Associates Meeting – Perfect Pitches

We recently invited Adrian Howland, a Pitch and Proposal Consultant, to one of our regular Associates Meetings to present to us the do’s and don’ts of pitching. This is a topic that is close to our hearts as it is vital for our business that we get pitches right.

Adrian started by getting us to speak about our successful pitches, and one or two of the more catastrophic ones, both as a client and as a competitor. While everyone has failures and it may be uncomfortable to dwell on them, they are important learning tools. It seems there are very few hard and fast rules as what works for one presentation team may not work for another. However understanding your clients, and particularly the individuals you are pitching to, came up time and time again.

As an example of this, Adrian told us of a time when he once he pitched to a rugby-mad Managing Director. Rugby references and examples (and stress balls!) scattered throughout the pitch broke the ice, and helped to make the proposal stand out from the competitors.

We then went on to think about the challenges and critical success factors of both the documents and presentations involved in pitching. Many of these may seem obvious - however it is worth keeping them in mind, as it is all too easy to get lost in the detail and forget the bigger picture. Here are some handy reminders:

Documents
- The documents have to be compliant with the rules of the tender, but make sure you keep the reader’s attention, and remember: they will have to read several more besides yours. Make sure the key points stand out, and think about how you should differentiate these from the rest of the text.
- Stress why you are the right person to do the job – what makes you stand out from the competition?
- Remember to show a hunger to win the work, if you come across as indifferent, why should the client pick you?

Presentations
- Try only to bring those who will speak in the presentation. If you have to bring team members who will not speak, make sure they introduce themselves and explain they are there for compliance but would not normally participate in the presentation.
- Don’t forget to show energy and engagement.
- Practice makes perfect! Get colleagues to give you feedback on your performance and you’ll feel far more confident on the day. Also, try to predict the questions and perfect your answers.
- The presentation is a perfect time to show how you would work with the client. Maybe give examples of how far would you go to deliver.

Adrian was a particularly engaging speaker, both thoughtful and easy to listen to. If you feel you could use a hand with pitch documents or preparation for your next presentation, his contact details can be found on his website.