Pitching properly

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Pitching properly

An alternative title for this chapter is Pitching Professionally. It’s this professional aspect that I want to say more on here. Most readers will not have this a personal issue, you are reading a book on pitching after all, but will recognize the traits and tell tale signs that some of your unenlightened colleagues display when pitching. The good news is once this lack of professionalism is pointed out most professionals rethink, change their approach, raise their game or at least get out of the way.

Communication is a massive challenge for most human beings. In the workplace where power dimensions and complex relationships and expectations are at play, it’s a nightmare for many of us. Pitching is further complicated because you get saddled with it as a bolt on as you rise up the ladder usually for being really good at what you do. Nothing though excuses unprofessional pitching and if you can’t deliver one you really should pull out and play your part in enabling a successful pitching culture by absenting yourself from it.

So, what are the warning signs and symptoms of an unprofessional pitching mindset or culture? The most accurate indicator is your win rate over at least six months. No record of this is very worrying too. You should be winning half of what you go for in my view and top notchers win well over that rate.

Here’s ten telltale signs of the amateur pitch bullshitter at work.

1 Poor or no pre-bid processes in place to evaluate every pitch opportunity, to record why you are pitching for the work and no healthy “no bid” column

2 You put cost at the end of most pitches and have little idea on how your buyer defines value

3 No recent or regular pitch coaching or training is in place 

4 You think PowerPoint is wonderful when it’s full of words and you regularly use more than a dozen slides so you never miss a point

5 You have never met or talked intimately to the people you are pitching too

6 You don’t know who the competition is or anything solid about the quality of the current relationship

7 Anything and anyone goes or senior people go just because they are senior people

8 You say “I” a lot and probably talk a lot too at the pitch about how wonderful you and your business is

9 The pitch team meets for the first time at the pitch or just once before very near to pitch time

10 You think up your great pitch questions on the way to the pitch 

Another way to think about pitching properly is to flip it and look at your thinking and behaviours when you are buying big ticket items like a car, an expensive bit of IT kit or perhaps even choosing who to live with or where to live. The risk is all with you and that’s what pitching professionally is about. Pitching is about removing risk from the buyer’s mind and helping them to feel that trusting you will be good for them. And even better that you will make them look good too when you deliver what you promised at the pitch.

So, what does pitching properly feel and look like? Like a good work out at the gym if you don’t get all hot, sweaty and tired out you haven’t been doing it right. Most significant pitch wins will take real hard graft and a total focus on your buyers’ needs and wants with many hours of pitch practice and preparation. And like the gym you should hate having it to do it sometimes but do it anyway.

Here’s my top ten pitch tips on pitching properly

1 Three pitch prep meetings diarised the day the pitch date comes in are a good sign as is everyone attending them especially the senior players.

2 PowerPoint, if used at all, is kept to a professionally designed, mostly visual deck of less than a dozen or better still you bring iPads for me to play with at the pitch and the pitch is sent digitally in advance shows you in a very good light.

3 You make or take every opportunity to talk and meet with the buyers in the run up to the pitch. You make a back or extra channel in to their biz if you can too. No drops out of your dictionary.

4 You can’t sleep with the excitement of the opportunity.

5 Your top ten questions about the buyer’s needs or things you want to know about them and their business are prepared and sent to them in advance of the pitch

6 You find yourself buying new clothes and having your hair done a day or so before the pitch.

7 You are now reading their trade press and know and daily visit the blogs and top websites they use. If you are actively blogging in that space you are right on the money.

8 Your most important personal relationships are suffering, intermittently and temporarily only of course, as you devote and immerse yourself as pitch day approaches.

9 You can tell me what the others will offer me and give me a rationale for choosing or rejecting any one of them without ego or prejudice.

10 You make the pitch a pleasure for me because you now instinctively know how to do that

I guess you could say that if doesn’t hurt a bit you aren’t doing it right. But it sure feels good when you win. And you will win if you do it right. And that won't hurt at all.

Pitching Professional Services,