How to Make a Sales Deck [In 5 Steps]
- Ink Narrates | The Presentation Design Agency
- Nov 2, 2022
- 5 min read
Updated: Apr 7
“Is the goal of a sales deck to explain our product... or to sell it?”
That’s what David, our client from Amsterdam, asked us while we were building out his series-A investor pitch-slash-sales deck.
Our Creative Director replied: "Neither. The goal is to make buyers believe you’re their only real option.”
As a presentation design agency, we work on sales decks year-round — for enterprise teams battling RFPs, SaaS companies pitching demos, and even agencies like ours trying to win new accounts.
And if there’s one mistake we keep seeing, it’s this: Most sales decks are trying to convince. Very few are designed to convert.
They educate. They explain features. They toss in charts, taglines, testimonials.
But they don’t move people to say: “Damn. This is what we’ve been looking for.”
That’s not a storytelling problem. That’s a strategy problem.
So, here’s what we’ve learned, from years of pitching, designing, and rewriting decks that actually close: How to make a sales deck — in 5 steps that realistically get you to the decision-maker’s “yes.”
What is a Sales Deck?
A sales deck is a structured narrative that frames your product or service as the inevitable solution to a buyer’s most pressing problem.
It’s not just slides. It’s a strategic pitch disguised as a presentation.
Think of it as the spine of your sales conversation — the thing that guides your buyer from “Why are we even talking?” to “Where do we sign?”
Done right, a sales deck doesn’t just explain what you do. It reshapes how your buyer sees their own world — and why sticking with the status quo is a risk they can’t afford.
Example of a Sales Deck
Want to see a real example? Here’s a case study from our portfolio where we built a sales deck from the ground up: strategy, story, and design.
How to Make a Sales Deck
Let’s be clear: this is not a plug-and-play template. This is the process we use when a client asks us to build a sales deck that actually lands meetings, closes deals, and moves decision-makers.
Each step has a job. Skip one, and you’re back to explaining features nobody asked for.
Step 1: Start with the Shift
Before you say a word about your product, you need to show your buyer that the world has changed.
Not in a “the market is growing by 8% CAGR” kind of way. In a “the old way is now a liability” kind of way.
Every great sales deck starts by naming the big shift happening in the buyer’s world. A fundamental change that creates tension — the kind only your product resolves.
We call this the “Why Now?” moment. Without it, you’re just another tool in the stack.
When we worked on a deck for a logistics SaaS company, we opened with this line: “Warehouses weren’t built for ecommerce. We were.” That’s the shift. And it hits harder than a slide full of stats ever could.
Step 2: Name the Enemy
Once the shift is clear, the next job of your deck is to name what’s broken.
We don’t mean features your competitors don’t have. We mean the outdated thinking, inefficient models, or clunky processes your buyer is still trapped in.
Call it out. Give it a name. Make it the villain of your story.
Because when you clearly define the enemy, your audience is more likely to trust you as the hero.
“Manual reporting is costing your ops team 30 hours a month. That’s not just inefficient — it’s unsustainable.”That’s us, building urgency. That’s you, gaining credibility.
Step 3: Show the Promised Land (Before You Show the Product)
Here’s where most decks mess up. They jump from problem to product like it’s a demo.
But people don’t buy products. They buy better versions of themselves.
So before you get into features, paint the picture of what life could look like. The new world. The better way. The Promised Land.
Then — and only then — do you introduce your solution as the bridge that gets them there.
You don’t sell security software. You sell peace of mind at scale. You don’t sell task automation. You sell teams that never burn out.
Show them what’s waiting on the other side. Then hand them the map.
Step 4: Reveal the Product as the Bridge
Now that your buyer is emotionally invested in getting to the Promised Land, it’s time to show them how to get there.
This is where your product finally enters the scene — not as a list of features, but as a vehicle of transformation.
Think of it like this: the Promised Land is the “what.” Your product is the “how.”
And the way you reveal it should feel inevitable — like, of course this is the solution. Of course this is the way forward.
But here’s the trick: keep it crisp. Don’t drown the story in screenshots and specs. That comes later (and only if they ask).
We once redesigned a sales deck for an HR platform that had 12 slides on workflows alone. We cut it down to two — focused on outcomes, not interfaces.The result? Higher close rates and shorter pitch meetings. Less really is more.
Step 5: De-Risk the Decision
If your buyer’s still reading, listening, or sitting across the table — they’re already interested.
Now your job is to remove every reason they might hesitate.
This is the part where you de-risk the decision. You show them how easy it is to switch, adopt, roll out, or just… get started.
Case studies. Social proof. Implementation timelines. Risk-free pilots. Whatever it takes to make saying “yes” feel safer than saying “maybe later.”
We call this the “no-brainer slide.” It’s the one that makes the CFO nod, not just the champion.
And here’s the kicker — this step doesn’t require flair. It requires clarity. Don’t oversell. Just make it really hard to say no.
Why Hire Us to Build your Presentation?
If you're reading this, you're probably working on a presentation right now. You could do it all yourself. But the reality is - that’s not going to give you the high-impact presentation you need. It’s a lot of guesswork, a lot of trial and error. And at the end of the day, you’ll be left with a presentation that’s “good enough,” not one that gets results. On the other hand, we’ve spent years crafting thousands of presentations, mastering both storytelling and design. Let us handle this for you, so you can focus on what you do best.