Strategies for Creating Compelling Sales Presentations

From 2017 to 2021, Gong grew from $200k ARR to nine figures. During that window of time, I spent dozens of cycles with our VP Sales on crafting demos that sell. Here's 6 elements of insanely persuasive sales demos I learned (trial and error): 1. Flip Your Demo Upside Down Most salespeople save the best thing for last. Wrong move. By that time, buyers have checked out. Some have even left the room. Start your demo with the most impactful thing. Save dessert for the beginning. Not end. 2. Give Them A Taste, Not A Drowning You eat, sleep, breathe your product. So you want to show EVERYTHING. You believe that the MORE you show, the more VALUE you build. Wrong move. Your just diluting your message. Show exactly what solves your buyer's problem. Nothing less. But also, nothing more. 3. Focus Your Demo On The Status Quo’s Pain It’s  tempting to focus on benefits. They’re positive and easy to talk about. But focusing your message on the pain of the status quo is more persuasive than focusing on benefits. If your buyer believes the status quo is no longer an option, they’re a step closer to investing in a new resource. Your new resource. People are more motivated to NOT lose than they are motivated to gain something new. Use this psychological bias to your advantage. 4. Avoid Generic Social Proof We're all trained to use social proof. Whether it works is not so simple. Using endorsements from big customers might win credibility with a few buyers, but it'll work against you if your buyer doesn't "identify" with the customer you're name-dropping. It alienates them. If you cite a bunch of your customers who DO NOT LOOK like your buyer? They’ll think “This product isn’t designed for clients like me.” Only name drop customers they can identify with. 5. Frame the problem at the beginning of the demo. Start with a "What We've Heard" slide. Center your buyer on the problem. And get new people in the room up to speed. Then show a "Desired Outcome" slide. Do those two things, and now your demo is a bridge between the two. Easy for your buyer to "sell themselves" when you do that. 6. Frame the pain each feature solves. This is the "micro" version of the previous tip. For EVERY NEW FEATURE you showcase: You HAVE to frame the problem it solves. Otherwise, it's meaningless. At best, your buyers write it off. At worst, it triggers objections. That's all for now. This is nowhere near the last thing to be said about demos that sell. So what would you add? P.S. After watching 3,000+ discovery call recordings, I picked out the best 39 questions that sell. Here’s the free list: https://go.pclub.io/list

Here’s the proposal template that helped me close over $100 million in enterprise sales: It’s also helped my clients close more than 50% of their deals when they use it. And until now, I’ve never shared it publicly. Most sellers are great at pitching features. But the ones who consistently win big deals? They know how to tell a great story. The truth is, executives don’t buy products - they buy confidence. They buy vision. They buy a story they want to be part of. If you want to sell like a top 1% seller, you need a proposal that doesn’t just inform… it moves people. Here’s how I do it 👇 The Story Mountain Framework for Sales Proposals: 1. Exposition – Introduce the characters and setting. Start with them: → “You’re trying to expand into new markets… to grow revenue… to unify your tech stack…” Set the vision. Make them the hero. 2. Rising Action – Lay out the challenges and obstacles. → “But growth stalled. Competitors moved faster. Customer churn increased.” Quote discovery calls. Surface real pain. Build emotional tension. 3. Climax – Introduce your solution. → “Then you found a better way…” Now show how your solution helps them overcome the exact obstacles you outlined. 4. Falling Action – Ease the tension. → “Here’s our implementation plan. Here’s the ROI. Here’s how others in your industry succeeded.” Give them confidence that this won’t just work—it will work for them. 5. Resolution – End with clarity. → “Here’s our mutual action plan. Let’s get started.” Lock in buy-in, next steps, and forward momentum. This structure has helped me close some of the biggest deals of my career—including an $8-figure enterprise deal at Salesforce where I used this exact approach. I broke it all down in this week’s training—and for the first time ever, I show you the actual proposal I used AND tell you how to access my Killer Proposal Template for free. 👀 Watch the full training here: https://lnkd.in/gPY_cvv5 No more boring product pitches. No more ghosting after the readout. Just proposals that close.

You've been there. You get on a demo call. You're excited to show your product. You want to impress the prospect with ALL the cool features... ...and halfway through, you can see their eyes glaze over. Meeting ends. No follow up. Deal dead. I wasted YEARS making this mistake. The problem? I was "selling steaks to vegans". Showing features my prospects didn't care about and never would. Reminds me of the time I walked into an Infinity dealership looking for a comfortable car with good storage for road trips for my growing family. For 20 minutes, the salesperson showed me luxury wood trim, UI features, and rubber floor mats. I walked out, drove to Lexus, and bought from a rep who focused ONLY on what I cared about. Your demo shouldn't be a buffet where prospects sample everything. It should be a custom crafted meal addressing exactly what they're hungry for. Before any demo, ask: "If I could only present 3 things that would move the needle for this prospect, what would they be?" After implementing this approach, my close rate jumped from 22% to 54%. The formula is simple but rarely used: 1. Only show what solves THEIR problems 2. Link every feature to direct business impact 3. Use THEIR language and terminology 4. Make it interactive with questions throughout 5. Keep it simple (fancy fails, simple scales) 6. Prove everything with relevant examples 7. Make it smooth and polished 8. Handle objections before they arise 9. Practice until it's muscle memory Remember: Most prospects will pay MORE for CERTAINTY. — Want to CRUSH your quota and 2x your sales? We should talk: https://lnkd.in/gr9u5Vgd

You’ve heard the advice, “Use stories in your presentations because people respond to stories!” Great advice. BUT… Your story won’t grab your audience’s attention and communicate your message unless it has these 6 elements. In fact, it could even have the opposite effect! Every story you use as the foundation of your high-stakes presentations needs to have: 1. A logical structure. A story needs a beginning, middle, and end with clear turning points between each section. Don't just jump between ideas randomly. Map your presentation flow on paper first so you can physically move sections around. The most persuasive structure builds toward your most important point. 2. An Emotional structure. In the middle of your story, create a rise of conflict where tension builds. This might be when your audience realizes their current approach isn't working or market conditions are changing rapidly. Plan moments where this tension rises before providing a cathartic resolve. Your audience will stay engaged through this emotional journey from tension to resolution. 3. A clear goal. The protagonist in your story must have something they're seeking–an objective that drives the narrative forward. In your presentation, position your audience as the hero pursuing something important. Whether it's reconciliation of different viewpoints or finding the solution to a pressing problem, make sure this goal is crystal clear. 4. Meaningful conflict. Every story needs the hero to face obstacles. This conflict might be with themselves, with others, with technology, or even with nature.  When preparing your presentation, identify what's standing in the way of progress. Is it internal resistance? Market challenges? Technical limitations? Acknowledging these conflicts shows you understand the real situation. 5. A resolution. Every narrative needs to resolve the conflict, though resolution doesn't always mean a happy ending. It could end positively (comedy), negatively (tragedy), or be inconclusive, requiring your audience to take action to determine the outcome. For business presentations, this inconclusive ending can be particularly effective as it prompts decision and action. 6. A lesson worth learning. While rarely stated explicitly (except in fairy tales), every story teaches something. Your presentation should leave your audience with a clear takeaway about what approaches to emulate or avoid. The quality of your story often determines the quality of your high-stakes presentations. Take time to really think through the stories you’re using. Hand-selecting the best ones will help you leave a lasting impact on your audience. #Presentation #StorytellingInBusiness #PresentationSkills