Everyone does it and it is OK - to a degree.  Sales presentations are typically full of buzzwords, meaningless phrases and old clichés.  Pay close attention to the phrases you commonly use and how often you repeat them – If you don’t, your prospect will.  I have heard of prospects actually counting how many times a salesperson/presenter says a certain phrase or lead-in.

Some examples are:

     If a sales person begins every statement with," to be honest" (honestly,
     I will be honest with you, etc) the prospect will begin to wonder when
     a statement is less than honest.

     A while back I sat through a colleague’s presentation and he kept repeating,
     "It’s all about …" for each topic he presented. "It’s all about ease of use",
     "It’s all about security", "It’s all about ubiquitous interoperability", "It’s all
     about quality service"…  At the end of the presentation no one was sure
     what it was all about.  Personally, I would recommend NEVER using this phrase.

Others lead-ins include:

     "Look, …" Only say this if the person is looking out the window at something more interesting
     
     "Listen , …"

     "At the end of the day, …."
  
     "The bottom line is …"

     "Mission Critical"
    
     "Hey, we're not here to boil the ocean..."

Used sparingly these phrases can help make a point or draw the prospects attention to what is truly important, just be careful how often you repeat yourself.

What are some of the catch phrases or lead-ins you have heard backfire on sales people?

Profit from your Common Sense - Good Selling
Mark Weisberger