Sales people call on me all the time. It’s amazing how bad some of them are. One of their worst tactics is to use a paper copy of a PowerPoint presentation. I cringe when they take these out of their briefcase. The presentations always seem to be at least 30 pages long. I know I’m in trouble when after 30 minutes they are only on page seven.

The problem is that the sales people aren’t finding out anything about what I need. They just tell me how great they are. They go on and on about their products and services. It’s kind of like pulling out a shotgun and not aiming but just seeing if they can hit anything.

A few years back, a banker gave me one of these presentations. At about page 20 of the dreaded PowerPoint document, there was information on the bank’s international capabilities. He did manage to ask me if we do any international business. I told him no. He paused like he didn’t know what to do, then proceeded to spend the next 10 minutes explaining their international capabilities. Do you think I cared? Do you think I ever talked to him again?

The most impressive sales presentations involve listening and telling your story without the crutch of some large PowerPoint presentation. Do that, and you will get my attention.