Keep it simple-the most effective finals presentation book will allow your presentation team to explain in ten minutes why the prospect should choose your firm. If you cannot convey your message in that amount of time, you are including too much extraneous information.
Remember, consultants already have screened your performance, process, product, people, and pricing; you would not be at the finals presentation if you had not cleared those screens. Now it's time to tell your story, not regurgitate statistics. While that information is valuable, it should be relegated to the appendix, not detract from the final pitch you need to get across to the prospect.
One of our clients put it best: "Finals books should remind your audience of what you said about why they should hire you when you were there in person." You want the prospect to look back at your presentation book and remember a great story and a compelling argument.
Resist, strongly, the urge to include prose in any finals presentation. Bullet points (no more than three per page), pictures, graphs, and quotes should support what you plan to say. Think of the book as an "aide-mémoire," rather than the focal point of the presentation--you want the prospect's attention on you and what you are saying.
Finally, do your homework on the prospect.
 - Put their logo on the cover page.
- Use Google or LinkedIn to learn as much as possible about the attendees.
- Reinforce what got you to the finals stage and why you fit with their culture, needs, and risk tolerance with sound bites, quotes, and memorable stories.
- Make an investment--spend some money and bring an excellent presentation book, not one that looks like it just came off the copier.
Be proud of the book you have prepared, be excited about the story you'll tell, and when you get the word that your presentation time has shrunk from 45 minutes to 10 minutes, you'll be just fine. |
