A sales pitch deck is a group of slides which you put together to sell your idea to potential investors or customers. There are two types of decks:
Demo day presentation: This deck should be highly visual and with minimal text on the document. It will be used by you to complement your presentation to group of interested individuals. You should use bold and big fonts as individuals will be viewing this on a projected screen.
Pitch presentation: This is a self-explanatory document which you will send to investors or customers to tell them about your business. It is OK to use smaller font on this document as it will usually be viewed on a computer screen. This presentation should also have a lot more information as you will not be present to answer potential questions which an interested individual could ask you.
In both these presentations, you should limit the number of slides you use to between 10 – 20 slides. Here are the most important slides which should be included in your sales pitch deck:
- The cover page: this should contain a great image of your product in use. The name of your company and your contact details. You should also have a tagline or elevator pitch under the name of your business so that people know what you do. This slide should be awe-inspiring and capture the attention of your audience.
- The problem: What problem does your product want to solve? You need to be able to state the problem clearly. You should use a maximum of three bullet points to state what the problem is. If the problem is easy to understand, it will be easier for your customer or investor to relate to the problem.
- The solution: This is where you could do a live demo or display your product in action. It is risky to include a video on this slide as it may not work when being displayed on your investor’s computer or in the presentation.
- The market: You need to clearly identify the market which you wish to target and the percentage of the market you wish to dominate.
- The business model: how does your business hope to create money? It is important to highlight clearly the business model which your company has adopted.
- The team: Who is in your team and what have they achieved in relation to the business? It is important to highlight the expertise of the individuals in your business because in the end your investors are investing in the team as well as your business idea.
- The competition: This slide is important because it tells your investor that you have researched the industry and know who the major players are in the field.
- The proprietary technology: What gives you the edge over your competitors? What intellectual property do you own? What technologies and innovations are unique to your business?
- Financial projections: How much time and money is needed for your cash flow to break even and what is your five-year projection? Investors want to know how long until they will see returns on their investment.
- Financing requirements: It is important to highlight how much money you need and what the money will be used for. They also want to know what milestones will be achieved should they choose to invest into your business.
One aspect to concentrate on is business metrics. Make sure that the metrics which you are presenting to your audience are relevant and answer key questions. If you have metrics just for the case of numbers, then this will not impress your audience. These metrics should also be featured in the first few slides of your presentations.
By following this advice, you will be well on your way to creating an exceptional sales pitch deck.
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