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If you want to deliver a winning pitch, you have to have “the
goods.” By that, we mean you have to have a strong sense of the
client’s “hot buttons.” You need to know the big problems that the
prospect is trying to solve in hiring you.
For example, if you’re pitching to win a chance to design a
building, you need to know the business reason for the building. Are
they trying to increase productivity? Are they trying to consolidate
operations? Are they trying to cut costs?
If you don’t know the “hot buttons”, it severely restricts your
ability to deliver a pitch that will win the job.
So what do you do if you don’t have “the goods?”
One option is simply not to pitch.
Indeed, why even bother pitching if you’re not going to put yourself
in the best possible position to win? It’s a waste of time and
money. With architecture firms, pitching for new business or
responding to an RFP includes preparing drawings and charts. That is
a lot of man hours and expenses. The total cost of a pitch can reach
in excess of $50,000.
Sometimes You Need To Refuse to Pitch
Many construction firms refuse to pitch when they’re going in
“cold,” with no chance to visit the site or interview the key
players. We once invited ten senior officers from commercial
construction firms to a dinner to discuss their marketing practices.
At one point during the event, we asked for a show of hands. “How
many of you have been invited to pitch for opportunities based
solely on your reputation or brand name?”
These were very well-respected firms, so all hands went up.
Here was our next question. “How many of you have actually won
business in these ‘cold pitch’ situations?”
Not one of them had ever won in that situation. As a result, many
stated that they had stopped responding to “cold RFPs.”
You send a strong message to your prospect when you refuse to pitch
without some opportunity to do some discovery. It says, “Hey, we’re
very serious about helping our clients. And we’re not going to be
able to truly help you if we don’t get a chance to spend some time
diagnosing your key challenges. We’re not interested in working with
anyone that is not interested in a true partnership.”
At Speechworks we
help our clients learn how to communicate in a way that connects and
persuades. If you’re interested in becoming a great communicator
give us a call at 404-266-0888 or check out our website at
www.speechworks.net.
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