Pitch decks in demos

I sell SaaS sales tech to sales people. Do you like seeing decks in demos? I absolutely don’t. The sight of a deck usually gets my to yawn.


It makes sense to have a deck to structure your demo especially while selling complex products. What’s the best way to use ( or not) a slide deck in demos?

Slides/ pitch decks in demos?

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👑 Sales Strategy
📣 Demos
🏹 War Room
7
CuriousFox
WR Officer
3
🦊
Maybe a slide of the agenda in the beginning. Then a slide of key points made at the end.

Or you could have a blank slide at the end where you type in all the client's concerns so they see you were paying attention. Then you will be able to use it for a fast follow up email with solutions and next steps.
Savagedoge
Tycoon
1
Account Executive
Minimal, I like that. Will try this out.
CuriousFox
WR Officer
1
🦊
Less is more baby 🦊
HarryCaray
Notable Contributor
2
HMFIC
I always start off with like 4-5 intro slides just to set the stage for the demo.  Just takes 5-10 minutes, gives them an idea of who we are and what we do, especially if they were forwarded the meeting invite from someone else and they have no idea what's going on.
CadenceCombat
Tycoon
2
Account Executive
Including a brief deck as a quick recap for any new stakeholders joining the call or refresh the memory of existing stakeholders is never a bad idea before going straight into the demo. I’m a fan of this strategy.

Traditionally, I refer to this as a ‘confirmation of initiative’. Gives you a chance to recap but also reconfirm alignment.
Tres_Comas
Politicker
2
Account Executive
It depends on what you're showing. If it's just the same slide we've seen a million times of all your customers you can skip it. I try to open my demos with 2 slides. One showing the problem I understand their company is having and the 2nd is how we can and have solved it for other customers. This lets you ask if the same pain points you've heard from others are the pain points that particular person has and helps align you to the business value.
ARRisLife
Politicker
1
Account Executive
I've been trying to figure out a creative way to have less slides as I feel PP is SO overused.

I haven't found a solution yet lol. My best effort is cutting out as many slides as possible- keeping them super short in words and directed towards the prospect. Leave the nascar logo slides and how many employees we have to the appendix- they can look at it later
Savagedoge
Tycoon
0
Account Executive
Lol. I haven’t used a pitch deck for any of my deals in SMB. I’m transitioning now though to enterprise and I believe there’s a real need to use the deck to set up the call at the very least.
Soiboi
Politicker
1
Account Executive, EIAS/Compliance
Maybe if it has good background for newer members but should be on point to goals. 
wHaTyAgOtCoOkInG
Catalyst
1
Solution Consultant
Hmmm, I use visuals to highlight the onboarding process, so they can 'see' what this post sale process will look like. There are many benefits to using slides, but 'pitch decks' in general are a sad thing.
Savagedoge
Tycoon
0
Account Executive
I generally jot down important next steps on a blank Google doc while I’m still sharing my screen so it gets registered in all our heads. 
I also do onboarding meetings and user training’s and I use decks there to outline everything we’re going to be talking about. That’s useful especially when I’m talking to 30+ folks all waiting to get done with my shizz
Selichimorpha
Celebrated Contributor
1
Growth Executive
We use decks because we have about 20 products you can leverage and bring on in different combinations - the deck makes it really clear what all of our offerings are. 
Savagedoge
Tycoon
0
Account Executive
Oh, that’s a no brainier then. I can’t imagine doing that without a deck
Smithy
Politicker
1
Director of Sales
IMO, one of the worst things you can do in a demo and there is 99.9% of prospects that would agree. 
Lucy710
Politicker
0
Channel Account Manager
I don't mind a deck with maybe 2 or 3 slides accompanied by a live demo, but I have been pitched with DOZENS of non customized, clearly marketing batch created slides and it is not compelling to me personally.  I use slides if we are introducing a team to a large corporate prospect (so we can put names and pictures), maybe overall key points, and to answer their pre provided questions!  
Flippinghubs
Opinionated
0
Account Executive
Yes, but very very to the point and short 
MR.StretchISR
Politicker
0
ISR
You need to address a concern of each member so they feel included, while focusing and closing to the highest level present.
Error32
Politicker
0
ISR
Literally this picture. If I have a large meeting, I try to map out the org/reporting structure and who the friendlies and blockers are before I get into the room.
14
Members only

Recorded demos

Discussion
39
4

Slides on a discovery call

Discussion
13
Do slides on a discovery call decrease success rates?
44% Yes
29% No
27% Unsure
73 people voted
18
Members only

Pitch Decks

Question
23