Congratulations! After fine-tuning the story, polishing the content and a final flourish of the visuals, your brand new sales presentation is ready to share with the sales team.
It was worth the wait – an optimised creds presentation is one of the most valuable and persuasive sales tools in your business’s toolkit…but tread carefully.
Why the caveat? Simple – crafting the presentation is just the start of the process. A lot can go wrong when you’re trying to onboard a new sales presentation deck, from the scourge of presenters copying and pasting old content to those who fail to take the time to embrace a new way of presenting and then wonder why their audiences are not engaging.
Fret not – we’re here to help. Here are five tried and tested tips to ensure you get the very most out of your new sales presentation:
#1 Don’t just email it to your sales team
You have to bring them together and reveal it as an important and very valuable new sales tool. Take time to explain the thinking and the proven techniques behind the creation of this new deck, and look to get their buy-in early on.
Take it as an opportunity to explain your thinking behind the changes, show the proven techniques that you’ve employed to maximise the presentation’s effectiveness, and share stories that demonstrate why the new strategies are important.
This is something to celebrate, so ensure you share accordingly!
#2 Listen to the feedback
They say if you listen to the feedback, you’ll go far; this could not be truer than in the creation of something as important and valuable as a sales presentation. Listen to the feedback given by your sales team – embrace it, learn from it, and use it.
Equally, dismissing their feedback as moans will serve little purpose and runs the risk of your team creating a ‘black market’ of unbranded, off-message, and very un-corporate slides that are used when no one is watching.
Finally, don’t just accept everything at face value – question it against your core values and goals as a creator. Listen to the feedback and use that insight to improve – don’t let it run away with you!
#3 Demonstrate what good looks like
Showing people what good looks like is an integral step in achieving success. Lead by example and demonstrate with authority exactly how seriously this new tool should be viewed. It sets a standard for others to follow and sets the bar for excellence.
Lead from the front and show them how it’s done!
#4 Review, tweak, improve (and repeat)
This should be the mantra of anyone responsible for business collateral, especially sales presentations: “Review, tweak, improve (and repeat)”.
Keep it fresh, reinvest back into content that’s already performing well, and add new tested content like case studies and up-to-date proof points.
Also, keep track of what works (and what doesn’t) and share across the sales team.
#5 Celebrate success
Success always deserves to be celebrated. By sharing inspiring stories, the team will be willing to keep pushing and learning from the inevitable challenges they face along the way. Don’t forget to create heroes out of everyone who has contributed, even if only in a small way. Great sales presentations are always a team effort and need to be celebrated as such.
If you’ve been through the process of creating a sales deck, you know it’s not easy. You also understand that once it’s done, it’s only the beginning. In order to make sure your sales team is using your new sales deck to its fullest potential, these five steps are a great start.
You also might want to chat with one of the Eyeful team about our Eyeful+ onboarding service as well as our comprehensive sales training programme .
Further Reading
Sales Storytelling, The Eyeful Way: https://eyeful-archive.eyefulpresentations.com/presentation-solutions/presentation-storytelling/
Sales Presentation Case Study – Fintech: https://eyeful-archive.eyefulpresentations.com/case-study/sales-presentations-fintech/
Explore the Eyeful Vault: https://eyeful-archive.eyefulpresentations.com/resources/welcome-to-the-eyeful-vault/
