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How to Make a Sales Deck That Wins in 2024 (+Examples)

Learn how to write sales pitch decks and what sales slides to include. Get the best structure, format, and best practices. Plus examples & templates.

Author Amotz Harari, Head of Marketing

5 minute read

How to create a sales deck

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Short answer

What is the best sales deck structure?

  1. Title slide (intro)
  2. Unique Value Proposition slide
  3. About us slide
  4. Problem
  5. Solution
  6. Benefits slide
  7. Social proof slide
  8. Next steps slide

Read on to learn how to build each slide ⤵

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best sales deck structure

This post is part of our 5-part sales deck guide series:

  1. How to write and structure a sales deck (you are here)
  2. How to make your sales deck stand out and engage
  3. How to make a memorable sales deck
  4. How to personalize your sales deck to your buyer
  5. How to create a sales deck with AI

How to create a winning sales deck?

To make a sales deck that engages and drives action you’ll need to build it around your prospects’ core concerns and address the unspoken questions they have in their mind.

Let’s break down the critical sales deck slides.

We’ll cover the questions each side has to answer, how to keep prospects engaged, and how to get them to see your offer as the undisputed best option.

The slides covered in this guide were isolated from our analysis of over 100,000 sales deck sessions. These are the 8 basic slides all high-performing sales decks have in common.

1) Title slide

Questions prospects need answering:


  • Is this interesting?
  • How much time will this take?

The title slide, or cover slide, is your solution’s first impression. It’s hard to shake off first impressions, so make it count.

Make it visually stand out, make the value offer clear, and tell the prospect how long your deck will take to read (time us their currency). But what does this mean in practice?

Stand out visually by adding motion to your cover slide. Either by using animation or by adding a video. This will help you avoid looking like all the rest with their static and boring PowerPoints.

Give prospect context and get them interested with a one-liner version of your UVP. Like the example below by Gong - “Get powerful visibility into your customer interactions with revenue intelligence”

Manage your prospects’ effort expectations by telling them the sales deck’s reading time. Note that this is what Gong does in the example (and it’s only 3 minutes!).


Cover slide example by Gong:

See full sales deck
sales title slide example by gong

2) UVP slide

Questions prospects need answering:


  • Is this relevant to me?
  • Why should I care?

A Unique Value Proposition should capture (1) what you solve, (2) who you solve it for, and (3) why your solution is the best. It should be no longer than 30-35 words. If you don’t have a UVP, it’s way over time you make one.

If your UVP hits all 3 aspects you have a good chance of hooking your prospect and getting their undivided attention for the rest of the deck.

But you can also get away with the third part - why you’re the best. Get this as sharp as a surgeon’s scalpel and it’s half the battle won.


UVP slide example by Bizzabo:

See the full sales deck
sales deck UVP slide example by bizzabo

3) About us slide (introduction slide)

Questions prospects need answering:


  • Who are these guys? (you)
  • Are they legit?
  • Do they help people like me

The introduction slide provides an overview of your company, your expertise, your team (if relevant), and the solution you provide.

This slide can easily become too long and include irrelevant info that just dilutes your message and adds confusion.

Avoid dumping your entire company “about us” on the prospect. Stick to what THEY care about.

The best way to make this information lean and accessible is through video content. Invest the time to make a video for every major segment of your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP).


Intro slide Example - Udemy’s B2B solution:

See full sales deck
Sales deck introduction slide example by Udemy

4) Problem slide

Questions prospects need answering:


  • Why change?
  • Why now?
  • What happens if I don’t? (something bad

The problem slide is the most well-known slide in the world, but do people get it right?

The more complex your industry the harder it is to define a major high-risk problem well. But it’s your job as a sales professional to do it.

Fail to define the problem and you fail to sell the need. Fail to sell the need and you fail to sell your solution. It’s that simple.

Describing the problem and communicating the risk involved will let you leap-frog over any objections and create the sense of urgency needed to close a deal.

The example below by Zuora puts all their force behind defining the problem and making the case for change.

For Zuora the problem is not a slide it’s the sales deck’s core. I’d say half their deck is the problem “slide” (from slide 2 to slide 11).


Problem slide example by Zuora:

See full sales deck
Sales deck problem slide example by zuora

5) Solution slide (how it works)

Questions prospects need answering:


  • How do I solve the problem?
  • What does your product look like?
  • What makes your solution so special?

The solution slide is the most straightforward. You should know your solution inside and out. And if you have a great value offer to your ICP then it’s just a matter of communicating it as clearly and as short as possible.

Focus your solution slide on what your prospect cares about. Tailor it according to your discovery call, or based on your deck analytics or CRM information.

Demo your solution with screenshots, video, or interactive content.

Simplify your solution description by breaking it into district parts or features that make the whole.

Connect each feature to an outcome or benefit, and avoid going into technical detail. The details usually don’t matter. They’re just noise.


Solution slide example by WorkDay:

See full sales deck
Sales deck solution slide example by workday

6) Benefits slide (outcomes slide)

Questions prospects need answering:


  • What do I get out of all this?

  • How do you measure success?

If the solution slide is about how your product or service works, the benefits slide is about the positive outcomes it brings.

To persuade your prospects, the benefits and outcomes need to be specific and concrete. Avoid vague promises and provide hard numbers from past achievements.

Address core metrics that you know are important to the prospect.

Provide an estimated time to delivery. Don’t be afraid to commit. These numbers are not in in a contract yet. They serve as an anchor for deliberation. And it’s better than nothing.


Benefits slide example by Storydoc:

See full sales deck
Sales deck benefits slide example by Storydoc

7) Social Proof slide

Questions prospects need answering:


  • Can you actually do it?
  • Have you done it before?
  • Do you have any proof?

The social proof slide is meant to prove that you have the capability and the competence to deliver on your promises.

The way you prove it is by showing that you’ve done it before with past clients and that they are happy enough to endorse you.

Bring video testimonials of an important client. If the prospect knows the client that’s great. If they have similar needs as the prospect even better.

Bring client quotes that support the claims in the outcome slide, or provide further benefits.

Parade big client logos.

Show off any awards or badges you’ve earned.


Social proof slide example by cprime:

See full sales deck
Sales deck social proof slide example by cprime

8) Next steps slide

Questions prospects need answering:


  • What should I do if I’m interested?
  • What will it cost me? (time, effort, money, privacy)

The best next steps slide has a delicate balance between asking the prospect enough to prove intent and not too much so you scare them off.

The next step should be to make a small concession that the prospect can do on their own in no more than 10 minutes, like reading a case study, inputting information in a form, signing up to try the product, scheduling a meeting, etc.

Beyond the concession, the next steps slide should be as accessible as possible and as close to instant as you can get to begin.

The example below shows how a prospect can set a meeting directly from the pitch deck with a click.


Next steps slide example by Huma:

See full sales deck
Sales deck next steps slide example by Huma

Making a sales deck - your practical checklist

Just copy this to where you work and go through each item one by one to create a top-performing sales deck that’s better than 99% of the rest.


1) Cover

Grab attention with motion:

  • Video background (make it highly relevant)
  • Animation (should support the text)

Grab attention with personalization:

  • Logo, name, brand colors
  • Personal video message
  • Use words charged with emotion in the title and subtitle


2) Intro

Create context and establish relevance with your value proposition:

  • Address the audience, their need, and your unique solution
  • Make a big promise but leave out a critical piece of information
  • Tell a short story of how a peer of theirs used your product and achieved success.

Build authority, credibility, and trust with your introduction:

  • Introduce your company, team, and leadership
  • Establish authority and credibility with credentials, achievements, and awards
  • Humanize your company with personal images, quotes, or videos

3) Problem

Establish a burning problem:

  • Use detailed real-world examples by your buyer’s peers
  • Outline the likely loss by not taking action and staying with the status quo
  • Establish urgency by outlining the likely loss by not acting now


4-5) Solution & Outcomes

Explain how your offer is a uniquely well-suited solution to the problem:

  • Narrate the journey from problem to solution (including details, ups, and downs)
  • Don’t explain with words - demo your product or service
  • Reuse the example used to present the problem for detailing how the solution was achieved

Explain who your solution is not a good fit for (to filter out irrelevant prospects)


6) Social proof

Add social proof by peers who struggled with and overcame similar issues. The social proof should support your value proposition or stress the dangers of inaction (staying with the status quo):

  • Add a video testimonial
  • Add testimonial text quotes
  • Add a case study (or link out to one)
  • Add positive quotes by relevant industry influencers
  • Show awards, credentials, and reviews from trusted sources


7) Next steps

  • Aim for a small concession that shows interest in continuing the conversation.
  • Don’t end with a dead-end “thank you” slide
  • The prospect should concede to pay a small price in time, effort, or cost to continue the relationship
  • Make acting immediate and easy to do
  • Make the benefits of taking the next step clear
  • Provide a fast reward for taking the next step
  • Reiterate the risk of not acting and sticking with the status quo

Create a sales deck from a template

You don’t have to work hard to create a deck from scratch. To help you kick off your efforts I brought you a few of our best sales deck templates to start with.

All these templates apply the content framework I covered in this guide. They look great on any device including mobile, and they come with built-in analytics from day 1.

Just grab one.

No templates found
Amotz Harari

As the Head of Marketing, I lead Storydoc’s team of highly trained content-ops warriors fighting to eradicate Death-by-PowerPoint wherever it resides. My mission is to enable buyer decision-making by removing the affliction of bad content from the inboxes of businesses and individuals worldwide.

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What is the best sales deck structure? How to create a winning sales deck? Making a sales deck - your practical checklist Sales deck templates
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