By Andrew Keogh.

I recently received a slide deck from a prospective client who wishes to have more success when pitching for business and was seeking my help.

On reviewing their deck, I made the following observations.

Like the majority of decks I receive, it started by telling all about themselves and then preceded to tell all about what they do, before petering out while providing little by way of insights into how they benefit their prospective client.

Step 1:

My first action always is to print out the slides (6 to a page to save paper and ink) I then cut the pages and lay the slides out on my office floor in the order as received.

Step 2:

I then proceed to rearrange the slides into the order that reflects the talk template that I would wish the presentation to follow.

Start with the problem you solve for your prospective client!

This allows you to engage the audience in a discussion about the problem(s) you believe they have and get their agreement.

Now you can introduce yourself and your organisation briefly. Remember you would not have been selected to pitch if you did not fulfil the client’s criteria (and they probably do not need to know you have an office in Timbuktu).

Step 3:

Next, tell the client, using stories, analogies, statistics and examples, what you can do for them. Remember – data overload is to be avoided here at all costs; your job is not to beat the client into submission by telling them everything you do, but rather excite them with the specific information that they need to know and that ideally differentiate you from your competitors.

Step 4:

Finally finish with a restatement of how working with your organisation will solve their problem(s) and significantly benefit them.

Now back to my Prospects Presentation Deck:

In this case, having rearranged the slides I found only one slide which touched on the prospects problem(s) out of the total of 17 slides!

Three slides were all about their organisation.

And the balance was all about what they do!

The final slides said Thank You, completely missing out on the opportunity to drive home the message about how you benefit the prospective client.

My prospective client was very happy with how I rearranged their slide deck, and I believe with some coaching of the pitch team and the addition of a couple of slides, and with a well written and professional business proposal (I recommend using something like this proposal template from Qwilr) – they will be likely to win more business in the future

If you are tired not winning enough pitches perhaps you should review your slide deck and see which format you are using.

Is it all about you or all about how you help clients to prosper? 

If it’s the former, why not get in touch and learn how my clients have dramatically improved their success rate when pitching for business.

You may be interested in my next masterclass – click below for details and tickets:

Overcome Your Reluctance to Speak in Public – and Watch Your Career Grow

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