Ten Reasons for Losing a Business Pitch
Here’s an interesting post by David McDermott which I found on Bytestart out of the UK. It all comes down to being prepared so that you have a fighting chance to have a winning pitch.
Speaker Services Team is available to support you in creating a winning pitch whether it be for speaking, media or winning a contract.
Having worked on thousands of pitches over the years in all sectors and market conditions, I’ve carried out a lot of research into what makes a perfect winning pitch.
But here I want to put a different slant on this and share 10 key reasons why pitches go wrong and the important lessons to learn from these. Critically, do you pass the “so what” test?
1. Poor answers to questions
It is fair to say that many companies and individuals are getting better at preparing and rehearsing pitches these days. The question and answer session however is often just left to chance.
Presenters usually find themselves in the situation where they say: “thanks very much, that concludes the presentation, any questions?” and then find themselves with their fingers crossed, hoping nothing too difficult is asked.
This is not an ideal situation to find yourself in and one that is easily avoided. When you prepare a presentation an integral part of this should be to ask three key questions.
What questions does my presentation not answer?
What questions does my presentation stimulate?
What questions/concerns does my audience have?
Having asked these questions, it is now vital to prepare and rehearse the answers.
2. Telling your audience how good you are.
Remember you are deemed capable of doing the job otherwise you would not be pitching. A trustee of a large pension fund, who listens to many presentations, once gave this direct feedback to a pitch team. “I know you are good, otherwise I would not have invited you to pitch to me”.
Therefore, spend more time addressing your audience’s issues, objectives and concerns. Talk about “you” (the audience) and stop “we-ing” throughout your presentation. Remember, questions about your company are easily answered!
3. Looking disinterested
A fairly obvious one this? You would be surprised how many pitches are lost because presenters come over as indifferent about the mandate.
Often a key factor in the decision making process is showing enthusiasm for wanting the business. So, tell your audience you are excited about working with them. Be passionate.
Your desire to win and confidence in your proposal needs to come across.
4. Poor team coordination
Often team presentations come across as badly planned and ill coordinated. This is especially the case during the question and answer session where it turns into a free for all.
A CEO of a large Plc was presented to by a law firm for a substantial contract and said: “they looked as if they had just met in a taxi on the way over”. Plan in advance.
The person delivering a particular topic should be the person answering questions related to it. Avoid adding supplementary information to your colleague’s answers. At best this is done with positive intent, to add value to the answer, at worst presenters contradict their colleagues or devalue them by saying things like: “what John is trying to say is…”
5. Poor structure
When asked to make a pitch for business, presenters often go their “slide bank” and pull out the slides they feel comfortable with. This often results in a presentation supported by a bunch of disparate visuals or a pitch book with no clear messages, neither of which have a clear structure.
A senior civil servant involved in the selection of IT consultants said of a presentation: “there was no clear objective or agenda, it lacked direction, I kept wondering where they were going and then it faded out with something trivial”.
Your presentation should have a very clear beginning, middle and end. The overview is the beginning and should state the purpose of the presentation, give a clear “hook” (reason for listening) and the content you will cover.
The body of the presentation (middle) should have relevant, credible and engaging content. Each topic should be wrapped up with a clear message.
The final summary should reiterate each message.
6. The “silver tongued front man”
Often organisations identify their best presenters or, as one senior manager who was selecting a management consultancy to help with a change programme described, “the silver tongued marketing man” and send them in to do their pitches.
This can be very dangerous. If an audience suspects this is the case, they will give them a really tough time in the question and answer session, knowing they have the knowledge to give a good, confident, well delivered presentation but not the in-depth expertise to know the specifics of the job inside out.
It is therefore important that you send in the delivery team. This is who the audience really wants to see.
7. Not knowing your audience
In this day and age there is absolutely no excuse for not knowing your audience. There is a massive amount of invaluable information at your fingertips.
It is even better if you have met the prospective client before the pitch. It is a lot easier for presenting teams if they have met their audience beforehand. Going in cold is harder.
Asking to speak to your audience beforehand to find out their problems and concerns, their objectives for the future and the finer details of their requirements is a legitimate reason for contacting them.
An HR manager looking for a sales training programme for their global sales force said: “we would be delighted to speak to people before a pitch, it shows they are interested and concerned about getting it right”.
8. The information dump
This is the most common trap presenters fall into in terms of content. Technical experts or analysts, for example, often feel the need to demonstrate all their analytical work, technical expertise and experience in a pitch.
This is a huge mistake. You need be very clear about what you are proposing. This should be clearly stated at the start and followed by relevant and credible content only. It should be kept to a minimum allowing you to anticipate and prepare answers to questions.
9 .Being “incredible”
All to often presenters make statements they perceive to be impressive and factual but fail to back them up with evidence. From an audience perspective these statements lack credibility. For example: “we provide innovative solutions”; “we have unrivalled expertise”; “our process works”.
If this is the case then back them up with examples, stories, research or personal experiences. Audiences enjoy a good story.
10. Failing the “so what” test
Presenters also make lots of statements that leave the audience sitting there thinking, “so what”? For example, “we have offices all over the world”; “we have 700 employees”; “we have £60 billion worth of assets under management”.
If you can’t relate your company credentials to your audience in a meaningful and relevant way and pass the “so what” test then don’t bother saying them.
What is the use of telling your audience you have offices all over the world if they only have offices in the UK and have no interest in business outside the country or if they are only interested in investing in UK equities?
On the other hand if your audience is looking to expand their business in South East Asia, then your offices in Singapore and China will be invaluable for local knowledge and expertise of that region.
About the Author
David McDermott is MD of Edomidas and is an advisor and international speaker on competitive pitching. His success is founded on thoroughly researched pitching strategies, drawing from experience of the most successful global business pitches.
