How to Pitch and Win New Business by john steel

Influx has a great interview with the lengendary John Steel, author of Truth, Lies and Advertising, one of the de facto books in the planning world. I absolutely love (and miss) pitching. Being a competitive person, pitching has been one of the most satisfying experiences in advertising. I was fortunate to have a great senior planner above me, who allowed me quite a bit of freedom in the process. But my success was due much in part to my great partners and the environment around me. While winning is nice, we all more accustomed to what it feels like to lose. So is the life of pitching. Steel brings up some fantastic points about when to and when NOT to pitch. Steel offers up some great quotes such as:

"I believe that many of the most important lessons about pitching are to be learned from outside of the agency business. At its heart, any presentation is a simple act of human communication, where the aim is to persuade the members of an audience to think and behave differently." -Again very true and sharp. Note that consumers don't always connect with the advertising lingo, bells and whistles per say, but the product or the emotional cache behind it.

"In all of the successful pitches I have made, the most common reason given by a client for awarding their business to my agency was that in their opinion, we "wanted it more." They liked our ideas, but more than that they liked us, and they liked our passion for those ideas." - Steel brings up the importance of the client relationship, which many agencies are severely lacking appropriate attention to. Pitching is also an introductory process, as much as selling an idea or a campaign.

Judging by Steel's interview this book could be a great tool for all those in business who actively seek new clients from real estate to advertising. Take a read of influx's interview and if you fancy by Steel's book.

The Interview
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