How to Win the Final Pitch Presentation Even when the Client Throws You Curveballs

Running an agency review is hard work and when clients make unreasonable requests, it can be a proxy for saying, “hey, this is an important decision and we just don’t want to make a mistake.” Probe for the real reasons -- are there better ways to address them? Remember, your job in a new business pitch is to win. Sometimes that means challenging the rules.

Pitching New Business, Writing for Agency New BusinessJody SutterApril 26, 2021agency new business, new business pitch, agency review, pitch meeting, client pitch brief, digital agency, brand agency, marketing agency

You're in the pitch. Do you have a plan to win it?

Is 2021 the year of the independent agency?

The pandemic has offered smaller indie agencies an unexpected gift: a chance to win business from clients that may have defaulted to larger, better-known agencies in the past. Take full advantage of this. Here are three strategies for upping your game and positioning your agency to win the pitch.

Agency Business Development, Pitching New BusinessJody SutterDecember 16, 2020marketers retaining agencies, marketers changing agencies, agency pitch activity, high-level of pitch activity, win the pitch, new business inquiries, new business in 2021, agency new business in 2021, agency reviews, agency creds slides, plan to win the pitch, strong position to win the business, winning the pitch, playing to your strengths, agency RFP, agency credentials

Not Finding Your Ideal Clients? Maybe You’re Looking for the Wrong Things.

When I ask the leaders of small agencies to describe their ideal client, more often than not, the description sounds more like them than the new business prospects they’re trying to attract. This has big implications for the effectiveness of your new business outreach.

Outbound Prospecting for Agencies, Pitching New BusinessJody SutterOctober 26, 2020find your ideal client, agency new business, agency owner, agency client relationships, shape your agency, agency culture, find ideal clients, agency business development, win new business

What Makes a Good Agency Credentials Deck? (And, Does Your Agency Even Need One?)

I’m not a big fan of the creds deck, at least not the 10-15 slide deck we’re most familiar with. Agencies use their credentials decks too early in the sales process and expect them to do more than it’s designed to do. While I’m not going to single-handedly eliminate the credentials deck from the agency new business toolkit, at least I can help you make it better.

Sales or Business Development – Which Does Your Agency Need More?

It’s not uncommon for agencies to expect their new business leads to excel at both business development and sales. And they’re frequently disappointed when that doesn’t happen. Sales and business development are essential for generating revenue, yet they require paradoxically different skills. Here’s an easy way to determine which one your agency needs more.

Agency Business Development, Pitching New BusinessJody SutterAugust 21, 2019agency business development, sales or business development, agency new business, business development skills, sales skills, pitch process, managing the pitch process, build a new business team

Create a Captivating Agency Pitch through Storytelling

Stories are a perfect pitching device. Yet, despite the many agencies that declare themselves “brand storytellers”, they don’t always deploy that same skill on their behalf.

They get swallowed up by their own jargon or blindly grasp for the right words to describe the intangible qualities that make them different from their peers—with the ironic result that they end up sounding exactly the same.

If this applies to you, then I want to offer you a technique to use on your next pitch.

Persuasive New Business Presentations, Pitching New BusinessJody SutterMarch 27, 2019agency pitch, new business pitch, storytelling, create a pitch with story, agency new business pitch, winning an agency new business pitch, pitch deck, perfecting the pitch, Marshall Ganz, story of self us now, the perfect agency pitch presentation