It’s Not About You – It’s About ME

As a new business director at RSW/US, I often have the chance to review pitches that my clients present to prospects sometimes before and sometimes after the pitch.  There are a few common themes that stand out in many of these presentations, such as all agencies pretty much use the same language as other agencies and agencies all having strategic processes that sound pretty similar in nature.

One of the most startling themes is that many of these pitches focus too much on the AGENCY and not enough on the POTENTIAL CLIENT.  Given this, it’s very critical that your agency does more, goes beyond the standard pitch expectations to really separate itself from the pack.  Below is an example of how one of my client’s did a few simple, low-cost things that really helped it to stand out from the crowd.

My client was developing a pitch for a high-end, women’s fashion retailer.  Now this client didn’t have a lot of fashion experience, but I thought it did a fabulous job to overcome this by focusing on the retailer and not its own experience or work.  The agency created a quick, 10 – 15 question survey, with detailed questions about women’s fashion, shopping habits and impressions of the retailer’s brand.  They pushed it out to their friends/family, who in turn pushed it out to their friends/family.

I got the email with the survey link and not only took the survey, but I pushed it out to my friends and family and posted it on my Facebook page.  The survey got more than 100 responses within a few days.  The agency was able to use this data in its pitch and present some results that surprised the retailer, providing some insights the retailer didn’t know about its brand.   When was the last time a prospect learned something new about its brand during a pitch?

Next when the agency went to pitch to the retailer, the two female associates on the team went wearing the retailer’s clothing.  What a great added touch.  These two very easy steps helped create a great overall “presentation” of what this dynamic agency could bring to this retailer.

They changed this retailer’s perception about this agency having limited experience in its category.  The best part, it didn’t really tie up much of the agency’s resources or budget – well except for the wardrobe possibly.  What’s that return policy?

So the next pitch you create to generate new business, ask yourself this:

How can I make this focus more on the potential CLIENT and less about our agency?

Potential clients have probably already seen your great work with other companies or you wouldn’t be there in the first place.  Those results are nice but don’t mean as much to the potential client.  What your future clients need and want to see is the amazing work you can do for THEM because we all know, it’s not about you, it’s about ME.