stratman

Sales Engineer

Slides on a discovery call

While there is a place for slides, I've always preferred having a slide free conversation during the initial calls but I never thought about them as being a call killer. What are your thoughts?

*Self-Promotion Disclaimer* I am not associated with Gong and am in no way rewarded or compensated if you read this article. :-)

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/sales-best-practice-actually-terrible-your-discovery-calls-devin-reed/

Do slides on a discovery call decrease success rates?

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Yes No Unsure

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13 comments

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SADNES5

Politicker

down voters are marketing spies

If you have to show me a ppt... then you don't understand my needs, or your product.

Telehealth_2the_Moon

Notable Contributor

Director of Business Development

I don't think I would go this far personally. We sell a pretty involved service that involves people actually doing things in serious settings. With that level of complexity, it can be really hard to present a coherent, intricate solution without visual keys.

That being said, the powerpoint should not be the focal point of your presentation. While it's you you need to be calling out DMs by name, asking questions, getting engagement, check for impact. Don't expect the slides to do any piece of your job for you other than act as an outline. They also shouldn't be up for longer than 1/2 of the meeting time.

Edit: Just remembered this is about a discovery call so yeah, don't use slides on a discovery call. I like to have a super short deck that can be used anytime, but I think I've only used it once in an early stage call.

SADNES5

Politicker

down voters are marketing spies

Lol. Was going to reply that is one intense disco call.

Telehealth_2the_Moon

Notable Contributor

Director of Business Development

Yeah I went all the way there, got real defensive of my slide deck!

SADNES5

Politicker

down voters are marketing spies

I'm sure it's fantastic.

Telehealth_2the_Moon

Notable Contributor

Director of Business Development

Hahaha very kind of you

Telehealth_2the_Moon

Notable Contributor

Director of Business Development

Not sure about the rates. I usually have a super short slide deck (3-4 slides tops) available for early conversations, but I think I've only used it once or twice. Discovery should be more free flowing and exploratory, some of the best information comes out during open conversation, especially between two people from the same company talking on a call with you.

softwaresails

Politicker

Sales Manager

I just hate slides. Especially for the discovery calls.

I hate them almost as much though for any other part of the conversation. I know this isn't always the case but if we are going to do a walkthrough or demo show me the actual product. I know this isn't practical for all sales / products but if it's something you can show me instead of showing me a slide I want to see the product.

Rallier

Politicker

SDR Manager and Consultant

I stopped using them. It's a relic of the earlier 2000s that somehow is still being used today

roftheyear

Opinionated

Account Executive

ugh tell my mgr that

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

I never use slides for discovery calls.

Beans

Big Shot

Enterprise Account Executive

I completely agree with the article, was working on disco sales training with new reps and a lot of them would dive into a 5-6 slide intro deck.

You don't build rapport by over-selling right out of the gate, it needs to be a tailored approach, especially in our industry.

Cyberjarre

Politicker

BDR

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stratman

Slides on a discovery call

Do slides on a discovery call decrease success rates?

13 comments

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