Over my long career in advertising, I’ve been involved in countless new business pitches, in fact after I moved to the US in 2000 as new business director my main focus has been pitching.
Most people that focus on new business development for anything like 20 years either burn out, get fired or end up seeking physiological help.
I’m a survivor and still thrive on the buzz, energy, and excitement around pitching. Now if you don’t have an outstanding pitch leader, pitch plan, pitch process, and pitch-ready people … pitching can be a nightmare. However, pitching is the lifeblood of any agency and if you are at the top of your game and pitch fit it can be incredible.
Now to the big question that is constantly being bandied around, is the pitch process broken?
I don’t think it’s totally broke … however, it’s certainly fractured and in need of some renovation. Clients totally underestimate the time and resources to run a successful pitch.
A good brief, access to sessions such as tissue and chemistry meetings plus building rapport with prospective agency partners along the way takes time and enormous effort. If you want to distance yourself from the actual pitch process it doesn’t build confidence in the type of client you will be after the pitch itself.
Don Draper pitching in an episode of Mad Men (Photo: AMC/Foxtel)
Find yourself a great new business consultant to help guide you through the pitch process, they provide independent insightful advice and help you navigate the process.
Also, as the client discusses upfront what great work and value looks like and agrees on this with your major stakeholders, procurement, and finance departments. As an example, value isn’t the cheapest media or production price with the lowest fee and the longest payment terms.
If this is a cost savings exercise be honest about that upfront. Don’t bullshit the agencies with multiple strategic briefs and requests for innovation if you want to save money and drive costs down. If it’s a race to the bottom and you want to screw your partners at least be honest about that. You get what you pay for and let’s not delude ourselves with the real outcome we want.
Be realistic about the objectives and outcomes you want from the pitch and give the agencies enough time to deliver on those goals.
With current talent shortages and a focus on people, health and wellbeing, quite a few great agencies are saying no to pitches. About bloody time. This is a good trend to be more selective and put your people first. Of course, there will always be another agency to take your place, and those desperate for revenue with never say no. More importantly, how does this impact the quality of your shortlisted agencies, do you have the best partners wanting to work on your business?
A client-agency partnership is a bit like a marriage, sometimes counselling can help if the 7-year itch kicks in, or it’s just not working. Once again be honest with each other and if it’s time to move on be professional to all concerned especially the incumbent. Ex partners can still be friends and if it’s fractured with an open honest empathetic approach hopefully together you can make it better.
Read more Sparrow’s Nest columns here.
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