How To Build a Sales Pitch Deck [+ EXAMPLES]

Forty percent of people respond better to visual information than plain text.

What does that mean for your sales pitch deck? One, you can’t rely on text and bullet points to get your information across, and two, crafting a story is the best way to get and keep the attention of your prospects.

People love stories. They help us see things in a new light and connect with others. 

If you can spin a story for your prospects about what’s changed in their world, causing them to recognize themselves and discover the root of their problems, you’ll find that winning sales will be a lot easier.

Only then should you position your product or service as the solution.

This article shows you how to build best sales pitch deck using the buyer’s journey and a compelling story instead of crafting your pitch around your product. We’ll also include some examples of killer sales pitch deck for inspiration!

Build a Sales Pitch Deck

Think of a best sales pitch deck as a presentation.

Your presentation should answer two questions: What are you offering? And why should they care?

The aim is to align with your prospect’s worldview and create value. When you connect and describe what’s changed in their world, you engage them in a conversation. You must help prospects see the value of your product and that the result will be worth it.

Your sales deck doesn’t need to be flashy. The examples we’ll show you later prove that. Much like a pretty website that doesn’t help your customer see themselves using and succeeding with your product, a nice-looking pitch deck is just that; nice-looking.

Instead, your pitch deck should be interactive. If people love stories, they love being the hero in your story even more.

Every best sales pitch deck should include the following elements:

• Why the client needs to change
• The future state they need
• How to build the future state
• The Investment they’ll make
• Why Us

Let’s break down each element so you can confidently create a sales pitch deck that can close any deal.

1. Why the Client Needs to Change

You first need to provide the story of why your client needs to change. Sometimes clients don’t understand what their problem is or why they’re struggling in the first place. They might experience symptoms of a problem, but if that were enough to compel change, you wouldn’t need a sales pitch.

Creating value is showing that you understand your client’s world and telling them what’s changed. If your story resonates with them and gets them to recognize their new reality and its impact on their results, you can help create a paradigm shift.

Once you’ve named the shift in their world, you can tie their pain points together and then create big stakes and urgency for your solution. Be sure to use data and imagery to create a visual representation.

PRO TIP: Don’t talk about yourself or your company yet!

2. The Future State They Need

To hone in on the impact of what’s happening in their world, point to the potential future your prospect could have. When you hint at a solution that moves them away from pain and closer to the promised land, they’ll be waiting for you to tell them how.

You don’t want to bring too many numbers into play here, but include enough to resonate. Quantifiable impacts are convincing, but buyers buy with their heart as well as their head.

Remember you’re pitching a result, not your product or service. The more you talk about their needs, the more buyers will find your pitch compelling. By showing them a glimpse of their future state, they’ll be leaning forward with intrigue, not slouching in their seat. 

3. How to Build the Future State

Once you show them a glimpse of the future, they’ll be ready to hear how they can get there. Naturally, you want to show them your solution, but instead of what, show them how. Describe how your solution works and show your prospect how it will provide them with the tools they need to change.

Raise the stakes by telling them why they need to change now. What are the consequences if they don’t? What do they stand to lose? Helping them discover why they need to change creates value and builds trust.

RELATED READ: Trust-Based Relationship Selling Example

Another way to create value is to show how the process you’re describing has worked before. Describe the process and result, then show a testimonial from an existing client with compelling metrics.

4. The Investment They’ll Make

This is where you pitch your solution, and your prospect discovers what they’ll need to invest. You’ve already described the benefits and the potential future state. You can now talk about features and match your product to the story.

Treat your prospect as the hero. They are Luke Skywalker, and you are Obi-Wan, guiding them to victory over the Empire. Why will your solution get your prospect to the promised land? How does it stand out from other solutions?

You’ll have fewer objections to field if prospects see the value in your product and how it will transform their lives.

5. Why Us

Finally, you can talk about yourself! If you’ve followed the steps above, you’ll have created value, built trust, and positioned yourself as a guide worthy of following. You can’t tie your company to the client’s outcomes without a’ Why Us’ slide.

You want to show the prospect that you have the resources and experience to guide them through their journey.

A good idea here is to use mockups of your product in action and show social proof. Tying features to testimonials provides tangible evidence that your solution works. Interaction is essential throughout the sales pitch presentation but especially now.

Try to address reservations before they come up with social proof and testimonials (especially from people who have succeeded with your product and are similar to the prospect).

3 Killer Sales Pitch Decks

Zoura

Zoura is a SaaS platform for subscription billing. Their pitch deck features five elements that create a journey.

1. Name the change in the world (we now live in a subscription economy)
2. Show who will win and who will lose (if you change, you’ll win)
3. Describe the promised land (what their prospect will achieve)
4. Introduce features (the tools the hero uses to reach the promised land)
5. Present evidence (why us)

What can you take from this deck? Look at how they tell the story of the hero and the guide after they set the scene. It’s very similar to what I’ve talked about above.

Dropbox

Dropbox is a cloud-based file-hosting service. You can store files online and sync them across all your devices. Because they’re in the cloud, anyone can access them.

The Dropbox deck uses more text but still follows the same principles. It starts by saying, “Storage is a mess.” They then talk about why storage being a mess is a problem and latch on to teams lacking the ability to collaborate.

I like the language they use next. “In a perfect world…” They’re setting the scene and guiding prospects to the promised land. They also include a demo before creating urgency.

LeadCrunch

The future is AI. And LeadCrunch knows it. The scene they set with their deck creates intrigue, “We now live in a world of prediction and personalization.” It’s hard to disagree. Pulling in Amazon, Google, and Facebook as examples was a great play.

They then show how B2B sales deck companies can identify prospective customers and curate them into marketing or sales-qualified leads. I like this image as a visual and fun representation of their product.

Image Source

How To Build a Sales Pitch Deck: Building is Just the Beginning

Every example above starts by setting the scene and the problems that arise from the changing landscape. With this approach, you immediately position yourself as someone who understands what’s happening in your client’s world.

Creating value, building trust, and positioning your product as the solution to your client’s needs in a short time is an art form. Following the steps outlined above should help your pitch run smoothly.

But it’s just the beginning! The best sales pitch deck helps create value, but you’ve now got to nurture your prospects until you close the deal.

Part of a great pitch deck is having confidence, and confidence extends to closing deals. First, you need the mindset, skill set, strategies, and tactics to win sales now.

You can get all these and give yourself more chances to succeed by downloading the Sales Hustler Guide! Check it out now and start crushing your sales targets.