NORTHERN PLANNER

So I did a flying visit to London to see John Steel’s talk on pitching. While I didn’t have time to catch up with some people while I was down there, I was hoping to bump into some familiar faces at the event. Carol was one, but she couldn’t make it. So for her and anyone else that couldn’t be there, here’s what happened. Sorry if it’s been post rationalised into my blinkered view of the world – I’ll be interested to see what others think. Incidentally, I wonder who was there that I ‘know’ as a blogger?

First of all, I was expecting more on actual pitches and less on working practices, although much of what he said was useful and made sense. He talked a lot about good powerpoint, which most people would know (wouldn’t they) – specifically, less slides, more visual, use as props, not script.

By the way, he’s a terrible name dropper, but maybe if you’re working peers are Martin Sorrel, Andy Berlin and Jeff Goodbye, I suppose hat’s unavoidable.

He recycled much of what was in ‘Truth Lies and Advertising’, but it was great hearing. Like the way the Porsche work would never have happened with normal work practices, or creative ways of doing research. He also used blinding good anecdotes.

Anyway:

Working environment:

1. A professional working environment gets in the way of good ideas. If you spend too much time in the same rooms, following fixed process, you do not allow yourself the intuition needed to generate really good ideas.
2. Being forced to follow straight, logical process can lead you to miss stuff. You spend more time justifying what you’re doing and less time allowing the brain time to breathe.
3. Keep an agency scrapbook. Departments should get into the habit of collecting stuff – and the more stuff that isn’t directly related to the business they’re in the better.  Images, experiences, thoughts, they’ll all come in handy one day. All it needs is the right problem and someone to make the connection.
4. Agencies suffer from ‘attention deficit trait’. If you constantly expect to be interrupted, it affects the brain’s performance as much as smoking two joints. People work better in environments where they know they’ll be getting on without disturbance.
5. Involve everyone at the start of a project – if our work is about ideas, get ideas people involved at the beginning.

Pitching

1. Remember to say no! If you don’t think you have a chance of winning, don’t pitch forget pride. If you don’t think their culture and yours match, don’t pitch – you will lose because they don’t like you, or you’ll get fired when they realise what you’re like.
2. Try and avoid pitching in the first place. Try and work on small project at cost to see if you get on and show your skills in action.
3. The best new business tool is great work on existing clients. The best way to get on pitch lists isn’t professional adultery’ as he called new biz people, you only need that if you haven’t got any good work from existing clients that people are talking about.
4. Allocate small groups to pitches. Make sure they will have the time and give them responsibility – and what the boundaries are. Meet as often as you can. Not only can you help each other, you’ll form a siege mentality, which will show as a close knit team come presentation time.
5. Work hard at getting an idea first. Don’t flit around doing any presentation stuff, or creative or applications until you’re all happy with a direction. Doing the work for it is easy if you’ve all bought into the thoughts. As you then develop it and see it work, you believe it that much more –and that conviction rubs off.
6. Look like you all get on! The above should ensure this, but handpick team members for what they can do, and how they add to the dynamics of the team.
7. Rehearse! Some will say they like to look spontaneous, but you just look disorganised. If you rehearse enough, it looks that much more natural – you’ve time to talk instead of reading from a script. It becomes a two way conversation, not talking at people.
8. Present what you think is right – if you show what you think people want to see, they’ll sense you don’t believe in it and you’ll lose anyway.
9. Powerpoint slides should always be props for what you are saying. Write as little as possible – detail can be in the leave behind.
10. Be yourselves, but find a way to get to know the people you’ll be pitching to. There will be different way to emphasise something that will connect better.
11. If you haven’t much time, lock yourselves in room, agree what you think is the right thing to do and get on with it. Your first thoughts are usually pretty good, it’s up to the planner to prove them wrong, or find something better. It’s up to everyone to improve them as they go along.