During a Pitch, Be Prepared to Ditch Your Draft

Editor’s note: This piece is part of our Columnist Network series, which explores the tactical thoughts and actions from Adweek’s community of high-level experts. Today, Havas Creative's Stephanie Nerlich prepares for a rush of new business pitches this fall. Below, in her own words, she shares her experience of the planning—and spontaneity—that has helped her team stand out to clients. Summer has come to an end and school is back in session. Despite the continued challenges of Covid-19, there’s still a sense of a return to routine we all feel when the season starts to change, vacations become a distant memory and pumpkin spice takes over our lives. With beach days behind us, focus is renewed and everyone is getting back to business. We’re no different. At Havas, coming out of the summer haze has seen a dramatic uptick in new business inquiries. It’s exciting to see clients optimistic about the future again, but it can also be daunting as we balance the demanding pitch process with keeping our eye on what’s most important—our core clients. I continue to tell myself this is a great problem to have, as pitching is when our agencies are at their best. And this year, pitches give us all an extra excuse to get back together in person because the Zoom room cannot replace the excitement of the war room. With the influx of prospects from many different industries, I’ve been thinking a lot about how we tackle new business—from the work that goes into each pitch to the presentation content, and especially the team. A great client once told me we had won the business because we played as an orchestra while others simply showcased the soloists. While there is always room for improvement, we’re leaning into our strengths and successes—showcasing our proprietary studies and leveraging our new CX network—but brands are looking beyond the tangible. We need to address evolved needs and new expectations, which takes unconventional thinking and innovative approaches. We’re looking at positioning, research and proprietary data to determine where we can shine even brighter and making sure our Village model is a clear differentiator. While more brands are putting their business up for review, the hard truth is most are evaluating many, many agencies for preliminary review. Then, when shortlisted, the average closing rate is about 33%. And, unfortunately, there is no magic wand to win a pitch. What I’ve realized is that while style and substance, flow and format may change over time, there is one thing that stays consistent—great storytelling. My friend and Havas global chief strategy officer Mark Sinnock put it simply: “We are all instinctive storytellers, and this shows up in the way that we share news and build political opinions, how we teach, entertain, persuade, convince, build emotional connection and trust.” Pitches are just our time to tell our story to an entirely new audience. But we can’t tell good stories without preparation, personality, personalization and, ultimately, problem-solving. In the week (or weeks) we have to prepare, we read the brief, we ask questions, we do as much research and digging as time allows—but it’s never enough. It’s impossible to know everything that goes into a pitch, so you must think iteratively. We need to be open to listen, able to adapt and move the story, situation and context around to ensure we have the right components in play. Active listening is key, as opposed to charging forward with the story we want to tell. In a recent global pitch, we went from thinking we needed to talk about how big and majestic we are, how corporate and assertive, to understanding they didn’t want a big network proposition. They wanted something different from us. We were then able to articulate ourselves more meaningfully, leveraging a singular message with humanity and empathy which—in the end—resonated far more than our first draft.

Columnist Network

During a Pitch, Be Prepared to Ditch Your Draft

Great storytelling is instinctive and adaptable

Stephanie Nerlich

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Stephanie Nerlich