Calling all clients. New school year, new you . . . what better time to dust off those old approaches to pitching and up your game?

Why? Because I have been amazed (read = dismayed) to hear some of the dismal pitch experiences from agency friends and contacts in recent months. So dismayed in fact that here I am leaping onto my soap box* Pitches are a big deal for agencies and independents, so they should be a big deal for you. Easier said than done when you just need to get work out the door. But trust me, the sweat and tears that agencies put in deserve more than a “thanks, but no thanks” at the other end.

So here are my handy top tips to make it work better for all . . .

1. Brief it brilliantly:
   Better briefs = better work, and this is never truer than with agencies who don’t know you or your brand. Invest time becoming 100% clear on what you (and your stakeholders) want and don’t be afraid to improve the brief on the back of agency questions or challenges.
   
   

2. Pitch it personally.
   Or at least via a screen. You can write a process, but you can’t write the people. You need to get a feel for the team who could be delivering – and them for you - so at least give them the opportunity to say a proper hello. You never know; you might even like them.
   
   

3. Clarify your criteria:
   If you’re going to the effort of comparing agencies, you need to be sure what you’re comparing them on. Doesn’t need to be high-tech, just a simple set of questions against which you can rate them, along the lines of:
   a. How well did they meet the brief?
   b. Did the ideas excite you?
   c. Could you work with the team?
   d. Can you afford them?
   
   

4. Face into feedback:
   It’s the conversation we all hate. But time to reframe. A failed pitch – fed back well – can provide as much value to an agency as the one they win. Be clear, be fair, be timely, and help them understand where they fell short so they can up their game next time and maybe even deliver you some stellar work in the future. Go on, pick up that phone.
   
   

5. Partner with Procurement:
   Procurement adds immense value for driving out waste and margins up, but only when they fully understand the brief and the business challenges (refer back to #1). Bring them on board, tap into their expertise and make them extensions of your team, rather than just the people who process the PO.
   
   

6. Poke at the Process:
   If you’ve followed #5 then this one will feel a lot easier. Because sometimes the inflexibility of the process stymies freshness. If you know the agency you want and why you want them, don’t make other agencies jump through hoops that you know are going nowhere. Instead, work with Procurement to think more creatively about how to try out new agencies pragmatically and at pace.
   
   

7. End with the start in mind:
   Remember this is a pitch not the finished work. Judge agencies on their potential rather than their polished output; if not then be prepared to pay them!

None of the above is rocket-science, but it seems to be frequently overlooked by clients under pressure, under-experienced and under-committed to the pitch process. So go on, as we start the new school term, time to put the new-pitch-you into action for your 2024 plans.

*A soap-box built on 20 years client-side, running pitches for agencies large and small across all stages of the Marketing funnel. And definitely with a few war stories from those early years.