Influx

Planning legend Jon Steel is back with a new book about the fine art of pitching for new business, entitled Perfect Pitch: The Art of Selling Ideas and Winning New Business.

Influx got the chance to chat with Jon via email and ask him some pointed questions about the challenging world of pitching new biz.

What are the key elements of pitch success?

The biggest mistake made by many agencies is pitching business that they really have little chance of winning (and on which they have even less chance of producing good work if they do). Pitch success depends in large part on making the right decisions about when to pitch, and when to walk away. These decisions are dictated not only by the nature of the client, but also by the agency’s ability to devote its very best people to the process. Too many times I have seen agencies persist in pitching to clients who were always going to take their business elsewhere; too often agencies pitch two or three clients simultaneously, and because their efforts are diluted they succeed with none of them.

Once the decision has been made to pitch, it is commonly believed that the key to success is coming up with the right answer to the problem the client has set. I disagree. That might sound strange coming from a planner; after all, my whole career has been spent in the pursuit of strategic and creative solutions to clients’ problems. But it’s a fact that while the quality of our proposed solution is important, in a new business context it is invariably not as important as an agency’s belief in the quality of its proposal, and its desire to win. These qualities need to be apparent at every point of contact with a potential client, from the initial call being returned by the founder or chief executive (rather than an unheard-of and obviously money-grubbing “new business director”), to the care and attention given to a leave-behind document.

In all of the successful pitches I have made, the most common reason given by a client for awarding their business to my agency was that in their opinion, we “wanted it more.” They liked our ideas, but more than that they liked us, and they liked our passion for those ideas.

Perfect Pitch is about appealing to this simple aspect of human nature in our pitches, and creating presentations that are at least as good as the ideas at their centre. And, conversely, not allowing great ideas to die as a result of poor preparation, and insipid or confusing delivery.

Agencies tend to view the pitch as a single event and a sporting contest that is there to be won on the day. Is this a misconception?

No. And yes.

No, because I have always believed that the best new business weapon in an agency’s armoury is the quality and effectiveness of the work it produces for its existing clients. When a new client walks through the door and says, “I’d like that campaign for my brand,” you’re already halfway there. So in a sense an agency “a great agency” never stops pitching.

And no because when an agency is asked to participate in a pitch, the final meeting is just one part of a process that can extend over several weeks or months. Every conversation, every meeting with the client is a vital part of creating a relationship and preparing fertile ground for the final presentation of ideas. When I worked with Goodby, Silverstein & Partners in the United States, we felt-and client feedback invariably later confirmed – that we often created a winning position for ourselves at the initial chemistry and capabilities meeting; after that meeting we simply had to ensure that we didn’t screw it up.

I also say “yes”, because it is possible to pull victory from the jaws of defeat with a stunning presentation. Perhaps the most famous recent example-to which I devote the final chapter of Perfect Pitch-is London’s bid presentation for the 2012 Olympic Games. The big strategic thinking and minute attention to detail of that presentation is nothing less than inspirational, and victory by the narrowest of margins can be measured in billions of dollars of income for London.

What’s the most outrageous pitch stunt you ever heard of that worked?

It’s a well-told tale, but I have never heard a story to top the one about London agency Allen Brady & Marsh’s pitch to British Rail in the late 1970s or early 1980s. My version of events may not be the exact truth, but this is what I have heard.

The client team arrived at the agency at the appointed time, to be greeted by a disinterested receptionist in a rather dirty lobby area. The receptionist broke off from filing her nails for just long enough to direct them towards a small sitting area where the seats were stained, ashtrays were overflowing, and the stains of numerous coffee cups remained on the table. She didn’t offer them any drinks. The clients waited, and waited, and waited. As the scheduled time for the agency’s presentation disappeared into the past, they asked what was going on, and the receptionist replied tersely that someone would “be along in a minute.” Their frustration grew, until at the moment they were about to pick up their bags and leave, Peter Marsh, the agency head, appeared before them. “Gentlemen,” he said. “You have just experienced what hundreds of thousands of people experience every day on British Rail. And we’d like to talk to you about how to put that right.?

Allen Brady & Marsh won the pitch. It’s impossible to say whether they won it because of the stunt, but unlike most pitch stunts it was absolutely relevant to the message of the agency’s presentation. It forced the unsuspecting clients from British Rail not only to understand and believe the idea, but also to experience it, to feel it for themselves. There’s no more powerful way to get a point across.

What can agencies learn from other professions and pitch processes?

I believe that many of the most important lessons about pitching are to be learned from outside of the agency business. At its heart, any presentation is a simple act of human communication, where the aim is to persuade the members of an audience to think and behave differently.

In Perfect Pitch, many of the examples I cite are from the agency business, but many more are from elsewhere: from politics, law, sport, and a host of other contexts in which one person seeks to influence another. Each of these examples demonstrates the essential elements of simplicity, personalization, surprise and belief that lie at the centre of any successful presentation. (And which are sadly absent from the majority of the presentations I see in the world of marketing communications.)

The world of communications is changing rapidly, forcing agencies to change and add more complexity, layers and disciplines. Can the classic pitch process cope with this or does it have to evolve?

I understand why in the face of changes in the world of communications agencies have to add more disciplines, but I don’t really buy the argument that more complexity and layers are the logical consequence. I also don’t agree that these changes should make pitching, or presentations, any more complicated.

The best communications have always been simple. The best presentations have always been simple.

The challenge for agencies is to embrace the opportunities presented by new technology and new media vehicles, but to remember that the greatest value we can bring to any client remains a powerful and simple idea, powerfully and simply stated.