At this NMK seminar in October 2002, three experienced practitioners described why good communications and relationship-building can be as important as your performance in the pitch itself when you're trying to win new business.

Speakers

• Hilary Kelsh, Head of Business Development, n1media www.n1media.com
• Juliet Blackburn, Head of Digital, AAR www.aargroup.co.uk
• Chris Allen, Director, Clientfocus www.clientfocus.com

Hilary began this evening seminar by urging all new media agencies to spend more time listening to their clients. A potential client�s needs and objectives may not be fully articulated in a brief, and it is important that agencies talk to the client, find out what is really wanted and the real reasons why the pitch has been set in motion. You should try to spot the nuances and clues that explain why a brief has come into existence. The process of communicating and understanding is key, and agencies must avoid falling into the trap of talking about their own expertise and capabilities, without listening to the, often subtle, needs of the client.

Hilary went on to discuss management issues relating to pitches, both in terms of the client and the agency�s own processes. In particular, it is important to see the pitch as resulting from a relationship between client and agency, in which mutual trust and understanding should have been built up along the way. More important than winning or losing the pitch is the management of this relationship, ensuring that the pitch is not a culmination but rather just another opportunity to deepen the relationship.

On the agency side, there needs to be a clear assignment of internal roles, communication protocols and responsibilities. The co-ordination and management of the creative and production team needs to be established, so that everyone (including the client) knows what is expected in the pitch itself. There should be prior understanding of how much creative work should be undertaken for the pitch, or whether a more strategic discussion is expected.

Finally, the outcome itself needs to be well handled. Expectations should be managed, so that the team hasn�t already done too much work, or become too excited, about a pitch that they don�t win. The long-term perspective needs to be maintained, and the value of even unsuccessful pitches needs to be appreciated, in terms of learning and the possible strengthening of relations with the client.

As the Digital Manager at selection consultancy AAR, Juliet has experienced more new media pitches than most, and she has extensive knowledge of how both agencies and clients approach a pitch. She began her talk by outlining why a pitch occurs in the first place, and, based on some research undertaken by AAR, she estimated that 60% of all client reviews are a result of current dissatisfaction with the incumbent agency. She made the point that clients don�t actually like pitching � it is an expensive and time-consuming activity, and clients can often be surprisingly nervous about choosing new suppliers, so prospective agencies should be looking to make the process as easy and comfortable as possible for them.

For Juliet, the pitch process starts from the moment that an agency makes contact with the client, rather than the time actually spent in the pitch. There are numerous opportunities in which the agency can communicate their distinctive brand values, and emphasise the benefits that they can provide. On this point, Juliet thought it important for agencies to polarise opinion and �stand for something� � too many new media companies promote themselves as generic, full-service interactive agencies without sufficiently distinguishing themselves to clients, who are often looking for much more specific expertise.

Juliet also warned the audience that what clients really want is a team. They are very good at spotting internal differences between those that are pitching, and that as far as they are concerned, the pitching team is the agency. For this reason, the individuals that present a pitch on behalf of an agency must be chosen carefully. Agencies should avoid sending too many people in, make sure that the creative members behave themselves and strive to ensure that the chemistry between the client and pitching team is a positive one. The key measure for Juliet is that �people buy people� and the quality of the personal interaction underlies the decision-making process, however much it is rationalised afterwards.

Finally, Chris Allen gave some insights into the art of pitching, drawn from his extensive experience in business development, originally in manufacturing and computing but now in communications services. Chris used to describe himself as a reluctant salesperson, but now regards himself as a �sales conservationist�, someone who is in almost continuous conversation with a number of companies. For Chris, a pitch is the beginning of a sales conversation, and he urged the audience to move away from the idea that a pitch has some kind of finality about it, something to be unduly excited or anxious about.

Rather than worrying too much about winning or losing pitches, the real trick is to develop a relationship with the client in which productive and useful conversations can take place. Even if the client won�t always like what you say, it is vital that you get them listening, and to demonstrate that you are listening to them. In order to develop these kinds of positive conversations, Chris put forward his SPIID, or �speed�, sequence of questions, which will help to guide a fruitful and focused conversation with the client. In brief, the SPIID sequence is as follows:

Situation: what�s the current situation?
Problems: what are the existing problems?
Implications: what are the implications of these problems?
Ideal: what situation do you want?
Do: what are you going to do to get there?

Finally, Chris reminded the audience to be clear about what you want out of a pitch � is it the business itself, the development of a relationship, or perhaps some other goal such as a referral or another conversation? Before going into a pitch, be very clear which of these you really want � it will make you more effective and should also help you to enjoy the pitch process. For Chris, pitches are ultimately enjoyable and valuable learning experiences, something that professionals should never lose sight of if they are to make a successful career in business development.

This event was presented in association with:

Business Link for London www.bl4london.com

UK Online for Business www.ukonlineforbusiness.gov.uk

Take a look at the original event.