[calvinmorrison]

I'm in a sales related role for the first time and it seems like half the customers expect and want a 'deck' and the other half balk at a deck. Right now we're tending to stick with just talking on a call rather than presenting glitzy materials.

[perlgeek]

So, prepare a deck and ask at the start if they want to see one? Just make clear what the alternatives are (interactive demo, just talking, ...)

[throwaway432897]

That’s a nice theory that works better in theory than practice. Specifically, launching into a demo without having a common framework of understanding — terms, how the solution works at a high level, etc. is risky. Sometimes your prospective customer will understand the space where your product fits and you can safely conduct a demo (if that’s what the customer wants,) and sometimes they won’t know what they won’t know, say they “just want to see a demo and not a bunch of marketing slides” and will smile and nod during a demo of which they have little understanding and the meeting will be a waste of everyone’s time.

I’m not advocating for “show up and throw up”, but connecting with your prospect and giving them just the information they need/want is an art form, and simply asking them produces…mixed… results.

[Spooky23]

That’s a technique to throw you off your process and actually provide information.

When you’ve validated that you’re not an idiot, I want to see the architecture or whatever that should be in your deck.

All of these processes are about control.