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Pitching: The 10 things that winners do different to losers
23 Aug 2005
Pitching for new business is about forging a relationship - quickly. It is an accelerated process where you are judged mostly on presentation - something that can have limited relevance to actual delivery.
However, research (and the author's personal experience) shows that pitch winners do elicit behaviour during this courtship process that's different to what the losers do.
Here are ten such differences:
| Winners | Losers |
| Allocate a budget (indirectly empowering the pitch team) | Pay as they go (unintentionally disempowering the pitch team) |
| Are not scared of getting it wrong (they understand the maxim: You are not employed for getting it right - you are employed because they think you could get it right) | Focus on not making a mistake |
| Focus on story structure | Focus on rehearsing |
| Have a culture of wanting business | Have a culture of accepting what comes their way |
| Focus on working with what they have (showing how they could add value) | Focus on knowledge (showing what they know) |
| Tell a clear story that they take all the way | Tell a convoluted story, stopping short of execution |
| Are clearly remembered for one thing | Are vaguely remembered for many things |
| Understand how the client makes his/her money, and what keeps them up at night | Are not familiar with the client's value chain |
| Focus on the clients' needs early on | Talk about their own skills right to the end |
| Don't think twice about window dressing, but do it to make the client feel important (not themselves) | Underestimate the importance of having senior people present (even if they do not contribute) |
Additional free resources can be found on www.stratplanning.com
About Sid Peimer
Sid Peimer is a global authority on strategy. When not squirming his way out of trouble due to an overzealous imagination and an unreasonable faith in mankind, he can be found cleaning the home he shares with his exceptionally beautiful fiancée/muse. Sid is the mayor of the sea-facing and sunny website www.stratplanning.com
