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Month: May 2015

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Make Your Sales Pitch Deck a Spreadsheet-Free Zone

Posted on by Rick E

We’ve previously discussed how to include numbers in your sales pitch deck. Now, let’s concentrate on one of the points we made then: that spreadsheets shouldn’t be in your pitch deck.

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Spreadsheets don’t belong in your slides because they show information without communicating meaningfully. According to keynote speaker, Dave Paradi, spreadsheets are inefficient and confusing communication tools, but these are great for analyzing numbers, doing calculations, and comparing numerical information.

Here are convincing reasons to never paste spreadsheets into your slides again:

Unnecessary Numbers

It’s easy to feel that you have to include all the numbers and statistics, especially given the amount of effort it takes to gather and interpret data.

Adding more than you need will always distract instead of inform.

Don’t saturate your slides with numbers. Keep it limited to the ones that directly contribute to the story or message you’re trying to tell.

You can remove 75% of all numbers in your pitch deck, and your overall message’s efficiency and appeal won’t suffer, meaning you can completely do away with a spreadsheet.

Replace the Sheets

Spreadsheets are an analytical tool, not a communication tool. They are the means to the end, not the other way around.

A farmer wouldn’t open selling his crops by bragging about his tractor.

A presenter shouldn’t rely on spreadsheets to tell his story.

Don’t show them the method. Show them the results and your interpretation of the data.

Use graphs to show trends and patterns over a period of time, charts to compare different numbers, and diagrams to illustrate processes and flows.

Conclusion

There’s little reason to use spreadsheets in your deck. Given there are alternatives to portraying and explaining numbers, turn your sales pitch decks into a spreadsheet-free zone.

Spreadsheets are a means to collect and interpret your data, not to organize and present your message. The next time you’re up to design a sales deck, avoid putting in an inappropriate tool that confuses instead of informs.

Need more help with your sales pitch deck? We have a team of pitch deck experts ready to assist. Call us for a free quote!

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References

“Eliminate 75% of the Numbers.” Think Outside The Slide. 2013. Accessed May 28, 2015.
“How to Illustrate Data in Financial Pitch Deck Presentations.” pitchdeck.com. 2014. Accessed May 28, 2015.
“Spreadsheets Don’t Belong on Slides.” Think Outside The Slide. 2011. Accessed May 28, 2015.

Consistency: The Key to an Effective Sales Pitch

Posted on by Rick E

Consistency is one of the foundations of success. This principle’s importance, however, is often neglected, with people barely realizing the positive effects of being and staying consistent.

But what is consistency in a sales pitch?

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In today’s business scene, inconsistent pitch deck presentations often overlook the little details. This leads to sales pitches that end up falling flat.

If you want to sell your product or service, an effective sales pitch calls for a consistently convincing deck in terms of visuals and content.

Why is Consistency Important?

Your pitch deck is a visual aid, but that doesn’t mean it’s just there to look aesthetically pleasing. It’s your partner in getting your message across, so it’s important to dress it up in a way that complements your pitch. Pitch deck is your tool to emphasize and enhance certain points.

Ensure your deck’s overall content isn’t confusing by considering the texts and visual designs that you’ll be placing.

Consistency in Content

Maintain a single and uniform structure in your main points to show unity in your overall pitch deck.

Keep your writing style the same from the beginning to end, especially when enumerating important ideas. Watch out for spelling and grammatical errors in your content. Avoid typos to make your pitch deck look professional and credible.

Keeping an eye on tiny details like these indicate that you value your company’s image and integrity.

Consistency in Design

LogoYes founder, John Williams, enumerates the effects your choice of color has on your business. Make sure you use a consistent color palette so that everybody retains your company’s image.

That’s why companies like Coca-Cola only use specific colors instead of all the colors of the rainbow—it makes it easier to connect your product to a certain look. Incorporate images and backgrounds that have the same subset of colors. Select relevant and appropriate visuals that support your text and highlight your product’s important points.

You can repeat certain elements to help keep your deck consistent. For example, don’t jump from wavy lines in one slide to straight lines in another slide. When each slide looks like it came from the same company, your pitch decks looks well-crafted and well-designed.

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Inconsistency negatively affects your overall pitch deck because your audience won’t know what you stand for. Who wants to invest in somebody who doesn’t even know what they really want to say? Staying consistent, not just in text but in visuals, helps keep your audience on the same page.

It keeps them from guessing whether you’re one company or another, especially since consistent visuals repeat certain elements, stamping them more effectively in clients’ minds. Know what you want to say and how you want to be perceived. Use consistent visuals for a more efficient and clear pitch deck presentation.

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References

“Structuring a Presentation.” University of Leicester. Accessed May 26, 2015. http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/ld/resources/presentations/structuring-presentation
Williams, John. “Your Brand’s True Colors.” Entrepreneur. March 06, 2007. Accessed May 26, 2015. www.entrepreneur.com/article/175428

Pitch Deck Storyboard: A Powerful Way to Share Your Ideas

Posted on by Rick E

Producing a corporate video – be it for sales, training, or any other business purposes – involves careful planning. To plan out your video effectively, one of the first things you need to do is to create a storyboard.

What’s a storyboard?

A storyboard is a shot-by-shot representation of how a video will unfold. It is typically composed of a series of frames with illustrations or images that represent each shot. Each frame also comes with short notes to explain what’s happening in the scene as well as script details (such as dialogues and directions).

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Advantages of creating a storyboard

Sharing your vision for your video is much easier using a storyboard. There are times when, no matter brilliant our idea is and how hard we try to explain it, people just couldn’t understand it.  With a storyboard, you can show your team how the video is going to unravel.  It will also make it easier for everyone to get behind your idea.

Storyboarding can also make production is relatively hassle-free. As you create a video storyboard, what you’re basically doing is setting up a production plan. You are laying out the shots needed as well as their sequence. And since you already have a guide, it also makes editing easier. In other words, the entire creation process can go smoothly.

Using PowerPoint to create your storyboard

PowerPoint has many features that can bring an ordinary storyboard to life. You can turn any idea into something graphic using shapes, text, animation, and all the other tools that PowerPoint provides.

You can use the Storyboard template in PowerPoint after installing Microsoft Visual Studio 2011. With Visual Studio, making storyboards is as easy as creating and working on new slides. To create a PowerPoint Storyboard, the first things that you should is write down everything that you want to show for every frame. You can use the program’s tools to illustrate your descriptions. Once you are done with a basic storyboard, you may want to add sound and transition effects to make it more interesting.

You can also use storyboards not just in creating videos but also in preparing pitch deck slides.

Storyboarding your pitch deck

To create a storyboard for your pitch deck, determine first the number of slides you will need. This would be dictated by the length of your entire pitch deck. Ideally, though, don’t use over five or six slides every 10 minutes. After that, simply follow the outline of your pitch deck script. Think about how to fit it into the sequential frames. Moreover, make sure that the slides show the key ideas clearly and logically.

By storyboarding your pitch deck, you will be able to express your ideas beyond the usual bullet points. Instead, the series of frames will help you translate information into something visual.

 

Craft Your Corporate Pitch Decks into a Great Story

Posted on by Rick E

“People have forgotten how to tell a story. Stories don’t have a middle or end anymore. They usually have a beginning that never stops beginning.” – Steven Spielberg

Since stories and narratives make up most of our daily interactions, why not treat your pitch as a story?

For communication coach Nick Morgan, there are several ways to structure your presentation, but if you’ve got a story tell, it’s best to go with the Classic Story structure.

Craft your speech with story patterns that your audience recognizes from novels, books, and movies: with a beginning, middle, and an end.

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Begin with a Hook

Main characters are commonly introduced in the beginning, giving the reader an idea of the world they’re living in and the possible conflict that moves the story forward. This establishes a connection between people and ideas, making a tangible impact on the story’s flow.

“The beginning is the most important part of the work,” Plato said.

It’s impossible to capture your audience’s attention without a strong introduction. Crafting an effective and compelling beginning can hook them to your pitch. Establish a good start that communicates your ideas to leave a dramatic effect on your audience.

Develop the Middle

Screenwriters are great at bringing suspenseful conflicts in stories. Emotions run high in this segment. The midpoint depicts progression from the rising action, causing problems for the main character, leading to either their demise or fall.

In pitches, the middle builds your audience’s interest, strengthening your brand image and highlighting your main idea. State the problem as if introducing a villain, then provide a solution by revealing yourself as the conquering hero.

End with a Call-to-Action

Versatile writers provide varying conclusions: happy, tragic, or unresolved. No matter how the story ends, readers always take away something from it.

Your pitch deck’s ending must be as alluring as the beginning. Attract your audience, then turn them into possible clients. The best way to end a discussion is by providing a call-to-action. Clearly state what you can offer while assuring that you can meet their needs.

Conclusion

A pitch deck based on a story structure gives your message a natural kick.

Incorporate the three elements of this story pattern to influence your audience the way writers influence their readers.

If you need presentation ideas with screenwriter twists, then book a meeting with our pitch deck experts now!

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References

Morgan, Nick. “5 Quick Ways To Structure A Presentation.” Forbes. February 2, 2011. Accessed May 15, 2015.

Ad Agency Tricks: Outsell Competitors in Sales Pitches

Posted on by Rick E

Advertising is a daily part of our lives. This applies to presenters and their pitch decks. During sales pitches, you’ll compete against at least three other teams, each with their own pitch.

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How do a selected few make their voices heard from the chorus of companies selling their products?

Simple, they offer what their competition doesn’t.

How It Works: Look to Yourself and Your Competition

According to ad veteran Luke Sullivan, to know the competition, look at what your company offers and compare it with the competition. Take some advice from Jim Aitchinson’s Cutting Edge Advertising: Are you currently running second like Avis? Are you as innovative as Nike Shox? Or are you looking to shock people like XO Beer?

Is your pitch strong enough to challenge the competition, or do you want to highlight your strengths? After answering these questions, you can start building on your sales pitch deck’s main idea.

Describing Your Products & Services

Simplifying your offer is a pitch deck technique that defines exactly what you want to show. Brands contribute to advertising clutter. Clients go through the same thing, sitting through pitch after pitch. Strip your idea down into one core message. Don’t read from your slides and drone on it—go straight to your proposal.

Build up the moment before revealing it, or pose a challenge to your clients. This makes your message stick in your clients’ minds longer.

The Reality Distortion Field

Once you’ve hooked clients with your pitch, support their curiosity with facts.

Use what brand communications expert Carmine Gallo calls the “reality distortion field,” which is to convince anyone of practically anything. Propose a challenge to highlight your strengths as with the Nike Shox TV ad, or doing an unconventional but effective stunt like XO Beer.

You can also present an opportunity to change, like when Steve Jobs asked John Sculley, the then-president of PepsiCo, to join Apple in 1983.

Challenge the Status Quo

Aitchison describes a sales pitch as a chance to dismantle the current status quo and establish something new. This applies not just to your clients but also to your competition.

After defining what your company offers, your pitch will soon be built around what it does, what it can offer, and what you do differently from others.

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References:

2000 Vince Carter Nike SHOX Commercial/Jumping Over Gary Payton. YouTube. Accessed May 15, 2015.
Aitchison, Jim. Cutting Edge Advertising: How to Create the World’s Best Print for Brands in the 21st Century. Singapore; New York: Prentice Hall, 2004.
Gallo, Carmine. The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010
Sullivan, Luke. Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This: A Guide to Creating Great Ads (3rd Ed.). Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, 2008.
XO Beer. Neil French. Accessed May 15, 2015.

Get Back in the Game: Regain Your Sales Pitch Skills

Posted on by Rick E

It’s challenging to get back on your feet after losing your touch. Failing to deliver is unacceptable when rejected sales pitches result in lost profits.

Humans are prone to mistakes and these happen with sales pitches, too. You might trip, lose your touch, and wonder how you even got there in the first place.

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While there’s no set timetable for recovery or a rock-solid formula to regaining your edge, there are three factors to assess if you want to get back in the game:

What defined your style?

Over time, presenters develop their own personal brand. These define you as a presenter.

Remember which pitch skills worked for you. Review your old pitch deck sales presentations and identify what made them work.

Were your slide designs simplistic?

Did you share any relevant stories from personal experience? Did you connect to your audience with shared beliefs?

Find answers by looking at your past performances. Know your style, take notes on what you can improve on, and start practicing again.

How can you make yourself relevant?

Look at how successful brands sell their products through advertising.

According to Interbrand group chief executive, Chuck Brymer, effective branding techniques define what a business stands for.

Coke is a refreshing drink, Nike is for sporty go-getters, etc. They understand what their customers want and adjust their ads to stay relevant in the market.

As presenters, you also represent your company’s brand.

How you do your sales pitch reflects how your company does business with others, whether you speak professional or casually. You embody what your company stands for, so bank on those beliefs to re-establish a connection with your clients.

How can you rebuild credibility?

Successful companies stay that way is because they never compromise their core beliefs.

As cited in Jim Aitchison’s book, Cutting Edge Advertising, Avis consistently positioned its message as the number two brand for car rentals. This gave customers the impression of a hard-working company.

In order to stay relevant, companies continuously understand how their customers behave to pitch their products effectively. Take this same practice and apply them to your sales pitches. Remain consistent with what your company stands for and understand how these can relate with what your clients believe in. This builds up that relationship with promises and trust.

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Regaining your edge shouldn’t be limited to these three factors. Keep practicing and trying out new ways to make yourself unique.

Focus on how you want your listeners to see you and what they’d miss if you quit.

To get that edge, call a pitch deck partner to help you out. All it takes is fifteen minutes.

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References

Aitchison, J. (2004). Cutting Edge Advertising: How to Create the World’s Best Print For Brands in the 21st Century. Singapore: Prentice Hall.
Brymer, Chuck. “WHAT MAKES BRANDS GREAT?” Marketing Magazine. Accessed May 11, 2015.
“Sales Presentation Skills: Stay Relevant to Pitch Ideas.” pitchdeck.com, May 11, 2015. Accessed May 15, 2015.

3 Secrets to Making Numbers Interesting in Sales Pitches

Posted on by Rick E

It doesn’t matter how skilled a speaker is or how mathematically proficient listeners are. Numbers mean nothing unless you explain what they mean.

Pitches must back up claims, but you shouldn’t drone on with a string of unrelated numbers.

You can say that your company’s taken a 4% market share, or that your profit increased by 11% in the third quarter. You can boast that your bath soap can kill 99.9% of germs.

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The question your listeners will still ask is: what do the numbers mean to me?

According to brand communications expert Carmine Gallo, you can answer this by making your numbers specific, relevant, and contextual.

Specify who the numbers are for

When Steve Jobs presented the iPhone market share during Q3 2008, he used a pie chart to point out that while RIM commanded 39% of the overall US market share, the iPhone achieved a noteworthy 19.5%. Apple’s iPhone nearly equaled the combined market shares of Palm, Nokia, and Motorola (a total of 20.3%), as well as other competitors’ 21.2% share.

He confidently concluded that the iPhone can do even better in the future. This impressive information convinced Jobs’ prospects to invest in him.

Similarly, in sales pitches, show your audience two things:

  1. That your product can compete with major market players
  2. That your product shows potential for future investment

Make the data relevant

Make your facts and topics relevant to your audience.

For people to invest in your pitch, show them exactly what they’ll get out of it. The same goes for numbers you present in a sales pitch.

As one of Gallo’s examples, when SanDisk announced a new 12GB micro SD card for cell phones in 2008, they focused on the fact that it could store at least 6 hours’ worth of movies and enough songs to listen to while travelling to the moon and back. The brand simplified the specs and made it sound useful to its target market. Instead of throwing hard numbers at the audience, they made easy-to-understand comparisons to highlight the new memory card’s capabilities.

Put the numbers in context

Facts and statistics don’t exist in a vacuum. They indicate how a business performs in the present and in the future.

Going back to the iPhone example, Jobs used the most recent market share data that he could find. His crowd consisted of investors looking to see how well the then-current iPhone performed.

This is why Jobs used that pie chart. For the first 90 days of its shipping, the iPhone had 4 million worth of units sold, an average of 20,000 per day. It was a close second to RIM’s 39% market share (Gallo, 2010). That growth rate in the first 90 days established the high demand for the device. Jobs related his numbers to a specific event (the first 90 days of shipment), which put the achieved market share into a relatable context.

Relate your data in a palatable format. Choose the right way to visualize your information so that your audience can understand it too.

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Since numbers are hard to explain, help your audience understand them.

Apply these three secrets and use graphs to make the data more comprehensive to the average viewer. Know which types of graphs to use depending on the information you’ll be working with. Specify who you’ll be presenting these numbers to, why it’s relevant to them, and how the data makes sense in your client’s context. These are the keys to converting well-made pitches into additional sales.

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References:

Gallo, C. (2010). The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience. New York. McGraw-Hill
Steve Jobs introduces original MacBook Air & Time Capsule – Macworld SF (2008). EverySteveJobsVideo. Accessed May 13, 2015.

Sales Presentation Skills: Stay Relevant to Pitch Ideas

Posted on by Rick E

The best speakers are at the top of their game because they stay relevant to their topics and audiences. They know who they’re talking to and what to say to keep listeners hooked.

This is why their slides are impactful, and why their body language and manner of speaking captivate and encourage audience participation.

In his article in Marketing Magazine, Interbrand’s Chuck Brymer notes leading brands in the world such as Coca-Cola, Apple, Starbucks, and BMW, which utilize the technique to staying relevant.

They reap profit because they maintain a deep understanding of their consumer base and keep up with what happens in their lives. They also make use of simple yet innovative ideas in their advertising. By keeping up with their customers, these brands always make messages that people can relate to.

Presenters can apply this principle to their sales pitch skills using three important tips:

1. Shared Beliefs Connect You to Your Audience Faster

One important factor in connecting effectively with other people is an exchange of shared beliefs. Make a mental list of the right words, tone, and emotional triggers to use so you can connect with others better.

Do your clients specialize in manufacturing and distributing sports goods? Use action-oriented content and designs, then incorporate the core message of either seizing the moment while you can or finding satisfaction in breaking your physical limits.

Are your clients a tech-oriented company? Maybe you can bank on a common objective of providing devices that make people’s work easier and more productive.

Regardless of the industry, you need to know your audience in order to adjust your sales pitch skills accordingly.

2. Connect With Them on an Emotional then Rational Level

Understanding the people you talk to gives them a sense of empathy. After making this connection around a similar set of experiences or ideals, rationalize it by citing concrete examples.

Look at Nike: their “Just Do It” tagline sells to everyone regardless of age, gender and occupation. This message connects with their intended customers since it reaches out to them on an emotional level.

3. Know the Right Questions to Ask

Involve your listeners in the discussion. Work with what you learn from the people you speak to so you can give a relevant pitch. Stay updated with information relevant to them and more importantly, it gives you information that you can translate to relevant pitch deck content to use either now or in the future.

Renowned author, Jim Aitchison, cites the Kaminomoto hair restorer ad campaign’s discreet tone worked because the ad agency realized that their customers didn’t want to be reminded of their baldness.

They preferred an ad with a message that only they would understand. Their execution included random objects with hair growing out of them and a tagline that read “Be careful with the Kaminomoto”.

Conclusion

Your audiences are human just like you. Each person grows and learns new things while refining their purchasing standards (or investing in pitches in the presenter’s case).

To connect with them and convince them of your ideas, form an emotional connection to reach out and effectively sell your ideas.

References

Aitchison, J. (2004). Cutting Edge Advertising: How to Create the World’s Best Print For Brands in the 21st Century. Singapore: Prentice Hall.
Brymer, Chuck. “WHAT MAKES BRANDS GREAT?” Marketing Magazine. Accessed May 11, 2015.
Just Do It. Nike. Accessed May 11, 2015.

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