Usually, a pitch’ last phase is a briefing to the shortlisted agencies. The details of said briefing might not always be sufficient but, in combination with a clear needs analysis from the advertiser, it should give enough direction of what they will look at to judge your expertise on the given scope.
Image: Dall•E
Showing your agency’s pro-active stance to the potential new client is make or break as it’s a fine line between enthusiasm and going overboard.
Too many agencies translate their enthusiasm in adding a plethora of additional thoughts and ideas to the pitch presentation. Usually introduced as ‘we are so excited, we could not stop adding to what your actual request was!’.
Extra creative ideas mostly give the marketeer the impression you will not stick to the briefing. Or worse, you will not be able to ‘nicely’ work together with the other agencies in their roster as you are threading on their terrain…
Product innovations, although sometimes really FAB, give the impression you do not understand the current workload pressure the prospect and the team are under as no one has any time/energy left to actually set aside mind space to even consider it.
New touchpoints that might seem vital for success, run the risk of being linked to additional budget no one has…
We see agencies lose on this point. Every time.
Please, do continue to be enthusiastic and demonstrate your desire to start working on this new potential client. As mentioned above: it IS part of the ‘make’ in the ‘make or break’… Just don’t escalate in the overwhelming. And stay away from ‘additional’ ideas that are not even linked to the strategy or concept you just presented. Confusion guaranteed!
Are you looking for an interactive training on the do's and don'ts of pitching? Follow our workshop 'How to pitch?' and receive many practical tips to get started right away. Contact mia@pitchpoint.be for more information.
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