How do you make your Sales Presentation more Powerful?

One sure shot way to make your existing sales presentation more powerful is by getting a professional to make it. Yes I am talking about outsourcing it to a professional who can challenge your arguments and bring out the best in your pitch.

Before I outline the specific benefits of outsourcing, let us quickly discuss what role a sales presentation has to perform.

• It should introduce your company properly as it is one of the first documents your client comes across.
  
• It needs to create the right impression and build your brand. Do they see the company as professional and modern? Do they see you as a customer focused company? Do they see what differentiates you from competitors?
• It needs to be credible. Every sales pitch showcases the product or service in the best light and your client is aware that she is listening to a 'sales pitch'. How do you sound credible?

Several companies have started outsourcing their B2B sales presentations and seeking professional help. Here are 4 clear benefits of doing so.

#1 Save a lot of Time

If you have to make a powerful sales presentation you will need a lot of time as well. A proper B2B sales presentation takes nothing less than 3 to 4 weeks to prepare (if not more) and also needs inputs from various stakeholders in the company. A presentation done in a jiffy is never powerful.

Outsourcing saves a huge amount of your time. The professional you have hired will ask questions, do online research, challenge your assumptions, point out flaws in the arguments, develop alternative story lines, talk to everyone from front line sales guys to the head of sales. All of this can be done internally, but who has the time? Hiring a professional to build your revised sales presentation saves you a lot of time which you can use to meet your goals and do higher priority jobs (like getting more leads!).

#2 Professional Looking Presentation

Presentation designers and consultants are professionals. They make presentations for a living. They read books on presentations and make slides day in and day out. That's why they become so better at designing professional looking slides.

Outsourcing your sales presentation will give your presentation a tremendous visual uplift. Your company will come across as more professional and successful because the slides will look that much more impressive to your clients.

#3 Fresh Point of View

When you outsource, hire a consultant and not just any designer. Consultants are typically MBAs with many years of corporate experience (especially in sales and marketing or management consulting). These professionals have the capability to understand your business and your problems and solve them for you.

They will provide you a clients' perspective, something that is difficult for you to get otherwise. After all, you are so immersed in the business. How do you see it from someone else's eyes?

They can look at your existing sales presentation as an outsider and tell you what is broken and how to fix it. Outsourcing your sales presentation will reap the maximum return when you revisit the entire content and message and not just beautify your slides. A fresh point of view is what you need to make a powerful sales presentation.

#4 B2B Best Practices

Outsourcing your presentation also ensures your presentation will be made by an expert who is making similar presentations day in and day out. You might be selling solar power plants to companies but this professional you hire has made presentations for diverse businesses. He would have made a sales presentation for a TV channel, for ERP software and what not. Working on diverse sales pitches exposes these professionals to B2B best practices which will then help them fine tune your pitch. The most value is added on things like - how do we start the sales presentation and how do we make it more credible?

Your B2B sales presentation not only brings in revenue but also builds your brand. Your sales cycle could be long, as is the case for many industries. In such cases too, a good sales presentation builds the right impression and eventually when the time comes, it will tilt the scales in your favor as the client might consider you before your competitors.

If you are considering to revamp or upgrade your sales presentation, consider taking professional help. In the next post, I will talk about How to pick the right presentation designer for your sales presentation?