The art of the pitch

It should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me that I essentially live to pitch. (No, I'm not talking about baseball .... although Twins fever has definitely swept Minneapolis, boy oh boy.) When asked what my favorite part of owning my own agency is, my answer is invariably: the art of the pitch. Whether it's presenting new opportunities to existing clients or bringing in new business altogether, the greatest satisfaction for me is in creating the connections and generating the excitement that forms the foundation for fantastic work and lasting client relationships.

Of course, in my (always humble) opinion, there's a right way and a wrong way to go about doing it. I'll leave matters of presentation style and deck design aside for the moment to talk about broader strategy and messaging (it's what I like to talk about best, anyway). It seems to me that a lot of agencies structure their pitches around how flippin' great they are. And of course, you should walk (or saunter) into a pitch prepared to show & tell about how your firm's work, approach, talent, and results are top-notch .... don't get me wrong. But the kernel of wisdom at the center of a great pitch, I think, is about making the connection between the greatness of your agency and what the (prospective) client truly needs.

It's all fine and well if you do beautiful, wonderful work for fancy-schmancy clients, but if you can't talk intelligently and strategically about how your capabilities and experiences dovetail with the needs of your prospect, you may as well save your breath. Read the memo: the pitch isn't about you. It's about them, the client .... and they want to feel that their agency partners understand that, because who wants to work with an egotistical agency team, anyway? [Awkward pause. This might exclude most of our industry.]

I see the same thing when choosing talent, too. So many creatives want to show a pretty, pretty book — and often times, they're indeed mind-bogglingly pretty, especially when viewed by someone with my limited design skills, for whom making it through an InDesign file of my own creation without crashing my computer is a miracle. But if they can't tell me why their prodigious talents uniquely benefit our company and the client we're working with, I don't want to listen. Talent in a vacuum is irrelevant. It isn't about what you've done .... it's about what you can do, for the client, for their needs, at this moment. That's the art of the pitch .... at least in the C/S book, and so far it's seemed to go pretty dang well. In this day and age, where hundreds of thousands of dollars and billable hours often go into making the perfect presentation, it bears some serious consideration.

Plus, is there any better feeling, really, than walking into a pitch and absolutely rocking it, anticipating the client's needs and questions and addressing them before they're even verbalized, showing great work with panache and speaking both eloquently and strategically about how your agency can help realize their vision and exceed their goals?

No, no there's not. Not for me ... not in the professional sense, anyway. (Can you tell my background includes both theater and debate?) Annnnnd ladies and gentlemen, that's the Crazy Savvy take on the art of the pitch. Now I'll leave you with a very different kind of art — a postcard from sunny Madrid, courtesy of our intrepid world traveler and dear friend Kate. Until next time, friends, adios!