Top ten tips for winning new business pitches

Pitches are exciting for us, risky and even nerve-wracking for clients. We must come across as solid and reliable while also being original thinkers, creative and challenging. 

But not too challenging. Clients often say they want to be challenged, but what most of them want more is an agency that makes them look good and solves their problems.  

And a team they like. It’s sometimes called ‘chemistry’. Experienced clients hold ‘chemistry meetings’ with agencies they don’t know before they finalise their short-list. 

A pitch is a performance. We are ‘on stage’ and clients are the ‘audience’. Can we make it enjoyable and entertaining for them as well as informative and reassuring?  

Clients who’ve been round the block a few times know that it’s the ‘junior’ people who make the difference. They do nearly all the work. Can we make them the stars of our show? 

Very few creative ideas in a pitch ever see the light of day. Creative proposals are a display of the kind of creativity we’re capable of. What would make the panel clap their hands? 

Keep visual aids simple. What wins a pitch is engagement between their team and ours. We shouldn’t let anything distract from our team talking, interacting and bonding. 

We need to be memorable. Props, theatre and ‘gimmicks’ help. Not for all clients, obvs. 

Our opening and closing lines are super-important. Best prepare and rehearse in advance. 

If we come ‘a close second’ it pays to stay in touch. A surprising number of new agency engagements go wrong in the first twelve months. 

The presenter is the author of Crisis Communications Management, Writing for the Media and All You Need to Know About Public Relations, published by Emerald Worldwide.