Savage Counsel – winning pitches
Chris Savage tackles your career and agency dilemmas in his weekly Encore advice column.
Hi Chris,
It seems we have to increasingly pitch for everything. Even with existing clients, we’re now expected to pitch ideas, competitively, for every project. We’re winning about two out of five of what we’re pitching for. It’s a huge burden on our time and budgets. What is your secret to winning a pitch presentation? How do we make sure our presentations are a knockout?
Truth is, if I knew for sure, I’d be relaxing at my Tuscan villa right now. On reflection, though, I do have a very small coastal weekend house (made from asbestos I have just discovered, sadly), funded by a pretty good pitch record over many years.
So here are my three biggest tips on how to win a pitch presentation (if you HAVE to pitch):
Make sure it’s won before you get to the pitch. 90 per cent of the buying decision is made before the final presentation (certainly true in new business pitches). Just because you get on the shortlist does not mean you have a shot at the business. Start selling from the get-go. Make sure you’re demonstrating at every step your proven track record achieved for others, the smartness of your ideas and creativity, and build chemistry. Work on your strategy to win (as well as a strategy on how to solve the client’s problem). This is your strategy to beat your competition. Get mongrel, within reason. What is the decision-making criteria, what is the decision- making process, what does every client executive involved want out of your presentation (and give them their ‘aha – that’s what I want’ moment in the presentation). Who are you competing against, how can you subtly undermine them during the process?
Remember Coco Chanel. I stole this story from Jon Steel’s book, Perfect Pitch: The Art of Selling Ideas and Winning New Business. It’s not word perfect as I just noticed some dickhead has stolen my copy off the bookshelf. Anyway, fashion designer Coco Chanel said this of dress designing: “If a woman walks into a room and you go up to her and say, ‘That dress is amazing’, then the dress failed. If a woman walks into a room and you go up to her and say, ‘YOU look amazing’, then the dress succeeded.” For pitching, the presentation is just the dress. The most critical element is the idea. In my experience, a great idea presented poorly will ALWAYS beat a poor idea presented brilliantly. Good ideas shine through no matter how much crud we wrap them in. So make sure you have an outstanding idea, and wrap it in a beautiful presentation ‘dress’. Then you’ll win four out of five.
Keep it short. Not the dress – the presentation, dummy. Ideally, finish within 25 minutes. Try it. Be brave. Clients love you for it.
I will leave it at that as I must go. I’m driving down to my weekender. Well, it’s not really a weekender. Best I could afford is a six hour drive away and not exactly close to the surf. Oh well, maybe my pitching tips aren’t that great after all.
Chris Savage is the chief operating officer of STW Group. His blog, Wrestling Possums with Chris Savage, can be found at chrisjohnsavage.com
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