You did it! You nailed a face-to-face presentation with a potential client you’ve been after for months. They’ve agreed to hear what you have to offer, but now it’s up to up to you to present yourself and your business in the best light possible – a big commission check rests in the balance.
If you were able to gather census information you’re in great shape – the dollars and cents of a deal are always the most important. But, whether you’re going in with a quote or not, always have your pitch deck that highlights:
- Who you are
- What you bring to the table
- The carriers you represent
- And overall, what a client can expect when working with year, year-round
And being polished is important whether you’re meeting with a virgin group or a business currently working with a broker. We’ve all heard the adage, dress to impress, but dressing up your presentation is another way to show who you are, what your business is all about, and tell your story.
Here are just a few reasons why a professional presentation deck is worth having in your bag of tricks:
- Words + Images = Engagement When sharing your story, studies have proven that a mix of words and images helps engagement. You don’t have to read from your presentation, but as a visual aid a presentation will help keep your client’s attention and keep you on track.
- Consistent Pitch If you have a team of insurance pros, a pitch deck insures the information you want to get across in every meeting is there, even when YOU cannot be there in person.
- Flexibility In today’s world, customers want a custom solution to address their specific needs. With a presentation deck you can easily include the name and or logo (both are optimal) of the company you’re going to see and have your pitch be that much more personal.
- Simple. Simple. Building a pitch deck might sound like a lot of work, but we promise, it’s not. It starts with simply outlining your pitch in person – the who you are, what you bring to the table, the carriers you represent, and what a client can expect to get from you during the year to make their life easier.
The next step is finding the right presentation tool to make your pitch look as amazing as it will sound. There are a lot of tools to help tell your story, some tried and true like PowerPoint to new kids on the block like Prezi. Here are a few to consider as you look to either create or update your pitch deck:
- PowerPoint – Probably the most common presentation tool is Microsoft PowerPoint. SlideGenius estimates over 30 million presentations are built in PowerPoint a year and that’s because the tool is extremely easy to use. PowerPoint offers different templates you can stylize on your, add photos, videos, audio – basically anything you want that you feel will help share your story.
- Keynote – Keynote is the Mac version of PowerPoint and offers a bit more sophisticated templates to use. If you have a Mac and would rather use PowerPoint you can always download PowerPoint for Macs here.
- Prezi – Prezi is a newer tool on the block and offers a great way to collaborate with your team. Each of you can make edits to the presentation and because it’s a cloud-based software the changes automatically save. Prezi also offers unique animation only available through their software, but buyers beware, some viewers have said Prezi presentations make the motion sick (true story).
- SlideDog – SlideDog takes all of your documents, like a quote, RFP, as well as other documents you might want to add to a presentation and puts them into a playlist that can be moved around and organized however you’d like. SlideDog also works for both PCs and Macs.
- Kineticast – Built for B2B, which is perfect for insurance brokers, Kineticast lets you build a presentation and not only use it to present, but to also email to your contact list and track whether they’re viewing the presentation, which slides they’re spending more time, giving you the opportunity to call and following up. It’s a bit like PowerPoint meets Big Brother.
At the end of the day, you are the best person to sell your business. But, if you’re not using a pitch deck today, consider taking a few hours to build a short pitch deck proven to make your pitch that more impactful.
Happy hunting!
