1.  Mediocre First Impression
Jack Welch said:  "Whenever I see a young man make a great presentation, I never forget that young man.  Unfortunately the opposite is also true."

You will never get another chance to make a great first impression.  Your first impression is key to a great presentation.  Don't forget that your opportunity to make a good first impression does not start with slide one of your material. Rather, it starts with the Presentation Prep Script that we discussed last month. Consider the very first few slides you intend to show your client. Do they convey that you have done your homework and that you have created a highly customized presentation? Or, do they smell like the same old "standard" presentation you have used over and over again?

2.  Lack of Enthusiasm
If you are not excited about your customer's solution, why should they be excited?  Remember what Vince Lombardi said: "If you are not fired with enthusiasm, you will be fired with enthusiasm."

3.  No Presentation Goal
Every meeting and every presentation must have a goal or objective.  Your presentation's goal should be clearly communicated at the beginning of the meeting to insure that everyone is on the same page.

4.  No Customization
During my workshops one of my client's key take-aways is that, "as of today, There Are No More Standard Presentations!"  This is key for several reasons.  

First, this best practice provides push-back to the customer who questions why each key attendee must be contacted prior to the presentation. You may have heard a customer say, for instance, "Why do you have to talk with the our key executives? Can't you just come in a give us your standard presentation? After all, your competitor did".  A Superstar responds:  "I'm glad that the other vendor was able to present to you.  At our company we do not have any standard presentations.  Each one of our presentations is highly customized based upon the client's current and future needs.  Our clients appreciate this approach because it insures that we present only what is essential to them and insures that we respect their time."

This approach also provides management a new way to coach a poorly trained rep who jumps in response to the customer's demands without considering a more consultative approach.

5.  Poor Visual Aids:  Less Is More
Dump the cartoons, and remember that the primary goal of the slides is to remind you what points you want to make to your client.  The 4 X 4 rule of thumb works great.  Never use more than 4 bullets per slide and never more than 4 words per bullet.  Avoid paragraphs of data!

6.  Too Long:  Less Is More
In general, most people don't want to sit through a very long presentation--they get bored.  If I learn that my competition has taken 2 hours to bore my client with their presentation I might open my presentation with: "I know you are very busy.  Out of respect for your time I plan to take 30 minutes to share the information you requested.  If any of you would like me to stay longer that's fine, we can delve deeper as needed."

7.  Weak Eye Contact
No audience member wants to be lectured. If they wanted you to read material, they could accept your literature and skip the presentation. Instead, they want you to connect with them.   Make a point to connect with the eyes of the audience with each key point you are delivering.

8.  No Connection:  Pain-Unique Competitive Advantages
After your title page the first slide should demonstrate your thorough understanding of your client's key issues, pain, and challenges along with the goals of the presentation.   This content should be discovered early in your selling efforts and during the delivery of the Presentation Prep Script. This key  slide is another indicator that your presentation is highly customized for your customer and provides the important link between the client's pain and your unique competitive advantages.

9.  Allowing "Derailments"
A presentation may get "derailed" if you permit a question or comment to take you in a direction that is not in your mutual best interests. Questions and comments are fine as long as they are controlled and take you in a direction that you find acceptable.  Otherwise respond with:  "Judy, that's a great question, thanks for bringing it to my attention. If you can hang on to that I'm planning on addressing that specific issue at the end of our time together."

10.  No Audience Involvement
Without audience involvement you will not know if you have connected with them.  You will not know if they understand your points.  Stop occasionally and ask the audience members questions such as, "Does that point capture how your department may benefit from ABC?" Or, "Give me your opinion on our approach to ABC".  Once you pause for reinforcement the audience becomes more receptive to your effort to satisfy their objectives. Just be sure that you maintain a balance between audience involvement and derailment.

11.  Sticky Floor Syndrome
There is a saying in presentation skills:  "Get out of the phone booth".  That simply means, don't glue your feet to the floor and limit natural gestures as if you are stuck in a phone booth.  Unless you are making a speech behind a podium to a large crowd you will appear much more relaxed and approachable if you move around naturally.    Keep in mind that the key area for you to deliver your presentation is the LEFT side of the screen. 

12.  No Preparation
There's a famous proverb:  He who fails to plan, plans to fail!

Tim Siedell said that "effective presentations are all about the 3 P's:  1.  Preparation   2.  Preparation,  3.  Preparation."

If you bring another person to assist or support your presentation, make sure she is prepared.  She is a direct reflection of you.  Don't "wing it".  Each person must know exactly what you want them to say and what the goals are.

In further preparation ask yourself: 

Have you prepared for the worst so you can hope for the best? Do you have backups for everything?  Have you checked out the room?  Is it organized exactly the way you want?  Did you bring extension cords?  Will the set-up allow you to deliver your presentation from the left side of the screen?

13.  Poor Ending
Don't end your presentation on a flat note.  Take a cue from the great singers who end on a high note delivered with passion.  With respect to our memory there is the rule of primacy and recency.  It states that we remember the first and last thing we heard.  Of the two, we remember the last words the most.

14.  No Feedback, No Close
After the presentation you have earned the right to get feedback on your presentation.  "On a scale of 1-10, how did we deliver on your goals for this presentation?" Or "I'm always trying to improve, can you please give me a few suggestions as to how I could have improved our presentation today?"

15.  No Follow Up or Thank You Note
Every attendee must receive a thank you note from you.  The note will summarize the top 3 to 5 Unique Competitive Advantages of your offering relative to your client's specific need.  It will conclude with a listing of the Next Step - Action Items and Owners.

16.  Failure To 3-D The Presentation Process
For most clients the process associated with planning for, scheduling, listening to, and following up with presentations from multiple vendors is fraught with migraine headaches.  The sales superstar knows that the presentation phase of the customer's buying process provides an excellent opportunity to serve as a trusted advisor to the client.  The sales superstar will make use of the advanced and consultative approach of 3-D:  developing, documenting and driving a presentation process.  For additional information on this advanced approach see Building Trust, Growing Sales.

17.  Forgetting Your Number One Presentation Goal
Many reps get so caught up in the content of an upcoming presentation that they lose sight of the the overall goal, which is to establish or improve your level of TRUST.  A presentation provides an excellent opportunity for your customer to compare your diligence and ability to consult relative to your competition's.

At each stage you should remind yourself of the ultimate goal:  building trust and serving as a trusted advisor to your client.

Good luck, and Close 'Em.

About the Author:
Daniel Adams, author of Building Trust, Growing Sales, and creator of Trust Triangle Selling™ helps corporations improve their profits by optimizing the performance of their sales teams. He is a frequent and popular speaker at national sales meetings, workshops and association events. You can visit his web site and read his other articles at www.trusttriangleselling.com.