Client Onboarding Checklist: Steps, Templates & Best Practices
![20 Examples of Sales Collateral to Use in [+Templates]](https://visme.co/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/20-Examples-of-Sales-Collateral-to-Use-in-2022-Header.jpg)
Nurturing leads and closing deals is an important aspect of any sales job. But both these tasks are difficult to accomplish without building valuable, trustworthy relationships with prospects.
This is where effective sales collateral comes in. Sales collateral can equip your sales staff with the right tools to communicate better and produce amazing results.
In this article, we’ll discuss what sales collateral is, why you need it and the different types of sales collateral. We’ve also included sales collateral templates throughout this post that you can customize for your own business.
Here’s a short selection of 8 easy-to-edit sales collateral you can edit, share and download with Visme. View more templates below:
Sales collateral is a key component of sales enablement, which is the process of providing sales teams with valuable content and relevant tools so they can establish credible relationships with prospects, convert leads and drive sales.
This could be any type of content that moves prospects along the funnel, including brochures, product catalogs, blog posts, case studies, whitepapers, ebooks and videos.
For example, brochures can break down product-related information. Infographics can be used to share industry data and company processes. And sales presentations can highlight unique selling points and convince prospects to buy.
Sales collateral can also be internal — for example, sales plans, playbooks and battlecards that help sales reps sell better. B2B sales collateral and B2C sales collateral only differ in messaging tone and purpose. But visually they are very similar.
To close deals more quickly and efficiently, it’s important to arm your salespeople with the right sales collateral. So, whenever a prospect requires assistance, you’ll be able to quickly share the information they need to solve their problem.
The simple answer is anyone who wants to generate more leads and increase sales. Sales and marketing collaterals are important tools for salespeople, marketers, managers, business leaders, consultants and businesses of all sizes.
Now you know what sales collaterals are. But the question which remains is; why are sales collaterals important?
The primary purpose of sales collateral is to educate prospects, build meaningful relationships and eventually convert them into paying customers.
Here are some specific benefits of sales collateral for your business:
Now that you know why sales collateral is important for your business, let’s jump into the specifics and find out what types of sales collateral are most commonly used.
Sales teams use various types of materials to nurture and convert leads at every stage of the funnel. This includes documents, presentations, printables, videos and more.
Most sales material these days is distributed online. Therefore, it can be interactive to enhance potential clients’ experience with your brand.
In this section, we’ll look at the best sales collateral your business needs to impress prospects and help them progress through their customer journey.
Informative articles and blog posts are excellent top-of-the-funnel sales materials. Potential customers can read them to learn about the latest industry trends, concepts, best practices, product use cases and more.
These valuable insights can help them solve problems, empower them and encourage them to make the right purchase decisions. Blogs can also establish your brand as an expert in its niche, which builds credibility.
Blogs are also easily shareable, and you can send links to specific articles in emails or social media or share your entire blog with prospects.
Enhance your blog posts with engaging header graphics and visual calls-to-action (CTAs).
Linking to certain pages on your website can help prospects learn more about your business and its products or services. For example, you can link to targeted landing pages, FAQs or pricing pages during client conversations.
Landing pages are designed to convert, which makes them great sales enablement content. When used right, they can help lead progress to the next stage of the funnel.
Sales plans are exactly what they sound like — detailed roadmaps to help your sales team successfully perform their job.
A good sales plan is a must-have sales collateral for any business. It can bring all your team members on the same page, communicate key goals, strategies and tactics, and outline roles and responsibilities.
Most importantly, sales plans include the KPIs your sales team has to meet at the end of each year, quarter or month. This way, team members know what targets to achieve, the timeline and how to go about it.
Here’s a sales plan template to help your team sell better:
If you’re having trouble writing the text for your sales plan, get a little help from the Visme AI text generator. Add a text box to your canvas and click on the Write for Me icon. Introduce your prompt and let it do its magic.
Once generated, you can customize the text as you wish, aligning it with your brand. The AI writer and other AI tools in Visme help you create content that aligns with your brand while saving time during the creation process.
Sales battlecards are handy little documents — usually one-pagers — that help your sales staff communicate faster and more effectively with potential clients.
These battlecards include a summary of key competitors, products and target customer information. These documents are incredibly helpful for your reps when they’re engaged in conversation with prospects as they act as “notes” for them to sell better.
Below is a sales battlecard template you can edit and use:
Here’s another sales collateral example that can move the needle for your sales team. Sales playbooks are like detailed battlecards—these are multi-page documents that include all kinds of information and guidelines your sales team needs to sell more effectively.
Your company’s sales playbook may include buyer personas, FAQs, competitor data, pricing information, unique selling points and the typical customer journey.
Create your own branded sales playbook by editing this template:
Did you know that 95% of B2B buyers say video helps them move forward with a purchase? Videos are excellent sales enablement tools that can convert leads at every stage of the funnel.
From brand awareness videos to product videos to specific tutorials that help solve a problem, there are dozens of video formats and types your sales team can benefit from.
1. Brand videos: These videos are mostly promotional and can help tell your brand’s story or introduce your company to potential leads. You can share promotional videos on social media, add them to your website or landing pages or send them via email.
2. Product videos: Product videos can explain to prospects how your product or service works, what its features are, what it helps them achieve and any other specific details. Other product collaterals include demonstrations and free trials.
3. How-to videos: These explainer videos can break down steps and concepts to solve problems for your audience. Sales reps can use these videos to answer questions or help interested leads achieve a goal or learn more about a use case.
Your sales collateral is incomplete without case studies. These are your company’s success stories that show potential leads how you’ve helped other customers like them achieve goals or solve similar problems.
Case studies help you showcase your expertise with proof. Add real examples, results, statistics and quotes to make a compelling case in front of prospects.
Jumpstart your case studies with this collateral design example below.
Here’s sales enablement collateral that’s proven to drive results for sales teams.
Ebooks and guides are handy tools for providing leads with in-depth information about specific topics and issues related to your business.
Use interactive ebook formats to make it easier for potential clients to access videos, external links and other forms of online content.
Here’s an interactive ebook template from Visme you can use as part of your sales collateral. Share this collateral design example online or download it as a PDF.
White papers are research-backed documents that help readers learn about a complex issue, solve a problem or make a purchase decision.
Create white papers for sales purposes that focus on explaining features and benefits supported by data and in-depth product information.
Sales teams can use white papers at different stages of the funnel (usually consideration) to convince buyers their product or service is the right choice.
Promote a product, service or solution to potential customers using the sales materials example below.
Salespeople can share reports on industry or consumer trends to spread knowledge, empower leads with relevant information and establish thought leadership. Sales materials examples like this one are highly shareable and can help your business build credibility and generate backlinks and mentions.
Plan on sharing reports online? Make your digital documents more engaging by using Visme’s data visualization and interactivity features. Add animated charts, links, hover effects, embedded videos, interactive surveys, forms and more to create stand-out visual reports.
When you create sales collateral with Visme you have the option to add AI generated images by adding a text prompt that explains what you’re looking for. The magic of AI is that you adjust the prompt as many times as you want until it offers an output you’re happy with.
Sales pitch decks, product presentations, webinar presentations and proposal presentations are all examples of presentations that work as effective sales collateral.
Your sales team can give these presentations virtually or in person to potential clients and customers. They can also be shared with prospects to view on their own time, such as via email as a PDF or link.
Sales presentations typically include information about a business, product or service. The goal of sales decks is to generate leads or convert them, which is why they contain elements like testimonials, pricing, competitor comparisons and a company’s value proposition.
Presentations can also double as sales training materials for reps or a client onboarding checklist item to help educate clients about more advanced features.
You can also embed product demos into your sales presentations to help buyers familiarize themselves with your product.
Here’s a sales presentation template to get you started:
Here’s what Kendra Bradley, Graphic Content Developer at WOW had to say about Visme’s presentation templates
Previously, we were using PowerPoint, which is fine, but the interactivity you can get with Visme is so much more robust that we’ve all steered away from PowerPoint.”
“PowerPoint templates are plain and boring, and we want to create more fun and engaging content. Visme has multiple slide templates to choose from, which makes this so much easier.”
Infographics are amazing visual tools that can be used by both marketing and sales teams. They’re easy to share, highly engaging and can pack a ton of data in just a single graphic.
For example, a real estate business can create infographics on property trends, proptech statistics, or renting and buying processes. Their sales staff can then share these infographics with specific prospects, on social media or in newsletters.
Here’s an example of an infographic template just like the one above:
Brochures are promotional print materials that are beneficial to any sales enablement strategy. They’re great for communicating business and product information, such as features, benefits, processes, pricing, contact details and more.
There are two types of brochures: bi-fold and tri-fold which you can easily create with Visme's free brochure maker . The latter is the most popular type. Other types of promotional print materials include flyers, posters and handouts.
Here’s a brochure template to use right away:
Booklets are like brochures, but they’re usually multi-page documents instead of tri-fold or bi-fold printables. Booklets are also great for distributing company and product information.
This sales enablement collateral is promotional but can be very useful for helping prospects learn more about your business. Booklets can be printed out or shared online as digital flipbooks.
With our Dynamic Field feature, you can automatically update key information in real-time across all your pages, slides or multiple projects. Customize existing dynamic fields or create new ones and format them to maintain design consistency.
Below is a sales enablement collateral template you can use for your business:
One of the most common lead generation methods is to offer a newsletter subscription on your website. Visitors that sign up have shown interest in your business.
Use this opportunity to share insightful emails and newsletters that help them learn about your offerings and make a purchase decision in your favor.
You can share email newsletters for company announcements, blog promotions, exclusive discounts and coupons, industry data, feature and use case information, and more.
Here’s a newsletter template to edit and use:
Product catalogs are used widely in the retail industry, but they’re also excellent sales materials for B2B, service and SaaS companies.
Like other design collaterals, catalogs are essentially showcases for your offerings. Make them visually appealing to highlight your best products and services in an impressive way.
Use this catalog template for your business:
These quick documents help showcase your product features, benefits, pricing, specifications and other useful data. You can share product sell sheets online or print them out and distribute them physically at events, seminars, exhibitions or in-store.
Use this collateral design example to level your sales activities.
Customer personas — or buyer personas — are crucial marketing materials that can also be used by salespeople. These are documented characteristics or “profiles” of a brand’s ideal customers.
Customer personas can help your sales staff understand buyer needs, frustrations, habits, channels, demographics and interests so they can relate to them and sell better.
Create engaging and visual customer personas by using Visme’s customer persona templates.
Here’s a marketing collateral template to get you started.
Positive reviews from past customers can be used as leverage to convince potential buyers to choose your business.
You can find reviews and testimonials on sites like G2, Capterra, Glassdoor and even Google. Or ask for testimonials by reaching out to existing clients. If they’re satisfied with your business, they’ll be more than happy to share a quote.
Pro Tip: Share animated video testimonials instead of static, text-based quotes. They also help put a face to the name. You can easily make video testimonials in Visme using templates and share them online or on social media.Use this marketing collateral template to give your sales team an edge.
Most, if not all, of your potential clients use social media. The platforms they use might vary depending on your industry, but the idea remains the same. Your social media profiles can be highly informative and engaging tools that help prospects learn about your business.
Link to your social media accounts from your emails, landing pages and other customer touchpoints. Prospects are likely to check your social profiles out if they’re interested in your business.
Turn your social media pages into sales tools by adding CTAs, sharing resources and regularly posting valuable, updated content about your brand, products, services and industry.
Streamline your marketing workflow and stay organized by using Visme’s social media scheduler. With a few clicks, you can easily create engaging content and share it on your social media pages without switching between tools.
Watch the video below to see how the tool works.
The buyer's journey consists of four key stages: awareness, consideration, decision, and retention & advocacy. By understanding these stages, you can effectively align sales collateral to meet the needs and preferences of potential customers.
At the awareness stage, buyers are identifying a problem or need they have. They are seeking information to better understand their situation and explore potential solutions.
Sales collateral for this stage should focus on providing educational content, such as blog posts, infographics, and eBooks, that address their pain points and offer helpful insights.
In the consideration stage, buyers have defined their problem and are actively researching different solutions. They are evaluating various options and comparing alternatives.
Sales collateral for this stage should emphasize the unique value proposition of your product or service. Case studies, product brochures, and demo videos can effectively showcase the benefits and features of your offering.
In the decision stage, buyers have narrowed down their choices and are ready to make a purchase decision. They may request quotes, proposals, or demonstrations from different providers.
Sales collateral for this stage should focus on providing clear and persuasive information that highlights the competitive advantages of your offering. Testimonials, pricing sheets, and free trials can help build trust and provide the final push toward a purchase.
Once a purchase is made, the buyer enters the retention and advocacy stage. At this point, it is crucial to nurture the customer relationship and encourage repeat business and referrals.
Sales collateral for this stage should include resources such as user guides, customer success stories, and loyalty programs to reinforce customer satisfaction and loyalty.
By aligning your sales collateral with the buyer's journey, you can effectively engage potential customers, guide them through the decision-making process, and foster long-term relationships that drive business growth and success.
We’ve shared the different types of sales collateral. But how do you prepare sales collateral for your brand?
Creating sales collateral inside Visme is super easy. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how you can make one for your business:
Log in to your Visme account to choose a template. If you haven’t already, sign up here for a free Visme account.
Visme offers thousands of templates across 40+ categories, from case studies to presentations to infographics to research reports and more.
Use the search feature to find sales-related templates in your industry or niche, or browse the library to find something that fits your vision.
All Visme templates are fully editable so you can customize them as much as you want.
Pro Tip: Use our AI-powered brand design tool to generate a set of 40+ personalized templates for your business in minutes. Each template will automatically adapt to your brand colors, fonts and logo — edit, download, store and share instantly!Once you've picked a template you like, replace the placeholder content with your own. Start by adding text content first, including headings, sections, body text, CTAs, captions and more.
Visme templates are created with original content that can be used as is, edited to fit your company or replaced completely. You can also add premade content blocks and pre-designed text blocks to create sales collateral faster.
Now take things to the next level by adding engaging, interactive visuals. Visme has a large library of free stock photos and videos that you can use to add imagery to your projects. Alternatively, you can upload your own graphics and assets.
Need to visualize data? Choose from 20+ types of charts and graphs, including bar charts, line graphs, pie charts, area charts as well as interactive widgets like radials, thermometers and progress bars.
Spice up your text and sections by adding vector icons and shapes in various styles. You can also add animated characters, gestures and illustrations to make your sales collateral more engaging.
Sales collateral represents your company, so it's important you align everything with your brand and keep the documents consistent with other corporate assets.
This means using consistent logos, fonts, colors, voice, imagery and messages across every piece of content you create and share.
You can easily upload your own brand fonts, logos and colors to use in Visme. Or, browse Visme’s library of free fonts and color themes to find a good fit.
Pro Tip: Store your logos, fonts and colors to use across all your sales collateral. Visme’s branding kit makes it easy to save and reuse all kinds of assets, visuals, content blocks and custom templates with a few clicks.Watch the video below to learn how to set up your brand kit.
Once you're done customizing your sales collateral, it's time to download your project and share it with your audience. Visme lets you download sales collateral in various formats, including PNG, JPG, PDF, PPTX, HTML5 and MP4.
You can also share projects privately with your sales teams and prospects using a link. This way, you won’t need to download anything to your computer. And you also get to preserve any interactivity and animation you’ve added to your sales material.
Another way to share your sales collateral is to generate an embed code and add projects to web pages. For example, you can add videos to landing pages and presentations to password-protected portals. Use our analytics tool to see who has viewed or completed your document.
To effectively engage your potential customers and maximize your sales efforts, it's important to follow sales collateral best practices.
By implementing the strategies we share below, you can create impactful content that resonates with your target audience and supports your overall sales goals.
Remember to continuously evaluate and refine your collateral based on customer feedback and evolving market trends to ensure its ongoing relevance and impact.
Tailor your sales collateral to align with each stage of the buyer's journey. By understanding the specific needs and preferences of your potential customers at each stage (awareness, consideration, decision, retention & advocacy), you can provide the right information and resources to guide them towards a purchase decision.
Organize the sales collateral in folders named after each step in the buyer’s journey and give sales reps full access. Ideally, create a few standard content flows for your agents to follow. Use a flowchart with links to the sales collateral that applies to each moment in the journey.
Diversify your sales collateral by utilizing various content styles. Create written materials rich in visuals, such as case studies, whitepapers, blog posts and visual content like infographics, videos, and presentations.
By offering different formats, you cater to different learning preferences and make your messaging more accessible and engaging.
A diverse sales collateral repository also helps your sales reps choose the content type that best suits the current lead they’re workin on.
Ensure that your sales collateral is well-written and visually appealing. Invest in professional copywriting that effectively communicates your value proposition, addresses customer pain points, and showcases the benefits of your product or service.
Additionally, the high-quality design enhances the overall presentation, making your collateral visually appealing and memorable. Visme is your best ally in this situation because it offers hundreds, if not thousands, of professionally designed templates for all types of sales collateral.
A Visme enterprise account offers your entire team the necessary tools to create sales collateral and several other business content types.
Maintain consistency with your brand identity across all sales collateral. This practice builds brand recognition, trust, credibility and finally loyalty. Use branded colors, fonts, logos, and messaging to reinforce your brand's image and values.
By staying on brand, you create a cohesive experience for your audience and establish a strong brand presence. Use the Visme Brand Wizard to create countless branded templates in less than it takes to make a cup of coffee.
Combine your sales collateral with effective sales practices and tools. Equip your sales team with the necessary training and guidance to effectively use the collateral in their interactions with customers.
Integrate your collateral with customer relationship management (CRM) systems or sales enablement platforms to track engagement, personalize content, and analyze its effectiveness.
Visme offers several options for sales enablement content like sales playbooks, battlecards and interactive flowcharts. Take advantage of them and empower your sales team.
There you go. We’ve shared 20 sales collateral examples to jumpstart your sales process.
Well-designed sales collateral can help your sales team communicate with prospects more effectively, generate brand awareness, nurture leads and convert them into paying customers.
If you’re ready to create engaging, high-converting sales collateral for your brand, check out Visme for sales. Use thousands of sales templates across 40+ categories to create amazing content that represents your business and pushes leads along the funnel.
Or, check out this guide on how you can use Visme to close more sales.
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