What you'll get
- 2 copy-ready blocks
- 5 min read
An agency credentials deck fails in its first three slides, because those are usually the founding story, the mission and the team photo, and the buyer is scanning for something else entirely: do they understand companies like mine, and have they done this before? This outline runs proof-first, ten slides, and sends four familiar slides to the bin.
The ten slides
1. Who we are for One sentence: the kinds of companies, the
kinds of problems. Their world, named, before
your name matters.
2. The problem we fix The buyer's situation in buyer words. If the
deck is versioned by sector (it should be),
this slide changes per version.
3. Proof, biggest first One client, one problem, one result with a
number and a timeframe. Full slide, no montage.
4. Proof two A different problem shape, same conviction.
5. Proof three The one most like THIS prospect. In a tailored
send, this slide moves to position 3.
6. How we work The engagement shape in five steps: what
happens in week one, who they deal with, how
decisions get made. Process beats adjectives.
7. What it is like Two client quotes, named, specific, about
working with you rather than about being
delighted.
8. The team they get The actual people on their business, two lines
each. Not the founders unless the founders do
the work.
9. Scope and shape What engagements look like: project, retainer,
sprint. Ranges if you publish them, structure
if you do not. No seventeen-service menu.
10. The next step One concrete, small, dated ask: the audit, the
teardown, the 30-minute problem conversation.The four slides to delete today
The founding story Nobody shortlists an origin myth. One line of
it can live on slide 8.
The logo wall Forty logos communicate volume, not fit, and
the buyer's rival being on it cuts both ways.
Three relevant logos beat forty random ones.
The awards slide Awards reassure agencies, not buyers. Fold one
genuinely relevant award into a proof slide
caption.
The service universe The 17-bubble capability diagram says "we do
everything", which buyers read as "nothing
deeply". Slide 9 carries what matters.The rules that make it work
- Proof outranks description, three to one. Three full proof slides against one how-we-work slide is the correct ratio. Every proof slide needs a number and a timeframe; "increased engagement" is not proof, it is hope with a verb.
- Version it by sector. Slides 1, 2 and the proof order change per audience; the rest is stable. Five minutes of reordering doubles relevance, and relevance is the whole scan.
- Build it to be forwarded. The deck's real audience includes people who never met you, which is the same logic as the forwardable business case: no in-joke slides, no presenter-dependent pages, a file name with your agency and the sector in it.
- Keep it under 15 pages and under 5MB. It travels by email and gets read on phones. The 60-page version is for the data room nobody visits.
- The deck follows the conversation, almost never starts it. Cold outreach leads with an observation or a teardown (the agency cold email templates); the deck arrives when someone asks "send me your credentials", and arrives versioned.
Worked example (illustrative, not a real company)
A brand studio rebuilds its 34-slide deck with the outline. Slide 1 becomes "We rebrand challenger food and drink companies that have outgrown their packaging". The founding story, the 43-logo wall and the awards slide go. Three proofs lead, each with a number: a relaunch that lifted listings, a rebrand shipped in nine weeks, a packaging system that cut SKU design time. For a grocery prospect, the grocery proof moves to slide 3 and slide 2 quotes the prospect's own shelf problem. The buyer's procurement forward goes to two people who never met the studio; both arrive at the chemistry meeting citing slide 6. Ten slides, 4MB, read. All names are invented.
Five mistakes to avoid
- Opening with yourselves. The first two slides belong to the buyer's world. Your name is on the cover; that is enough of you until the proof has landed.
- Montage proof. Six case studies on one slide is zero case studies. One story per slide, with the number carrying the weight.
- One deck for everyone. The unversioned deck is maximally average for every reader. Sector versions cost minutes and win scans.
- Describing culture instead of process. "Collaborative and agile" appears in every deck in the folder. Slide 6's week-one specifics are uncopyable because they are true.
- Ending with "thank you". The last slide is the only one certain to be seen in a flick-through. A dated, small, concrete next step belongs there; gratitude does not shortlist.
Why this works on named accounts
Common questions
What should an agency credentials deck include?
Ten slides: who you are for, the problem in buyer words, three single-client proof slides with numbers, how an engagement actually runs, two specific client quotes, the real team, the engagement shapes and one small dated next step. Proof takes a third of the deck; description takes a tenth.
How long should a credentials deck be?
Ten to fifteen slides, under 5MB, readable on a phone in four minutes. It will be forwarded to people who never met you, and forwarded documents get scanned, not studied. The long version with every case study belongs in a follow-up, requested, never attached cold.
Should the credentials deck be sent cold?
Rarely. Cold outreach works better leading with an observation about the prospect or a free teardown; the deck answers the "send me your credentials" moment that follows. When it is sent, it goes versioned for the sector, with the most relevant proof promoted to the first proof slot.
More from the Academy
Cold Email Templates for Agencies
For agencies whose new business depends on referrals drying up slowly.
You leave with eight templates built on real openings: rebrands, hires, campaigns gone quiet, portfolio proof and an honest audit offer.
Enterprise Sales One-Pager
For founders and sales leads at small firms chasing large accounts.
You leave with a single fill-in page: five named accounts, an entry problem and first project for each, the committee, a procurement pack check and five weekly counts.
Forwardable Business Case Template
For sellers whose deals need approval from people they never meet.
You leave with a one-page business case in the buyer's own numbers, an honest options table and the handover wording that makes your champion its author.
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