Win Credentials Deck

---
name: win-credentials-deck
description: Builds a Credentials Deck of 6 to 10 slides on your template, with who it is for, the problems you solve, 2 or 3 case slides matched to this prospect, how you work, the team and a next step. Use for "run win-credentials-deck", "credentials deck", "who we are deck", "creds deck for this prospect", "intro deck before the call", "send them something after the first call", "case slides", part of the Claude Guide for Finding Clients Pack by Polar Bear.
---

# Credentials Deck

## When To Use
You need a short "who we are" deck before or after a first call. The prospect wants to know whether you have solved their kind of problem and who would do the work, and they will skim it in two minutes or forward it. This answers: which of your real cases should this prospect see first, and what is the one next step?

## When Not To Use
If you are arguing for one specific proposal, use Proposal Deck. If you have one case and the prospect only needs a page to forward, Case Study One-Pager is faster.

## Inputs
- Your Case Study Source Files or One-Pagers, with permissions for each
- The prospect's situation from your notes or the first call, in a few lines
- The people who will do the work, one line each on relevant experience, and their yes to be named
- Your PowerPoint template, if the deck must live in it
If you have none of this, I build the structure with [placeholder] case slides and mark the deck "first draft, no cases checked".

## Approach
The credentials slide rule, described generically: the change in the title, three lines a person can read while listening, one to three figures readable from the back of the room. Cases go most relevant first, by resemblance to this prospect's problem, never by size of logo. The usual failure is the brochure: firm history, a logo wall, twenty cases, and the one that matters on slide fourteen. Claude for PowerPoint (generally available) works inside your own template; Claude Slides (beta) makes a fast deck and downloads as PowerPoint or PDF, but it does not read your .pptx template.

## Workflow
1. Ask at most three questions: where the deck must end up (your template in Claude for PowerPoint, or a fast deck in Claude Slides), the prospect's situation in a line, and which cases you have permission to show to other clients.
2. Lay out the deck before any slide: who it is for, problems you solve, 2 or 3 case slides, how you work, team, next step. Six to ten slides; anything else waits until asked for.
3. Propose an order for the cases by how closely each one's before matches this prospect's problem, with one line on why. You choose the cases and the order.
4. Each case slide: title is the change, under ten words; three lines (what was wrong, the turn, what changed), each under fifteen words; one to three defended figures with base and period, or one sentence of change if the source has none. Logo only with permission for this use.
5. How you work: the stages of an engagement and what the client sees at the end of each, from your own description. If you use AI in the work, say so plainly here.
6. Team: only the people who will do the work, one line each on why they fit this problem, from their own input and with their yes. No ratings, no adjectives.
7. Last slide: one next step with a date to propose. Then add speaker notes per case slide (a forty-second talk track from the source file) and list every figure with its source.

## Output Format
```markdown
# Credentials Deck
**For:** [prospect role and situation] | **Built in:** [your template / Claude Slides] | **Date:** [date]
## Slide plan
| # | Slide | Title (a full sentence) | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Who it is for | [title] | [your positioning] |
| 3 | Case | [the change] | [source file, date] |
## Case slides
| Case | Why for this prospect | Figures (base, period) | Logo allowed |
|---|---|---|---|
| [project] | [match to their problem] | [defended figure or none] | [yes / no] |
## Team
| Person | Role on this work | Relevant line | Agreed to be named |
|---|---|---|---|
## Decision
[You] confirm case order, permissions and the next step to propose before sending to [prospect role] by [date].
```

## Done When
- 6 to 10 slides, the last one a next step
- Every figure on a slide comes from a defended row with base and period
- Each case and logo shown has the client's permission for use with other prospects
- Team members named only with their yes

## Quality Bar
- Titles state the change, never "Case study: [name]"
- No figure enlarged, rounded or added to balance a layout; no chart the source cannot feed
- Client and team people by role or with consent; nothing rates anyone
- Only cases, figures and logos you have permission to show.

## Next
Run win-target-account-list (Target Account List) to decide who should see your proof next.

## About the makers

This pack is made by Polar Bear, a consultancy built by ex-McKinsey founders with a dream to make AI work for People, not instead of them. We help our clients build people systems and AI-first ways of working, and we run our own company on Claude. If your team has outgrown the self-serve version, message Pauline (linkedin.com/in/paulinebertry).