Introduction
Talk a lot about your agency history
Assume you know more than the client
Forget the client's budget constraints
Be oblivious to the client's other agencies
Ignore the RFP
Staff the pitch with who is available
Conclusion
Clients analyze the job postings on your site and across HotJobs, Monster.com and CareerBuilder. Do you have a lot of open positions? This is a warning sign. It signals to clients that your current staff may be stretched thin, and it could be the proverbial straw.
You can fill in all the little boxes on the org chart of who will be servicing the clients account, but they know that 50 percent of the time what is calculated as 20 hours is really a fourth of their 80-hour week. I have even witnessed agency personnel from different offices introducing themselves to each other at the pitch. And this is supposed to be your team?
The people you have may not be the people who are good for the client's account. Staff the pitch with people that you envision as the people servicing the client's account but have back-ups. Your agency may be stable, but staffing at online agencies is sometimes akin to a blind date. You just never know who you're gonna get.
When your pitch includes employees whose "business cards are not ready" and those who won't actually be on the account day-to-day, these are sure signs to the client that you are throwing the team together based on your needs and what you have available, rather than their needs.
Not all teams are equal. There is nothing more disruptive than frequent changes to the personnel on the client's account, and they realize that. Every single change involves someone who then has to spend time learning the client's business and style, and this is time that the client is paying for.
Bottom line: Get your people talking to each other before walking into the room, and make sure that everyone knows their role in the pitch. The client can tell when they don't.
Next: Conclusion
