How I used 6 slides to close $3 million (Slide Deck OS)
What if I told you that you're just 6 slides away from closing your biggest deal yet?
I know it sounds crazy, but I've experienced it firsthand.
8 years ago, I built Herb in the toughest industry in the world -
Cannabis.
In this niche, advertising on traditional platforms like Facebook and Google is illegal.
Marketers in the industry were flying blind.
They lacked the tools to reach their target audience.
With Herb, we sought to solve that by building the world's first CMaaS - Cannabis-Marketing-as-a-Service.
We created a platform for marketers to target this red-taped market.
Nobody had ever thought about a solution like this before. We had a blue ocean.
We were Category Champions.
But being Category Champions comes with a major challenge...
You must educate your market about a brand-new product.
This proved to be more difficult than we thought.
At first, we struggled to explain our unique platform to prospects.
But then, I created a dead-simple slide deck that, to this day, helped me close $3+ million in sales for Herb.
That's when I learned -
The most underrated Sales OS is a great slide deck.
It's the difference between blending in and standing out, between a "maybe later" and a "yes, let's do this."
However, everyone tends to overcomplicate slide decks.
But here's the good news -
Creating a slide deck that closes deals doesn't have to be complex.
In fact, there are just 4 simple principles you need to know.
And once you master them, you'll be able to create decks that make sales effortless.
In today's newsletter I'm going to reveal the exact formula I used to create a sales deck that helped me come out on top in one of the world's toughest industries.
Leverage this framework to take your brand to the next level.
Workshop replay: How to get more leads than you can handle
>>> Click here to watch the workshop replay
This week I shared the lead-generating system I've used to:
- Book out over 14,479 calls for my brands
- Generate over $10,000,000 in revenue
And while I'm not sure if I'll give this training again, I’m making the workshop replay available to newsletter subscribers for a limited time.
Here's what I cover on the call:
- The easiest (and fastest) way to build an influential online presence
- Battle-tested strategies for creating high-converting content
- The playbook for getting 10,000+ new followers every single month
- Easy-to-implement strategies for turning your followers into customers
- The proven process for creating content people can’t stop consuming
- Often-overlooked ways to get more customers
- The 2 crucial components needed to achieve success online
- These are some of the EXACT processes I've used to get millions of fans and book tons of cash-generating sales calls.
If you want to get more leads than you know what to do with, I encourage you to take some time this weekend to check out the replay while it's still available.
>>> Go to the replay
Now, back to the 4 lessons from creating my $3 million slide deck:
1) Be clear, not clever
Here's one big mistake I see founders make with slide decks -
In an attempt to impress their prospects, they make their slides too clever.
But this is a fatal mistake:
When you try to be clever, you confuse people.
When you confuse people, you make them anxious.
When you make people anxious, you make them close their wallets.
(Click to Tweet)
In other words -
A confused prospect is a lost customer.
Instead, strive for clarity.
Use short sentences.
Be clear.
Want an example?
Look at this newsletter. I explain a complex topic in simple words.
Here are 4 key action steps to ensure your message is right on target:
1. Identify your prospect's "Deal-Maker" belief
Buying decisions can seem complex.
But in reality, you only need to convince your prospects of ONE thing.
The "Deal-Maker" belief is the ONE key idea that, once accepted by your prospect, turns them into a customer.
Think -
“If I can convince my prospect of [INSERT BELIEF], they will work with me."
For example, in Herb's case, it was:
"If we can convince our prospects that Herb is the best way to market their cannabis company with measurable results, they will work with us."
2. Find your Spearhead message
Your Spearhead message is a simple message you repeat throughout your slide deck.
Its purpose is to instill the Deal-Maker belief into your prospects.
Two rules for the Spearhead message:
- It needs to be max 2 sentences
- It needs to be so simple that a stressed CEO on 3 hours of sleep will remember it
(Because you will have sales calls with people like that.)
For Herb, our Spearhead message was:
"Attract, engage, and convert customers."
3. Let your Spearhead message permeate your deck
Out of the 6 slides I’m sharing with you in this email, 4 of them contain a variation of our Spearhead message:
“Attract. Engage. Convert.”
“Convert Consumers From Awareness To Transaction”
“Turn Your Visitors Into Customers For Life”
Repetition creates clarity. (Click to tweet)
4. Follow my 1-1-1 rule for the slides:
- 1 domino belief message per slide deck
- 1 visual per page
- 1 point per page
Once you have defined your Spearhead message, begin constructing your slides.
2) Design matters. A lot.
Design creates trust.
Because of the halo effect, people think “how you do one thing is how you do everything.”
If your slide deck looks excellent beyond comparison...
...your prospects will assume you'll invest the same amount of energy into the work you do for them.
At Herb, we made custom visualizations and reiterated the slides 50+ times.
Our goal -
To make our deck so tasteful, 99% of other decks feel bland in comparison.
Action steps for your deck:
1. Put your “done is better than perfect” mindset on the sidelines for a second.
Creating a slide deck is a task that demands full effort - the Pareto principle doesn't apply here.
Anything less than 100% effort in slide deck creation leads to 0 results, as it fails to stand out.
2. If you can, invest $500-$2000 to let a designer create custom visuals for you.
Your prospects notice.
3. Understand that great design is invisible.
Simple visuals are great visuals. And on that note...
3) Use visual explanations
Humans are visual creatures.
We love frameworks to make sense of the world.
You can get to the top 10% of sales in your field by having a great sales script or having a great visual slide deck.
But getting to the top 1% requires both.
Action steps for your deck:
- Describe your service in 1 visual a 10-year-old can understand
- Include visual demonstrations of your product if possible
4) Include your onboarding in your slide deck
Marketing attracts customers, but customer success keeps them.
Right after you’ve closed a deal, it's natural for your buyer to feel buyer's remorse.
They ask themselves:
"Did I make the right decision?"
Your onboarding's job is to reassure your customers that they did.
To enhance your slide deck's effectiveness, include a section that sets onboarding expectations.
By showing a glimpse of what's to come, you help prospects feel secure and cared for.
In Herb's deck, we showcased the first five months of the customer journey:
Action step for your deck:
Have 1 slide where you set the expectations for your onboarding in detail.
Include:
- Meetings
- Action steps
- Timeframes
Also, if you can, answer WHEN the prospect will see results ROI from your product.
Steal my step-by-step blueprint for creating a $3 million slide deck
I created a blueprint to help you use these lessons in your own slide deck.
It lets you create a powerful slide deck from zero in just a few minutes.
Yes, minutes.
Like this:
It contains:
- A breakdown of my 18-part $3 million Slide Deck OS
- The complete slide deck drafter prompt (that’ll apply my framework for you in minutes)
- How to turn your text draft into a beautiful slide deck in seconds using Gamma AI
Access The $3 Million Slide Deck Blueprint Here
I hope it helps you.
Let’s win together 🥇
Matt
P.S. Whenever you're ready, there are 4 ways I can help you:
#1: Ready to grow your personal brand with an organic content engine to $1 million or more? Let's chat. >>> Click here to apply for your Founder Clarity Call with my team
#2: Have you seen my YouTube Channel? I'm putting a ton of energy into creating heaps of valuable content that I think you'll like. Come check out my latest stuff, and give me a like and subscribe.
#3: Promote your brand to over 107,000 subscribers by sponsoring this newsletter (booking into July 2024).
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