To Pitch or Not to Pitch…?
Posted by Jaci Russo
One of the questions that plagues all B2B businesses is how to get new business and develop more clients. There are lots of theories about inbound v outbound marketing.
I received an email the other day from JC Fantechi in Sweden. He is the founder of Icebreaker which helps ad agencies in Europe win new business. He emailed me because he heard an interview with me about the new business wins we have had this year. I thought his question was great, so I wanted to answer it here:
In your opinion, are pitches/should pitches be a thing of the past? Are they really necessary in order to gauge an agency’s output, or wouldn’t a “chemistry test” be better, to meet a potential agency & its work team to see if there is grounds for a good marriage, then work together to solve the strategic and the creative? Maybe that’s the way you already work, but I’m tired of getting my clients into pitches, getting half decent briefs and only one performance in order to get things right.
JC Fantechi Founder, Icebreaker
These questions are not specific to just advertising agencies. Most companies that work in the B2B space are expected to put forth some sort of outbound effort to gain new business. Most often, that outbound effort involves one of the following:
- RFP - Request For Proposals - Potential client creates a 10-100 page document detailing everything they want to know about their new prospective partner. In the construction industry, a contractor then spends hours researching the blueprints and creating a very detail proposal including costs. The final written documents could at times rival the size of War and Peace and the cost would be enough to purchase a house.
- Pitch - An incredible investment of time and resources dedicated by anywhere from 2 to 20 companies is made at the behest of the client and much like the Olympics, there is only one gold medal winner. The companies involved completely engross themselves in the client and learn everything they can about the brand and the category. Since this is typically done in a vacuum with little or no input from the client there is no guarantee that the research and analysis is on target.
I completely agree with JC. If a sample project were the third option, it would be the best choice every time. A project would allow both sides to really get to know each other. A project is like actually dating vs the RFP/Pitch which are more like a first date where you only know what they want you to know about them.
There is another option though.
We work with our B2B clients to generate inbound efforts. This is the same way we develop our own business. Using a myriad of tools, from social media through speaking and writing engagements, we are able to establish ourselves as knowledgeable experts and that is why we are experiencing unprecedented growth (Q1 09 up 118% compared to Q1 08).
Inbound marketing is great for a lot of reasons, most of which, once the relationship is in place, there is no competition for the business.
What sort of tools do you use for your business?
