How To Create A Great Sales Presentation For B2B Tech Products

Developing a good sales presentation to sell B2B tech products is one of the most difficult challenges for a content marketer. Sales and marketing see things differently, and a sales presentation is the place where the sales-marketing misalignment is most commonly taking place. If a marketer is successful in developing a sales presentation that the sales team is happy to use – that is already a good sign that the organization is aligned. And if the sales presentation helps move a lead up the sales funnel – that’s a win.

Here are a few tips to marketers when creating a sales presentation:

Tip #1: Interview thoroughly the sales team

Most marketers know the organization’s messaging in and out. After all, they created it. But the truth is, unless you are talking to potential clients and prospects day in and day out, you don’t really know what ticks them. And that’s when you need your sales team. You need their feedback before you start.

Here’s a list of some of the questions you need answers to, assuming you know the product and the market:

• How is this sales presentation going to be used? Face-to-face, through Webex, as a send-out?
• Is the sales presentation the first touch point between sales and the prospect? What does the prospect know before getting this sales presentation?
• What are the sales team expectations from this presentation? What does it intend to achieve?
•  The prospect/potential client – how many sales presentations from competitors does he get to see? How hard is it to stand out?
•  What works best when pitching the product offering to potential clients?

Tip #2: Start with the pain

Marketers have a tendency to aim high, think big and inspirational. Sales tend to ground their pitch in order to sell. Sales presentations need to be very grounded, and should speak to a very specific pain. A good place to start is the pain point of the potential client.

Tip #3: Take it down to the ground – Be specific about the next steps

Whomever the buyer is, in whatever type of organization, they need to know that what they buy can show impact within a very short timeframe. That’s not always possible with Enterprise products that take a while to deploy. But the important thing is to show very clear next steps and a path that is both impactful and efficient. Oh, and of course, your buyer within the organization should feel like it’s not going to be too hard on him. You – the vendor – will do the heavy lifting and support the organization along the way. When you develop your presentation remember that the buyer wants to be accredited for doing something meaningful for the organization.

Tip #4: Leave room for personalization – one presentation does not fit all

We’d like to think that if we are specific enough about our audience – industry, role, etc. – we can create just one presentation and run with it. It’s not like that in one-on-one sales presentations. For example, we sell content marketing. But it’s a different presentation when we approach a potential client that has an in-house marketing team, versus someone that relies mostly on outsourcing marketing initiatives.

Always leave room for the sales person to change the presentation based on the individual needs and challenges of the potential buyer. Create the presentation in a way that’s clear where the information changes.

Tip #5: Don’t forget any of the core components of a sales presentation

…and they are:

• The need
• The solution
•  The product
•  Why us
• Implementation process
• Next steps

These sections can be interpreted in different ways, of course. The product section can be a demo, or just a good description. The “Why Us” can be testimonials, or case studies, or hard numbers that support the product benefits. But you need to ensure that you have all of these in mind when developing your presentation.

Got any other tips for developing a great sales presentation? We’d love to hear them.