Nicola Bunting, Director of Strategy Proximity NZ The New New Business

My first pitch was in the UK for the Kia business. Pitching back then seemed so terrifying, with so much to think about. Getting the strategy right, making sure the creative answered the brief but was sufficiently inspiring, fostering good chemistry through the process. Not much has changed in terms of what’s really important, but it feels like with a few more under my belt, the process seems a little less daunting and a little more organised!

Chemistry remains so important and getting face time with prospective clients to build relationships during the short pitch time is key. It’s also tricky in a pitch environment when you don’t know the business as well as an existing partner or obviously the clients themselves. I have always taken the opportunity to get client feedback throughout the process to help them buy into the thinking and to avoid making any assumptions those with a better knowledge of the business might avoid. In saying that, it’s still important to still save a bit of sizzle for the presentation day.

Include the voice of customers in your thinking and ideally in your presentation too. Often you’re short of insights in a pitch and on a deadline, so getting out there and interviewing customers where they experience the brand, can reveal some powerful truths to springboard and support your work. It also shows clients you’re passionate about their customers and getting close to their business.

I don’t remember any bad advice but I do remember some bad pitches. The worst was when we were pitching collaboratively with another agency and the pitch deck just kept getting more bloated and more detailed as the days went on. I find that a simple and concise story, powerfully told, is usually best.

There are a lot of agencies in New Zealand now, with more arriving or starting up every year. Every agency has different strengths, some are specialists, and some are generalists. It’s important for agencies to have a clear strategy that identifies the type of clients they want to work with, and what they have to offer them that no-one else in the industry can.

Better still is having something to proactively offer prospective clients that is of genuine value, to help start a conversation, rather than just wait for an invitation to land in your inbox. We have recently developed a deck of Growth Cards we are sending out to some of the companies we’d love to work with that bring to life Proximity’s passion for helping clients find the growth that’s hard to find. Recognising that marketing budgets are tight at the moment and that many marketers are having to prioritise activity, the cards and an accompanying Miro board are our way of helping marketers step back and think objectively about where to focus their efforts for maximum return. And hopefully start a conversation with Proximity in the process. You can request a copy of the cards or the board here: www.proximity.co.nz/findthegrowth.

The ability to generate rapport with people is key. Listening is a key skill, more so than confident presenting.

Pitching is both the best and the worst parts of working in an agency, depending how the outcome goes. I think if the pitch process is run fairly, then they are a great way of clients seeing what an agency is capable of, as it’s hard to judge otherwise. Pitch processes however, should be proportionate to the level of business a client is able to award at the end of the process, and the number of agencies invited to pitch should be limited to a small number of genuine contenders that have been pre-qualified, as they take an enormous amount of time and emotional energy from everyone involved. We’ve been paid a nominal fee by a few clients to cover pitch costs in the past which is always very appreciated. And it’s always great when a client offers to pay for the work that has been done during the pitch process if the work will be made. Strategy and creative are some of the most valuable services agencies like ours provide, so it’s a shame when that gets given away for free.

I think pitching is a reality of our industry for now. If an agency is in a really strong place and has a line of clients knocking on their door, then great for them to refuse to pitch! I don’t know of many agencies in this position however, particularly in the current climate.

Like any strategy, it’s important to understand the person’s needs and the business’s context and tailor your approach accordingly. What specific specialisms are they missing in their current team or partner relationships? What’s happening in their business or industry that might be keeping them up at night? What’s their vision? How do they like to work? Are they motivated by internal admiration, creative recognition, or effectiveness? You might lean into different parts of your proposition or choose to work differently with them depending on the answers to these questions.

We always ask for feedback after a pitch or new business engagement so that we can learn from every experience. That helps us keep motivated as we are constantly refining our approach and getting better with every one.

A prospective client needs to trust that you can deliver what you’ve got them excited about.

We have recently started to use Hubspot to track our new business contacts and conversations. It’s a great way of recognising all of the work that goes into new business and tracking progress in a really visual way. Hubspot makes our new business process feel more structured and transparent, and also has some great tools that help us track engagement on our website or with our emails which can give some helpful insights.

Cosy up to the people that are good at it and have lots of experience! New business is a team sport and leveraging everyone’s experience and relationships will make you more successful.