevant visuals, create the copy based on your website, or tweak the existing copy to perfection.

How to create your most effective sales presentation yet

The only way to survive in sales going forward is to make sales presentations that buyers love reading. PowerPoint will always fail to do this. It’s time to let it go. So long, old friend! You won’t be missed.

To create truly effective presentations for sales you’ll need to weave storytelling into your pitch, personalize for each prospect, and let them take the next commitment directly from your deck.

You can do all of the above and get deep insights into your sales process with Storydoc’s interactive sales presentation creator .

You can personalize at scale by integrating Storydoc with your CRM and pull prospect’s data directly into your presentations with a single click.

You can fine-tune your presentation to perfection using your extensive analytics panel.

Investigate when and where a presentation is being read, how many times it was shared internally, which parts engaged most, and which made prospects bounce.

Try Storydoc and watch your close rate break through the roof (hope you have your whiskey and cigars ready).

Sales presentation templates that win

To make your content creation easier I’ve brought you some of our best sales presentation templates to take and use.

These templates were built with business storytelling in mind. They use interactive design to engage prospects and help them break down even the most complex messages.

Each of these templates was tried and tested for every device or screen size.

Hi, I'm Dominika, Content Specialist at Storydoc. As a creative professional with experience in fashion, I'm here to show you how to amplify your brand message through the power of storytelling and eye-catching visuals.

Found this post useful?

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter.

Get notified as more awesome content goes live.

(No spam, no ads, opt-out whenever)

You've just joined an elite group of people that make the top performing 1% of sales and marketing collateral.

Make your best sales presentation to date.

Stop losing opportunities to ineffective presentations. Your new amazing deck is one click away!

8 Effective Sales Presentation Examples to Boost Your Close Rate

Winning sales presentations turn prospects into customers. But, constructing a winning presentation is often a source of dread for many sales folks. What is the perfect number of slides? Which is the best order? Should it be hyper-branded or simple?

Or, should we even be using slide decks at all in 2024?

Now, if you want to make the journey collaborative, or want to gain access to cool insights like whether they even looked at your presentation, the static deck just won't cut it.

Designing a beautiful and highly personalized sales presentation is great, but access to behavioral analytics through digital links is super powerful. Knowing whether the buyer clicked on that presentation, and then how long they viewed it, can help shape those next steps in your sales cycle.

In fact, by 2025, 80 percent of B2B sales interactions will happen in these digital channels, according to Gartner . This means that presenting your pitch digitally unlocks new opportunities to engage and collaborate with your buyer. Ultimately, this will help you close deals much faster.

Sales professionals of all types, from SDRs to Customer Success, make pitches at different points in the sales cycle. That's why it's super important to create presentations that are both enjoyable for buyers to watch and easy for sellers to navigate—especially if they’re pitching multiple times a day!

Sales Presentation Vs. Sales Pitch: Are They the Same?

Presentation? Pitch? What’s the difference? These two sales practices are often referred to interchangeably, but they’re not exactly the same.

Generally, a pitch is when you’re closing the deal. It’s short and effective—highlighting the benefits and value of the product and offering the sale. Now, it is also technically a sales presentation, but it’s not a “sales presentation.”

The sales presentation comes earlier in the process when you’re looking to get buyers interested in your product/service. Every good sales presentation gives prospects confidence in your brand and helps develop the customer relationship. It emphasizes the value your product delivers and provides clear direction for the next step in the sales process.

So really, the key differentiator between these two sales activities is the point in the sales process—the presentation introduces your product, and the pitch closes out the deal. This shifts your purpose and your approach when creating a presentation vs. pitch deck.

To create the best sales pitch ever, you can head over to our ultimate guide . But first things first. Let’s build a winning sales presentation that makes potential customers beg to buy.

6 Key Components of a Winning Sales Presentation

While there's no "one way" to make a pitch presentation, there are a few core ingredients that can transform a bland presentation into a show-stopping performance.

To keep your buyers engaged and prevent them from nodding off, make the presentation more interactive by fostering a conversation, using eye-catching visuals that leave an impression, and pacing your delivery to keep the energy level high.

1. Start Strong: Cover Slide + Confidence

First impressions matter. Your first slide and the first few moments of your delivery will shape perceptions and affect the ultimate success or failure of your sales presentation.

Your cover slide should instantly capture the audience's attention and convey your brand and industry. Later, we’ll explore some stellar examples. For now, just make sure your audience has a good idea of who you are and what you do from the very beginning—and make it interesting. Images are great at this.

Regarding your delivery, confidence is key — key— to both your sales career and presentation. The confidence you project about your solution will transfer to prospects, reducing their concerns and supporting an overall positive experience.

But you can’t get by on cover slides and confidence alone.

2. Sell Solutions (+ Value), Not Products

Gone are the days when you could simply shout that your product was the greatest thing since sliced bread—and expect customers to believe you.

Times have changed. Value-based selling is in . Today, the best approach is to inform your buyer with the right message through the right media, selling your solution and not your product.

In your sales presentation, make sure that each product feature that you include has a clear benefit for your prospective buyer. And don't just list the features. Explain why they make your product better, in the simplest way possible.

If your lead generation process produced high-quality leads, and your pre-presentation research uncovered pain points, you should have a pretty good idea what this prospective customer needs—and how your product can solve the issue.

At the end of the day, people want to know what's in it for them and how your product/service will make their lives better. Sell them the solution. The product is just a bonus.

3. Tell a Story

People remember stories. They’re more engaging than stats and figures—and humans connect with humans, not numbers. Research by cognitive psychologist Jerome Bruner suggests that facts are 22 times more likely to be remembered if they’re part of a story .

You want to harness that power for your sales presentation.

Consider your top-shelf customer success stories—or even the customer you just closed yesterday, who solved a major pain point with your solution. The key here is to find past customer situations that your current prospect can identify with. Maybe they serve a similar market niche, or are both struggling to keep their fully-remote team afloat.

Or, maybe, you want to tell your company’s story. Close itself started as a solution to our founders’ frustrations with existing sales CRMs.

Like any great story, you need an arc, characters, conflict—and a resolution. Include whatever graphs and metrics you think add value to the presentation. The numbers don’t speak for themselves, but they do play a supporting role to your storyline.

Turn your case study into a case story, illustrating how your product has helped someone else, and prepare to hook your target audience.

4. Keep It Simple

Be concise. Make your key points digestible. Prospects should be able to quickly scan your sales presentation—and then get back to the conversation.

However, many companies that offer complex products, such as software, tend to overcomplicate the delivery. Most buyers don’t have time to read white papers or long-winded info about your technical specs. Those details can come later.

There are ways to present content while neither boring nor overwhelming your audience:

• Video: Sixty-six percent of people will watch a company’s entire video if it’s less than 60 seconds. Give them something they can quickly digest, that effectively highlights your value prop and most important product features.
• Interactive demos: a great alternative to video calls, ideal with async presentations. You can use interactive demo software like Navattic or Walnut to let your buyer learn about your product on their terms, in their own time.

Whatever you do, get to the point. Time and attention spans are short. Be succinct.

Visually, don’t give your PowerPoint presentation the crafting kindergartner upgrade. Brand colors and fonts should be established early and kept consistent throughout.

In short—less is more. Don’t exhaust your audience visually or mentally.

5. Include the Proof

Your audience wants to know that your solution works. They also want to feel confident about their decision to pursue your product over the competition. How can you help ease these concerns? Include evidence in your sales presentation.

Social proof establishes your credibility and showcases how your solution has transformed the work lives of your customers. It’s an important element in building trust between you and your prospect . Social proof can include media mentions, G2 reviews, social media engagement, customer testimonials, and more.

Recent data from Statista, as of September 2023, indicates a shift in consumer behavior. Their survey, conducted among 10,021 consumers, revealed that 53 percent of U.S. respondents rely on search engines like Google for information about products. This highlights the evolving landscape of consumer trust and information sourcing.

Additionally, 34 percent of consumers used customer reviews as a source of information. This underscores the continued importance of positive reviews and testimonials in fostering trust in a business. The customer success story you've shared can be further enriched by integrating these insights, demonstrating not only the value of customer reviews but also the growing reliance on digital search engines for product information.

Including social proof in your presentation demonstrates how well your solution can meet customer needs —including theirs.

6. Call Them to Action

Nothing cleans out the sales pipeline like a well-timed, well-placed, and well-designed CTA . Success in sales relies on the success of your call to action. And that extends to your sales presentation.

Unlike the sales pitch, your sales presentation is probably not asking for the close. Instead, you are asking them to take the next step in the sales process—book a call, talk to their stakeholders, demo your product, or something else.

You want the CTA to be straightforward. Brief as possible. And effective. Make it easy for them to follow through. For example, if you want them to book a call, share a calendar link. Then follow up .

You have spent time and resources (yours and theirs) on this presentation, so don’t fumble the deal with a weak or confusing CTA. Your sales presentation should be the whole package. Literally.

But can we really tie all of this together into one mega-effective sales presentation? We’re about to find out.

8 Effective Sales Presentation Examples

Sales presentations come in all shapes and sizes. A great sales deck is one that is true to your brand, relevant to your target audience, and produces results.

Various factors can influence the structure, included elements, and delivery. For example, a self-directed presentation that prospects view online may require more text than one that’s delivered face-to-face (or via Zoom). A presentation given to industry experts will include different details (and language) than one delivered to your average, may-be-customer Joe.

As you build your next effective sales presentation, draw inspiration from these winning examples. We’ll share the presentation—and tell you why it works.

1. What + Why: Memento

Stating the problem, explaining the solution.

This sales presentation deck from Memento first describes the pain points of existing solutions—then showcases why Memento is different, emphasizing value and innovation.

This tried-and-true strategy keeps messaging simple and potent. The graphics and color-blocked backgrounds enhance that messaging, and the result? An eye-catching and powerful sales presentation.

2. Image-Rich Slides: Zuora

Is a picture worth a thousand words? Sometimes. It depends what that picture is, and what you’re trying to say.

Zuora uses an image-rich presentation to help differentiate themselves in the industry, and to support the storyline of their presentation. At the same time, text is kept to a minimum.

Visuals can create a supportive foundation upon which you can build your value proposition , company vision, and prospect-relevant story. You’ll probably include photos of your digital or physical product, but you can also add stock images or infographics.

Memorable presentations show , rather than just tell.

3. & 4. Personalize for Prospects: Trumpet

People aren’t numbers—and they don’t want to feel as such.

Personalize your sales presentation so that it speaks directly to your buyer. When possible, call them out by name and make sure that every aspect of the presentation is 100 percent relevant to their situation.

If you want to go the extra mile, incorporate their own brand identity. Make it about them, not about you. Our friends at Trumpet are on a mission to do just that with customizable presentation pods.

Check out this presentation pod example .

This prospect-specific presentation covers most of our key components for an effective sales presentation while taking personalization to the next level. Plus, it’s interactive—which adds value for both prospects and sales reps. Look for the comment section beside the presentation, where you can keep all communication and questions in one spot.

These customization options make your presentation stand out—and are bound to increase your CTA response rate. You can directly incorporate your online scheduling tool, such as Calendly, which also integrates with Close CRM to streamline prospect scheduling.

Here’s another winning example from Trumpet, featured as a use case for SDRs. Again, it’s got all the elements of an effective sales presentation (right down to customer testimonials), and even includes a short audio message specifically for the prospect, from the SDR.

So, ditch the generic sales script and personalize the presentation. Do your homework and make it relatable to each individual prospect, whenever possible.

Then, post-presentation, you can even follow up with a next-steps pod —again, created specifically for your prospect.

5. Be You(r Brand): Reddit

Remember earlier, when we said your sales presentation shouldn’t look like a kindergarten-age graphic designer let loose on Canva? There are always exceptions, right?

First and foremost, you must consider your audience and brand.

The best sales presentations are those that inform and persuade while being true to their brand identity. Sometimes that looks like minimalism: Short sentences, muted color palettes, and quiet power. Sometimes, that looks like pizazz.

Reddit has since updated its branding and slogan, but it once boasted to be “the front page of the internet.” At that time, this sales presentation got them a lot of love.

Talk about hooking an audience. But even the randomness isn’t random—it matches their brand, audience, and value proposition.

So consider your brand, audience, and value proposition, and build a sales presentation worthy of that. (But oh, to be on the sales team at Reddit.)

6. Adaptable Sales Story: Eigen Technologies

Eigen Technologies wanted a presentation to support a core sales story that could be tailored to different industry customers. An overview presentation like this one covers the bullet point features of the product while allowing the presenter to add any relevant prospect-specific slides.

Notice the decision to highlight how this solution stacks up against its industry competitors. This can add power to your own value proposition. Something else that adds power? The cohesive sales story that threads through the entire presentation, from stating the problem to showcasing the solution.

For some, this presentation might be a little text-heavy. When you’re presenting live, you want prospects to be listening to you, rather than simply reading all the information from your slides. For animated videos , take-home or self-guided presentations, however, use the amount of text necessary to support your message.

An animated sales presentation can also be a great addition to your sales and marketing materials. Save the static for your presentation, and get double-mileage with a video.

7. Out-of-the-Box: Apple

It’s hard to find live sales presentation examples because most are given privately in meetings, or directly between a salesperson and their prospect. However, explainer videos like this one can inspire your delivery—and your sales deck.

Steve Jobs, wearing his famous black turtleneck, was known for his potent yet simplistic Apple product presentations. Apple continues to lead with powerful sales messaging. Today, it has evolved to match its updated branding and sales style.

Watch how this presentation involves two different team members, both of whom add unique value to the messaging. Depending on the nature of your solution, the expertise level of your audience, and other factors, you might consider something similar—when it makes sense.

Note that every feature mention is immediately followed by its value. Your audience wants to hear about your product's benefit—don’t leave them with product details as bullet points.

8. Putting It Simply: Microsoft Office 365

This business presentation from Office 365 employs an attention-grabbing color scheme while spotlighting feature details via powerful, concise messaging.

With complex products especially, you need to filter out unnecessary information. Boil it down to your key points and features, then use simple graphics and copy to share your product. Let your value overwhelm prospects—not the presentation itself.

Are you ready to get started on your next super-effective sales presentation? Before you go, consider how it could impact your closing rate—and how you can optimize results.

Using Your Sales Presentation to Close More Deals

Every customer touchpoint should drive prospects toward your ultimate goal: closing more deals. An effective sales presentation is just one step in the customer journey, and tips and presentation templates will take you far.

Let’s look again quickly at the end of your presentation.

At the end of the presentation, you need a strong call to action—but you should also consider other ways to make your message stick. Based on the nature of your solution and how you’re delivering the presentation, you might need to leave behind handouts for your audience.

They should be focused and simple, supporting rather than detracting from your presentation. Maybe they even create a dynamic QR code for scanning to download your app or view contact information.

Then to fully optimize your sales presentation, you must follow up . Your sales presentation alone might not sell your solution—but your faithful follow-up game can push them to take the next step. Enter your CRM.

An agile CRM like Close can streamline this outreach and boost customer retention rates . Now you can optimize—and sustain—the success of your next sales presentation.

START YOUR 14-DAY FREE TRIAL→

Actionable sales advice

Get actionable sales advice read by over 200,000 sales professionals every week.

• Google Slides Presentation Design
• Pitch Deck Design
• Powerpoint Redesign
• Other Design Services

• Business Slides
• Guide & How to's

How to create an effective sales plan and present it: components and tips

Any business involves sales, and forecasting and planning are some of the major activities for a sales team. In this article, you will learn what a sales plan is, how to create an effective one, and how to make a sales presentation PowerPoint based on this plan. We will also discuss some sales plan examples.

What’s sales plan, and why do you need it?

A sales plan is a part of an extensive sales planning process. It helps forecast the sales success a business wants to achieve and outlines a plan to help it accomplish its goals.

Here are the reasons why you need an effective sales plan:

• It helps foresee risks.
• It makes it easier to track company goals.
• It helps find any bottlenecks in the process.
• It helps set clear revenue targets to achieve within a specific period.
• It helps improve lead generation efforts.
• It helps unify labor policies and ensure consistency in operations.
• It helps understand the business’s strengths and weaknesses.
• It helps track progress.
• It helps identify sale strategies that match the target market.
• It helps evaluate the sales team’s performance.
• It helps define each salesperson’s role and delegate work.
• It helps lay out tactics to execute the sales team’s strategies.

Sales plan structure

A sales plan outline will help you present critical metrics, KPIs, processes, tools, objectives, and strategies necessary to hit your sales goals.

If it is your first time creating a sales plan, below are the sections that must be included:

1. Your target revenue

In a sales plan, you can set a revenue-based goal, such as a target of $10,000 in 5 new deals in one month or $150 million in annual recurring revenue. You will need to keep that revenue target achievable.

Here are a few tips for setting your target revenue:

• Determine a reasonable sales goal according to prior sales results and your ability to reach a new market.
• Calculate the anticipated expenses for a specific period.
• Use projected sales forecasts based on estimates or industry standards.

2. Your ideal customer profile and buyer personas

To establish the target market or ideal customer, you must create a series of unique customer profiles that include geographics, demographics, job positions, behavior, and interests. From there, you can clearly define buyer personas and develop more targeted marketing and advertising strategies.

3. Your sales team

A sales team plays a vital role in implementing any sales plan. You must clearly delegate roles and responsibilities to the sales managers, customer service representatives, account executives, sales development representatives, and other sales professionals.

What’s more, there should be smooth communications and a handoff process. You can even consider using a Customer Relations Management (CRM) system to bring visibility and transparency to the sales process for all team members.

4. Your resources

Is your team small? Then, it would help if you determine how to expand the team to meet the sales targets and state how many resources are necessary within a specific period in your business plan.

You may also utilize specialized sales software for effective sales operation management. One such tool is snov.io , which helps scale a small business while engaging better quality leads with the product or service.

5. Safety of communications

Effective communication is essential in a sales team as it keeps each member productive, engaged, and informed. It also performs the following functions:

• Provides analytics needed to measure engagement with sales goals and benchmarks.
• Encourages marketing and sales teams to collaborate on projects.

That’s where you need to ensure the security of your communications and take advantage of dialpad.com, a workspace dedicated to team and customer communications. It is designed for global teams, where they can safely and efficiently communicate through voice, video, and AI contact centers.

6. Your position on the market

Position on the market is about competition, market trends, risks, and predictions. It outlines what your company must do to market your products and services to your target customers.

If you know how to position your business on the market, you will have a big picture of how you can establish the identity or image of your brand. It also allows you to achieve superior margins for the product or brand relative to competitors.

7. Your prospecting strategy

Prospecting strategy involves how you will generate quality leads and what inbound and outbound methods your sales team will use. Your goal here is to create interest and convert it into a sales meeting.

Below are easy ways to start your prospecting strategy:

• Build a list that includes who your sales team wants to generate meetings with.
• Research your prospects to ensure your new leads are a good fit.
• Craft your offer to drive value.
• Create a prospecting campaign to generate appointments with potential buyers and include a solid value-based offering.

8. Your pricing strategy

Your sales plan’s pricing strategy is about determining how you plan to change the price of your product and within what period. It will help you choose prices that maximize your shareholder value while considering the market and consumer demand.

Pricing strategy accounts for many business factors, such as product attributes, brand positioning, target audience, marketing and revenue goals. It is influenced by external factors, such as economic and market trends, competitor pricing, and consumer demand.

When creating a pricing strategy, consider the following:

• Pricing potential evaluation
• Buyer personas
• Historical data
• Your business goals vs. value
• Competitor pricing

9. Your goals, objectives & DRIs

Goals often include one to three- or five-year projections. Your goals must reflect recurring or existing customers’ expected sales and revenue. Then, you will need to have sales objectives that prioritize the activities your sales team needs to engage in.

Assigning Directly Responsible Individuals (DRIs) also helps make a successful strategic sales plan. These individuals are typically responsible for making sure particular tasks are well-executed.

10. Your action plan

Part of creating an effective sales plan is defining your action plan. It deals with summarizing your plan to achieve each specific objective. For instance, if your sales goal is to increase your referrals by 20%, your actions would be:

Holding referral technique workshops Running a contest to boost referral sales Increasing referral sales commissions by 5%

11. Your budget

In this section, you must outline all costs you believe will be required to achieve your sales targets. Some expenses include hiring, printing, travel, training, sales tools, commissions, salaries, etc. These expenses are meant to be estimates, but due diligence and research should be done to prevent financial errors.

Sales plan examples

When it comes to creating a sales plan, there is no unified sales plan template. Each sales plan differs based on the company’s purpose. While you can encounter different sales plans, here are the common ones:

1. 30-60-90-day sales plan

A 30-60-90-day sales plan is milestone-based. This means it specifies a short-term goal you must achieve within 30, 60, or 90 days. This type of sales plan is suitable for new sales managers, helping them establish tactical and strategic activities according to this plan.

2. Territory sales plan

A territory sales plan features tactics dedicated to the sales team in different territories. You will need to consider a specific area’s market dynamics and working environment.

With a territory sales plan, you can:

• Target specific customers, opportunities, regions, and industries.
• Align the sales team with the prospects.
• Set realistic goals, optimize the strategies, and track progress.
• Spend more time selling.

When creating this sales plan, you have to:

• Define larger sales goals.
• Define the target market.
• Assess account quality and prospects.
• Map out the sales representatives’ strengths and weaknesses.
• Assign leads. Polish your plan.

3. Sales plan for specific sales

When it comes to this sales plan type, you must familiarize yourself with different sales domains, such as sales training plans or compensation, as well as:

• State the company’s mission
• Set objectives and timeframe
• Define the sales team
• Define the target market
• Evaluate the resources
• Create a comparative analysis of your offerings
• Set the sales budget
• Define the marketing strategy
• Work out the strategy
• Define the action plan

4. Monthly sales plan

If you prefer a traditional sales plan, you can opt for a monthly sales plan. It features tactics and revenue goals, which have to be accomplished within a month.

5. Sales tactics plan

A sales tactics plan includes execution strategies. It also involves detailed daily or weekly plans, including prescribed call sequences, meeting appointments, and email follow-up frequency.

Tips on how to create a sales plan

Are you looking for effective recommendations on how to make sales plan for your company? Then, check out the following:

Tip #1: Back up your plan with research and statistics

It is advisable to always back up your sales plan with research and statistics. This will help you define the sales team’s tasks needed to better meet your sales goals. These tasks should primarily stem from statistics and research.

Tip #2: Use SWOT analysis to analyze your capacities

From a sales perspective, SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis will help assess your company’s position in the market. It will also allow you to gain insights into leveraging your selling points, acquiring market shares, and comparing your business’ position with that of your competitors.

To make this easier, you can use a visualizing tool to document the results of your SWOT analysis. You can choose from flow-chart tools, spreadsheet apps with SWOT analysis templates, mind mapping software, SWOT analysis generators, or online presentation or graphic design tools.

Tip #3: Split your sales plan into specific tactical plans

You can use specific tactical plans to achieve your sales goals. The details depend on different variables, such as resources and time. You can make a plan for individual areas of sales, such as SDRs, sales enablement, sales operations, and customer success.

As you create a tactical plan, you have to consider the following key elements:

• Company mission
• Key performance indicators
• Flexibility
• Action items
• Responsible parties

These key elements will help you identify the plan’s success in many ways, including the likelihood of accomplishing it.

Tip #4: Use previous performance data

You can use previous performance data to build incentive, territory, quota, and sales capacity plans. Using this data as your crucial decision-making tool, your sales team can have a basis for making informed decisions and forecasting performance more efficiently and accurately. In return, your sales plan will likely help achieve efficiency, higher performance, and bottom-line growth.

Tip #5: Outline the tracking methods you’ll use

By outlining tracking methods, you can set process workflows, allowing your sales representatives to determine where each prospect stands and which steps they need to take next.

You can also track the following:

• Sale cycle length.
• Number of closed deals.
• Conversion rate.
• Average contract value.
• Pipeline value by quarter, by month, and by individual and team.
• The number of unclosed deals after reaching a specific stage.

Now that you know the peculiarities and components of a sales plan, let’s find out how to make a sales plan presentation, what to include in it, and discover the top 14 sales presentation tips from vetted professionals.

What is a sales deck, and how to best present one?

A sales deck is a set of slides you can use to guide your audience through your sales strategy presentation.

Slide presentations can help your target audience grasp crucial information, pricing, and product characteristics your sales representatives can build their story around.

The best sales presentation slides serve as a touchstone for your sales team’s pitches. They allow your sales managers to draw on their personal knowledge to deliver additional information tailored to the prospects and stakeholders they are presenting to.

What are the types of sales presentation?

Sales presentations are classified into three types: standard memorized presentations, formulated sales presentations, and need-satisfaction presentations. Each sales presentation deck type has distinct characteristics that suit different scenarios.

1. Standard memorized presentations

Standard memorized presentations are very detailed and precise and always follow a predefined structure. They ensure no detail is overlooked and enable the sales team to produce a well-rehearsed, flawless presentation, leaving no room for misinterpretations or potential inaccuracies.

2. Formulated sales presentations

Formulated sales presentations offer a balance between rigidity and flexibility. While they follow a structured sales presentation outline, they allow salespeople to adjust their presentation in real time based on the customers’ reactions. Because of this flexibility, the sales presentation is not set in stone but revolves around customer preferences and queries.

3. Need-satisfaction presentations

Need-satisfaction presentations follow a customer-centric approach, allowing the salesperson to focus on satisfying the customer’s individual demands. The emphasis here is on establishing a dialogue rather than presenting a monologue, encouraging the customer to actively engage in the process.

What are the features of a sales presentation?

The content of your sales presentation PowerPoint must be written carefully and portray the story behind the specific product or service. As time is of the essence in sales, ensure your presentation is no more than 10 minutes and the overall meeting time does not exceed one hour.

When you invite people to come to your sales presentation, make sure they are decision-makers and are related to the things you are selling. Also, try not to lose the prospect’s attention by choosing the wrong points. Your sales presentation doesn’t have to concentrate too much on your service or product. Instead, show the audience how your service or product will change their lives in a good way.

Sales presentation structure

Here’s how to build a sales presentation that catches your audience’s attention and delivers your product’s value proposition in the best way possible:

• Introduce the pain points of your prospects.
• Describe the impact of the problem your prospects are facing.
• Explain why change is urgently necessary and what they stand to lose by not acting.
• Present the solution: a clear path toward the prospect’s goals.
• Provide evidence, address reservations, and FAQs.

To create personalized sales decks quickly, you can use a sales presentation template with the most recent FAQs and case studies. This will allow you to easily copy a deck and create a customized sales presentation for each new prospect in a matter of minutes.

What to include in a sales deck?

Good sales decks have a few key elements, such as:

• Introduction. Say a few words about your company, mentioning your activities and mission. Make sure you grab the audience’s attention with a memorable opening slide or cover image.
• Definition of the problem. Identify the main issues that your company is trying to solve. Provide your audience with some data. Metrics can come from third-party sources or your own sales dashboard.
• Social proof. For instance, you might add quotes and success stories from customers to support your sales presentation. However, you must not repeat the things you say.
• Customized content. Customize your sales presentation for every single prospect so as to build a bridge between your services or product and your audience. In other words, make sure it is personalized.
• Next steps. Include a clear and brief call to action. Offer a few next steps for your potential prospects.
• Visuals. Graphs, charts, and other design elements are all effective techniques to illustrate your point. However, make sure they are simple. Do not overwhelm your sales presentation with too much data; use more visuals instead.

Lastly, make sure that the font (and font size) used in your sales presentation design is legible to everyone in the room.

Other points to consider

1. the product.

Demonstrate how your service or product operates in action. Create a perfect environment to showcase how the product works, if it is physical. Utilize technology if it is a digital product. For instance, you might ask your prospects to download the app. In some cases, you might use video as a demo.

2. Handouts

Hand out some materials to your audience. For instance, it might be a QR code or contact data. The information must be clear and to the point. Distribute the handouts once the sales presentation is over.

3. Practice and teamwork

Double-check your sales presentation with a few salespersons. Practice a lot before the actual presentation. Come earlier to make sure everything works well. Also, decide who will say some information during the presentation and who will do certain things to help you.

Expert tips: How to create your sales presentation?

Tip #1: sync.

Your main points must be synchronized with your sales deck. When you present statistics, you should speak slowly. Emphasize your tone of voice when you are talking about pain points. Express relief when you showcase how your company wants to tackle specific issues. Make sure all the questions you ask your audience have straightforward answers or are rhetorical.

Tip #2: Involve storytelling

People like exciting stories related to their daily lives and problems. They will listen to your sales presentation even more attentively if you tell a story that solves their everyday problems.

Tip #3: Avoid using technical slang

In your sales presentation, use general terms that are clear to every audience member. Do not use slang words. Most people in the room might not have a clue about your offering, so the simpler the lexicon is, the better the result.

Tip #4: Emphasize the value of your product or service

Try to demonstrate how your product or service differs from your competitors. Tell about the main differences slowly. Mention how your product or service will make other people’s lives more comfortable. In other words, emphasize their value.

Tip #5: Practice body language

Your body language must be confident during the presentation. Improve your body language by maintaining eye contact and standing straight. It will prove to people that you are interested in communicating with them.

Tip #6: Be funny

Use your sense of humor. For instance, you might play jokes, but you would better not force them. Keep in contact with your prospects by telling funny stories. Make sure everyone in the room is comfortable and relaxed.

Tip #7: Emphasize your expertise

Do not talk too much about your company. You should focus your sales presentation on the field of your expertise instead. For instance, you might demonstrate a slide with logos of the companies that have already invested money in your brand.

Tip #8: Focus on benefits

Emphasize the strong points and tell how your product or service will improve your prospects’ lives. Do not focus too much on the pain points. Make sure your presentation is personal and describe all the benefits they will get. You might also mention the names of people in the room to make them feel valued.

Tip #9: Include research

Add internal and external types of research to your sales presentation. Use statistics or graphs and cut the information into brief pieces for your company to get more authority. Add relevant numbers and examples to demonstrate how you helped previous clients.

Tip #10: Showcase the return on their investment

Tell how your company will master productivity, multiply market share, make more money, eliminate costs, and boost sales. In other words, you should show the results of investments both long- and short-term.

Tip #11: Rehearse

Rehearsing before a presentation will help boost your confidence and smooth “rough spots.” You will also get to know the approximate amount of time needed to deliver your presentation.

Tip #12: Talk directly to your audience

Do not speak just to your slides. Utilize slides to emphasize the things you say. If you fail to do so, your presentation will most likely sound boring. Try to engage every member of the audience. Express yourself by using your hands. For instance, you might ask them to raise their hands if they agree to some of the points.

Tip #13: Add a clear call to action

Make sure your last slide includes a call to action. Add your contact data, but do not go deeply into detail. Know when it is the right time to stop.

Tip #14: Answer the audience’s questions

Your prospects will ask questions, and you have to be prepared to stop the presentation and answer their questions as they appear. Your audience must be sure that you take them seriously. At the end of your presentation, you can also offer a product’s trial, discount, or other incentive to motivate the audience or create a sense of urgency. The main goal here is to make the audience involved.

Lastly, follow sales presentation best practices to ensure a polished and persuasive delivery. This includes maintaining a clear and concise narrative, addressing potential objections proactively, and incorporating compelling storytelling techniques. Utilize engaging visuals to enhance your message and capture the audience’s attention. Practice your delivery to ensure a confident and natural presentation style and encourage audience interaction through discussions.

By adhering to these best practices, you can create a sales presentation that not only increases the likelihood of successful outcomes but also fosters positive connections with potential clients or stakeholders.

Still wondering how to create a sales deck?

Don’t worry—our presentation design service has got you covered! With profound expertise in designing compelling presentations in different software and thousands of satisfied customers from across the globe, it will be a no-brainer for our dedicated team to transform your ideas into a visually stunning, impactful sales presentation. Take the first step towards a winning presentation by reaching out to us today.

Your success story begins with professionally crafted pitch deck slides —let SlidePeak help you make it a reality!

#ezw_tco-2 .ez-toc-widget-container ul.ez-toc-list li.active::before { background-color: #ededed; } Table of contents

• Presenting techniques
• 50 tips on how to improve PowerPoint presentations in 2022-2023 [Updated]
• Keynote VS PowerPoint
• Types of presentations
• Present financial information visually in PowerPoint to drive results

Private: In-depth guide: launch your project on Product Hunt

Introduce a new product idea in a presentation

• Design Tips

A complete guide to perfect pitch deck design: structure, tips & examples

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.

What The Future Of Social Media Looks Like

Everything You Need To Know About Hiring Your First Five Salespeople

Related posts.

Lenovo activated the first Cleo ‘For Good’ Marketing campaign.

Consultative Selling Techniques: 7 Steps to Selling More

B2B Sales Trends in 2020: What You Must Know

Write a comment cancel reply.

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

20+ Best Sales PowerPoint Templates (Sales PPT Pitches)

Learning to craft successful and better-looking sales presentations is one of the key skills you should master as a marketer or sales rep.

In this digital era, being able to deliver great presentations is not enough. You also need to be able to design attractive and beautiful slides that engage with your audience while adding more context to your speech.

The good news is that you don’t have to be a designer or take courses to design such effective PowerPoint presentations. All you need is the right PowerPoint template.

In this post, we bring you a collection of PowerPoint sales presentation templates to help you find the right designs for your sales plan, proposal, and pitch slide decks. Be sure to save these templates for future events and meetings.

How Does Unlimited PowerPoint Templates Sound?

Download thousands of PowerPoint templates, and many other design elements, with a monthly Envato Elements membership. It starts at $16 per month, and gives you unlimited access to a growing library of over 2,000,000 presentation templates, fonts, photos, graphics, and more.

Minimal PPT Templates

Clean & clear.

Ciri Template

Maximus Template

Explore PowerPoint Templates

Business Sales PowerPoint Presentation Template

Sales presentations don’t always have to be all stats and data, they can be beautiful too. This PowerPoint template allows you to design more effective slideshows with modern layouts with creative animations. There are more than 50 unique slide designs included in this template. You can easily edit and customize them to your preference.

Sales Strategy Powerpoint Template

If you want to make your sales strategy presentations more effective, you should consider creating a slideshow with more visual elements. This PowerPoint template will help you get that job done. It includes 30 unique slides you can use to present your sales plan and strategy in a step-by-step approach.

Sales Pitch PowerPoint Template

A great pitch deck goes a long way to make sure your sales pitch stays on point. It will also help convince your audience of your skills and knowledge on the topic. Be sure to use this PowerPoint template to design such a killer slide deck for your sales pitch presentations. It includes 20 master slide layouts with fully customizable layouts.

Marketing & Sales Strategy PowerPoint Template

There are many different types of charts, graphs, and infographics you need to use in your sales presentations to visualize data and key points. This PowerPoint template includes 30 unique slides you can use to add some of the most popular charts and graphs to your presentations. There are slides for sales cycles, planning, strategy model, B2C and B2B strategy plans, and much more.

B2B Marketing and Sales PowerPoint Template

Whether you’re working on a smart strategy for your B2B marketing approach or creating a master plan to beat your competitors, this B2B marketing PowerPoint template will help you create the best presentation to showcase your plan. It includes a total of 60 slide layouts that can be used to create both marketing and sales presentations.

Sales Meeting – Free PowerPoint Template

This is a free PowerPoint template that comes with a set of slides you can create professional slide decks for sales meetings. It features 30 unique slides with modern designs and fully customizable layouts.

Free Sales Planning Process PowerPoint Template

With this free PowerPoint template, you can create visual presentations for your sales process presentations. There are 35 different slides included in this template that you can edit and customize to change colors, fonts, and images.

Sales – Marketing PowerPoint Presentation

This professional PowerPoint sales presentation template uses a beautiful color scheme to create a consistent look across all its slides. The template lets you choose from 40 different slide designs to create slideshows for all kinds of sales and marketing presentations. The template includes master slides as well.

Sales Funnel PowerPoint Template

Sales funnels are an important part of creating an effective sales strategy. With this PowerPoint template, you can create a presentation to showcase your plan for sales funnels with lots of visual elements. There are 20 unique master slide layouts included in this template that feature important charts, graphs, and infographics for sales funnel presentations.

Sales Proposal PowerPoint Template

With this PowerPoint presentation, you can create professional slideshows for presenting your sales proposals. The template comes with some of the most important slides for sales slide decks, including slides for showcasing your marketing plan and business strategy. Each slide comes in 5 pre-made color schemes as well.

Anasalez – Sales Analysis PowerPoint Presentation

You can make a complete visual analysis of your sales process or plans using this useful PowerPoint template. It comes with more than 50 unique slides that are designed specifically for sales presentations. Each slide is available in both light and dark color themes as well as 10 pre-made color schemes.

Sales and Digital Funnel PowerPoint Templates

This professional PowerPoint template allows you to create more effective slides for showcasing your sales funnels. There are 20 different styles of sales funnel designs included in this template. Each slide can be customized to your preference to change colors, fonts, and images.

Free Creative Sales Strategy Presentation Template

Another free PowerPoint template for creating sales strategy presentations. This template has over 30 unique slides with very creative designs. It features colorful shapes, illustrations, and graphs as well.

Free Sales Process PowerPoint Infographic Slides

Grab this free PowerPoint template to design effective presentations for outlining your sales process. It includes 32 unique slides with many different styles of sales infographic designs.

Dashi – Sales Report PowerPoint Presentation

Dashi is a PowerPoint template made just for professional marketers. You can use it to design visual and beautiful slideshows for presenting your sales dashboards and reports. The template has 10 slides featuring more than 30 character positions, over 2000 vector icons, and 30 business concepts. Each slide is available in light and dark color themes as well as 30 pre-made color schemes.

Sales Pitch Presentation PowerPoint Template

This is a multipurpose PowerPoint template for making all kinds of pitch proposals. Whether it’s a sales pitch, marketing pitch, or even startup pitch decks, this template can handle them all. There are more than 120 unique slides in this template with 6 different color schemes to choose from, making it a total of over 800 slides.

Sales Playbook PowerPoint Template

Creating an attractive slideshow for your sales and marketing campaigns will get much easier when you have this PowerPoint template at your side. It features over 35 unique slide layouts with professional designs. Everything in each slide design, including the colors, fonts, shapes, and images are fully customizable as well.

Sales Process PowerPoint Presentation Template

Use this PowerPoint template to create slides with visual diagrams and graphs for presenting your sales process in a professional way. There are 40 unique slides in this template with useful sales process designs. Each slide is available in 10 different pre-made color schemes, which makes it a total of 400 slides to choose from.

Kanigara – Marketing & Sales PowerPoint Template

Kanigara is another multipurpose PowerPoint template that comes with modern and stylish slides for making all kinds of sales presentations. The template features over 40 slides with beautiful layouts. There are lots of creative graphs, charts, and graphics included in this presentation.

Felicia – Free Sales Presentation PowerPoint Template

This PowerPoint template comes with lots of colorful and creative slide designs for making sales presentations that will surely leave your mark. It includes more than 20 unique slides. And it comes in both PowerPoint and Google Slides versions.

Ardall – Free Sales Presentation Template

Ardall is another free PowerPoint template that’s also available in Google Slides format. This template features a set of modern and professional slides for making sales and marketing presentations. There are 20 slide layouts included in the template.

B2B and B2C Digital Marketing & Sales Presentation

This PowerPoint template works perfectly for creating presentations for both B2B and B2C marketing slideshows. The template includes over 35 unique slides and you can choose from 5 pre-made color schemes as well. The slides are easily customizable to your preference.

Real Estate Marketing & Sales PowerPoint Template

If you’re working on a marketing presentation for a real estate agency, this PowerPoint template will come in handy. It includes 50 unique slides that are designed with property and real estate marketing presentations in mind. They are available in 7 different color schemes.

3D Stairs Diagram for Sales Process Presentation

The stairs diagram is commonly used in marketing and sales presentations to showcase various stats and reports. This PowerPoint template will help you add such diagrams to your presentations with ease. It includes 6 unique slides with 3D-like stair diagram designs.

Ozone – Sales & Marketing Portrait PowerPoint Template

Ozone is a creative PowerPoint template that comes in portrait-style slide designs. There are 50 unique slides included in the template with over 60 master slide layouts to choose from. It features transition animations and infographics as well.

For more great presentation templates, check out our best professional PowerPoint templates collection.

• Home →
• Blog →
• Salesperson →

10-Steps to Your Ultimate Sales Presentation (with Examples)

One of the first things every new salesperson needs to learn, if they are to succeed, is how to develop and deliver a sales presentation. A lot of factors go into developing a sales presentation for a specific situation. However, by following a logical series of steps, it will greatly enhance the chance of making a sale.

A sales presentation is defined as “a talk giving information about a product or service that you are trying to sell, intended to persuade people to buy it.” Historically, sales presentations were delivered one-on-one with the salesperson, presenting directly to a buyer.

However, technology has expanded the traditional in-person sales presentation to include the potential for video conference presentations, telephone presentations, presentations delivered via email, and even long-form presentations delivered via internet web sales pages.

Regardless of the delivery method, a salesperson who follows a logical series of steps will have the greatest chance of making a sale.

The graphic below depicts an outline of the Ultimate 10-Step Sales Presentation:

Each step of the Ultimate Sales Presentation is important and contributes to the likelihood of making a sale. That said, not every step is needed in every selling situation. Sometimes the buyer is ready to buy after Step 4: Presentation. Sometimes the buyer will inject objections immediately as the salesperson begins, Step 3: Approach.

As I said, every salesperson/buyer interaction is different. The relational salesperson is acutely aware of this difference and will flex their presentation to meet the needs of the buyer.

10-Step Ultimate Sales Presentation

So now, let’s take a quick look at each of the 10-Steps of the Ultimate Sales Presentation.

1. Prospecting

Prospecting is the first step in the selling process. A prospect is a buyer who has the potential to buy your product or service. A lead is not the same thing as a prospect! A lead is simply someone for whom the salesperson has contact information. Once the lead has been qualified, they then become a prospect.

A lead becomes a qualified prospect when they exhibit these three characteristics:

• They must have the money to buy.
• They must have the authority to buy.
• They must have a desire to buy.

Prospecting is the lifeblood of many sales roles. Keeping a pipeline full of potential prospects is critical in industries like real estate, insurance, and vehicle sales. Even many retail businesses (like department stores) rely on prospecting to develop new customers.

2. Pre-approach/Planning

Planning is the second step in the selling process. Planning is done after we have identified a qualified prospect, and before we approach the customer.

A plan is a sales presentation strategy designed to achieve a specific end goal. A plan describes what you want to achieve and how you will do it.

The desire of a relational salesperson is to help people. The purpose of meeting with a buyer is to help that person in some way. The purpose of the plan you create is to help the person by selling the right product or service to meet their needs.

Planning is critical to the sales process because it accomplishes four things:

• Planning builds the confidence of the salesperson.
• Planning demonstrates the salesperson’s professionalism.
• Planning often builds goodwill between the salesperson and the buyer because the buyer sees the effort taken by the salesperson to meet their needs.
• Planning increases the probability of making the sale because the salesperson better understands the buyer’s needs.

3. Approach

The approach is the third step in the selling process. It is the period of time between when the salesperson first sees the buyer up until they start to discuss the product. The approach is the first step of the actual sales presentation.

The approach step of the sale presentation process consists of two distinct, yet equally important, parts. First is the rapport building, “small talk.” This is usually the first minute or two of the sales meeting where the salesperson might talk about something you know the buyer is interested in (sports, weather, family, children, etc.).

The second part of the approach step is the planned, formal lead-in to the actual discussion of the product.

The main thing every buyer wants to know is whether the product you’re about to discuss will meet their needs. As a salesperson, your approach to lead-in to the presentation with the buyer must accomplish three things:

• You must capture the buyer’s attention .
• You must stimulate their interest in your product or solution.
• You must then transition smoothly into the presentation.

The approach lead-in might take the form of a statement, a question, or a demonstration. Whichever method you choose (statement, question, or demonstration), you must capture the buyer’s attention, stimulate their interest in the product, and transition into the main body of the presentation.

Approach Example

An example of the statement/question approach is, “What a wonderful picture of your two children! How old are they?… That’s a wonderful age. Mrs. Buyer, the reason I wanted to meet with you today is I have an idea that I think will increase your sales and profit. Is that something you are interested in?”

As soon as you have the buyer’s attention and gained their interest, it’s time to transition directly to the main body of your presentation.

4. Presentation

The presentation is the fourth step in the selling process. The presentation is your persuasive verbal and visual explanation of your selling proposition. The presentation follows the approach.

The presentation takes the buyer through five distinct stages in the buying cycle that build upon one another:

• To provide knowledge in the form of features, advantages, and benefits so that the buyer can make an informed decision.
• This knowledge translates into positive beliefs about you and your product/service.
• The positive beliefs result in the buyer having a desire for the product.
• The desire for the product becomes an attitude that your product is the best product to fulfill the buyer’s need.
• When the buyer realizes you have the best product to meet their needs, they move into the conviction stage. They are now convinced yours is the product they need to buy.

Once the buyer has reached the conviction stage, it is time for a trial close.

5. Trial Close

A trial close is the fifth step in the selling process. The trial close is not asking the buyer to decide to buy. Rather, the trial close asks for the buyer’s opinion regarding what they have heard so far.

The trial close allows the salesperson to determine:

• Whether the buyer likes your product or service.
• Whether you have successfully answered any questions from the buyer.
• Whether any additional questions remain unanswered.
• Whether the buyer is ready for you to close the sale.

The trial close is an important yet often underutilized tool. A trial close can be used:

• After making a significant point in the presentation.
• After answering any questions or objections from the buyer.
• After the close of the main body of the presentation, and before you move to close the sale.

Trial Close Examples

Examples of a simple trial close include,

• “Does that answer your question?”
• “How does that sound to you?”
• “What do you think about what we’ve discussed so far?”

If the trial close results in a positive response from the buyer, jump to Step 9: Close. However, most trial closes will result in some questions or objections from the buyer. It’s time to determine and handle objections.

6. Determine Objections

Determining objections is the sixth step in the selling process. Assuming the trial close has resulted in questions or objections from the buyer, we now must begin the process of discovering those questions and handling those objections.

Some salespeople bristle and get defensive when asked questions or confronted with objections from a buyer. But this is the wrong way to think about objections! Salespeople should be grateful for questions and objections because they indicate the buyer’s interest. They also help the salesperson determine which stage of the buying cycle the buyer is in—attention, interest, desire, or conviction.

If the buyer has raised an objection, the salesperson needs to ensure their understanding of the objection. One easy way to do that is to restate the objection and ask for confirmation.

Determine Objection Example

For example, if the buyer has raised an objection about the expected life of a machine, the salesperson might say, “If I understand you correctly, your main concern with this machine is that it will provide you with trouble-free service for several years. Is that right?”

When the buyer confirms your understanding of the objection its time to move to the next step in the selling process and handle the objection!

7. Handle Objections

Meeting or handling objections is the seventh step in the selling process. Once you have determined you understand the buyer’s objection, you need to handle the objection. Usually, objections should be handled as soon as they are brought up. However, you may want to delay handling the objection if you are just about to talk about the question in your presentation.

There are four important points to consider when handling objections:

• Handle objections when they arise.
• Be positive when responding to objections.
• Listen carefully to the buyer as they state their objection.
• Confirm your understanding of the objection.

Some objections are false, and these can usually be ignored. However, if a buyer brings up an objection a second time, it is most likely a real issue, which needs to be addressed.

Real objections are almost always a request for more information. So, the best way to handle them is to answer the question with the specific relevant information the buyer needs.

Handle Objection Example

Going back to our machine question in the Determine Objection section above, the salesperson might continue, saying, “I certainly understand your concern. Our company has placed over 300 of these machines in companies like yours over the past ten years, and I’m proud to say they have a 99% run rate with no failures!

8. Trial Close

A follow-up trial close is the eighth step in the selling process. Whenever a question or objection is raised and handled, it’s time to try a trial close. As before, the point of the trial close is to ensure you have answered the buyer’s question to their satisfaction. If there is any doubt that the buyer is satisfied with your answer, you need to dig in to discover what other issues the buyer might have.

Trial Close Example

In our machine example, the salesperson might simply say, “Does our machine’s long life and 99% run rate answer your concern for our product’s reliability?”

When the salesperson feels that all the questions and objections have been addressed satisfactorily, it’s time to move on to the Close!

The close is the ninth step in the selling process. Closing is simply the process of helping the buyer make a decision that benefits them. The salesperson should attempt to close the sale when they feel the buyer is in the Conviction stage of the buying process.

Unfortunately, research shows a whopping 64% of salespeople fail to close. They fail to ask for the order! There are several reasons why this is the case, but generally, most of them revert to fear. The salesperson is afraid of failure, of being told “no.” Whereas, relational salespeople who are selling to solve problems and help people should never be afraid to ask for the order!

Good closers plan the close of their sale as carefully as they plan all the rest of their presentation. The close is not something you tack on to the end of the presentation, hoping that the buyer will say “yes.”

Close Example

There are many ways to close, but the simplest way is just to ask for the order and stop talking.

A salesperson might say, “Mr. Buyer, we’ve covered a lot of ground today, and I think you agree this machine will increase your production and improve your sales and profit. I have the order contract ready for your signature.” Then stop talking!

Another form of the close that I personally like is the assumptive option close. The salesperson might say, “Mr. Buyer, we’ve covered a lot of ground today, and I think you agree this machine will increase your production and improve your sales and profit. Would you like to have it delivered and installed next week, or would the following week be better for you?”

10. Follow-Up and Service

Finally, follow-up and service after the sale is the tenth step in the selling process. Sales are not about you. It’s about you taking care of your customers, and that happens after the buyer says “yes.”

What you do after the sale to provide follow-up and service to the customer is critical. It makes the difference between making a sale to a customer one time and making a sale to the same loyal customer many times year after year!

A salesperson who is diligent about providing follow-up and service after the sale will outperform the salesperson who does not perform that service. This maxim holds true simply because it is always easier to sell more to a current happy customer than find new customers. Happy, satisfied customers tell others and provide a flow of new business leads to the salesperson.

There are six steps the salesperson should take after the sale:

• Focus on improving account penetration. Get to know as many people in the account as you can. Look for needs or problems that you might be able to solve.
• Continue regular contact with the customer. Make sure every promise made in the presentation is kept.
• Handle any issues or customer complaints immediately. Things will go wrong, and the speed at which you handle even a minor issue demonstrates your commitment to the customer.
• Always keep your promises. Nothing destroys a developing relationship, like not keeping your promises. Stay true to your word. The customer placed their faith in you when they bought your product. You need to respect that faith by keeping your word.
• Become the customer’s business advisor. Do what you can to shift from the role of the salesperson to that of the trusted advisor by providing helpful industry insights, new information, or problem-solving solutions. Become a valued partner in the business!
• Show your appreciation. Showing your appreciation is a simple way to demonstrate you are thinking about the customer. Never underestimate how much a handwritten thank-you note, a congratulatory phone call, or a birthday card will mean to a buyer!

There you have it, a quick overview of the Ultimate 10-Step Sales Presentation Model!

The Ultimate 10-Step Sales Presentation Series

I hope what I shared with you here has helped you understand and appreciate the power of the Ultimate 10-Step Sales Presentation model. But I’ve just scratched this surface here! Over the next few months, I’ll be sharing more detail about each step of the model with more examples.

If you want to learn more about the Ultimate 10-Step Sales Presentation model, you can subscribe to the series here. That way you won’t miss any of this valuable information!

Join the Conversation

As always, questions and comments are welcome. What questions do you have about the Ultimate 10-Step Sales Presentation model? Are there any steps you think are more or less important than others?

I’d love your help. This blog is read primarily because of people like you who share it with friends. Would you be kind enough to share it by pressing the share button?

Category: Salespeople

Related Posts

Your Complete Guide to Customer Retention: Service and Follow-Up (with Examples)

Your Complete Guide to Closing the Sale (with Examples)

Your Complete Guide to Flushing Out Buyer Objections

How to Leverage the Trial Close in Your Ultimate Sales Presentation

Session expired

Please log in again. The login page will open in a new tab. After logging in you can close it and return to this page.

The Ultimate Guide to Creating a Sales Process

Learn how to create a sales process for your team to use when converting any prospect from a lead to a customer.

FREE SALES PLAN TEMPLATE

Outline your company's sales strategy in one simple, coherent plan.

Updated: 03/20/24

Published: 03/20/24

A sound sales process is the backbone of any productive sales engagement. It gives you the structure, roadmap, and reference points necessary to sell with thoughtfulness and consistency. Even though a sale always requires some degree of improvisation, finesse, and creativity, you can't just wing every deal you work on and expect to see results.

That‘s why virtually every sales org has one of these processes in place — and a solid one can ensure you prospect, qualify, research prospects, pitch, handle objections, close, and nurture as effectively as possible. So by now, you’re probably thinking, “Holy heck! These sales processes sure do sound important! How on Earth do I put one together, and once it's in place, how can I ensure that my sales org and I abide by it?”

Well, hypothetical reader who asks all of the questions I want them to ask, you‘re in luck! Here, we’ll cover all of those bases — going over what a sales process is, the steps that generally comprise one, how to improve yours, and some handy examples you can reference. Let's dive in!

What is a sales process?

Sales process steps, how to improve your sales process, sales process mapping, how to create a sales process, sales process flowchart, sales process vs. sales methodology, sales process examples, common sales process mistakes.

A sales process refers to a series of repeatable steps a sales team takes to move a prospect from an early-stage lead to a closed customer. A strong sales process helps reps consistently close deals by giving them a framework to follow.

Why build a sales process?

As I said at the beginning of this post, I like to think of a sales process as both the backbone of and a roadmap for a successful sales engagement. It provides the structure and direction you need to capitalize on the leads your marketing generates — from prospecting to closing and beyond. Some other key benefits include:

• Facilitating smooth onboarding. A standardized sales process also helps less experienced reps get up to speed quickly — having that kind of framework in place ensures that you can train reps with some degree of consistency and give them a solid understanding of what they need to do at any given point in a sale.
• Making revenue generation more predictable. Forecasting is much more erratic without a solid sales process in place — establishing one of these frameworks allows you to keep tabs on the prospects in your pipeline more closely and, in turn, have a more accurate picture of how much revenue you'll ultimately generate.
• Allowing you to iterate and improve how your sales org sells. If you don‘t have a sales process in place, you won’t have a basis to improve upon when you‘re not hitting KPIs. In short, if you don’t have an established sales process, you're shooting in the dark.

Now that you know what a sales process is and why you should create one, let's consider the stages or steps that a typical sales process follows.

Buyer Persona Templates

Organize your audience segments and make your marketing stronger.

• Learn about personas.
• Conduct persona research.
• Create targetted content.
• Build your own personas.

You're all set!

Click this link to access this resource at any time.

3. Define the prospect action that moves them to the next stage.

A sales process is a progression — a series of stages separated by specific actions. If you want your sales process to be seamless, effective, and predictable, you need to know exactly what those actions are.

Understand what causes a prospect to move from one stage to the next in your sales process. Ideally, the actions that move opportunities through the Pipeline will be based on those prospects‘ actions — not a sales rep’s hunches or perception.

Hot Tip: Ask the following questions to determine the actions that move prospects from stage to stage:

• “While conducting warm outreach, did a rep hit on a specific pain point that motivated the prospect to schedule a discovery call?”
• “During the demo, were there objections that stalled the deal or features that moved it forward?”
• “When a rep made a pitch, was the answer an immediate ‘yes’ from the customer? If so, consider carefully why that happened. How did they build up to the pitch?"

4. Define exit criteria for each step of the sales process.

This step is essentially a more concrete extension of the previous one. Once you have a sense of the actions that prompt a progression in your sales process, establish the actual action items that your reps need to fulfill to deem a prospect ready for the next step.

For example, suppose you're working through the “presenting” step. In that case, your reps might determine they need a specific type of content — such as customer testimonial videos — to share with your prospects to move them to “closing.”

Hot Tip: When determining exit criteria for each step of the sales process, consider the following questions to ensure all of your reps have the same information. That way, they’ll provide all of your prospects with positive, professional, and on-brand information.

• What information should reps know about your brand, what they're selling, and your sales process steps before getting in contact with a prospect?
• What actions should your reps take throughout each step of the sales process?
• What should your reps say throughout each step of the sales process? Make sure your reps are aware of the multiple ways a conversation could potentially go and that they know how to manage all of them.
• What specific types of content should your reps show your prospects during different steps of the sales process? This is especially important in the “presenting” stage, where your reps might need to provide your prospects with videos, blogs, testimonials, or case studies to move that prospect to close.

5. Measure your sales process results.

Your sales process will evolve as your team finds ways to work more efficiently and move prospects through your pipeline faster. As you define and enhance your sales process, you’ll want to measure your success to ensure it successfully coordinates your team's efforts and reaches your target audience.

For example, note how many prospects transitioned in and out of each step of the sales process over a given period.

This way, you can conclude, “In July, we started with 75 prospects in the ‘awaiting demo’ step ... at the end of the month, we had moved through 28 prospects and added 19, leaving us with 66 prospects in the ‘awaiting demo’ step."

Here are some other examples of metrics to consider for the different steps of your process:

• The average time prospects stay in each step
• The step (if any) that takes too long for prospects to move out of
• The percentage of prospects who close after a demo
• The percentage of prospects who request a demo after a discovery call
• The churn rate (i.e., if certain customers are churning quickly, how can you use this data to identify mismatched prospects early in the sales process?)

These are the basic metrics most teams find value in measuring. Give some thought to metrics specific to your business that will help you define success or the need for improvement in a particular step.

Learn how to create a robust, buyer-centric sales process with our free HubSpot Academy lesson ‘How to Map a Sales Process. ’

Hot Tip: Another great way to measure your results is with the three levels of sales process success. Determining which level of success you're in will provide you with more insight into what you need to fine-tune for your team and prospects regarding your sales process.

Level 1: Humming

Your sales process is humming when 80% or more of your reps are hitting their quota every month. This is also when all of your new hires are being ramped up quickly to target performance, and your team isn't providing you with any negative feedback about the sales process.

Level 2: Experimenting

Experimenting is when your sales process isn‘t quite humming, so your team is experimenting and testing different tactics to determine what’s most effective.

For example, a team might be experimenting with different modes of contact in the “connecting” step of the sales process to get sales discussions going with prospects. They can test whether or not their prospects respond best to a specific email template when starting a discussion with a rep.

Level 3: Thrashing

Thrashing is when a team is rapidly moving from one solution to another within a specific sales process. Thrashing is ineffective and something you‘ll want to ensure your team gets out of as quickly as possible if you’re ever experiencing it.

For example, your reps might be trying different presentation techniques in the “presenting” stage, making it impossible to determine what's working for the majority of prospects Remember, your sales process is never perfect, but it should constantly be evolving to fit the needs of your team, business, and prospects.

Now if you have a sales process already, but haven’t mapped it out yet, here’s where to start.

Sales process mapping — the practice of creating a detailed, typically visual representation or guide of your sales process — can help make your sales process less abstract and easier to follow.

Sales process map formats and structures tend to vary from organization to organization. For instance, some might elect to map their sales process via a bare-bones flow chart. Others might go with a more engaging infographic, and some might go with an in-depth written guide.

The degree of detail can also differ by sales org. Some elect to give a more focused, stage-by-stage representation of their processes — like the example below, covering the lead qualification process — whereas others might go with a higher-level, more holistic overview of their processes.

Free Sales Plan Template

Outline your company's sales strategy in one simple, coherent sales plan.

• Target Market
• Prospecting Strategy

1. Start at the end.

To know where you're going, you must know your destination. In terms of sales process mapping, this involves setting goals for your sales team. Keep your plan specific but simple.

Example : Fred‘s Vegan Food Supply is mapping its sales process. They’ve set their destination “goal” to increase their win rate by 5% next quarter.

2. Bring all stakeholders aboard.

Your sales team can't meet its goal alone. Other departments across your organization — including marketing, product, customer service, IT, and more — have a stake in your sales process and impact your customer experience. Gather these stakeholders, share your goal, and involve them in your process.

Example : Fred brings together his sales team, marketing managers, customer service leaders, product designers, and distributors. These teams touch potential and current customers and can, therefore, affect the sales team's win rate.

3. Outline the sales process steps.

We covered the sales process steps above, and now it's time to walk through each step as it pertains to your business, products, and sales team. Take a look at your sales process history. What steps were effective, and where did prospects fall off?

Moreover, how long, on average, did each step take? With your stakeholders on board, you can map what teams affect each step and what actions they can take — particularly your sales team.

Example : Fred's sales team maps the six sales process steps and jots down the actions they take within each stage. They also review the last 12 months of sales activity concerning each step to understand where they can improve their new sales process to meet their new goal.

Don't forget to share this post!

Related articles.

11 Ways to Increase Credibility with Prospects, According to Sales Leaders

The 16 Best Sales Funnel Software Tools for 2024

6 Ways to Improve Sales Efficiency

The Sales Blitz: How it Works and What It Can Do for Your Team

The Secret to Driving Revenue With Sales Activity Management

5 Strategies for Selling to Multiple Decision-Makers, According to DealRoom's CEO

Value Stream Mapping (VSM): 6 Steps to Improve Sales & Operations

15 Best Free Sales Activity Tracker Templates & Spreadsheets

Personal Selling: The Ultimate Guide to Humanizing Your Sales Efforts

The Sales Cycle: The Backbone of a Successful Sales Effort

Powerful and easy-to-use sales software that drives productivity, enables customer connection, and supports growing sales orgs

Close more deals with the latest sales trends and tips from Salesblazers.

How to Build A Sales Process That Lands Deals Every Time

Learn the right steps from research to close, and hone the strategies that boost win rates.

Jeffrey Steen

Share article.

• Link Copied

Business growth expert Tiffani Bova said it best: “How you sell matters. What your process is matters.”

Think of your sales process like a map. It shows you how to get from point A in the sale (finding your prospect) to point Z (closing the deal), highlighting necessary steps along the way. Without it, you get lost, fumble, or stall out.

The best sales processes make selling easy by helping you optimize sales conversations, delivering the right value at the right time. As these conversations unfold, you learn more about your prospects and how you can make their jobs — and lives — easier with your solutions.

Sound complicated? Don’t worry, we’ll unpack it for you.

What you’ll learn:

What is the sales process, why is a sales process important, what are the most important sales process steps, sales process example, what are common sales process mistakes and how do you avoid them, how do you continually improve your sales process, what’s the difference between a sales process and a sales methodology, drive pipe faster with a single source of truth.

Discover how Sales Cloud uses data and AI to help you manage your pipeline, build relationships, and close deals fast.

A sales process is a series of steps that move a sales rep from product and market research all the way through to a closed deal — and beyond. The number of steps in the sales process may change depending on the type of industry you’re in, what product you’re selling, and who your prospect is, but typically include four key stages: research, prospecting, sales call and close, and relationship-building/upsells.

Having a documented sales process helps you know when and how to move a deal through the stages of a  sales pipeline , increasing the chances of closing. Without this process, you might push your product before the prospect is ready for a solution, or wait too long for fear of being pushy or aggressive. In both cases, the prospect is likely to look elsewhere.

When you have a clear sales process, you know how to deliver tailored solutions and value to the prospect at the right time, keeping the sales conversation going until they are ready to buy.

While you may need to adjust or add steps based on the product you’re selling, the typical sales process flows from early-stage product research through sales conversations, the close, and relationship nurturing that leads to upsells and cross-sells.

1. Build product knowledge

Today, clients expect sales reps to know every detail about the product they’re selling. This streamlines communication and accelerates the sales cycle, while giving reps the knowledge and confidence they need to handle objections.

The best way to learn about your products is by reviewing product demos, press releases, and documentation, and then using this knowledge in your sales conversations. Ask developers and product managers questions about functionality, use cases, and potential pitfalls. Take notes highlighting the standout features and the problems they solve for customers.

2. Research your ideal prospect

Many companies create a  buyer persona  that outlines the demographics, psychographics (needs, wants, and behaviors), and communication preferences of their ideal prospect. It’s important to review this carefully and think about how the product you’re selling addresses prospects’ pain points.

If you don’t have access to a buyer persona, spend time researching your target market. Here are key questions to guide your research:

• What buyer data do I already have that can help me outline the ideal prospect?
• What unique needs does my product or service address, and who has these needs?
• What are the characteristics of prospects targeted by my competitors?
• Where do my ideal prospects live, and how do they engage with businesses like mine?

There are many tools you can use to gather this information, but it’s best to start by collecting insights from your company’s  CRM . If it has built-in analytics, you can see where past sales came from and the basic demographic information or business details of buyers. You can also collect information on buying habits, including the average purchase frequency of buyers, which products are most popular, and average revenue per sale.

Then, add institutional knowledge to any CRM data you collect. Talk to tenured sales reps and managers about the customers they’ve worked with and get intel on their behaviors, communication patterns, needs, and pain points.

To round out your research, use a  generative AI tool  to learn about your competition’s marketing, pricing, service, and sales tactics. What strategies bring in the most business for your competitors and how can you make use of them to find prospects?

3. Begin prospecting and lead generation

Prospecting  is the process of finding individuals or businesses that are good candidates for a sale.

Start by asking fellow reps or industry connections for referrals or looking at online portals and communities for viable prospects. Search for product or industry keywords on broad-scope engagement platforms like LinkedIn, then move to trusted, niche sites that prospects commonly use for product research.

If you need additional help, search Google using keywords related to your product or business and look for relevant sites where potential prospects are engaging via comments or forums. This also allows you to collect information about their needs and pain points. When you identify a prospect you’d like to pursue, find them on LinkedIn or ZoomInfo, and collect any available contact details.

You can supplement these efforts with inbound lead-generation campaigns. While traditional prospecting is outbound, requiring outreach to those who might be interested in your product, lead generation campaigns pull interested contacts into your pipeline via display ads, paid search ads, and social media ads. Work with your marketing teams to create these campaigns and target audiences that match your buyer persona.

Lastly, use your CRM and  AI tools  to streamline the prospecting process. You can use automated workflows and intelligent digital assistants to conduct research across the web and score prospects to see which are the most likely to convert.

4. Qualify leads

Not all prospects are created equal. Before you can make a pitch, you need to verify that your product is a good match for the prospects you’ve identified. This requires a qualification call.

The qualification call collects basic information about need, budget, timeline, and authority that allows you to identify prospects most likely to buy. During the call, you should focus on the following key questions:

• What does the prospect need and does your product provide the right solution?
• Do they plan to make a product purchase soon? If so, when?
• How much do they have to spend on your product?
• Who has the authority to make the purchase and do you have their contact information?

Cynthia Barnes , founder of the National Association of Women Sales Professionals (NAWSP), recommends framing this as a checklist that can guide conversation rather than a list of very direct questions. “Don’t make it feel like an interrogation,” she said. “Treat your prospect like you would your best friend.”

Once you’ve qualified a prospect in an initial call, set up another meeting to further understand what they need and how you might meet that need (known as a discovery call). Keep in mind that 95% of buyers make purchase decisions based on emotion, so understanding a prospect’s emotional levers is key.

Below are some probing questions that can guide this discussion:

• What pain points or problems do you have right now?
• How have these problems affected your day-to-day work or life?
• What’s preventing you from finding lasting solutions?
• If you implemented solutions that didn’t work, why didn’t they work?
• What would an ideal solution look like?

Remember this is not an inquisition. Keep the conversation free-flowing and natural. Once you have answers to the questions above, you can move forward with identifying products that will solve their problems. If a prospect doesn’t identify a problem that can be solved with your product, remove them from your list.

5. Lead a sales call

It’s finally time to schedule a  sales call  and present your pitch. This is an opportunity to present your product as a solution to your prospect’s problems.

Tailor your pitch to your prospect and discuss solutions, not product features. This customized approach makes the prospect feel valued, rather than being sold to.

Write out potential objections and draft responses to them ahead of your presentation. Be careful not to go into full defense mode when you hear objections. Ask for additional details and context to ensure you understand the root of the problem.

Barnes suggests combining your prepared responses with the “feel, felt, found” formula: “I understand how you feel. Others have felt the same way about [our product]. However, they have found that [our product] is worth the money/time/energy because [reason].” (Check out our  objection-handling-tips  for more guidance.)

If you need some coaching guidance, be sure to bring in  AI-powered coaching tools  that can analyze your conversations and provide feedback or guidance — ideally in real time.

Once you’ve finished your presentation, suggest a timeline for the next steps. This should include any follow-up calls and a proposed deadline for the sale to close.

6. Follow up and close the deal

Immediately after the sales call, follow up with the prospect, summarizing your conversation and reiterating next steps. If additional information was requested, send this with your  follow-up message .

The prospect may respond with additional questions about your product. Answer these right away and urge them to make a purchase decision by the date specified during the sales call. You can make this easy by sending a PDF contract with an electronic signature (e-sign) field.

7. Nurture the relationship and upsell

If all goes well, your prospect is now a customer. Congratulations! But the sales process isn’t over yet. Satisfied customers provide a huge opportunity for cross-selling and upselling. As  Alex Turnbull , CEO and Founder of Groove, noted, “Upselling isn’t just a sales tactic — it’s a customer happiness tactic that can help you build deeper relationships with customers by delivering more value.”

Barnes’ formula of threes makes this easy:

• 3 days after the sale , check in to make sure the client is satisfied.
• 3 weeks after the sale , check in to see if the client has any questions or product issues.
• 3 months after the sale , check in to confirm satisfaction with the product and service, then ask for a referral.

The upsell can be woven into each of these messages. “Leave breadcrumbs,” Barnes recommends. “Offer a simple ‘by the way’ that suggests other products and services that might meet their needs.” If they’re satisfied with the initial sales experience, they’re likely to come to you for solutions first.

Trending Articles

3 Ways Generative AI Will Help Marketers Connect With Customers

Learn AI Skills on Trailhead

To see the sales process in action, let’s take a look at how home manufacturer HomesRUs finds customers and closes deals efficiently.

Background:  Construction company HomesRUs launched in 2020, with a simple goal: to sell affordable homes in the Chicagoland area to young families. Their homes typically take three months to build, and early estimates show they will cost between $200,000 and $500,000.

With construction on their first homes underway, HomesRUs onboards an eager young rep, Emily, to start selling. Unfortunately, there’s no sales process in place and Emily doesn’t know much about the company. Emily has experience selling, however, so starts building out the process she needs to land her first sales.

Company and product research:  On her first day, Emily meets with the construction lead and the CFO. She asks specific questions about how the homes are designed, what materials are used in the building process, where the homes will be built, and how the company determines initial pricing. She learns that one of the company’s key differentiators is its American-made materials.

Prospect research:  With a better understanding of the company and its product, Emily then sits down to map out what she knows about her ideal prospect. She wants to target young families, and given mortgage rates, aims for those with a household income of about $100,000. She also reaches out to a couple of local real estate agents to ask about their client base — specifically, what they look for in a new home, what their challenges are, and where they typically look for homes.

Prospecting:  Emily now knows enough to start looking for prospects. She joins some local real estate community groups, real estate-related Reddit threads, and LinkedIn groups used by her target buyer. She also plans a few real estate “get to know you” events at local clothing and home goods stores where she knows her ideal buyer likes to shop.

Qualification and discovery:  With a few prospects in hand from searches and events, Emily reaches out. She starts by offering free packets of information on the local real estate market and the home-buying process — must-have information for new homeowners. She then asks for a quick call to talk about what her prospects are looking for and how she can help. She learns some of them are targeting homes at a much lower price point, so removes them from her prospecting list.

Sales call:  For her best-fit prospects, Emily suggests meeting in person to tour one of the model homes and talk through features, price, availability, and timing. To make the home more alluring, she makes sure it’s staged with freshly baked cookies in the kitchen (chocolate chip, of course). After several successful walk-throughs, only one of her prospects is keen to move ahead right away. The others have some concerns about price and ask for more time to think about the opportunity.

Follow up:  A day after her home tours, Emily follows up with each one of her best-fit prospects to let them know what the next steps are, including home inspection and the loan application. For those who were on the fence about a purchase, she lets them know she’ll follow up in a few months to see how they feel about moving ahead.

Close:  Lucky for Emily, her most engaged prospect agrees to buy. Yay! She sets up the home inspection and helps the customer file all of the paperwork for the loan and purchase. As a thank you, she sends the buyer a gift basket filled with goodies for their new home.

Nurture:  Emily sends the new homeowners an email a few weeks after the sale to check in. She makes sure the home meets their expectations and they haven’t seen any design or structural issues. She also checks to ensure all the final steps of the sale — loan paperwork, and so on — were wrapped up without issue. When she hears how happy the customer is, she asks for a referral, offering a $1,000 incentive for every new customer they bring to HomesRUs.

Not every sales process will look the one Emily and HomesRUs use, of course, but the basic flow is the same. Make sure you have ample information to find the right buyer, then deliver value throughout the process to make the close easy.

Below are some of the most common mistakes that derail the sales process — and advice on how to avoid them.

1. Poor preparation

Research is key to successful sales. When done correctly, it allows you to speak confidently about what you’re selling and what problems it solves. When done poorly — or not at all — prospects lose confidence in your product and business.

Take the time to understand both what you’re selling and your target audience before you ever make a sales call. Not only will you avoid embarrassing fumbles, but you’ll be able to address unique problems and value propositions in your prospect communications.

2. No needs analysis (discovery) call

Many reps think a qualifying call is sufficient background to pick out the best prospects on their list. In most cases, however, this call is very high level and doesn’t adequately paint the picture of a prospect’s needs.

Barnes calls this out as a common issue with new reps and recommends a separate call for discovery. “Take the time to hear about [your prospects’] pain points in-depth. Only when you fully understand these pain points can you offer a solution.”

3. Making a sales pitch before qualifying leads

Many eager salespeople are so focused on  quotas  and commissions they forget the qualifying and discovery calls and launch straight into the sales pitch. The result is often a dead end — the unvetted prospect has little interest, insufficient budget, or is not empowered to make buying decisions.

Take the time to learn about your prospect’s alignment with your products before a sales call and you’ll dramatically increase your chances of closing a deal.

4. Highlighting product features, not value

It’s common for reps to lead a sales call touting product features. The problem is, prospects aren’t looking for features. They’re looking for solutions and value.

As Executive Sales Coach Jay Abraham advises, “Sell the benefit, not the company or the product. People buy results, not features.”

5. Being unempathetic

Laser-focused on closing deals, reps can come across as pushy. Nobody wants to make a buying decision under pressure.

Don’t think of your prospect as a potential client. Think of them as a friend. Listen to their problems with empathy. It builds trust and loyalty, which make a purchase decision easier.

6. Talking too much

Constant talking is often cited as the number-one mistake salespeople make. It alienates prospects and scuttles once-promising deals. In fact,  many studies  have demonstrated the negative impact of talking more than listening during sales calls. The takeaway is the same: Reps who consistently close deals listen more than they talk.

The golden ratio is hard to pin down, but many experts recommend a 60/40 split in favor of listening. This gives reps enough time to share value-based insights while making sure the prospect is heard.

7. Being unprepared for objections

There are countless potential  objections  to a sale: cost, bad timing, insufficient need, lack of product functionality, and so on. While these will vary depending on the prospect, they’re often easy to anticipate. Unfortunately, many reps struggle to close sales due to common objections they don’t know how to overcome.

The best solution is to map out all likely prospect objections before you make your pitch. Then, use Barnes’ “feel, felt, found” formula along with your product and prospect research to prepare empathetic and impactful responses.

8. Making sales calls too long

In the era of  virtual selling , sales leader and consultant  Larry Long Jr.  notes reps struggle to keep calls short enough to retain prospects’ attention. The result, he says, is poor engagement and waning product interest.

Fortunately, the solution is easy: Keep your calls (in-person or virtual) to 30 minutes max. This forces you to avoid tangents and focus on sales-critical information.

9. Waiting too long to follow up

“The longer you wait to follow up with a prospect after a sales call,” cautions Barnes, “the colder the sale becomes.” Lazy or distracted reps sometimes leave days between the sales call and their follow-up email. By that point, the interest generated in the product has faded, making the close far more difficult.

Avoid this pitfall by sending follow-up messages immediately after your sales call. And keep following up — “until they tell you to stop,” Barnes advises.

Get articles selected just for you, in your inbox

Building a sales process isn’t a “one and done” effort. According to longtime consultant and sales coach  Scott Leese , you should revisit your process every six months to ensure there are no bottlenecks, inefficiencies, or dated guidance. A lot of this work is the responsibility of sales managers or sales operations leads, but reps should feel empowered to provide feedback on goal metrics, target buyer personas, their tech stack, and possible process bottlenecks.

Here’s how to get started:

1. Examine your performance against goal metrics

Several steps in the sales process have performance metrics associated with them to ensure you keep deals flowing and, ultimately, hit sales goals. The most commonly tracked ones are: the number of prospects added to each rep’s  pipeline  in a given period, the number of sales calls made, the number of deals won, and, to a lesser extent, the number of upsells and cross-sells.

During your biannual review, identify how your performance compares to goal metrics. If there are certain areas where you’re falling behind, take a close look at the messaging and process in that area. Determine potential areas for improvement by asking:

• Is the product messaging I’m using dated or inaccurate?
• Does my outreach seem out of touch?
• Am I taking too long to complete tasks?
• Are there obstacles to completing tasks in this step?

When you have identified possible areas for improvement, flag them with your manager or sales ops lead for review. Make sure you map out a plan for updating your sales process to address problem areas, with next steps and action items clearly outlined. Aim to complete these action items one to two weeks after your review.

2. Review your target buyer persona

Your ideal prospect will likely change as the market and your products change. Pull up your  buyer persona  (created in step 2) and make sure that it makes sense for your current prospecting efforts. You can use the questions you asked when creating your buyer persona to see if it still fits:

• What are the characteristics and challenges of prospects targeted by my competitors?
• Where do my ideal prospects live and how do they engage with businesses like mine?

If your answers don’t align with the buyer persona as it stands, bring it to the attention of your sales ops team or sales leader and ask them to consider making updates.

3. Re-evaluate your tech stack

According to the  State of Sales Report , almost two-thirds of sales reps report being overwhelmed by too many tools. This can lead to a lot of time wasted on redundant data entry, and increases the chances for human error.

To avoid these pitfalls, audit your sales tools. Do they require a lot of data entry that takes you away from critical sales conversations? Are there some you would consider unnecessary or unhelpful? ( Here’s a helpful guide  for completing a comprehensive audit.)

It’s also important to examine naming conventions and language used in your technology. When systems are set up piecemeal or by different teams, there can be language differences that cause confusion. Is there a consistent taxonomy used across all reps and pipelines for stages and deal records in your CRM, or is naming different for different team members? Are you confused by labels, tags, or instructions?

If you’re seeing productivity obstacles here, surface them with your manager or sales ops team. Wherever possible, use concrete examples to show how these issues are negatively impacting your sales.

4. Identify possible process bottlenecks

Part of the benefit of sales process reviews is identifying areas to improve overall efficiency, Leese says. Don’t be afraid to dig into the roots of your process to see what needs to be uprooted. It’s possible that long-standing steps are actually dragging down performance.

Start by looking at the numbers. Pull up your  CRM analytics tool  to look at three key metrics, which gauge prospect engagement in each sales process step: average time in each step, average number of prospects in one step at the same time, and overall win rate.

First question to ask: How do these metrics compare to the previous six months? If performance is up, you’re making strides toward greater efficiency. If performance is down, look for the root cause by asking:

• Do you have clear exit criteria in place for each step of the sales process?
• Where are prospects getting stuck?
• Based on where prospects stall in the sales process, are there unnecessary steps?
• Is your sales process missing a critical step, like discovery or qualification?
• Do you need additional or better resources to successfully complete each step?

When you have a better sense of problem areas in your sales process, you can bring them to the attention of your sales operations lead. As always, bring evidence to support your conclusion and recommend a potential change to address the problems you uncovered.

5. Ask for enablement updates

While  enablement  program maintenance is the purview of sales ops leaders, reps can ask their managers for additional or updated enablement at any time — especially after the biannual sales process review. Changes should be updated in training materials, and these changes should be communicated to the entire team. The more up-to-date your enablement is, the easier it will be for you to sell — and hit those sales targets.

As a final note, it’s worth understanding the difference between the sales process and sales methodology. They are frequently used interchangeably, but are two distinct concepts. Think of the sales process as the “what” of the sales equation — the steps necessary to close a deal and nurture a new client or prospect relationship. A sales methodology is the “how” — how a rep executes each step in the process and engages a prospect or customer. When you put the right “what” and the “how” together, you increase your chances of successfully closing a sale.

Popular sales methodologies include:

Challenger Selling

Challenger-focused sales reps are all about pulling prospects into their world, instead of the other way around. They quickly identify painful problems and offer product solutions, encouraging prospects to make buying decisions quickly.

Trigger or signal-based selling

This more recent methodology looks for signs of customer need in data trends, then addresses this need with product or service solutions. The prevalence of customer behavior data — especially in the digital age — has made signal-based selling popular.

Value-based selling

Many methodologies lean heavily on value-first engagement and a customer-centric sales approach, including  The Sandler Selling System ,  SPIN Selling , and  N.E.A.T. Selling . Central to these approaches is an emphasis on keeping solutions simple and ensuring that reps take the time to become go-to, trusted advisors for their prospects.

360-degree selling

This holistic approach is focused on long-term relationship-building. At Salesforce, we call it the Customer 360 methodology. Paired with clear operational standards, C360 highlights four key elements of engagement across the customer journey: listening to prospects, building prospect trust, partnering during and after customer success (the implementation of a solution), and co-building plans with clients to deliver long-term value and success.

Set yourself up for sales process success

While knowing the steps of a sales process is important to winning deals, so is practicing the techniques in each step. Work with other reps to practice your sales conversations and follow-up to make sure you feel comfortable — and don’t forget to make note of tactics that work and ones that don’t as you work through each sale so you can improve for future deals.

Want to take the #1 CRM for a test drive?

Go on our Guided Tour to see how Sales Cloud boosts productivity at every stage of the sales cycle. 

Just For You

Why Sales and Marketing Have to Work Together if You Want to Win

27 Top Sales Influencers You Should Follow in 2024

Explore related content by topic

• Sales Cloud
• Salesblazer
• Sales Fundamentals

As a business and marketing writer for 15 years, Jeffrey specializes in skill-up content at Salesforce. His work touches on everything from sales fundamentals to employee coaching, leadership best practices, and growth strategies.

Get the latest articles in your inbox.

22 Sales Training Programs and Courses to Level Up Your Game

How to Nail Your Next RFP in Sales (and Win the Deal)

Why Sales Methodologies Are Recipes for Success (and How to Choose the Right One)

What Is Sales Closing Percentage, and How Do You Measure It?

Revenue vs. Sales: Why the Difference Matters

What Is Total Target Compensation – And What Factors Impact It?

15 Top Sales Podcasts That Inspire Selling Greatness

The Secret of Outcome-Based Selling? Pitch the Future, Not a Product

New to Salesforce?

• What is Salesforce?
• Best CRM software
• Explore all products
• What is cloud computing
• Customer success
• Product pricing

About Salesforce

• Salesforce.org
• Sustainability

Popular Links

• Salesforce Mobile
• AppExchange
• CRM software
• Salesforce LIVE
• Salesforce for startups
• América Latina (Español)
• Brasil (Português)
• Canada (English)
• Canada (Français)
• United States (English)

Europe, Middle East, and Africa

• España (Español)
• Deutschland (Deutsch)
• France (Français)
• Italia (Italiano)
• Nederland (Nederlands)
• Sverige (Svenska)
• United Kingdom (English)
• All other countries (English)

Asia Pacific

• Australia (English)
• India (English)
• Malaysia (English)
• ประเทศไทย (ไทย)

© Copyright 2024 Salesforce, Inc. All rights reserved.  Various trademarks held by their respective owners. Salesforce, Inc. Salesforce Tower, 415 Mission Street, 3rd Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105, United States

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

How to Craft a Sales Presentation Outline (+ Examples)

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 outline is an ideal flow of talking points that guides the creation of the spoken part of a sales presentation, which is often supported by a visual sales deck. To allow for personalization, outlines contain both pre-written language and prompts. Most sellers use outlines as templates for longer, in-depth presentation scripts that they create for each new prospect. The outline ensures that you hit key talking points in the right order.

Sales Presentation Outline Key Components

A typical sales presentation outline for effective lead nurturing includes small talk and introductions, agenda-setting, problem analysis, solution and benefits, social proof, and a call-to-action. Solid outlines will promote around 20–30 minutes of presenting time. Depending on the salesperson and their unique situation, an outline might expand certain components into multiple components, add components, or exclude some entirely.

This outline is what you get when you boil down all the great outlines to their fundamental parts:

Small Talk & Intros

Agenda-setting, problem analysis, solution & benefits, social proof, call-to-action.

For around 3–4 minutes, engage in light conversation and introduce yourself and your company to the prospect. Ask questions about their work, life, vacations, or anything else they’re interested in. Tell them about your credentials and your company’s mission and ideal customers.

In 1–2 minutes give the prospect a high-level overview of what topics you’re going to cover during this presentation. At the end, ask them to confirm that they agree to the structure as you’ve laid it out.

Spend 5–10 minutes analyzing the prospect’s major problem. Name their main pain point or challenge, then state its underlying causes and costs. Also, agitate the pain by explaining the negative consequences of letting it go unsolved.

For 5–10 minutes, introduce your product or service and explain how it works to solve the prospect’s problem. Then state the relevant benefits the prospect will get if they buy the solution and eliminate their issue. Focus on features or services that directly relate to their needs.

Use 3–5 minutes to establish some credibility by sharing customer success stories, case study findings, or testimonials. Choose social proof that involves a customer that has a similar business type as your prospect and experienced similar hurdles and roadblocks.

In 1–2 minutes, summarize what you’ve covered, and then tell the prospect what the next steps would be if they wanted to move forward. Ask them to take these next steps with you, and give them a strong reason to do so.

To see how a salesperson might change the components to fit their specific needs, imagine a software sales rep expanding the “describe your solution and its benefits” section into three parts: “present solution,” “give demo,” and “give user a trial run.” As you create your own general outline, make it work for your most common presenting scenario, and perhaps create a few others for less common scenarios, be it competing against another provider or upselling a client.  

How to Create Your Own Sales Presentation Outline

There are concrete steps to follow to draft a 1–2 page, customizable sales presentation outline that you can use as the ongoing foundation for all your personalized sales presentation scripts. The steps include picking a product or service, adding small talk prompts, writing an introductory statement, and crafting sections for agenda, problem, solution, social proof, and call-to-action. Read on to learn how to do each step. Note that the steps below follow the components above.

1. Pick One Product or Service

Choose one of your product tiers or service lines for your sales presentation outline. This enables you to write more language that you can simply copy and paste into the custom-tailored scripts. For example, in the solution section of the outline, you could write three sentences describing this specific product tier. And you won’t have to change that for each new prospect you present to. This means that you should create one outline for each product or service.

2. Provide Some Conversation Starters for Small Talk

Sometimes small talk flows naturally in the first few minutes of a sales presentation. Other times, you’ll need to get things going with some surefire conversation starters. To avoid encountering any brain freezes or awkward silences, use the small talk section of your outline to list 3–4 potential questions that you can ask your prospects to initiate small talk. Industry news, hobbies, or their current business ventures are often the safest topics.

Here are some examples of customizable questions to put in a sales presentation outline:

• As a {Job Title} , I’d love to hear your thoughts on {Recent Industry News or Event} .
• So you’re from {Location} . Is it fair to assume you’re a {Sports Team} fan?
• Last time we spoke, you were working on {Project} . How’s it going?

While preparing for a presentation, choose the prompt that will work best for the specific prospect. Researching their social profiles will provide you with some guidance. For example, you might find that the prospect has been posting on Twitter about their sports team. If that’s the case, use the sports conversation starter for your personalized sales presentation script.

3. Create Your Introduction Statement

Your introductory statement will likely remain the same for most of your prospects. This is where you tell your prospect about your company and yourself as a representative or owner of that company. This section gives the prospect context, which helps them understand the more complex subject matter you’re going to present to them later on in the presentation.

Here are the barebones of an effective introduction for a sales presentation outline:

• Segue: Transition out of small talk by saying that you want to respect their time, then thank them for attending.
• Your Professional Bio: Tell the prospect your name, title, experience in the industry, and relevant credentials.
• Your Business Bio: Share your business’s name, how long it’s been in business, and one line explaining what the company is (e.g., a renowned real estate brokerage).
• Why Customers Come to You: Name 2–3 of the major challenges that inspire customers to come to you for help.
• Quick Overview of How You Help Them: Briefly explain what your business provides and how it solves these challenges.

When personalizing this part of the outline for a particular prospect, you might change little things to make it more relevant and interesting to them. For example, you could exchange one of the common major customer challenges for one this specific prospect is suffering from. But, for the most part, it won’t change much, so it’s worth committing it to memory. 

Below is an example of an introductory statement you’d find in a sales presentation outline:

“As much as I’d love to keep chatting about {Small Talk Topic} , I want to be respectful of your time and begin the presentation, which I thank you all for attending.

First, I want to share a little about myself. My name is Sam and I’m a sales executive here at Stingray Dealers. I’ve been working in the marine conservation space ever since I graduated college with my marine biology degree four years ago. Since then, I’ve been awarded best aquarium consultant for three years running.

Our 10-year-old company, Stingray Dealers, is a renowned aquarium provider of the rarest and most endangered stingrays.

Aquariums often come to us because they’re sick of getting nothing but round rays from their providers and because they’re struggling to keep their stingray petting area stocked with a variety of rays.

That’s where we come in. Thanks to our cutting-edge diving equipment, relations with wildlife protection agencies abroad, and ray-based sonar, we’re able to provide a steady flow of the most desirable rays in the sea, and at incredibly affordable rates.”

After delivering a solid introduction and providing your prospect with some context, it’s time to set the schedule for the rest of the presentation.

4. Write Your Agenda Section

The agenda section of your sales presentation outline is where you’ll give your prospect the outline of the remainder of the presentation. You’ll set their expectations and give them a sense of direction so that they don’t feel like they’re in the dark. The agenda section includes a segue into the agenda, a structure preview, and a request for the prospect to commit. It should also have plenty of prompts for personalization.

Here are the core parts of any solid agenda section for a sales presentation outline:

• Segue From Introductions: Thank them for listening to your introduction and tell them you’d like to set an agenda for the day.
• Share the Presentation’s Structure: Briefly explain what you’ll cover during the presentation.
• Ask Them to Commit: Check with your audience to see if they’re okay with the agenda you’ve created.

If you wanted to really hook the prospect, you could also make a promise to create some suspense, like “at the end of this presentation I’ll also reveal the most important habit that leads to success in this industry, based on hundreds of interviews with our customers.” Only do this if you do have something absolutely astonishing to share with your prospects. Otherwise, you’ll risk letting them down at the end.

Below is an example of an agenda section you could see in a sales presentation outline:

“Thank you all for listening to my spiel. Now I’d like to get things rolling with an agenda. Over the next 30 minutes, I plan to show you why we’re the right fit to help you {Prospect’s Goal} .

I’ll start by explaining the causes and consequences of your major issue, {Prospect’s Problem} . Next, I’ll give you an overview of our solution, {Your Product or Service} , and explain how it will help you overcome your challenge. From there, I’ll share a few success stories about customers like you, and then we’ll open the floor for questions.

How does that sound?”

After the prospect agrees, you can start to dig into their issue and reveal to them just how serious it is, not to mention how well informed you’re about it.    

5. Craft Your Problem Analysis Section

The problem section of your sales presentation outline is going to change almost entirely from prospect to prospect because each potential customer will have a different combination of issues, related costs, and underlying causes. Nevertheless, your outline should provide some helpful guidance for writing your more detailed script by giving you a structure to follow.

Here are the major components of a problem analysis section:

• Name the Major Problem or Challenge: Describe the most pressing problem that the prospect has shared with you.
• Share the Problem’s Underlying Causes: Based on your analysis, share 2–3 things that you believe are causing or contributing to the issue.
• Describe the Costs of Not Solving the Problem: Share 2–3 negative consequences of letting the problem go unsolved. In other words, irritate the pain.

By proving to the prospect that you’re knowledgeable about the nature of their problem, you’ll win their trust, and they’ll be more likely to give heavy consideration to your proposed solution. Again, this section of the outline is more so steps with a bit of advice than pre-written language. That’s because it has to be extremely flexible.

Here’s an example:

“From our previous discussions, I learned that your company’s major problem is {Major Problem} . Based on our years of experience working with other {Company Type} and what I know about your business processes, it seems like the causes of this issue are {Underlying Causes 1 and 2} . We’ve had customers who came to us a long time after this issue arose and by then they were suffering from {Cost of Not Solving the Problem ASAP} .”

Now that the prospect is convinced that their problem is something they need to solve quickly, it’s time to begin telling them how you’re going to fix it for them. 

6. Draft Your Solution Section

The solution section of your sales presentation outline is where you introduce the product or service that will help your customer solve the problem or challenge you analyzed in the previous section. You tell them what the solution is, how it works, why it solves the issue, and the benefits the prospect will receive if they buy it.

Here are the main subsections of an effective solution section:

• Solution: Name the product or service and tell your prospect the unique selling proposition .
• Why It Solves the Issue: Explain the features or services that will eliminate the main causes of the prospect’s major problem.
• Benefits: Share 2–3 positive results that the prospect will experience if they choose to purchase the solution.

The first paragraph of this section, introducing your service, can be reused without adjustment from customer to customer, especially since this outline is for one specific solution. Of course, the middle bullet, how it relates to the specific prospect’s issue, will change, so that part should include prompts for personalization. When you write a script for a presentation, you may also alter how you describe the solution or which benefits you list based on the prospect’s interests.

You can see what we mean in this sample solution section:

“Stingray Dealers offers an annual stingray replenishment service that comes with ongoing care. Unlike other dealers in the space, we consistently check on the stingrays to ensure they’re happy and well taken care of.

As for your problem with {Prospect Pain Point 1} , {Service 1} will take care of that by {How Service 1 Solves Pain Point 1} . Furthermore, {Service 2} will help you eliminate {Pain Point 2} by {How Service 2 Solves Pain Point 2} .

With us, you’ll experience {Benefit 1 Prospect Desires} and {Benefit 2 Prospect Desires} . We think this will also help you reach your {Want/Need/Goal} .”

At this point, your prospect is probably excited about the idea of working with you, but still a bit hesitant because words are cheap. In the next section, you’ll prove your claims are sound.

7. Create Your Social Proof Section

In your outline document, write a brief transition and then include links to several social proof options, such as case studies, testimonials, or customer success stories, which display customers succeeding with your chosen product or service. This way, when you create a personalized presentation script, you can quickly choose the 1–2 social proof options from the outline that will most relate to and impress your current prospect.

If you want to get ahead of the game, we recommend also writing out a short summary of each success story or case study so that you can easily copy and paste it into your personalized sales presentation script. And for easy reference, consider labeling the social proof based on the type of company rather than the company name. For example, Enterprise Client Case Study will likely mean more to you when drafting a presentation script than Carlisle LLC Case Study.

Here’s an example of what a social proof section might look like in a sales presentation outline:

“So, we’ve told you what we can help you achieve with our stingray replenishment service. I find that it always helps to hear about how others have used the service successfully. So I’d like to briefly walk you through two case studies about clients who, just like you, were {How the Companies in the Stories Are Similar to the Prospect} .

• Aquarium Company Case Study: The Denver aquarium came to us back in May 2022 because attendance was down 31% from last year and they wanted to open a new stingray exhibit and use it as a promotion. We were able to provide them with 6 different types of stingrays, 2 of them extremely rare, and directed them on how to set up the exhibit to optimize the attendee and stingray experiences. Within four months of establishing the exhibit, it had become the most popular at the aquarium, and one year after finishing the exhibit, their ticket sales had increased by 65%.
• Marine Bio Research Facility Case Study: Write a summary like the one in the first bullet point.
• Pet Store Business Case Study: Write a summary like the one in the first bullet point. ”

After sharing some ways that past clients have benefited from your business, it’s time to push the deal forward with a call-to-action.

8. Write Your Call-to-Action

Next, write a call-to-action (CTA) in your outline. In a sales presentation, salespeople typically ask leads if they’re ready to see a proposal. But it differs based on your sales process . Regardless of your ask, it should be clear and straightforward so that your prospects know exactly what you want them to do. It should also be enticing. Give your prospects a reason to take the next steps with you by mentioning the benefit of doing so.

Here are the components of a successful CTA section of an outline:

• Presentation Summary: In a few sentences explain their main issue, the product or service that will enable them to solve it, and the overarching value you’ll deliver.
• Next Steps Request: Tell the prospect what they should do next if they want to continue evaluating you as a provider or partner. 
• Presentation Closing: End the presentation by thanking your prospects for attending, then tell them the floor is open for questions.

Summarizing the presentation and your findings prior to delivering the CTA is important because it reminds prospects about all the great things you can do for them. And the reason for not ending at the CTA is that most buyers expect to be able to ask some questions, but some might not do so unless you give them permission first. The close section allows you to give the green light and end the presentation on an upbeat, less salesly note.

Here’s an example of a call-to-action section in a sales presentation outline:

“Today we’ve learned that Stingray Dealers can help you overcome {Prospect Problem} and give you {Value Proposition} .

If you’re ready to join hundreds of other satisfied businesses and start wowing customers with the most amazing stingrays, please tell me at the end of this presentation. I can then give you pricing and we can go over the best service package for your company.

And with that, I want to end today’s presentation. Thank you all for the gift of your attention. I now want to hear from you. Do you have any questions about our company, service, or anything else?”

Keep in mind that this is for creating an outline that follows our basic sales presentation outline structure. You can include other sections like “pricing” or “industry trends” if that better suits your needs. For other sections to include, see the outlines in our article sales presentation templates .

3 Tailored Sales Presentation Outline Examples

Below are three sales presentation outline examples: brand competition, B2B, and B2C services outlines. Unlike the examples in the steps above, these don’t include pre-written verbiage. Instead, they’re structural outlines that help you see how different presentation situations call for different combinations of sections. In practice, you’d write out pre-written language for each section (bullet) — refer to the section examples in the steps above to see how, then keep reading below.

Sales Presentation Outline for Winning a Competitor’s Customer

Who Should Use It: Sales professionals who are presenting to a prospect that’s currently working with a competing brand.

Why It Works: This outline structure includes sections like “competitor analysis” and “differentiators,” which serve to show the prospect why your solution is a better choice for them than their current provider’s.

• Small Talk and Introductions: Open with some friendly conversation and introduce your company in a way that sets it apart from the specific competitor.
• Agenda: Tell the prospect what you’ll cover today and what you think they’ll get from attending.
• Goal Analysis: Review what the prospect has told you about their current goal and explain why they’re failing to reach it.  
• Competitor Analysis: Share a few reasons why their current provider is incapable of helping them reach this goal.
• Differentiators: Explain a few ways that your company is different from the competitor and why these differences make you better suited to help them.
• Solution and Benefits: Describe your product or service, explain why it’ll help them get what they want, and name 2–3 benefits.
• Customer Switch Success Story: Tell a story about a customer who left the competitor to work with you.
• Call-to-Action: Close out the sales presentation and ask the prospect to take specific next steps with you.

B2B Sales Presentation Outline Example

Who Should Use It: B2B salespeople who want to challenge their prospects to think differently about their industry.

Why It Works: This presentation outline is designed to position you as an industry insider with big ideas that are going to dramatically improve the company’s operations, revenue, or whatever metrics your solution will affect.

• Small Talk and Introductions: Talk a bit, then share a bit about you and your business and ask attendees to introduce themselves by stating their job title and name.
• Agenda: Tell your prospect(s) the structure of the presentation and build up some excitement by promising to share a unique idea for how to capitalize on a trend.
• Industry Trend: Explain an industry shift (e.g., Gen Z starting to buy homes) and how it will impact this specific business and its place in the market.
• Opportunity: Describe an opportunity (e.g., start building relationships with Gen Zers through social) that this shift opens up and stress the importance of seizing it.
• Promised Land: Tell them all the great things that will happen to their business if they successfully take advantage of this opportunity.
• Your Solution: Explain how your solution will help them make the most of the opportunity and reach the promised land.
• Case Studies: Reveal a case study about a company that successfully used your solution to transform their business in a previous period of industry change.
• Call-to-Action: Make a confident statement about your ability to help and ask them to join you. Then open the floor for questions.

B2C Service Sales Presentation Outline Example

Who Should Use It: Sales professionals who are presenting a service such as landscaping, insurance, or financial advisory to individuals.

Why It Works: This sales presentation outline makes the prospect trust you as an expert by giving them transparency into your service and its pricing and by sharing success stories and your professional opinion about their goals.

• Small Talk and Introductions: Talk about the individual’s hobbies or relevant news. Share your credentials or rewards.
• Agenda: Give an overview of the different sections of today’s presentation. Ask them to confirm that this sounds like a solid plan.
• Goal Analysis: Review their reason for evaluating your business and make them feel like you can get them to their goal.
• Challenge Analysis: Describe the major pitfalls you expect they’ll encounter on their way to reaching their goal.
• The Plan/Process: Lay out your plan step by step for how you are going to help them overcome these challenges and reach their destination.
• The Service: Describe your role in this plan and tell them what services you’re going to provide and how the relationship will work.
• Success Stories: Share stories about customers you’ve helped. Pull up evidence to back up your claims, in the form of data, quotes, photos, etc.,
• Pricing: Review the pricing tiers of your service and explain which one you think is best for them based on their situation and needs. Tell them the second best option as well.
• Call-to-Action: Share your unique selling proposition, review the presentation’s key points, and ask them if they’d like to learn more about your service.

When you start with a basic outline like the ones above, and then expand on them by adding exact language and prompts for personalization, you’ll end up with a carefully considered, well-structured sales presentation outline that you can use over and over to succeed.

Top 5 Benefits of Writing a Sales Presentation Outline

Writing and using a sales presentation outline provides you with various benefits, including faster sales presentation preparation, never missing the main points, giving prospects a better experience, making your presentation process testable, and easily training new salespeople. Let’s go over each advantage a bit more in depth.

Save Time Preparing for Sales Presentations

With a sales presentation outline, it’s easy to sit down and craft a more personalized sales presentation script for each particular prospect. You already know what to say, and in what order to say it. Now all you have to do is elaborate on each part of the outline and make it relevant to fit the prospect’s unique situation. This will cut presentation preparation time dramatically.

Always Hit Your Critical Talking Points

Without a sales presentation outline, you might write a script that leaves out a key component, whether that’s a statement about pricing or an introduction to your business. This can hurt your chances of closing the sale. The outline, which tells you what to write, and therefore what to say during your presentation, ensures that you never miss the most important points.

Improve the Prospect’s Experience

When you know the overarching structure of the spoken part of your sales presentation, you can easily share that information with your prospects by putting the outline on one of your sales deck slides you have up during the agenda-setting portion. When prospects know what’s coming and where the conversation is headed, they’ll feel like they have some control.

Create a Testable Sales Presentation Process

When you have a presentation outline that you use repeatedly, you can start to test it against outlines with slight variations. For example, you could give 50 presentations with an introduction section and 50 without, track the average closing rates for the two groups in your CRM software , and find that the outlines with no intro section were 34% more effective at securing a next step. Consistent testing allows you to steadily march towards an optimized outline.

Easily Onboard New Sales Reps

There’s so much to learn when a new rep joins a team, so it’s important to do everything you can to get them up to speed quickly. By handing them a copy of your team’s sales presentation outline, new sales reps can easily learn your team’s sales presentation process. Right away they can start crafting well-structured spoken portions of their sales presentations.

Crafting a sales presentation outline makes the whole sales presentation creation process less time intensive, and it helps the delivery of your presentation come off as more persuasive and deliberate.

Top 4 Tips for Drafting a Sales Presentation Outline

There are some best practices you can follow to produce the best possible sales presentation outline. They include using your customer profile, building more than one outline, studying great sales presentations, and getting peer feedback on your outline. Below we’ll expand on each tip.

Reference Your Customer Profile

Keep a copy of your customer profile next to you or on your computer while you create your sales presentation outline. This ensures that the language you use speaks to your target audience’s specific concerns and interests. Whenever you write a sentence, section, or prompt, ask yourself how your ideal customer would respond.

Create Scenario-Specific Outlines

Consider creating a separate outline for each of your most common presentation scenarios. For example, one salesperson might create a generic outline along with one for upselling current customers and one for stealing prospects from a competitor. Each one might have a different mix of sections. For example, the competitor stealing outline might include a competitor analysis section, whereas the generic presentation outline does not.

Watch Great Sales Presentations for Inspiration

If you’re struggling to figure out the ideal structure or verbiage for your outline, watch some sales presentations online or shadow a fellow rep’s presentation to a prospect. You’ll likely discover new turns of phrase, presentation sections, and rhetorical techniques that you want to include in your own outline. To get started, check out our article breaking down some exceptional sales presentation examples .

Get Feedback on Your Outline

Show your finished outline to 1–2 salespeople you respect and ask them to tell you if anything needs work. We can all too easily fall in love with our creations and become blind to any gaps or errors. Getting feedback will help you fine-tune your outline so that it’s as persuasive as possible.

Creating a sales presentation outline should be a careful and considered process. The outlines will serve as the starting points for every in-depth presentation script you write. An outline is a script’s parent. If the outline is shabby, so is the script, as well as the spoken portions of your presentations.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What’s the difference between a sales presentation outline & sales deck template.

The sales presentation outline is a structure of talking points that guides the verbal part of your sales presentation. The sales deck template, on the other hand, is a set of slides with some pre-written language and some blank prompts — having one enables you to quickly build personalized slide decks, the visual backdrop to sales presentations. Together, the sales presentation outline and sales deck template make up the overall sales presentation template.

Bottom Line: Sales Presentation Outline

Having a sales presentation outline saved on your computer streamlines the preparation process for your sales presentations. Instead of starting from scratch, you have a structure to follow and some pre-written language that works on all prospects. Writing the tailored script will take minutes instead of hours. Next, check out how to create and give a sales presentation , where we teach you how to build out a personalized presentation for one specific prospect.

Get the Latest Articles Delivered to Your Inbox

Check out our recent and related articles on the topic

Learn the differences between leads, prospects, and opportunities. Understand how to turn leads into prospects and opportunities.

Lead generation is an important part of any successful sales strategy. Check out these 52 lead generation statistics to help you get ahead.

Email nurture campaigns are an effective way to engage leads. Learn sales experts' 14 best practices for successful email nurture campaigns.

7 Best Lead Generation Companies in 2024

Looking for the best lead generation companies for prospects? Explore the top seven lead gen companies and learn how they generate leads.

Best Lead Scoring Template for Effective Qualification

Lead scoring is essential for driving effective marketing efforts. Use our lead scoring template to support your goals.

B2B Lead Generation: Process, Benefits & Strategies

B2B lead generation helps you identify, target, and qualify prospects. Learn the process, tools, and benefits for inbound and outbound success.

PPC Lead Generation: How to Generate Quality PPC Leads

Learn the strategies for generating PPC leads. Discover the best practices for successful lead generation campaigns.

Top 6 Lead Nurturing Strategies for 2024

Lead nurturing is essential to customer success. Check out the top six strategies to help drive conversions and get more qualified leads in 2024.

How to Find Decision-Makers in a Company

Finding the right decision-makers in a company can be a challenge. Learn how to identify and reach out to the right people in an organization.

Sales Pitch Presentation Template

Identify the purpose of the presentation, research audience needs and preferences.

• 1 North America
• 4 Australia
• 5 South America

Outline main points to be covered

• 1 Introduction
• 2 Problem statement
• 3 Solution explanation
• 4 Benefits and features
• 5 Call to action

Develop the proposal for the product or service

Draft presentation content outline, select suitable images and graphics, design slide layout.

• 1 Simple and clean
• 2 Colorful and vibrant
• 3 Minimalistic
• 4 Corporate style
• 5 Creative and unique

Approval: design team review on slide design

• Design slide layout Will be submitted

Load content into presentation template

Incorporate multimedia elements if necessary.

• 2 Audio clips
• 3 Animations
• 4 Interactive features

Final alignment and formatting adjustments

• 1 Font consistency
• 2 Alignment of images
• 3 Spacing between elements
• 4 Color scheme
• 5 Transition effects

Proofread the content for any mistake

Test the presentation for any technical glitches.

• 1 Compatibility check
• 2 Multimedia functionality
• 3 Slide transition testing
• 4 Device compatibility check
• 5 External device connectivity

Approval: Manager review for final approval

• Load content into presentation template Will be submitted
• Incorporate multimedia elements if necessary Will be submitted
• Final alignment and formatting adjustments Will be submitted
• Proofread the content for any mistake Will be submitted
• Test the presentation for any technical glitches Will be submitted

Prepare speaker notes and cues

Rehearse the presentation, collect feedback after rehearsing presentation, make final changes or corrections if necessary, prepare presentation equipment and aids.

• 1 Projector and screen
• 2 Audio system
• 4 Laser pointer
• 5 Physical props

Deliver the presentation

Take control of your workflows today., more templates like this.

Got any suggestions?

We want to hear from you! Send us a message and help improve Slidesgo

Top searches

Trending searches

solar eclipse

25 templates

16 templates

autism awareness

28 templates

12 templates

35 templates

7 templates

Sales Process Infographics

Free google slides theme and powerpoint template.

If we can define a "sale" as the transaction in which a product is obtained in exchange of money, what would a "sales process" be? As obvious as it may seem, there's much more to it than meets the eye. Customize these editable infographics and add them to your slideshows so the concept of sales process looks much more understandable at a glance. Since we're talking about processes, most of the designs included try to represent that!

Features of these infographics

• 100% editable and easy to modify
• 32 different infographics to boost your presentations
• Include icons and Flaticon’s extension for further customization
• Designed to be used in Google Slides, Microsoft PowerPoint and Keynote
• 16:9 widescreen format suitable for all types of screens
• Include information about how to edit and customize your infographics

How can I use the infographics?

Am I free to use the templates?

How to attribute the infographics?

Attribution required If you are a free user, you must attribute Slidesgo by keeping the slide where the credits appear. How to attribute?

Related posts on our blog.

How to Add, Duplicate, Move, Delete or Hide Slides in Google Slides

How to Change Layouts in PowerPoint

How to Change the Slide Size in Google Slides

Related presentations.

Premium template

Unlock this template and gain unlimited access