sales presentation success rate

Sales and Marketing Presentations Statistics (Updated 2024)

We've analyzed over 100,000 sessions to Storydoc presentations to uncover 10 key data items that should inform your sales and marketing efforts.

7 minute read

There’s no selling without a presentation. No matter your business model or niche, at some point, you’re going to need to send over your materials for your customer’s team to review. Now, obviously, you’ll find tons of “best practice” articles outlining what you should do to make your presentations stick, the thing is— So few of those are based on real-life data and hard numbers. And this is what we decided to change. Our data analytics team looked at 100,000+ sessions to Storydoc business presentations. We searched for what makes the most successful decks so successful. Below, you’ll see 10 key data points we uncovered to help you take your sales and marketing presentation game to the next level.

1. People who bounce from a sales deck usually do so within the first 15 seconds

Yes, first impressions really count. Out of the people who “bounce” from a deck (make no interaction whatsoever), most of them do it within the first 15 seconds. How much can you grasp in 15 seconds? Two sentences and one visual, tops. It all boils down to the catchphrase and the design of the top part of a deck. Apart from the CTA, if there’s one area which you should heavily test it’s just that.

2. The first three slides are key: 80% of readers who go through them, read the deck in full

Flipping the script here— Once you get enough of their attention to stay with you at the beginning of the deck, it becomes extremely likely they’ll stick through until the very end . Four in five readers who go through the first three slides end up reading the deck in full. The best strategy to keep them engaged for the make-or-break three slides? We recommend adding a second hook in the third slide: something clear and eye-catching, an impressive number, an agonizing problem statement, or a shocking stat. The key is to take them from casual to engaged readers. See, a recent Gallup report revealed that only 29% of B2B buyers are fully engaged. 60% are indifferent, and 11% disengaged actively. Adding the said “hook” towards the top of your presentation can skew this proportion wildly in your favor.

B2B buyers' engagement with sales presentations, according to Gallup data:

3. mobile is on the rise: 32% of decks are opened on mobile.

The world has gone mobile and you know it. I might be stating the obvious here, but it should be one of the key elements of your marketing and sales strategy — Mobile first. On average, a third of all decks are opened on mobile. If yours doesn’t provide a flawless mobile experience, you’re losing one in three prospects. Make your pages mobile responsive , avoid small fonts and move away from PDFs which auto-adjust to the screen dimensions this becoming unreadable on mobile devices. Interestingly, the ratio of decks opened on mobile increases the higher you go up the funnel. For instance: 47% of initial outreach decks are viewed on mobile screens compared to only 19% of business proposals.

Mobile views by the type of document:

And that does make sense, right? The further in the deal-closing process you are, the more careful the interaction with your documents will be. But for initial contact, always remember about mobile optimization.

4. Mobile reading time is shorter, but not by much

Also, don’t assume that mobile sessions are “casual.” It’s not like your prospects just give the mobile version a glimpse and decide whether or not to open your deck on desktop later on. Admittedly, the average reading time on mobile is shorter , but only by 21% (3:41 min on mobile vs. 4:24 on desktop to be precise)—still very much enough time to read into the details and make a decision whether or not to do business with you.

Avg. reading time by device :

5. The first 48 hours are make-or-break

If your prospect hasn’t opened the deck within 48 hours of receiving it, the chance of them reading it at all drops below 20% . The lesson? You guessed it, the follow-up is key! It’s a recurring theme of all sales handbooks and it is so for a very good reason. According to Invesp’s study , 80% of sales require 5 follow ups. At the same time, almost half (44%) of salespeople give up after their first follow-up contact. And no, following up does not equal pestering people. If you provide enough value to make them interested, you’re still very much in the running to score that deal.

" 80% of sales require 5 follow-up calls whereas 44% of salespeople give up after one follow-up call."

- Source: Invesp -

6. Personalization is the most important predictor of success

When was the last time you replied to a “Dear User” email? Exactly. Prospects want to feel special. People can tell “generic” from miles away and, at the same time, it doesn’t take much to make every deck you send feel personal. Our analysis found that decks which included a personal note tailored to the recipient got 68% more people read them in full compared to general presentations. Also, personalized content resulted in a 41% increase in average reading time. Perhaps more importantly, decks customized to a given prospect were shared internally 2.3x more often.

Why does it matter so much? According to Gartner Group’s study , there are between 6 and 10 people involved in a B2B buying decision. Personalizing your decks is a surefire way to reach more of those key decision makers!

Benefits of personalized presentations:

More decks read in full

Increased avg. reading time

More decks shared internally

7. Conversion rates are higher when the next step is clear

Let’s say the reader liked a deck. They’re interested in the product. They enjoyed the value proposition. The worst thing that can happen now is if they’re not sure what to do. It’s crucial to make the next step easy for them. Out of the decks we analyzed, the ones that contained a singular, clear next step (e.g. book a demo, sign up, leave your email), had a conversion rate +27% higher than ones which would just leave the generic “thank you” hanging at the end.

Impact of adding next steps on avg. deck conversion rate for a demo call:

8. Letting readers "play around" with the presentation increases engagement

Sure, dynamic content such as moving slides or videos can work wonders (more on that later), but it’s best to let customers play around with a deck. When comparing decks with interactive elements (for instance, tabs to click through and see different benefits of a product, live data calculators, sliders with case studies or customer testimonials) to the ones that can “only” be read, we found that the former would get scrolled to the bottom 41% more often and make for a 21% longer average reading time . Why is it so important? It creates active engagement, and lets customers feel a degree of control over the content they’re reading. It makes them protagonists of the story, not just passive listeners. Speaking of “stories”... sure, it’s a major buzzword in today’s sales but for a good reason. Sales Hacker’s data show that prospects remember only up to 10% of numbers and around 25% of images they see. If your message is centered around a story, this number rises to 60–70%!

"Prospects remember only up to 10% of numbers and around 25% of images they see. If your message is centered around a story, this number rises to 60–70%! "

- Source: Sales Hacker -

9. Videos are critical

The first impression your deck makes will make or break a deal. It’s brutal but it’s true. We’ll talk about it more in-depth later on, but for now, a simple trick to help you make a better first impression: video. Presentations that included a video in their cover slide had 32% more people interacting with them compared to those with a static cover background. And the difference doesn’t only refer to the top part of the deck: Amongst the presentations analyzed, those with *any* video embedded enjoyed a 37% longer average reading time and a 17% increase in the CTA click-through rate. (All this despite the fact that only 23% of readers click to watch the embedded video. Apparently, the sheer existence of video material legitimizes your deck and makes you more likely to be taken seriously). When it comes to actual sales, CustomShow data indicates that a video included in your presentation makes customers 85% more likely to purchase your product or service. Wow, right?

Benefits of adding a video:

Higher engagement

Longer reading time

Higher CTA click-through rate

10. Lowest-hanging fruit? Information on the average reading time

Ever wondered why major online media outlets have the “Average reading time” blurb at the top of their articles? I’ll give you a hint: they tested the hell out of it and they know it works. Why would it be any different with sales and marketing decks? We found that adding a piece of information about the estimated reading time of your whole deck will make the number of people who bounce immediately shrink by 24%. That’s right. These three words can make a quarter more people start reading!

Lower bounce rate when adding avg. reading time

And that’s it from us for now!

Want to share our findings? Go for it! All images, animations, and items of data featured in this study are available for non-commercial reuse. Please, make sure to reference the source and link back to this page to give the authors proper credit.

And, of course, stay tuned for more fresh data coming up. Sales should be guided by knowledge, not guesswork!

Methodology and limitations

Our study is based on the analysis of readers’ behavior across over 100,000 reading sessions of presentations created with Storydoc. We only included live versions of the Storydoc pages in the analysis: all the data comes from real sales and marketing presentations our customers sent to their audiences. Unless clearly stated otherwise, the comparisons made in this analysis are based on the data for all presentations featuring a certain element versus all those without it (e.g. all presentations with a video in their cover slide vs. all presentations with a static cover). For the data regarding the reading time, upper outliers have been removed from the analysis so that accidental reading sessions of a few hours don’t skew the averages. The presentations analyzed in this study were used across many different industries, organization sizes, and use cases. Considering the size of our sample, the data can be generalized to all kinds of marketing and sales presentations.

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Hi, I'm Itai, one of Storydoc's co-founders. As a data geek, I couldn't hold myself from jumping into our data and discovering what makes top-performing sales decks so successful. I'm excited by the opportunity to share our findings and contribute to the sales and marketing community!

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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.

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23 Foolproof Sales Presentation Tips to Help You Close More Deals

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To see what Databox can do for you, including how it helps you track and visualize your performance data in real-time, check out our home page. Click here .

Are you intimidated by sales presentations and not sure how to best prepare for them?

Should you talk formally or informally? Should you talk about your product, or not talk about your product at all? What are the best practices to ensure every sales presentation results in, well, sales?

You’re not alone. 

Nearly 57% of B2B prospects and customers feel that their sales teams are not prepared for the first meeting.

While sales presentations can seem intimidating the first few times you participate in them, once you get the hang of them and create an efficient, thorough process, you’ll be able to glide through them a lot easier and a lot more successfully.

In this guide, we’re going to discuss,

• What is a sales presentation?
• 6 types of sales pitches and presentations.
• What should be included in a sales presentation?
• 23 sales presentations tips to help you close more deals

So let’s dive right in.

What is a Sales Presentation?

A sales presentation is similar to an in-depth sales pitch where companies promote a product\service they’re trying to sell to potential clients.

However, it’s usually more complicated and comprehensive than a regular sales pitch. There are multiple PowerPoint presentations involved , meetings, and lots of prior prep time to ensure you’re hitting all the right persuasion notes. 

Related : 12 Most Helpful Sales Report Templates for Teams

6 Types of Sales Pitches and Presentations

Contrary to popular opinion, a full sales presentation is not always necessary or even appropriate. Different situations call for different types of sales presentations and different approaches to selling your product\service.

There are several important sales presentations and pitches that all sales representatives and companies should be well versed in. Let’s take a closer look.

• The one-word pitch
• The social media pitch
• The elevator pitch
• A full-blown sales presentation
• Written sales presentations

Related : 42 Free Sales Dashboard Templates For Tracking & Improving Sales Performance

The One Word Pitch 

Can you boil down your brand’s value proposition to one word? Just like Google’s one word is ‘Search’ and Barack Obama’s was ‘Hope’, what’s your brand’s one-word pitch?

The Social Media Pitch

Sales reps using social selling are 50% more likely to meet or exceed their sales quota. 

With over 3.5 billion social media users worldwide, companies need to have a concrete, pithy sales pitch for their social media profiles. One that not only instantly tells your social media followers and potential customers what your brand is all about but can also withstand the test of ever-changing algorithms. 

An elevator pitch is a quick speech that instantly tells your potential clients what your brand’s all about and what solutions you offer.

It works especially well when you’re not formally trying to close deals, such as during networking events and similar functions. It can also be used during cold calls. 

A Full-Blown Sales Presentation

A full sales presentation usually happens in a meeting room with 1 or several clients and includes PowerPoint presentations slides , sales decks, handouts, and a fully prepped team. It also requires a value-heavy pitch, solutions your company is offering, and so on. 

Written Sales Presentations

68% of B2B businesses use landing pages to garner a new sales lead for future conversion. 

Written sales presentations, like landing pages, are getting really popular in this digital-first world. A high-converting written sales presentation usually starts with addressing the problem and presenting its solution, and outlining the benefits of the brand’s product\service. And the best sales pages have several complimentary graphics accompanying the text, as well. 

Webinars are sales presentations conducted via the internet. Usually conducted in real-time, it gives interested prospects the opportunity to get their questions answered on the spot, and similarly, it helps brands persuade prospects to convert.

What Should Be Included In a Sales Presentation?

An effective sales presentation should focus more on the benefits and solutions it offers, instead of its product\service’s features. 

After all, 88% of executive buyers want a conversation, not a presentation

Your sales presentations should also consist of:

• Testimonials from previous clients and customers
• Data, like graphs, charts, quotes, backing up your claims
• Customized content targeted to your prospective client
• A call to action, which usually includes next steps for the clients

Related : SMART Sales Goal Examples from 30+ Sales Professionals

23 Sales Presentation Tips to Help You Close More Deals

Now we’re on the most exciting part – tips and tricks to close more sales deals. To help you ace your next sales presentations, we asked 42 sales pro their best sales presentation tips. 

And here’s what they said.

Express your interest in working together

• Give hard copies of the sales presentation 

Leverage stories

Encourage questions, highlight case studies, make data a part of your presentation, outline your value proposition, follow up with your prospect, prepare yourself and your team, highlight client’s goals.

• Incorporate videos

Drive the no’s

• Don’t hard sell

Prime your prospects before selling

Solve your prospects problems, wear your confidence.

• Personalize it for your client

Know their competitors

Keep it succinct.

• Make it conversational
• Sell your brand, not your product

Demonstrate your product\service

End with a clear cta.

Related : The 37 Sales KPIs Every Sales Leader Should Be Measuring

PRO TIP: How to Set SMART Goals for Your Sales Team’s Performance

To decide which goals meet the SMART criteria, sales managers need to look at sales analytics for their teams and monitor sales KPIs, for example:

• Average Time to Close Deal
• New Deals Amount
• Number of Customers
• Average Revenue per New Customer

Based on these metrics, and in light of other revenue-based and activity-based goals, you can identify and set desired goals for future performance, but how to get this information?

Now you can benefit from the experience of our sales experts, who have put together a great Databox template showing an overview of your sales team’s performance. It’s simple to implement and start using as a standalone dashboard or in sales reports, and best of all, it’s free!

You can easily set it up in just a few clicks – no coding required.

To set up this Sales Analytics Overview Dashboard , follow these 3 simple steps:

Step 1: Get the template 

Step 2: Connect your HubSpot account with Databox. 

Step 3: Watch your dashboard populate in seconds.

“Too often we just assume that, of course, the leads or prospects we’re reaching out to, or following up with, know that of course, we want their business. 

We don’t explicitly tell them, though, and that can be a very powerful thing to do. Something as simple as: ‘I’m really hoping to have the opportunity to work with you ,’ can make a big difference. It’s worked for me!” Explains Linda Pophal of Strategic Communications .

Give hard copies of the sales presentation

Dustin Singer of Dustin Buys Houses shares, “One of our most effective sales presentation techniques for increasing conversions is on top of giving an excellent presentation, we leave the client with a print presentation. This presentation goes into detail about who we are, what we do, how we can help them, the steps and process of working with us, and what next steps would be if they decide to work with us. 

This also includes their offer price, and terms and details of the proposed contract along with all of our contact information. It allows us to leave our sales presentation with them, so if they don’t convert over the initial meeting, we impress them with important information for the client to refer to as we work them through the sales funnel. 

We’ve received feedback about how our print presentations presented us as more professional than our competitors, and they felt more comfortable with working with us because of it.”

You can also turn that hard copy into an engagement exercise for your prospects. 

As Jeff Brandeis of Brandeis Training Solutions explains, “When presenting remotely, we typically provide a PDF that has incomplete sentences. We encourage people to fill in the blanks. People remember things when they write things down. Providing them a template to fill in separates our presentation from others.”

“Tell a story. No one wants to listen to stats on every slide. And your prospects can see right through your ‘visualize success’ ideas.

Instead, include a narrative with characters, setting, and plot. Make sure your prospects can empathize with the character. THEY need to be the hero—not you.” Says TJ Kelly of FreeDrumlineBeats.com .

Bradley Keys of PatchMD explains why stories work so well. “Stories give us an emotional connection, and it will be more effective if it is relatable to their situation. Share stories about how your products worked successfully for your clients. It is one of the leading sales strategies to help you improve your presentation and close deals. Statistics are useful, but make sure that it is not overwhelming – they are easily forgotten. Learn to play emotions when presenting as it helps to become more personal.” Shares Keys.

Nathan Binford of MarketChorus explains the benefits of using The Challenger Sale, a sales presentation methodology based on selling through constructive tension. 

“Learn and use a sales presentation methodology like The Challenger Sale to craft a compelling narrative every time you build a pitch. I’m a big fan of The Challenger Sale specifically because it forces you to ‘walk in your prospect’s shoes’ and emphasizes the importance of shocking your audience out of status quo thinking and into a receptive state.” Says Binford.

Luke Smith of We Buy Property In Kentucky recommends, “After your presentation, allow questions to be asked. As the customer or client gets the answers that meet their needs (for us – they layout terms they need for us to buy their house), I will say, “It sounds like we have a rough outline for a deal. What would you like to happen now?”

More often than not, they ask me about signing a contract to get everything started. This has allowed me to close numerous deals without the awkward transition to the close. The buyer is closing me rather than me pulling them to the closing table.”

The best way to encourage questions is by adopting the 60-second rule.

“To be more effective during a sales presentation, you must consider this — the 60-second rule. It’s simple; all you have to do is NEVER speak without entertaining questions or interruption for more than a minute.

Ditch your monologue and stop bombarding your audience with information. If you have been talking for more than 60 seconds without any interruption, it is most likely that your audience is no longer interested.

Keep in mind to engage with your audience throughout your presentation. Try to incorporate open-ended questions within your presentation to keep it conversational.

It’s easy to keep talking but always pay close attention to when to stop. By following this tip, you will increase your chances of securing deals.” Explains Dan Nolan of Camping Console .

“Drown your prospect in successful case studies for businesses like theirs. That’s my number one sales presentation tactic. It should be so obvious that you’ve done the work before, you’ve transformed situations from bad to great, and you’re certain you can do the same for them if they buy. 

For example, if you’re a B2B sales organization with a software company on the call, show them three case studies of the work you’ve done for other software companies. By doing you, their confidence rises and the doubt. that so often stops a sale, goes away.” Shares Brian Robben of Robben Media .

Brandon Amoroso of electrIQ marketing shares his experience of closing sales deals by highlighting success stories. Amoroso says, “Demonstrating our success rate at the end of a presentation through different case studies has helped our company demonstrate our knowledge in the marketing field.

We showcase studies that resemble the potential client and show them some of the ways we will carry out duties if they choose to partner with us. In doing this, we reassure them that they will be diligent with our time, communicate with them constantly, and work towards getting similar or greater results than those shown in the case study.”

Catriona Jasica of Top Vouchers Code agrees and believes success stories are essential to closing deals. 

“It takes real skills for the salespeople to be efficient enough and close a deal through their presentation. One of them is sticking to your success stories.

Sharing the statistics is surely vital to show your company’s growth, but your attendees are most likely to forget those figures. What will stick to their minds are the success stories you share in the presentation.

Let them know about your product and how it has worked wonders for your company and helped it flourish. Think of a compelling story, present it, and build an emotional connection with the clients. This undoubtedly helps you outstandingly to close the deal in the end.” Says Jasica.

Growth Hackers ’ Jonathan Aufray agrees and adds, “To increase your probability of closing a deal, you want to show your prospect how your solution helped similar people/companies in their industry. Showing them a case study on what you implemented, achieved, and accomplished for another client is definitely one of the best sales presentation techniques out there.”

David Garcia of ScoutLogic believes data is as important as success stories to seal the deal. “The most effective sales presentation technique that increases your chances of closing a deal is a quantitative analysis demonstrating the economic benefits of your solution. If you are running an enterprise sales cycle, by that point, you should understand the client’s pain points, the client’s personal win, and should be able to articulate the unique economic value only your solution will bring.” 

Trenton Erker of Clarity Online advises sales presenters to “Know the numbers in your industry and theirs. It’s compelling, authoritative, and adds to your charisma, your product/service, your company, your industry, everything. People trust industry authorities. They’ll also know you care.”

Susanne Pope of Whiterock Locators agrees with the two and says, “Including succinct and relevant data to drive your point across is one of the most effective presentation techniques that will increase your probability of closing a deal.

Anyone can make bold claims, but having the data to back up those claims will drive the nail in the coffin, so to speak. It’s also important that the data you’re presenting is clearly communicated in its relevance to the goods/services you’re pitching.

If you have data that the audience cannot make sense of, your odds of closing lessen. You also want to ensure you don’t overload your audience with data. The most critical data sets will do, but always be prepared to present more data should someone in the audience ask for it.”

Greg Taft, a Realtor , shares, “I would say the one item that gets me the most traction both from my pitch books from my private equity career and in my listing presentations to clients selling their homes is a strong value proposition.

The value proposition needs to be tangible and measurable. It is hard to put a number on intellectual property or intangible assets, but you have to. As an example, you can talk to a home seller about selling their home, but why are you the right agent for them?

You have to show that you are better than average, whether that be your homes are selling for more than they are worth, or your full marketing package is selling homes x days faster, etc. If you are just average, they will just shop for the cheapest rather than the most value.”

“Fundamentals win championships, and the same goes for sales professionals when they’re working to gain a new client. If there was one piece of advice I’d bestow upon someone new to the sales profession, it would be to follow up with your prospect . 

48% of salespeople never follow up with a prospect. Only 25% of salespeople make a second contact. Those alarming numbers, especially considering that 80% of sales are made between the fifth to twelfth contact. So if there was one technique that will increase your close rate on a macro scale, it would have to be to follow up with your prospect.” Explains Evan Donahue of JMJ Phillip .

Related : 36 Practical Tips for Writing A Great Sales Follow Up Email

When asked the most important sales presentation tip that helps close more deals, Nathan Bliss of Kinsta says,

“Prepare. There is no replacement for being prepared to go into a discovery or demo call. Know all that you can about that potential customer and their business. Make some assumptions about what you think might be important to them based on your experience, but test those assumptions with effective questioning while you are on the call.”

“I always state the potential client’s goals before I go into anything. They’ve told me what they want to achieve in a pre-call, but I reiterate that in my words, while I also hint at how we’ll get there by way of our services. Then I ask them, ‘Are we in agreement?’

If we don’t establish that agreement before I start the rest of the presentation, we can run into many swings and misses during the rest of the presentation.

That question helps me understand that my pitch is spot on, or tells me if I need to pivot some of my discussion points or commentary that are coming in the next several slides.” Shares Tracy Beach of Portent .

Incorporate videos 

“One unique and effective technique I use to help me close more deals is creating asynchronous video content, also known as recorded video, video messages, screen shares, or video voicemail.

By using a free screen-share or recording tool like Vidyard, you can turn your bland ol’ slide presentation into an interactive video that explains all the details that the recipient needs to hear.

Instead of the old methods of sharing PDF’s and hoping your customer champion will sell your pitch internally (which can become a risky game of telephone), instead, turn that PDF or presentation into an interactive video and send it via email (or any other channel) to your recipient.

This ensures that your message is heard the way you intended it to be heard. It also gives the recipient a simple way to float the video around to the decision-makers within their organization so they can get buy-in to push deals across the line. Think about using asynchronous videos to explain proposals, quotes, customer stories, demos, etc. Video works!” Says Jacob Fernandes of Vidyard .

Deepak Shukla of Pearl Lemon Sales agrees and adds, “A growing trend in sales and marketing is Explanation Videos. Expounding on your product’s value in a down-to-earth, relatable way helps build personal connections with potential clients.

It also prevents user bounce rates and increases your SEO ranking – meaning your client finds you easier and is more likely to stay on your page. All of these things contribute to vastly improving your chances of closing that sale!”

“I have found asking questions to drive the ‘No’ instead of the ‘Yes’ leads to more sales. By asking questions, the prospect has to answer ‘No’ opens up the door to get the ‘Yes’ at the close.

The ‘No’ questions are designed to get the prospect to tell you where they are coming up short or items they are missing. Asking these questions and actually listening will give you the upper hand when going through your sales conversation by letting you know their pain points without asking the standard ‘Yes’ questions.

So switch the way you direct your conversations from the ‘Yes’ questions to the ‘No’ questions, and you will see more success at the closing.” Explains Eric Bergman of Serendipit Consulting

Don’t hard-sell

Boxroom Office ’s Neil Roach believes that hard selling never works in a sales presentation. 

Roach says, “People know when they’re being sold to. Instead, your focus should be on solving whatever problem that person has and the most affordable way for them.

Far too many salespeople are trained to go in hard and basically talk the prospect into submission.

That approach shows a lack of finesse and a real lack of understanding of human psychology. Basically, it’s the path to most resistance, by its very nature.

The salespeople I’ve trained always focus on what the customer needs but rarely what the customer wants. If, for example, a customer wants a $1,000 smartphone, you should ask them what they need it for? If it’s “…just for calls and texts,” guide them to something more affordable.

That will cause one of two outcomes.

• 1. The customer will either buy the $1,000 phone on the spot because they know you’re not trying to strongarm them.
• 2. They’ll buy the cheaper phone, but tell everyone they meet how helpful you were and didn’t try to push the sale on them.

Either way, your business, and your reputation, and your sales figures will benefit.”

Lauren Shroll of Outside The Box opines, “When you work from specific questions and comments that put pressure on that meeting to convert, your leads who are not specifically in that small percentage of users ready to convert at the time of the call, are going to be turned off to a conversation that is already primed for someone who wants to buy.

Your ideal sales conversation should prime the user to buy, both at the time of the call and in future retargeting, by including invitations.

This means that you are inviting the user to share their concerns, preview the product, opt-in to email updates, and effectively gear the user to feel that it’s a perfect fit for their specific needs.

This is the case even if they are converting in the next 12-24 months. Your conversation should aim to make the user feel that they are comfortable making a purchase decision, but not necessarily focused on the present moment.”

And did this strategy work for her? 

Shroll shares her experience and adds, “Using this approach has helped massively with one of the software companies I work alongside.

Even in the midst of a pandemic, we have enrolled three major clients in a program that equated to several hundred users.

The reason? We primed the sales call toward “continuing the conversation” to fit our leads at any stage of their buying journey.

A conversation that started as a sales call twelve months ago turned into a neatly closed deal in the most uncertain of times to achieve an amazing return on investment.

If you do include a quote in your story, please let me know when it’s published so that I can promote it across social media channels.”

“The most effective sales presentations that help us close deals all follow one formula: Educate the prospect on a pain that they have, leverage data that is unique to them to support the pain point, then solve the problem.

If you are using a sales deck, it should follow this framework without talking about your own product until the solution section.

If you are doing a live demo, you should break this same approach into sections based on the solution you are providing.

And every solution should first be teed up by education, specific pain for the client, then solution.

Following the formula in every presentation is the key to closing.” Says Zach Rego of Unstack .

Samantha Kohn of AutoVerify recommends taking a customer-in approach in your sales presentations. “You can increase your probability of closing a deal by taking a customer-in approach (rather than a product-out approach) in your sales presentations.

Instead of starting by explaining how great your product is, consider beginning with a discussion of the pain-points your customers are trying to solve.”

Osiris Parikh of Lilius says one of the most important sales techniques is to tailor solutions to the needs of a prospective client. Parikh explains, “Asking questions and showing genuine interest in helping them, rather than seeming like a robot reading from a script, allows for greater rapport and ultimately better solutions aligned to their situation. The chances of a sale only increase from there.”

Lynell Ross of Education Advocates agrees with them and gives some practical tips. “Stress how your product or service will make your customer’s life easier.

Most customers are stressed out and have a million things on their plate. Just as important as the money they’ll save by going with you or the upgrade in quality they’ll achieve is the ease with which they’ll do it.

Even if not relevant to your product or service’s substantive qualities, stress the importance of how your company or service will remove work and time from the customer’s plate, streamline their processes, and make them more efficient.

Reference the type of lift similarly positioned customers have experienced, and use data for that where available.”

“When presenting pitches to potential clients, confidence is everything because you are what you’re selling. How you handle yourself is as important as the presentation itself.” Says Jolene Caufield of Healthy Howard .

And the best way to do that is by showing your stuff. 

Adam Smartschan of Altitude Marketing explains, “Do your research and present it in an attractive fashion. The more you show you know your stuff, the more a prospect will be willing to work with you.

Don’t just tell them their competitors are doing it better. Show them what their competitors are doing, and explain why – then tell them how you’ll help them win.”

Richard Latimer of Veritas Homebuyers explains what works best for him in sales presentations. “The best presentation technique that I employ frequently is physical cues. This includes my posture, use of hands, eye contact, and tone of voice.

Having an upright yet relaxed posture helps make your counterpart feel at ease, using your hands helps illustrate your meanings, eye contact promotes trust, and your tone of voice should guide your counterpart through the presentation.” Shares Latimer.

Paige Arnof-Fenn of Mavens & Moguls also shares her experience and says, “Before a sales pitch I always take a few deep breaths and remind myself I know this topic well, I try to make eye contact with at least a few people in the room as I speak and share stories from my experience to make my points.

I also try to smile a lot. That usually helps me relax and get started, and once I start talking, I am usually good to go.

I have presented successfully virtually, too, via video, online, and phone. With social distancing video presentations are a popular reality now and should be treated just as important as face to face meetings.”

Personalize it for the client

“One important tip is to personalize your sales presentation for your customer.

Most presentations are all about the company presenting them, which is quite backward since the prospect really doesn’t care about you (sorry). They care about their business and their own goals.

In some cases, your audience will connect the dots between the solution you offer and the problems they have, but it’s much more effective to do your research ahead of time and connect those dots between your customer’s unique problem and your proposed solution inside of the presentation.” Recommends Spencer Smith of IRC Sales Solutions .

Syed Irfan Ajmal who is a Growth Marketing Consultant at Physicians Thrive , says personalization of any sales presentation is actually easier than it looks. 

He shared a sales presentation example that helped him to win a 5-figure marketing contract. He shares the following:

• “1. Provide a forecast (traffic, leads, revenue) based on existing keyword rankings data of the client.

This visual example shows how the client stands to earn $49K to $99K per month by applying only 2 simple SEO/Content-Marketing strategies. 

• 2. Provide a comparison (in simple tabular format) of the client with the top 3-5 of their key competitors.
• 3. Provide specific content ideas (personalized for the client’s niche) that they can employ to attract more backlinks.

This visual example shows the specific ideas meant for a company working in the Household Industry. ”

Knowing your client’s competitors, what’s working for them and what’s not can easily make or break your sales pitch. 

Lenny Liebmann says, “I do research on my prospective client’s competitors. I make sure to include a passing reference to one or more of those competitors in my press. That way, the client gets the sense that I really understand their market and their challenges — as opposed to just peddling them something based on some sort of questionably universal value proposition.”

Digital Debut ’s Deniz Doganay also recommends keeping a close eye on your prospect’s competitors. “Actually, take the time to look at leading competitors of your potential client and point out the things they are doing well and what you plan to do to best them. Be very transparent in your company processes and policies as well, so the client knows exactly what to expect when entering an agreement with you.” Advises Doganay.

Mike Charles of Lookout Lofts believes short and to-the-point presentations are always better. “The 9-minute rule! Keeping your presentation to 9 minutes or less is a great rule of thumb to follow for keeping your audience engaged. If you are using slides, do not spend more than 2-3 minutes on each slide. This number is based on research that has shown audiences start to lose their attention around minute 11.”

Make it conversational 

Edwin Rubio of Vapor Empire says, “The more conversational of a pitch, the less of a sales presentation it will feel like. Everything will come more naturally by having an open dialogue because you are building the trust and rapport that many need to feel engaged and comfortable with making a purchase.” 

Melanie Musson of CarInsuranceCompanies.net agrees with Rubio and adds, “Think about the presentation as a conversation. Keep the client engaged and actively involved in the dialogue. If you do the presentation as a monologue, you’ll risk losing their attention.”

Sell your brand, not just the product

“I could write paragraphs about this. I witnessed first-hand how a sales process when well executed, will allow you to position a very normal product as the best in class. It’s all in selling on the brand and the solution.

Presentations that focus on the features and what features will do to you are losing presentations, in my opinion.

In our internal training process, we have a whole day about ‘Establishing Mastery’. Sales peeps and engineers have to establish mastery right after positioning the brand. You position the brand by talking about your internal values, how you run your business, what your vision is. And yes, this is no BS cause what you’re doing here is establishing trust with the company in front of you that you will be able to solve any problem that arises just because you are running a good business.

And that’s the key; customers should be buying the brand and not the product. First-hand. Now, of course, your product should be a real, reliable, and sustainable product that lives up to the expectations.

Once trust in the brand is established, then you dive into establishing mastery by showcasing that you know the ins and outs of the industry you are solving problems for, you understand actual use cases.

Always pull examples about current clients you have that are similar to the prospects you’re speaking to. This helps with social proofing as well as indicating to the prospect that you’ve been there, done that.” Explains Bob Sabra of Hovi .

Quincy Smith of Mira advises businesses always to show how their product\service works during a presentation to close more deals. 

“I’ve had great success by demonstrating the tools we use to complete whatever project it is we’re pitching. For example, when we show clients SEO tools and how we actually have search data on what terms they could be targeting, most of them have no idea that type of information was out there!

Experience and reputation will get you pretty far, but if you can give a little over-the-shoulder look at how you will perform your job, then you can really stand out!” Says Smith.

Alexandra Zamolo of Beekeeper believes the same and adds, “It’s always best to showcase exactly how the product or software will actually work in the exact manner in which the potential customer intends to make use of it. While most examples are great to illustrate features, a demo with more customization to the user’s exact needs will always provide better results.”

And don’t waste all your hard work by not having a clear, targeted Call to Action at the end of your presentation. 

“Every presentation or post should end with a ‘Call to Action’. The action could be anything from scheduling a meeting to submitting a query/feedback or anything else you feel is appropriate. It is important because, after the sales presentation, people are influenced. So before giving them some more time to think, it is better to involve them in some action!” Explains Adam Rowles of Inbound Marketing Agency .

Wrapping up

Sales presentations are an essential part of scaling your business. There’s no escaping them. So embrace them and try to incorporate all these tips into your next sales presentations.

As Mudassir Ahmed of Blogging Explained sums up all of them and says, “Spend less time talking about your company profile. And talk about R.O.I, how your prospect will see a return on their investment with your deal. But don’t go way deeper, awakening their logical nerves by which critical debates could happen.

Give a glimpse and value touch by adding your customers’ success stories or even case studies. You make sure to get the prospect to see himself/herself in your story and talk about the value they would get. That’s probably called human-centric marketing, where you invoke prospects’ senses with an emotion.

It also helps budget-hesitant prospects to get clear insights about their investment and ROI and make a positive decision about the deal.

Do your research and be ready to impress the prospect with this factor. The key is to be conversational rather than presentational.”

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Sales presentations: templates, examples and ideas on how to present like a pro

A good sales presentation is more than a simple pitch, a demo or a list of facts and figures. Done well, at the right time in your sales process , it’s a tool for getting your prospects’ attention, drumming up excitement and moving prospects toward a buying decision.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to use the power of storytelling to drive decision-making and close more deals. We’ll also cover the fundamental elements of an effective sales presentation strategy, what to include in your sales decks and practical ideas on how to deliver them.

What is a sales presentation?

A sales presentation is a live meeting where your team showcases your product or service and why it’s the best option for your prospect.

Although the terminology differs from company to company, a sales presentation is not always the same as a sales pitch.

A sales pitch is what your sales professionals do all day long, on the phone, over Zoom or in person with clients.

A sales presentation (although it’s still a sales pitch) is a point-in-time event that usually happens when your sales team is trying to close a more lucrative deal. It’s not a simple phone call, as it often involves a meeting and a demo.

Because you’re likely presenting to a group of senior decision-makers and executives, sales presentations require ample prep time and coordination across multiple team members.

How (and why) to use storytelling in your sales presentation

Use stories in your presentations to help people remember and relate to your brand.

Statistics, facts and figures can help when you’re trying to persuade a prospect to become a customer, but they’re more impactful if you can frame them with a memorable story.

For example, tell a story about a customer who faced the same challenges as your prospect and supplement it with powerful data, they are more likely to listen and want to know more.

Human beings have a deep relationship with storytelling. Stories move, teach and, in a sales context, persuade audiences.

Chip Heath, a Stanford professor and the co-author of Made to Stick , demonstrates the importance of storytelling by doing an exercise with his students. He divides them into groups and asks them to deliver a one-minute persuasive pitch based on data he’s just shown them.

After the pitches are delivered, he asks the class to jot down everything they remember about them. Although most students use stats rather than stories, 63% remember the stories, while only 5% remember an individual data point .

The stickiness of stories makes them a useful tool for developing a sales presentation outline. They help prospects understand and remember the key points of the presentation and your product.

Thomas Dredge Sales Manager, Particular Audience

Start with a problem (and a deadline)

Your presentation is about the solution you’re offering your prospects, but it shouldn’t start with that solution.

Instead, lead with the problem your solution was designed to solve.

“ Value selling is key,” says Bradley Davies, business development at Cognism . “It is important to understand your buyer and tailor their journey to what you can do for them.

“First, you need to understand what is motivating them to have a discussion, which allows you to identify their pains and present how your offering solves their pains. Everything presented to a prospect should be based on the value for them specifically.”

You might choose to tell a story that positions your product as the hero, helping the customer vanquish a villain: their pain point.

Your story should be tailored to the pain points of the prospects in the room. For example, a change to their business, industry or the technology they use.

“If an element of your offering is not relevant, then don't distract them from the important features. It will keep them engaged and help to build their user story,” adds Bradley.

Recommended reading

Digging deep to determine customer pain points and make the sale

Create a sense of urgency around your product: It’s a solution to their problem, but if they don’t act now, they could miss an opportunity. Tell a story about what might happen if your prospect doesn’t change, framing the consequences of inaction.

Focus on outcomes

You’ve outlined the problem and, if you’re doing your job, your audience is nodding along. Now it’s time to start talking about the solution.

However, that doesn’t mean you should launch into the features and benefits of your product just yet.

Rather than presenting your product, a good sales presentation draws a picture of what life could look like for a customer once they start doing things differently. How will their workload or productivity improve? What will they be able to do with additional time and resources? How will they reduce spending and increase revenue?

From there, introduce your solution and the features that can make this brave new world possible. Do this in a few ways:

Position your features against the old way of doing things

Present those features as “superpowers” that will solve your prospect’s problems

Compare those features to competitors’ features

Quantify the value your features bring vs. the cost of doing nothing

Use a combination of some or all of the above

Creating a winning sales presentation slide deck

Most sales presentations include a slide deck to deliver facts, case studies and statistics that convey the value of your solution.

Create your sales pitch deck in an application like PowerPoint or Google slides to ensure your presentation is visible to everyone in the room (or in a virtual setting).

The best sales decks have a few key elements:

A great cover image or opening slide. Like the story you open your presentation with, your cover slide should grab your audience’s attention.

Data and key points . Charts, graphs, infographics, quotes and other information back up your presentation. Your slides should support your presentation by visualizing data, not repeating what you’re saying. You can get metrics from third-party sources or (if appropriate) from your own sales dashboard .

Testimonials and case studies from other customers. Quotes and success stories from or information about other customers, preferably in the same industry as your prospects, will act as social proof and go a long way to backing up your claims.

Competitive context. In all likelihood, your product isn’t the only one a potential customer is evaluating. Savvy sales professionals take the opportunity to proactively communicate how their product stacks up to their competitors’ and anticipate objections.

Customized content. While it might seem tempting to use the same content for every presentation, you should personalize your presentation for each meeting. You might want to use your prospect’s brand colors, find data specific to their market or industry, or reference an earlier exchange. You can find ready-to-use customizable sales decks through a graphic design app, such as Canva.

A glimpse into next steps. Give your prospects an understanding of what new customer onboarding looks like with a slide that includes a direct call to action offering next steps. For some companies, the training and customer support experience can be a value proposition in and of itself.

A note about text in your sales deck : Keep the slides simple and light on text. Your prospects don’t want to look at a wall of words to read. According to data from Venngage , 84% of presenters use visual data in their presentations – and for good reason: You don’t want to overwhelm your audience with text as they listen to you, look at your sales deck and watch the demo.

When you do include text, ensure you use a font (and font size) that can be easily read by everyone sitting in on your presentation.

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What else to bring to your sales presentation

Now that we’ve discussed the story elements of a sales presentation and your slide deck, what else should you bring to the meeting?

Most sales presentations are in-person affairs and include visual elements like a sales deck, handouts or even an in-person demonstration of the physical product. Here are a few things to think about including in your pitch.

13 examples of sales collateral you need to drive revenue

The product.

Nothing sells a product like seeing it in action.

Take Scrub Daddy, a sponge that changes shape depending on the heat of the water. When Aaron Krause, Scrub Daddy’s founder and inventor, presented the product on Shark Tank in 2012 , he demonstrated the sponge cleaning dirty kitchenware and greasy countertops. He also used bowls of water and two 10-pound weights to show the sponge’s amazing morphic abilities.

The tactic paid off: Scrub Daddy partnered with Lori Greiner for $200,000, in return for 20% equity in the business and is now considered one of Shark Tank’s most successful products.

Not all products are easy to demo, so you may have to improvise.

With a physical product, think of the perfect environment for a demo. What would show the product at its best?

With a digital product, make sure you have the technology on hand to show what your product can do (and check beforehand that the tech works). If it’s a mobile app, have your prospects download it. If it’s a platform, consider producing recorded or interactive product demos that can be embedded in your sales presentation.

For items that are too big to be brought in or which are location-specific, you may have to rely on a video as part of the presentation.

7 steps to putting together a brilliant sales demo

Leave behinds.

Depending on the nature of your solution, you may want to have materials you can leave with the prospects in the room.

This can be as simple as contact information or sales literature you pass out at the end of the presentation. It can also be something that’s part of the presentation, like a QR code that allows them to download the demo on their phones. Whatever format you choose, make sure the material is concise and to the point.

Tailoring your sales presentation to speak to your audience

Once you develop a strong sales deck template, it’s tempting to use it over and over with your target audience. Remember, personalization is essential in sales.

During lead generation , prospecting and sales calls, you know that prospects are more interested in buying if your pitches are tailored to them. It’s the same with your sales presentations, especially if you have an unusual prospect.

Let’s say your product is a CRM that’s normally used by sales organizations, but a human resources department is interested in using it to create a recruiting pipeline.

You wouldn’t use a sales deck with sales-related examples to sell it during the presentation.

Instead, you’d research talent acquisition challenges, ask your product department to create a template or a demo aimed at recruiting and build your sales deck accordingly.

Different industries have unique challenges and opportunities. It’s your responsibility to tailor your value proposition and key bullet points accordingly.

“To craft the perfect sales presentation pitch,” advises Danny Hayward, Sales Manager at Unruly , “ensure you take care of these three things:

Ask the right questions beforehand to understand the needs of the client, especially their flaws

Learn your product inside and out

Rehearse, rehearse and rehearse again

Danny Hayward Sales Manager, Unruly

How to nail your sales presentation delivery

Here are a few tried and true sales presentation techniques to make sure you close the deal.

Whether you’re presenting solo or as part of a team, it’s important to plan in advance. Follow these sales presentation tips for preparation.

Practice, practice, practice . You’ll need to get the timing right, especially if your presentation has a lot of moving parts. Go through it to make sure your timing works, so that you can nail the meeting itself.

Make sure everything works . You don’t want to go into a meeting with a faulty PowerPoint presentation or a broken sample – or find out there is no whiteboard when one is integral to your demonstration. Do your best to make sure everything goes to plan.

Decide on everyone’s roles . This one is just for those presenting as a team. Will different sales reps speak through each section? Will one rep talk while the others handle the sales deck and demo? Decide who will do and say what ahead of time.

Know your attendees. Make sure you know who from the prospect company will be in the meeting, their titles and the roles they each play in the buying process. Conducting light social media research can also clue you into attendees’ past experiences or alma maters (information that can fuel pre-presentation small talk and forge closer connections with your audience).

Practice confident body language

Presentations usually happen in person, which is why you need to practice strong body language. You want to look relaxed and confident (even if you’re shaking in your shoes).

Here are some ways you can improve your body language:

Eye contact . Make and maintain eye contact, even in virtual meetings. This shows people you’re interested in them and invested in what they have to say.

Stand up straight . Pull your shoulders back and straighten your spine; fixing your posture is an easy way to convey confidence. You’ll also feel better if you’re not hunched over.

Chin up. It’s hard when you’re in front of people, but don’t look at the floor or your shoes. Face straight ahead and make eye contact (or look at the back wall rather than the floor.)

Have a firm handshake. Some people judge others by their handshakes. Offer a firm handshake to make a good first impression.

Engage your audience

Presentations can span 30 to 60 minutes or more, so you need to be able to hold your prospects’ attention. There are a number of ways to keep everyone interested:

1. Understand your audience’s attention span

The beginning and the end of your presentation are the most memorable, so that’s where you want to use your strongest material.

Rather than leading with your product’s features, use the first few minutes of a presentation to briefly introduce yourself, and share the compelling story we mentioned earlier. If your demo itself is compelling, lead with that.

Then talk about product features and pricing. Your prospects might have already researched it or can look it up afterward, so it’s fine that it’s occupying real estate in the middle of the presentation.

Lastly, finish strong. Return to your story, sharing how your product solved an important problem. Close with confidence, and open the floor for questions.

2. Be funny

Humor can be tricky, so if you’re not comfortable making jokes, don’t force it. If, however, humor is part of your brand voice and you think it will be well-received by your audience, go for it. Humor can be a good way to connect with prospects, make your presentation memorable and relax everyone in the room.

3. Use a little showmanship

The best thing about a sales presentation is that it lets you show off your product. Unlike a pitch, a presentation lets you pull out the stops, make a splash and showcase your solution.

Use this to your advantage and be as memorable as you possibly can.

Sophie Cameron Business Development Representative, CAKE

What to do after the sales presentation to close the deal

The sales cycle isn’t over when the sales presentation ends. Here are some tips on how to wrap up loose ends and close the deal.

Take questions

Encourage questions to show prospects you care about their experience.

Sometimes prospects may want a question answered right in the middle of a presentation. Interactivity is a great sign of engagement. If that happens, stop the presentation and take their questions head-on to show you’re listening and validate their thoughts.

Other times they may sit silently waiting for you to give them all the information they need.

In either case, proactively ask for questions once you’ve ended your presentation. Encourage them to share their concerns. This is a consultative selling approach that works to build a relationship with your prospects.

By the end of your sales pitch, your prospect should be ready to come along with you and start your business relationship.

Outline the next steps of the process. The first could be offering a trial of your product, scheduling a follow-up meeting or sending over a proposal.

Whatever the steps, make sure they’re clearly defined. If you don’t hear from the prospect soon after the proposal, check back in with a follow-up email or call.

How to write a response-worthy follow-up email (with 15 templates)

Great sales presentation examples (and why they worked)

Here are some sales pitch examples you can use to inform your next sales presentation; these examples range from great sales decks to presentations and we’ll explain why they worked so well.

The successful demo

Stephen Conway of vegan chocolate brand Pure Heavenly opened his elevator pitch on the UK’s Dragons’ Den in 2019 by handing out samples of his chocolate. The product, paired with Stephen’s story about wanting to create an allergen-free treat that his young daughters could enjoy, led to three offers.

Why it worked: Conway knew the strength of his product and packaged it in a personal story, betting (correctly) that it would sell itself.

The data-driven presentation

Lunchbox is a restaurant technology company that specializes in online ordering, customer loyalty and guest engagement software. The sales deck the company used to raise its $50 million Series B in 2022 relied on bold visuals and graphs to illustrate its market opportunity, ARR history and competitive differentiators.

Why it worked: The deck tells two stories, one about the company itself and another about the way consumer dining habits have changed in the wake of COVID-19. Lunchbox used data to show how it met the industry’s new pain points for both itself and other companies.

Sales data: How to analyze sales data and a sample Excel spreadsheet

The presenters with overwhelming confidence

When Brian and Michael Speciale went on Shark Tank in 2017 to pitch their product, The Original Comfy, they had very little – no numbers or inventory, just a prototype of a big fleece blanket/hoodie and video of that hoodie being worn everywhere from the couch to the beach. What they did have was a good product and confidence in that product. Their presentation earned them an offer of $50,000 for 30% from Barbara Corcoran.

Why it worked: Corcoran says she bought in because the Speciale brothers had a good idea, the guts to present it and knew they had to strike while the iron was hot. While you probably should be more prepared for your own sales presentation, the Original Comfy story shows just how important confidence is in a sales presentation.

Begin your sales presentation by capturing your audience’s attention and establishing a solid foundation for the rest of your presentation. Here are some steps to consider:

Greet and introduce yourself

Establish rapport

State the purpose and agenda

Address the pain points

Present a compelling hook

Outline the benefits

Establish credibility

Set expectations

Remember to maintain a confident and enthusiastic demeanor throughout your presentation.

The ideal length of a sales presentation can vary depending on factors such as the complexity of the product or service, the audience’s attention span and the context in which the presentation is being delivered. However, keeping a sales presentation concise, focused and within the timeframe is generally recommended.

The conclusion of a sales presentation is a significant opportunity to leave a lasting impression and inspire action from your audience. Here are a few steps you should take to end your presentation effectively.

Include a call to action

Summarize key points

Showcase success stories

Open the floor to questions

Offer additional resources

Here’s an example of how to end your presentation:

“To quickly recap, we’ve covered these key points today: [Summarize the main features and benefits briefly].

“Now, let’s revisit our success stories. Our clients, like [Client A] and [Client B], achieved [mention their specific results]. These successes demonstrate how our product/service can deliver tangible benefits for your business.

“I’d be happy to address any questions or concerns you may have. Please feel free to ask about anything related to our offering, implementation process or pricing.

“Before we finish, I’d like to encourage you to take the next step. Schedule a demo, request a trial or start a conversation with our team. Don’t miss the opportunity to experience the advantages firsthand.

“Lastly, we have additional resources available, such as case studies and whitepapers, to provide you with more insights. Feel free to reach out to our team for any further assistance.

“Thank you all for your time and consideration today.”

Final thoughts

It can be tempting to play it safe with a sales presentation by keeping it to a sales deck and a speech – but a sales presentation should be a show-stopper.

The best sales presentation tells your customer’s story, validates with data, offers a demo and more. It’s a major undertaking that shows the strength of your product. Done well, it keeps your prospects engaged and will make them want to do business with you.

Show customers how your product can push their business forward (or better yet, how your product can make them the superhero) and you’ll have a winning sales presentation that sparks your customer’s interest and drives revenue.

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Sales pitch presentation: A comprehensive guide

Learn to identify your target audience, develop a compelling value proposition, and deliver a confident and engaging presentation.

Raja Bothra

Building presentations

Welcome to the world of sales pitch presentations!

Whether you're a seasoned sales professional or just starting your journey in the world of sales, understanding the art of delivering a compelling sales pitch presentation is crucial.

In this comprehensive guide, we'll delve into the intricacies of crafting an effective sales pitch that leaves a lasting impression.

What is a sales pitch and why is it important?

A sales pitch is a persuasive communication tool used by sales professionals to showcase their product or service to potential customers. It's a carefully crafted message designed to capture the prospect's attention, address their needs, and ultimately persuade them to take action, whether it's making a purchase, scheduling a demo, or signing up for a free trial.

Sales pitches are important because they can help you to:

• Generate leads and interest in your product or service
• Qualify leads and identify potential customers
• Position your company and its offerings against the competition
• Demonstrate the value of your product or service to the customer
• Close more deals

A well-crafted sales pitch can be the difference between making a sale and losing a potential customer. It is important to tailor your sales pitch to your specific audience and to focus on the benefits that your product or service can provide to them. It involves using visual aids, such as slides, to complement your verbal pitch. Now, let's explore why mastering the art of the sales pitch is crucial.

Benefits of sales pitch presentations

Sales pitch presentations offer a multitude of advantages that can significantly enhance your sales strategy. Let's explore these benefits in greater detail:

Educating and informing potential customers: One of the primary benefits of a well-structured sales pitch presentation is its capacity to educate and inform potential customers. Through a meticulously crafted presentation, you can provide your audience with a clear and concise overview of your product or service, emphasizing its benefits and demonstrating how it can effectively address their specific needs and challenges.

Building rapport and trust: In the world of sales, building rapport and trust with potential customers is paramount. When you deliver a professional and informative presentation, you not only convey your product or service's value but also showcase your knowledge and passion for what you offer. This demonstration of expertise goes a long way in establishing a connection and trust with your audience, essential elements for successful deal closure.

Overcoming objections: Sales pitch presentations serve as an excellent tool for addressing and overcoming common objections raised by potential customers. By anticipating their questions and concerns, you can proactively provide answers and solutions during the presentation. This proactive approach helps potential customers feel more comfortable and confident in moving forward with a purchase, knowing that their objections have been acknowledged and resolved.

Closing deals: Ultimately, the primary goal of any sales pitch is to close deals successfully. A persuasive sales pitch presentation can serve as the final push that potential customers need to make a buying decision. By effectively highlighting the benefits of your product or service and demonstrating how it aligns with their goals and needs, you significantly increase your chances of closing the deal.

Increasing brand awareness: Beyond the immediate sales impact, sales pitch presentations also play a crucial role in increasing brand awareness. Each presentation offers an opportunity to showcase your brand's identity, values, and unique offerings. Over time, consistently delivering compelling presentations can contribute to a stronger brand presence in the minds of potential customers.

Generating leads: Sales presentations can be a powerful lead generation tool. Engaging with potential customers through presentations allows you to identify individuals who are genuinely interested in your product or service. These engaged prospects can be nurtured as leads, paving the way for potential future conversions.

Positioning you as an expert: A well-delivered presentation not only educates potential customers but also positions you as an expert in your field. By confidently and knowledgeably presenting your product or service, you not only showcase your expertise but also build credibility with your audience. This credibility can sway potential customers in your favor and reinforce their trust in your offerings.

In conclusion, sales pitch presentations are a valuable asset in the realm of sales. They serve as a dynamic means to educate and inform potential customers, build rapport and trust, overcome objections, and ultimately close deals. Moreover, they contribute to increasing brand awareness, generating leads, and positioning you as an industry expert.

Now that we understand the importance of sales pitch presentations, let's dive deeper into this topic.

Types of sales pitch

Sales pitches come in various forms, each tailored to specific situations and objectives. Here are some common types of sales pitches:

• Elevator pitch : This is a brief, persuasive speech designed to spark interest in your product or service within the span of an elevator ride, typically lasting 30 seconds to two minutes.
• Product pitch : This type of pitch focuses on highlighting the unique features and benefits of a specific product. It's often used during product launches or when introducing a new offering.
• Email pitch : In the digital age, email pitches have become essential. Crafting an effective email pitch involves concise writing and a compelling subject line.
• Follow-up pitch : After an initial contact or presentation, a follow-up pitch is used to reiterate key points and address any concerns or objections raised by the prospect.
• Sales call pitch : During a phone or in-person sales call, you need to adapt your pitch to the specific needs and preferences of the prospect.
• Killer sales pitch : This term is often used to describe an exceptionally persuasive and effective sales pitch that closes deals successfully.

Now that we've explored the types of sales pitches, it's essential to measure the effectiveness of your efforts.

KPIs and metrics to add in sales pitch presentation

Evaluating the success of your sales pitch presentations requires tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics. These metrics provide insights into how well your pitches are resonating with your audience and where improvements can be made. Some crucial KPIs and metrics to consider include:

• Conversion rate : The percentage of prospects who take the desired action, such as making a purchase, after viewing your pitch.
• ‍ Engagement metrics : This includes metrics like time spent on each slide, click-through rates on embedded links, and the number of questions or interactions during the presentation.
• ‍ Close rate : The percentage of prospects who ultimately become customers after your pitch.
• ‍ Audience feedback : Gathering feedback from your audience, whether through surveys or direct communication, can provide valuable insights.
• ‍ Retention rate : Tracking how many customers continue to engage with your product or service after the initial sale.
• ‍ ROI (return on investment) : Calculating the return on investment for your sales pitch presentations, including the cost of creating and delivering them.

Understanding these metrics allows you to fine-tune your sales pitch presentations for maximum impact. Speaking of impact, let's explore how to structure a compelling sales pitch presentation.

How to structure a sales pitch presentation

A well-structured sales pitch presentation can make all the difference in persuading your audience. Here's a step-by-step guide to creating an effective structure:

1. Start with a strong opening: Your presentation should begin with a captivating hook that grabs your audience's attention. Consider sharing a relevant story, a surprising fact, or a compelling quote. As once said, "The opening of your presentation sets the tone for the entire pitch."

2. Define the problem: Clearly articulate the problem or pain point that your product or service addresses. Use relatable examples to help your audience understand the issue at hand.

3. Introduce your solution: This is where your sales pitch takes center stage. Highlight how your product or service effectively solves the problem you've identified. Utilize sales presentation techniques to present your solution convincingly.

4. Showcase benefits and features: Emphasize the key benefits and features of your product or service. Use slides to visually illustrate these points, making it easier for your audience to grasp.

5. Provide social proof: Incorporate testimonials, case studies, or success stories to demonstrate that others have found value in your offering. This builds trust and credibility.

6. Address objections: Anticipate and address common objections or concerns your prospects might have. This shows that you've thought through potential challenges.

7. Call to action (CTA): End your presentation with a clear and compelling call to action. Whether it's signing up for a free trial, scheduling a demo, or making a purchase, guide your audience on the next steps to take.

8. Engage in Q&A: Allow time for questions and discussion. Being responsive to your audience's inquiries can help overcome any remaining doubts.

Do's and don'ts of a sales pitch presentation

Before we conclude, let's go over some essential do's and don'ts when creating and delivering a sales pitch presentation:

• Practice : Rehearse your pitch to ensure you're confident and well-prepared.
• Tailor your pitch : Customize your presentation to the specific needs and interests of your audience.
• Use visuals : Incorporate compelling visuals and slide design to enhance your message.
• Listen actively : Pay attention to your prospect's feedback and respond thoughtfully.
• Follow up : Don't forget to follow up after the presentation to nurture leads.

Don'ts:

• Overload with information : Keep your presentation concise and avoid overwhelming your audience with too much detail.
• Neglect storytelling : Stories can be powerful. Don't neglect the storytelling aspect of your pitch.
• Be pushy : Avoid being overly aggressive or pushy; instead, focus on building a relationship.
• Ignore objections : Address objections professionally and provide solutions.
• Lose confidence : Confidence is key. Stay composed even if faced with challenging questions.

Summarizing key takeaways

• Understanding sales pitch importance: Sales pitches are persuasive tools used by sales professionals to capture prospects' attention, address their needs, and drive action. They are essential for lead generation, lead qualification, and closing deals.
• Benefits of sales pitch presentations: Effective sales pitch presentations educate potential customers, build trust, overcome objections, close deals, increase brand awareness, generate leads, and position you as an industry expert.
• Types of sales pitches: Various types of sales pitches, such as elevator pitches, product pitches, email pitches, follow-up pitches, sales call pitches, and killer sales pitches, cater to specific situations and goals.
• KPIs and metrics: Measuring the success of sales pitch presentations involves tracking KPIs like conversion rate, engagement metrics, close rate, audience feedback, retention rate, and ROI.
• Structuring a sales pitch presentation: A well-structured presentation should start with a compelling opening, define the problem, introduce the solution, showcase benefits and features, provide social proof, address objections, include a clear call to action, and allow for a Q&A session.
• Do's and don'ts: Do practice and tailor your pitch, use visuals, listen actively, and follow up. Don't overload with information, neglect storytelling, be pushy, ignore objections, or lose confidence during the presentation.

FAQ's on sales pitch presentation

1. what is a sales pitch presentation.

A sales pitch presentation, often referred to as a "pitch deck" or "sales deck," is a visual and persuasive tool used by sales teams to convey key information and compelling messages to potential clients or investors. It typically includes slides that outline the value proposition, product or service details, sales process, and the benefits of choosing your offering.

2. Why is it important to have a sales pitch presentation?

Having a well-crafted sales pitch presentation is crucial because it helps your sales team effectively communicate the value of your product or service to potential customers. It can make your sales pitch slide deck more compelling and increase your chances of closing deals.

3. What should I include in my sales pitch presentation?

To create a successful sales pitch presentation, you should incorporate elements such as a concise sales pitch, sales pitch examples, and a presentation outline. Highlight the unique selling points and benefits, and make sure your sales presentation addresses the specific needs of your audience.

4. Do I need a template for my sales pitch presentation?

Using a sales pitch deck template (example: presentation template, pitch template, sales presentation template) can be a great starting point. It provides a structured framework for your presentation and ensures consistency in your messaging. However, it's essential to customize the template to match your unique sales story and presentation style.

5. How can I make my sales pitch presentation stand out?

To create a winning sales pitch presentation, consider adding engaging visuals, storytelling elements, and effective sales presentation tips. Tailor your pitch to your audience's needs and make sure your sales pitch sparks interest and curiosity.

6. What role does the sales team play in creating a sales pitch presentation?

Your sales team should be actively involved in crafting the content for your best sales pitch presentation. They possess valuable insights into customer pain points, objections, and what makes a great sales pitch. Collaboration between your sales reps and marketing or design teams can result in a more effective presentation.

7. How can sales pitch presentations help sales enablement?

Sales pitch presentations are a valuable resource for sales enablement. They provide sales reps with the tools and information they need to deliver successful sales pitches consistently. These presentations become part of the sales cycle, helping sales teams close deals and nurture leads effectively.

Create your sales pitch presentation with prezent

Prezent AI presentation productivity software/platform for enterprise teams will help you elevate your presentations and achieve full brand compliance. With features like personalized fingerprints, presentation builders, tribal knowledge, and business storytelling guides and e-courses, you can supercharge your team's communication.

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• Save 70% of time on making presentations.
• Access 35,000+ slides in your company's brand-approved design.
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• Create personalized presentations tailored to your audience's preferences while staying 100% on brand, approved by your corporate brand and marketing team.

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Blog Marketing 15 Sales Presentation Examples to Drive Sales

15 Sales Presentation Examples to Drive Sales

Written 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 .

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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 .

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Stop losing winnable deals

Thank you for your submission., 30 mind-blowing sales stats that will change the way you sell.

Jonathan Costet

Never miss another money-making sales tip from Gong Labs:

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[newsletter title=”Show Me The Data” call=”Get hard data on how to close more deals.”]

We’re serious about data.

Hard-hitting sales stats.

Our mantra is “Goodbye, opinions. Hello reality.”

Our product gives sales leaders data-backed insights into their sales team.

And our Gong Labs team pores through stats from millions of sales interactions to uncover actionable sales tips.

How do they do it?

By analyzing millions of sales interactions captured by Gong’s Revenue Intelligence Platform across web-conferencing, phone calls, and emails. Then they look at how seller and buyer actions impact success rates.

Here are the 30 most eye-popping, jaw-dropping, mind-melting sales stats we’ve ever uncovered.

Sales stats for prospecting

Sales stat #1: don’t use roi in cold emails.

Wait. What?

Sharing ROI stats in cold emails is often shared as a “best practice.”

A lot of sales blogs say you should do it (good ones too!)

Using ROI language in a cold email decreases success rates* by 15%.

But don’t trust me outright. Instead, let me hit you with some Gong insights based on data : 

*Sales success = meeting booked in the next 10 days

And even if buyers “buy into” your numbers, it’s too early! 

Instead, describe the actual problem your service solves. Provide context. 

Then back those claims with strong ROI.

Sales Stat #2: DON’T ask for time when booking meetings with cold emails

We’ve all shared a link to our calendar in a cold email.

Or asked “What does your calendar look like next week?”

Or “How is Tuesday, 9 AM?”

Confession: Guilty as charged.

STOP. STOP. STOP.

We crunched the stats, and it turns out the “Interest CTA” is the highest performing call to action for cold emails:

The Interest CTA sells the conversation, not the meeting. 

Time is finite. Most of us wish we had more of it. Your buyers certainly do.

So why would they give away some of their precious time to you (an unknown)?

Interest, however, is not finite. It’s not a resource. Salespeople tend to have more success when they can effectively pique curiosity through an Interest CTA.

Need one more data point? Steve, a CRO friend, did an A|B test and shared the results with me in this email: 

Need more? Grab our 43 Highly Effective Email CTAs cheat sheet.

Sales Stat #3: DON’T ask “Did I catch you at a bad time?”

There are only 3 responses to “Did I catch you at a bad time?”

• Silence, followed by phone hanging up sound. Annoyed prospect.
• Yes, yes, you did. Annoyed prospect.
• Nope. Perfect timing! I was hoping you’d call!

It turns out #1 and #2 happen far more often than #3. 

Opening a cold call with “Did I catch you at a bad time?” drops your chances of booking a meeting by 40%.

The success rate for cold calls that opened with this line? 0.9%. Yes, that was POINT NINE percent.

Instead, try this:

Sales Stat #4: DO ask “How’ve you been?”

Open up your next cold call with the following question: 

“How have you been?”

Using the “How have you been?” line resulted in a 6.6x higher success rate than the baseline.

Cold calls that led with this question resulted in a greater than 10% success rate.

Note: This is for the first (cold!) call. “How have you been?” implies a previous interaction. Nope.

This tactic works because it’s unexpected. It’s a “pattern interrupt,” meaning it scrambles the receiver’s brain. A good (for you) kind of scramble.

Try it on your next cold call. Report back.

Sales Stat #5: Open with the reason for your call

Humans want crave reasons.

Give the people what they want!

The data prove it works: Stating the reason for (cold) call increases your success rate by 2.1x :

Put the buyer’s mind at ease by sharing the reason you are calling. Tell it early in the call, and don’t be afraid to repeat it later on in the conversation.

Reminder: Stats #4 and #5 (this one) are not one-offs. Instead, combine them with an opening to create a script like this:

Hi Kate, this is Jonathan Costet calling from Gong (state your full name and company name)

How’ve you been?

The reason for my call is…

Sales Stat #6: Avoid discovery

Your job in a cold call is not to listen. It’s to talk.

That’s counter to the advice we normally give sales reps. But remember, this is a cold call — your goal is to lock in a meeting… NOT learn more about the buyer’s needs (aka, discovery ).

“Listen twice as much as you talk” doesn’t apply here.

In fact, the talk-to-listen ratio for successful cold calls is HIGHER than unsuccessful ones (55% talk vs. 45% listen):

Don’t want to land that meeting? Talk 42% of the time and listen 58%.

Save the discovery-type questions (“What are your top strategic priorities” for post-meeting booked.

Spend the time talking, trying to sell that first meeting, NOT asking probing questions and listening. There will be a time and place for that only if you schedule a meeting.

Sales Stats For Sales Calls

Sales stat #7: turn on your webcam.

2020 was the year of the video call (and a few “other” things).

Outside sales reps went from in-person meetings to calls over video. Inside sales reps jumped on the bandwagon and moved from phone-only to video chats.

But a video conversation without your camera turned on is just a phone call.

Turn on our webcam!

The data prove it will be worth that extra click: Deals are 127% more likely to close when the video is used during any point in the sales process:

127% higher? Yes, please.

As a seller, you should always (yes, ALWAYS) have your video turned out. Again, the data prove it out: Win rates are 94% higher for deals where sales pros sell with video on (the stats aren’t even close): 

And if you can get your buyer to turn their video on, that’s just gravy.

In 2020, Gong data said when a buyer’s webcam is turned on, win rates increase by 96% :

Here’s are 3 scripts to use to get buyers to turn on their video too:

• Will you be using video for our call today?
• Are you comfortable turning on your video?
• Are you in a place where you can turn on your video?

Before you start your next video call, check out these 10 tips for deal-making video calls .

Sales Stat #8: It’s OK to curse

No f–ing way.

Before you drop an F-bomb on your next sales call, let’s add one crucial caveat: Wait for the prospect to swear first : 

A sales rep is 4x more likely to swear on a sales call if the buyer curses first.

When a buyer is the first to curse, they are signaling something: they’re putting their professional guard down. It’s now okay to drop formality and social expectations. They are showing their “true” selves and beginning to build rapport.

And here is the good news about swearing on a sales call: If you can pull it off without offending your buyer, you are winning — literally.

Gong Labs data show there is an 8% increase in close rates when the salesperson and the buyer curse on the call, compared to nobody cursing at all:

8% can be the difference between just missing your goal and exceeding it. Cursing during a sales call can supercharge close rates. 

Sales Stat #9: Listen first, talk later

The stats are in:

Top sales reps listen more compared to average salespeople.

The best sellers have a “talk to listen” ratio of ~46%. Average salespeople are in the high 60s:

Sales Stat #10: Finish with next steps

Do you want to close deals quickly?

That was a rhetorical question. Of COURSE, you do!

Good news: Securing “next steps” has a considerable impact on shortening the sales cycle.

In the fastest deals, the seller spent 53% more time discussing “next steps” during the first meeting in the sales process compared to the average deals:

Sales instincts, validated.

Sales Stat #11: Use these words that sell

Top sellers use the best* words.

*Best = words that increase the chances of a deal moving forward in the sales cycle and eventually closing.

These “best” words subconsciously cause buyers to stand up at attention metaphorically.

These “best” words get dropped in everyday conversation, effortlessly, by the top sales reps.

For example:

You. Your. Your team.

The most important person in the world is always the person you’re speaking to (your buyers).

These words that sell put buyers in charge, helping them imagine what it’s genuinely like to use your product or service.

Get the complete list of words that sell.

Sales Stats for Discovery

Sales stat #12: using slides on discovery calls decreases success rates .

Let’s just jump right into this one.

Our data found a strong negative correlation between the use of slides in discovery meetings and the likelihood of earning a follow-up call.

Here are the stats:

Discovery calls that used slides were 17% less likely to book a follow-up meeting than those that went slide-free.  

It’s important to caveat this stat with the following: The slide/no slide decision only affects the first (discovery) call. 

Success rates increase when sellers present slides in mid and late-stage meetings. One could interpret this as slides in and of themselves aren’t necessarily a turn-off to buyers. It’s just that slides are a no-no on discovery calls.

Slides are less about conversation, more about presentation. And discovery calls should feel like an in-depth conversation.

Sales Stat #13: Talk price early in the cycle

Fine. We’ll say it. Discuss pricing on the first call.

What? That’s crazy. 

I know. It does sound counterintuitive, but hear me out (and trust the data): Win rates are highest when sellers discuss pricing on the first call — 10% higher.

As the chart shows, the longer a salesperson waits to discuss pricing, the less chance of closing the deal.

Pricing sometimes feels taboo to discuss – especially so early in the sales relationship.

BUT introducing pricing early helps to identify intent.

Window shoppers will dodge the conversation, while buyers looking to buy now will welcome it.

However…

Sales Stat #14: But save price for last

Gong data also show while you definitely should discuss pricing on the discovery call, it’s best not to start the conversation with money.

The best-of-the-best sale reps bring up price in the 38-46 minute window:

That still leaves plenty of time to build your value prop.

Then start talking about pricing.

Sales Stat #15: Avoid one-size-fits-all social proof  

Social proof — using endorsements, logos, reviews to build credibility with potential buyers — can be the icing on the cake to help close a deal.

It can also backfire.

Sellers who use social proof techniques in their sales calls have a 22% lower close rate (in general):

And it gets worse…

Leveraging social proof techniques during early-stage calls decreases close rates by 47%:

The cold hard truth: Social proof is most often misapplied in sales.

Want to see how to use social proof to your advantage? Read Chris Orlob’s full blog post here .

Sales Stat #16: Phrase questions to get long answers 

Yes. No. Not sure.

When buyers answer your (amazingly incredible, superbly well-crafted) questions with a short yes/no/not sure, it’s… frustrating.

It also turns out that short answers means your deal is less likely to close.

That’s right: When buyers give you more information, you’re not shooting in the dark. You’re at the sitting on the same side of the table. And that’s when deals really start moving fast.

You can get a longer reply by signaling you want a… longer reply. Do that by phrasing your questions as follows: 

• Can you help me understand …
• Can you walk me through…
• Can you tell me about …
• Talk to me about…

For example, instead of asking: “What’s your biggest challenge?”

Ask: “Can you help me understand your biggest challenge?”

This approach will turn into longer, richer, more insightful/valuable answers (and more closed-won deals).

Sales Stat #17: Shoot for 11-14 targeted questions 

Q: What’s the ideal number of questions to ask on a discovery call?

A: Between 11 and 14

Ask less and you aren’t getting enough information.

Ask more and buyers tune out.

Quantity does not mean quality.

Ask questions that make you sound like a subject-matter expert (i.e. questions your buyers would ask a peer).

Check out this post for inspiration.

Sales Stats For Pitching

Sales stat #18: don’t sell on roi.

Want to know one of the worst ways to build your sales business case?

Presenting ROI at any point in your sales process correlates with a 27% drop in close rates.

To be fair, we are talking correlation, not causation. So a conversation around ROI may work. However, any of the following may be true:

• Presenting ROI doesn’t work.
• Presenting ROI does work, but can end up sounding “too good to be true” and backfiring.
• Presenting ROI turns into a last-minute (desperate) attempt to save a dying deal.

But guess what? It doesn’t matter if it’s 1, 2, or 3.

Over-indexing on ROI to seal the deal is still a risk.

Not a silver bullet.

If you’re ready to say bye to ROI, here’s what to do instead.

Sales Stat #19: Don’t feature dump

Here’s an (underrated) key to super-effective sales demos:

Your demo should EXACTLY solve your customer’s business problem.

But, also, no more.

Almost everyone shows MORE than what will EXACTLY solve the problem.

Solve exactly.

Sales Stats #20: Stick to 9 minutes

The Gong platform recorded the audio and video of 121,828 web-based sales meetings and analyzed them with AI to uncover this gem. We were specifically looking for the content sales reps shared over video (slide decks, product demos, web conferencing, and so on).

The data were pretty compelling:

Intro meetings that ultimately led to a closed-won deal spent — on average — 9.1 minutes sharing sales deck presentations. Compare that to 11.4 minutes for losing deals.

Human brains get bored fast.

Neuroscientists have proven that our brains have a built-in stopwatch that stops around 9-10 minutes (Coincidence? I think not). To command the person’s attention on the other end, you need a brain-perking” event: a new speaker, a video or demo, a dramatic story, etc.

Steve Jobs was known for being a pro at this 9-10 minute mark change.

Break your sales presentation into 9-minute chapters, including transitions with other speakers, opening the conversation, or sharing a different medium at those key moments when attention starts to dip.

Sales Stats For Objection Handling

Sales stat #21: hit pause.

Successful reps pause…

after objections.

The best-of-the-best salespeople pause 5 TIMES longer than the average rep after objections compared to the “normal” parts of a sales conversation:

Top sales reps all do this.

When they get hit with a flurry of objections.

They slow down (matrix style) and pick them apart one by one.

Sales Stat #22: Slow it down

Speaking of slowing down… it turns out there is no prize for speakingreallyreallyreallyfast.

Just the opposite is true for successful sales reps after hearing an objection. 

Top producers take their time (176 words per minute) when responding to objections. They maintain the average talking pace of 173 words per minute.

Compare this speaking rate to the average performer: When flustered by an objection, the middle-of-the-road sales rep will speed up to 188 words per minute.

If you maintain a calm demeanor amid a flurry of objections, you’ll project rock-solid confidence with the information presented.

Sales Stat #23: Respond to objections with questions

Objections are seen as a threat for the average seller.

But to the top sales reps, objections are opportunities.

The best salespeople do not get flustered when a buyer’s objections to (price, timing, features, etc.). They don’t get thrown off their game. They don’t panic over the “unexpected conversational redirect.”

The top reps respond to objections by asking questions — at a rate of 54.3% of the time compared to 31% for average sales reps.

Asking these clarifying questions accomplishes two critical things: 

• It makes buyers feel heard
• It gives you more ammo to clear the objection

Stay in control of the conversation without dominating = WINNING.

Sales Stats For Closing

Sales stat #24: don’t use the word “list price”.

Wobbly. Movable.

That’s what your pricing looks like when you, the sales pro, utters the phrase “list price.”

When you say “list price,” you are inviting your buyer to start negotiating on price. Not good.

List price OR typical price OR standard price: Using any of those phrases at any point in a deal means the sales cycle will take 19% longer than average.

That extra 19% could be the difference between a deal closing this month/quarter/year and getting pushed to the next cycle.

Sales Stat #25: Negotiate over phone AND email 

Good news: it’s safe to share price via email. 

Discussing price over email has a significant, positive impact on win rates:

BUT once you introduce pricing — and once your buyer asks for anything related to pricing — a negotiation has begun. 

AND when the negotiation begins, it’s time to get proactive STAT.

HOWEVER, negotiating price over email is not good form:

• Meaning is over lost over email : 50% of written communication is misunderstood by the recipient (Nick Morgan, Can you Hear Me? ).
• It gives buyers the upper hand of TIME: your buyer can take as long as they want to think it over (more on that next), bring your offer to a competitor, and eventually counter.

INSTEAD, handle price via phone AND email: Win rates are significantly higher when pricing is covered over both channels instead of only one:

Use this script to kick negotiations out of your inbox and onto the phone (where you want them):

Hi [PROSPECTNAME],

Totally get where you’re coming from. Let’s hop on a quick call to align pricing with your budget plus answer any questions. I’m sure we can knock this out in 7-9 minutes tops. Does tomorrow at 4PM work?

[EMAILSIGNATURE]

Sales Stat #26: Don’t get spooked when your buyer tells you they “need to think about it.”

“I need to think about it” is not what you want to hear during the sales cycle. 

It feels like the deal is dead in the water, but as Lee Corso is famous for saying, NOT SO FAST. Let’s turn to the stats.

When buyers tell you they “need to think about it,” it does NOT negatively impact win rates.

Isn’t “I need to think about it” just friendly-speak for “Yeah, no. Not interested.”??

Nope. As the data shows, deals that include that phrase show a slight uptick in win rates. Nice! However, it does mean the sales cycle will extend by an average of 173%:

It isn’t “game over.” But it is going to take more work.

Sales Stats For Pipeline Management

Sales stat #27: use the specific cta to move deals forward.

Remember Stat #2 where we recommended using the interest CTA to get attention in a cold email? 

We still stand by that. HOWEVER, there is a catch. As soon as you enter the sales cycle, it’s time to transition to the “specific CTA” — ask for a meeting on a specific day and time:

Why? You know they are interested, so you need a direct, to-the-point approach. Confirm a time and send that calendar invite ASAP.

The goal: have that “invite accepted” pop up in your inbox ASAP.

Sales Stat #28: Use email velocity to forecast deals 

This is one of my favorite sales stats:

The #1 signal that your deal is going to close is… high email velocity, the number of emails exchanged between buyers and sellers.

In essence, it’s measuring to what degree your conversations are two-way (vs. you, the seller, just blasting messages into the ether).

REMINDER: Email velocity is NOT how many sales emails you send prospects.

And, this is a correlation metric, not a causation one.

But one thing is for sure: Closed-won deals exchange more emails per week compared to Closed-lost ones. Pipeline management software can flag when it happens (and when it doesn’t) so you know what deals are closing this quarter.

Sales Stats #29: You NEED to get to the decision-maker

Intuitively, we all know that getting a decision-maker (DM) into a sales conversation should help the deal cross the finish line. 

And the data proves it.

SMB deals that don’t involve DMs are 80% less likely to close:

Getting the DM involved in the sales cycle has even more impact on those 6-figure+ enterprise deals.

Enterprise deals are 233% less likely to close if the DM isn’t involved:

Said another way, it’s virtually impossible to close enterprise deals without a DM directly involved.

Sales Stat #30: Sell as a team

If I told you you could do THIS to lock in a 258% higher likelihood your deals will close, you’d do it, right?

The chance of closing a deal on calls with multiple participants from the seller’s organization is 258% higher than if you try to roll solo.

Whoa. That’s compelling.

Gone are the days of lone wolf sales pros.

Successful teams rally on deals.

Goodbye, Opinions. Hello Reality.

In a battle between opinions and reality, in Gong’s world REALITY crushes opinions.

Revenue Intelligence doesn’t rely on a human being to determine what’s important. It simply captures everything—even those tiny details that might make all the difference in a sale.

And Revenue Intelligence and reality is what we are all about here at Gong. We provide your organization data and insights on your team, your deals, and your market so you can win more and win more often.

Check out Gong for yourself . Chat with one of our sales pros today to learn how you can move away from opinions and into a world of reality.

See the magic of Gong in action

Related articles, how avalara uses gong to drive cross-org efficiency.

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7 Sales Presentation Examples for Successful Pitches

A successful sales presentation can significantly influence a potential client’s decision-making process. It needs to be engaging, informative, and persuasive.

This guide explores the components of an effective sales presentation, and best practices for creating one, and provides seven exemplary sales presentation templates from various sources.

What Is a Sales Presentation?

A sales presentation is a strategic dialogue designed to persuade a potential client or customer to purchase a product or service. It typically involves a detailed explanation of the product’s features, benefits, and potential return on investment.

What Is Included in a Sales Presentation?

A sales presentation typically includes sections on:

• Introduction : Brief introduction of the company and the presenter.
• Customer Needs : Identification of the client’s needs and how they align with the product or service.
• Product/Service Details : Detailed information about the product or service, highlighting unique selling points.
• Success Stories : Real-life examples or case studies demonstrating the value of the product or service.
• Pricing and Packages : Overview of pricing options and any customizable packages.
• Call to Action : Strong conclusion that prompts the audience to act or decide.

Sales Presentation Best Practices

Creating an effective sales presentation involves several best practices:

• Tailor Your Message : Customize the presentation to address the specific needs and interests of your audience.
• Keep It Concise : Focus on key points to maintain the audience’s attention and keep the presentation within an appropriate timeframe.
• Use Visuals : Employ charts, graphs, and images to make your points clearer and more engaging.
• Rehearse : Practice your presentation multiple times to ensure smooth delivery.
• Engage Your Audience : Encourage questions and interact with the audience to make the presentation more dynamic.

7 Sales Presentation Examples

1) piktochart: “sales pitch examples”.

Piktochart’s Sales Pitch Examples illustrate how to effectively communicate the value of your product or service. These examples showcase various strategies to capture and retain the audience’s interest, making them highly practical for anyone looking to enhance their sales presentations.

Canva Sales Presentation Template offers visually appealing templates designed to make sales presentations more engaging. These templates are easy to customize and suitable for a wide array of industries, helping presenters create professional-looking presentations effortlessly.

2) Slidebean Sales Pitch Deck Template

Slidebean Sales Pitch Deck Template is designed to streamline the creation of impactful sales presentations. The template guides users through structuring an effective pitch, emphasizing the art of storytelling to captivate potential investors and clients.

3) Prezi Sales Plan Presentation Template

Prezi Sales Plan Presentation Template offers a dynamic way to engage audiences with its distinctive zoomable canvas. The template allows sales professionals to outline their strategies and goals in a visually engaging sequence that captures the natural flow of a sales process.

It is designed to help presenters illustrate complex sales plans through a structured yet flexible narrative, enabling the audience to follow along through a visual journey of targets, tactics, and expected outcomes.

4) Queza : Pastel Color Sales Marketing Powerpoint

Queza : Pastel Color Sales Marketing Powerpoint from Envato Elements is designed with pastel colors and a clean, modern aesthetic, making it ideal for sales and marketing presentations that require a fresh and inviting look. This PowerPoint template is versatile, featuring a range of slide layouts that can be used to showcase products, market analysis, sales strategies, and more.

5) SlideSalad Sales Deck PowerPoint Templates

SlideSalad Sales Deck PowerPoint Templates ****offer a comprehensive sales deck that is robust and creatively appealing, ideal for making impactful sales presentations. It features hundreds of unique slides designed for various sales niches, allowing for extensive customization.

6) Solua : Cyber Monday Sale Event Powerpoint

The Cyber Monday Sale Event PowerPoint on Envato Elements is a powerhouse for creating high-impact sales presentations. This template features a modern design that effectively combines bold colors and sleek layouts to capture audience’s attention. It includes multiple slide options to showcase products, promotional offers, and pricing strategies.

7) SlideModel Sales Pitch Presentation Template

SlideModel Sales Pitch Presentation Template offers professionally designed templates tailored for sales presentations. These templates are structured to facilitate clear communication of complex data, strategic alignment, and persuasive storytelling. They are particularly useful for sales teams looking to present data-driven arguments effectively.

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135 Essential Sales Statistics You Need to Know in 2024

In the ever-evolving world of sales, staying informed with the latest statistics is crucial for driving success and staying ahead of the curve. This comprehensive compilation of sales statistics delves into various facets of the sales process, from prospecting and lead nurturing to sales technology and performance metrics.

By exploring these key insights, sales leaders, reps and RevOps professionals can gain a deeper understanding of the current landscape, identify emerging trends, and develop strategies to optimize their sales efforts for maximum impact.

Whether you're looking to enhance your sales approach or simply stay informed, this collection of statistics offers valuable perspectives to guide your journey in the dynamic world of sales.

📌 Qwilr Tip: Use the right-hand side table of contents to navigate this round-up of sales statistics. We recognize there's a lot!

1. Sales Prospecting

Email communication, 🗞️ headline statistic:.

Only 23% of sales emails are opened. (Topo)

🤔 What does this mean?

This statistic underscores the importance of persistence and follow-up in sales email strategies. Given the low open rate, sales professionals must be resilient and consistently follow up with prospects to increase their chances of getting noticed and ultimately closing a deal.

• Email is the preferred communication method for 8 in 10 prospects. (Spotio)
• Personalized emails achieve an open rate of 29% and a click-through rate of 41%. (Campaign Monitor)
• Using the words “Sale,” “New,” or “Video” in subject lines boost open rates. (Adestra)
• The subject line word count with the highest open rate is seven words at 46.2%. (Regie.ai)
• The outbound email body copy word count with the highest reply rate is 144 words at 2.7%. (Regie.ai)
• Email is 40 times more effective at getting new customers than Facebook and Twitter combined. (McKinsey)
• AI-supported email marketing outperforms traditional methods, with 51% of respondents believing in its effectiveness. (Statista)

Social Selling

78% of sales reps engaged in social selling outsell their peers. (Sprout Social)

This statistic highlights the effectiveness of social selling as a strategy in the modern sales landscape. Sales reps who leverage social media platforms to connect with prospects and build relationships are more likely to outperform their peers who do not, emphasizing the importance of incorporating social selling into sales tactics.

• 75% of B2B buyers use social media to make purchasing decisions.
• Using social selling tools can increase the average deal size by 35%.
• 45% of sellers use LinkedIn for business purposes. (LinkedIn)
• By 2025, 80% of B2B sales interactions between suppliers and buyers will occur through digital channels. (Gartner) Here's a list of the best B2B sales tools that can help.
• 95% of sales reps admit they could improve their approach to social selling. (Sales for Life)
• 72% of salespeople who use social media in their sales process outperform their peers. (Jim Keenan Study)
• Social sellers hit their quotas 66% more often than those who don’t use social media. (Sales Benchmark Index)
• 54% of salespeople can track closed deals back to social media engagement. (Jim Keenan Study)
• Video is king. Posts with videos can generate engagement rates of 50% or more. (Databox)
• 96% of consumers want more contact with industry leaders. They often seek it through Twitter. (Databox)
• 98% of sales reps who have at least 5,000 LinkedIn contacts consistently reach or surpass their sales quotas.

Cold Calling

Only 28% of sales reps find cold calling effective. (Rain Group)

This statistic indicates that a significant majority of sales reps do not consider cold calling to be an effective sales strategy. The low success rate suggests that alternative methods of prospecting, such as social selling or inbound marketing, may be more efficient in generating leads and closing deals in today's market.

• Only 2% of cold calls result in an appointment. (Leap Job)
• It takes an average of 8 attempts to reach a prospect today. (Spotio)
• 85% of prospects and customers are dissatisfied with their on-the-phone experience. (Spotio)
• The average inside sales rep can make 33 cold calls per day. (ForEntrepreneurs and The Bridge Group)
• About 72% of all cold calls don’t get through to a human being. (Baylor University)
• The average sales pro will spend 7.5 hours cold-calling to secure one appointment or referral. (Baylor University)
• 41.2% of sales reps say that their phone is the most effective tool for performing their jobs. (Sales Insights Lab)
• Sales reps spend about 15% of their time leaving voicemails. (Ringlead)
• The average sales rep makes 52 calls every day. (The Bridge Group)
• You are 15% more likely to connect with your prospect between 8-11 am their time. (Xant)
• 88% of sellers engage in warm calls; just 46% say they conduct cold calls . (LinkedIn)
• 57% of C-Level and VP-level buyers prefer to connect with sellers on the phone. (Rain Group)

96% of prospects do their own research before speaking with a human sales rep. (HubSpot)

This statistic highlights the importance of a strong online presence and valuable content for businesses. Since the majority of prospects conduct their own research before engaging with a sales representative, it's crucial for companies to provide easily accessible and informative resources that can guide potential customers through their buying journey and establish trust before direct contact is made.

• 71% of prospects prefer to do solo research instead of talking to a person. (HubSpot)
• 42% of salespeople consider prospecting the most challenging part of the sales process. (HubSpot)
• 71% of buyers want to hear from reps when they're looking for ideas to drive stronger business results. (RAIN Group)
• It takes an average of 8 touches to set up a meeting or other conversions with a new prospect. (Crunchbase)
• Top salespeople spend an average of 5 hours per week on prospecting activities. (Crunchbase)
• 89.9% of companies use two or more sources of contact data to meet their sales development needs. (Gartner)
• 80% of prospects prefer talking to reps over email, while 50% prefer talking over the phone. (Notta)
• 56% of sales professionals use social media to find new prospects. (Notta)
• The biggest factors in whether a prospect connects with a rep are Need for their product or service - 75%, Having a budget - 64%, The rep’s offer to provide something of value - 63%. (Notta)

2. Sales Process

92% of salespeople give up after four “no’s”, but 80% of prospects say “no” four times before they say “yes”. (Marketing Donut)

This statistic underscores the significance of perseverance and resilience in the sales process. Despite the high percentage of salespeople who give up after receiving a few rejections, the data suggests that persistence pays off, as a majority of prospects tend to decline several times before finally agreeing to a sale. Therefore, sales professionals should adopt a tenacious approach, continuing to follow up and engage with potential clients even after initial rejections, to increase their chances of success.

• Calling a lead in the first 5 minutes after they've submitted a web form makes them 100 times more likely to get on the phone. (Inside Sales)
• 70% of salespeople stop at one email. (Invesp)
• 80% of sales require 5 follow-up calls after the meeting. (Spotio)
• 50% of buyers choose the vendor that responds first. (Spotio)
• 60% of customers say no four times before saying yes. (Invesp)
• 80% of sales require five follow-up calls. (Invesp)
• But 48% of salespeople never even make a single follow-up attempt. (Invesp)
• 44% of salespeople give up after one follow-up call. (Invesp)
• 66% of buyers prefer to be contacted via email. (LinkedIn)
• The first follow-up email is very effective and can boost the reply rate by 49%. (Belkins)
• The optimal time to wait before following up on a cold email is 2–5 days. (Belkins)
• Cold email outreach campaigns with three email rounds tend to have the highest reply rates (9.2%). (Belkins)
• On average, it takes 8 follow-up calls to reach a prospect. (Telenet and Ovation Sales Group)

Lead Nurturing

Companies excelling at lead nurturing generate 50% more sales-ready leads at 33% lower cost. (Forrester Research)

This statistic emphasizes the value of effective lead nurturing in the sales process. It indicates that companies that excel in maintaining and developing relationships with potential clients are not only able to increase the number of leads ready for sales but also do so at a significantly lower cost. This highlights the importance of implementing strategic lead nurturing practices to optimize the sales pipeline and achieve cost-efficient results.

• 74% of companies say converting leads into customers is their top priority. (HubSpot)
• Nurtured leads produce a 20% increase in sales opportunities. (DemandGen Report)
• Best-in-class companies close 30% of sales qualified leads. (Spotio)

Lead Qualification

46% of B2B sales reps list lead quantity and quality as their top challenge. (Spotio)

This statistic highlights a common challenge faced by B2B sales representatives: balancing the quantity and quality of leads. Nearly half of sales reps struggle with either having enough leads to work with or ensuring that the leads they do have are of high quality and likely to convert into sales. This underscores the importance of effective lead generation and qualification strategies in the B2B sales process to ensure that reps have a sufficient number of promising leads to pursue.

• 67% of lost sales are due to improper lead qualification. (Spotio)
• Only 25% of marketing-generated leads are of high enough quality to advance to sales. (Gleanster Research)

3. Sales Teams

Inbound sales.

59% of marketing professionals say inbound marketing generates high-quality leads, compared to 16% who report that outbound marketing does. At the same time, inbound marketing leads cost 61% less to generate than outbound leads. (HubSpot)

These statistics highlight the effectiveness and efficiency of inbound marketing. A majority of marketers find it superior for generating high-quality leads at a significantly lower cost compared to outbound strategies. This emphasizes the strategic advantage of adopting inbound tactics for better ROI and cost-effective lead generation.

• Inside sales is growing rapidly, with significant cost advantages over outside sales. (PointClear)
• Marketing contributes 44% to the inside sales pipeline, but average dials are down 20% year-over-year. (Bridge Group Inc)
• High-growth companies often use inside sales as their primary strategy. (Pacific Crest)
• Only 33% of a rep's time is spent actively selling. (CSO Insights)
• Speed is crucial, with 35% to 50% of sales going to the vendor that responds first. (InsideSales.com)
• 46% of marketers reported that inbound marketing gave a higher ROI.
• 93% of B2B buying processes begin with an online search.
• 47% of buyers view 3-5 pieces of a company's content before talking with a sales representative.
• 47% of purchasers view three to five pieces of a company’s content before speaking with a sales representative. (HubSpot)
• 46% of marketing professionals say that inbound marketing has a higher ROI, while only 12% say that outbound does. (HubSpot)
• 64% of sales teams that use inbound social selling reach their quotas, compared to 49% who do not. (Aberdeen Group)
• A whopping 93% of B2B purchase processes start with an online search, and 94% of B2B buyers research online before finalizing a purchase.

Outbound Sales

Outside sales reps have a 40% close rate on average, higher than inside sales. (Zety)

This statistic highlights the effectiveness of outside sales in handling larger accounts that have a greater need or inclination to purchase. The 40% close rate suggests that outside sales reps are more successful in securing deals, likely due to their focus on bigger clients with more substantial buying potential.

• Field sales teams make up 71.2% of the sales force.
• 65% of outside account executives are attaining quota, 10% higher than inside reps.
• Remote selling time has increased by 89% since 2013. As a result, remote sales tools have become more popular.
• 46% of fast-growing tech companies employ inside sales, while 21% use outside sales. (Zippia)
• Acquiring new customers costs outside sales teams 40% to 90% more than it costs inside sales teams. (ZS Associates)
• Inside calls cost an average of $50, while outside calls cost an average of $308. (Pointclear)
• The average outside sales call will cost $308. Meanwhile, the average inside sales call costs $50. (Pointclear)

3. Customer Interaction

Decision making.

In a typical firm with 100-500 employees, an average of 7 people are involved in buying decisions (Gartner Group). At the same time, B2B buyers are 57%-70% through buying research before contacting sales. (Spotio)

These two statistics underscore the complexity of the B2B buying process, where multiple stakeholders are involved in decision-making. It also highlights the importance of a well-informed sales approach, as buyers are already more than halfway through their research before they even engage with a sales representative. To be effective, sales professionals must be prepared to address the needs and concerns of various decision-makers and offer insights that add value to the buyer's research.

• The businesses’ buying process will involve around 6-10 decision-makers. (Outreach)
• Trustworthiness (47%) and responsiveness (44%) are the two most important characteristics buyers look for in a sales professional. (LinkedIn)
• 46% of buyers agree that “active listening” is the number one skill they expect from sales professionals; meanwhile, managers rank “active listening” as the seventh skill they look for in an applicant. (LinkedIn)

Customer Engagement

82% of sales pros say that building relationships with people is the most important part of selling. (HubSpot)

This statistic emphasizes the critical role of relationship-building in the sales process. It suggests that sales professionals who prioritize establishing trust and rapport with their clients are more likely to succeed. Building strong relationships not only helps in understanding the needs and challenges of the customer but also fosters loyalty and long-term partnerships, which are key to achieving sales success.

• 92% of all customer interactions happen over the phone. (Salesforce)
• 84% of consumers cite good customer service as one of the key factors when buying from a brand. (Zendesk)
• Sales market research data reveals that 79% of consumers prefer interacting with salespeople who are trusted advisors that can add value to their business–not just sales representatives who are selling them products and services. (Salesforce)
• Companies with an effective VoC program can experience a 55% increase in customer retention. (Gainsight)
• 64% of shoppers are generally ok with vendors saving their purchase history and personal preferences for personalization purposes. (Customer Think)
• 62% of shoppers are more scared of their information being compromised now than they were two years ago. (Salesforce)
• 56% of consumers prefer to buy from companies that consistently release new products and services based on their needs and new technology. (Salesforce)
• 71% of consumers recommend a product or service because they received a positive experience. (HubSpot)
• Customers who have the best past experiences spend 140% more compared to those who have the poorest past experiences. (Harvard Business Review)
• Companies with the strongest omni-channel customer engagement strategies retain an average of 89% of their customers compared to 33% for companies with weak strategies. (Aberdeen Group)
• Retaining current customers is 6 to 7 times less costly than acquiring new ones, underscoring the importance of customer retention strategies. (The Brevet Group)

73% of executives prefer to work with sales professionals referred by someone they know. (IDC)

This stat suggests that executives place a high value on trust and credibility, which are often established through personal connections or recommendations. Sales professionals who can leverage their network to gain referrals are more likely to gain access to decision-makers and build trust more quickly, leading to more successful sales outcomes.

• Companies with formalized referral programs experience 86% more revenue growth. (Wharton School of Business)
• Salespeople who actively seek out and exploit referrals earn 4 to 5 times more than those who don’t. (The Brevet Group)
• 91% of customers say they’d give referrals, but only 11% of salespeople ask for referrals. (The Brevet Group)
• 57.9% of reps say that they ask for fewer than one referral per month, 40.4% report rarely asking, and only 18.6% ask every person they are in front of. (Sales Insights Lab)
• 83% of customers are open to referring a business after a successful purchase. (Thinkimpact.com)
• Customers acquired through referrals have a 37% higher retention rate and are four times more likely to make a purchase.
• 92% of customers are willing to trust companies when referrals come from people they know. (Nielsen)
• 65% of a B2B company’s new sales are from referrals. (Thinkimpact.com)
• 78% of the B2B referrals create viable customer leads for the business.

4. Sales & Marketing

Sales and marketing alignment.

The biggest barriers to sales and marketing alignment, according to sales leaders, are:

• Lack of effective communication between the teams - 38%
• Lack of alignment on goals or strategies - 30%
• Lack of sales input on marketing content - 27%
• Use of different tools by the teams - 26%
• Difficulty in sharing data between the teams - 26%. (Notta)

To improve alignment, it's crucial for both teams to work together to establish common objectives, share insights, and coordinate their efforts to drive better results and enhance overall business performance.

• Only 30% of sales pros say sales and marketing are strongly aligned at their company. (HubSpot)
• 85% of marketers say that supporting their sales team is their #1 priority. Still, 56% of salespeople must prepare their own sales materials. (Hubspot)
• One in five sales professionals believes that sales and marketing teams aren’t very aligned or not aligned at all. (Notta)

5. Sales Technology

Crm and sales tools.

78% of sales pros say their CRM is effective at improving sales and marketing alignment. (HubSpot)

With 78% of sales professionals affirming their CRM's effectiveness in this area, it underscores the importance of leveraging technology to facilitate communication, share data, and coordinate strategies between departments. This alignment is crucial for a cohesive approach to customer engagement and achieving business goals.

• 57% of sales pros spend 3–10+ hours per week using CRM tools. (State of Sales, LinkedIn)
• CRMs can boost sales by 29% and productivity by 34%. (Salesforce)
• 69% of sales leaders are planning to invest in prospecting technology. (Prezentor)
• Half of sellers use CRM tools, 45% use sales intelligence, and 42% use sales planning tools. (LinkedIn)
• Top performers spend about 18% more time updating their CRM system than average performers do. (LinkedIn)
• 63% of sales professionals say that having access to the right technology is more important now compared to five years ago. (LinkedIn)
• The adoption rate of sales technologies among sales professionals has increased by 90% since 2015. (Salesforce)
• Sales professionals are expected to spend an average of 43% of their time on research and data entry tasks in CRM systems. (HubSpot)
• The top 3 types of sales technologies that companies are planning to use are analytics and reporting tools (79%), sales automation (74%), and CRM tools (71%). RFP management and sales proposal software is used by 49%. (HubSpot/Loopio)
• 52% of sales pros use sales enablement content, and 79% of them say it’s important to making a sale. (HubSpot)
• Companies that use sales enablement tools experience a 13.7% annual increase in deal size. (Aberdeen Group)

We've created a list of the best sales tools which you may find helpful.

AI in Sales

• High-performing sales professionals are more than 2x as likely to use AI to guide their selling. (Salesforce)

By being more than twice as likely to utilize AI in their selling process, these top performers demonstrate the effectiveness of leveraging technology to enhance decision-making, personalize customer interactions, and streamline sales activities, ultimately leading to better results.

• 81% of sales leaders say that AI can help them spend less time on manual tasks. (HubSpot)
• 63% of sales leaders say AI makes it easier for them to compete with other businesses in their industry. (HubSpot)
• 66% of sales pros say AI helps them understand customers better and provide personalization. (HubSpot)
• 70% of sales professionals say using AI helps them save more time. Our AI proposal generator is an example of this.
• Customer service teams who used an AI-based conversational assistant increased the number of issues they resolved per hour by 14%.
• Companies can save up to $89.07 billion per year if sales professionals use AI to complete data entry and non-sales-related tasks.
• Businesses that used AI in their sales process reported a 50% increase in sales leads.
• More than 30% of sales-related activities can be automated with today’s technology. (McKinsey)
• 54% of sales professionals believe sales technology is a great resource for building stronger relationships with buyers. (Zendesk)
• 77% of salespeople say their company intends to invest more in sales intelligence tools. (Linkedin)
• Gartner predicts that by 2025, 75% of B2B companies will employ AI to elevate traditional sales books.
• 61% of sales high-performers use a CRM to automate parts of their sales process. (HubSpot)
• 54% of sales reps say digital sales tools help them win over more prospects. (Zendesk)
• 2 out of 3 organizations that use dedicated sales analytics tools said they have improved the results of their sales activities and processes significantly (20%) or slightly (47%).

You can also read our guide on the best AI sales tools as well as other sales automation software .

Sales Data Usage

45% of sales professionals are overwhelmed by the amount of tools in their tech stack. (HubSpot)

With nearly half of sales reps feeling inundated by the sheer number of tools they must navigate, it underscores the need for more streamlined, integrated solutions that can simplify workflows and enhance efficiency without adding to the cognitive burden of the sales team.

• 52% of sales pros say B2B customers use self-serve tools more than last year. (HubSpot)
• Sales pros who offer buyers self-service tools are 47% more likely to be over goal this year than those who don’t. (HubSpot)
• The use of sales enablement tools by sales pros in the United States increased by 20% in 2023. (HubSpot)
• 1 in 4 sales leaders say they have too many tools. (HubSpot)
• 29% of sales pros say that reducing their tech stack would make them more efficient. (HubSpot)
• 43% of sellers say that buyer intent data is “very important” to their sales processes. (LinkedIn)
• Top performers spend about 10% less time selling than average performers. (LinkedIn)

6. Sales Performance

Sales productivity.

Sales reps spend only a third of their productive hours talking to prospects. The rest of their day is allocated to:

• Writing emails (21%)
• Entering data (17%)
• Researching leads (17%)
• Team meetings (12%)
• Scheduling calls (12%)
• Training (11%)
• Reading up on industry reports (11%) (HubSpot)

This statistic reveals a significant inefficiency in sales reps' workdays, with only a third of their time spent on direct prospect interaction. The majority of their hours are consumed by administrative tasks, lead research, and internal meetings. This distribution suggests a need for better time management strategies and tools that can automate routine tasks, allowing sales professionals to focus more on engaging with potential clients and driving sales.

• It takes 10 months or more for a new sales rep to be fully productive. (Spotio)
• 79% of sales executives say improving the productivity of existing sales reps is a leading driver of hitting new targets. (Spotio)
• Lost productivity and poorly managed leads cost companies at least $1 trillion every year. (Marketo)
• 71% of sales reps say they spend too much time on data entry. (Toutapp)
• 42.5% of sales reps take 10 months or longer to become productive enough to contribute to company goals. (IRC)
• High-performing companies are 2 times as likely as underperforming companies to describe their sales processes as automated. (Velocify)
• Only 35.2% of a sales rep's time is spent actively selling. (Forbes)
• Sales reps who use social selling are 50% more likely to meet or exceed their quota. (LinkedIn)
• Only 46.7% of sales reps globally meet quota. (Sales Hacker)
• 41.1% of sales professionals say they consider their phones their most productive sales tool. (Notta)
• 81% of companies believe that productivity would improve with better processes, skills, or competency training. (Notta)
• Top-performing sales representatives “pitch” their offer only 7% of the time. (Notta)
• Top-performing sales reps only talk about product features 9% of the time in discovery calls and 19% of the time in presentations, while other reps talk about the product 18% of the time in discovery calls and 31% of the time in presentations. (Notta)
• The discovery calls of top-performing reps are 76% longer than that of the average salesperson. Their presentation calls are also 55% longer. (Notta)
• 81% of sales and marketing teams do not review and correct their sales processes. (Notta)
• The average new hire is fully productive in 5.3 months, 24% are ready in 1–3 months, and 16% take longer than seven months. (Notta)
• Salespeople spend 66% of their day on administrative tasks. (Hubspot)

We've also posted a guide about our top-rated sales productivity tools .

Sales Training

Sales training can boost an individual rep's sales performance by an average of 20%. (Salesforce Training). However, at the same time, 84% of all sales training is lost after 90 days due to lack of information retention. (Spotio)

This statistic highlights the potential impact of sales training on individual performance, with a significant average boost of 20%. However, it also underscores a major challenge: the rapid decline in retention of training material, with 84% of the knowledge being lost within just 90 days. This suggests that while training is crucial, it needs to be reinforced regularly and supported by ongoing learning and development initiatives to ensure lasting benefits.

• 55% of salespeople lack basic sales skills. (Forbes)
• Firms where salespeople use the company’s methodology and get consistent coaching see 73% quota attainment. (Spotio)
• The average company spends $2,000+ annually on training for each sales rep. (HighSpot)
• The ROI of sales training is 353%, with $1 spent training your reps producing $4.53 in return. (TaskDrive)
• When salespeople use their company's sales methodology and receive consistent training, they attain quota 73% of the time. (Spoti)
• 65% of employees claim that quality sales training positively influences their engagement. (Spotio)
• 59% of companies say the biggest obstacle to effective sales training is accountability. (BrainShark)
• Sales leaders who teach their reps to open cold calls with the question, "How've you been?" see rep success rates jump by 6.6%. (Gong)
• Over 50% of sales training is forgotten within 5 weeks. (Sales Insights Lab)
• 48% of sales professionals believe that their organization does not have the necessary sales training. (Richardson Sales Performance)
• Nearly 60% of companies believe that they are ineffective at sales training. (Sales Insights Lab)
• 77% of companies do not train or have a formalized sales onboarding process. (Sales Insights Lab)
• 69% of employees are more likely to stay with a company for three years if they experienced great onboarding. (Glassdoor)

Sales Career

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 6% employment growth for sales representatives by 2026. (Spotio)

This statistic indicates a positive outlook for the sales profession, with a projected employment growth of 6% by 2026. This growth suggests an increasing demand for sales representatives, highlighting the importance of the sales function in business and the opportunities available for individuals considering a career in sales.

• SDR is $76,000.
• SDR Manager is $128,000.
• B2B AE is $132,000.
• AE Manager is $156,000.
• Director of Sales Development is $177,000.
• Director AE is $218,000.
• Only 39% of salespeople intended to go into sales. (Spotio)
• The typical account executive spends 2.7 years on the job and takes 4.7 months to ramp. (Spotio)

Sales Success

The most successful salespeople have aligned their personal goals with work goals. (Harvard Business Review)

Salespeople who align their personal ambitions with their work objectives tend to achieve higher levels of success, as this alignment fosters a sense of purpose and motivation, leading to better performance and job satisfaction.

• Successful reps are 10x more likely to use collaborative words like “us,” “we,” and “our”. (Spotio)
• Tools for success. 75%–85% of top salespeople value CRMs, sales productivity apps, email marketing, and social selling as key factors in their success. (State of Sales, LinkedIn)
• Curiosity, intelligence, and an agile mind are the biggest predictors of sales success. (Harvard Business Review)
• The average sales win rate is 21%. (HubSpot)
• The average sales close rate is 29%. (HubSpot)
• 91% of sales pros upsell, and they say it brings in an average of 21% of company revenue. (HubSpot)
• 87% of sales pros cross-sell, and they say it brings in an average of 21% of company revenue. (HubSpot)
• 81.2% of respondents believed that an inability to offer flexible payment options hindered deals from closing . (Capchase)
• 42% of companies reported a decrease in win rates over the last 12 months, with 30% of those companies experiencing a decline of over 11%. (Lightspeed)

This will be a particularly alarming statistic for startups. We've listed out our favorite sales tools for startups that can help turn this downward trend around.

7. Sales Management

Sales strategy.

Over 50% of successful sales teams have a 12-month view of their plans while 10% map out the next three years. (McKinsey & Company)

Successful sales teams are more likely to have a clear vision of their goals and strategies for at least the next year, with some even planning up to three years ahead, indicating that foresight and proactive planning are key components of sales effectiveness.

• 62% of sales pros say their organization is taking fewer risks in 2023 than in 2022. (HubSpot)
• 70% of sales pros say budgets are more scrutinized in 2023 than in 2022. (HubSpot)
• 28% of sales pros say the sales process taking too long is the biggest reason prospects back out of deals. (HubSpot)
• 72% of company revenue comes from existing customers, with 28% coming from new customers. (HubSpot)
• 24% of high-performing sales teams highly rank the importance of building a culture of trust among reps. Only 13% of underperforming sales teams have done the same. (HubSpot)
• The average company loses between 10% and 30% of its customers each year, emphasizing the need for continuous prospecting even when the pipeline is full. (The Brevet Group)

Sales Training, Coaching and Content

47% of AEs have left a sales job due to a lack of training or a poor onboarding experience (Qwilr)

Nearly half of AEs have left their positions due to inadequate training or poor onboarding experiences, highlighting the need for organizations to invest in comprehensive training programs and structured onboarding processes to retain top sales talent.

• Sales cycles increased for 53% of companies. (Lightspeed)
• 48% of sellers say they struggle with communicating value. (Prezentor)
• 40% of sales teams face long onboarding times. (Prezentor)
• Continuous training gives 50% higher net sales per employee, highlighting the importance of ongoing development for sales teams. (The Brevet Group)
• Organizations with a standard sales process experience 18% more revenue growth compared to organizations without one. (CSO Insights)
• Companies with a defined sales process see 18% more revenue growth than those without. (Hubspot)
• 96% of sales leaders agree that effective sales coaching positively impacts their salespeople’s performance. (Notta)
• The average company spends $10K - $15K hiring an individual and only $2K a year in sales training, suggesting a gap in investment in training for new salespeople. (The Brevet Group)
• 38% of sales managers have selling skills as the number one area of focus when coaching their reps. (Notta)
• Sales coaching can improve sales performance by 20% (DePaul University)
• 72% of sales leaders recognize that they need to upskill their sales teams. (Notta)
• 84% of buyers say that being treated like a person, not a number, is very important to winning their business. (Salesforce)
• 55% of people making their living in sales don’t have the right skills to be successful, indicating a need for better training and development programs in sales organizations. (The Brevet Group)

Sales Enablement and Content

Companies with a dedicated sales enablement person or team have 15% better win rates. (Hubspot)

This statistic highlights the significant impact of having a dedicated sales enablement team on a company's sales success. Companies that invest in specialized sales enablement personnel or teams experience a 15% higher win rate compared to those without, emphasizing the value of targeted support and resources in enhancing sales performance.

• Companies with effective sales enablement programs experience a 13.7% annual increase in deal size. (HubSpot)
• Sales reps spend only 37% of their time selling. (CSO Insights)
• 70% of sales content created by marketing is never used by sales. (SiriusDecisions)
• 61% of organizations say that selling is more difficult than it was five years ago. (Hubspot)
• 74% of organizations admit that their sales enablement programs are ineffective. (CSO Insights)
• 76% of sales leaders are planning to invest in content creation. (Prezentor)
• 65% of sales content created by B2B organizations goes unused. (Prezentor)
• 95% of B2B buying decisions are directly influenced by content. (Prezentor) You can use the best b2b marketing tools to help with this process.
• Only 46% of sales reps have access to the right content to send to prospects. (CSO Insights)
• 62% of organizations do not have a clear strategy for sales enablement. (CSO Insights)

Qwilr's proposal templates make creating effective and engaging sales content a breeze.

You can also read our guide on the best sales enablement software .

Sales Team Management

65% of reps believe the training quality and learning opportunities their company offers positively influence their engagement. (Notta)

A majority of reps believe that the quality of training and learning opportunities provided by their company has a positive impact on their engagement, highlighting the need for companies to invest in effective training programs to enhance rep engagement and performance.

• Sales managers spend 32% of their time managing people, 26% of their time managing information, 23% of their time on customer interaction, 15% of their time on administrative tasks, and 4% of their time is spent on control (eating lunch, etc.). (Notta)
• Poor sales management can cost a company up to $3.5 million annually. (Notta)
• In addition to overseeing their teams, 74% of sales managers handle their own sales accounts. (Notta)
• Investing in training salespeople has a 353% ROI. (Notta)
• 70% of US-based sales managers agreed that managers’ capability to adapt to change is more important now compared to five years ago. (LinkedIn)

Sales Challenges

Among the top challenges in sales include:

• The disconnect between sales managers and sales professionals
• Relationship management and quota attainment
• The usefulness of CRM tools. (Richardson Sales Performance)

This statement highlights key challenges faced by sales professionals. Addressing these challenges is crucial for improving sales performance and ensuring a cohesive and productive sales environment.

• There’s an average of five decision-makers involved in every sales process today. (HubSpot)
• 77% of sales professionals conduct virtual meetings; 57% use their phone more; while 51% use emails to respond to customers. (LinkedIn)
• The Brevet Group
• Peak Sales Recruiting
• FinancesOnline

Interested in more topic-specific deep dives?

We've got a growing number of sales statistics articles to set you up for success:

• Sales coaching statistics
• Sales training statistics
• Sales enablement statistics
• Sales follow up statistics

Final thoughts

The statistics presented in this blog post, alongside the advancements in proposal software , offer a 360-degree view of the current sales landscape. From the effectiveness of email communication and social selling to the challenges of sales training and team management, these insights provide a roadmap for sales professionals to optimize their strategies and enhance their performance. Leveraging proposal software can address some of the key challenges highlighted by these statistics, streamlining the proposal creation process and enabling sales teams to deliver personalized and compelling content to their prospects efficiently.

By understanding and applying these key statistics, sales teams can better navigate the complexities of their roles, build stronger relationships with customers, and drive success in an ever-evolving market.

About the author

Brendan Connaughton | Head of Growth Marketing

Brendan heads up growth marketing and demand generation at Qwilr, overseeing performance marketing, SEO, and lifecycle initiatives. Brendan has been instrumental in developing go-to-market functions for a number of high-growth startups and challenger brands.

Frequently asked questions

What is the importance of persistence in sales follow-up.

Persistence is crucial in sales follow-up as it separates successful reps from unsuccessful ones. Just 2% of sales occur on the first contact, and 80% of sales need between 5 to 12 contact attempts before closing. Therefore, persistence is essential.

How does timing affect sales follow-up?

The timing of your follow-up can significantly impact your success. Engaging leads within 60 seconds of inquiry can boost conversion rates by almost 400%. Also, early mornings and late afternoons are prime times for making successful cold calls.

What role does technology play in sales follow-up?

Technology, especially AI, can enhance follow-up strategies by analyzing lead behavior, predicting ideal contact times, and automating repetitive tasks. 55% of C-suite leaders identify sales enablement tools as their companies' most important technology investment.

What is the optimal follow-up cadence for maximum conversion?

Securing a conversion typically requires between 5 to 8 follow-up touches. High-growth organizations use up to 16 touchpoints over a 2-4 week span, balancing persistence with tact to avoid overwhelming prospects.

How can I craft effective follow-up content?

Integrating video into follow-up strategies can enhance engagement and conversion rates. Personalization in email follow-ups, like using a friendly greeting, can positively impact open rates by up to 41%.

Related articles

• All articles
• Sales management
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22 Best Sales Strategies, Plans, & Initiatives for Success [Templates]

Discover sales strategy examples, templates, and plans used by top sales teams worldwide.

FREE SALES PLAN TEMPLATE

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

Updated: 03/07/24

Published: 03/07/24

A strong sales strategy plan creates the foundation for a cohesive and successful sales organization.

Sales strategies and initiatives also align salespeople on shared goals and empower them to do their best work — keeping them happy and successful, too.

In this guide, I’ll dig into some sales strategies and initiatives that I’ve found can help you generate more leads and close more deals. But first, let’s define what a sales strategy is.

Table of Contents

What is a sales strategy?

Why is a sales strategy important, the most effective sales strategies, sales strategy types, sales planning: how to build a sales strategy plan, sales initiatives, sales strategy examples from successful sales teams.

A sales strategy is a set of decisions, actions, and goals that inform how your sales team positions the organization and its products to close new customers. It acts as a guide for sales reps to follow, with clear goals for sales processes, product positioning, and competitive analysis.

A clear sales strategy serves as a map for the growth of your business. Your sales strategy is key to future planning, problem-solving, goal-setting, and management.

An effective sales strategy can help you:

• Give your team direction and focus. Strategic clarity can help your sales reps and managers understand which goals and activities to prioritize. This can lead to improved productivity and outcomes.
• Ensure consistent messaging. Your sales strategy can help your team deliver a consistent message to prospects, partners, and customers. This can increase both trust and effectiveness.
• Optimize opportunities. Strong sales strategies will help you target the right prospects and customize your approach. This can help your team make the most of every sales opportunity.
• Improve resource allocation. Your sales strategy outlines your priorities and resources. In turn, this can help your sales team use their time, effort, and other resources more efficiently, boosting your team’s ability to focus on high-potential deals.

Next, let’s cover some of the sales strategies that I’ve found can be most effective.

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2. Become a thought leader.

Sharing your advice, tried-and-true best practices, and niche expertise are some of the most long-lasting ways to build your personal brand and lend more credibility to your organization. After all, nobody wants to feel like they’re being sold to. Instead, it’s better to help people by offering solutions to their problems.

That’s what thought leaders do. Indeed, a recent report found that “Thought leadership is one of the most effective tools an organization can use to demonstrate its value to customers during a tough economy — even more so than traditional advertising or product marketing, according to B2B buyers.”

According to the study, 61% of decision-makers believed that thought leadership could be moderately or very effective in demonstrating the value of a company’s products. Moreover, more than half of C-suite executives in the study believed that thought leadership has a greater impact on purchases during an economic downturn, making this an even more important element of a sales strategy in today’s uncertain economic times.

So what’s the catch?

Not all thought leadership content is created equal.

When done right, thought leadership can have a huge positive impact, but poor thought leadership can be devastating to a company’s sales goals. So, before you plan a spree of LinkedIn posts to drive leads, consider who your audience is, what they need to know, and how your organization can help.

Also, it may not hurt to have a second set of eyes from your marketing, communication, and PR departments review your plan first to make sure everything is on-brand (and trackable!).

3. Prioritize inbound sales calls as hot leads.

There’s an age-old question in sales: “Should I discuss product pricing with a prospect on the first sales call?” The honest answer is: It depends.

You and your sales team know your process better than anyone. So take it from me — if you’ve seen success with pitching with pricing first, last, or somewhere in between, stick with what’s working for you.

But beyond that, your team should always prioritize the prospects who come to you. These hot leads are definitely interested in what you have to sell, and before they make a decision, they want to get the information they need about how it will benefit them.

By prioritizing talking to these prospects as soon as they call in or send an email, you’re putting your best foot forward and showing them that you’re helpful, solutions-oriented, and considerate of their time. And if that means closing a deal on the first call, there’s nothing wrong with that — as long as the customer has the information they need to make an informed decision.

4. Properly research and qualify prospects.

I’ve personally discovered that even the strongest sales strategy can’t compensate for targeting the wrong customers. To ensure your team is selling to the right type of customer, encourage reps to research and qualify prospects before attempting to discuss your product. Indeed, throughout my career, I’ve found that more work on the front end can lead to smoother closing conversations later on.

Outline the criteria a prospect needs to meet to be qualified as a high-probability potential customer. These criteria will depend on your unique business and target audience, but they should generally be based on a prospect’s engagement history and demographics.

Free Guide: 101 Sales Qualification Questions

101 Questions to Ask Contacts When Qualifying, Closing, Negotiating, and Upselling.

• Budget Questions
• Business Impact Questions
• Competitor Questions

5. Implement a free trial.

Offering a free trial or freemium version of your product can be a highly effective way to convert prospects. In fact, HubSpot’s sales strategy report found that 76% of sales professionals feel that free trials are effective in converting prospects into paying customers, while 69% of professionals believe that freemium offerings are effective.

Keeping a list of proven, go-to closing techniques will help salespeople routinely win deals. Some of my favorite techniques include the ‘now or never close’ — i.e., “If you commit now, I can get you a 20% discount” — or the ‘question close,’ i.e., “In your opinion, does what I am offering solve your problem?”

Free Sales Closing Guide

An easy-to-use sales closing guide with three tactics you can use right away.

• Using an ROI calculator for your prospects
• How to ask confirmation questions
• Sales question templates you can use today

To further improve your closing techniques and learn to close deals with confidence, check out this free, downloadable Sales Closing Guide .

11. Nurture existing accounts for future selling opportunities.

Once a deal is done, there’s no need for a sales strategy, right? Wrong.

Account management is an incredibly important part of the sales process, as this is how you foster loyal, happy customers and identify cross-selling and upselling opportunities.

So, after your sales team sees success with its sales strategy, it’s vital to form a partnership between the sales team and customer service/success teams.

Remember: Ensuring customers’ continued satisfaction with your product or service will make them more likely to do business with your company again. You may even inspire them to advocate for it proactively.

Free Sales Plan Template

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

• Target Market
• Prospecting Strategy

Inbound Sales Strategy

In contrast, inbound sales strategies are the modern methodology for sales teams. Companies following an inbound approach base their sales processes on buyer actions.

These organizations automatically capture seller and buyer data to monitor their pipelines and coach their salespeople. Inbound sales strategies connect reps’ activities to the three stages of the buyer journey — awareness, consideration, and decision — encouraging sales teams to map their tactics to the right step in the customer journey.

The inbound methodology also aligns sales and marketing, creating a seamless experience for buyers. Check out this post to learn more about inbound sales and how to develop an inbound sales process.

In addition, many popular sales strategies take a customer-centric approach, including:

• Account-based selling .
• SPIN selling .
• Value-based selling .
• Consultative selling .

You can learn more about these approaches in this post about customer-centric selling systems .

Inbound vs. Outbound Sales Methodology

In the past, buyers were often forced to suffer through evaluating a product and deciding whether to buy it using only the information offered to them by the seller. But today, much of the information needed to evaluate a product is available online — meaning that buyers are no longer nearly as dependent on the seller.

That means that if sales teams don’t align with the modern buyer’s process. If they fail to add value beyond the information already available online, then buyers will have no reason to engage with a sales team.

As mentioned above, inbound sales benefits buyers at each stage of the buyer process, including:

• Consideration.

Inbound sales teams help buyers become aware of potential problems or opportunities and discover strategies to solve those problems.

Then, buyers evaluate whether the salesperson can help with their problem, and if the buyer thinks they can, they’ll purchase a solution to their problem. Inbound sales reps are helpful and trustworthy, creating partnerships rather than power struggles.

Not sure how to get started with inbound selling? Every sales team should have a sales strategy plan outlining its goals, best practices, and processes designed to align the team and create consistency.

Below, I’ll walk through how to create a sales strategy plan for your team.

Now that you have the template you need, let’s go over how you can build a sales strategy.

How to Build a Sales Strategy

• Develop organizational goals.
• Create a customer profile that is tailored to a specific product offering.
• Hire, onboard, and compensate sales team members adequately.
• Create a plan to generate demand.
• Measure individual and team performance.
• Track sales activities.

To build a comprehensive sales plan, I’d recommend starting with the following activities:

1. Develop organizational goals.

Setting goals is a no-brainer for most sales teams. Otherwise, how will you know whether you’re executing the right activities or achieving the best results? There are three strategies that I’ve found can be particularly helpful in developing clear organizational goals for a sales strategy.

Involve cross-departmental stakeholders.

Avoid developing sales goals in a silo. Instead, be sure to get input from stakeholders across the organization, since every department is held accountable to the company’s bottom line.

Create SMART goals.

SMART stands for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. Setting SMART goals can help your team simplify and track complex, long-term sales goals .

For example, a specific, measurable, and time-bound goal could be to sell 150% of the projected sales quota in Q2. Your internal team can propose this goal and then decide whether it is both relevant and attainable (attainability is particularly important because setting unrealistic goals can harm team motivation).

At the end of the day, SMART goals help reduce confusion when it’s time to review your strategy, helping to ensure you know what worked and what didn’t.

Connect individual goals to organizational goals.

Finally, if you’re creating a team-specific strategy, you may also want to set goals for individual team members. Building ownership and accountability into sales goals can help keep your team aligned, and it also makes your sales strategy more cohesive.

2. Create a customer profile that is tailored to a specific product offering.

A detailed profile of your target customer — a buyer persona — is an essential component of an effective sales strategy. Below, I’ve outlined the key steps to take when creating a buyer persona to ensure you come up with a useful profile:

Find target markets and segments.

First, look at your industry as a whole. Get a sense of your ideal customer’s company size, psychographics, and buying process. You may want to look at industry trends, too.

Conduct market research to understand customer needs and preferences.

Next, do some market research. This template can help you streamline the process and understand which types of research will be best for your business.

You may also want to do some competitor analysis at this stage. Once you know the strengths and weaknesses of competing brands, you can more easily find gaps that you can fill for specific customers.

Create a clear value proposition to attract your ideal customer to your product or service.

Finally, make sure your product offering outlines the benefits of your product for your target customer. It’s important to use insights from your customer profile to emphasize features that solve your target customer’s pain points.

Your business may already have a clear value proposition — but if not, you can use these free value proposition templates to draft one.

Quick tip : Be sure to schedule time to update and refine your buyer persona to make sure it stays aligned with current customer trends and expectations.

3. Hire, onboard, and compensate sales team members adequately.

To develop an effective sales strategy, you need to have a powerful sales team in place. That means investing in hiring, onboarding, and retaining top talent. Specifically, I have learned that there are three key components of building (and keeping) a supportive, successful sales team:

Create great processes for hiring new members of your sales team.

First and foremost, create a list of criteria for sales managers to screen for when interviewing candidates. A well-defined job description and competency framework are also useful. These tools can help your team recruit and retain top talent.

Develop sales onboarding, training, and development programs.

Your training and onboarding program should prepare your sales team to sell effectively and efficiently. It should also help sales reps build advanced skills and industry knowledge.

But what if you don’t have the resources to develop comprehensive training in-house? In these situations, it may be worth considering combining organization-specific training with online sales training programs .

Create a motivational compensation and rewards plan.

Finally, once you’ve built a strong team, it’s vital to ensure your compensation plan is set up to motivate and retain them.

Many organizations connect sales compensation to organizational sales goals, but regardless of the specific compensation plan you choose, make sure that it meets or exceeds industry expectations. It should also inspire your team to celebrate individual and team achievements.

4. Create a plan to generate demand.

Now, it’s time to put together a detailed plan for how to target potential customers and increase their awareness of your offering. This may include using paid social acquisition channels, creating e-books, hosting webinars, and the many other strategies laid out in this article.

Featured Resource: Sales Plan Template

Get HubSpot's Free CRM

4. Listen to your prospects.

Just because prospects aren’t customers yet doesn’t mean they don’t have valuable feedback to offer.

As you move prospects through the sales funnel (and especially when they drop off), ask for candid feedback about their experience with your team and products. Even if they’ve lost interest, you may learn something that can help you convert your next prospect.

5. Invest in sales development and team-building.

The best sales teams align not only with their customers but also with their coworkers.

Sales is a difficult career, and without proper encouragement and camaraderie, people can easily become burned out. So, to keep your sales team feeling satisfied and supported, don’t forget to invest in sales development and team-building activities.

Don't forget to share this post!

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

• January 9, 2024

149 Eye-Opening Sales Statistics to Consider in 2024 (By Category)

• Sales Performance , Sales Productivity

WANT TO IMPROVE YOUR TEAM'S PERFORMANCE?

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The buyer’s journey has changed.

With the internet at our fingertips, consumer’s have the ability to research and compare solutions like no generation before. They also have access to mountains of user generated content like peer reviews – which are trusted nearly as much as referrals.

More empowered buyers has resulted in longer sales cycles. People no longer go straight to the source to make purchase decisions.

Today, there are an average of 7 decision-makers involved in the B2B buying process. And, 50-90% of the journey is complete before a buyer interacts with a sales rep.

This shift in behavior should be taken seriously by any sales team, whether inside or out in the field .

With so much change, sales managers need to look at current research and trends to find insights to guide strategies.  

Here is a list of 149 sales statistics broken out across 20 categories . Use the data to drive your sales approach throughout 2024.

Note : We have included a table of contents below so you can jump to specific statistical categories:

• Inside sales statistics
• Outside sales statistics
•   Sales prospecting statistics
• Sales call statistics
• Social selling statistics
•   Sales referral statistics
• Sales email statistics
• Sales follow up statistics
•   Sales closing statistics
• Lead nurturing statistics
• Lead qualification statistics
• B2B sales statistics
• Inbound sales statistics
•   Outbound sales statistics
• Sales productivity statistics
• Sales training statistics
• Sales career statistics
• Sales success statistics
•   Sales CRM statistics
• Door-to-Door sales statistics

Ok – let’s jump in…

1. Inside Sales Statistics

Inside sales is one of the fastest growing areas of the sales organization. Statistics suggest that one of the largest growth levers of inside sales is the opportunity it presents a company to be a “first responder”.

• An outside sales call costs $308, an inside sales call costs $50 (PointClear)
• 44% of inside sales pipeline comes from marketing, and inside sales average dials are down 20% year-over-year (Bridge Group Inc)
• 37% of high-growth companies use inside sales as primary sales strategy (vs. 27% for field sales, 23% for internet sales, 8% for channel sales) (Pacific Crest)
• Only 33% of inside sales rep time is spent actively selling. (CSO Insights)
• Sales reps can spend up to 40% of their time looking for somebody to call. [Source:  Inside Sales]
• Research shows that 35% to 50% of sales go to the vendor that responds first. [Source: InsideSales.com ]

Takeaway: Speed is everything in sales. Having a structure in place for inside sales reps to make quick and efficient calls can make all the difference. If a company can be “first to the scene” on a regular basis you’re going to see an uptick in conversions.

2. Outside Sales Statistics

Outside Sales is probably what you think of when someone says “salesman”. While the sales ecosystem is shifting, this field still has some of the highest quota attaining percentages out there.

• Face to face or field sales teams make up 71.2% of the sales force.
• 65% of outside account executives are attaining quota which is 10% higher than inside reps.
• Outside Sales Reps Now Spend 89% More Time Selling Remotely Than in 2013.

Takeaway: Pound the pavement. Outside sales teams are a big driver when it comes to hitting sales quotas. While technology gives us the ability to “be” anywhere in the world at any time, there is no substitute for real-life one on one interaction. Inside and outside sales teams can, and in most cases should, work together.

3. Sales Prospecting Statistics

The way companies prospect for leads is changing. Face to face used to be the best (and sometimes only) way to really connect with potential clients. Now with the introduction of mobile devices, email, texting and other digital channels, reps have countless avenues to find, vet, and reach prospects.

• More than 40% of salespeople say prospecting is the most challenging part of the sales process, followed by closing (36%) and qualifying (22%).
• 8 in 10 prospects prefer talking to reps over email, which matches up with the percentage of reps (78%) who use it.
• Prospects are open to communicating with sellers at industry events (34%), via LinkedIn (21%), text (21%), voicemail (21%) and social media (18%).
• 50% of buyers like speaking over phone, compared to 70% of reps. This percentage increases the higher up the ladder (VP or C-suite) you go.
• More than 50% of prospects want to see how your product works on the first call. [HubSpot]
• 9 in 10 companies use 2+ lead enrichment tools to learn more about prospects.

Takeaway: Prospecting is one of the hardest tasks assigned to a sales rep. Today’s technology makes it easier to find, and reach, prospective customers. Invest in a toolset that allows you to quickly build profiles and find accurate lead data in your target market.

For example : SPOTIO’s Lead Machine gives reps and managers a competitive advantage because they are able to quickly build detailed customer profiles and map territories filled with qualified prospects in minutes .  

4. Sales Call Statistics

You might have heard the saying, “cold calling is dead”. Well, the data suggests otherwise. An industry study showed companies who said cold calling is dead experienced 42% less growth than those who said it was alive.

• Only 2% of cold calls result in an appointment (Leap Job)
• 74% of companies don’t leave voicemails
• In 2007 it took 3.68 cold call attempts to reach a prospect. Today it takes 8 attempts.
• By making a few more call attempts, sales reps can boost conversion rates by up to 70%. ( Call Hippo )
• It takes an average of 18 calls to actually connect with a buyer.
• 42% of sales reps feel they don’t have enough information before making a call.
• 85% of prospects and customers are dissatisfied with their on-the-phone experience.
• Sales reps spend about 15% of their time leaving voicemails. — Ringlead
• When leaving a voicemail for a prospect, the optimal length is between 8 and 14 seconds .
• 44% of salespeople give up after one follow-up call.
• The best time to cold call is between 4:00 and 5:00 PM.

Takeaway: Persistence. Persistence. Persistence. Making sales calls, especially cold calls, will never be an easy task. The key to success, however, is having thick skin along with a plan to follow up. Provide  reps with call scripts, and train them on handling the most common sales objections . This will make the process much more approachable.

Set clear call goals, and always track activity in your CRM .

5. Social Selling Statistics

While almost everyone is on social media these days, adoption and integration into the selling process is slow. Most reps rely exclusively on email and phone calls to find, close and retain business. While these channels are all important, missing the social selling train can be very costly. 

• 78% of sales reps engaged in social selling outsell peers who aren’t. [ Sprout Social ]
• 78% of salespeople using social media outsell their peers.
• 75% of B2B buyers and 84% of C-level or vice-president level executives use social media to make purchasing decisions.
• 31% of B2B professionals said that social selling allowed them to build deeper relationships with their clients.
• Sales reps who use social selling are 51% more likely to achieve sales quota. [Optinmonster]
• 63.4 percent of sales reps engaged in social selling report an increase in their company’s revenue (compared to just 41.2 percent of non-social sellers).
• Four in 10 reps have closed 2-5 deals directly thanks to social media.
• Using social selling tools can increase the average deal size by 35%.

Takeaway: Reps that embrace social selling usually have more prospects in the pipeline and outsell their competitors. Make it a part of the sales process to first connect with prospective clients before engaging through other sales channels – outbound, email, phone etc. Warm connections will usually deliver higher response rates, and more set appointments.

6. Sales Referral Statistics

Referrals are gold. Getting a referral from a happy client is stronger than any sales pitch you could make.

Despite the bottom line value of weaving referrals into the fabric of your sales process, very few reps are actively asking for them.

• 73% of executives prefer to work with sales professionals referred by someone they know. [Source: IDC ]
• Salespeople who actively seek out and exploit referrals earn 4 to 5 times more than those who don’t.
• 84% of buyers now kick off their buying process with a referral .
• 92% of buyers trust referrals from people they know.
• 91% of customers say they’d give referrals. Only 11% of salespeople ask for referrals.
• Companies with formalized referral programs experience 86% more revenue growth over the past two years when compared to the rest.
• The lifetime value of referred customers is on average 16% higher than that of non-referred customers. [Source: Wharton School of Business ]

Takeaway: Ask for referrals – get more sales. It really is that simple. There is no better way to start a sales process than with a referral from a trusted friend or colleague. Make this a mandatory part of your ongoing sales strategy.  Specifically, make it a point to ask for referrals after positive customer engagements – testimonials, reviews and high NPS scores.

7. Sales Email Statistics

Email is one of the most powerful sales tools for any company – the channel has a reported 44:1 ROI . With so much potential, comes a lot of competition. The average person receives 147 emails every day! The battle to stand out in the inbox is more fierce than ever. Sales teams need to embrace and adapt to this challenge if they want to realize the bottom line benefits of email marketing.

• Only 23% of sales emails are opened. [Source: TOPO ]
• Email marketing has 2x higher return than cold calling ( source )
• 44% of email recipients made at least one purchase last year based on a promotional email. [Source: Convince and Convert]
• Salespeople spend 21 percent of their day writing emails. [ HubSpot ]
• 40% of emails are opened on mobile first – where the average mobile screen can only fit 4-7 words max.
• Personalized emails achieve an impressive open rate of 29% and an outstanding click-through rate of 41% [ Campaign Monitor ]
• Using the words “Sale,” “New,” or “Video” in subject lines boost open rates. [Source: Adestra]
• Personalized subject lines are 22.2% more likely to be opened. [Source: Adestra]

Takeaway: People are bombarded with emails from sunrise to sunset. It’s important to craft subject lines that use power words proven to win the open. Also, with nearly four in every ten emails opened on a mobile device subject lines should be kept short.

Bonus : Use social and email together to get higher engagement rates. A simple way to do this is connecting with prospects on social media prior to sending emails. Once the connection has been made prospects will be more likely to open an email from a familiar source.

8. Sales Follow-up

Most reps give up on the sale way too early. Prospects typically require multiple touchpoints across numerous channels before they ever speak to a sales rep, especially in a B2B setting where sales cycles are longer with more decision-makers.

• 80% of sales require 5 follow-up calls after the meeting.
• 44% of sales reps give up after 1 follow-up
• 50% of buyers choose the vendor that responds first.
• Drift tested the response time of 433 companies. Only 7% responded in the first five minutes after a form submission. Over 50% didn’t respond within five business days.
• An analysis of more than 2,200 American companies found those who attempted to reach leads within an hour were nearly seven times likelier to have meaningful conversations with decision makers than those who waited even sixty minutes.
• On average, it takes 8 follow-up calls to reach a prospect. — Telenet and Ovation Sales Group

Takeaway:   Be prompt, be persistent. Very rarely will a sale occur on the first touch-point. Make sure your sales reps are following up multiple times across different channels in the days or weeks following the initial contact. Use lead management software to make sure reps are following up at the right times.

9. Sales Closing

• Best-in-class companies close 30% of sales qualified leads while average companies close 20%.
• 48% of sales calls end without an attempt to close the sale and the national sales closing rate is 27%.

Takeaway: Closing is hard. A lot of reps avoid it. Always have a clear call-to-action at the end of every touchpoint. This doesn’t have to be a sale, but it should at least be a scheduled follow-up call with key decision makers to keep the sales process moving along.  

10. Lead Nurturing Statistics

The sales cycle is longer and more complex. As a result, the way businesses generate and nurture leads is changing. Single touchpoint sales are rare. Both marketers and sales teams now need to work together closely to guide consumers along the path to purchase.

Companies who have implemented a repeatable system for nurturing leads have shown much higher lead-close rates.   

• 74% of companies say converting leads into customers is their top priority ( Hubspot )
• Nurtured leads produce, on average, a 20% increase in sales opportunities versus non-nurtured leads. (DemandGen Report)
• 79% of marketing leads never convert into sales. Lack of lead nurturing is the common cause of this poor performance. (Source: MarketingSherpa)
• 65% of B2B marketers have not established lead nurturing. (Source: MarketingSherpa)
• Companies excelling at lead nurturing generate 50% more sales ready leads at 33% lower cost. (Source: Forrester Research)
• Businesses using marketing automation to nurture prospects experience a 451% increase in qualified leads
• 51% of email marketers say email list segmentation is the most effective way to personalize lead nurturing. ( Ascend2 )

Takeaway: Make sure you have a sales CRM in place to educate, build trust, position and move prospects through the funnel. As you plan out a lead nurturing sequence, think about the types of information a lead will need to be tagged as sales-ready, move into the opportunity phase, and ultimately close into a paying customer. This content will likely be different for each persona, so make sure you are properly segmenting lists in the CRM to ensure the right information is sent to the right person, at the right time.

11. Lead Qualification Stats

Not all leads are created equal. Ensuring your sales team is only “working” the most qualified prospects (SQLs) will help improve productivity – save time, energy and money – and boost conversion rates.

• 46% of B2B sales reps list lead quantity and quality as their top challenge.
• 67% of lost sales are a result of sales reps not properly qualifying potential customers before taking them through the full sales process.
• 61% of B2B marketers send all leads directly to Sales; however, only 27% of those leads will be qualified. (Source: MarketingSherpa)
• Just 44% of companies use lead scoring systems. (DecisionTree)
• Only 25% of marketing-generated leads are typically of a high enough quality to immediately advance to sales. (Gleanster Research)
• There is a 10x drop in lead qualification when you wait longer than 5 minutes to respond, and a 400% decrease when you respond within 10 minutes versus 5 minutes. [Source: Harvard Business Review ]
• Only 5% of salespeople said leads they receive from marketing were very high quality. [Source: HubSpot ]

Takeaway: Sales reps spend a lot of time and energy working unqualified leads. Set up a lead scoring system to ensure reps are only engaging the leads ready to buy.

12. B2B Sales Statistics

The B2B sales process is longer and much more complex than ever a few years ago. There are more decision makers involved with many more touch points along the way. As a result, much of B2B sales process is done well before a rep ever contacts a prospect.     

• In a typical firm with 100-500 employees, an average of 7 people are involved in most buying decisions (Gartner Group)
• B2B buyers are 57%-70% through buying research before contacting sales.
• 9/10 B2B buyers say online content has a moderate to major effect on purchasing decision
• 67% of the buyer’s journey is now done digitally (Sirius Decisions)
• 84% of CEOs and VPs use social media to make purchasing decisions (Source IDC)
• 62% of B2B buyers say a web search was one of the first three resources they use to learn about a solution.
• 80% of business decision-makers prefer to get company information from a series of articles versus an advertisement. (B2B PRSense)
• 84% of B2B decision makers begin their buying process with a referral. ~ Sales Benchmark Index.
• Average Lead to Close length is 102 days (Source: Salesforce )

Takeaway: B2B buyers (heavily) research and compare competitor products. Organizations need to create in-depth comparison guides that make it easy for buyers to weigh up a product against the competition, and clearly see why it is a superior offering. These assets can not only drive targeted mid-funnel traffic to your website, but also act as powerful sales enablement materials that reps can share through email with prospects in the evaluation stage of the buying cycle.

13. Inbound Sales Statistics

Today’s buyers are more educated than ever before. No longer should sales and marketing teams operate in silos. Teams need to collaborate using content to not only educate and engage buyers, but to also enable sales reps to become effective closers.

• 46% of marketers reported that inbound marketing gave a higher ROI, while only 12% reported outbound did.
• 77% of B2B purchasers said that they would not even speak to a salesperson until they had done their own research (The Corporate Executive Board)
• 93% of B2B buying processes begin with an online search.
• 94% of B2B buyers will research online before finalizing a purchase.
• Over half (57%) of the selling process is completed for consumers before a company even has a chance to interact with them (The Corporate Executive Board).
• When asked which marketing tactic provides higher quality leads for the sales team, 59% of marketers responded inbound, and 16% reported outbound ( source ).
• 47% of buyers view 3-5 pieces of the company’s content before talking with a sales representative.

Takeaway: Sales and marketing teams need to be tightly aligned. Sit down and brainstorm a list of topics/ questions your ideal customer is searching for online during the awareness, consideration and purchase phases of the buyer journey. 

Craft content that answers those questions, and amplify it across the channels where your target customers spend the most time. The more educated the buyer, the faster and easier they close.

14. Outbound Sales Statistics

Outbound sales can be the lifeblood of your company. The trick is making sure sales reps are put into a position to succeed.  

• 52% of outbound marketers say their marketing efforts are “ineffective”.
• 42 percent of sales reps feel they don’t have enough information prior to making a call.
• 75% of surveyed executives are willing to make an appointment or attend an event based on a cold call or email alone. — DiscoverOrg
• Only 16% of marketers say outbound practices provide the highest quality leads for sales. ( HubSpot )

Takeaway : While inbound marketing has seen an explosion in popularity, there is still a place in most organization for traditional outbound sales tactics. The key is make sure reps are armed with enough information about a prospect’s business, pain points and goals to craft a message that will resonate enough to win email opens, call backs and appointments.

15. Sales Productivity Statistics

In an ideal scenario, sales reps would spend all their time prospecting, sending emails, making phone calls, following up and nurturing leads. But, as you’ll see, this is not the case. In fact, most of a reps time is spent on non-sales activities.

• Only 39% of a sales rep’s time is spent selling or interacting with prospects and customers.
• It takes 10 months or more for a new sales rep to be fully productive.
• Only 60% of sales reps meet quota.
• High-performing sales teams use nearly three times the amount of sales technology than underperforming teams ( source ).
• 79% of sales executives say a leading driver of hitting new targets is improving the productivity of existing sales reps.
• 81% of companies say productivity would improve with better process, skills, or competency training ( source ).
• 84% of sales executives cited content search and utilization as the top productivity improvement area.
• The typical organization spends 24K per person on improving productivity, yet 49% of organizations have zero or limited means to measure productivity.

Takeaway: One of the key takeaways is to use a mapping solution that eliminates the productivity-killers that comes with using legacy solutions like Streets and Trips , MapPoint , or even Google Maps .  Make sure you have the right processes and tools in place to help reps work smarter, not harder. We put together an in-depth guide on how to increase sales team productivity .

16. Sales Training Statistics

Hiring dynamic reps who are passionate about your product or services is only half the battle when it comes to building and retaining a high-performing sales team. Today, over half of reps lack basic sales skills, and don’t receive adequate training. This is crazy when you consider ongoing training is the leading driver of high-performing sales organizations.

• According to Forbes magazine, 55% of salespeople lack basic sales skills.
• 58 percent of buyers report that sales reps are unable to answer their questions effectively.
• According to a recent survey, 84% of all sales training is lost after 90 days. This is majorly due to the lack of information retention among sales personnel.
• 82% of B2B decision-makers think sales reps are unprepared. [Source: Blender]
• According to a recent report, every dollar invested in sales training returned $29 in incremental revenues.
• According to a recent report , the best sales training will improve the performance of an individual on average by 20%.
• According to an ATD report, US companies spend $20 billion yearly on sales training.
• Firms where salespeople use the company’s methodology and get consistent coaching see 73% quota attainment.
• 65% of employees say the quality of training and learning opportunities positively influences their engagement.
• High-performing sales organizations are twice as likely to provide ongoing training as low-performing ones.

Takeaway: Untrained salespeople doom companies. Organizations that spend more time training reps see better sales numbers. Seems like a no-brainer, but over half of sales reps are lacking the proper skills to become effective at their job. A long-term commitment to ongoing training – seminars, workshops, books – will give your sales team a competitive advantage.  

17. Sales Career Statistics

The sales industry isn’t for everyone. Large scale turnover is a real thing. Understanding this can help companies prepare for, and handle the change. Statistics show what kind of people will succeed in the sales industry which can help inform the hiring process.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 6-percent employment growth for sales representatives by 2026

• Only 39% of salespeople intended to go into sales .
• Forrester predicts one million sales reps will be out of a job by 2020.
• The average SDR performs 94.4 activities a day , including social, call, voicemail, and email touches.
• The typical account executive spends 2.7 years on the job and takes 4.7 months to ramp

Takeaway: Sales is hard. Turnover is a lot higher than other industries. It’s critical your organization has a clearly defined process for finding, interviewing and hiring high-performing reps. Look at the top sales reps and make a list of what makes them good for the position. Hire more of those people.

18. Sales Success Statistics

There are a lot of good sales reps, but few are exceptional. In order to be better than good and become successful, reps must to earn the trust of their prospective buyers. What approach can you take to go from a good rep, to a great success?

• Successful reps are 10x more likely to use collaborative words like “us,” “we,” and “our” and avoid words like, “I” and “me.” (Chorus)
• Asking questions about your buyer’s goals and pain points leads to better sales success. (Gong)
• Optimistic sales pros outperform pessimists by 57%. That’s even true when pessimists have better selling skill sets. (Forbes, Seligman)

19. Sales CRM Statistics

Sales CRM’s are an imperative tool for a modern sales team and a very powerful tool to have in your arsenal.

• 57% of sales pros spend 3–10+ hours per week using CRM tools. (State of Sales, LinkedIn)
• CRMs are the most popular sales tools, followed by social prospecting, data services, email, phone, and sales cadence. (SalesforLife)
• CRMs can boost sales by 29% and productivity to 34%. (Salesforce)
• 24% more sales pros meet their annual quotas when they have mobile access to their CRM. (Aberdeen Group)

20. Door-to-Door Sales Statistics

In the age of technology and remote working, door-to-door sales is very much alive and well. Being successful takes grit, persistence, and a “never say die” attitude. To be a successful D2D sales rep, it takes:

• Successful door-to-door reps canvass a neighborhood 3x and talk with 90% of the residents.
• The average sales pro can create one lead for every 50 doors they knock on. (realestatecareermentor)
• About 2% of all door-to-door knocks will generate a sale. (leadheroes)

Questions or comments? Contact  SPOTIO  at  [email protected]  or comment below.

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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.

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