US users

A devilishly useful primer for anyone who ever needs to deliver a business pitch as part of their job. Even for its most experienced proponents, the pitch is (and should always remain) one of the most testing elements of business life. It can end either in elation and triumph or misery and self-recrimination. A former head of new business at what is now DDB London, David Kean aims to take some of the sting out of the process with an eminently sensible and well thought-out analysis of how to maximise the elation and minimize the misery. Although it is aimed primarily at the creative services sector, from marketing or design to architecture, the rules laid down by Kean apply to any sort of business presentation, even the humble job interview where the services you are selling are your own merits as a prospective employee. 

Kean's most convincing advice (apart from not accepting second place) concerns understanding what the pitch process is all about. "Pitch after pitch, we see the same fundamental mistake being made. Pitching companies think the target audience is the audience the client is trying to influence - the housewife, the shareholder, the investor.... In a logical world this would be quite proper and correct. [But] logic has nothing to do with pitching. Successful pitching companies know that they are really trying to win the votes of the clients on the judging panel. These people are the audience to influence. Ninety percent of the ideas presented in pitches never come to fruition." The true art of pitching, Kean argues, is not just to tick the boxes on appropriate pricing and powerful presentation, but to understand the client as well as is humanly possible. "Victory will go to the side that gets to know the client best". Not just an intimate understanding of the threats and opportunities facing the company, but also its style and culture, likes and dislikes. Then tailor the presentation appropriately. However good the substance of the pitch, few clients want to spend time with people who don't speak the same language and whose people they won't get on with. None of this is rocket science, but it's refreshingly honest as well as accurate about the underlying truths of the process. 

Added 20th April 2006