Pitching Best Practice

Whether you win or lose, pitching is problematic.

I’ve had my fair share of winning, unfairer share of losing, and nearly three decades at the coal face of it. Love it or hate it, it’s not going away. A free pitch is your chance to totally undermine your value, but don’t let that put you off getting something ‘meaningful’ in front of the (potential) client because—depending on the opportunity—pitching ‘something’ can be time and energy very well spent.

Here’s some hopefully helpful, hard-earned advice for both Agencies and Clients.

The Perils of Free Pitching: Agency Advice

If you’re invited to free pitch with a client that you don’t have an existing relationship with, walk away—you’ll be on a hiding to nothing. However, if temptation (or desperation) gets the better of you, set ground rules. Rock up with a point of view, but never creative solutions—because you won’t have anything meaningful to show, and you’ll be giving away IP for free. Some ‘savvy’ clients may offer you a financial gesture for taking part but don’t accept this unless it comes with absolutely no strings attached.

Ask why they have asked you to pitch for free but more importantly, why they have taken an interest in your agency. If they can’t answer that, walk away.

If you have an existing relationship with the client, a request for a free pitch (or even a paid pitch) is usually embarrassing for them because it’s forced upon them by their boss. Life isn’t fair and agencies need to invest in relationships. So, you may need to suck it up occasionally.

“Agency people buy into client people the same way client people buy into agency people.”

The Perils of Free Pitching: Client Advice

Agency people understand that your business culture may demand it. But know this: Agency people buy into client people the same way client people buy into agency people. Agencies partake in pitches in the belief that you are looking to form a real relationship with an agency that can help you achieve your business objectives.

The key phrase here is ‘real relationship’. A free pitch situation—while far from being an auspicious start—can be worthwhile for both parties, provided that all cards are on the table from the start and expectations are set at a reasonable level. 

Remember, you are looking to buy into the team that you get the good vibes from, not buy the solution on the table there and then. This is because any solution sold as a solution at pitch stage will be fundamentally flawed. And communicate why you’re inviting the agency to pitch. Flattery works wonders, providing it’s honest.

Establish Pitch Criteria: Agency Advice

Entering any pitch situation without clear scoring criteria is like diving into ‘maybe’ shark-infested waters. Not knowing upfront how a client plans to score your response makes constructing your response more challenging than it needs to be. Understanding what percentages will be applied to creative, strategy, chemistry, category knowledge, audience, etc., helps you focus and maintain a degree of sanity. 

But tread carefully. The client is looking for you to solve a problem, and it’s on you to make sure you’re solving the right one.

“Failure to disclose scoring criteria screams of uncertainty as to what you’re looking for.”

Establish Pitch Criteria: Client Advice

Gain respect and build trust right from the get-go. You’ll be seen as a straight shooter, a team player, an above-board client. Failure to disclose scoring criteria screams of uncertainty as to what you’re looking for and, at worst, scepticism as to whether the pitch is for real. (Yes, we’ve experienced that.)

Be prepared to rip up the score sheet. Agencies that only adhere to the criteria are too focused on what you think you want, which is not always what you need.

Don’t Accept ‘No’: Agency Advice

You’ll have questions. Lots of questions, and you should never fear asking them at the pitch stage. The client is asking you to divert resources away from your studio to participate in a process that benefits them long before it benefits you. ‘I’m too busy’ is not an excuse; you are working on their business problem on their behalf—the value exchange is heavily stacked in their favour.

If the client can’t be bothered to help you help them, it’s a giant red flag and as clear an indication as you’ll get about the nature of your potential future relationship. Should the worst happen, and you lose the pitch, politely insist on a follow-up session—not an exchange of emails. Face-to-face is best so you can see the whites of their eyes and gain a better understanding of why. The answer(s) may compound your upset, anger, or disappointment, but chances are you’ll also walk away with a nugget or two that will benefit you next time.

Don’t Accept ‘No’: Client Advice

If you ask an agency to pitch and they decline, don’t shrug it off. It might be sheer arrogance from the agency or that they’re genuinely too busy. But it might also be because your reputation precedes you, and not in a good way.

Seek first to understand. The reason for their reluctance may be more valuable to your business than the project you hoped to pitch. And as per my previous advice for the Agency, it’s your duty never to say no when asked to provide feedback to the unsuccessful parties.

Your insight is gold dust to them. However, hearing that ‘You came a close second’ doesn’t offer the comfort you think it might. The truth, no matter how painful it might be to hear, is far more beneficial.

Play Fair: Agency Advice

Bring your A-team on their A-game – and make sure they are the people on the project when you win. (No magic show ponies that vanish upon appointment.) Never enter a pitch half-hearted, be proud and excited to share your point of view. If you finish feeling you’ve done the very best you can do and that, given the same set of circumstances, you’d do the same again (and you’ve enjoyed doing it), you’ve already won something.

Play Fair: Client Advice

Be engaged, show appreciation, and ensure key stakeholders are in the room. And if you set a deadline to respond by. Stick to it. Ghosting isn’t cool. The best pitch is no pitch. Invest in a real relationship with an agency without the merry dance and they’ll walk on broken glass to save your ass, and they might make you famous too.