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Sales presentations: templates, examples and ideas on how to present like a pro

A good sales presentation is more than a simple pitch, a demo or a list of facts and figures. Done well, at the right time in your sales process , it’s a tool for getting your prospects’ attention, drumming up excitement and moving prospects toward a buying decision.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to use the power of storytelling to drive decision-making and close more deals. We’ll also cover the fundamental elements of the best sales presentation ever, what to include in your sales decks and practical ideas on how to deliver them.

What is a sales presentation?

A sales presentation is a live meeting where your team showcases your product or service and why it’s the best option for your prospect.

Although the terminology differs from company to company, a sales presentation is not always the same as a sales pitch.

A sales pitch is what your sales professionals do all day long, on the phone, over Zoom or in person with clients.

A sales presentation (although it’s still a sales pitch) is a point-in-time event that usually happens when your sales team is trying to close a more lucrative deal. It’s not a simple phone call, as it often involves a meeting and a demo.

Because you’re likely presenting to a group of senior decision-makers and executives, even the best sales presentation ever requires ample prep time and coordination across multiple team members.

Key takeaways from this sales presentations article

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How (and why) to use storytelling in your sales presentation

Use stories in your presentations to help people remember and relate to your brand.

Statistics, facts and figures can help when you’re trying to persuade a prospect to become a customer, but they’re more impactful if you can frame them with a memorable story.

For example, tell a story about a customer who faced the same challenges as your prospect and supplement it with powerful data, they are more likely to listen and want to know more.

Human beings have a deep relationship with storytelling. Stories move, teach and, in a sales context, persuade audiences.

Chip Heath, a Stanford professor and the co-author of Made to Stick , demonstrates the importance of storytelling by doing an exercise with his students. He divides them into groups and asks them to deliver a one-minute persuasive pitch based on data he’s just shown them.

After the pitches are delivered, he asks the class to jot down everything they remember about them. Although most students use stats rather than stories, 63% remember the stories, while only 5% remember an individual data point .

The stickiness of stories makes them a useful tool for developing a sales presentation outline. They help prospects understand and remember the key points of the presentation and your product.

Thomas Dredge Sales Manager, Particular Audience

Start with a problem (and a deadline)

Your presentation is about the solution you’re offering your prospects, but it shouldn’t start with that solution.

Instead, lead with the problem your solution was designed to solve.

“ Value selling is key,” says Bradley Davies, business development at Cognism . “It is important to understand your buyer and tailor their journey to what you can do for them.

“First, you need to understand what is motivating them to have a discussion, which allows you to identify their pains and present how your offering solves their pains. Everything presented to a prospect should be based on the value for them specifically.”

You might choose to tell a story that positions your product as the hero, helping the customer vanquish a villain: their pain point.

Your story should be tailored to the pain points of the prospects in the room. For example, a change to their business, industry or the technology they use.

“If an element of your offering is not relevant, then don't distract them from the important features. It will keep them engaged and help to build their user story,” adds Bradley.

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Digging deep to determine customer pain points and make the sale

Create a sense of urgency around your product: It’s a solution to their problem, but if they don’t act now, they could miss an opportunity. Tell a story about what might happen if your prospect doesn’t change, framing the consequences of inaction.

Focus on outcomes

You’ve outlined the problem and, if you’re doing your job, your audience is nodding along. Now it’s time to start talking about the solution.

However, that doesn’t mean you should launch into the features and benefits of your product just yet.

Rather than presenting your product, a good sales presentation draws a picture of what life could look like for a customer once they start doing things differently. How will their workload or productivity improve? What will they be able to do with additional time and resources? How will they reduce spending and increase revenue?

From there, introduce your solution and the features that can make this brave new world possible. Do this in a few ways:

Position your features against the old way of doing things

Present those features as “superpowers” that will solve your prospect’s problems

Compare those features to competitors’ features

Quantify the value your features bring vs. the cost of doing nothing

Use a combination of some or all of the above

Creating a winning sales presentation slide deck

Most sales presentations include a slide deck to deliver facts, case studies and statistics that convey the value of your solution.

Create your sales pitch deck in an application like PowerPoint or Google slides to ensure your presentation is visible to everyone in the room (or in a virtual setting).

The best sales decks have a few key elements:

A great cover image or opening slide. Like the story you open your presentation with, your cover slide should grab your audience’s attention.

Data and key points . Charts, graphs, infographics, quotes and other information back up your presentation. Your slides should support your presentation by visualizing data, not repeating what you’re saying. You can get metrics from third-party sources or (if appropriate) from your own sales dashboard .

Testimonials and case studies from other customers. Quotes and success stories from or information about other customers, preferably in the same industry as your prospects, will act as social proof and go a long way to backing up your claims.

Competitive context. In all likelihood, your product isn’t the only one a potential customer is evaluating. Savvy sales professionals take the opportunity to proactively communicate how their product stacks up to their competitors’ and anticipate objections.

Customized content. While it might seem tempting to use the same content for every presentation, you should personalize your presentation for each meeting. You might want to use your prospect’s brand colors, find data specific to their market or industry, or reference an earlier exchange. You can find ready-to-use customizable sales decks through a graphic design app, such as Canva.

A glimpse into next steps. Give your prospects an understanding of what new customer onboarding looks like with a slide that includes a direct call to action offering next steps. For some companies, the training and customer support experience can be a value proposition in and of itself.

A note about text in your sales deck : Keep the slides simple and light on text. Your prospects don’t want to look at a wall of words to read. According to data from Venngage , 84% of presenters use visual data in their presentations – and for good reason: You don’t want to overwhelm your audience with text as they listen to you, look at your sales deck and watch the demo.

When you do include text, ensure you use a font (and font size) that can be easily read by everyone sitting in on your presentation.

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What else to bring to your sales presentation

Now that we’ve discussed the story elements of a sales presentation and your slide deck, what else should you bring to the meeting?

Most sales presentations are in-person affairs and include visual elements like a sales deck, handouts or even an in-person demonstration of the physical product. Here are a few things to think about including in your pitch.

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The product.

Nothing sells a product like seeing it in action.

Take Scrub Daddy, a sponge that changes shape depending on the heat of the water. When Aaron Krause, Scrub Daddy’s founder and inventor, presented the product on Shark Tank in 2012 , he demonstrated the sponge cleaning dirty kitchenware and greasy countertops. He also used bowls of water and two 10-pound weights to show the sponge’s amazing morphic abilities.

The tactic paid off: Scrub Daddy partnered with Lori Greiner for $200,000, in return for 20% equity in the business and is now considered one of Shark Tank’s most successful products.

Not all products are easy to demo, so you may have to improvise.

With a physical product, think of the perfect environment for a demo. What would show the product at its best?

With a digital product, make sure you have the technology on hand to show what your product can do (and check beforehand that the tech works). If it’s a mobile app, have your prospects download it. If it’s a platform, consider producing recorded or interactive product demos that can be embedded in your sales presentation.

For items that are too big to be brought in or which are location-specific, you may have to rely on a video as part of the presentation.

7 steps to putting together a brilliant sales demo

Leave behinds.

Depending on the nature of your solution, you may want to have materials you can leave with the prospects in the room.

This can be as simple as contact information or sales literature you pass out at the end of the presentation. It can also be something that’s part of the presentation, like a QR code that allows them to download the demo on their phones. Whatever format you choose, make sure the material is concise and to the point.

Tailoring your sales presentation to speak to your audience

Once you develop a strong sales deck template, it’s tempting to use it over and over with your target audience. Remember, personalization is essential in sales.

During lead generation , prospecting and sales calls, you know that prospects are more interested in buying if your pitches are tailored to them. It’s the same with your sales presentations, especially if you have an unusual prospect.

Let’s say your product is a CRM that’s normally used by sales organizations, but a human resources department is interested in using it to create a recruiting pipeline.

You wouldn’t use a sales deck with sales-related examples to sell it during the presentation.

Instead, you’d research talent acquisition challenges, ask your product department to create a template or a demo aimed at recruiting and build your sales deck accordingly.

Different industries have unique challenges and opportunities. It’s your responsibility to tailor your value proposition and key bullet points accordingly.

“To craft the perfect sales presentation pitch,” advises Danny Hayward, Sales Manager at Unruly , “ensure you take care of these three things:

Ask the right questions beforehand to understand the needs of the client, especially their flaws

Learn your product inside and out

Rehearse, rehearse and rehearse again

Danny Hayward Sales Manager, Unruly

How to nail your sales presentation delivery

Here are a few tried and true sales presentation techniques to make sure you close the deal.

Whether you’re presenting solo or as part of a team, it’s important to plan in advance. Follow these sales presentation tips for preparation.

Practice, practice, practice . You’ll need to get the timing right, especially if your presentation has a lot of moving parts. Go through it to make sure your timing works, so that you can nail the meeting itself.

Make sure everything works . You don’t want to go into a meeting with a faulty PowerPoint presentation or a broken sample – or find out there is no whiteboard when one is integral to your demonstration. Do your best to make sure everything goes to plan.

Decide on everyone’s roles . This one is just for those presenting as a team. Will different sales reps speak through each section? Will one rep talk while the others handle the sales deck and demo? Decide who will do and say what ahead of time.

Know your attendees. Make sure you know who from the prospect company will be in the meeting, their titles and the roles they each play in the buying process. Conducting light social media research can also clue you into attendees’ past experiences or alma maters (information that can fuel pre-presentation small talk and forge closer connections with your audience).

Practice confident body language

Presentations usually happen in person, which is why you need to practice strong body language. You want to look relaxed and confident (even if you’re shaking in your shoes).

Here are some ways you can improve your body language:

Eye contact . Make and maintain eye contact, even in virtual meetings. This shows people you’re interested in them and invested in what they have to say.

Stand up straight . Pull your shoulders back and straighten your spine; fixing your posture is an easy way to convey confidence. You’ll also feel better if you’re not hunched over.

Chin up. It’s hard when you’re in front of people, but don’t look at the floor or your shoes. Face straight ahead and make eye contact (or look at the back wall rather than the floor.)

Have a firm handshake. Some people judge others by their handshakes. Offer a firm handshake to make a good first impression.

Engage your audience

Presentations can span 30 to 60 minutes or more, so you need to be able to hold your prospects’ attention. There are a number of ways to keep everyone interested:

1. Understand your audience’s attention span

The beginning and the end of your presentation are the most memorable, so that’s where you want to use your strongest material.

Rather than leading with your product’s features, use the first few minutes of a presentation to briefly introduce yourself, and share the compelling story we mentioned earlier. If your demo itself is compelling, lead with that.

Then talk about product features and pricing. Your prospects might have already researched it or can look it up afterward, so it’s fine that it’s occupying real estate in the middle of the presentation.

Lastly, finish strong. Return to your story, sharing how your product solved an important problem. Close with confidence, and open the floor for questions.

2. Be funny

Humor can be tricky, so if you’re not comfortable making jokes, don’t force it. If, however, humor is part of your brand voice and you think it will be well-received by your audience, go for it. Humor can be a good way to connect with prospects, make your presentation memorable and relax everyone in the room.

3. Use a little showmanship

The best thing about a sales presentation is that it lets you show off your product. Unlike a pitch, a presentation lets you pull out the stops, make a splash and showcase your solution.

Use this to your advantage and be as memorable as you possibly can.

Sophie Cameron Business Development Representative, CAKE

What to do after the sales presentation to close the deal

The sales cycle isn’t over when the sales presentation ends. Here are some tips on how to wrap up loose ends and close the deal.

Take questions

Encourage questions to show prospects you care about their experience.

Sometimes prospects may want a question answered right in the middle of a presentation. Interactivity is a great sign of engagement. If that happens, stop the presentation and take their questions head-on to show you’re listening and validate their thoughts.

Other times they may sit silently waiting for you to give them all the information they need.

In either case, proactively ask for questions once you’ve ended your presentation. Encourage them to share their concerns. This is a consultative selling approach that works to build a relationship with your prospects.

By the end of your sales pitch, your prospect should be ready to come along with you and start your business relationship.

Outline the next steps of the process. The first could be offering a trial of your product, scheduling a follow-up meeting or sending over a proposal.

Whatever the steps, make sure they’re clearly defined. If you don’t hear from the prospect soon after the proposal, check back in with a follow-up email or call.

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Great sales presentation examples (and why they worked)

Here are some sales pitch examples you can use to inform your next sales presentation; these examples range from great sales decks to presentations and we’ll explain why they worked so well.

The successful demo

Stephen Conway of vegan chocolate brand Pure Heavenly opened his elevator pitch on the UK’s Dragons’ Den in 2019 by handing out samples of his chocolate. The product, paired with Stephen’s story about wanting to create an allergen-free treat that his young daughters could enjoy, led to three offers.

Why it worked: Conway knew the strength of his product and packaged it in a personal story, betting (correctly) that it would sell itself.

The data-driven presentation

Lunchbox is a restaurant technology company that specializes in online ordering, customer loyalty and guest engagement software. The sales deck the company used to raise its $50 million Series B in 2022 relied on bold visuals and graphs to illustrate its market opportunity, ARR history and competitive differentiators.

Why it worked: The deck tells two stories, one about the company itself and another about the way consumer dining habits have changed in the wake of COVID-19. Lunchbox used data to show how it met the industry’s new pain points for both itself and other companies.

Sales data: How to analyze sales data and a sample Excel spreadsheet

The presenters with overwhelming confidence

When Brian and Michael Speciale went on Shark Tank in 2017 to pitch their product, The Original Comfy, they had very little – no numbers or inventory, just a prototype of a big fleece blanket/hoodie and video of that hoodie being worn everywhere from the couch to the beach. What they did have was a good product and confidence in that product. Their presentation earned them an offer of $50,000 for 30% from Barbara Corcoran.

Why it worked: Corcoran says she bought in because the Speciale brothers had a good idea, the guts to present it and knew they had to strike while the iron was hot. While you probably should be more prepared for your own sales presentation, the Original Comfy story shows just how important confidence is in a sales presentation.

Begin your sales presentation by capturing your audience’s attention and establishing a solid foundation for the rest of your presentation. Here are some steps to consider:

Greet and introduce yourself

Establish rapport

State the purpose and agenda

Address the pain points

Present a compelling hook

Outline the benefits

Establish credibility

Set expectations

Remember to maintain a confident and enthusiastic demeanor throughout your presentation.

The ideal length of a sales presentation can vary depending on factors such as the complexity of the product or service, the audience’s attention span and the context in which the presentation is being delivered. However, keeping a sales presentation concise, focused and within the timeframe is generally recommended.

The conclusion of a sales presentation is a significant opportunity to leave a lasting impression and inspire action from your audience. Here are a few steps you should take to end your presentation effectively.

Include a call to action

Summarize key points

Showcase success stories

Open the floor to questions

Offer additional resources

Here’s an example of how to end your presentation:

“To quickly recap, we’ve covered these key points today: [Summarize the main features and benefits briefly].

“Now, let’s revisit our success stories. Our clients, like [Client A] and [Client B], achieved [mention their specific results]. These successes demonstrate how our product/service can deliver tangible benefits for your business.

“I’d be happy to address any questions or concerns you may have. Please feel free to ask about anything related to our offering, implementation process or pricing.

“Before we finish, I’d like to encourage you to take the next step. Schedule a demo, request a trial or start a conversation with our team. Don’t miss the opportunity to experience the advantages firsthand.

“Lastly, we have additional resources available, such as case studies and whitepapers, to provide you with more insights. Feel free to reach out to our team for any further assistance.

“Thank you all for your time and consideration today.”

Final thoughts

It can be tempting to play it safe with a sales presentation by keeping it to a sales deck and a speech – but a sales presentation should be a show-stopper.

The best sales presentation tells your customer’s story, validates with data, offers a demo and more. It’s a major undertaking that shows the strength of your product. Done well, it keeps your prospects engaged and will make them want to do business with you.

Show customers how your product can push their business forward (or better yet, how your product can make them the superhero) and you’ll have a winning sales presentation that sparks your customer’s interest and drives revenue.

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The Ultimate Sales Meeting Agenda Examples: Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, Annual Templates

Keep everyone on track to meet the targets with tried & true sales meeting agenda templates for weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual meetings.

Sales meetings are underrated, don't you think? I mean, I get it. As salespeople, we're always hustling, chasing leads, and closing deals. Who has time for yet another meeting?

Let's not be too quick to dismiss the power of a well-planned sales meeting.

Think about it. Sales meetings offer a chance for us to come together, share insights, celebrate wins, make sure everything is on track, and provide a health check-up on the biz.

Now, here's the secret sauce that makes sales meetings truly effective: a well-crafted sales meeting agenda. It’s the roadmap that guides you through the twists and turns of a productive and engaging discussion.

In this article, I'm going to spill all the beans on how to create weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual sales meeting agendas that will make your meetings the secret ingredient to your business success.

With a killer agenda in your arsenal, you'll not only save time but also supercharge your team's performance .

Let's dive in, shall we?

What’s a Sales Meeting Agenda and Why Do You Need One?

A sales meeting agenda is simply a plan or outline of topics to be discussed and tasks to be accomplished during a sales meeting. It’s there to keep everyone focused, engaged, and moving toward a common goal.

Now, let me break it down for you with some key benefits of having a winning sales meeting agenda:

• Structure and Organization:  No more aimless wandering or getting caught in endless tangents. It’s all about efficiency. Your agenda will outline the topics, time allocations, and desired outcomes.
• Time Management: We all know that time is money, especially in the fast-paced world of sales. A well-designed agenda helps keep meetings on schedule, ensuring that everyone's precious time is used wisely. Say goodbye to those never-ending meetings that leave you longing for a breath of fresh air.
• Focus and Clarity: Picture this: you walk into a sales meeting and have no idea what to expect. Chaos ensues, and you end up with a mishmash of ideas and no clear direction. With an agenda, everyone knows exactly what topics will be covered, what decisions need to be made, and what actions need to be taken.
• Collaboration and Engagement: Sales meetings are not one-person shows. They're a collective effort, a chance for us to come together, share insights, and learn from each other. An agenda can encourage active participation, ensuring that everyone has a voice and that valuable ideas are exchanged.
• Results and Accountability: Here's the bottom line: we're here to close deals and hit those targets. A sales meeting agenda acts as a catalyst, driving action and accountability. By setting clear goals, discussing strategies, and assigning action items, the agenda ensures that everyone leaves the meeting with a sense of purpose and a roadmap for success.

You see, a sales meeting agenda is more than just a piece of paper or a Google Doc.

It's a powerful tool that brings structure, focus, collaboration, and results to your sales team.

Now that you understand its importance, it's time to roll up our sleeves and create some kickass sales meeting agendas that will take our team to new heights.

Step-by-Step Guide to Creating a Sales Meeting Agenda

Let’s take a look at the process of crafting a winning sales meeting agenda:

Step 1: Introductions and Icebreakers

Alright, folks, let's kick off this sales meeting with a quick and lively introduction. This is the perfect time to break the ice and set a friendly tone for the rest of the gathering.

A simple "How were you guys' weekends?" can work wonders in getting the conversation flowing.

Share a laugh, a funny anecdote , or even a quick story to create a warm and welcoming atmosphere.

Step 2: Review Goals and Progress

Now that everyone's acquainted and energized, let's dive into the heart of the matter.

• Begin by reviewing the goals set in the previous meeting and tracking progress.
• Are we on track to meet our targets?
• Celebrate the wins, big or small, and acknowledge the efforts that got us there.
• On the flip side, address any challenges or roadblocks encountered along the way.

By discussing both successes and obstacles, you can identify areas for improvement and adjust your strategies accordingly.

Step 3: The Metrics Review in Sales Meetings Agendas

Ah, numbers – the bread and butter of sales. It's time to put our analytical hats on and dive into the metrics.

Take a look at the key sales performance indicators – conversion rates, revenue, customer acquisition costs, or whatever floats your boat—and discuss the trends and insights they reveal.

Identify areas of strength and areas that need improvement.

This discussion will help you gauge the health of your sales efforts and make smarter decisions moving forward.

Step 4: Business Housekeeping

This step might not be the most glamorous, but it's essential to keep things running smoothly.

Address any announcements, updates, or administrative matters that need attention.

It could be upcoming events, changes in processes or policies, or any other relevant information that affects the team.

Remember, keeping everyone in the loop builds transparency and fosters a sense of unity.

Step 6: Assign Action and Follow-Up Items

After all the discussions, it’s time to assign action items to specific individuals or teams.

Make sure these action items are clear, actionable, and aligned with the meeting's objectives. I like to use SMART goals .

Capture them in writing and assign responsibility and deadlines.

Don't forget to follow up on these action items in the next meeting. Accountability is the secret sauce that turns discussions into action and results.

Step 7: Wrapping Up on a Positive Note

As you get to the end of the meeting, wrap things up on a positive note.

Take a moment to recap the key takeaways and decisions made during the meeting. Provide a summary of the action items assigned and remind everyone of their deadlines.

Finally, express appreciation for everyone's participation and contributions.

Ending the meeting in a positive and motivating tone will leave everyone feeling inspired and ready to tackle the tasks ahead.

And that’s pretty much it – everything you need to craft a winning agenda! Following these steps will set the stage for a productive, engaging, and results-driven meeting.

Weekly Sales Meeting Agenda Example

Weekly sales meetings are an opportunity to keep your team aligned, informed, and motivated. Here’s what a weekly agenda looks like, with some key talking points for each period.

Sales meeting details

• Date and time
• People attending

Introduction (5 minutes)

• Outline goals for the meeting

Team Brief (5 minutes)

• Go over new company updates or policies
• Review questions or concerns from the previous meeting

Pipeline and Deal Updates (5 minutes)

• Discuss ongoing deals in the pipeline
• Identify bottlenecks or opportunities

Review Goals and Metrics (5 minutes)

• Evaluate progress
• Review key performance metrics
• Discuss trajectory

Celebrate Wins & Share Ideas (5 minutes)

• Recognize individual and team achievements
• Highlight specific successes
• Exchange ideas
• Encourage and motivate

The Wrap Up (5 minutes)

• Recap the key points
• Confirm meeting time
• Express gratitude for participation and contributions

Monthly Sales Meeting Agenda Example

For the monthly sales meeting, you zoom out, assess your progress, and set the course for the month ahead. Here’s what a monthly sales meeting agenda could look like:

• Outline the goals for the meeting

Performance Review (5 minutes)

• Analyze overall sales performance for the month
• Review key metrics for team and individuals
• Discuss areas of improvement
• Discuss areas of success

Goal Progress (5 minutes)

• Assess progress toward our monthly sales goals
• Discuss any challenges and strategies

Strategy Evaluation (5 minutes)

• Reflect on the effectiveness of sales strategies and tactics
• Identify opportunities for refinement or new approaches

Training and Development (5 minutes)

• Discuss upcoming training sessions or development opportunities
• Share insights from past training initiatives
• Confirm the date and time of the next meeting
• Express gratitude for everyone's participation and contributions

Quarterly Sales Meeting Agenda Example

Of course, quarterly sales meetings have different goals than weekly and monthly meetings. This is where you start to think about long-term goals and strategies.

Check out this template to see what I mean:

• Recap the goals of the meeting

Review the Last Quarter (15 minutes)

• Evaluate the team's performance
• Identify successes, challenges, and areas for improvements
• Discuss lessons learned

Plan for the Next 90 Days (15 minutes)

• Set new goals and objectives
• Define specific action plans and targets
• Establish clear expectations

The Health of the Pipeline and Strategies (10 minutes)

• Assess the status of ongoing deals in the sales pipeline
• Identify any bottlenecks or opportunities
• Review the effectiveness of current plans and tactics
• Discuss new approaches or initiatives

Review the Annual and Long-term Plan (10 minutes)

• Revisit the annual and 3-5 year goals
• Evaluate progress towards these goals
• Discuss new approaches
• Confirm the date and time of the next quarterly sales meeting
• Express appreciation for participation and contributions

Annual Sales Meeting Agenda Example

The purpose of an annual sales meeting goes beyond simply reviewing the past year's performance. It serves as a vital opportunity to set the stage for the upcoming year and beyond.

Let’s look at the template:

• Discuss meeting objectives

Review of Yearly Performance (20 minutes)

• Analyze and discuss the team's performance
• Review key metrics
• Discuss missed opportunities and successes

Setting Goals and Strategies for the Next Year (30 minutes)

• Establish the vision and goals for the upcoming year
• Discuss sales strategies, initiatives, and action plans
• Discuss potential roadblocks and challenges
• Encourage input and suggestions

Celebrate Wins (15 minutes)

• Acknowledge individual and team accomplishments throughout the year
• Share success stories and highlight exceptional performances
• Express gratitude and appreciation

Team Building and Collaboration (15 minutes)

• Facilitate team-building activities
• Reinforce the importance of teamwork and cooperation

The Wrap Up (10 minutes)

• Recap the key takeaways and decisions
• Discuss the next steps and action items

These templates are just examples of what the agenda would look like. Of course, you’ll need to adapt them to your business goals.

Sales Meeting Agenda Best Practices

Let's look at some best practices you can combine with these examples to create your own sales meeting agenda that gets results:

1) Define Clear Goals

You need to know what your destination is if you want to make use of a map. Start by clearly defining the goals you want to achieve during the meeting.

Whether it's celebrating recent wins, strategizing for the future, or addressing specific challenges, having well-defined objectives keeps everyone on track and focused on what matters most.

2) Stick to the Agenda

Many people think creating sales meeting agendas is useless because their meetings still run over or go into tangents along the way.

But that’s not the agenda’s fault; it’s theirs.

You need to stay focused and disciplined and really stick to the agenda to see its full potential.

Use a timer if you need to keep it from running over. And do your best to keep control over conversations so they don’t veer off course.

Just make sure the agenda is adhered to.

3) Let the Topics Determine the Agenda Length

Quality should always triumph over quantity. Sometimes there's a temptation to add extra agenda items just to fill up the allotted time slot.

But here's the truth: a longer meeting doesn't necessarily equate to a more productive or impactful one.

Focus on incorporating only the most relevant and essential topics. Be selective and prioritize discussions that directly contribute to the meeting's goals.

Don't shoehorn in unnecessary items or artificially lengthen the meeting to meet a predetermined time frame.

4) Take Outside Input

Don't shy away from seeking outside help.

Bringing in team members, stakeholders, or other relevant departments can help hone in on what topics and items need priority.

Remember, a successful sales meeting is a team effort. By involving others in the agenda creation process, you tap into their collective wisdom and expertise.

That way, you can be confident that your agenda is truly acting as a guiding light to help you and your team hit your targets and get real results.

5) Embrace Flexibility

While a well-structured agenda is essential, don't be afraid to sprinkle in a dash of flexibility.

Allow room for organic discussions and unexpected opportunities. Sales can be unpredictable, and sometimes the best ideas emerge from spontaneous conversations.

Embrace the ebb and flow of the meeting while still ensuring that you cover the core agenda items.

6) Keep Things Simple

Don’t overcomplicate your agenda – simplicity is the name of the game. Don't bog it down with fancy jargon, lengthy explanations, or an endless list of topics.

Keep it straightforward and to the point. Focus on the key items that really matter, align with your goals, and ignite meaningful discussions.

You can see that in my templates. If you have too much going on in your agenda, it will just make everything confusing.

7) Continuously Learn and Improve

The secret ingredient to success is continuous improvement. After each sales meeting, take a moment to reflect on what worked well and what could be enhanced.

Seek feedback from your team and be open to their suggestions. Experiment with different formats, activities, or approaches to keep the meetings fresh and engaging.

You’ll learn to be more precise with your timing, decide which items need priority, and more.

Remember, it's a journey of growth, and your sales meeting agenda should evolve alongside your team.

8) Check the Tech

If you're planning to use laptops or any other fancy gadgets for your sales meetings, I got an important saying for you: Check the tech.

OK, I just made that up but trust me – there's nothing worse than scrambling to fix technical glitches right when the meeting is about to start.

Take an extra 10-15 minutes before showtime to head into the meeting room and do a quick dry run.

Make sure all your programs work, videos play without any buffering, and your slides show up as planned.

This little pre-meeting ritual will save you from those awkward moments of desperately trying to get things working while everyone is waiting.

Let the Sales Meeting Agenda Lead the Way

Let's take a moment to appreciate the humble yet mighty sales meeting agenda.

While some may dismiss it as a mere formality, we now understand its true power and potential. A well-crafted agenda sets the stage for focused, efficient, and productive meetings that drive results.

And by following these best practices and tailoring the agendas to fit your specific needs, you can transform our sales meetings into power-packed sessions of collaboration, growth, and celebration.

Don’t take the art of agenda creation for granted – unleash the full potential of your sales meetings!

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12 Practical Sales Meeting Agenda Templates (for Teams and One-on-Ones)

Learn how to use a sales meeting agenda template. Try our 12 templates for different sales meetings, from team meetings to one-on-ones with the CEO.

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Navigating a sales meeting without a clear agenda can lead to a chaotic discussion and an unproductive outcome — leaving you feeling frustrated and uncertain about the next steps.

Fortunately, using a sales meeting agenda template lends structure and clarity to any meeting. Whether you’re reviewing your sales team’s performance, need to strategize, or have challenges to tackle, the right agenda template is a powerful step toward more effective sales meetings.

The 12 templates in this article — eight for sales team meetings and four for one-on-one meetings with company leadership — will empower you to lead meetings with confidence and consistently achieve the outcomes you’re hoping for.

Why use a sales meeting agenda template?

A sales meeting agenda template is a structured document used to guide the flow and agenda topics of a sales meeting.

It lays out the items, topics, or issues that need to be discussed or addressed during the meeting — often with time allocations for each agenda item to keep the meeting well-organized, focused,  productive , and efficient.

Sales meeting agenda templates save you from having to generate agendas from scratch for each meeting.

Agenda templates for sales team meetings

Sales meetings vary in their objectives and focus, so the type of agenda template you need will depend on the nature of the meeting.

Below, you’ll find eight templates for common types of sales meetings, along with a brief description of each meeting type and suggested time limits.

Begin by articulating the nature of the meeting you need to call. Then, select a template from the list below that best fits the meeting’s purpose.

1. Weekly sales team meeting

Frequency:  Weekly

Duration:  60 minutes

This recurring meeting focuses on weekly targets, performance metrics, and tackling any challenges that arise.

The agenda for your weekly sales meetings may include sales updates from each team member, a review of the weekly sales numbers, and discussions on how to overcome current obstacles.

Agenda template:

• Welcome and opening remarks (5 min)
• Weekly sales numbers and metrics update (15 min)
• Updates from individual sales representatives (20 min)
• Challenges and solutions discussion (10 min)
• Announcements and updates (5 min)
• Closing remarks and next week’s focus (5 min)

2. Sales training meeting

Frequency:  Quarterly or as needed

Duration:  2–3 hours

This type of meeting is structured around a training topic. That could be a new sales technique, a product training session, training on  AI web scraping tools or even soft skill development, such as how to stay positive and polite when dealing with a difficult customer.

A sales training meeting can include a breakdown of training modules, interactive activities, and feedback sessions.

• Introduction to training topic (10 min)
• Training Module 1 (30 min)
• Interactive activity or role-playing session (20 min)
• Training Module 2 (30 min)
• Second interactive activity or role-playing session (20 min)
• Evaluation and Q&A (30 min)
• Wrap-up and key takeaways (10 min)

‎3. Product launch sales meeting

Frequency:  As required (before a product launch)

Duration:  2 hours

Before launching a new product or service, this meeting aligns the sales team around that project’s benefits and selling points. The agenda might include product demonstrations and hands-on training, discussions on market positioning, and sales strategies specific to the new offering.

• Introduction to the new product (15 min)
• Product demonstration (30 min)
• Market positioning discussion (20 min)
• Sales strategies and tactics (30 min)
• Q&A session (15 min)
• Closing remarks and next steps (10 min)

4. Sales strategy planning meeting

Frequency:  Quarterly or annually

Duration:  3–4 hours (including a 15–20-minute break)

This meeting type focuses on setting or adjusting a sales strategy. It is usually held periodically, either quarterly or even annually, and covers topics such as market analysis, competitive positioning, goal setting, and action plans for the upcoming business plan period.

• Introduction to the meeting (10 min)
• Review of previous strategy and outcomes (30 min)
• Market and competitive analysis (45 min)
• Goal-setting for the next period (30 min)
• Strategy brainstorming and formulation (60 min)
• Action plan creation (45 min)
• Review and finalization (20 min)

5. Client review meeting

Frequency:  Monthly or quarterly, depending on client priority

Duration:  1.5 hours

Client review meetings focus on discussing specific clients or accounts. The agenda might include understanding the client’s needs, customer feedback, and sales history, as well as strategizing on upselling or retaining the client.

• Introduction to the topic and intent of the meeting (5 min)
• Client sales history and overview (15 min)
• Client feedback and concerns (20 min)
• Discussion on upselling or retention strategies (30 min)
• Next steps and action items (15 min)
• Closing remarks (5 min)

6. Sales technology and tools meeting

Frequency:  Semi-annually or as needed

As the name indicates, a sales technology and tools meeting focuses on equipping the team with the right technology and tools. The agenda includes segments on tool demonstrations, best practices, and feedback collection on what technology works well and what doesn’t.

• Introduction to the agenda and the tool/technology to be discussed (10 min)
• Tool demonstration or discussion (30 min)
• Best practices and usage guidelines (20 min)
• Feedback from the team (10 min)
• Q&A session (10 min)
• Wrap-up and next steps (10 min)

‎7. Sales pipeline review meeting

Frequency:  Monthly

Duration:  2 hours

A sales pipeline review meeting dives deep into the business’s sales funnel or pipeline. The agenda includes a review of leads at different stages, potential bottlenecks, conversion rates, and strategies for pushing leads toward closure.

• Opening remarks (5 min)
• Pipeline overview and statistics (15 min)
• Review of leads in early stages (20 min)
• Review of leads in middle stages (20 min)
• Review of leads in final stages (20 min)
• Bottleneck identification and solutions (20 min)
• Next steps and action items (20 min)

8. Sales review and feedback meeting

Frequency:  Quarterly

In a sales review and feedback meeting, the team retrospectively reviews successes and areas for improvement. The agenda includes segments for analyzing sales data, discussing what worked and what didn’t, and brainstorming improvements.

In this type of meeting, it’s helpful to review the notes from the previous session to assess progress on critical issues.

• Introduction to the meeting (5 min)
• Review of sales data and outcomes (25 min)
• Discussion on successes (30 min)
• Areas for improvement and challenges (30 min)
• Brainstorming and feedback session (20 min)
• Next steps and strategies (10 min)

Feel free to adjust these eight sales team meeting templates and time allocations to your sales team meetings’ needs.

Agenda templates for one-on-one sales meetings

In addition to managing a sales team, sales managers need to prepare for regular one-on-one meetings with senior leadership. Though often less structured than regular sales team sessions, these meetings benefit from having clear agendas.

Here are four one-on-one sales meeting agenda templates tailored to interactions between a sales leader and the CEO or another senior leader:

‎1. Quarterly sales performance review

Duration:  60–90 minutes

A quarterly sales performance review provides an opportunity for the sales manager to present an overview of the sales department’s achievements and challenges over the past quarter. It’s a check-in to ensure sales strategies are on track and determine whether any adjustments are required.

At the same time, the CEO gains insights into the health of the sales pipeline, top performers, and areas that may need additional resources.

• Opening and purpose of the meeting (5 min)
• Overview of quarterly sales achievements vs goals (10 min)
• Deep dive into top-performing products/services (10 min)
• Analysis of underperforming segments and challenges faced (10 min)
• Market and competitive insights, including new sales opportunities (10 min)
• Strategy updates and upcoming initiatives (10 min)
• Feedback from CEO and direction for next quarter (15 min)
• Wrap-up and next steps (5 min)

2. Annual sales strategy presentation

Frequency:  Annually

Duration:  1.5–2 hours

In an annual sales strategy presentation, the sales leader presents the comprehensive sales strategy for the upcoming year. The focus is on aligning the sales objectives with the company’s broader  strategic goals . The meeting delves into anticipated market trends, resource allocation, and key performance indicators (KPIs).

The CEO provides feedback on keeping the sales process aligned with the company’s vision and may suggest strategic pivots.

• Recap of the past year’s performance (15 min)
• Market trends and competitive landscape analysis (15 min)
• Proposed sales strategy for the upcoming year (20 min)
• Budgeting and resource allocation (20 min)
• Key milestones and performance indicators (10 min)
• CEO insights, feedback, and strategic alignment (10 min)
• Conclusion and way forward (5 min)

3. Product/service launch discussion

Frequency:  As required (before a product/service launch)

A product/service launch discussion helps ensure that the CEO and sales manager are aligned on the go-to-market strategy whenever a new product or service is ready for launch.

The sales manager presents research on market positioning, sales tactics, and anticipated challenges. The CEO provides direction for the launch.

• Introduction to the new product/service (10 min)
• Market research and positioning strategy (10 min)
• Sales tactics and launch plan (10 min)
• Expected challenges and solutions (10 min)
• Resource allocation and team readiness (10 min)
• CEO’s input, concerns, and suggestions (5 min)
• Finalization of launch plan and next steps (5 min)

‎4. Crisis or challenge discussion

Frequency:  As needed (when facing significant sales challenges)

When a sudden dip in sales, an emerging strong competitor, or another unexpected challenge arises, a crisis or challenge discussion addresses the issue head-on.

The sales manager presents the issue, its impact, and proposed solutions. The CEO, who has a broader view of the company’s operations, may offer alternative solutions, provide resources, or suggest strategic shifts to navigate the challenge effectively.

• Overview of the challenge (10 min)
• Impact analysis on sales and business (15 min)
• Proposed solutions and  action plans  (15 min)
• Risk assessment and contingency planning (10 min)
• CEO’s guidance, insights, and recommendations (5 min)
• Finalization of the action plan (5 min)

7 practical tips for productive meetings

Regardless of the agenda template you choose to work with, all meetings benefit from essential practices to be effective.

Here are seven practical tips to keep your sales meetings productive and impactful.

1. Articulate clear meeting objectives

Before diving into the meeting, establish clear objectives. What do you want to achieve by the end of the session? Make sure this is reflected in the agenda and shared with the participants at the meeting’s start.

A well-defined goal will help you ensure that the discussion stays on track and yields tangible outcomes.

2. Share the required pre-meeting preparation

Encourage participants to come prepared. Share the agenda, relevant documents, and any pre-reading materials in advance. This not only saves time but also allows team members to contribute more meaningfully to the discussion.

3. Practice effective time management

Adhere strictly — though not rigidly — to the allotted time for each agenda item so that all topics are covered without the meeting running over time.

Motion’s AI-driven intelligent calendar  can help keep your meetings on track by mapping out the allotted time for agenda items.

Direct side issues to the parking lot to be dealt with in a separate meeting at a later time.

If a discussion needs more time, schedule a follow-up session.

4. Engage every participant

Create an inclusive environment where each team member feels valued and encouraged to contribute.

‎Actively seek input from quieter members so that all participants’ perspectives are heard and considered.

5. Formulate action items and assign accountability

Conclude the meeting by summarizing key takeaways and reviewing action items, including clear deadlines. A key step is to assign responsibilities to specific individuals for follow-through.

6. Follow-up

Send out a meeting summary highlighting the discussed points, the decisions made, the next steps, and who’s responsible for those steps.

7. Gather feedback on your meetings

Regularly collect feedback on your meetings’ effectiveness, and adjust or fine-tune your agenda templates as needed so that the meeting processes you use remain relevant and valuable to all participants.

By incorporating these practices, you can transform your sales meetings into productive sessions that drive results, promote better team collaboration, and contribute positively to your sales objectives.

Try our agenda templates for better sales meetings

A sales meeting agenda template is a helpful tool for a focused, productive sales meeting. Select from the 12 templates presented in this article to always have an effective, ready-made agenda outline at your fingertips.

To schedule meetings at the best times for all participants and keep agenda time allocations on track, consider using Motion’s intelligent  online calendar  and  Meeting Assistant .

Try Motion for free for 7 days .

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How to Create a Successful Sales Meeting Agenda (With Template)‍

At their worst, sales meetings feel like a dull, boring group session or a pointless office tradition. But when conducted properly, these meetings can engage your reps and help them absorb important information for success.

The difference between the two? A sales meeting agenda.

Want in? Great—we’ve created this comprehensive Hoppier guide to help you prepare a successful sales meeting agenda for your team, plus ideas to maximize productivity.

What is a Sales Meeting Agenda?

A sales meeting agenda is a planned series of events that ensures the session stays organized, on topic, and under time. Think of it as an internal document that’s flexible enough to move with the conversation, but firm enough to set boundaries on what gets discussed, and how.

Why is a Sales Meeting Agenda Important?

A meeting without an agenda is like shopping without a list. You can shop without it, but it’ll be harder and time-consuming—and you may forget the important items. 

Plus, 67% of professionals believe that having a clear agenda is critical for productive meetings, and another 72% say setting clear objectives is the key to successful meetings.

We wholeheartedly agree.

A well-defined agenda ensures you don’t forget critical matters, and it creates an organized process to facilitate productivity in meetings. Let’s take a more detailed look at why preparing a sales marketing agenda is worth the effort.

Defines and Completes Discussion Goals

Since agendas create an outline of discussion topics, there’s zero chance of you or team members forgetting to cover something important. They also help the whole team make valuable, carefully thought-out decisions instead of hurriedly discussing important matters that often lead to no results.

Let’s not forget that hearing the perspective of other individuals can lead to better outcomes and higher quality of performance.

Ensures Greater Control of the Meeting

A meeting agenda gives everyone a greater sense of control.

How? The agenda is generally sent out in advance, so that each attendee knows what to expect. Sales reps and managers can give productive feedback about the direction of the meeting and make changes to the agenda as necessary to include topics of special concern.

The meeting also runs within a predetermined time frame, as attendees are less likely to slow down the meeting with interruptions.

Saves Time and Resources 

A Doodle State of Meetings report found that ineffective meetings cost US-based businesses over $399 billion . 

What's more, the National Bureau of Research’s 2020 study found remote teams reported a 13% increase in the number of meetings held each year, making the stakes even higher. Additionally, 71% of professionals agree they lose precious time each week due to unnecessary or canceled meetings.

Don’t get us wrong—it’s perfectly fine to hold regular or impromptu sales meetings, especially if you want to do a health check for your business. But with a sales meeting agenda in place, these meetings will be more efficient.

Attendees will have a written list of what’s to be achieved at the end of the meeting. If anyone needs to leave the meeting early, they’ll have a general idea of what was discussed and can catch up later to fill in the blanks.

Agendas are also handy for late-comers. People late to the meeting will know what they missed; plus, you won’t have to waste everyone else’s time to get them up to speed on what’s already been settled.

Encourages Participation and Engagement

Since the discussion topics are properly outlined, attendees can prepare for the meeting beforehand. They feel freer to participate—even the more reserved members. Plus, reps are also more likely to attend a meeting if they know that important, relevant topics are going to be covered.

Using the agenda to motivate your team , generate creative ideas, and gather quality insights? Now that’s a win.

Documents Discussion and Events for Archives

An agenda makes it easier to take notes and track what was discussed during the meeting. For example, you can appoint a person to document the results of each discussion, including the action items, wins, insights, and plans for the future.

Past agendas also serve as a record for external and internal organizations and the public to view your company's progress. You can use them to assess past decisions, note important figures and previous events, and create viable goals.

You can also learn more about your most dedicated members by counting attendance and reviewing contributions to each sales meeting. This can help you make better decisions and understand which reps to promote or assign to a specific role.

Organizes Meetings and Boosts Productivity

Agendas allow you to organize your meetings easily, including prioritizing the most vital activities, boosting productivity, and keeping the focus on the members. 

They can also be used to highlight action items and owners, allowing attendees to leave the meeting knowing what must be accomplished before the next meeting. You can also review action items on the previous agenda in the next meeting to track and report progress.

More importantly, attendees can have fun and foster team-building ! they’ll leave feeling a sense of accomplishment at the end of the meeting, with the agenda validating their productivity.

What Happens Without a Sales Agenda?

When done wrong, sales meetings waste time and cause frustration for everyone. Here’s a look at the dangers that can arise when you don’t take time to outline events.

Unfocused and Unprepared Attendees

A meeting without an agenda spells disaster for concentration. In fact, 73% of executives admit to working on other tasks during meetings, and 16% of professionals confess they have dozed off.

When attendees don’t know what a meeting is about, or they don’t think it pertains to their interests, they’re less likely to be engaged. To avoid this, you want to make your meetings as relevant and structured as possible to hold your attendees’ attention—something that agendas make possible. 

An agenda defines the purpose of the meeting. Plus, as the discussion topics are presented chronologically, reps can refer back to it in case they become distracted or go off on a tangent. Also, sharing the agenda at least 24 hours before the meeting gives everyone enough time to prepare any questions or thoughts for each listed topic, which makes things more interesting.

One-Sided Participation

Meetings are supposed to be group collaborations with everyone sharing their unique perspectives and insights. That’s what drives a company towards success. But it can quickly turn into a monologue if your attendees don’t share their thoughts.

The problem with this situation? Not only is it dull; it doesn’t encourage or engage your sales reps to participate actively.

On the other hand, if you have an agenda, you can ensure all voices are heard by calling on specific individuals to participate and share their perspectives, which they’re more likely to do since they’ll be prepared for the meeting.

Poor Topic Priority and Time Management

Without a sales meeting agenda, your meetings won’t have any structure or prioritization of discussion topics. This can lead to time wastage and reduce the quality of discussions. 

Moreover, studies find an individual‘s attention span is approximately 15 minutes long. In other words, topics discussed after 20 minutes of the meeting will potentially receive less attention from attendees. That’s why you want to cover the more important topics right away, but this may be a problem without an agenda.

You can add your discussion items in order of importance when preparing the agenda. This way, you discuss the top priority items first while everyone is fresh and paying attention. It'll also bring more structure to the meeting, with everyone respecting the listed agenda items.

Lack of Facilitation

With many unpredictable dynamics at play, sales meetings can veer off-topic. And going off-topic means unnecessary time wastage and hurried, unproductive decisions. 

Guiding the conversation becomes solely your responsibility—one that you must do without a lot of non-verbal cues and body language—but not when you have a meeting agenda in place.

Attendees know that an agenda is a strict outline of topics to be discussed in the meeting. So it’s unlikely for them to go off-topic, but if anyone does, you can politely ask them to stick to the agenda. 

Sold on the importance of having a sales meeting agenda? Awesome—next, we'll discuss how you can make your agendas more successful and effective.

Elements of a Successful Sales Meeting Agenda

A successful sales meeting agenda sets clear expectations for what needs to be done before and during a meeting—even after—to help attendees prepare. In addition, it allocates time wisely, ensures everyone is on the same page, and identifies when the discussion is complete.

But just having a sales meeting agenda isn’t enough.

Research has found little to no relationship between the presence of a facilitator (agenda) and attendees‘ evaluation of meeting quality . Clearly, what matters isn’t the agenda, but the relevance and importance of what’s on it—and how you facilitate discussion of the agenda topics.

Here are the critical elements of an effective sales meeting agenda:

Efficient Organization and Preparation 

Typically, your meeting agenda should have three basic items that each sales rep can report on:

• Sales Update – Ask everyone to communicate what they sold during a specific time period. This also creates a healthy sense of competition that can work to your advantage.
• Activity Update – Get a status update. How many customer interactions did they have? How many leads did they chase, and what deals did they close? Hold your reps accountable.
• Pipeline Update – Discuss with reps each prospect’s sales funnel and which stage they’re currently in. Spend adequate time with each rep to review their funnel and encourage everyone to share tips and insights to improve each other’s performance. 

The whole point of this framework is to organize and prepare each attendee for the sales meeting. Keeping this in mind, cross-check that your agenda covers the essential components of the meeting:

• Why there is a meeting
• Topics of discussion
• Tools or information that will be shown or shared
• Names of attendees and guest speakers
• Total run time, plus due dates

One tip for preparing a sales meeting agenda: Start with the end in mind. Define the specific results you want to achieve in the meeting and set the stage for focused discussion. 

Technology Preparation

Next, you want to troubleshoot technology. Technological glitches can eat into your time and derail your meeting, regardless of whether you’re presenting virtually or in person. Whether it’s updating computers, downloading software, or closing unnecessary programs, work out any technological kinks well in advance to avoid delays or losing your attendees’ interest.

Another good tip is to ask presenters to meet a few minutes early to test the entire setup. Troubleshoot the equipment and go through the presenting motions as you would during the real thing.

You can also create a sample sales meeting agenda in Google Drive to give everyone a fair idea of what the sales meeting would look like. Be sure to set permissions to “Anyone with the link can view“ so that every attendee can see the document. You can also copy this example sales meeting agenda template for your own use. 

Adequate Time for Food/Snack Breaks

Many managers neglect the importance of having food or snack breaks during or after meetings. What they don’t realize is how food can make your next sales meeting a success.

Research indicates eating desirable food can increase the degree to which the accompanying persuasive messages are accepted. Another Muse report found an increase in productivity when employees work for 52 minutes and then take a 17-minute break.

Food is the body’s fuel, and without it, employees may feel sluggish mentally and physically. It may lead to fatigue and brain fog that dulls concentration and focus.

In short: not desirable at all!

That’s why we recommend including lunch or snack breaks in your sales meeting agenda. Luckily, brands like Hoppier make it easier to treat your employees to delicious food and beverages and ensure active participation. 

Use Hoppier gift cards to allow your hybrid and remote employees to enjoy delicious food, drinks, or snacks at the same time, regardless of their location or time zone. Here’s how you can go about this:

• Start with a hearty breakfast: According to Inc, we should never skip breakfast or lunch to keep our minds sharp. Plus, it’s an excellent way to break the ice before talking business. Offer a simple continental breakfast comprising healthy cereals, bagels, yogurt, and sandwiches to your salespeople. Dunkin, Tim Hortons, and Panera are a few of the many amazing options on the Hoppier platform.
• Keep coffee/tea and snacks in hand: Give your team the ultimate energy boost during breaks by including both caffeinated and decaf options for your employees, along with their go-to snacks. This employee gift lets them choose their favorite refreshments from vendors like Starbucks and Nespresso using their Hoppier virtual cards. 
• Let your team choose lunch: Instead of making your employees vote on the lunch cuisine, give them the flexibility to choose their lunch. With Hoppier’s partnerships with Uber Eats, Instacart, and Doordash, your team members can easily order in from their favorite restaurants to fuel their bodies.
• Treat them to after-work drinks. If you want to treat your salespeople to cocktails after the meeting, that’s possible too! Reps can use their Hoppier virtual cards to order delicious happy-hour drinks from Postmates and Drizly for a happy buzz.

Trust us; good food and drinks are the answer for positive and focused employees, which will lead to productive meetings with strong results.

Team Preparation

Comfort and preparation are two overlooked aspects of sales meeting success. Attendees who actively contribute ideas, brainstorm solutions, and participate enthusiastically will make meetings feel like a group activity and not a one-sided affair.

But how can you ensure this?

For starters, use icebreaker questions to make your reps feel comfortable in the meeting. Ask them about their weekend or what they look forward to this week. You can also begin with successes and wins to motivate your sales team and actively engage them over time.

Also assign appropriate roles to all participants to reduce presentation time and explanation of material beforehand (this will allow you to manage the meeting process effectively as well). For example:

• The Facilitator keeps the meeting on track with the agenda items, plus ensures everyone's voice is heard.
• The Notetaker makes general notes during the meeting and gives a high-level summary of the decisions and tasks towards the end.
• The Technology-keeper sets up sales meeting technology and troubleshoot as needed.
• The Time-keeper reminds people of the meeting's time constraints.

You can also put people into groups for activities to cover the agenda items on time.

Storytelling

Incorporating storytelling in meetings can help you build stronger teams. You can rely on this method to inform, persuade, and inspire your salespeople.

How? Human beings are hardwired to respond positively to stories . We’re natural storytellers, which is why persuading your sales reps through stories of yourself or customers instead of blandly communicating data or facts is more effective.

Here’s what a good story typically needs:

• An emotional quotient
• Three-part structure: an introduction, an attention-grabbing conflict, and a resolution
• Character arcs, such as the protagonist and antagonist

Look for opportunities to tell relevant stories of lessons learned and what it means. You can also refer to case studies and customer feedback to provide suggestions and guidelines to boost performance.

Asking individual sales reps to share stories—both successful and scary ones—is another great idea. Sharing first-hand accounts will improve participation and give everyone access to unique, meaningful insights. 

Inspirational Interactive Element 

You want your attendees to feel inspired to do better—to be better—after the sales meeting, which is why adding an inspirational interactive element is a critical aspect of a successful sales meeting agenda. And what better way to inspire team members other than inviting subject matter experts?

Ask product leaders, founders, and executives in sales to join the meeting and share valuable insights on:

• future industry trends
• what their day-to-day looks like
• their journey in the business and industry

If you’re part of a wider sales organization, get your directors and stakeholders on board to share their wisdom with your sales team. Showing attendees motivational videos and reading out inspiring passages will also spur them to take action.

How to Create a Sales Meeting Agenda?

Now that we’re clear on why a sales meeting agenda is a good idea, let’s discuss which topics should be included in your agenda and what an agenda template looks like: 

Introduction

Instead of jumping headfirst into the meat of the meeting, get your attendees into the “meeting mode.“

Start with a brief introduction—a quick review of what you’ll talk about in the session to begin on a positive note. This should take you about five-six minutes at the most.

Performance Review

Review your sales team‘s performance based on your key metrics and KPIs. Have people talk about what they are doing and what's working for them to initiate a healthy discussion, where reps can learn from one another.

You don’t want to scrutinize your attendees too much here, but give everyone a gentle reminder about their quotas and goals. If a metric is off, discuss necessary countermeasures and decide who will be responsible for taking the required action. 

Sales Pipeline Check-Up

Discuss sales opportunities and prospects that are already in the sales pipeline. Ask attendees for suggestions on how to move these opportunities on to the next step.

The whole point of this agenda item is to share feedback . Since each sales rep faces customers directly, they know what’s happening in the market and can share unique insights to maximize results.

Celebrating Successes and Wins

Have your sales team share a recent win—a big deal, big insights, or meeting a sales target—to boost morale and engagement. 

The other advantage of sharing success stories is providing other team members ideas for what they can do to improve. 

Sales Goals and Objectives Review

Your sales reps likely have specific goals assigned to help them be successful at their jobs. Use the sales meeting agenda to analyze these objectives from time to time to keep the team in check.

This can include training objectives or attending key events or trade shows to connect with more prospects and close more deals. You can also set SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-related) goals for the next meeting to achieve a long-term goal.

Sales Training and Tips

Your salespeople will be more likely to attend team meetings that provide them immediate value.

Keeping this in mind, find out areas or obstacles that are most challenging for reps, and assign one topic per meeting to train and share tips to help them overcome it. We recommend assigning the topic to one or two salespeople that have developed best practices in that area for best results.

Internal Updates or Housekeeping

Cover important company business and housekeeping issues relevant to the sales team. This can include policy changes, announcements, process updates, and feedback from other departments.

Doing this will help you align your sales team with the marketing team, alongside other departments, to achieve your organization’s big-picture goals.

Competitive Intelligence

Competitive intelligence or sharing market trends will keep your sales team agile and up-to-date with strategic decisions for the betterment of your company. 

You can assign one or two rival companies to each salesperson and have them give a quick update about each at every meeting. Ask them to share the recent news or developments that may have surfaced concerning the competition since the last session.

SWOT Analysis

SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Analyzing these areas can help your sales team prepare effective strategies to capitalize on and counteract situations and circumstances to improve your company‘s bottom line and steer it towards growth.

Here, you can also discuss potential roadblocks that may deter your reps from achieving targets and other miscellaneous items that need addressing. Use a few minutes to see if something else needs to be discussed quickly, but this shouldn't be at the cost of prolonging the meeting. Set aside more elaborate topics for the next sales meeting. 

Action Items

Close the sales meeting by recapping notable takeaways and action items. Make sure everyone is clear with what’s expected of them and the tasks that should be achieved by the next meeting. 

For example, if you want a rep to collect more information about a potential marketing offer, clearly specify the materials and collaterals you want from them. Don't be vague.

Most importantly, be sure to end the meeting on time . If you want your sales team to respect your team meetings, you need to respect their time too.

Say Thank You With Hoppier

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Customize the design and dollar amount for each virtual card. Send it to your reps so that they can place orders from our global group of vendors, who will then deliver the purchased items to each sales rep‘s specified location.

What’s more, you don’t have to worry about the unused funds! We’ll refund any leftover amount right to your bank account.

It seriously doesn’t get better and easier than Hoppier.

Plan Your Sales Meetings for Better Outcomes

Planning and preparing your sales team meeting agenda will save you both time and energy in the long run. It’ll also help you set the tone for the meeting and give everyone a fair idea of what to expect and what's expected of them.

The end result? Higher productivity, better attendance, and more employee engagement —all of which can contribute to better results for your organization.

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How to Craft a Sales Presentation Outline (+ Examples)

Related articles, lead vs prospect vs opportunity: what's the difference, 52 lead generation statistics to consider in 2024, top 14 email nurture campaign best practices.

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A sales presentation outline is an ideal flow of talking points that guides the creation of the spoken part of a sales presentation, which is often supported by a visual sales deck. To allow for personalization, outlines contain both pre-written language and prompts. Most sellers use outlines as templates for longer, in-depth presentation scripts that they create for each new prospect. The outline ensures that you hit key talking points in the right order.

Sales Presentation Outline Key Components

A typical sales presentation outline for effective lead nurturing includes small talk and introductions, agenda-setting, problem analysis, solution and benefits, social proof, and a call-to-action. Solid outlines will promote around 20–30 minutes of presenting time. Depending on the salesperson and their unique situation, an outline might expand certain components into multiple components, add components, or exclude some entirely.

This outline is what you get when you boil down all the great outlines to their fundamental parts:

Small Talk & Intros

Agenda-setting, problem analysis, solution & benefits, social proof, call-to-action.

For around 3–4 minutes, engage in light conversation and introduce yourself and your company to the prospect. Ask questions about their work, life, vacations, or anything else they’re interested in. Tell them about your credentials and your company’s mission and ideal customers.

In 1–2 minutes give the prospect a high-level overview of what topics you’re going to cover during this presentation. At the end, ask them to confirm that they agree to the structure as you’ve laid it out.

Spend 5–10 minutes analyzing the prospect’s major problem. Name their main pain point or challenge, then state its underlying causes and costs. Also, agitate the pain by explaining the negative consequences of letting it go unsolved.

For 5–10 minutes, introduce your product or service and explain how it works to solve the prospect’s problem. Then state the relevant benefits the prospect will get if they buy the solution and eliminate their issue. Focus on features or services that directly relate to their needs.

Use 3–5 minutes to establish some credibility by sharing customer success stories, case study findings, or testimonials. Choose social proof that involves a customer that has a similar business type as your prospect and experienced similar hurdles and roadblocks.

In 1–2 minutes, summarize what you’ve covered, and then tell the prospect what the next steps would be if they wanted to move forward. Ask them to take these next steps with you, and give them a strong reason to do so.

To see how a salesperson might change the components to fit their specific needs, imagine a software sales rep expanding the “describe your solution and its benefits” section into three parts: “present solution,” “give demo,” and “give user a trial run.” As you create your own general outline, make it work for your most common presenting scenario, and perhaps create a few others for less common scenarios, be it competing against another provider or upselling a client.  

How to Create Your Own Sales Presentation Outline

There are concrete steps to follow to draft a 1–2 page, customizable sales presentation outline that you can use as the ongoing foundation for all your personalized sales presentation scripts. The steps include picking a product or service, adding small talk prompts, writing an introductory statement, and crafting sections for agenda, problem, solution, social proof, and call-to-action. Read on to learn how to do each step. Note that the steps below follow the components above.

1. Pick One Product or Service

Choose one of your product tiers or service lines for your sales presentation outline. This enables you to write more language that you can simply copy and paste into the custom-tailored scripts. For example, in the solution section of the outline, you could write three sentences describing this specific product tier. And you won’t have to change that for each new prospect you present to. This means that you should create one outline for each product or service.

2. Provide Some Conversation Starters for Small Talk

Sometimes small talk flows naturally in the first few minutes of a sales presentation. Other times, you’ll need to get things going with some surefire conversation starters. To avoid encountering any brain freezes or awkward silences, use the small talk section of your outline to list 3–4 potential questions that you can ask your prospects to initiate small talk. Industry news, hobbies, or their current business ventures are often the safest topics.

Here are some examples of customizable questions to put in a sales presentation outline:

• As a {Job Title} , I’d love to hear your thoughts on {Recent Industry News or Event} .
• So you’re from {Location} . Is it fair to assume you’re a {Sports Team} fan?
• Last time we spoke, you were working on {Project} . How’s it going?

While preparing for a presentation, choose the prompt that will work best for the specific prospect. Researching their social profiles will provide you with some guidance. For example, you might find that the prospect has been posting on Twitter about their sports team. If that’s the case, use the sports conversation starter for your personalized sales presentation script.

3. Create Your Introduction Statement

Your introductory statement will likely remain the same for most of your prospects. This is where you tell your prospect about your company and yourself as a representative or owner of that company. This section gives the prospect context, which helps them understand the more complex subject matter you’re going to present to them later on in the presentation.

Here are the barebones of an effective introduction for a sales presentation outline:

• Segue: Transition out of small talk by saying that you want to respect their time, then thank them for attending.
• Your Professional Bio: Tell the prospect your name, title, experience in the industry, and relevant credentials.
• Your Business Bio: Share your business’s name, how long it’s been in business, and one line explaining what the company is (e.g., a renowned real estate brokerage).
• Why Customers Come to You: Name 2–3 of the major challenges that inspire customers to come to you for help.
• Quick Overview of How You Help Them: Briefly explain what your business provides and how it solves these challenges.

When personalizing this part of the outline for a particular prospect, you might change little things to make it more relevant and interesting to them. For example, you could exchange one of the common major customer challenges for one this specific prospect is suffering from. But, for the most part, it won’t change much, so it’s worth committing it to memory. 

Below is an example of an introductory statement you’d find in a sales presentation outline:

“As much as I’d love to keep chatting about {Small Talk Topic} , I want to be respectful of your time and begin the presentation, which I thank you all for attending.

First, I want to share a little about myself. My name is Sam and I’m a sales executive here at Stingray Dealers. I’ve been working in the marine conservation space ever since I graduated college with my marine biology degree four years ago. Since then, I’ve been awarded best aquarium consultant for three years running.

Our 10-year-old company, Stingray Dealers, is a renowned aquarium provider of the rarest and most endangered stingrays.

Aquariums often come to us because they’re sick of getting nothing but round rays from their providers and because they’re struggling to keep their stingray petting area stocked with a variety of rays.

That’s where we come in. Thanks to our cutting-edge diving equipment, relations with wildlife protection agencies abroad, and ray-based sonar, we’re able to provide a steady flow of the most desirable rays in the sea, and at incredibly affordable rates.”

After delivering a solid introduction and providing your prospect with some context, it’s time to set the schedule for the rest of the presentation.

4. Write Your Agenda Section

The agenda section of your sales presentation outline is where you’ll give your prospect the outline of the remainder of the presentation. You’ll set their expectations and give them a sense of direction so that they don’t feel like they’re in the dark. The agenda section includes a segue into the agenda, a structure preview, and a request for the prospect to commit. It should also have plenty of prompts for personalization.

Here are the core parts of any solid agenda section for a sales presentation outline:

• Segue From Introductions: Thank them for listening to your introduction and tell them you’d like to set an agenda for the day.
• Share the Presentation’s Structure: Briefly explain what you’ll cover during the presentation.
• Ask Them to Commit: Check with your audience to see if they’re okay with the agenda you’ve created.

If you wanted to really hook the prospect, you could also make a promise to create some suspense, like “at the end of this presentation I’ll also reveal the most important habit that leads to success in this industry, based on hundreds of interviews with our customers.” Only do this if you do have something absolutely astonishing to share with your prospects. Otherwise, you’ll risk letting them down at the end.

Below is an example of an agenda section you could see in a sales presentation outline:

“Thank you all for listening to my spiel. Now I’d like to get things rolling with an agenda. Over the next 30 minutes, I plan to show you why we’re the right fit to help you {Prospect’s Goal} .

I’ll start by explaining the causes and consequences of your major issue, {Prospect’s Problem} . Next, I’ll give you an overview of our solution, {Your Product or Service} , and explain how it will help you overcome your challenge. From there, I’ll share a few success stories about customers like you, and then we’ll open the floor for questions.

How does that sound?”

After the prospect agrees, you can start to dig into their issue and reveal to them just how serious it is, not to mention how well informed you’re about it.    

5. Craft Your Problem Analysis Section

The problem section of your sales presentation outline is going to change almost entirely from prospect to prospect because each potential customer will have a different combination of issues, related costs, and underlying causes. Nevertheless, your outline should provide some helpful guidance for writing your more detailed script by giving you a structure to follow.

Here are the major components of a problem analysis section:

• Name the Major Problem or Challenge: Describe the most pressing problem that the prospect has shared with you.
• Share the Problem’s Underlying Causes: Based on your analysis, share 2–3 things that you believe are causing or contributing to the issue.
• Describe the Costs of Not Solving the Problem: Share 2–3 negative consequences of letting the problem go unsolved. In other words, irritate the pain.

By proving to the prospect that you’re knowledgeable about the nature of their problem, you’ll win their trust, and they’ll be more likely to give heavy consideration to your proposed solution. Again, this section of the outline is more so steps with a bit of advice than pre-written language. That’s because it has to be extremely flexible.

Here’s an example:

“From our previous discussions, I learned that your company’s major problem is {Major Problem} . Based on our years of experience working with other {Company Type} and what I know about your business processes, it seems like the causes of this issue are {Underlying Causes 1 and 2} . We’ve had customers who came to us a long time after this issue arose and by then they were suffering from {Cost of Not Solving the Problem ASAP} .”

Now that the prospect is convinced that their problem is something they need to solve quickly, it’s time to begin telling them how you’re going to fix it for them. 

6. Draft Your Solution Section

The solution section of your sales presentation outline is where you introduce the product or service that will help your customer solve the problem or challenge you analyzed in the previous section. You tell them what the solution is, how it works, why it solves the issue, and the benefits the prospect will receive if they buy it.

Here are the main subsections of an effective solution section:

• Solution: Name the product or service and tell your prospect the unique selling proposition .
• Why It Solves the Issue: Explain the features or services that will eliminate the main causes of the prospect’s major problem.
• Benefits: Share 2–3 positive results that the prospect will experience if they choose to purchase the solution.

The first paragraph of this section, introducing your service, can be reused without adjustment from customer to customer, especially since this outline is for one specific solution. Of course, the middle bullet, how it relates to the specific prospect’s issue, will change, so that part should include prompts for personalization. When you write a script for a presentation, you may also alter how you describe the solution or which benefits you list based on the prospect’s interests.

You can see what we mean in this sample solution section:

“Stingray Dealers offers an annual stingray replenishment service that comes with ongoing care. Unlike other dealers in the space, we consistently check on the stingrays to ensure they’re happy and well taken care of.

As for your problem with {Prospect Pain Point 1} , {Service 1} will take care of that by {How Service 1 Solves Pain Point 1} . Furthermore, {Service 2} will help you eliminate {Pain Point 2} by {How Service 2 Solves Pain Point 2} .

With us, you’ll experience {Benefit 1 Prospect Desires} and {Benefit 2 Prospect Desires} . We think this will also help you reach your {Want/Need/Goal} .”

At this point, your prospect is probably excited about the idea of working with you, but still a bit hesitant because words are cheap. In the next section, you’ll prove your claims are sound.

7. Create Your Social Proof Section

In your outline document, write a brief transition and then include links to several social proof options, such as case studies, testimonials, or customer success stories, which display customers succeeding with your chosen product or service. This way, when you create a personalized presentation script, you can quickly choose the 1–2 social proof options from the outline that will most relate to and impress your current prospect.

If you want to get ahead of the game, we recommend also writing out a short summary of each success story or case study so that you can easily copy and paste it into your personalized sales presentation script. And for easy reference, consider labeling the social proof based on the type of company rather than the company name. For example, Enterprise Client Case Study will likely mean more to you when drafting a presentation script than Carlisle LLC Case Study.

Here’s an example of what a social proof section might look like in a sales presentation outline:

“So, we’ve told you what we can help you achieve with our stingray replenishment service. I find that it always helps to hear about how others have used the service successfully. So I’d like to briefly walk you through two case studies about clients who, just like you, were {How the Companies in the Stories Are Similar to the Prospect} .

• Aquarium Company Case Study: The Denver aquarium came to us back in May 2022 because attendance was down 31% from last year and they wanted to open a new stingray exhibit and use it as a promotion. We were able to provide them with 6 different types of stingrays, 2 of them extremely rare, and directed them on how to set up the exhibit to optimize the attendee and stingray experiences. Within four months of establishing the exhibit, it had become the most popular at the aquarium, and one year after finishing the exhibit, their ticket sales had increased by 65%.
• Marine Bio Research Facility Case Study: Write a summary like the one in the first bullet point.
• Pet Store Business Case Study: Write a summary like the one in the first bullet point. ”

After sharing some ways that past clients have benefited from your business, it’s time to push the deal forward with a call-to-action.

8. Write Your Call-to-Action

Next, write a call-to-action (CTA) in your outline. In a sales presentation, salespeople typically ask leads if they’re ready to see a proposal. But it differs based on your sales process . Regardless of your ask, it should be clear and straightforward so that your prospects know exactly what you want them to do. It should also be enticing. Give your prospects a reason to take the next steps with you by mentioning the benefit of doing so.

Here are the components of a successful CTA section of an outline:

• Presentation Summary: In a few sentences explain their main issue, the product or service that will enable them to solve it, and the overarching value you’ll deliver.
• Next Steps Request: Tell the prospect what they should do next if they want to continue evaluating you as a provider or partner. 
• Presentation Closing: End the presentation by thanking your prospects for attending, then tell them the floor is open for questions.

Summarizing the presentation and your findings prior to delivering the CTA is important because it reminds prospects about all the great things you can do for them. And the reason for not ending at the CTA is that most buyers expect to be able to ask some questions, but some might not do so unless you give them permission first. The close section allows you to give the green light and end the presentation on an upbeat, less salesly note.

Here’s an example of a call-to-action section in a sales presentation outline:

“Today we’ve learned that Stingray Dealers can help you overcome {Prospect Problem} and give you {Value Proposition} .

If you’re ready to join hundreds of other satisfied businesses and start wowing customers with the most amazing stingrays, please tell me at the end of this presentation. I can then give you pricing and we can go over the best service package for your company.

And with that, I want to end today’s presentation. Thank you all for the gift of your attention. I now want to hear from you. Do you have any questions about our company, service, or anything else?”

Keep in mind that this is for creating an outline that follows our basic sales presentation outline structure. You can include other sections like “pricing” or “industry trends” if that better suits your needs. For other sections to include, see the outlines in our article sales presentation templates .

3 Tailored Sales Presentation Outline Examples

Below are three sales presentation outline examples: brand competition, B2B, and B2C services outlines. Unlike the examples in the steps above, these don’t include pre-written verbiage. Instead, they’re structural outlines that help you see how different presentation situations call for different combinations of sections. In practice, you’d write out pre-written language for each section (bullet) — refer to the section examples in the steps above to see how, then keep reading below.

Sales Presentation Outline for Winning a Competitor’s Customer

Who Should Use It: Sales professionals who are presenting to a prospect that’s currently working with a competing brand.

Why It Works: This outline structure includes sections like “competitor analysis” and “differentiators,” which serve to show the prospect why your solution is a better choice for them than their current provider’s.

• Small Talk and Introductions: Open with some friendly conversation and introduce your company in a way that sets it apart from the specific competitor.
• Agenda: Tell the prospect what you’ll cover today and what you think they’ll get from attending.
• Goal Analysis: Review what the prospect has told you about their current goal and explain why they’re failing to reach it.  
• Competitor Analysis: Share a few reasons why their current provider is incapable of helping them reach this goal.
• Differentiators: Explain a few ways that your company is different from the competitor and why these differences make you better suited to help them.
• Solution and Benefits: Describe your product or service, explain why it’ll help them get what they want, and name 2–3 benefits.
• Customer Switch Success Story: Tell a story about a customer who left the competitor to work with you.
• Call-to-Action: Close out the sales presentation and ask the prospect to take specific next steps with you.

B2B Sales Presentation Outline Example

Who Should Use It: B2B salespeople who want to challenge their prospects to think differently about their industry.

Why It Works: This presentation outline is designed to position you as an industry insider with big ideas that are going to dramatically improve the company’s operations, revenue, or whatever metrics your solution will affect.

• Small Talk and Introductions: Talk a bit, then share a bit about you and your business and ask attendees to introduce themselves by stating their job title and name.
• Agenda: Tell your prospect(s) the structure of the presentation and build up some excitement by promising to share a unique idea for how to capitalize on a trend.
• Industry Trend: Explain an industry shift (e.g., Gen Z starting to buy homes) and how it will impact this specific business and its place in the market.
• Opportunity: Describe an opportunity (e.g., start building relationships with Gen Zers through social) that this shift opens up and stress the importance of seizing it.
• Promised Land: Tell them all the great things that will happen to their business if they successfully take advantage of this opportunity.
• Your Solution: Explain how your solution will help them make the most of the opportunity and reach the promised land.
• Case Studies: Reveal a case study about a company that successfully used your solution to transform their business in a previous period of industry change.
• Call-to-Action: Make a confident statement about your ability to help and ask them to join you. Then open the floor for questions.

B2C Service Sales Presentation Outline Example

Who Should Use It: Sales professionals who are presenting a service such as landscaping, insurance, or financial advisory to individuals.

Why It Works: This sales presentation outline makes the prospect trust you as an expert by giving them transparency into your service and its pricing and by sharing success stories and your professional opinion about their goals.

• Small Talk and Introductions: Talk about the individual’s hobbies or relevant news. Share your credentials or rewards.
• Agenda: Give an overview of the different sections of today’s presentation. Ask them to confirm that this sounds like a solid plan.
• Goal Analysis: Review their reason for evaluating your business and make them feel like you can get them to their goal.
• Challenge Analysis: Describe the major pitfalls you expect they’ll encounter on their way to reaching their goal.
• The Plan/Process: Lay out your plan step by step for how you are going to help them overcome these challenges and reach their destination.
• The Service: Describe your role in this plan and tell them what services you’re going to provide and how the relationship will work.
• Success Stories: Share stories about customers you’ve helped. Pull up evidence to back up your claims, in the form of data, quotes, photos, etc.,
• Pricing: Review the pricing tiers of your service and explain which one you think is best for them based on their situation and needs. Tell them the second best option as well.
• Call-to-Action: Share your unique selling proposition, review the presentation’s key points, and ask them if they’d like to learn more about your service.

When you start with a basic outline like the ones above, and then expand on them by adding exact language and prompts for personalization, you’ll end up with a carefully considered, well-structured sales presentation outline that you can use over and over to succeed.

Top 5 Benefits of Writing a Sales Presentation Outline

Writing and using a sales presentation outline provides you with various benefits, including faster sales presentation preparation, never missing the main points, giving prospects a better experience, making your presentation process testable, and easily training new salespeople. Let’s go over each advantage a bit more in depth.

Save Time Preparing for Sales Presentations

With a sales presentation outline, it’s easy to sit down and craft a more personalized sales presentation script for each particular prospect. You already know what to say, and in what order to say it. Now all you have to do is elaborate on each part of the outline and make it relevant to fit the prospect’s unique situation. This will cut presentation preparation time dramatically.

Always Hit Your Critical Talking Points

Without a sales presentation outline, you might write a script that leaves out a key component, whether that’s a statement about pricing or an introduction to your business. This can hurt your chances of closing the sale. The outline, which tells you what to write, and therefore what to say during your presentation, ensures that you never miss the most important points.

Improve the Prospect’s Experience

When you know the overarching structure of the spoken part of your sales presentation, you can easily share that information with your prospects by putting the outline on one of your sales deck slides you have up during the agenda-setting portion. When prospects know what’s coming and where the conversation is headed, they’ll feel like they have some control.

Create a Testable Sales Presentation Process

When you have a presentation outline that you use repeatedly, you can start to test it against outlines with slight variations. For example, you could give 50 presentations with an introduction section and 50 without, track the average closing rates for the two groups in your CRM software , and find that the outlines with no intro section were 34% more effective at securing a next step. Consistent testing allows you to steadily march towards an optimized outline.

Easily Onboard New Sales Reps

There’s so much to learn when a new rep joins a team, so it’s important to do everything you can to get them up to speed quickly. By handing them a copy of your team’s sales presentation outline, new sales reps can easily learn your team’s sales presentation process. Right away they can start crafting well-structured spoken portions of their sales presentations.

Crafting a sales presentation outline makes the whole sales presentation creation process less time intensive, and it helps the delivery of your presentation come off as more persuasive and deliberate.

Top 4 Tips for Drafting a Sales Presentation Outline

There are some best practices you can follow to produce the best possible sales presentation outline. They include using your customer profile, building more than one outline, studying great sales presentations, and getting peer feedback on your outline. Below we’ll expand on each tip.

Reference Your Customer Profile

Keep a copy of your customer profile next to you or on your computer while you create your sales presentation outline. This ensures that the language you use speaks to your target audience’s specific concerns and interests. Whenever you write a sentence, section, or prompt, ask yourself how your ideal customer would respond.

Create Scenario-Specific Outlines

Consider creating a separate outline for each of your most common presentation scenarios. For example, one salesperson might create a generic outline along with one for upselling current customers and one for stealing prospects from a competitor. Each one might have a different mix of sections. For example, the competitor stealing outline might include a competitor analysis section, whereas the generic presentation outline does not.

Watch Great Sales Presentations for Inspiration

If you’re struggling to figure out the ideal structure or verbiage for your outline, watch some sales presentations online or shadow a fellow rep’s presentation to a prospect. You’ll likely discover new turns of phrase, presentation sections, and rhetorical techniques that you want to include in your own outline. To get started, check out our article breaking down some exceptional sales presentation examples .

Get Feedback on Your Outline

Show your finished outline to 1–2 salespeople you respect and ask them to tell you if anything needs work. We can all too easily fall in love with our creations and become blind to any gaps or errors. Getting feedback will help you fine-tune your outline so that it’s as persuasive as possible.

Creating a sales presentation outline should be a careful and considered process. The outlines will serve as the starting points for every in-depth presentation script you write. An outline is a script’s parent. If the outline is shabby, so is the script, as well as the spoken portions of your presentations.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What’s the difference between a sales presentation outline & sales deck template.

The sales presentation outline is a structure of talking points that guides the verbal part of your sales presentation. The sales deck template, on the other hand, is a set of slides with some pre-written language and some blank prompts — having one enables you to quickly build personalized slide decks, the visual backdrop to sales presentations. Together, the sales presentation outline and sales deck template make up the overall sales presentation template.

Bottom Line: Sales Presentation Outline

Having a sales presentation outline saved on your computer streamlines the preparation process for your sales presentations. Instead of starting from scratch, you have a structure to follow and some pre-written language that works on all prospects. Writing the tailored script will take minutes instead of hours. Next, check out how to create and give a sales presentation , where we teach you how to build out a personalized presentation for one specific prospect.

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How to Structure a Sales Meeting Agenda that Gets Results

A sales meeting agenda is a roadmap for your team to follow and keep everyone on the same page.

But we all know sales meetings don't always work out as planned.

I'm not going to throw a whole bunch of stats around—you are the stat. You know what it's like to sit in a meeting that's achieving zilch and think, wow… I really could be talking to clients or closing deals instead of sitting here.

Well, a sales meeting agenda is one way to avoid all that. It structures meetings so they have a purpose, goals, and next steps so shit actually gets done. Without a solid agenda, meetings can easily go off-topic, run over their timeslot, and waste a whole afternoon.

We all work remotely at Close, so touching base regularly is super important and we know a thing or two about what goes into a sales meeting agenda that works.

Let's take a look at what every agenda should have and how to create one for your own meetings 👇

What Should Be Included in a Sales Meeting Agenda?

Key targets and goals. Discussing new sales tactics. Asking the team what they think needs to be done to land that big client in your funnel.

Sales meeting agendas can cover a lot, whether it's a big quarterly breakdown of targets and KPIs, or just a weekly check-in. Effective planning and a sales team meeting agenda can make discussions more productive. Your sales representatives will be excited and ready to contribute to the meeting as a result.

Every sales meeting agenda should cover:

🥅 Goals. What do you want the meeting to accomplish? Do you want your team to close more deals, touch base on a new training schedule or brainstorm how to solve a specific sales challenge? Clearly define the goals of the meeting in your agenda before it starts

📋 Agenda items. Lay out any key agenda items you want to discuss in a specific, actionable, and relevant way that relates to the meeting's goals, crucial for effective sales performance management . We're talking about discussing new sales tactics, reviewing previous sales performance, or scheduling sales training.

🗣️ Discussion points. Make sure the agenda isn't blase about what needs to be covered during the meeting. Besides keeping the meeting on track, outlining specific points will get the conversation going and make sure everything gets discussed

🕒 Time. Every agenda item needs to have a time limit attached to it. There's nothing worse than a meeting that overruns and throws your entire calendar out of whack. Try to be realistic about how long each agenda item will take and if you have to cut out anything to keep the meeting short

✔️ Action items. Finally, think about what you need your sales team to do post-meeting. Make sure your agenda has actionable tasks, like following up with prospects or setting a deadline for implementing new software, so your team stays accountable. Otherwise, the meeting will be a waste

By following these steps, you can create productive meetings that are engaging and help your team achieve their goals.

How to Create a Successful Sales Meeting Agenda

Ready to create your own agenda? Here are a few key tips you’ll need.

Clearly Define Meeting Objectives

The first step is to create a clear agenda and outline an action plan for your next sales meeting.

In sales speak—figure out why the hell are you meeting in the first place. Decide what you want to accomplish during the meeting and what specific topics you need to discuss as a team: do you want to review a key client or discuss key performance indicators (KPIs)?

This will help your team get on the same page and work towards the same goal once the meeting kicks off.

Prioritize Key Topics

Repeat after me: don't try to cover everything in one meeting.

An MIT study found only 50 percent of meeting time is effective, well-used and engaging , and the figure is slightly lower if your team is remote. We've all sat in those meetings that try to cover new hires, product launches, goals, upcoming projects, new ideas in the pipeline, client issues…..

Y'all… It's 👏 too 👏 much 👏

Stick to one (or at a push two) key topics and keep the meeting short.

Assign Talking Points During the Meeting

Who will introduce the new sales strategy? Or talk the rest of the team through the Q4 KPI results?

Each agenda item should have someone assigned to take the lead. This is vital to ensure the meeting runs smoothly and on time.

Ideally, the person in charge of an agenda item will know about it at least a week in advance so they have time to prep material and information, especially if they're going to be sharing their screen with the rest of the team. It's also a good idea to let them know how long they will be talking for and who they will be talking to (mainly so they don't waste their time on building a 43-slide Powerpoint that will end up in the trash).

Steal this example if you want:

Cement Post-meeting Action Items and Responsibilities

After your sales meeting, review what was discussed and follow up on any action items.

There’s nothing worse than spending 30 minutes on a meeting and at the end of it thinking… “Okay, now what?”

This is why all sales meetings need to result in some kind of action. Each team member should walk away with an understanding of what they need to do next. You can do this with three quick steps:

• Sum up the meeting. It's a good idea to take meeting notes so during the end, you can wrap and repeat any key points or issues. It's even better if you can send a dot point summary over email or Slack that meeting attendees can refer back to afterwards
• Assign responsibilities. If any action items need follow-up work, assign it during the meeting. Follow this up with a written reminder (again over email or Slack) with a set deadline to keep everyone accountable

Oh, and if any team members raised an issue or asked a question during the meeting that was a liiiiitttlleeee off-topic—don't ignore it. Table it and tell them it'll get followed up either after the meeting 👍

Key Components for an Effective Sales Meeting Agenda Template

When organizing a sales meeting, an agenda template can speed up the process and ensure you don't forget key items.

It's a (huge) waste of time to create every meeting agenda from scratch. A customizable template can lay out the bare bones of a sales meetings agenda, like key items, discussion points and action items. Then, all you need to do is tweak each section to match the purpose of your meeting. Here's an example of a customizable template:

Meeting Title:

Meeting length:

Meeting date + time:

• Meeting mission statement: Brief description of meeting
• Quick overview: What will be discussed?
• Action item: Brief description
• Follow-up items: Assign action items to salespeople to work on after the meeting
• Takeaways: Outline next steps and ask if anyone has questions

Yep, the template is pretty bare-bones right now.

But picture this: A startup is launching a new product feature that's just been tested by BETA customers. The feedback from the product team is in, and the sales team needs to figure out a way to pitch this new feature to customers in a way that gets results. So, a sales manager schedules a meeting to bring their sales team members together for a brainstorming session.

Now, without an agenda, this meeting could go off the rails. Quick . But the sales manager can use a sales meeting agenda template to keep everyone focused and on track. This template should look something like this:

Sales Team Meeting Agenda: New Feature Launch

🕒 Overall Meeting Time: 40 minutes

📅 Date: July 22nd @ 2.30 EST

• Meeting mission statement. This is a single sentence to help the team focus on the meeting's purpose. In this case, it'll be something like:

"Discuss results from new feature BETA testing and craft sales strategy for future prospecting and demos"

• Quick Overview

🕒 Time: 5 minutes

🗣️ Speaker: Sonia (sales team leader)

➡ In Q2, the new

• Action item: Discuss Customer Stories and Insights

🕒 Time: 10 minutes

🗣️ Speaker: Greg (VP of Marketing)

➡ ️ Greg will discuss BETA testing the new feature over the past 6 months. He will talk about any teething problems BETA testers had, what the feedback was, and any insights the sales team can use to sell the feature to new customers (and upsell the current ones)

• Action item: Updates on sales targets for feature launch

➡ A quick update on sales targets for Q2 once the new feature is released.

• Action item: Brainstorm sales scripts

🗣️ Speaker: Team brainstorm

➡ Join forces to tweak existing sales script templates to match the new feature launch and feedback from BETA customers

• Closing remarks and next steps

🗣️ Speaker: Sonia

➡ Assign next steps and responsibilities to sales team members ahead of the launch

See! It doesn't take much to structure a sales meeting from a standardized agenda template. Want to get a head start on all this? Grab our free sales meeting agenda template here 👇

5 Best Practices for Conducting a Productive Sales Meeting

When it comes to sales meetings, it's essential to have a clear and concise agenda that drives results. Here are some best practices to help you structure your sales meeting agenda:

1. Send out the Meeting Agenda Ahead of Time

Make sure that your sales team has everything they need to contribute to the meeting, and the agenda should be at the top of that list.

Send this out ahead of time, and I'm not talking a couple of hours before the meeting either. I was in a meeting last week and I got sent the agenda TWO MINUTES before I jumped on the Skype call. How the hell was I expected to prep for that in any meaningful way? 😑

I couldn't. And it ended up being a 45-minute waste of time.

If you schedule a sales meeting for 2 pm on a Tuesday, make sure your team has the agenda no later than lunchtime on Monday so they can review it and get back to you with any questions. Oh, and don't forget that if the agenda lists discussions about metrics, reports or KPIs, you should also send out any data or reports so your team can take a look and get up to speed.

Effective meeting preparation is just one facet of managing a highly efficient sales team. Beyond just setting agendas, there's a whole world of strategies and tools that can elevate your team's performance. A key component in this is utilizing a robust CRM system to streamline operations and enhance communication. For a deeper dive into this subject, check out our article on " How to Manage a Sales Team Using Close CRM ."

2. Set Some Ground Rules

Don't be afraid to set some ground rules for the meeting to keep everything on track. We're talking about things like:

• No interruptions
• Stick to the time limits
• Keep discussions focused on the agenda topics
• Respecting everyone's opinions and ideas

List these rules on the sales agenda and discuss them at the beginning of the meeting to avoid the whole thing going south.

3. Get Your Team Involved (and Shoutout Any Success Stories)

Did one of your sales reps close a major deal recently? Or maybe your team pulled together and exchanged advice on sales scripts or demo strategies?

Whatever it is, acknowledge these wins and use them as an icebreaker to get everyone involved. It's a good idea to do this at the start of the meeting, as it can boost morale and add some team spirit before you dive into any numbers and reports.

Another way to get your team involved in a meeting is to create an atmosphere where they feel comfortable enough to speak up. Harvard Business Review's Paul Axtell says it's important your team feels like they have permission to talk during a meeting, and this all starts at the top.

“The quest for better meetings ultimately lies in leading with mutual respect, inclusivity, and establishing a space that is safe enough for people to speak their minds.

"To create psychological safety during a meeting, ask the group to devote their full attention to each person who speaks, allow each person to take their time and complete their thoughts, and share what is valuable about peoples’ questions or comments."

Basically, sit up and pay attention to what people have to say—and the rest of the team will do the same when it's their turn to talk.

4. Watch That Clock

Staying on track and on time is essential for a productive sales meeting, so allocate a specific amount of time for each agenda item—and stick to it.

You don't want to kill the vibe or discourage anyone from asking questions. But even when team members are given the chance to speak, reserve the right to cut them off when the clock's ticking. If a discussion is dragging on, it's okay to table it and tell everyone that you can pick it back up later.

What's not okay is to let the meeting run 15 minutes overtime and throw off everyone's schedule for the rest of the day.

5. Don't Schedule a Meeting Unless You *Really* Need To

Finally, don't schedule a meeting unless you really need to.

Harvard Business Review wrote way back in the 1970s that you should only drag your team into a meeting if you have a very clear goal in mind, otherwise it'll be a waste of time. We've all been in those meetings that drag on (…and on) with no real purpose and steal a good chunk of a busy afternoon.

Before gathering up your team on a busy Wednesday ask yourself if you need a meeting at all. Thirty-two percent of people asked by SurveyMonkey said recent meetings could've easily just been an email, which would've saved a ton of time and prep. I want to preach this from the rooftop. I even have a coffee mug sitting on my desk right now that literally says I Survived Another Meeting That Should've Been an Email.

Avoiding pointless meetings can also save your company a hefty chunk of change—a Doodle report found pointless meetings waste $541 billion (yep, billion) in employee time every year.

So think about whether you are having a meeting just to fill an hour on your calendar— or to actually get shit done.

Must-have Tools and Resources for Creating a Sales Meeting Agenda

There are tons of tools, apps, and resources out there to help sales leaders like you create meeting agendas to help make them more productive.

All of these boil down to two options: a simple template, or a fancy schmancy meeting agenda app. Let's take a better look at each option 👇

1. Sales Meeting Agenda Templates

Sales meeting agenda templates typically include all of the key sections that should be included like purpose, action items, any current projects that are being worked on, or pipeline updates.

Using a template can save time and help ensure that you don't miss anything out (believe me, when you're busy… it happens). The best sales meeting agenda templates are already crafted to suit your team and goals. A small startup sales meeting will look totally different to a meeting in the Microsoft sales boardroom, so the agenda will probably focus on growth goals or KPIs instead of Enterprise accounts.

But don't worry, we got you. Our team has created a free sales meeting agenda template that's perfect for startups and SMBs to tweak— grab it here ➡

2. Productivity Apps and Tools

If you want a more involved way to create sales meeting agendas, think about using a productivity app.

Tools like Trello, Asana, and Monday.com have built-in meeting agendas to list action items, create follow-up tasks, and send out invites. Check out this one in Asana:

Each meeting topic has an assigned speaker and the action items have a deadline attached to them. Using an app is a little more work than creating a meeting agenda in a Google Doc, but it will automatically alert team members if they run over a deadline. So… pros and cons! 😉

Curious about the latest tools that can enhance your sales productivity? Our article on sales productivity tools has you covered.

Boost Productivity and Drive Team Success with a Sales Meeting Agenda

Getting a sales meeting agenda right isn't hard.

The problem with sales meetings, in general, is a lot of companies just…. Don't use them. And it results in things going off track nearly every time the team jumps on a Zoom call.

Take it from us: a well-crafted sales meeting agenda will save you a ton of time and make your team a helluva lot more productive. That's because everyone is jumping into the meeting room with a solid idea of why they're there and what will be achieved when they leave 30 minutes later.

Don't overcomplicate it. Start with a simple template that gets the basics right, give it to everyone in advance, and don't overrun the clock.

If you missed it, we've done the hard work for you and created a sales meeting agenda template that's perfect for startups and SMBs. Grab it for free here and simply tweak it for your team's needs!

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Home Blog Business Crafting an Effective Sales Presentation: Strategies for B2B Sales Teams

Crafting an Effective Sales Presentation: Strategies for B2B Sales Teams

In business, sales keep the lights on, the paychecks paid, and the stakeholders happy. But if your sales presentations—and you, the sale professional behind them—aren’t stepping up to the plate, your competitors are making the sales that you’re not.

In sales processes, sales presentations are unavoidable. You can turn the unavoidable into uplifting discussions that improve your buyer’s work life. Switch your boring, repetitive slides with personalized solution-driven conversation starters. Add value to how you sell, and supercharge your presentations.

This guide is for sales professionals who want to improve their sales presentations. We cover what goes on your slides plus what’s behind the scenes, you! 

Let’s get started.

Table of Contents

Why are Sales Presentations important?

B2b sales presentation vs. sales pitch / pitch deck, types of sales presentations.

• How to Prepare a Sales Presentation

How to Develop a Visual Sales Presentation

How to deliver a sales presentation, follow up after a sales presentation.

• 6 Tips to Supercharge Your Sales Presentations

Closing Thoughts

What is a sales presentation.

There is a common mixup in terms of defining a sales presentation, as people instantly associate the event with the tool used to deliver the presentation.

In practical terms, a sales presentation is a short meeting where a sales-intended slide deck is designed to sell a product or service. More holistically, a sales presentation is a transference of feeling between a sales professional and a prospect. 

A sales presentation is an essential part of the typical sales process . At different touchpoints with the buyer, sales professionals use tried-and-tested techniques in their sales presentations to persuade and convince a prospect to close the deal. 

Without sales, there is no business. Sales bring in revenue and profit for your company, helping it grow and positively impacting more people. And what’s behind the sales? Sales presentations and the sales professionals that spearhead them.

In B2B, sales presentations are the conduit to successful business communication. Your company sells what another company needs. The salesperson and the decision maker communicate, and if it all works out, there’s a sale that’ll hopefully benefit everyone. 

A sales presentation and pitch aren’t the same, although closely related. A sales pitch is a type of sales presentation. Pitches are generally used at the top of the funnel in the sales process; they bring people in.

A sales presentation can be used at any touchpoint with the buyer; their progression through your funnel and process will mandate what type of sales presentation you need.

This guide covers sales presentations as a category; if you’re looking for pitch decks , here are our favorites.

As a sales professional, you create all styles of sales presentations. Your choice depends on what level of the sales process you’re on, what you’re selling, your prospects’ needs, and the company’s selling framework. 

These are some of the most common sales presentation types concerning what’s being sold:

• Product: A product sales presentation showcases a singular product (physical or digital) to solve a specific problem. You are paid to provide products.
• Service: A service sales presentation shares why your prospect needs your service. You are hired (paid) to provide a service.
• Project: A project sales presentation attempts to close the deal to start a project that involves an exchange of money. You are hired (paid) to spearhead a project and finish with deliverables.

Regarding sales presentation styles and their placement in the sales process, you have three options:

• Informative: Informative sales presentations are at the top of the sales funnel or process. You share information about what you sell in a relatable language for the buyer—no call to action yet.
• Persuasive : In a persuasive sales presentation, you remind the buyer of the information and add how what you sell solves their problem. 
• Reminder : A reminder sales presentation reminds buyers of their interest and brings them back into the buying frame of mind.

How to Craft a Sales Presentation From Start to Finish

Selling guru Zig Ziglar always said that your sales presentation is an extension of you as a person. Your personality must come through positively through your slides and speech, creating a feeling of trust with the buyer. 

In this section, you’ll find the ultimate guide to crafting a sales presentation from start to finish. We’ll use a case study as a foundation for every step of the sales presentation creation process. 

The buyer is a large manufacturing factory looking to outsource services or buy a product that will help them monitor production data. Currently, they manage a complex tech stack that involves different software solutions. This system proves inefficient; it takes too long to export reports, and operators regularly have issues introducing data or troubleshooting error codes. 

They need a solution that will be efficient, save time, and avoid operator frustration. Likewise, they also need the system to be in one place, replacing all the components of their previous tech stack.

You, the sales professional, work for an AI-based SaaS that offers production and manufacturing dashboards. Everything is powered by a cloud-based application that is accessible 24/7 through PC, tablets, and smartphones. The information is fetched from the machines through sensors paired with cameras that sync the information for easy troubleshooting.

Your company has three years of experience in the market, with several customer success stories regarding energy management, increased production output, and reduced waste production—all thanks to implementing your production and manufacturing solutions. You aim to upscale the company’s operations, securing a deal with a large corporation. Hence, the sales presentation to close the deal.

To help you navigate the sales presentation journey, we’ve separated this section into four categories that lead to each other. 

• Preparation
• Development
• Continued Communication

How to Prepare a Sales Presentation 

A lot of work goes into preparing a sales presentation. You’re not just designing the slides for the deck but also preparing yourself for an impactful conversation. 

Before designing slides or writing speeches, you must strategize the sales presentation according to your client’s needs and your goals as a sales professional. Think of their needs and address them clearly.

Here are some questions to answer:

• How can you best communicate a solution for their needs while building trust?
• Where in the sales process are you with this client? Is the purpose of this presentation to inform, persuade or remind?
• Is there a sales playbook or guideline available to help you stay within company selling procedures?
• How can you get to know the prospect better before presenting?

Planning 

Always think of both the slides and the speech as an inseparable pair. If you can’t visit the prospect in person, prepare for a virtual call. 

Here are some planning stage actions.

• Meet with the buyer to have a conversation about their issues. Book a call with them to deliver your presentation.
• Use a Gantt Chart template to organize your timing for preparation and development.
• Visualize a roadmap of the ideal sales process with your prospect and aim to achieve it.
• Schedule time in your calendar to practice your speech.
• Research the buyer’s particular pain points. Did any of your existing clients have the same paint points? How did your service solve them? Have case studies on hand to share with the prospect.

Connecting 

A large part of a successful sales presentation is the human connection you create with the prospect or buyer. As you communicate with the potential buyer, build a relationship. You want this buyer to buy and become a loyal customer and, eventually, a natural promoter.

The manufacturing company that needs your dashboard solution has specific pain points, which they shared during the initial call. Use them as conversation points to connect on a deeper level. Depending on your personality, you can use humor, empathy, or other psychological tactics to connect meaningfully and honestly.

Developing a sales presentation involves putting the content together for the slides and speech. Presentation slides aren’t your speech in written form; they’re supporting material. Ideally, share the visual presentation before and after you talk with them; this helps reinforce the message by imprinting the conversation in their minds.

Write the Content

Your monitoring dashboard company has the solution the manufacturing factory needs. You know this, but they aren’t quite sure yet. They need to buy from someone, and it could be anyone. Use the power of communication to be the one they buy from. 

Here are some tips for writing and developing the content for your presentation. 

• Create a double outline with two columns—one for the slides and one for the speech. Match the presentation slide to your speech, but don’t make them exactly the same. The slide has to support what you’re saying, not repeat it.
• Write the speech as if you were talking to the prospect. Think of questions they might ask and write down the answers.
• As you work through the writing, develop one-liners to bring the message home for the buyer. 
• Use specific examples. In this case, the manufacturing enterprise needs a custom dashboard for its production monitoring. Write down reasons why your offer solves their most significant problems and issues. Why did they start looking for a custom dashboard solution in the first place? Knowing the buyer almost intimately is essential so that your offer sells itself.

Structure the Presentation

The two most powerful parts of your presentation are the opening and the ending. Everything in the middle is a filler that the prospect might or might need to pay more attention to. 

Start with your best shot, the point you feel has the most persuasive power. Then use your second-best shot for the ending. 

Here’s a rundown of sections that’ll help move along the conversation. Each section can be one slide, or it can be a few.

Personalized cover and intro . A personalized cover on a sales presentation deck makes a positive first impression and interest for the rest of the slides. By now, you should know the company’s name, the buyer’s name, and their role in the company. Include them on the cover with a prefix like this:

• Prepared for: Name of buyer, role, company.
• Prepared by: Your name, your role, your company.

On the opening slides, reintroduce what your company offers. Only some members on the client side know the specifics involved in the deal. Present a quick reminder of what your company does. This is the perfect opportunity to share your elevator pitch, your best shot.

Problem / Solution Analysis . Be specific. You already know what they need from you, but they don’t. Sell the solution confidently by being specific about how your custom dashboard service will solve their monitoring pain points. 

Here’s how to do it: Start by presenting the problem given to you by the company. Visually display the reports you obtained from the buyer. Then, present an analysis crafted by your team. Show how specific pain points are solved by displaying real and projected data.

Share your perspective on the issue, and bring up potential trouble points the customer may still need to spot. Conclude by introducing “the solution” with accurate data and projections.

The Cost of Doing Nothing. Use data to show how your solution will not only solve their immediate problem but also in the future. Visually explain how choosing not to buy your dashboard service—doing nothing, staying the same—will cost more than you’re asking them to invest. Using clear calculations, explain how if they stay as they are, not only will they end up wasting more money than if they had bought the dashboard system, they’d be in deeper water and still without the dashboard. 

Your solution instantly solves the cost of doing nothing or staying as they are. Returning to the custom dashboard sale example, let’s say that after the estimation analysis you present, the buyer sees an increased OEE (Overall equipment effectiveness) by 30% in the upcoming four months after the production monitoring software pinpoints the bottlenecks in production. That’s enough information to make the sale!

Real Referrals

Go beyond the testimonial quote and share real referrals from clients whose pain points you solved with custom solutions. Keep a file of case studies, testimonials, and social media mentions ready to add to any presentation.

Create internal case studies if your company is relatively new and you have few referrals or testimonials. Use your product or service to solve your company’s pain points and document the process. Through quality video presentations , your company can also expose insightful information if your referrals aren’t enough, as said videos demonstrate the operational aspect of the product or service you intend to sell.

Regardless of the background, this section aims to increase credibility and authority. Use real data in clear visualizations to showcase gains like ROI and production. Ensure that what you share makes an impact. Storytelling techniques come in handy at this point.

The pricing slide is optional

The slide with pricing is optional. Generally, fixed pricing is more apt for a slide in a sales presentation template . Flexible or complex pricing needs more than a slide. 

Putting the case study as an example, the buying company has 30 product lines but wishes to conduct a trial run for the software solution you are selling them, on 5 product lines for 90 days. Based on the initial results, they will gradually upscale the service. 

In a case like this, the price negotiation is managed by both companies’ financial departments, where accurate quotations are handled. On the slide, you can link to the spreadsheet where calculations are conducted, but you can leave detailed calculations out of the conversation completely. 

Closing  

Thank everyone that attends the call or meeting. And also, include a Thank You note on the last slide. Use your second elevator pitch , the second shot, at this point. Leave the ball in the buyer’s court and make it easy for them to buy. Close the sale by agreeing for your financial team to contact theirs.

Include all forms of communication on that slide with hyperlinks to call you on the phone or get in touch via email.

Design the Slides with Visuals

Designing the slides means putting it all together into a set of slides that flow along with your speech or recorded video-over. We won’t go too deep into this point, but be sure it’s important! Here are some essential things to achieve when designing slides:

• A balanced layout on all slides.
• Harmonious transitions from slide to slide.
• Visual unity between slides.
• A unified color and font scheme.
• Licensed visuals, videos, and images.

This is what your sales presentation can look like.

Save Time With Templates

PowerPoint Templates are the ultimate timesaver for anyone creating presentations. Not only do they save time in development and production, but they also help with visual consistency and flow. Using predesigned templates where you only need to change the content and the colors is ideal for someone with minimal design skills or limited time. FYI, even designers use templates.

Presentation delivery is more important than all the other steps combined. At the point of delivery, your goal is to convince and then persuade the buyer that your solution is worth investing in. 

Practice your Speech

At this stage, top-performing sales professionals stand out from the rest. A memorized speech and perfect slides won’t make the sale; YOU will. The entire transaction depends on you and how you connect with the buyer.

Here are some tips on how to turn a speech into a conversation that will lead to a close.

• Develop and train your voice. Simply memorizing information isn’t going to make sales; you need to practice voice inflection and change of pace. Don’t discount taking speaking courses to improve your skills.
• Record yourself practicing and play it back. Take notes on what you can improve and what can be discarded. 
• Ask peers and colleagues for feedback.
• Always keep improving from every sales presentation.
• Practice for many scenarios; standing in front of a group, sitting at a table next to people, via virtual call.

Remember that all this work you’re doing is for the prospect’s benefit. Don’t talk at them; talk with them. Don’t deliver your presentation dryly or rushed; give yourself and each other time to converse.

Distributing Presentations Digitally 

You won’t always be able to visit the prospect in person. Practice delivering the sales presentation and speech on camera. On some occasions, you won’t be able to meet the prospect. In this case, create the presentation and then record yourself presenting on each slide. Use tools like Loom or Nimbus to record yourself while presenting the slides.

Body Language

It is imperative to be mindful of your body language when delivering a sales presentation, as also interpret your customer’s body language signals. In corporate environments, the interactions between buyer and seller are carefully handled in terms of speech, documents, and deals, but our bodies are able to convey our true feelings about a situation without us even realizing such a fact.

Eyes are a window to the soul, and where a spectator places their focus is usually their main point of interest. If the audience is looking at you, their interest is targeted to what you are disclosing. On the other hand, if you perceive the audience is looking at a distracting element or at no specific point, like gazing at the horizon, then you should revive the presentation with a hook or introduce a surprise element. Constant staring is considered an intimidating practice in Western cultures, so avoid being too forward when speaking to your client. A good ratio of eye contact for sales is between 55-65%.

Anxiety can manifest in multiple shapes, such as toe tapping, pursing lips, unstill hands, or continuous neck movement. Drumming fingers is a common sign of impatience as if your content isn’t relevant or boring to the audience. Playing with desk elements, doodling, or looking at the smartphone are signs of boredom and annoyance. Keep extra care if you see attendees leaning into their arms, as it is a clear sign of a desire to leave the meeting.

When delivering a sales presentation, avoid common non-verbal communication mistakes such as:

• Hands in pockets : It suggests a lack of transparency in the information disclosed.
• Arms crossed close to body : Protectiveness against the audience.
• Posture : Slouching your back is a no-no unless you have any kind of proven physical limitation. Otherwise, it transmits a lack of interest and an unprofessional look.
• Watching the clock : While it is okay to be mindful about the remaining time available in a sales presentation, watching your clock can be felt as if you want to run away from the room as quickly as possible.

The type of follow-up after a sales presentation will depend on if you closed or not. Hopefully, by this point in the relationship with your prospect, a follow-up will come naturally through a few emails or calls. Keep the conversation going and share compelling content and data to help them finalize the deal.

If you close on the sales presentation, the follow-up will be more about financial exchanges. Nevertheless, keep communicating with them and let them know you are always available to discuss whatever they need. 

If you need a quick method to create a sales presentation, check out our  AI presentation maker . A tool in which you add the topic, curate the outline, select a design, and let AI do the work for you.

6 Tips to Supercharge Your Sales Presentations

To succeed in high-profile sales, go beyond the basics to make your presentations close on business deals, increase conversion rates and build meaningful business relationships.

1. Be actionable

At every point in the sales process, ensure the prospect knows where they stand. Expose the next steps in the sales negotiation through conversations and email. Share the sales process with prospects at first contact, letting the buyer know you’re not hiding anything. 

Don’t take the negotiation like a closed deal from the start. The buyer is the one that ultimately makes the decision, but that doesn’t mean you have to put pressure on them. Instead, be actionable and help the buyer make an informed decision that will benefit their company immediately and in the future. Show them how easy it is to take action and close the sale.

2. Presenting the Cost of Not-Doing

When prospects push back, they still don’t see the full value of what you’re offering in terms of what it will cost them if they don’t close the sale. This is why including data visuals and convincing information about the Cost of Not-Doing is a critical angle for your slides.

Use storytelling with numbers and data to create a sense of urgency. Take a cue from Zig Ziglar and his view on the topic, “The fear of loss is greater than the desire for gain.” Present the cost of not-doing as a non-action, leaving everything the same. Continuing with ineffectiveness only results in loss of profit, wasted time, and disgruntled factory managers.

3. Show Empathy Over Sympathy

In sales, it’s all about the attitude you bring to the table when doing a sales presentation. Not only do you have to believe that what you sell solves problems well, but you also have to believe that what you sell is helping people by making their job easier. Therefore, you’re making their lives better. 

In the case of your software company creating a custom dashboard, the buyer’s pain points are:

• Their current tech stack is inefficient.
• Reports take too long to export.
• Troubleshooting is a mess.

Go a step further and ask the buyer what happens when the reports take too long, or the troubleshooting could be smoother. Highly likely that there’s downtime in production or reporting. And what does that lead to? Frustration. And manager frustration leads to negative attitudes toward employees, leading to complaints. 

Show the buyer how your solution doesn’t just help monitor production but also makes your managers and employees more content with work. When employee satisfaction increases, it leads to employee retention. In the opposite scenario, there are unhappy managers and higher employee turnover.

4. A Good Image Across Your Slides 

Just as your appearance influences your sales career, so do the presentation slides you prepare, develop and deliver. It starts with the visual aspect and the design of the presentation as a whole. Here are some best practices to follow so you can achieve a good, professional image all around. 

• Have an offline format for the presentation. Have it on a USB stick, not online.
• Be ready for any kind of question.
• Ensure the presentation is compatible with viewing on different formats; tablet, laptop, mobile, PC, or projector.
• Use catchy, engaging, branded visuals like infographics slides , illustrations, data visualization, video, and voiceovers .

5. Presenting ROI Projections

When deciding which data to visualize, put ROI projections at the top. Showing projections and visions of the buyer’s success increase the chances of closing the sale. This technique is the opposite of showing the cost of Not-Doing. 

With ROI projections, you put the buyer in a privileged position. You show them how much they will gain from their investment. Go further and project how long it will take to repay the investment. Hopefully, it’s not very long!

6. Be on Brand

The content and visuals on your presentation slides must reflect the company’s brand with a compelling narrative. We already mentioned the importance of believing in your product or service. Take it further and believe—and stand behind—the company brand’s values, mission, and vision. 

Aligning with the company’s values will help you see the sales process as a way to grow the brand you work for and your career as a sales professional. Craft the sales presentation with this in mind, and take your sales career to the next level with every close you make.

Sales Presentation Examples

Discover our complete collection of Sales Presentations available for PowerPoint and Google Slides.

1. Free Sales Management Dashboard PowerPoint Template

Use This Template

2. Sales Battle Card PowerPoint Template

3. Sales Playbook PowerPoint Template

4. Sales Structure Org Chart PowerPoint Template

5. Sales Enablement Plan PowerPoint Template

6. Sales Action Plan PowerPoint Template

7. SPIN Sales Process PowerPoint Template

8. Sales Enablement Plan Presentation Template

9. Dropshipping PowerPoint Template

Your role in a sales presentation is to embody the brand, the product, or the service, as the best and only solution to the buyer’s pain points. Craft and practice your messaging to reveal how the buyer’s situation will improve once they close. 

Use SlideModel templates for full deck presentations, individual slides, and design element collections to help craft sales presentations that convert. Choose the perfect data visualizations and infographics to share the Cost of Not-Doing. SlideModel has your back.

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Design, Sales Filed under Business , Presentation Ideas

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How to create an effective sales meeting agenda

• Written by: Joby Blume
• Categories: Sales presentations
• Comments: 1

When preparing a sales presentation it can become all too easy too forget the wider context of a sales meeting – the sales presentation is only one part of the whole meeting. So it begs the question, what’s an effective sales meeting agenda? When does it make sense to present? And is there a one-size-fits-all answer, or do things change as we move through the sales cycle?

What not to do: lessons from a sales meeting disaster

A few years ago I went with an ex-colleague from my last employer (who subsequently went bust) to a sales meeting with an investment bank in London. We had been invited to present for 30 minutes, with 30 minutes for Q&A. The decision maker was the SVP Marketing, a woman who seemed as efficient as she was successful. On the meeting room walls were museum-quality artworks. We were talking about a very big project.

My then-colleague took charge – it was “his” meeting. He opened his laptop, hit F5, and started to present – barely a minute into the meeting. After the hour was up, he was still going with an extended capabilities pitch. No matter that the prospect had asked for something  very  specific that wasn’t being addressed. No matter that there was supposed to be an agenda for the sales meeting…

The marketing team around the table started to fidget, to become uncomfortable. I started to become uncomfortable. Eventually, after an hour of monologue, they pretty much threw us out.

Sales presentations and sales meetings are not “one size fits all”

It doesn’t make sense to waste an opportunity by just presenting a canned presentation to a prospect regardless of their situation. Any so-called “presentation guru” prepared to “show up and throw up” with their PowerPoint deck is giving bad advice. Of course you have key sales messages you want on the meeting agenda – but that agenda needs to have some relation to the prospect’s interests. Not every prospect is interested in the same elements of your offering – unless you only sell one thing, and there are only one or two reasons anyone might buy it.

Have you heard the old Talmudic advice about having two ears and one mouth (so listen more)? That’s a reason to think in terms of structuring a sales meeting properly – with room for conversation – and not seeing the presentation as the only part of the meeting.

In light of that, there’s no single way to structure a sales meeting; as you move through the sales cycle, different things are required. At the very first meeting, you are likely to be fact-finding, exploring whether or not your company’s solutions are a good fit for the prospect, and discovering what challenges they feel most urgently. At a best-and-final pitch presentation, you may be responding to an entirely prescriptive meeting agenda, with scoring on how well you answer certain questions.

Going in to  any  sales meeting with the exact same agenda (say hello, open laptop, present everything in credentials presentation, stop) is a recipe for failure. It might work  sometimes  (so do bullet-point pitches, sometimes), but that doesn’t make it right.

The first step for creating an effective sales meeting agenda happens before you step in the room. Many sales people just don’t set an agenda for a sales meeting. This is a mistake. Setting and sharing an agenda for your sales meeting helps the prospect know you are professional, makes them aware you will respect their time, allows you to take some sort of control of the sales process, sets you apart as being clear in your communication, and let’s the buyer know what you expect from them.

Here are a couple of sample agendas to start you off – note the similarities and differences in each:

Sample agenda for the first sales meeting

• Introductions and rapport-building
• Share the agenda (if you haven’t done this in advance)
• Introduction on challenges companies like the prospect’s face, and why attempts to solve them haven’t worked. This should take around five minutes (ten minutes at the absolute maximum), and is the educational ‘challenger’ part of the meeting
• Probing questions – to find out which part of your description resonated with the prospect, and what particular challenges are significant for them
• Visual Conversation – talk to the prospect about their answers; when appropriate use short slide sequences about your solution and capabilities, and how they can help solve the challenges that are significant for the prospect. This visual sales conversation ought to allow you to talk and listen – in roughly equal proportion. Explore how good a fit your offering is for the prospect. Objections will emerge as part of this sales conversation, and need to be handled, using visuals if appropriate.
• Define and schedule next steps.

Sample agenda for the second sales meeting

• Five minute introduction on prospect’s challenges and why attempts to solve them haven’t worked (‘challenger’ education)
• Check summary of situation is correct, explore implications. In this way, the presentation can’t be a monologue as there’s a pause for discussion after the introduction has been delivered
• Sales presentation , to cover what characteristics a solution would need to have, and your company’s own value proposition. The value proposition and solution will clearly and demonstrably ‘solve’ the challenges the prospect has admitted to having
• Questions and answers
• Trial close and objection handling
• Close, define and schedule next steps.

Sales meetings with a prescribed agenda

Because pitch presentations are often scored to assess how well you do against each question, ignoring the prescribed agenda to deliver the presentation you want to give can be risky. But simply following the agenda slavishly is risky too though. It stops you from differentiating, and hides the key advantages you offer. In general, the amount of time for presentation and discussion is fixed (or at least recommended) by the prospect – and it makes sense to stick with this. Where questions are asked, it makes sense to answer them and make it clear that you are answering them. What usually works well is to use your value proposition for presentation structure, and map this to the questions so that answering questions and selling happen alongside each other.

More information

For a more detailed look at setting sales meeting agendas, consider Mike Weinberg’s excellent  New Sales. Simplified .  Chapter 10 suggests good questions to ask during each section of a first meeting.

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Why your sales deck isn’t beating buyer indecision.

• Sales presentations / Sales messaging

Maybe you’ve been in this position before. You have a killer sales deck, but you lose the sale. In all likelihood you haven’t lost to a competitor, but to something else entirely. Often the victor is the status quo. In this post, we’re going to teach you how you can develop sales presentations that overcome indecision and beat the status quo. For good.

How to make the ULTIMATE sales presentation

• Sales presentations / Sales messaging / Visual communication
• Comments: 8

Sales presentations are the cornerstone of many companies’ sales efforts, yet so often they aren’t given the time and attention they deserve. Thrown together at the last-minute, often your sales reps stand up in front of a sales presentation that's nothing more than a glorified page of notes. Read this article for everything you need to make the ultimate sales presentation.

14 sales presentation ideas

• Comments: 4

Sales presentations are important, but 1000s of people each day ignore the principles of sales presentation design and sales messaging and deliver material that is tired, ugly, and ineffective. These sales presentation ideas will help you to easily improve your sales presentation; stand out, engage your audience, and sell more.

Thank you for sharing this interesting insight into agenda setting for sales meetings. Although agendas are definitely a must for keeping things organized, effective, and on-time, it is important to remain flexible as well. In addition, allowing for open discussion can really encourage a positive environment that all sales reps can take something from. This flexibility can often lead to the most successful meetings, despite going off agenda.

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What to Cover in a Sales Meeting [+ Agenda]

Sales meetings and their goals sound great on paper - but often become drowsy snoozefests.

So how do we make them engaging and effective?

In this post, we'll cover everything from crafting an agenda to brainstorming with the team. You'll come away with a framework to make your sales meetings more productive and impactful.

What Is a Sales Meeting?

A sales meeting is a scheduled gathering of sales team members, often led by a sales manager or team leader, aimed at discussing sales strategies, reviewing performance metrics, setting goals, and addressing challenges within the sales process.

It serves as a platform for sharing updates, celebrating achievements, aligning on objectives, and collaboratively problem-solving to drive sales effectiveness and achieve targets.

Implementing best practices around preparing, facilitating, and following up on sales meetings can have an outsized impact on sales outcomes.

The frequency of sales meetings can vary based on the organization's needs, sales cycles, and team dynamics. Common practice ranges from weekly to monthly meetings, allowing teams to stay aligned without impeding daily sales activities.

Determining the right cadence involves balancing the need for regular updates and strategic alignment with the necessity of maximizing time spent on sales activities.

Participants

Sales meetings typically involve sales reps, team leaders, and often the sales manager. Depending on the agenda, meetings may also include other stakeholders such as marketing professionals, product managers, or customer success representatives to provide a comprehensive view of sales strategies and customer insights.

Why They're Important

• Sales meetings provide a regular cadence for managers to communicate key objectives, review progress to goals, address bottlenecks, and recalibrate strategy with field reps. This enables enhanced transparency and tighter alignment across distributed teams.
• Well-run sales meetings give managers insight into rep performance and pipeline health. Tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) like activities, conversions, and projected revenue over time reveals what's working and what needs to change.
• The sales meeting serves as a forum for collaboration, idea sharing, and collective problem solving. Reps can learn from each other's wins and losses.

How to Prepare for a Successful Sales Meeting

Here are best practices for preparing for an effective sales meeting:

(1) Set an Objective

Clearly define the purpose and desired outcomes of the meeting. This keeps the discussion focused and productive.

Objectives for sales meetings can vary widely based on current priorities, team needs, and specific sales phases.

Leaders can select the most fitting objectives from this list for their meetings to ensure they are purpose-driven and aligned with their team's and organization's overarching goals:

• Review KPIs like closed deals, qualified leads, sales velocity, activities completed, and conversion rates
• Provide pipeline updates identifying stuck deals and surfacing sales opportunities
• Build camaraderie, transparency, and alignment across the team
• Brainstorm and collaborate on what's working well and what needs improvement
• Ensure all members understand broader organizational goals and how their role ladders up to success
• Align on new campaign strategies
• Celebrate recent wins.

With clarity of purpose, sales leaders can design and facilitate meetings that maximize value-add for attendees.

(2) Share the Agenda

Distribute an agenda beforehand so attendees know what to expect and can prepare accordingly. Highlight key discussion topics, data to cover, and any pre-work.

Here's one example sales meeting agenda template that you can use and edit however you want!

(3) Prepare Materials

Ask sales reps and other attendees to bring key sales metrics and updates like closed deals, qualified leads generated, or forecast updates.

Here's how to effectively gather and utilize these insights:

• Pre-Meeting Data Collection : Encourage sales reps and attendees to compile and share key sales data prior to the meeting. This could include recent achievements, such as closed deals and qualified leads, as well as updates on sales forecasts and pipeline status.
• Distribute Prep Materials : Prior to the meeting, distribute essential sales reports, pipeline updates, and performance metrics to all attendees. This ensures everyone has access to the same information and can review it in advance, leading to more focused and productive discussions.
• Focus on Actionable Insights : Ask team members to not only provide data but also to highlight insights that could lead to actionable strategies. For example, identifying patterns in successful deals or pinpointing areas in the pipeline that require attention can help direct the meeting's focus towards effective solutions and strategies.

What to Do During a Sales Meeting

Let's take a closer look at each agenda item.

(1) Performance Review

During the performance review segment of your sales meeting, the focus should be on a comprehensive evaluation of sales metrics and their implications for strategy and execution. This segment is pivotal for understanding past and present performance, identifying successes, and pinpointing areas for improvement.

• Sales KPIs Overview : Start by examining fundamental sales metrics, such as revenue generated, the number of sales qualified leads (SQLs), sales activity levels, win/loss rates, sales velocity, lead conversion rates, closed deals, or customer lifetime value. This overview provides a snapshot of overall sales health and achievements.
• Comparison and Trend Analysis : Compare current metrics against previous periods and goals to identify trends, patterns, and deviations. This comparison is crucial for understanding performance dynamics over time.

Here are some practical examples of some of the KPIs:

• Revenue Generated : Measure the total sales revenue within a specified period.
• Number of Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs) : Count the prospects that have been thoroughly vetted and deemed ready for a direct sales approach.
• Win/Loss Rates : Calculate the ratio of deals won to those lost to evaluate the sales team's effectiveness in closing deals. A high win rate is indicative of strong sales tactics and customer engagement, while a lower rate may signal areas needing strategic adjustment or improvement.

(2) Pipeline and Strategy Discussion

Regularly reviewing the sales pipeline helps identify potential roadblocks and opportunities, ensuring that efforts are aligned with the most promising prospects.

The sales meeting cadence presents a regular opportunity to assess pipeline health and lead generation efficacy.

Pipeline Updates

• Total pipeline value relative to quarterly goals
• Breakdown of deals by stage including contact made, presentations delivered, proposals submitted, etc.
• Changes in deal stages from the previous meeting

Lead Generation Updates

• Volume and quality of inbound leads
• Results of targeted outbound prospecting campaigns
• Effectiveness of current lead gen tactics like events, content offers, or ads

Routine pipeline and demand gen reviews ensure resources are allocated to the strategies, channels, and programs yielding the greatest return.

Sales Forecasting Updates

Forecast Presentations : Encourage sales reps to present forecasts for their territories, focusing on:

• Big Opportunities : Highlight potential large deals in the pipeline and strategic plans to secure them.
• At-Risk Deals : Identify deals at risk and discuss account management strategies.
• Market Trends and Adjustments : Discuss any significant market trends, such as rising demand for flexible payment terms, and their potential impact on the sales pipeline and strategies.

Sharing Prospect Insights

Insight Exchange : Allow reps to share valuable insights from recent prospect interactions and evaluation calls, facilitating better collaboration and strategizing to advance opportunities within the pipeline.

(3) Wins and Recognitions

Celebrating wins and recognizing individual and team achievements helps maintain high morale and foster a culture of success within the sales team. This segment of the sales meeting should be dedicated to highlighting accomplishments, sharing success stories, and setting the stage for future endeavors.

Highlighting Achievements

Start by acknowledging both the big wins and the smaller victories that have occurred since the last meeting. Recognize the efforts and strategies that led to these successes, emphasizing the diverse contributions across the team.

Sharing Success Stories

Delve into specific success stories that exemplify effective sales tactics or exceptional customer engagement. Detail the approach taken, the challenges overcome, and the key factors that contributed to the success. This not only celebrates achievements but also serves as a learning opportunity for the entire team.

Lessons Learned

Discuss the valuable lessons gleaned from recent successes. Understanding the dynamics, strategies, and behaviors that led to positive outcomes can provide actionable insights for the team, helping to replicate similar results in future endeavors.

Formal Recognition

If your organization has formal recognition programs, such as "Salesperson of the Month" or performance-based awards, announce and celebrate these accolades during this segment. Highlighting these recognitions reinforces the value placed on high performance and achievement within the team.

Future Goal Setting

Use the positive momentum generated by celebrating wins to introduce new challenges or goals for the team. Setting sights on future achievements can help maintain focus and motivation, encouraging continuous improvement and striving for excellence.

(4) Challenges and Solutions

Sharing updates and challenges.

• Cultivating Resilience : Begin by highlighting the role of resilience in navigating sales challenges. Emphasize how embracing obstacles contributes to personal and team growth.
• Exchange of Experiences : Provide a space for team members to openly share their recent challenges and setbacks. This transparency not only fosters a supportive environment but also sets the stage for collective problem-solving.

Brainstorming and Innovating Solutions

• Collaborative Ideation : Transition into a brainstorming session where the team collaboratively seeks creative solutions to the shared challenges. Encourage innovative thinking to uncover new prospect outreach tactics, enhance customer engagement, and improve sales strategies.
• Adaptability and Continuous Improvement : Reinforce the importance of adaptability and continuous innovation in sales. Motivate team members to proactively propose solutions and adapt to the evolving sales environment, making innovation a regular practice within the team.

(5) Training and Development

If you don't have that much time to spare, you can mention training opportunities outside the meeting that employees can utilize to develop their skills. However, in sales meeting agendas, it's still possible to incorporate small training sessions based on the attendees' needs.

Here are some ideas!

Tailored Training Sessions

• Methodology Refinement : Organize training sessions that focus on refining sales methodologies, including social selling, targeted outreach, and consultative selling techniques. Ensure these sessions are tailored to address the current challenges and opportunities identified in the pipeline and strategy discussions.
• Advanced Negotiation Tactics : Introduce advanced negotiation tactics that can help the team close deals more effectively, especially in complex sales scenarios. This can include training on dealing with objections, negotiation psychology, and crafting win-win solutions.

Leveraging Technology and Tools

• Sales Enablement Tools : Provide hands-on training on the latest sales enablement tools and technologies that can streamline the sales process, improve customer engagement, and enhance data analysis.
• CRM Mastery : Conduct deep-dive sessions to ensure the team can fully leverage the CRM system, focusing on advanced features that can aid in lead tracking, sales forecasting, and performance analysis.

Market Adaptability

• Understanding Market Dynamics : Facilitate workshops or bring in industry experts to discuss emerging market trends, customer expectations, and competitive strategies. This will help the team adapt their sales approaches to align with market realities.
• Customized Solutions Selling : Train the team on developing and pitching customized solutions that meet the specific needs of prospects, enhancing the value proposition and differentiating from competitors.

Personal Development

• Career Pathing : Discuss career development opportunities within the organization, aligning personal growth with company goals.
• Feedback and Coaching : Implement a structured feedback and coaching system to provide regular, constructive feedback to each team member, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and personal development.

(6) Action Items and Accountability

The final segment of the sales meeting is dedicated to translating the discussions, strategies, and insights from the meeting into specific, actionable steps. This ensures that the momentum gained during the meeting is carried forward into tangible results.

Setting Clear Expectations

• Summarization of Key Points : Start by summarizing the key decisions, strategies, and insights that emerged from the meeting. This helps in ensuring everyone is aligned on the outcomes and expectations.
• Identification of Action Items : Break down these key points into actionable items, such as launching a targeted digital ad. Each action item should be clear, measurable, and assigned to a specific individual or team with a deadline.

Tracking and Follow-Up

• Tracking Mechanism : Outline the process for tracking the progress of these action items. Whether it's through a CRM, a project management tool, or regular check-in meetings, having a clear tracking mechanism is essential.
• Schedule for Review : Set a date for when the team will review the progress on these action items. This could be in the next sales meeting or a separate follow-up session, depending on the nature and urgency of the tasks.

Post-Meeting Follow-Up and Continuous Improvement

(1) share action items and next steps.

Recap any follow-up tasks, owners, and deadlines to align on expectations post-meeting.

• Share meeting notes - Distribute summary, decisions, tasks to all attendees.
• Follow up on action items - Ensure assigned owners are making progress.

Don't have time to make good quality notes? Wudpecker's AI tool could automate it for you...

(2) Tracking Progress with Sales Dashboards

Sales dashboards are critical for tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) and action items after sales meetings. Dashboards give visibility into pipeline updates , closed deals , and sales forecasting in real-time. This enables sales leaders to ensure follow-through on meeting commitments and calibrate strategy based on the latest data. Useful metrics to track include:

• Action items completion rate
• Qualified leads generated
• Sales opportunities progressed
• Win/loss analysis

By keeping dashboards updated, teams stay aligned through continuous pipeline reviews and forecasting updates . This drives accountability around meeting deliverables.

(3) Advancing Sales Processes with Meeting Insights

The discussions that transpire in sales meetings offer invaluable strategic insights. By analyzing meeting trends over time, sales leaders can identify ways to enhance processes like:

• Lead generation tactics that drive more qualified opportunities
• Content marketing that resonates best with target buyer personas
• Sales workflow inefficiencies that result in bottlenecks
• Sales tools that could augment seller productivity

These insights help shape everything from cold calling scripts to account-based strategies. Ultimately, meetings provide the context needed to continually optimize a sales team's playbook.

(4) Cultivating Customer and Prospect Relationships

When it comes to long-term success, the customer relationship is paramount. Sales meetings present opportunities to strengthen these bonds by:

• Brainstorming creative ways to add value and delight customers
• Ensuring customer pain points or requests are tracked as action items with owners assigned
• Discussing upcoming milestones in customer lifecycles or contracts for proactive planning

Likewise, properly nurturing prospects requires planning tailored cultivation strategies for key targets identified in meetings. This transforms meetings from transactional interactions into platforms for building customer loyalty and evangelism.

(5) Implementing Feedback for Meeting Enhancement

Constructive feedback is vital for improving the quality and effectiveness of sales meetings over time. Useful methods include:

• Sending quick meeting feedback surveys to participants after each sales meeting to gauge what worked well and what needs refinement
• Discussing lessons learned from recent sales meetings in a dedicated post-mortem agenda item
• Tracking sales meeting KPIs like deal conversion rates for data-driven insights into optimal meeting formats

This feedback enables sales leaders to implement changes like adjusting meeting cadence, testing creative agenda ideas to build camaraderie, and trying tools to make meetings more productive. The key is ensuring feedback is regularly collected, discussed, and acted upon.

(1) Look at Customer Feedback

Integrating customer feedback into sales meetings is a powerful way to directly connect your team's efforts with the voice of your customers. This practice not only highlights areas of excellence but also pinpoints opportunities for improvement and innovation.

Deep-Dive Analysis : Allocate time to delve into the specifics of customer feedback, going beyond surface-level comments to understand the underlying sentiments and expectations. This could involve qualitative analysis of open-ended survey responses or thematic categorization of feedback to identify patterns.

Customer Success Stories : Share compelling testimonials and success stories where your team's efforts have led to notable customer satisfaction. These stories serve as motivational examples of the impact of their work and the value it brings to customers.

Feedback-Driven Strategy Session : Use customer insights as a springboard for strategic discussions. How can your products or services evolve to meet emerging customer needs? Are there new markets or segments that your team could target based on positive feedback from similar customers?

(2) Manage a Remote Sales Team Effectively

It can be difficult to keep everyone engaged behind the screen. Embrace the following strategies to ensure your remote team operates more seamlessly and efficiently:

Creating a consistent cadence - Maintain a regular weekly or biweekly meeting schedule. Consistency drives engagement and alignment.

Leveraging collaboration tools - Use digital whiteboards, screen sharing, polls, and chat to interact. This fosters participation.

Facilitating one-on-one check-ins - Meet individually with remote team members to strengthen relationships and address challenges.

Tracking action items transparently - Use tool integrations to automatically log tasks and next steps for visibility.

Incorporating Ice Breakers : Even in a remote setting, begin meetings with an icebreaker to warm up the atmosphere and enhance team bonding. Simple activities like sharing a recent personal achievement or a quick virtual game can set a positive tone for the meeting.

(3) Leveraging a Well-Organized CRM

An effectively utilized CRM centralizes key information to optimize meeting productivity, including:

• Pipeline data - Review opportunity statuses, projected revenue, and activity metrics.
• Account profiles - Reference customer details like contacts, history, and communication records.
• Task management - Log action items and assign owners for follow-through.
• Analytics - Identify trends across pipeline stages to inform strategy discussions.

Integrate your CRM with meeting and productivity tools for rapid access to these insights during meetings.

(4) Innovating with Out-of-the-Box Sales Meeting Ideas

To combat meeting fatigue and spark new ideas, incorporate creative elements like:

• Guest speakers - Invite cross-functional peers or external experts to share insights.
• Showcases - Have sales reps demonstrate successful sales pitches and tools.
• Team building activities - Foster relationships through fun online games and challenges.
• Role playing - Practice objection handling and consultative selling scenarios.

Keep meetings lively and engaging to promote energy and innovation around advancing sales.

In this blog, we covered the essentials elements of a successful sales meeting.

Preparation : Lay the groundwork for successful meetings by developing a clear agenda that covers performance reviews, pipeline discussions, and strategic planning. Incorporate customer feedback to ensure meetings are customer-centric, and prepare all necessary data and reports in advance to facilitate informed discussions.

Execution : Engage your team with a well-structured meeting that encourages active participation and fosters camaraderie. Utilize creative elements such as guest speakers, showcases, and team activities to keep the meetings lively and combat fatigue. Leverage technology to manage remote teams effectively, ensuring that distance does not hinder collaboration and participation.

Follow-up : Translate meeting discussions into actionable steps with clear accountability. Utilize sales dashboards to track progress and ensure that action items are progressing towards completion. Gather and implement feedback to continuously refine and enhance the meeting structure and content, fostering a culture of continuous improvement.

How Do You Structure a Sales Team Meeting?

Structuring a sales team meeting effectively involves creating a successful sales meeting agenda that covers all critical aspects of your sales process.

A well-organized meeting agenda should start with a review of the sales targets achieved since the previous meeting, followed by a pipeline review to assess current opportunities and challenges.

It's also essential to include a segment for discussing sales strategies and sharing success stories from sales reps to boost morale.

Conclude with setting clear action items for the next meeting to ensure accountability.

How Do Sales Meetings Aid in Sales Rep Development?

Sales meetings are instrumental in the development of sales reps by providing a platform for continuous learning and improvement.

These gatherings allow for the dissemination of sales training, the examination of key performance metrics, and the exchange of success stories, all of which contribute to a deeper understanding of effective sales practices.

This collaborative environment not only enhances sales skills but also encourages personal growth and team cohesion.

How to Keep Your Sales Team Engaged During Meetings?

Enhancing engagement in sales meetings is key to maximizing their effectiveness and ensuring active participation from sales team members.

Start by crafting a dynamic sales meeting agenda that includes interactive segments such as live polls or Q&A sessions. Incorporate real-life sales scenarios for role-playing to put theories into practice.

Additionally, recognizing individual or team achievements during the meeting can significantly boost morale and maintain high levels of interest and participation

By keeping the content relevant and interactive, you encourage sales reps to contribute actively and stay invested in the meeting's outcomes.

Date: [Insert Date] Time: [Insert Time] Location: [Insert Location or Virtual Meeting Link] Duration: 60 mins

1. Opening (5 min)

• Welcome and brief introductions
• Overview of meeting objectives

2. Performance Review (10 min)

• Analysis of sales KPIs (revenue, SQLs, win/loss rates)
• Comparison with previous periods and targets

3. Pipeline and Strategy Discussion (15 min)

• Review of pipeline value and deal stages
• Lead generation updates and efficacy
• Brief discussion on sales forecasting and market trends

4. Wins and Recognitions (5 min)

• Celebrating key successes and contributions
• Sharing one impactful success story

5. Challenges and Solutions (10 min)

• Sharing of one or two recent challenges
• Quick brainstorm for solutions

6. Training and Development (5 min)

• Highlight one upcoming training opportunity or quick tool refresher

7. Action Items and Accountability (10 min)

• Setting clear tasks and responsibilities
• Review of previous action items and progress updates

8. Closing Remarks (5 min)

• Summary of key decisions and points
• Confirmation of the next meeting date and time

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How to Create a Sales Meeting Agenda That Drives Your Team Towards Success

July 21, 2023.

Rasheed Ahamed

Sales meetings should help your team close more deals. It's not a place to discuss what your team already knows, share status updates, or cover administrative issues.

What should a sales meeting be about?

It should enable your reps to receive feedback, explore new ideas to try, acquire product knowledge, understand how to accelerate deals in the pipeline and feel energized and confident to meet their quota.

It's more straightforward than it sounds. All you need is a meeting agenda that addresses your team's primary concerns and goals. As Jeffrey Gitomer, a renowned sales leader, puts it, to have a great sales meeting, set an agenda that works.

Need help? You've come to the right place. We'll help you understand how to design a meeting agenda for your sales meetings, explore some examples, and introduce tools to make your job easier.

Alright, let's get started.

Design Your Sales Meeting Agenda

While every sales team is different, there are some topics that you can include to improve your agenda.

Celebrate Wins

Introduce a "Celebrate Wins" session to start your meeting with energy and enthusiasm. Recognize achievements such as closed deals or surpassing monthly sales targets, as this boosts team morale and sets the tone for an engaging session.

Encourage the reps to share why they believe they were able to surpass targets and close larger deals compared to others.

"Let's all give a big shout-out to Sarah for nailing her sales target this month and closing a 6-figure deal! Sarah, could you take a minute to share what helped you succeed and give some tips for others to do the same?"

Share Key Sales Metrics

Discuss and share essential sales metrics and performance updates. Ideally, present them on a customizable dashboard (we'll cover this later). Data empowers the team with valuable insights to improve their sales strategies.

Here are some example metrics to share.

• ARR and MRR: $X,XXX,XXX
• MRR Growth rate: XX%
• Sales Conversion Rate: XX%
• New Leads Generated: XXX
• Sales Cycle Length: XX days
• Customer Retention Rate: XX%
• Monthly Sales Target: $X, XXX, XXX (Achieved: XX%)

Reflect & Improve

Before moving on to new ideas, take a moment to review the outcomes of previous initiatives. Explore successful tactics and those that didn't quite meet the mark. Learning from achievements and setbacks nurtures a culture of growth and ongoing improvement.

"In our last meeting, we introduced a new follow-up email strategy, which led to a 20% increase in customer responses. But our LinkedIn outreach needs some work, so let's think together and develop better ideas to make it work."

Address Roadblocks

Encourage open discussions about the challenges the team is facing. Work together through role-playing exercises to come up with effective solutions. Overcoming challenges as a team strengthens unity and equips everyone with the skills to handle similar situations in the future.

"Many of you mentioned encountering objections related to price. Let's collaborate and develop responses that showcase value to our customers."

Share Industry Knowledge 

Help your team succeed in the long run by investing in their professional growth. Take a moment to share and talk about a recent industry report, competitive analysis, or an example of an outstanding email. This practical approach empowers your team with the tools they need to thrive in their roles.

"Vendr recently published a buyer insight report with interesting data on product categories buyers are interested in, average ACV, and more. Let's spend 5 minutes discussing my key takeaways and what we can learn from it."

Discuss Product Updates

It's important to dedicate 10-15 minutes of your meetings to showcase recent product updates and understand how they solve customers' pain points. Consider bringing in a product marketer or project manager to lead this session. Additionally, remember to share updated enablement assets that can help your team close deals faster.

"Our product team has released a new app in the HubSpot App Marketplace. Let's take 10 minutes to understand its benefits for our customers, the language we should use to describe them, and how we can upsell using this integration."

Align on the Next Steps

Before wrapping up the meeting; it's important to align on the next steps to ensure everyone knows what they need to do. Alignment ensures that all team members are on the same page and can work towards the same goals. Some key questions to consider when aligning on the next steps include:

• What specific action items do we need to take?
• Who is responsible for each action item?
• What is the timeline for completing each action item?
• How will progress be tracked and reported back to the team?

This discussion helps avoid confusion and ensures everyone works towards the same goals.

"So, our next steps are to update our sales collateral with the new app information and schedule a follow-up call with our top prospects next week. Sally will update the sales collateral, and John will schedule the follow-up calls. Let's aim to complete these tasks by Friday and we'll report back on progress in our next meeting."

End on a High Note

As the meeting ends, it's important to end on a positive and motivating note. A positive remark help boost team morale and create a sense of excitement and momentum around the work ahead of them.

Some ways to end on a high note include:

• Recognize team members who have gone above and beyond
• Share inspiring quotes or stories
• Share how the sales team contributes to the company’s success 

"Before we wrap up, I want to take a moment to recognize all of the hard work over the past month. We've seen great progress, and I'm proud of what we've accomplished as a team. Keep up the good work and aim even higher for next month's meeting."

Tools to Run Better Sales Meetings

Sales performance analytics.

Platforms like Salesforce, HubSpot CRM, or Pipedrive offer in-depth analytics on key sales metrics, allowing you to track individual and team performance over time.

Example : "Let's use Salesforce to review our sales pipeline and identify which stage needs more focus to ensure we meet our quarterly targets."

Interactive and Dynamic Presentations

Elevate your sales presentations with interactive software like Prezi, Pitch, or Google Slides. These tools allow you to create engaging and dynamic presentations that keep your team attentive and interested throughout the meeting.

Example : "Let's use Prezi to showcase our new product's features and benefits, including customer testimonials and interactive product demos."

Sales Gamification 

Motivate and engage your team with sales gamification platforms like Ambition or Hoopla. These tools introduce gamified elements, such as leaderboards, badges, and rewards, to encourage healthy competition and drive performance.

Example : "Starting this month, we'll have a leaderboard competition, and the top three performers will receive special incentives to keep the excitement high!"

Sales Call Library

Consider using AI sales meeting automation platforms like Grain.

Grain automatically records, transcribes, and organizes sales calls in a video library. It’s easier than ever to access and review calls. You can use the “People” filter to review calls related to specific opportunities, customers, or reps.

Understand your reps' talk-listen ratio, stitch together the best examples and insights into a playlist, and navigate through sales calls easily using speaker timelines.

‍ Example : "Let's analyze the sales calls from the lost deal to identify areas for improvement and determine the necessary product improvement to close deals with enterprise companies successfully."

Agendas for Different Types of Sales Meetings

Weekly sales team meeting agenda.

Date: [Insert Date] | Time: [Insert Time] 

Celebrating Wins (5 minutes) 

• Recognize individual and team achievements from the past week. 
• Share success stories and acknowledge outstanding efforts.

Reviewing Sales Metrics (10 minutes)

• Discuss key performance indicators (KPIs) and progress toward targets. 
• Analyze sales data and identify areas for improvement.

Sales Strategy Updates (10 minutes) 

• Present updates on ongoing sales strategies and initiatives. 
• Address any challenges faced and brainstorm solutions.

Address Roadblocks (15 mins)

• Ask your team to share their common objections and roadblocks. 
• Share solutions and brainstorm new ideas together as a team. 

Customer Insights (5 minutes) 

• Share feedback from recent customer interactions or surveys. 
• Discuss customer pain points and identify opportunities.

Upcoming Goals and Action Items (10 minutes) 

• Define specific goals and action items for the upcoming week. 
• Assign responsibilities and set deadlines.

Closing Thoughts and Motivation (5 minutes) 

• End on an inspirational note, emphasizing the team's potential. 
• Encourage teamwork and a positive mindset.

Monthly Sales Performance Review Agenda

Date: [Insert Date] | Time: [Insert Time]

Performance Highlights (10 minutes) 

• Highlight top performers and outstanding achievements. 
• Recognize team members who exceeded targets.

Sales Metrics Overview (15 minutes) 

• Present a comprehensive overview of sales metrics for the month. 
• Analyze trends and identify areas for improvement.

Deal Progress Review (20 minutes) 

• Discuss the status of ongoing deals in the pipeline. 
• Address potential bottlenecks and strategize the next steps.

Customer Feedback Analysis (15 minutes) 

• Review customer feedback received during the month. 
• Extract valuable insights to enhance customer relationships.

Goal Setting and Action Plan (20 minutes) 

• Set clear sales targets for the upcoming month. 
• Define action items and allocate responsibilities.

Sales Team Feedback (10 minutes) 

• Encourage team members to share their feedback on the meeting format and content. 
• Discuss any suggested improvements for future reviews.

Quarterly Sales Strategy Meeting Agenda

Quarterly Performance Recap (15 minutes) 

• Evaluate sales performance and achievements over the quarter. 
• Celebrate major successes and milestones.

Competitor Analysis (20 minutes) 

• Conduct a thorough analysis of competitors' strategies. 
• Identify areas where your team can gain a competitive advantage.

Sales Goal Progress (15 minutes) 

• Review progress towards quarterly sales goals. 
• Discuss challenges and strategies to meet targets.

New Product/Service Launch (30 minutes) 

• Introduce any new products or services to the sales team. 
• Provide training on selling the new offering effectively.

Sales Process Improvement (20 minutes) 

• Brainstorm ideas to optimize the sales process. 
• Discuss feedback from the sales team on process challenges.

Customer Success Stories (15 minutes) 

• Share success stories and positive customer experiences. 
• Discuss strategies for fostering long-term customer relationships.

Sales Team Feedback and Input (10 minutes) 

• Invite team members to share their feedback on the quarter's strategies and goals. 
• Encourage open discussions and idea-sharing.

Quarterly Sales Plan (15 minutes) 

• Develop a concrete plan for the upcoming quarter, including key initiatives and priorities. 
• Allocate responsibilities and set milestones.

1:1 Sales Meeting Agenda

Meeting Date: [Date] Meeting Time: [Time] 

Build Rapport (5 minutes)

• Engage in small talk to build rapport and make the sales rep feel comfortable.

Achievements and Success Stories (5 minutes)

• Celebrate the sales rep's recent successes, closed deals, and outstanding achievements.
• Acknowledge their hard work and efforts, providing positive reinforcement.

Performance Review and Feedback (10 minutes)

• Review the sales rep's performance against their set goals and key performance indicators (KPIs).
• Offer specific and constructive feedback on areas of improvement and opportunities for growth.

Addressing Challenges and Obstacles (10 minutes)

• Encourage the sales rep to share any challenges or roadblocks they are facing in their sales process.
• Actively listen and guide on overcoming these challenges together.

Personal and Professional Development (5 minutes)

• Discuss the sales rep's career aspirations and areas for personal and professional growth.
• Identify training and skill development opportunities to support their career progression.

Goal Setting and Action Planning (5 minutes)

• Collaborate to set realistic and achievable goals for the upcoming period.
• Define clear action plans and strategies to reach these goals, outlining specific steps.

Sales Strategy Alignment (5 minutes)

• Ensure the sales rep understands the company's overall sales strategy and vision.
• Explain how their efforts contribute to the team's success and the organization's goals.

Recognition and Appreciation (5 minutes)

• Express gratitude for the sales rep's dedication and commitment to their role.
• Provide specific recognition for their contributions to the team and company.

Action Items and Follow-Up (5 minutes)

• Summarize the key action items and decisions made during the meeting.
• Assign responsibilities and deadlines for each action item.

Closing and Motivation (5 minutes)

• End the meeting on an inspirational note, motivating the sales rep to achieve their goals.
• Reiterate the sales manager's commitment to the rep's success and growth.

Tips to Run Productive Sales Meetings

As a sales manager, you're in the driver's seat for making your sales meetings impactful and successful. Here are some practical tips to help you run productive sales meetings that keep your team engaged and motivated.

Be Prepared and On Time : Start your sales meetings on time, and come prepared with a clear agenda and all the necessary materials. 

Stay Focused and Stay on Track : Stick to the agenda to avoid going off-topic and losing valuable time. During your sales meeting, prioritize key sales-related topics, such as potential leads, recent customer feedback, and upcoming deals.

Get Everyone Involved : Create a collaborative environment where everyone feels comfortable sharing their thoughts. Encourage your team to provide input and suggestions, like brainstorming ideas for a new sales campaign.

Sharpen Skills Together : Allocate time during sales meetings for skill-building activities. Conduct role-playing exercises where team members take turns playing the customer and the sales representative to hone their sales pitches and objection-handling skills.

Constructive Feedback is Key : Provide constructive feedback to your team, both individually and as a group. Use specific examples to praise colleagues for excellent approaches or offer guidance on improving specific aspects.

Set Clear Goals and Action Plans : End each meeting with clear action items and goals. Define specific steps to achieve targets, such as increasing prospecting efforts or enhancing customer retention strategies.

Foster a Culture of Improvement : Create a culture of continuous improvement within your team. Encourage open discussions on sales techniques and share success stories from team members, highlighting their achievements.

Be Respectful of Time : Keep your sales meetings concise and impactful. While camaraderie is important, be mindful of everyone's time. Guide discussions back to the agenda if they veer off-topic.

Seek Input and Encourage Growth : Regularly seek feedback from your team about the meeting format, content, and overall effectiveness. Act on their suggestions to improve future meetings. Additionally, support individual growth by identifying areas where team members can benefit from additional training or coaching.

To sum up, having a successful sales meeting agenda is crucial to help your team reach its goals. To achieve this, take the time to plan the agenda carefully, use appropriate tools, and seek feedback to make improvements.

We’ll end with a simple idea from Mike Weinberg : “I have one very simple litmus test for sales team meetings. Do your people leave the meeting more aligned, more energized to sell, and better equipped to do their jobs? If the answer is no, then it’s time to make significant adjustments. I’d go as far as saying that until you get that figured out, I would suggest you stop meeting.”

Ask yourself this question: "Will the sales meeting help my team improve and close more deals?" Keep refining your agenda until you can confidently answer "YES!".

Related Articles

How to setup and leverage hubspot sales reporting, a sales leader’s guide to sales call reporting, get started with grain.

10+ Sales PowerPoint Presentation Examples To Get Inspired!

One of the biggest challenges B2B sales and marketing teams face is creating sales presentations that impress potential customers and lead to conversions.

So, what does an excellent sales presentation look like? Today, we'll explore some of the best examples to help you craft your own outstanding presentation. And that’s not all, we’ve interviewed our head of sales, Robert Juul Glaesel , to provide you with the BEST insights to unlock success. So…let's dive in!

We’ll be covering the following topics

What is a sales presentation?

Sales presentation vs. sales deck vs. pitch deck.

• Sales Presentation PPT Examples - and why they were successful

Sales Powerpoint Presentation Templates

Sales presentation video examples, get ready to create the best sales presentation: tips from our sales expert, unlock success: expert support for your sales presentation design.

Let’s start from the top! - Or, as always, you can skip to your preferred section.

A sales presentation is a crucial part of the sales process. It refers to a meeting where a sales team showcases their product or service , persuading potential customers to purchase.

This meeting typically takes place after initial contact with the prospects , either through marketing efforts, cold calls, or expressions of interest from potential customers themselves.

In this meeting, the sales team usually provides a comprehensive overview of the product or service. They address key points such as:

• What is the product or service?
• How is it used?
• What distinctive features does it have?
• What problem does it solve?
• Why is this their best option?

→ Free Download: 10+ Sales PowerPoint presentation template [Access Now]

The sales presentation and sales deck are pretty similar. On one hand, a sales presentation is designed to persuade potential customers about the value of your product or service. It typically includes detailed information about your product, its features, benefits, pricing, case studies, testimonials, and more.

On the other hand, a sales deck is essentially a condensed version of a sales presentation . It is usually concise and only includes key highlights.

In contrast, a pitch deck is a presentation created for investors to secure funding. It generally contains information about the company's vision, the problem it aims to solve, market opportunities, business model, and financial projections.

Sales Presentation PPT Examples: and why they were successful

Below are several sales presentation examples you can use as inspiration to create your own. Let’s look at each of them and see exactly why they were successful.

Spendesk is a powerful spend management platform designed to help users save time and money by offering a clear view of their company expenses. Their sales presentation is the definition of a successful sales presentation: it is incredibly clear and straightforward . It clearly defines the problem it solves and introduces you to the solution, highlighting how it stands out from the competition.

As you’ll see, this presentation is not overloaded with text - it's simple and easily shows you how the product works. And most importantly, it’s branded! Which is key for brand positioning and visual consistency .

To check it out, click here .

Reddit Advertisement Sales Presentation

Reddit's sales presentation is definitely one of a kind. By incorporating memes and other pop-culture images throughout their deck, they engage the audience and stay true to their brand identity . This approach not only resonates with the Reddit community but also sets them apart from mundane sales pitches.

The presentation not only provides valuable data and showcases the effectiveness of its product but also does so effortlessly, proving that a presentation does not have to be overly serious to be effective.

Click here to explore Reddit's engaging sales presentation.

Zuora, a SaaS platform for subscription billing, takes a compelling approach in its sales presentation. It starts by highlighting the industry's changing landscape , effectively showing the importance of adapting to these changes.

But Zuora doesn't stop there. Throughout their presentation, they also showcase what their platform can do for the audience and provide social proof to back it up . This includes quotes from CEOs and other business executives who have successfully used their platform to improve their subscription billing process.

See for yourself and check out one of the best sales deck examples here .

Drift, a web-based live-chat tool for sales and marketing, takes a unique approach to its sales presentation. They begin by highlighting a common problem that many businesses face : how traditional communication methods, such as email, calls, and forms, are insufficient.

The presentation then goes on to showcase how Drift can provide a solution to this problem. They demonstrate how their live chat tool offers a more personalized approach to communication that can lead to impactful results.

Check out Drift's impressive sales presentation here .

Salesforce, an integrated Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform, provides a valuable lesson about creating sales presentations that convert . They start by explaining how the industry has undeniable changes and how we need to adapt to keep our businesses successful.

But they don't stop there. They continue showing us what things can look like, in other words, "the promised land," and how their product can change everything about how companies do things. And obviously, they finish with the greatest success stories from CEOs and clothes executives.

Click here to get inspired by the Salesforce presentation.

→ Free Download: 10+ Sales PowerPoint presentation PDF [FREE]

Snapchat Advertising

Snapchat Advertising's sales presentation stands out not only for its visually appealing design but also for its unique features. The presentation begins by emphasizing the vast reach of its platform and key age demographics, providing valuable insights for those looking to make the most of their marketing campaign .

In addition, Snapchat Advertising effectively compares itself to the competition, showcasing its unique features and advantages. And, of course, the presentation is visually branded with the company's iconic ghost character , making it instantly recognizable.

Check out their captivating sales presentation here .

Klima’s sales presentation is a special one. This climate change app’s presentation makes sure we know they are a company that focuses on “what truly matters.” It presents itself as a business with real, global impact.

And that’s not all. One standout feature of Klima's sales presentation is its visually appealing design. The slides effectively showcase the app's interface and demonstrate its key features. This visual representation really helps prospects consider getting an employee benefit with purpose .

Click here to get inspired by one of the greatest b2b sales deck examples.

Are you ready to create the best Sales PowerPoint presentation? We’ve got great news for you! Discover our sales presentation templates that you can download for exactly $0 .

Any of these templates could be a GREAT starting point for your next sales presentation . And what’s best…they are completely free for you to download at our Templates platform ! You’ll find not only these ones but also hundreds of other PowerPoint templates, for ANY industry, completely at your disposal.

Sales presentations can take various forms, including videos. Video presentations can effectively engage and captivate the audience by combining visual content, audio narration, and sometimes animations or graphics. Here are a few examples of sales presentations that are delivered in video format:

Medallia's video presentation showcases the effectiveness of using video to clearly represent their platform. The video highlights the platform's features, demonstrating how it can be a powerful tool for businesses.

By utilizing video, Medallia effectively shows viewers what the platform looks like and what they can expect to access and analyze in terms of data. The detailed exploration of each feature gives potential clients a comprehensive understanding of the platform's capabilities and how it can benefit their business.

Click here to check it out.

Moodcaster, a digital casting platform, starts with the main problem: how time-consuming castings can be and how tedious auditions are . It then shows you how they can be a great solution and how the platform works.

This video presentation truly shows what the client can expect when using the platform , by showing the process step-by-step. And if they are not convinced yet, it ends up listing all the fantastic features it has one by one, leaving the best impression.

Click here to view Moodcaster’s incredible video sales presentation.

Viable, the pioneering experience analysis platform, doesn't just identify the problem you're facing; it swiftly transitions to showcasing how they can provide the solution . They offer a real-time demonstration of how their platform works, providing concrete insights into how it can improve your business.

Finally, they conclude by highlighting all the advantages, features, and versatile applications that can benefit your specific needs.

Click here to take a look at Viable’s video sales presentation.

We know that creating the best sales presentation is key for your business. So, in order to provide valuable insights, we consulted Robert Juul Glaesel , head of sales at 24 Slides, who understands the importance of a good presentation for your business.

Let’s take a look at some insights from our head of sales:

Insight #1: Take elements out instead of adding elements in

Remember that quality is always more important than quantity . So, keep in mind not to overload your presentation with excessive text, because your audience’s attention will go directly there, instead of your speech. In Robert’s words:

“If you incorporate too many elements, it results in clutter, obscuring the main message and making it more challenging for the presenter to effectively convey their message.”

Insight #2: Don’t rely on your slides

We know this might sound counterintuitive, given that all this article is about creating your presentation, but remember that the presentation and the story are yours . As Robert says:

“Make sure that your presentation supports your story, it shouldn't tell your story. You, as the presenter, are the storyteller. Therefore, presentations should emphasize key points.”

Bonus insight #3: Brand your sales presentation !

This is one of your most crucial presentations; it should reflect who you are . There should be consistency between what they see on your website, social media, etc., and what they will see in this presentation. So, it is extremely important that you show that you care about your image and pay close attention to detail.

Creating a sales presentation is an incredibly important task, so it's best to leave it to the experts. Here at 24Slides , we can assist you in creating an amazing sales presentation that perfectly aligns with your brand. All you need to do is share the content you want to include and your brand guidelines. In less than 48 hours, you'll have your presentation ready for sales!

Want to learn more? Check out these articles!

• The Best Sales Presentation Services for Winning Sales Decks
• How to Create the Perfect B2B Sales Presentation
• Learn How to Start an Effective Sales Presentation
• Top 20 Free Templates for Corporate and Business Presentations
• +20 Self Introduction PowerPoint Templates: Download for free!

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15 Sales Presentation Techniques That Will Help You Close More Deals Today

Updated: June 01, 2022

Published: May 31, 2022

Hate the thought of doing sales presentations ? You’re not alone. But the best reps have sales presentations down pat, even if it’s not their favorite activity.

The best sales reps know that, when done right , sales presentations are a high-earning skill.

So, let’s hone that skill with simple sales presentation techniques that communicate an irresistible narrative and get buyers to close.

Sales Presentation

An effective sales presentation tells a compelling story, highlights your value proposition, and aligns with your audience's needs and desires. It ends with a strong call-to-action and leads prospects to your differentiators instead of leading with them.

As it can sometimes mean the difference between closing a deal or losing a customer, you definitely want to get your sales presentation right. There are strategies and tips you can follow to ensure your sales presentations are effective, memorable, and engaging. Let’s go over them below.

Sales Presentation Methods

1. structure your presentation. .

Guiding your prospects down a clear path is key to a successful sales presentation. You’ll follow a logical structure, and listeners will understand how each element of your presentation relates to one another, rather than them having to piece together disjointed information on their own. 

There are times when flipping the structure can add unique elements to your presentation, though, and we’ll discuss this further below. 

2. Use data visualizations. 

Using visuals, like charts and graphics, to supplement your message is a valuable way to showcase your content in an easy-to-understand format as they make your words more impactful. 

For example, if you’re selling SaaS that helps users organize their sales process for a shorter cycle, you can create a visual that displays the average length of your clients’ sales cycle vs. those using other tools. 

By doing this, you’re adding extra emphasis to your words with a visual picture, and a bonus is that visuals are more likely to stick with your audience and get them thinking versus just hearing you talk. 

3. Rely on spoken words — not text.

If your presentation slides are text-heavy, prospects may get caught up reading the words you’ve written instead of listening, causing them to miss out on the value you’re sharing. Aim to include less text by calling attention to the most significant elements with short bursts of text that you supplement with your words. 

In addition, when you have less text on your slides, you may be less inclined to just read from them, which can be a bad part of presentations. You’ll have to speak instead of relying on written content. 

Let’s go over some sales presentation techniques that, when paired with the three methods above, will help you nail it every time.

Sales Presentation Techniques

1. send your buyer the presentation deck before your call..

You might assume that sending a buyer a deck before a call is like revealing whodunnit on the cover of a murder mystery. No one will pay attention to the rest of the book, right? 

When the Gong.io team started sharing our deck before opening sales calls, we learned it was a winning move. 

If your deck is compelling, prospects will want to get into it with you, even if they know the main point. Together, you can dive in, dissect the good bits, and talk through questions. It’s going to be a juicy conversation, and they know it.

Then, you can begin the conversation during your presentation with a statement like, “Based on the information in the deck I sent, where should we start?”

2. Invoke self-discovery.

It’s tempting to stick to a positive linear story during your sales presentation. That usually invokes talking about benefits, outcomes, and desired results. But, that approach isn’t always the best. 

Before discussing solutions and results, you must understand your prospect's problem. More importantly, you have to be sure your prospects understand the problem. 

Self-discovery is the ticket that gets you there. Instead of telling the buyer what the problem is and how you’ll address it, get your buyer to connect with the problem on their own. 

3. Talk about Point A. Don’t skip to point B.

This is 100% linked to the tip above. There’s a problem (point A) and desired outcome (point B). Point A is the status quo. It’s a problem your buyer will continue to face if they don’t make a change. 

You can stand out by focusing on point A, as talking about a pain point is shockingly more effective than talking about positive outcomes. 

Make your buyer feel the pain that results from the status quo. Convince them the pain will only worsen without your solution — because you know that to be true.

You should only talk about benefits once they’re on board with that line of thinking. Urgency is what allows benefits to land. Without urgency, benefits are just happy points that hold no real meaning.

4. Insight is your #1 lead story.

Buyers are experts on their circumstances, but they want insights into their situation from you. 

You’re most likely to impress a buyer by telling them something new about themselves, as your offering is a unique insight into their problems and opportunities.

Check out this TaylorMade video. It’s a bang-on example of how to lead a presentation with insight, and then move on to your product’s strengths:

You learned how to get more distance from your golf swing (an insight into what you’re doing). Then you learned how that’s supported by the product’s particular strength.

Insight comes first. It changes how your buyers think about the problem your product solves. Only then benefits can land effectively.

5. Don’t lead with differentiators, lead to them.

At Gong.io, we’ve taught our sales reps to speak with buyers about a critical problem only we can solve. It’s the delta between top producers and the rest of the team.

• "The numbers from your top reps are fantastic."
• "The downside is they’re annulled by everyone else who’s missing their quota."
• "Your team goes from outstanding numbers to breaking even or missing quota. Both of those options are unsustainable."

We only introduce our key differentiator once the backstory is clear and the buyer gets it. Then, our reps say something like this:

"Gong is the only platform that can tell you what your top reps do differently from the rest of your team. We can tell you which questions they ask, which topics they discuss, when they talk about each one, and more."

See why we lead to our differentiator, and not with it? It just wouldn’t land the same way if we started with the differentiator. In fact, it might not land at all.

6. Focus on value, not features.

Gong.io research found that focusing on features over value is not impactful. Prospects, especially decision-makers, want value propositions about how you’ll help them solve their problems rather than an overview of the features they’ll get. 

7. Flip your presentation.

he next, eventually achieving a shiny, final outcome. This isn’t always the best strategy. 

Instead of building up to the most significant and impactful part of your demo for your prospect, begin with the most valuable part, which is how you’ll help them, and let the conversation flow from there. 

There’s one other tactic underlying it all: The best product demos start with topics the buyers highlighted on the discovery call . For example, if the buyer spends 4 minutes talking about X and 10 minutes talking about Y, you want to begin with Y, as the buyer has demonstrated that they’re heavily interested in Y. In the opening section of your presentation, address the biggest issue from discovery. Address the second biggest issue second, etc.

It’s called solution mapping, and it’s going to change your sales presentation process forever. Stop saving the big reveal for last. Stop building anticipation. Start with the good stuff. Let it rip right out of the gate.

8. Turn your presentation into a conversation.

If you sensed we were looking for a two-way dialogue during your pitch, you’re right. That’s a relief to most salespeople, especially the ones who hate delivering traditional presentations.

A two-way dialogue is going to make your pitch feel more natural. To do this, Gong.io says to get buyers to ask questions by giving them just enough info to inspire them to ask more questions and keep the conversation going. In fact, top performers ask fewer questions because they don’t bombard prospects with too much information but instead give buyers just enough information to have them ask questions. 

Long monologues won’t help you have real conversations with your buyers. Instead, aim for a great two-way conversation. 

9. Mind the 9-minute period.

This tip is crisp and clear: Don’t present for more than nine minutes. Gong.io data supports this. 

Presentations for lost deals last an average of 11.4 minutes. Why do they go so poorly? Because it’s hard to retain attention. If you do go longer than nine minutes, switch it up. 

Vary something that re-captures attention and keeps people engaged. Change channels by doing something like switching up who’s speaking in real life or on video. This can rest your clock to zero, and you’ve got nine more minutes for the next portion of the show. 

10. Be strategic with social proof. 

Social proof. Best friend or worst nightmare? It can be either one, so use it carefully. For example, generic social proof (i.e., naming impressive clients for brand power alone) is a disaster. Buyers might not identify with them. Sure, they’re dazzled, but they may not see how they relate to your current client.

An effective strategy is to reference clients similar to your buyer, with the same pain points, challenges and needs that they can relate to. You can tell an accompanying story about the client and their pain points, helping the buyer see themselves in the story you’re telling.

11. Talk price after you establish value.

Would it surprise you to know it matters when you talk about certain topics? It can actually affect whether you win or lose a deal. Pricing is a great example of this principle.

The top salespeople wait to talk about pricing. They know it’s important to demonstrate their product’s value first.

Set an agenda at the start of your call so your buyer knows when to expect a pricing discussion. They’ll be less likely to raise it early, and if they do, you can refer back to the agenda.

Open with something like, " I’d like to talk about A, B, and C on our call today. Then we can go over pricing at the end and -- if it makes sense for you -- talk about next steps. Does that work for you?"

You’re all set.

12. Reference your competitors.

Our data shows that you’re more likely to win a deal if you talk about the competition early in the sales process instead of ignoring them completely.

For best results, practice this during your first sales presentation. Waiting until the end of your sales process puts you into a dangerous red zone. Your buyers will already have formed opinions, and they’ll be harder to change.

In other words, at the end of the day, buyers will justify a decision they made early in the process, which is why it’s critical to set yourself up as the winner early on. Talk about the competition in your presentation. Put the conversation out there. Get your buyer to see you through that lens, and you’re golden.

Over To You

You now have 15 new tips and techniques to throw down this quarter. Many of these data-backed moves come from Gong.io’s own findings and have proven to be effective for us. Implement them, and I know you’ll boost your numbers.

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Effective Sales Meeting Guide: 10 Steps with Agenda Template

Optimise sales meeting agendas with a template. Efficiently engage teams, discuss updates, and set clear next steps—maximise time and drive results.

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As a sales leader, meetings with your whole team of reps can be a valuable health check for your business — but they can also waste salespeople’s valuable selling time. Make the time together count by developing the right agenda, sharing critical updates and fostering group discussion, while leaving simpler updates for email.

Prepare for, refine and polish your next sales meeting agenda with the advice in this article. You’ll be running efficient meetings for your team in no time.

What is a sales meeting?

First off, let’s define a sales meeting. A sales meeting is an internal check-in between sales leaders and sales reps at a company. In contrast to an external-facing meeting, like a sales call or sales pitch , this meeting is for internal attendees only and meant to give sales team members the information they need to do their jobs well. Typically sales leaders (sales manager, director or head of sales, chief revenue officer ) run the meeting and sales reps will attend. Leaders highlight important updates that could include:

• Current sales performance
• What’s top of mind for leaders
• Competitive insights
• What the team’s next priorities should be

Your own meeting agendas will differ based on whether you’re running a weekly sales meeting, a quarterly review, an annual sales kick-off or something else. But these 10 tips will help you stay on track, show respect for your team, and be as efficient as possible in your sales meetings, no matter what you’re discussing.

Agenda Simplification: Setting Goals for Effective Sales Meetings

Make sure you and your team know what you’re meeting about in crystal-clear terms. For instance, is it a quick standup to discuss progress on a specific key performance indicator (KPI), or a critical end-of-quarter meeting to see who needs help closing deals?

Don’t call your salespeople together without a clear agenda and a few simple objectives. Pulling salespeople into a meeting takes them away from combing through leads, putting together emails and pitch decks and, ultimately, growing revenue.

Once you’ve developed your agenda and goals, decide who should speak to each topic. Work with the presenters in advance to answer these questions:

• Who will kick off the meeting?
• Who will present their screen, if needed?
• How will you handle transitions?
• Will you save questions for the end or answer them throughout?
• Is there a key call to action (CTA) you want every meeting attendee to take away? 

Send the agenda to attendees ahead of every meeting. It can be a loose outline, but this will show everyone that you’re focused on making solid use of their time.

Tech Troubleshooting: Ensuring Smooth Operations in Sales Meetings

Whether you’re presenting remotely or in person, work out any technological kinks in advance. Computer updates should be completed, software should be downloaded, and unnecessary programs or chats should be closed.

You don’t want glitches eating into your time and derailing your meeting, so ask meeting presenters to meet a few minutes early to test the full set-up. That pre-work may only take 10 minutes, but it pays off. If it’s just you running the meeting, you can do the same thing on your own: test your equipment and go through the presenting motions just as you would during the real thing.

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Start and end on time

Respect your team’s time by keeping the meeting on schedule. Sales reps meticulously plan their days so they can squeeze in the maximum number of customer calls and emails, so set the tone so that your meeting cadence reliably sticks to its time slot.

If you’ve noticed that previous meetings have tended to go over time, consider saving questions or comments for designated moments in the meeting or reducing the number of topics each meeting covers. Regularly review your standard sales meeting agenda by asking for attendee feedback to learn which topics are most valuable. You don’t want to cut important conversations short, but you also need to keep an eye on time — it’s a delicate balance.

Sales meeting agenda: sample template

This template agenda is a good place to start. It’s packed with items, so you’ll need to make sure you’re disciplined in keeping to time. 

Meeting details

• Meeting date and time

Brief the team: 5 minutes

• Company updates that affect the sales team
• Follow up on questions from the last meeting

Team discusses their updates and obstacles: 10 minutes

• Discuss major leads
• Break down current metrics
• Status report
• List potential hurdles

Amplify key wins: 5 minutes

• Praise sales reps who appreciate public recognition – make sure praise is for specific events
• Allow others to share appreciation

Invite ideas, questions and innovation: 5 minutes

• Exchange thoughts and ideas
• Motivate and encourage the team

Decide on next steps: 5 minutes

• Appoint individuals to take ownership of action points from meeting
• Set expectations for next meeting

Close meeting

Finding the right frequency for sales meetings.

Make every instance of your meeting count or risk your team joking that they survived another meeting that could have been an email. Indeed, email can be an effective, concise way to communicate with your team when it comes to quick company updates or plan changes.

The timing and cadence for sales meetings is crucial. If you have a daily standup or other recurring meeting, consider pivoting to a less-frequent timeline if you notice you’re covering non-essential items.

Alternatively, don’t feel pressured to meet every time you initially planned to meet. If you cancel a meeting when you didn’t have important updates to share, those bonus minutes given back to the team will be applied to meaningful work. Tell your team why you’re cancelling — “There are no important items for discussion today and I’m sure you could all use this time productively” — and your team will appreciate that you’re not holding meetings just for the sake of it.

Brief the team

As the leader, it’s your job to update the team on anything you’ve learned that might not have been passed on to them yet, especially if it’s been a while since you last met.

Brief everyone on any pricing changes, sales forecasting updates, product news, leadership shifts, or other integral information that could affect how they sell. Follow up on any issues or questions from past meetings, too. 

This part of the sales meeting can run the risk of taking up a lot of time. If a topic has the potential to run too long, consider having a special meeting to tackle it.

Open Discussions: Sharing Updates and Addressing Challenges in Sales

When you’re all together in a sales meeting, it’s often helpful to have everyone share what’s working and what’s not. Touch base on leads and accounts, how key conversations are going, and everyone’s overall status report regarding hitting their quotas and KPIs.

On top of progress, listen for any roadblocks. As a manager, if members of your team are hitting obstacles, you need to be aware so you can help clear the path for success. 

Once you know what’s going well and what needs additional focus, you can develop an action plan with individual team members or a larger group.

Celebrating Wins: Recognising Successes

Did a team member close a big deal? Surpass their quota six months in a row? Set aside time in your sales meeting agenda specifically to give them kudos. Most people appreciate being recognised, and it’s good for the entire organisation.

Recognition is a good motivator for both the individual being recognised and the team as a whole. According to a survey from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and Globoforce, 68% of HR professionals believe employee recognition has a positive impact on retention, and 56% believe recognition programs help with recruitment. On top of that, employees who feel they’re regularly recognised by their employers are 109% more likely to stay with their organisation.

Be specific in your praise, too. Saying you appreciate that someone took the time to onboard a client who needs more attention than usual will mean more than a generic ‘good job’ — and is far more instructive for other team members looking to improve their performance. Of course, not everyone likes being publicly singled out, so make sure you’re giving team members credit in the formats they prefer. You can vet this with each rep in one-on-one meetings.

Make space for ideas, questions and collaboration

Your sales meeting agendas should always include time to exchange thoughts as a group. These meetings aren’t only about what you want to communicate; they’re also a way for team members to learn from each other and build on each other’s best practices. 

For example, you exchange ideas on: 

• Better sales and marketing or sales and service alignment
• Remote selling tips
• New positioning of your products or services
• Partnering with other peers or vendors in your industry
• Your competitors and how they’re selling, marketing or pricing their products
• Shaping goals for the next quarter or year

Focus on topics that will be relevant to most salespeople in the meeting so they don’t start tuning out or attempting to multitask.

Decide on next steps

As you work through each item on your sales meeting agenda, clarify any action items and who’s responsible for following up each. No one should leave the meeting feeling ambiguous about next steps.

Team members can be responsible for following up with their own prospects and customers. However, if there are other department-wide needs raised during the meeting, such as talking to the finance team about a new promotion or discussing a new lead-generation campaign with marketing, you should designate a point person. This way, important items won’t fall through the cracks. Make it clear which updates you want the team to bring to the next meeting.

Motivate the team

Sales can be hard. This profession requires patience, salespeople need to handle a lot of rejection, and mistakes will be made from time to time. Sometimes the market slows down and prospects just aren’t biting. No matter the reason why times are tough, the team as a whole — or individual sales reps — will struggle sometimes.

During these times, it’s your opportunity as a leader to address issues head on and communicate authentically with the team. If you share why you’re still inspired and motivated about the team’s work, others will be motivated, too. Carve out time in your agenda to do that when times get tough. 

Even in easier times, fun and positive ways to motivate your team abound. You can introduce games and contests to celebrate what’s going well, and award unique prizes for different milestones.

However you’re going, remember this simple fact — tough times don’t last, but tough sales teams do.

For more advice and insights on sales leadership from the best in the business, download the 21 Pro Tips for Sales Leaders e-book and start transforming the way you sell.

21 Pro Tips for Sales Leaders

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This article was updated in July 2022

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Insights / Sales / Article

The sales pitch: 17 ideas for creating the ultimate sales presentation.

August 23, 2019

Use the following tips when designing and delivering your sales presentation to ensure that you're driving the highest conversion rates possible.

The original version of this article, authored by Scott Albro, was published by TOPO, now Gartner. 

What makes a good sales pitch? If you’re like most salespeople, you’d give a two-part answer to this question: a well-designed set of slides and effective delivery of those slides.

While that answer is technically correct, it understates the impact a great sales presentation can have on moving buyers through the top of the sales funnel. It also fails to capture the dozens of elements that make for an effective sales pitch, from preparation to delivery to closing for next steps. Use the following tips when designing and delivering your sales presentation to ensure that you’re driving the highest conversion rates possible.

Download now:   Guide to Motivate and Retain Your Sales Team

No. 1: Make sure your sales pitch has an objective

It’s remarkable how few salespeople actually understand the objective of their sales presentation, especially given how easy it is to develop an objective. You may be trying to convey an overview of your company, your product and the value you provide to customers. You may also be trying to learn as much as you can about the buyer, what they need and why they need it. 

But the most important objective is to use your sales pitch to move the buyer to the next step in your sales process. Your presentation should focus on providing information such as the value you create and what the buyer should do next so they agree to additional steps with you. 

No. 2: Focus on what the customer cares about

Good sales presentations provide information on something your prospective customer really cares about. As you create and ultimately deliver your sales pitch, ask yourself: What’s in it for them? 

There are a number of different business reasons that would cause a customer to care about your presentation, such as increasing revenue or decreasing costs. There are also personal reasons they might care about your sales presentation. For example, will what you’re presenting to the buyer help them get a promotion or gain recognition at their company or in their industry?

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No. 3: Build your sales pitch around a good story

Every good sales presentation is built on top of a good story. Buyers also like “ story arcs” that demonstrate how you will effect change in their organization's status quo. Your sales pitch should show the buyer how they get from point A to point B.

No. 4: Organize your sales pitch around a central idea

In most sales presentations, the central idea or theme should focus on the benefit you will deliver to your customer. As you’re creating your pitch, ask yourself: What’s the real benefit you’re going to deliver to your customer? Make sure the story you tell in your sales presentation revolves around that benefit.

No. 5: Give your presentation structure

A good sales pitch has a structure that is easy for the buyer to follow. One of the more common structures is articulating what the buyer’s problem is, presenting a potential solution to that problem and finally agreeing to a next step with the buyer. 

Just remember to keep it simple. Many buyers experience cognitive dissonance when you pitch a new idea to them. Making it easy for them to follow along will help you overcome that challenge.

No. 6: Strike a balance with your sales pitch slides

There’s a lot of conflicting information out there on slide design and how much information your slides should contain. Most presentation experts advocate for the “more is less” approach, but in a sales pitch, your slides need to convey enough specific information to move the prospect further along the buying process. 

To help with this, here are some important guidelines for each slide: 

• Focus on writing slide titles that convey the key point. 
• Include a visual element such as a screenshot. 

No. 7: Remember the power of 3

The vast majority of people can’t remember more than three things at a time. Good sales presentations should convey information around no more than three central ideas and each individual slide should contain no more than three pieces of information that you want the buyer to understand.

No. 8: Create short and long versions of your sales pitch

The long version should run approximately 30 to 45 minutes and fill the majority of a 60-minute meeting you might have with a buyer. We recommend about three minutes per slide, so your long sales presentation should have between 10 to 15 slides in it. 

The short version can run about five to 15 minutes long, and it’s invaluable for those times when a buyer schedules you for an hour but then has to cut back their time to 30 minutes. Short versions of your presentation may have as few as 5 slides, and you need to be prepared to give the short presentation with no slides.

No. 9: Prepare for the no slide pitch

The best sales reps are able to deliver their sales pitch with no slides. To do this, you need to practice your pitch without the aid of slides. Focus on the overall structure of your pitch and the story you’re trying to tell. You should also practice answering the 10 most common questions you get from buyers. Sales pitches that don’t use slides tend to turn into conversations much faster, which is a good thing. 

No. 10: Personalize your sales pitch

The most effective sales presentations contain content that is personalized for your target audience. There are some simple guidelines to minimize the amount of work that’s required to customize a presentation for a specific meeting. 

• Make sure you only personalize a handful of slides, usually the first few in your deck. 
• Focus on a few common ways to include buyer-specific information in your sales presentation. You can include industry-specific information or content specific to the buyer’s role. You can include information collected during the needs assessment or discovery phase of your sales cycle. 
• Make sure you have a process for personalizing the presentation prior to the meeting. Too many salespeople jump right into their sales pitch without having put any thought into personalization. 

No. 11: Set a clear agenda

At the start of your meeting, set a clear agenda that outlines the structure of the meeting for the customer. Focus on three to five key topics you want to cover in the sales pitch and put them in a logical order. As you present the agenda, ask the buyer if they agree with it or would like to change it.

No. 12: Remember that specificity wins

Your pitch needs to include specific information that:

• Helps the buyer make a better decision
• Establishes your credibility
• Moves the buyer further along in the buying process

Try to show a deep understanding of the target buyer, the specific ways you help similar companies, and exactly how people use your product or service.

No. 13: Use relevant examples and data

You should incorporate specific examples and data into your sales pitch. For instance, instead of generically describing what your product does, provide the customer with a specific example of how a company from the same industry uses the product. Whenever possible, use contextually relevant examples and specific metrics to support the key points you’re making.

No. 14: Conversation over presentation

Many sales presentations focus exclusively on helping the seller communicate information to the buyer. The most effective sales pitches, however, facilitate a two-way exchange of information between seller and buyer. Make sure your presentation prompts the buyer to share information about why they are talking to you, their requirements and where they are in the buying process. 

A few simple rules go a long way here: 

• Let the buyer interrupt you whenever they want.
• Ask the buyer if they have questions every five minutes.
• Present information that would cause the buyer to either agree or disagree with you. 

No. 15: Leave time at the end of your sales pitch

Make sure that you leave at least five minutes to get feedback from the customer and discuss next steps.

No. 16: Agreeing to next steps

At the end of the presentation, explicitly ask the buyer to take the next step with you, whether it’s signing up for a free trial, scheduling a demonstration or putting together a proposal for them. 

In fact, your entire pitch is really all about building to the point where you actually ask the buyer to take the next step with you. To do this, focus on two things during your presentation. 

• Make sure you and the buyer agree that there is a problem or opportunity the buyer needs help with. 
• Establish credibility so the buyer believes you may actually be able to help with that problem or opportunity. 

If you do those two things well, it’s relatively easy to ask the buyer to take next steps with you. It’s as simple as saying: “We believe we can help and would appreciate the opportunity to create a proposal for you, sign you up for a free trial or walk you through a demonstration.”

No. 17: The scalable sales presentation

Finally, make sure your sales presentation scales. Many sales presentations are created under the mistaken assumption that only the creator of the presentation will be responsible for delivering it, when potentially hundreds to thousands of salespeople will need to deliver the pitch. 

A few tips will make your sales presentation scalable.

• Each slide title should be readable by the person giving the presentation and convey the key point for that particular slide. In fact, if you were to string your slide titles together, they should form a compelling, cohesive story when read aloud. 
• Be certain the presenter understands the key points for each slide. You can put these in the notes field of your presentation slides. 
• Provide the sales team with a recording of a master presenter (someone like the VP of sales or CEO) delivering the sales pitch.

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How to Create a Sales Meeting Agenda to Get More Done in Less Time

Sales meetings get a bad rap. Why? Because too often, salespeople view them as a complete waste of time.

That’s where a well-crafted sales meeting agenda steps in. An organized agenda will keep your team on track and engaged, and help you avoid the tangents and distractions that can derail an otherwise productive meeting.

First, let’s review the benefits of creating a sales meeting agenda template. A structured agenda will help:

• Keep your team hyper-focused on the most important priorities
• Increase individual and team accountability for the things you’ve committed to
• Uncover underlying issues that are holding your sales team back—and help you organize discussion to find actionable solutions

Now that we’re clear on why it’s a good idea to spend some time creating an agenda, let’s go into what topics should be included, and what the agenda format should look like.

Key Items to Include on Your Sales Meeting Agenda:

1. an introduction.

Before jumping right into the meat of the meeting, it’s a good idea to start out with a little ice breaker. This should take no more than 5 minutes and is a helpful way to begin on a positive note (and remind everyone that the people they work with are human).

At The Brooks Group, we start out with one personal headline and one professional headline meeting attendees. If we’re lucky, we get a few laughs in before we jump into the numbers.

2. Metrics Review

This section should serve as a quick overview of your core weekly metrics. It shouldn’t be about scrutinizing, but keeping a pulse on the sales team’s performance.

Be sure to include at least 4  leading indicators  and try to keep your scorecard to  5-7 metrics  total. The most valuable measurements will be watered down if you have too much data to analyze.

If a metric is off, determine what countermeasure is necessary—and decide who is responsible for taking action. (This may require scheduling an additional one-on-one meeting with a member of your sales team.)

3. Quarterly Initiatives Check-In

At the beginning of each quarter, you should develop a list of high-priority initiatives that will help move your sales team towards strategic business objectives and goals.

Whether it’s trade shows, key events, or new training, include these priority items on your sales meeting agenda. Run through them quickly each week and see if they are progressing as expected. If not, determine if you need to assign a specific to-do item to one or more team members.

4. A Training Component

The bottom line is, your salespeople will dread your weekly meeting unless it provides them with immediate value.

Find out which areas are the most challenging for your reps, and designate one topic per meeting to work on. It can be really effective to assign the topic to one or two of your reps that have developed best practices in that area. The rest of the team will give credence to a lesson or presentation that comes from their peers.

5. Housekeeping Updates

Carve out a few minutes to share any policy changes, process updates, announcements, feedback for other departments, etc. sure your  alignment with the marketing team  is on track.

6. Win/Loss Story Sharing

Numbers don’t tell the whole story. It’s important for your salespeople to assess what went right with wins and  what went wrong with losses —and then share that information with the rest of the sales team.

Take turns rotating through the team and assign each salesperson a week to present what they’ve learned through the experience of a win or loss. You can also use this time to review key opportunities that your team is working.

7. Competitor News

Competitive Intelligence helps keep your sales team agile and intentional with the strategic direction you take.

Assign 1-2 competitors to each salesperson and have them give a quick update each week on any news or developments that have surfaced.

8. Closing/Action Items

Close out the sales meeting by recapping any notable takeaways from the Win/Loss Story Sharing section. Doing this will reinforce the behaviors and habits you want your sales team working towards in the coming week.

Make sure that everyone is clear on their action items and  end the meeting on time . If you want your salespeople to respect the importance of the team meeting, you should be respectful of their time.

Taking some time upfront to plan your sales team meeting agenda will save you time and energy in the long run. Plus, a repeatable structure gives everyone an idea of what to expect and what’s expected of them.

Remember, this post is meant to serve as a guideline. Feel free to adjust your meeting structure to fit the unique needs of your sales team.

Weekly Sales Team Meeting Agenda Template

Download  a free Sales Team Meeting Agenda that you can use as a template the next time you get your team together.

Written By Michelle Richardson

Michelle Richardson

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What’s an Agenda Slide & Why You Should Add It To Your Next Presentation

Written by: Gijs Ooijen

Agenda slides are powerful presentation roadmaps. It provides an overview of what to expect and the order in which topics will be presented or discussed.

A well-written agenda slide lends structure to your presentation and ensures it doesn’t veer off track.

But how do you put together an agenda slide that keeps your presentations focused? What should you include and what should you leave out?

In this article, we'll dive into everything you need to know about agenda slides. We'll even provide templates to help you create your own agenda slide!

Table of Contents

What is an agenda slide, what’s the purpose of an agenda slide, what should be included in an agenda slide, 3 tips to write an agenda slide, 10 agenda slide templates for your next presentation, how to make an agenda slide in visme.

• An agenda slide is like a roadmap that brings structure and organization to your presentation, outlining the main sections and logical flow.
• It provides more clarity for both the presenter and the audience.
• A well-designed agenda slide includes main sections or topics, time allocation, slide numbers and visual elements.
• To create an organized agenda slide, make sure it aligns with your presentation's theme, use clear labels and ensure visual consistency.
• Visme can give you a unique headstart in creating agenda slides that set you apart with its intuitive editor, professionally designed templates, collaborative features and extensive design assets.

An agenda slide provides a clear overview of what topics you'll be addressing and in what order.

Think of it as a roadmap for your presentation. It helps your audience understand the presentation structure and flow and what to expect.

Incorporating an agenda slide helps you maintain focus and ensures that your message is effectively communicated. With an agenda slide in place, both you and your audience will be on the same page, ready for a cohesive and engaging presentation.

An agenda slide is a perfect start to a great presentation.

But why do we need an agenda slide?

Imagine attending a sales pitch where the presenter jumps from one topic to another without any clear direction. It would be confusing and difficult to follow.

Having an agenda slide in your presentation provides structure and organization. It outlines the main sections or topics you will cover and helps your audience understand the logical flow of your presentation.

During a lengthy presentation, an agenda slide acts as a navigation tool and reference point for both the presenter and the audience.

Additionally, it helps individuals who join the presentation late to catch up quickly. Without an agenda slide, attendees might struggle to understand where they are in the presentation and may feel lost or disconnected.

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Now that we know why we need an agenda slide. Let’s dive deeper into what should be included in your agenda slide.

Main Sections or Topics

The first and most important thing you should include in your agenda slide is the different sections or topics in your presentation.

Made with Visme Presentation Maker

Keep them short and clear. For example, your agenda slide can have the following content.

• Introduction
• The Problem
• The Solution

Time Allocation

Then, the time allocation. This is not a must, but it can be a great way to prepare the audience for what’s to come.

Here, you would include how much time you plan to spend on each section or topic.

Here's an example:

• Introduction (3 minutes)
• The Problem (5 minutes)
• The Solution (10 minutes)
• Unique Features (15 minutes)
• Case Studies (8 minutes)
• Conclusion (3 minutes)

Slide Numbers

As well as the time allocation, you could also choose to include the slide numbers.

 This helps the audience keep track of where they are in the presentation, even when they drift off for a few minutes. For example:

• Introduction (3 minutes - slide 1)
• The Problem (5 minutes - slides 2 to 4)
• The Solution (10 minutes - slides 4 to 8)
• Unique Features (15 minutes - slides 8 to 12)
• Case Studies (8 minutes - slides 12 to 15)
• Conclusion (3 minutes - slide 16)

Visual Help

Show, don’t tell. That’s the number one lesson you'll learn in a storytelling class. People reason with visuals better than they resonate with words, so use this to your advantage.

Let's say you're creating a presentation on sustainable energy solutions for a business conference. Here’s how you could include visual elements:

• Introduction - [Icon of a lightbulb symbolizing innovation]
• Current Challenges - [Icon of a globe with pollution or emissions]
• Renewable Energy Sources - [Icon of wind turbines or solar panels]
• Benefits of Sustainable Energy - [Icons depicting a dollar sign and a leaf]
• Conclusion - [Icon representing teamwork]

And that’s just one of the many examples. A great way to do this is by using Visme’s free icon finder . Just browse and pick from one of the 10,000+ icons available for you, all within Visme.

When crafting an agenda slide for your presentation, consider the following tips to ensure it effectively communicates the structure and flow of your content.

Keep It Concise

Aim for brevity and clarity when describing each main section or topic on your agenda slide. Use short, simple phrases or labels to provide a clear overview. For example, instead of "In-Depth Analysis of Market Trends and Competitive Landscape", simply say "Market Analysis".

Use a Hierarchical Structure

Organize your agenda slide using a hierarchical structure to depict the relationship between different sections. Use headings and subheadings to visually indicate the main topics and their subtopics. This helps your audience comprehend the overall structure of your presentation. This is what that could look like:

• Market Size
• How Does It Work?
• Case Study 1
• Case Study 2

Align With Your Presentation's Theme

Make sure that the style of your agenda slide aligns with the overall theme and branding of your presentation. Use consistent fonts, colors and icons to create a cohesive visual experience for your audience.

Remember, an effective agenda slide provides a clear and organized overview of your presentation, enabling your audience to follow along and anticipate what's to come. The visual style is a part of this.

RELATED: How to Write an Effective Presentation Outline

Visme provides a variety of templates that are readily available for you to quickly start creating your agenda slide.

Let’s take a look at 10 of these templates and see how you can modify them to fit your own presentation goals.

Employee Handbook Interactive Presentation Template

This template was made as an employee handbook, but it can be adapted for various other purposes.

The agenda slide takes center stage. And the vibrant colors and engaging icons make it visually appealing while keeping the content concise and straightforward.

A great way to make this template your own is by using Visme’s Brand Wizard . Simply enter your business website URL in Visme and it will import your brand style. You can then simply apply it to any document you’re working on, including the agenda slide in this template.

Meeting Agenda Presentation Template

Designed with prominent boxes, this template effectively separates agenda elements for easy organization. It strategically divides the elements based on time, ensuring a clear chronological flow.

Notice how it also leaves a lot of space for contextual information, which helps your audience understand what will be discussed in each part of the presentation.

When working on a meeting agenda, multiple team members may want to change things to the document. Visme’s collaboration tools are perfect for team communication!

Anyone on the team can work on the document at the same time, leave and resolve comments and much more.

Women Empowerment Presentation Template

This template was made for a women empowerment presentation. The agenda slide features a minimalist design, enhanced by a prominent image. The large image adds visual impact and reinforces the theme of the presentation.

If you want to change this image by making it fit the theme of your presentation better, you can easily do this in Visme. Visme’s stock photo library features over 1,000,000 images. At least one of those must fit your presentation, right?

Psychology Research Presentation Template

This template offers a unique approach with two agenda slides.

The first slide serves as an introduction to the agenda, while the second slide functions as the actual agenda. Both slides embody simplicity and cleanliness, providing a clear and organized structure for your presentation.

When working with a lot of data, as you do in research, using data visualizations is a game-changer. Visme’s data visualization tools make this really easy. It takes your data and turns it into beautiful and comprehensive visuals, with many different options available.

Customer Service Training Template

This template showcases an industrial vibe with its sleek gray color palette , embodying a minimalist aesthetic. The agenda slide maintains simplicity while exuding a modern and professional look. It offers a clean and straightforward layout, ensuring an organized and visually appealing presentation.

Once you get familiar with Visme, using shortcuts can be a straightforward way to make the process even more seamless.

Just use the forward slash (/) on your keyboard and a search bar will appear to help you find anything you need within the editor. By using shortcuts, you can change this customer service training template to fit anything you like in just seconds.

Adult Education Training Course Template

This versatile template can adapt to any training session, while it was originally designed for adult education training. Its simplicity lies in outlining the key elements of the presentation, with each "title" allowing for bullet points to provide brief insights into the topics to be discussed.

As this agenda slide offers room for more text, there are also increased chances for spelling errors. But don’t worry! Visme has an integrated spell checker to ensure you never misspell a word.

Marketing Training Course Template

This template incorporates modern fonts and design elements, making it a compelling tool for marketers, though it can be customized for various purposes. It emphasizes visual impact by providing ample space for an image, allowing you to convey your message effectively.

If you want to make this image fit your presentation even better, you could consider generating your unique images using Visme’s AI image generator . Just input a prompt of what you want it to look like, and you’ll have the result within seconds!

50 Years After the Moon Landing - Presentation Template

This template, initially designed for a "50 Years After the Moon Landing" theme, can be repurposed for various topics. The modern design elements, along with captivating icons, create a visually appealing and interactive experience for the audience.

To make the template even more lively and fun, you could consider adding some animations . You could have objects move into or out of the screen. Or you could have text appear or disappear, all of it within a few clicks.

Enterprise Resource Planning ERP Presentation Template

Looking for a template that is fitting for a tech startup? This next-level modern template stands out with its stunning features. It incorporates eye-catching gradients, 3D icons and other captivating design elements.

Despite its visually striking nature, the agenda slide remains clean and simple, allowing for an organized presentation.

The template features a 3D bar chart, a 3D pie chart, a 3D hand and more. It could also feature a 3D rocketship or a 3D hamburger–whatever you want! Visme offers many 3D graphics to make your agenda slide even more compelling. You can implement them in just a few clicks.

Effective Study Techniques Presentation Template

This template adds a lively touch to your presentation, as it is saturated with vibrant colors. It enables you to include the page numbers for each element, ensuring easy navigation and reference. While exuding a dynamic visual appeal, the template maintains a simple and concise format.

If you don’t like the vibrant colors in this template, you can easily create your own color palette right within Visme and then apply it to any template or document you are working on.

RELATED: How To Outline a Case Study: 15 Examples & Templates

We now know what an agenda slide is, why we need one, what it looks like and we’ve even seen a list of great examples.

But the reason you’re here is probably to create an agenda slide yourself. The following steps will help you do that.

Step 1: Go to Visme

To get started, go to the Visme website. This is where all the next steps will take place–it’s truly the one-stop hub for all your design and document needs.

Step 2: Login to Your Account

Now, click "Login" in the top right corner or "Sign Up Free" if you don't have an account yet. From there, follow the step-by-step instructions provided. Everything is explained in a user-friendly and straightforward way.

Step 3: Open a Blank Template or Use Predesigned Templates

Once you're logged in, you'll have access to a wide range of templates to choose from. You can either select a pre-designed template or start with a blank template to create your slide. The choice is yours.

Step 4: Get to Work

Now that you're in the editor, you'll find a variety of options on the left side for different actions you can take.

Simply use the drag-and-drop functionality to add elements and make edits as you progress. The process is intuitive and allows for easy customization as you work on your design.

If you want a full tutorial on how to get started in the Visme editor, see this blog post .

Easily Create & Manage Your Agendas with Visme

An agenda slide is a visual overview of the main sections or topics in a presentation, providing structure and guiding the audience through the content.

Creating an agenda slide in Visme is a breeze, even when tackling complex presentations.

With a wide range of templates, an intuitive editor and advanced features, Visme empowers you to effortlessly design visually captivating agenda slides that effectively guide your audience and yourself, keeping them motivated and on track throughout the presentation.

Click here if you never want a boring agenda slide again. Welcome beautiful design, seamless collaboration and simple editing–start with Visme today.

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Guide to the Perfect Sales Kickoff Meeting (Agenda Included)

• September 11, 2024
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Sales kickoff meetings are pivotal events in the calendar of any sales organization, designed to align and energize the entire sales team for the upcoming year.

This comprehensive guide explores the essential elements of planning and executing a successful annual sales kickoff meeting, from setting objectives to the sales targets to structuring agendas and ensuring impactful execution.

Planning Your Sales Kickoff Meeting

A successful sales kickoff meeting is more than just a gathering of your sales team—it’s a strategic event designed to align and motivate your entire organization for the year ahead. Planning begins with setting clear goals and objectives that reflect your company’s vision and sales priorities.

This ensures that every aspect of the sales kickoff, from the agenda to the choice of speakers and activities, contributes directly to achieving these goals. Leveraging tools like FlyMSG can streamline communication and documentation tasks, allowing teams to focus more on strategic planning and engagement. Engaging the sales team in early brainstorming sessions can also provide valuable insights into what motivates them and how to tailor the event to their needs.

Setting Goals and Objectives

Before diving into the logistics, it’s crucial to define clear goals and objectives for the sales team for the first few weeks of your sales kickoff meeting. These goals should align with the company’s strategic priorities and the sales team’s needs. Whether it’s boosting morale, introducing new strategies, or celebrating successes, clarity on objectives sets the tone for a focused and productive event. Communicating these goals effectively to the entire team ensures everyone is aligned and motivated from the outset.

Choosing the Right Timing and Duration

The timing of your sales kickoff event is critical. Typically held at the beginning of the fiscal year or sales cycle , it sets the stage for the months ahead. The duration should balance comprehensive coverage of topics with attendee engagement and energy levels. A well-timed and efficiently scheduled sales kickoff event ensures maximum participation and impact, fostering a sense of unity and purpose among the sales team.

Selecting a Venue (Virtual or Physical)

In the current landscape, the choice between a virtual sales kickoff and physical venues is significant. Virtual sales kickoffs have gained prominence due to flexibility and accessibility, especially in reaching dispersed teams. Physical venues, on the other hand, offer immersive experiences and face-to-face interactions that can strengthen bonds within the sales team. The venue choice should align with your goals and budget, ensuring all participants feel engaged and connected.

Budgeting and Resource Allocation

Budgeting for a sales kickoff involves careful consideration of venue costs, speaker fees, technology requirements, and any additional expenses. Allocating resources effectively ensures that the event meets its objectives without overspending. Whether it’s investing in engaging speakers or enhancing virtual platforms, strategic allocation of resources is key to a successful sales kickoff for the sales team.

Structuring Your Sales Kickoff Agenda

A well-structured agenda is essential for a successful sales kickoff meeting. It serves as a roadmap that guides participants through key sessions and activities designed to achieve specific objectives. By carefully organizing each day’s schedule and content, you can ensure that your sales kickoffs event maximizes engagement, learning, and collaboration among attendees. A structured agenda also helps maintain focus and momentum throughout the event, ensuring that all critical topics are covered effectively.

Day-by-Day Breakdown: Overview

A well-structured agenda is the backbone of a sales kickoff meeting. It provides clarity and direction, guiding participants through a series of activities panel discussions that maximize learning, collaboration, and motivation over the course of the event.

Day 1: Kickoff and Orientation

1 – Welcome Address and Kickoff Introduction

The first day sets the tone for the entire year or event. A warm welcome from company executives or sales leaders creates enthusiasm and sets expectations. Introduce the overarching theme of the kickoff to unify the entire team around common goals and objectives for the upcoming year.

2 – Review of Previous Year’s Performance

Reflecting on achievements and challenges from successful year and the previous year provides valuable insights. Analyze sales metrics , market trends, and customer feedback to celebrate successes and identify areas for improvement. Sharing success stories boosts sales team morale and sets the stage for future growth.

3 – Keynote Speaker Session

Engage participants with a keynote speaker who can inspire and motivate. Whether an industry expert, sales leaders, or renowned speakers, their insights can provide valuable perspectives on sales strategies , market dynamics, customer insights, and leadership principles.

4 – Team Building Activities

Foster camaraderie and teamwork through structured activities. Team building sessions encourage collaboration, trust-building, and problem-solving skills among team members. These activities lay the foundation for a cohesive and supportive sales force.

5 – Networking Opportunities

Facilitate networking sessions where sales leaders and team members can connect informally. Networking breaks, meals, or virtual breakout rooms encourage knowledge sharing, relationship-building, and the exchange of best practices. Strong networks within the team enhance collaboration and support throughout the year.

Day 2: Strategy and Training

1 – Strategic Vision and Company Roadmap

Day two focuses on strategic alignment and forward-looking initiatives. Present the whole team building company’s vision for the upcoming year, emphasizing key priorities, market strategies, and growth opportunities. Align the sales team with organizational goals to ensure coherence and unified effort.

2 – Product and Service Updates

Update sales teams on new products, services, or enhancements. Product training sessions equip sales reps with the knowledge and tools to effectively communicate value propositions to customers. Highlighting innovations and market advantages boosts confidence in sales professionals and prepares teams for competitive landscapes.

3 – Sales Training Sessions

Conduct specialized training sessions tailored to sales techniques , selling skills, negotiation skills, or customer engagement strategies. Interactive workshops or expert-led sessions enhance sales skills , ensuring teams are equipped to navigate challenges and capitalize on opportunities in the upcoming sales cycle.

4 – Breakout Sessions by Team or Region

Facilitate breakout sessions for focused discussions or skill development tailored to specific teams or regions. These sessions allow for deeper dives into local market dynamics, team-specific goals, and customized strategies. Interactive participation fosters ownership and alignment with broader organizational objectives.

5 – Q&A and Feedback Sessions

Allocate time for interactive Q&A sessions where all sales managers and team members can seek clarification, share insights, and provide feedback. Open dialogue promotes transparency and engagement, addressing concerns and refining strategies for improved execution. Feedback loops are crucial for continuous improvement and alignment across the sales organization.

Day 3: Motivation and Celebration

1 – Motivational Keynote or Speaker

Wrap up the kickoff with a motivational keynote or speaker session to boost morale, reinforce key messages, and energize the team for the year ahead. Inspirational success stories or industry experts’ perspectives instill confidence and commitment, motivating sales reps to strive for excellence and exceed targets.

2 – Recognition and Awards Ceremony

Celebrate big wins and recognize top performers during an awards ceremony or sales org. Acknowledging achievements publicly reinforces a culture of excellence and incentivizes sales excellence. Awards can range from sales milestones to leadership recognitions, highlighting individual and team contributions.

3 – Team Challenges or Competitions

Engage teams in friendly challenges or competitions that reinforce learning and collaboration. Sales simulations or role-playing exercises encourage healthy competition and skill application. These activities reinforce training outcomes and drive enthusiasm for implementing new strategies.

4 – Closing Remarks and Next Steps

Conclude the next sales process kickoff with closing remarks from leadership, summarizing key takeaways and setting expectations for sales processes in the upcoming period. Outline action plans, timelines, and responsibilities to ensure alignment and accountability post-event. Clear next steps empower sales teams to execute strategies effectively and achieve collective goals.

Choosing a Theme for Your Sales Kickoff

Importance of a Theme

Selecting a theme for your sales kickoff event adds cohesion and excitement to the event. A well-chosen theme not only enhances engagement but also reinforces key messages and aligns with organizational culture and goals. Themes can range from industry-specific motifs to pop culture references, depending on the company’s personality and objectives.

Popular Themes and Ideas

Explore popular themes that resonate with your sales team and company values. Themes that share success stories like “Mission Possible: Achieving Sales Excellence” or “Navigating New Horizons: Charting Our Course to Success” evoke adventure and purpose, inspiring teams to embrace the challenges ahead and pursue ambitious goals. Themes based on sports, movies, or historical achievements can also inject fun and creativity into the kickoff.

Tailoring Themes to Company Culture and Goals

Customize the chosen theme to reflect your company’s unique culture and strategic priorities. Incorporate elements that celebrate diversity, innovation, or customer-centric values. Whether through themed decorations, attire, or interactive activities, aligning the theme with your company’s goals fosters enthusiasm and commitment among attendees.

Preparing Presentations and Materials

Effective presentations and materials are fundamental to delivering impactful messages during your sales kickoff. They serve to inform, engage, and inspire attendees, helping them understand key strategies, goals, and expectations. By designing visually appealing presentations and providing informative materials, you can enhance learning retention and ensure that participants leave the sales kickoff event with a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities moving your sales strategy forward.

Designing Engaging Presentations

Create presentations that captivate and inform participants. Use visually appealing slides with minimal text to emphasize key points effectively. Incorporate multimedia elements such as videos, infographics, or interactive polls to maintain engagement and facilitate understanding. Keep presentations concise and structured to maximize retention and impact.

Incorporating Multimedia and Interactive Elements

Enhance presentations with multimedia components to cater to diverse learning styles. Videos showcasing success stories, customer testimonials, or product demonstrations provide real-world context and inspire confidence in offerings. Interactive elements like live polls or Q&A sessions encourage active participation and dialogue, fostering a dynamic learning environment.

Providing Handouts and Takeaways

Offer participants tangible resources that reinforce learning and serve as reference materials post-event. Handouts could include session summaries, product brochures, or strategic guides that support the implementation of new strategies. Digital resources such as access to presentation slides or recordings ensure continuous learning and alignment across the sales team.

Logistics and Event Management

A successful sales kickoff hinges on meticulous logistics, whether virtual or physical. This means careful management of venue, technology, catering, and scheduling to ensure a seamless and enjoyable experience. For virtual kickoffs, Salesforce Service Cloud Implementation can be beneficial. It can streamline attendee registration, communication flows, and track engagement, keeping your team organized and focused on delivering a memorable experience. By integrating technology like Salesforce Service Cloud, you can enhance both efficiency and attendee satisfaction, allowing your team to focus on what matters most – inspiring and motivating your sales team.

Technical Setup for Virtual Sales Kickoff

For virtual sales kickoffs, ensure robust technical infrastructure to support seamless connectivity and interaction with virtual attendees. Test platforms for video conferencing, chat functionalities, and multimedia sharing in advance to prevent disruptions. Provide clear instructions and technical support to all virtual sales kickoff attendees, ensuring they can participate fully without technical barriers.

On-site Logistics and Event Coordination

If hosting a physical event, coordinate logistics meticulously to create a smooth and engaging experience. Manage venue setup, catering arrangements, and signage to facilitate navigation and comfort for attendees. Assign dedicated staff for on-site support and troubleshooting to address any issues promptly and maintain event momentum.

Catering and Hospitality Considerations

Whether virtual or physical, prioritize attendee comfort and engagement through thoughtful catering and hospitality. For virtual events, consider sending meal vouchers or snack packages to participants to enhance their experience. In physical settings, offer nutritious meals, refreshments, and networking breaks to foster camaraderie and sustained energy throughout the event.

Reflect on the essential elements discussed throughout this guide to hosting a successful sales kickoff meeting. From strategic planning and agenda structuring to theme selection, presentation design, and post-event follow-up, each aspect of sales kickoff tips contributes to a cohesive and impactful event.

Continuous improvement is key to optimizing future sales kickoffs. By leveraging feedback, refining strategies, and adapting to evolving organizational needs and industry trends, you and sales managers can ensure each kickoff becomes more effective and aligned with company goals.

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