He or she who controls the direction of a conversation has the upper hand in negotiations. See how I made the most out of the 3 minutes I had when pitching to someone.

Anticipation. It's often overlooked by sales reps, but it's a powerful psychological trick that can turn the tides in your favor. See how I utilized it in this sales presentation (and how I glowed it up.)
TL;DR
In 2020, I and my wife started a traditional Chinese chili oil manufactury in Poland, quickly gaining popularity among Asian food lovers. However, we faced challenges when expanding to general food stores. The procurement managers were unfamiliar with our product and they doubted the market demand. To overcome this, our duo created a concise, visually appealing sales presentation that covered all potential buyer objections. This didn't increase the conversion rate, but it did reduce decision-making time for shop owners by 10% to 20%, which ultimately benefited our bottom line.
My role: Draft the layout, write the copy, graphic design, animate, and prepare the pitch.
Client: Hedonista
Industry: Food, Asian cuisine, chilli, FMCG, B2C
Website: Not existent anymore
Context
In 2020, my wife and I embarked on a culinary journey by founding Hedonista, a brand inspired by her family's homemade Chinese chili oil.
Seeing how quickly the popularity of Asian cuisine in Poland was rising, we spotted an opportunity to commercialize her recipe, and, as expected, the brand captivated the hearts of Asian food aficionados shortly after our launch.
The sales were going smoothly until we faced the challenge of expanding our reach beyond Asian food stores.

Objective
Asian food stores and restaurants were to eager add our product to their offerings. However, when we approached general food store procurement managers, the sales process faltered. Despite our 10-minute product presentations and assurances of strong sales, their enthusiasm was lackluster. The common objections from these managers included:
"Chili oil? What is that? It's my first time hearing about it."
Our brand was new to the market, and there was fear that our product wouldn't make them money.
They expressed doubts that our prices might be too high for their clientele.
Something had to be done — something that would improve the bottom line after each meeting.
The Making Of
We've been very active on social media and the actions there brought us many retainers in online retail operations. The only problem was the traditional face-to-face sales which we covered above. So one day we listed out the most commonly present objections, thought through our pitch, and made a shiny sales deck to aid our meetings with clients.
The sales deck was structured to resemble a procurement manager's most likely sequence of questions: - Who are you? - What do you do? - Why should I care about what you do? - What's the price? - What's the minimum order quantity? - Will it sell?
We ensured the entire presentation wouldn't exceed three minutes because store managers have little patience for pitches. As such, we already knew the pitch had to be written in fewer than 420 words.
Our sales deck was visually appealing and had enough info about our operation to hook them. The primary objective was to inject interest in their minds in what we do and keep our conversation going. We can't sell anything if we don't even have their attention, isn't it?
In addition to the core elements, we also considered the following:
Given that Hedonista's reputation is closely tied to my wife's and my own stories, we decided to kick off the pitch by introducing ourselves as the company's leaders.
The neon effect applied to the headlines evokes the vibrant night market and street food culture characteristic of Far Eastern places such as Hong Kong or Bangkok.
Rather than just making claims, we utilized testimonials and market trend analysis to provide tangible evidence. After all, why simply tell when you can show?
Results
Many have said this was the best sales presentation they have ever had. In the three months since we implemented our new sales deck, we've noticed an interesting trend. While it hasn't directly influenced conversion rates, it has significantly reduced decision-making time for shop owners interested in our product. We've seen a drop between 10% to 20% in this regard, which overall, has positively impacted our bottom line.
###
If you liked this case study and have a big heart for helping others, I would really appreciate it if you could share this content on your social media. Do not forget to check my other 5-minute reads as well. Thank you!