Pitch Like A Pro in 2022: Create An Engaging Client Presentation To Win Contracts
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Start Getting More Business With Our Client Presentation Tips
What Is A Client Presentation?
Any good sales process will include a client presentation. Whether you’re pitching a prospect for new business, showcasing account results for an existing client or presenting new business offerings to help grow your clients’ business, crafting engaging and relevant presentations is crucial. Creating presentations shouldn’t be a task. Think of them as your one opportunity to impress your audience.
Similar to an RFP presentation, a client presentation allows you, the vendor, to prove the value of your work to the client in a digestible and persuasive way. The presentation is the main takeaway and could very well determine if you two work together.
How Do You Start A Client Presentation?
You might be tempted to jump right in and start compiling a sales deck but structuring the flow of the story is crucial to engage your potential client. Here are a few tips we recommend before you even begin creating the presentation slides.
Research Prospective Client & Outline Sales Process
A good starting point is to collect as many details about your prospective client as possible. This will help you outline how you’re going to craft your client presentation as well as outlining the sales process. Even though you may have an effective sales pipeline in place, understanding your potential clients will help you mitigate objections.
Determine Pain Points
Next, you should focus on determining the client’s pain points. Most of the time, the client either doesn’t 100% know what their pain points are, or they have a misunderstanding of what their struggles are.
As a professional, you should be able to present with confidence the real challenges you determined the client to have as well as the tailored services your company can provide to support them and help them achieve success.
You want to be able to present your idea in a way that makes sense. Do not try and get too fancy or over-complicate the answer.
Begin Crafting The Sales Presentation
Now that you know who your client is and the challenges they’re facing, you’re now ready to begin creating the sales presentation. You should already have a good structure and foundation in place thanks to the preliminary research you’ve conducted. Now, it’s time to craft a persuasive message to get your client from consideration to conversion.
What Should Client Presentations Include?
Visuals
You want to avoid having too much text on your slides. Prioritize creative visuals that help tell the story and bring your point across. Having your potential customer digest visuals is less cognitively demanding than having them read a bunch of text. In fact, the human brain can process visual information 60,000 times faster than text.
You want to ensure your client is still listening to what you have to say. By using more visuals than text, you’ll still have your client engaged in the presentation while you’re presenting.
If you do need to use text, avoid using full sentences. Bullet points are a great way to reduce the amount of text you use while still highlighting the key takeaways.
Opening Slide
First impressions are everything and your presentation matters too. The opening slide should be the hook of the presentation that draws your audience in and makes them want to listen to what you have to say.
Some might think the opening slide should be an agenda that outlines the structure of how the presentation will flow. Although this may work in some circumstances, an agenda might not always be necessary.
Proof Points
You should always have proof points to back up your claims. It’s one thing to say you’ll do something or to say you’re the best at what you do, but results are the most important part. Proof points make customers feel confident they are choosing the right person to work with and that they’ll be getting the most helpful information from them.
Call To Action
Finally, your client presentation should include a call to action. This is where you ask for the business. Often times, people are afraid to input a call to action because it seems too forward and they’re afraid of rejection. Don’t be afraid of rejection and don’t be afraid to sell! At the end of the day, you’re not losing a client because they aren’t your client, to begin with. Until you have them sign a contract, they’re still a prospective client.
How Do You Structure A Client Presentation – Our Proven Client Presentation Template
Creating a persuasive message is an art. It gets your audience to either act, think, or feel in a certain way. By structuring client presentations similar to a story – with a clear beginning, middle and end, you’ll be able to convert more clients with less difficulty.
What you know about your client
First, take inventory of what you know about your client and prepare one quick slide deck outlining your research. This proves to the client you took the time to research them and their market and it will help build their confidence in you.
This doesn’t need to take too long either. An hour-long discovery call with the client and a quick search on their website should provide you with enough information on who they are, what business they’re in and the target audience they’re trying to reach.
Who your company is
Now, it’s time to talk about yourself. But remember, the presentation is about the prospective clients, not all about you. So keep this slide brief and simple. Just like this.
Stats related to your successes
It’s one thing to say you’re the best. It’s another thing to prove it. Provide examples of past clients you worked with – especially if the scope of work is similar to what the prospective client would request. Use data points and key performance indicators (KPIs) to help support the narrative.
Social proof such as testimonials and case studies
There is no stronger marketing tool than word of mouth. Obviously, you won’t bring past clients into the meeting but you can bring their positive remarks.
Testimonials or a case study of a past project are great elements to incorporate into a sales presentation. They help speak to the quality of work or service you provide from someone who has already experienced working with you.
More often than not, a company would object to working with you because they’re afraid of the unknown. Having a testimonial eases the tension since someone has already walked the path and had great results. It serves as a great example of success.
What your client’s pain points are
Next, present the pain points you have found. This is a great opportunity to see if you’re aligned with the client. The worst thing that can happen is both sides think the other knows what the problem is when reality there is a disconnect. You’ll then begin finding a solution to a problem that isn’t the problem, to begin with.
How your company can solve their problems
Presenting your ideas and solutions is where your hard work pays off and where your sales skills really shine. Now you can present the deliverables you’d propose to the client to help them solve their problem.
Expected Investment (Optional)
Depending on your business strategy and how you conduct a sales presentation, a slide outlining the expected investment gives the prospective customer a clear understanding of what they can expect to pay for the proposed service.
Timeline
A timeline is another great slide to include which highlights the next steps. The reason you want to have a timeline in the deck is that it gets the prospective customer to put themselves in the mindset that they’re already working with you.
If they’re able to clearly see what the future touchpoints will be, when they can expect to follow up and when they can expect deliverables, it will be easier to close the deal.
Call To Action
Don’t forget the call to action! This point is so important we had to put it in the blog twice. Don’t be afraid to ask for their business and have a call to action to close off the presentation.
Client Presentation Skills You Should Know
Virtual Presentation Skills
With more businesses turning to a virtual model, you’ll be presented with more opportunities to present virtually. This means you’ll need to begin familiarizing yourself with online presentation tools such as Google Meets, Zoom and Pigeonhole to facilitate your presentation.
Luckily, there are great resources available online that go into detail on how to ace your virtual presentation so when the time comes to present virtually, you’ll nail it.
Body Language
Whether you’re presenting in-person or virtually, body language still plays a role. Body language will help you engage with your audience and enhances the way you speak.
Body language also helps you emphasize key points. Want to bring attention to a key fact or piece of data? Use body language to help convey the message.
Public Speaking
The skill of public speaking allows you to deliver a message with confidence. Whether it’s in-person or done virtually, public speaking allows you to speak at a proper cadence.
With practice, public speaking also helps you think quickly on your feet. So when you potential customer starts asking questions about the services you offer and your recommended solutions, you’ll be able to respond effectively.
Designing Presentations
If you don’t have a professionally designed presentation, all the work you put into your pitch will be for nothing. A professionally designed presentation is the vehicle that helps deliver the message.
Even if you decide to use templates, you should have the skills to customize PowerPoint slides or Google Slide. But, this can be time-consuming and tricky.
If you rather focus your time more on research than the creative aspect of presentation design, consider using a presentation design service such as Presentation Geeks who offer e-learning solutions, PowerPoint design, Google Slide design, sizzle reels, motion graphics and much more!
