So after weeks or months of phone calls, meetings, and enough email to short out an iPhone, your client has finally agreed to your delivering a presentation to their team.

 

The pressure is on, because this is your REAL opportunity to get in front of everyone at once by demonstrating your differentiators, just a few steps away from the "close of your lifetime".  There's just one little problem. You haven't met most of the decision makers coming.

You know you need to make a positive first impression for your presentation, but you have brought along your (fill in the blank: IT person, Marketing Director, or worst of all, your boss), and so it's not JUST you who has to get this presentation off to a compelling start, it's someone you work with. (READ: "They'd better not muck this one up.") But your IT guru's reputation isn't that he's the most socially adept guy in your company, the Marketing Director is a classic data-dumper, and your boss is ADD with a tendency to interrupt every 6 seconds. What are you going to do?

 

Keep in mind that this is YOUR client. YOUR commission. YOUR reputation. YOU need to be prepared. Here are the 5 steps you'll need to use in order to ensure a successful outcome at this meeting and close the deal:

 

1. Create a "profile" of all clients attending the meeting. Find out from your key contact(s) not only who will be there, what are their demographics (age, experience, former employers, background, education, their relationships with each other) and anything else you can glean from your champions. Also, keep in mind that some of this information can be culled from various web sites. Use your seach engines, LinkedIn, and other rescources to learn more. If you know that the CFO got her MBA from Wharton, that information can be useful either when you meet her, and may be included during the presentation. Maybe The Wharton School is a common denominator for several of the decision makers and you can tie to a connection while presenting your solutions.

 

2. Have a pre-meeting with the person/people you are bringing to the presentation. Even if your team member isn't going to participate in the presentation per se, make sure he/she has been briefed on who will be there, what the expected dynamics are, and who is going to take which piece of the presentation. You'll need a plan. This is YOUR client, so you need to be the one directing the "show" and don't wait until you arrive to see how it goes. Those that take that route are sorely disappointed in the outcome.

 

3. Now that you have your initial plan in place, you'll want to plan, with your team, how the first impressions will take place one-on-one. Since this is your party, you'll want to be the one to introduce everyone. Make sure your team is aware of how to shake hands, make DIRECT eye contact when introduced, and knows how to smile/engage right away. It seems so simple, but I meet hundreds of businesspeople every year who don't know how to follow through with a proper introduction. There is a lack of eye contact, a wimpy handshake, or a total breakdown in a positive first impression. This is important, so ensure that it goes well.

 

4. During your planning meeting you will of course, include where everyone on your team should sit. With some exceptions (i.e. conducting business in Japan), you will be able to sit anywhere someone hasn't claimed as their seat already. Sprinkle yourselves out around the table and don't be afraid to sit next to your customers. Avoid sitting with your team on one side of the table. Researchers find that people who sit on the same side of the table are most likely to agree with one another. Keep in mind that you are already in alignment, since you work for the same company. So, spread out!

 

5. You know this already, so just to emphasize the first impression concept, start the meeting off to a positive start. Avoid lame jokes, inappropriate comments, or anything personal. Everyone is a bit anxious when these meetings begin, so create a positive atmosphere of a first impression that gets the business part of your presentation going in the right direction.

 

Now you have the five steps to prepare and deliver an immediate positive first impression with your customers. Go close the deal!