Sell Sheet: What It Is, 8 Examples and a Free Template

Every example was made with MakeOnepagers. The companies and figures are samples, but each one opens as a template you can edit.

What is a sell sheet?

A sell sheet is a one-page summary of a product or service written for someone who buys it. It's also called a sales sheet, a product sheet or a one-sheet. It has one job: get the buyer to the next step, whether that's a trial order, a demo or a phone call.

It differs from a brochure in what it leaves out. A brochure tells the whole story of a company over several panels. A sell sheet picks one product and one buyer and says only what that buyer needs to decide.

There are two kinds:

• A product sell sheet covers one product or one product line: what it is, what it costs, how it compares and how to order.
• A company sell sheet covers what a business does for its customers: its services, its results and how to get a quote.

The 7 parts of a sell sheet

1. A headline that names the buyer's gain. "Greenleaf Meal Kits: For Your Store" tells a grocery buyer the sheet is about them before they read a word more.
2. Three or four numbers the buyer checks first. For a store: units sold a day, price, margin. For software: time saved and price per user.
3. The problem and your answer, side by side. The buyer's problem on the left, what you do about it on the right. It reads in five seconds.
4. What it is or what's included. Features, specifications or services, as a short list or a table.
5. Proof. A quote from a customer the buyer would recognize as a peer, a result with its number, or a comparison with what they use now.
6. A picture. The product, the screen or the place. For a physical product it answers "what is it?" faster than any sentence.
7. One clear next step. How to order, book a demo or get a quote, with the phone number, email or website.

If you only have room for four, keep the headline, the numbers, the proof and the next step.

A free sell sheet template

Copy this into your own document, or open one of the examples below and edit it.

Keep it to one page. If the buyer needs the full price list or the technical manual, the sell sheet says where to find it.

8 sell sheet examples

1. Product sell sheet for a store buyer

Edit this template

A sample sell sheet for meal kits, written for a grocery store buyer: what one store sells a day, then the problem it solves.

What to copy:

• The buyer's numbers, not yours. Kits sold a day in an average store, the store's margin and the waste rate. Those are the figures a store buyer is judged on.
• The risk taken away. "Unsold kits are taken back at our cost" answers the buyer's biggest worry before they raise it.
• Quotes from people in the same job. Two store managers, named with their stores. A buyer trusts a peer more than a supplier.

Edit for free: store sell sheet template.

2. Brand sell sheet with a product photo

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A sample brand sales sheet for a tea company, written for small grocers and cafes: the product photo, daily sales and why stores switch.

What to copy:

• The photo next to the numbers. The buyer sees the product and the sales figures in one glance.
• "Why stores switch" instead of "about us". The problem with what they stock now, then what this brand does about it.
• Sales by flavor. Green tea at 41% tells the buyer which tins to order first.

Edit for free: brand sales sheet template.

3. Product sell sheet that compares rivals

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A sample product sheet for headphones, written for retail partners: the specs, a table against two rivals and a time-limited offer.

What to copy:

• A comparison table the buyer would build anyway. Battery, price, fast charging and weight against two rivals. If you leave it out, the buyer makes it without you.
• Win on most rows, not every row. Rival A is 4 g lighter. A table that admits one loss is believed on the others.
• An offer with a date. "Order 50 units before 30 November and get 12% off" gives the buyer a reason to act this month.

Edit for free: product sheet template.

4. Technology sell sheet

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A sample sell sheet for a backup internet box: the cost of the problem in dollars, then four features and one big proof number.

What to copy:

• The problem priced in money. "Loses about $2,400 in card sales" for one hour offline turns a technical product into a business decision.
• Features as numbered cards. Four short cards, each a feature and one line on what it means.
• One proof number, large. 99.98% uptime across 3,100 stores is the line the buyer repeats to their boss.

Edit for free: technology sell sheet template.

5. Software sell sheet with plans and prices

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A sample sell sheet for scheduling software: what it does in three verbs, a year of results, then the three plans.

What to copy:

• "The short version" first. Two sentences on what it does and the result, for the reader who stops there.
• Prices on the sheet. Three plans with what each adds. A buyer who has to ask for pricing often doesn't ask.
• The next step names its length. "Book a 20-minute demo" tells the buyer exactly what they are agreeing to.

Edit for free: software sell sheet template.

6. Company sell sheet for a supplier

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A sample company sell sheet for a supplier of branded gifts: why it works, what customers order most and how ordering works.

What to copy:

• "How ordering works" in four steps. Pick, proof, print, deliver. It removes the fear that buying is complicated.
• The fact that sells the whole category. "47% keep a branded gift for over a year" persuades a buyer who isn't sure promotional products work at all.
• Three ways to get a quote. Website, email and phone at the bottom, so the sheet works wherever it ends up.

Edit for free: company sell sheet template.

7. Product line sell sheet for dealers

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A sample product line sheet for a bike maker, written for dealers: six models, one specs table and what last year's orders looked like.

What to copy:

• One card per model with price and use. "$749, City, perfect for commuting" helps a dealer match each bike to a customer.
• One specs table for the whole line. Weight, gears, frame and sizes in the same columns, so models compare at a glance.
• Last year's orders by model. It tells a new dealer which bikes to stock first.

Edit for free: product line sell sheet template.

8. Real estate sell sheet

Edit this template

A sample sell sheet for a house: the photo, four numbers, the features and what it costs to own each month.

What to copy:

• The photo fills the top. For a home, the picture does more selling than any line of text.
• The monthly cost, not only the price. $4,490 a month, broken into mortgage, tax, insurance and power, answers the buyer's real question.
• The next step with a name and a number. "Call Dana Whitfield to book a private viewing" is easier to act on than "contact us".

Edit for free: real estate sell sheet template.

How to make a sell sheet in 5 steps

1. Pick the one buyer. A store buyer, an IT manager or a home buyer. Each one wants different numbers, and a sheet written for all of them convinces none.
2. Write down the question that buyer asks first. "Will it sell?", "What does it cost per user?", "What will I pay each month?" Put the answer at the top.
3. Find your proof. A customer quote, a result with its number or a comparison with what they use now. Use real figures and say where they came from.
4. Add one picture and one next step. The product, the screen or the place, and one action with a contact.
5. Cut to one page. If it doesn't fit, drop the weakest feature, never the next step.

If you already have the facts in a deck, a product brief or a spreadsheet, MakeOnepagers builds the sell sheet from your file, using only what's in it, and you edit from there.

Sell sheet mistakes that lose the sale

• Written about you, not the buyer. "Founded in 2009" matters less to a buyer than "31% margin for your store".
• No numbers. "Fast", "reliable" and "affordable" are claims. "Switches in 0.8 seconds" is proof.
• Too many next steps. Call us, email us, follow us, visit the site. Pick one and make it easy.
• No prices when the buyer expects them. If buyers in your field compare prices, a sheet without them gets set aside.
• More than one page. A second page usually goes unread, and the buyer who wanted more detail would ask for it anyway.

Sell sheet vs fact sheet vs one-pager

A sell sheet is a kind of one-pager written to sell. A fact sheet hands over facts about a company, product or result for anyone to check, with very little selling. A sales one-pager is a close cousin of the sell sheet, usually used in a sales call rather than left behind. If the reader will decide whether to buy, write a sell sheet. If they will compare, report or check, write a fact sheet.