A good sales deck is like a good handshake. Often, they are the first point of connection between customer and brand.
“People don’t buy from people they like; they buy from people who understand them”
– Marc Wayshak
This has even more resonance for sales pitching by a remote team. Without the added benefit of body language, general behaviour and other nuances to help you gauge how your prospective customer is taking your pitch, it can be difficult to relate to and interact with your customer as you normally would.
The challenge is even greater in countries like the UAE where English may be used but is definitely not everyone’s first language. Similarly, you can’t use your own body language to show how well you understand your prospect’s needs or demonstrate the value you can offer.
All the more reason to ensure your sales deck design is short, to the point, and hits the sweet spot for clarity of message and layout.
3 TOP TIPS FOR SALES DECK DESIGN
We won’t insult you by telling you how to sell, however, as designers we’ve summarised three key areas of focus to help ensure your sales deck is effectively designed.
- Content
- Quality
- Quantity
1. CONTENT
- For openers, get to the point. After one to two brief slides to introduce your business, cut to their need(s) and the solution you have to offer.
- Showcase some lateral thinking to add weight to your solution for their particular need.
- Next, back it up with rationale, data and a relevant case study or two.
- Create a strong summary slide within your sales deck on how your solutions fit their need, add value, and if possible the rate of improvement to revenues and/or savings.
- Lose any unnecessary information about your company, but have it available in case it’s needed along with plenty of back up data and more case studies.
2. QUALITY
Quality is often forgotten in the rush to produce something on time; this can result in too many bullet points, confusing tables and random imagery.
- Remember your own brand and what it stands for; being consistent to your values makes it easier to compile the right kind of presentation.
- A clean visual look and layout, the right tone of voice and thoughtful insights will do more to inspire confidence in you at the start, rather than information overload.
- Clarity is key. Ensure the information on display is punchy and and aligned, in a font size that is easy to read with no unnecessary shapes, circles, graphs or tables detracting from the main story or pitch.
- Make sure all images resonate with the messaging.
- Create a layout for your sales deck with easy break points for interruptions and questions.
3. QUANTITY
- A small number of slides in the sales deck is good.
- Likewise, a small and easily assimilated amount of content per page is best.
- Strong visible highlighting of key points will help hold the focus.
- Simple clean design will get help get the message across.
- Include something memorable on each slide as a summary.
- Use Infographics to highlight and summarise data.
- Keep all supporting data in an appendix.
If you need support with your digital pitch deck design, drop us a line at hello@imdubai.ae or hello@imlondon.co.uk and our team will be more than happy to assist.
Good luck with your sales!