Archive for 7 March, 2011
a sideways look at pitch practice
I know I’ve written a couple of posts before finding tenuous parallels between my equestrian life and the world of agencies and Planning. But I really think I’m onto something this time.
Sarah posted recently about how frustrating it can be when Procurement gets involved in pitches, which got me thinking about pitches in general and pitch feedback in particular.
I was competing at a side saddle show last weekend and as well as placing us in order of merit in the class and handing out rosettes, the judge also spent time with each of us pointing out what we’d done well and where there was room for improvement, as well as providing us each with a short comment sheet full of tips and feedback.
Imagine if clients did that for pitches – ‘Your account director waffled on for far too long but I really liked the second creative route you presented. Try to have fewer words and more images on your powerpoint slides. You came a close second, very well done.’
I think we’d all get a lot better at pitching pretty quickly if clients gave us some honest feedback, whether or not we’d won their business. And personally I’d love it if pitches felt more like this:
