I used to think a good enterprise pitch was just a slick slide deck

Back in 2021, I was trying to land a deal with a big manufacturing firm in Detroit. I spent two weeks building this fancy deck with animations and complex charts. I got into the meeting, started my presentation, and the head of procurement just held up his hand and said, 'Skip to the part where you tell me how this saves my team 20 hours a month.' I was totally thrown. Now, I don't even open a slide until I've had at least three calls with different team members to map their actual pain points. I start every proposal with a one-page summary of the specific problem and the dollar amount we think we can save or make them. It's way less flashy, but my close rate jumped from maybe 15% to over 40% in a year. Has anyone else had to kill their favorite 'show' piece to actually get deals done?

3 comments

3 Comments

finleyw9926d ago

Man that story really hits home. It's wild how much we overthink these things when the real win is just listening first.

the_thomas1mo ago

Totally ditched my fancy intro slides too.

miles_sanchez1mo ago

Honestly, is it that big of a deal? People act like cutting a few slides is a life changing move. It's just a presentation, not a heart surgery. I get keeping things simple, but the way some folks talk you'd think they found the secret to life.