It’s not always easy for sales teams to claw their way into the conference room (or onto the Zoom call as the case may be these days).  Once you’re there, you get one shot at that all-important first impression, so you’ve got to make it count.

Just as critical as knowing what to do to keep the lead alive during a sales pitch is knowing what not to do.  Having been on the receiving end of this pass more times than I can count, I’m continually amazed at how often these things go overlooked.

So, allow me to briefly walk through the dark side of sales decorum.  The things that all seasoned biz-dev vets should teach their underlings (and, frankly, remind themselves of occasionally as well).

We’ll go in reverse order from relatively benign to cringeworthy.

7.  Leave the Meeting Without Confirming Next Steps

There’s no better strategy for letting them off the hook than by not establishing the call to action.  This could be any number of things:  we’ll send you the deck and our availability for a regroup, we’ll follow up after your meeting with leadership on Friday, we’ll schedule lunch next week…it doesn’t matter.  Set expectations for continued discussion to hold everyone accountable and keep the car in drive.

6.  Not Ask Them Questions

This little soirée isn’t just about you.  How in the world are you going to know what to put in an actual proposal—if you make it that far—without knowing more about what’s going to calibrate the right mindset to receive it?  Press releases and annual reports only get you so far, so your due diligence must continue in the room.  Plus, it shows you’re genuinely interested in their business.  Imagine that.

5.  Take Up Every Last Minute With the Sound of Your Own Voice

This is innately tied to #6.  If your meeting is an hour, do NOT build an hour presentation.  The Q&A is as valuable, and in some cases even more so, than your carefully-constructed PowerPoint.  You must allow time for free-flowing discussion during and after the presentation itself.  This is helpful in all kinds of ways, including giving you the opportunity to quash any concerns or pushback in real-time.

4.  Avoid Questions About Future Content

“We’ll get to that.”  We will, will we?  If I ask you a question about your business, answer it then and there, don’t make me wait.  I say “me” as a proxy for your audience, not because I’m some big shot.  But, if I am in fact in your audience, then it would do you well to treat me and everyone else on my side of the table like one.  Your presentation is a roadmap intended to guide the conversation.  The occasional detour isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

3.  Insult Your Competitors

Want to come across as jayvee?  Talk trash about the competition.  It’s grade-school petty and smacks of weakness.  This isn’t to say you can’t compare yourself to others in your industry, especially if asked about what makes you different.  Just make sure you do it objectively and tactfully.  After all, you never know who there is buddies with whom elsewhere.

2.  Read Directly Off Each and Every Page

My eyes roll so far into the back of my head when this happens I can’t see straight for a half hour afterwards.  I still have nightmares from my agency days about one particular joint presentation with a shared client.  When it was their turn, one of the other groups pulled up their text-heavy slides (another no-no for another day) and began reading verbatim from every page.  They didn’t even have additional commentary!  I could seriously go on for pages about how disastrous this is, but I’m getting a bit worked up just thinking about it.  So, let’s move this thing to the finish line.

1.  Look at Your Phone

Don’t do it.  Yeah, I know it’s a smartphone society and it happens all the time these days, yada yada yada….no.  I don’t care if you’re getting pinged that your house is on fire, flooded, or in flames while flooding.  I don’t care if your audience is doing it, that’s their prerogative.  They’re humoring you, not vice versa.  And, not only is it just plain rude—and it is, whether you’re old or new school—but it also sends the wrong sales message.  They are the most important thing in your life at that moment, so show them that nothing else matters.

There you are.  The seven deadly sins, if you will, of the live sales pitch.  There are other things you want to avoid in the material itself, like making your presentation too long or showing them something off the shelf.  But, how you perform under the lights is key.

Bonus points for proper form if your house actually is on fire.

Yes, this list could be about 10 times longer, and you may prioritize other things over these.  If so, let me know.  Or, we can just talk about how to amp up your own pitches.  Your call.