The pitch: Turning nightmares into dream pitches

By CHRIS BRAY*

Nightmare stories about pitching for business are legendary. The all-night sessions, the last-minute crises.

My own most excruciating "remember when" was having to depart for the client presentation without the document because it was spewed all over the workroom floor, being sworn at by a tearful, defeated, assistant.

We had to leave and we had to wing it.

You learn along the way. Lessons like "don't go home the night before unless the documents are bound and ready".

But that's the small stuff. The big thing I've learned - from what's turned out to be a career of new business pitches and presentations - is this: worry less about proving how good you are.

Think more about the client and the problem they are really trying to solve.

Let me explain. We are all, to some degree, insecure.

Sure, we'll happily talk about being the best in the business - international this, client list that - but when it's a pitch, when it's us against those other "bunnies", well that's a slightly different story.

Now we have to prove ourselves. And so that's what we set out to do.

We get it wrong from the start when we assume the client wants "clever," that they want us to demonstrate what brilliant professionals we are (whether we are lawyers or graphic designers or systems integrators).

When the brief arrives, we consume ourselves in solving the problem: coming up with just the best technical solution, so much more clever than the other guys.

The relief is enormous, we are as good as we think we are.

Trouble is, the client kind of assumed that you were clever to start with.

Why else did they send you the Request For Proposal?

They don't actually need a dazzling display of your technical brilliance.

What they want is someone who understands what it is to be them and who they feel comfortable to be starting a journey with.

Be honest, if it comes right down to it, there is no right answer - the other guys will have shown them a solution that's maybe not as good as yours - but perfectly adequate, thank you.

"This bridge, that bridge. Yep, two good bridges," is probably their thinking.

What we need to do is put the insecurities aside.

Yes, you will have to demonstrate capability, but reduce the amount of time you spend on that to 50 per cent, instead of your usual 90 per cent.

Spend the other 50 per cent thinking about compatibility: 50 per cent thinking about the new bridge, and 50 per cent thinking about how the client achieves cost-effective traffic flows. Or whatever their real issue is.

The bridge, or the training programme, or the new software, is always only a means to an end.

Demonstrate you understand what the client is really grappling with and that you have something to contribute and you will have the basis of a beautiful friendship.

The most satisfying thing a client can say (after, of course, "congratulations") is "we feel you really understand our business and we are looking forward to having you on the team".

That is a successful pitch.

* Chris Bray is a marketing consultant who helps people win pitches.

* Email Chris Bray

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