Pitching for business
Nothing has shaken up the process of winning public relations business more than the pandemic. Business has been won, lost and changed forever. So, what does it take to create a winning pitch?
This feature is worth 5 CIPR CPD points.
I spoke to some PR agencies who say that they have had some of their best business wins in the past 18 months and identified five key elements.
1. Right agency, right solution
Success often starts with ‘fit’. I’ve freelanced with food and wellbeing agency, Ceres PR and asked co-founder, Jennifer John, to share insights from her experience in pitching for business:
“Pitching for new business is time consuming and unless you are a very large agency with a dedicated team, it can be a drain on resources. My advice is to be sure about why you are pitching and don’t be afraid to turn opportunities down if they aren’t right for you. And if the potential client hasn’t given you enough information, then ask. I always appreciate clients that will give you some time and additional information - whether that’s in writing or on a call, and it bodes well for a long-term working relationship.”
Find out what you can about the pitch panel in advance and what makes them tick.
Catherine Linch, MD of Pinstone, an agri-business and rural environment agency that I have worked with says they have had a record-breaking year and advises doing preparation in advance of pitching.
“Find out what you can about the pitch panel in advance and what makes them tick. Get a pre-pitch scoping call arranged and ask questions about what individuals are looking for and what has been their past agency experiences. It’s also helpful to get a view on if they are detail or big picture people and if you can, adapt your presentation accordingly. Create reasons for touchpoints in advance of the pitch – ask questions, connect on LinkedIn, share and comment on a news piece relating to the work or industry they are involved in,” she said.
2. Sell the solution
So many pitches start with a glowing presentation of the agency’s credentials. Awards won. Clients worked with. Diversity and inclusion policies. Even – fancy names for things other agencies offer as standard.
Yet, when I talk to clients – the first thing they want to hear is ‘what we are going to do for you’ and ‘why should we buy from you’.
Paul Stollery, co-founder of Hard Numbers, named New Consultancy of the Year by PRCA’s Dare Awards 2021, agrees.
“If you can’t answer the question, why should we buy from you? in a single sentence, you're going to struggle to close a competitive pitch. At Hard Numbers, we aim to be the best in the business at delivering PR campaigns that drive commercial impact. Every section of our presentation pitch hammers home the simple message: if you're spending money on PR because you want leads or sales, Hard Numbers is the agency for you,” he said.
3. Be strategic
Good pitches should demonstrate what your strategy will deliver, not just what you’ll do and how you’ll do it. This is emphasised on the CIPR Professional Certificate that I lead with PR Academy where students undertake research into a specific issue for their organisation and then develop a PR plan, setting out measurable objectives that are linked to broader organisational/business/corporate goals.
Jennifer John agrees that PR needs to be strategic, creative and measurable and stresses that it’s important any pitch is clear about what you are recommending and why.
4. Show and tell
Some of the best pitches bring the solution alive so that the client can see, hear or experience the PR ideas being proposed. We’re in the communication business after all, so consider how you can support your pitch with images, video, vox pops, graphs and show examples.
Even if you're not pitching design or production, you should still spend time on what your pitch looks like.
Stollery adds, “Even if you're not pitching design or production, you should still spend time on what your pitch looks like. A PR agency is typically the guardian of a company's brand. If your decks look rubbish, you'll prove you can't be trusted with your own brand, let alone someone else's.”
Former CIPR president, Jenni Field has established her business, Redefining Communications, in a short time and said that small consultancies and independents have to be realistic with time and resource needed for pitching and decide where best to invest their energy. She uses a ‘credentials’ deck to help with consistency of messaging and invests in refreshing photography.
5. Protect what’s yours
It’s hard to copyright a PR idea, so what can you do to protect your PR ideas from being stolen if you don’t win the business pitch? I asked Paul Stollery.
“If you're looking to protect your creative concepts, the simplest approach is to include a buy-out clause in your proposal. We offer our prospects the option to execute the ideas themselves - or through another agency - for the cost of £5k per campaign. We word it to make clear that, if they take our ideas without asking, we'll just send them an invoice,” he said.
There’s no doubt that the coming year will present opportunities for pitching because this pandemic has taught us one thing – change is inevitable. Business will be won, lost and changed forever.
Maud Davis is PR and Communications trainer.
