What should a salesperson do in the beginning of a group sales presentation?

At some point, you’ve probably sat through a terrible sales presentation—bad content, too much text, no images, and no showmanship. This type of presentation isn’t just boring; it can also discourage future sales.

A well-executed, customer-centric, and data-driven sales presentation will convince any audience that they need your product or service.

We’ll start by discussing what you should know about your potential customer before building your sales presentation.

From there, we’ll dive into a six-step guide for creating a sales presentation outline, along with 13 tips [with examples] for crafting an effective B2B sales presentation that’ll seal the deal at your next meeting:

Table of contents

1. Introduce yourself
2. Present the problem
3. Present the solution
4. Back it up with data
5. Drive home your pitch
6. Open the floor to questions

1. Start with a solid foundation
2. Speak to a pain point
3. Be unique, be memorable
4. Provide a framework
5. Skip the corporate spiel
6. Offer solutions
7. Provide research
8. Set expectations for ROI
9. Rehearse
10. Speak to your audience
11. Engage
12. Know when to stop
13. Include a call to action

Let’s dive in, keeping established sales stages in mind:

How to draft a B2B sales presentation outline

You may be thinking, “Do I really need to write an outline?” The truth is, starting with an outline will save you time in the long run. It should serve as a road map for the pitch itself, providing the necessary framework needed to stay focused and ensuring that your sales presentation has clear direction and logical flow.

Prepare to write your sales presentation outline by answering two questions about your audience and the goal of the presentation itself.

Who are you pitching to?

Potential customers don’t care about the history of your company or your product’s features; they want to know what’s in it for them. If your sales presentation is to be successful at all, it must answer that question, and specifically.

Before you begin drafting a sales presentation outline, take some time to research your potential customer:

1. What is their brand’s identity?
2. What are their brand values?
3. What are their main pain points?
4. Who are their customers?
5. What solution or product are they currently using?

The answer to these questions will provide the “big picture” insight you need to execute an effective sales pitch.

What’s the big picture?

Companies want solutions that will contribute to their long-term health in the long run. Take a step back to identify your potential customer’s big-picture goals. What might success look like for them 10 years down the road, and how will your product help get them there?

The most effective B2B sales presentations will demonstrate to your potential customer that investing in your product is investing in their own success.

Now that you’ve answered the questions “Who are you pitching to” and “What’s the big picture?” you’re ready to start writing your sales presentation outline.

The 6-step guide to a sales presentation outline

While the complexity of any sales presentation will vary, depending on the customer and the breadth of that customer’s challenges and needs, the basic formula remains the same.

1. Introduce yourself

Keep your introductory [also called “title”] slide clean and simple. The last thing you want to do is immediately overwhelm your audience with jarring images or busy text. Take a look at the title slide for AdGibbon’s sales presentation:

It’s simple, clean, and to the point. Remember, the goal here is to present your brand and set the stage for the rest of the presentation. Nothing more, nothing less.

2. Present the problem

If you’ve answered the “Who are you pitching to?” questions, you’ve identified your potential customer’s main pain points.

Think of this slide as an agitator. The goal is to present your potential customer’s challenges in a way that reinvigorates their frustration and need for a solution.

ProdPad does an excellent job of stepping into the shoes of its target customer and agitating their main pain points:

Take note of the language ProdPad uses. Rather than rely on technical explanations for why spreadsheets are inefficient platforms for ideation, ProdPad elicits an emotional reaction from its audience by comparing spreadsheets to “black holes where ideas enter and rarely re-emerge.” The more your audience believes that you understand their problems, the more likely they are to believe that your solution can fix them, too.

3. Present the solution

Paint a picture of what life will look like for your potential customer if they purchase your product. The purpose of this slide is to present core solutions your product offers relative to the current challenges of your potential customer.

Avoid rattling off features or services that offer no direct benefit to your potential customer. Otherwise, you may lose their attention. Take a look at how Microsoft uses images and text to paint an “after” picture for customers who purchase their Office365 product:

The visuals make this sales presentation particularly effective. Microsoft isn’t just telling its potential customers how Office365 will make their lives better; it’s showing them. This is an effective tactic for providing your audience with a sense of relief after agitating their main pain points.

4. Back it up with data

Now that you’ve explained how your product will benefit your potential customer, back up your claim with a case study. Present a scenario where your product solved the main challenges of a company similar to that of your potential customer. Explain how and why your product was a solution, and present the data to prove it. Take a look at the Microsoft example below.

The sales presentation for Office365 includes the results of five separate case studies on one slide. Notice which text stands out the most: the numbers. Keep your case-study data front and center for the maximum effect.

5. Summarize [drive home your pitch]

This slide can be as brief or as involved as you deem necessary. For example, you may choose to summarize all of the core benefits your product can provide to your potential customer. On the other hand, a simple and concise company motto may feel more appropriate. ProdPad’s summary slides use the latter approach:

ProdPad summarizes their unique value proposition in just a few words. It’s a product that “brings together your people, products and ideas” with implementation alone. “It changes the way your business runs right under your nose,” meaning no effort is even required to see results. It’s just that good.

6. Open the floor to questions

At the conclusion of your sales presentation, allow your audience to ask questions. The goal here is to get your potential customer involved in the conversation. The questions and feedback you receive may provide additional insight that would be helpful for closing the sale.

13 tips for executing a perfect sales presentation

Now that you have a solid sales presentation outline, it’s time to perfect the final product. Utilize the following 13 sales presentation tips to ensure your pitch seals the deal.

1. Start with a solid foundation

There’s no reason to reinvent the wheel. Thousands of professionally designed presentation templates are waiting for you on the web. The trick to picking the right one is to dive a little deeper.

Presentation programs like Keynote and PowerPoint offer stock templates straight out of the box. Do not use these. Look for a third-party template that’s professionally designed. There are plenty of attention-grabbing presentation alternatives out there.

Your company may provide you with a template worth using, or you may have to invest in buying your own. Either way, make sure you’re using a template that’s clean and doesn’t look like something you or your prospect has seen a million times before.

Consider enterprise software company Zuora’s sales deck—a presentation that Andy Raskin proclaimed “the greatest sales deck I’ve ever seen.”

The company’s deck is clean and visually appealing, with images and little text. Stats, quotes, and facts are all displayed but do not overwhelm the viewer. The slides embody Zuora’s brand and differentiate the company’s presentation from other run-of-the-mill slide decks.

Bonus tip: Don’t overload the foundation. While it’s tempting to slap your logo, name, and contact information on every single slide: resist. Good design is enough to make it feel on-brand for your company. Just share your contact info on the first and last slide. And give them your card, of course.

Improve your sales process

A good sales process is the foundation of any successful sales organization. Learn how to improve your sales process and close more deals.

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