by Peter Knight - Wednesday, 5th September 2007 -

I’ve just read How Not to Come Second by David Kean. It’s confirmed a longheld view I have about pitching: the winner really does take all!

Think about it: how many pitches have you lost where the client has said that you’ve come third, fourth or fifth?

In a pitch you either win or you come second and there are no silver medals to console you either. Face it, if you don’t win, you’ve lost. Loser!

A pitch is often won, or lost, before the pitch. I know of no business theory, management consultant or guru who recommends holding back your ideas for as long as possible and then, at the last moment, surprising your client, magician-like, as a regularly effective strategy.

And yet so many pitches are conducted that way.

The client gives you a brief... you (and a pitch team) invest hundreds of hours often with no contact with the client... then, on the day of the pitch, you wade through reams of theory and research until finally, in a matter of minutes, you reveal your ideas and solutions.

Then, with a self-satisfied or slightly nervous smile, you sit back and ask if there are any questions! Let’s be honest, not really ideal is it?

Now I accept that this approach can work (I suspect when all the other competitors are acting similarly and your ideas are streets ahead). However, how many times have you followed this approach and lost? Too many? Then read on.

Here are ten top tips to make sure you come first more often.

1 The only objective is to win the pitch – nothing else. The ideas you present might never see the light of day after the pitch and I guarantee they won’t if you lose.

2 Meet the client as often as possible before the pitch and try and meet everyone who will be on the client’s selection panel. The key to winning pitches is to demonstrate that you can build winning relationships.

3 Involve the client in your research and discuss your initial ideas with them before the pitch. Ask for feedback and get them involved – make your ideas their ideas.

4 Only have your very best team pitch. Fred might be an excellent account manager whom the client will grow to love and depend on, but if he looks and sounds like Freddy “Parrot Face” Davies, then leave him at the office.

You have an hour to impress – you can’t afford to give poor presenters the floor. They will have lots of opportunity to show how good they are once you’ve won.

5 Rehearse your pitch as if your life depended on it. You should be word perfect. Rehearse your ad libs and sudden insights even more thoroughly. Your confidence will soar if everyone knows what they’re going to say and when.

And make sure you’ve rehearsed all the really nasty questions that you just pray they won’t ask – they will!

6 Keep visual aids to a minimum and make sure they have impact, are immediately understandable and reinforce the points you’re making.

7 Don’t use PowerPoint. It hinders far more presentations than it helps. Why on earth would you want your audience to be staring at a screen when they could be observing you, oozing enthusiasm, instead?

If you really can’t live without it, make sure the slides are interesting and actually enhance what you’re saying. Never, ever read off PowerPoint slides.

8 The 80/20 rule applies: 80 per cent of the client’s selection criteria will be about you, your team and the future relationship; 20 per cent will be about your ideas and solutions. Allocate the presentation time accordingly.

9 “Leave behind” documents appeal to the left-brainers, but the rest of us file them – often in a round place. Invest your effort instead on a document that you deliver before the pitch. Think of it as warming up your audience and extending the pitch time.

10 Never, ever, overrun. But always allow for the client to want to spend an extra hour or more with you. In other words, make all your points clearly and concisely – then have further examples and case studies prepared if the client is showing interest.

Losing a pitch is just about the worst experience in business… and winning a pitch is one of the best. Good luck.