5 best sales presentations solutions to increase conversion rates

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Sales presentations play a massive role in virtual sales calls. As video calls are more visual, you need to be confident in the presentation being used to engage prospects and sales leads.

In the past two years, sales conversations with prospects have largely switched onto video platforms. Which, many may be surprised to learn, buyers and sales teams actually prefer over in-person appointments.

According to a recent Bain & Company survey (with Dynata), these days a massive 92% of B2B buyers prefer virtual sales meetings over in-person meetings or phone calls.

At the same time, 79% of salespeople and teams are finding virtual sales more effective than any other method. Virtual sales calls generate higher conversion rates. Win rates are 45% higher, and revenue amongst sales agents using video solutions is 43% higher than phone, email and in-person meetings, according to the same Bain & Company survey.

When it comes to managing sales video calls, an eye-catching and informative presentation is a huge advantage. However, salespeople need to use them in the right way, and they need to include information that will add value to the conversation.

4 tips for effective sales presentations

  1. Don’t overwhelm your audience (potential customers). You need to include enough information to support what you are saying, without falling back on the worst habits of some presenters, which is to simply read from a presentation or pitch deck.
  2. Make it visually impactful. Visuals make a difference. Depending on the length of the average sales conversation in your company, you could choose to include a short and informative video.
  3. Include the essentials, such as case study examples, client testimonials, key benefits, and the ROI clients can expect.
  4. Use it as a supportive tool, rather than making it the focus of the conversation. Especially at the top of the sales funnel. Ask qualifying questions. No matter how all-singing-all-dancing the presentation, if you don’t ask the right questions in the first conversation, there’s no way of assessing whether a client needs what you are selling or is a good fit.

Now we’ve covered the basics, let’s take a look at some of the best sales presentation software on the market. Even if you aren’t creating the presentation yourself, as a salesperson this is a key piece of sales enablement material that you need. A marketing team, or third-party freelancer or agency could create this for you, to ensure every sales call goes smoothly.

Sales Presentation Software

#1: Canva

Canva is an ideal solution for those who need to design something but aren’t designers. Most salespeople don’t need to know how to use design software, such as Adobe’s suite of tools. Not even every marketer knows how to use those. Designers have specific training and software for a reason.

So if you need to put together an impactful and engaging presentation — and don’t have the time/energy or inclination to become a designer on the side — then Canva will get the job done. It comes with numerous preloaded templates, icons, images, and dozens of useful features.

Pricing starts at $12.95 a month for up to 5 people or Enterprise-level from $30 a month (larger teams/companies).

#2: Google Slides

Google’s better alternative to PowerPoint, which set the Google Slides template and model for everything that has been developed since it launched, way back in 1987.

Google Sides, which comes as part of Google’s suite of cloud-based productivity solutions, is easy to use and ideal for collaborative working, and sharing presentations with prospects. It was part of G Suite, which is now known as Google Workspace

Pricing Free as part of the basic package, with premium and business prices going from $6 per user, per month, up to $20 per month.

#3: Beautiful.ai

Beautiful.ai is a way of creating stunning presentations without needing a designer. With the advantage of an AI-based solution applying design rules as you create something, with a plugged in range of images and icons to use.

Pricing starts at $0 for the Basic version, with Pro from $12 per month, and a Team version option for $38 per month, per person.

#4: SlideShare

SlideShare is another popular cloud-based presentation platform. Not only does it come with all of the usual features, it also benefits from a large ready-made audience, as it’s owned by Scribd. If you choose, any presentation you create could be published on Scribd’s open-source libraries, which include over 1 million eBooks, audiobooks and presentations.

Salespeople often use them on LinkedIn when presenting something they want a wider audience to see, such as a pitch deck.

Pricing for this solution is free.

#5: CrankWheel

Screen Sharing with the CrankWheel Chrome extension is one of the most effective screen share software for sales using any presentation when speaking with a potential client.

Our customers have done A/B testing with their teams and the groups that use CrankWheel increased sales by 20% more than the control groups that only used the phone. When sales teams use CrankWheel as one of the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) — as many sales managers insist on — you can increase sales conversion rates, and reduce the time it takes from the initial conversation to them becoming a customer.

See how Yell used CrankWheel to increase conversion rates and cut the sales cycle in half in by using screen share for selling digital marketing services.

Key Takeaways

Presentations are more important now than ever, especially on virtual sales calls. Salespeople need the right sales enablement materials to support their conversations with prospects.

Either a marketing team can create these, or with the right tools to create a presentation (such as Google Slides or Canva), a salesperson can put something together themselves. Once you’ve got a presentation created, use it wisely. Don’t rely on it and simply read from it. Use it like a prop, while keeping the focus on the conversation, asking the right questions, and aiming to provide the best solutions possible for the client’s pain points.

CrankWheel: Cut your sales cycle in half with instant screen-sharing. Go from two or more sales calls to one: Become a one call close sales team.