How-to: Create A Sell Sheet
Sell sheets are a great way to ace that first impression. Here’s a quick guide on how Proposify can help your sell sheet stand out.
Sales is all-too-often compared to dating, with good reason. If you go in head-first, you can waste a lot of effort offering to someone who isn’t looking (or worse, is a terrible fit). Sell sheets are like flirting for your business. They’re short, sweet, and meant to gauge your customers’ interest in what you have.
This article discusses how to use Proposify to create, design, and customize your sell sheet. In the end, you’ll be able to show what you have to offer and let your customer choose to take this professional relationship to the next level.
Create A Sell Sheet Template
The first step to sending a sell sheet to your customers is to create a template you can reuse. You can create a template from your Template Library. From here, you can choose to start from the bottom by selecting start from scratch in the top left of your library:
Or, if you already have a beautiful cover already set up, you can choose to duplicate an existing template. To do that, select duplicate on your chosen template:
If you’re duplicating a template, you’ll want to remove any unnecessary sections. Sell sheets are usually around 3 pages, so you may need to create a new section for the sell sheet page in the editor. To do that, select the + button found at the top of the section menu:
Choose either a static or page flow section (I’d recommend static) and set a name. Once saved, you’re ready to start designing your sheet.
Related Reading:
Add Design Elements
Designing your sell sheet can be daunting, and it’s not something that can be explained in a quick “how-to” guide. We have a blog post that gives some great advice, though. This section will point you towards the tools we have to make your sell sheet stand out.
You can use the element toolbar to add your design elements:
Images
To add a background image to your proposal, select images to open the image library. From there, drag the image from the library to the page.
PRO-TIP: If you’re sending this sell sheet online, use a GIF image to make your proposal less static.
Don’t have an image that you like? Select Unsplash Photos to take advantage of Unsplash’s free stock photo library:
Shapes and Lines
To add a shape, select the shape tool from the right toolbar. From there, click on the page where you would like the shape to go. A square will appear in that spot, which you can move and resize.
You can fine-tune the shape, from the right-hand menu:
Lines work the same way as shapes. Select the line tool from the element toolbar, then click where you would like it. From there, you can move and resize it in the editor, or use the right-hand menu for fine-tuning:
Video
If you have a commercial available on Youtube, Vimeo, or Wistia, you can include it in your sell sheet. Sell sheets are a quick peek at your company and what you have to offer, so try to use short and simple videos. You can add a video by selecting video from the element toolbar:
Once selected, click on the page where you would like the video to appear:
If you’re not too excited about leaving a black box in the middle of your sell sheet, you can add a thumbnail image. Select upload thumbnail from the right-hand menu:
From there, you can choose an image from your image library or Unsplash.
Add Your Copy
Add Text Boxes
Now you’ve got the design ready to go, it’s time to add your text. Click the text tool from the element toolbar:
Once selected, drag on the page where you would like that box to appear:
Once the text box is in place, select the box until you see a blinking cursor. From there, you can enter your copy and we’ll fit it to the size of the box.
Style Your Text
Once you’ve added copy, it’s time to make it pretty. You can highlight text and apply a type style from the text toolbar:
You can also edit these styles using the edit styles and formatting button found at the top of the page:
Add Variables
Most sell sheets are generic and meant to be provided as-is to a large number of users. If you want to stand above “most”, the first step is to tailor your sell sheet to your customer. This is where our variables tool comes in. You can find the variables tool on the right-hand menu while you’re editing a text box:
Using variables you can add your customer’s name, address, phone number, and custom fields. You can also include your own details as well. Each detail will update the moment a change is made, keeping your sell sheet up to date without extra effort.
Add Action Items
Any form of sales and marketing material needs a call-to-action or push for the client to take the next step. Sell sheets don’t need signatures, but a good call to action would be to provide more details on where/when to book a demo. Input forms let your customer fill text boxes straight from the sell sheet.
To add an input form, select signature from the element toolbar:
From there, drag the input forms button from the right-hand menu to your proposal:
You’ve designed the look of your sell sheet, added attention-grabbing copy, and set an easy path to next steps. Now we can send this out to your customer.
Edit Your Preview Settings
Once it’s sent, we should update how your client views your sell sheet. By default, Proposify will treat this as a proposal. Proposals tend to include accept/decline buttons, a price, and a table of contents. That isn’t useful for what we’re doing here. Let’s walk through how to update your preview settings to only show the important details.
Once you’ve created a stylized sell sheet to send to your client, head to the preview page. You can reach that by clicking the preview button from the snapshot:
While in the preview page, click edit preview settings at the top right of the page:
Here’s a breakdown of recommended options:
Disable “show accept/decline buttons”
This is useful for proposals, but the point of a sell-sheet is to gauge interest. There’s not too much to accept. Your client will be able to “accept” once they fill out your input forms.
Allow comments
Allowing comments gives your customers an option to provide feedback or ask questions in the sell sheet. It’s a good idea to keep this option enabled.
Disable “show total in footer”
This is very early in the sales cycle, so it’s a good idea to keep the cost away from your customer. That way, you can avoid early “sticker shock”.
Show PDF Download
This option depends on what you’d prefer. On the one hand, allowing your client to download and print a physical copy of your sell sheet isn’t a terrible idea. On the other hand, PDF downloads lose the video and fill forms that make your sell sheet stand out. What’s more, you lose out on those handy view metrics.
Show chat widget
It never hurts to include many ways for your customer to get in contact with you. If your plan includes integrations, it's a good idea to enable that widget. That way your customers can get in touch right away if they have any questions. Click here for more information on enabling Olark or Drift.
Disable password protection
Sell sheets are public-facing documents. Password protection is great for keeping the right eyes on a proposal; but for now, it would add a roadblock. Keep your sell sheet open and leave proprietary information under wraps. Once your customer is ready for a more in-depth look at your company, you can start being more careful.
Set colour match your brand
Adding a background colour makes your sell sheet feel more than a PDF slapped on a website. Try to add a colour that complements your colour scheme in the sell sheet.
Disable “show side panel”
The side panel is super-useful for large proposals with many sections. When you only have two pages, though, it’s not going to be much use in helping your prospect navigate. Disable it so your sell sheet can really hog the spotlight.
There you have it! You’ve made a branded, tailored, interactive sell sheet:
Even better, because it started as a template you can keep sending these out to other prospects in minutes.
Have some questions? Need some help? Reach out to our support team! We’re here to help.