The subjectivity of value works both ways. Value is highly personal and subjective but it is so to all parties on both sides of the buy-sell divide. Just as two different clients considering the same offering from the same firm will assign different value to that offering, so too will two different salespeople trying to sell that offering.
If you want to predict your likelihood of winning new business (and therefore whether or not it makes sense to pour resources into the opportunity) just ask yourself this one question.
In simple terms, agency business development can be described as the polite battle for control. In this brief 20-point thesis on modern day business development philosophy for marketing communication agencies, I’ll make the argument for control as the goal.
Our mission at Win Without Pitching is to change the way creative services are bought and sold, our focus is really on the selling side of the buy-sell relationship.
Your power in the sale is a function of having your desirability be greater than your own desire. Makes sense, right?
David re-reads the 2nd chapter of Blair’s first book, leading to a discussion about how sales people have to choose between either presenting to clients or being present to them.
One of the things that creative firms need to let go of is the need to present. It’s one of the proclamations in The Win Without Pitching Manifesto. “We will replace presentations with conversations.”
“We never pitch.” It was a lie. We pitched all the time but I was getting tired of it. I’d seen this film before and I knew how it ended. I wanted to try to change the ending, even if I didn’t know what should come after my small act of defiance.
Why do agencies get themselves into these situations where they feel they have to take work on onerous terms, where they have to put up with procurement’s powerplay moves and where they have no power to affect price?
There are many patterns one sees after working with hundreds of creative and marketing firms on their approach to business development, and one of them is an over reliance on presentation software like PowerPoint. When I spot a strategy document written for a client or the firm itself that was composed in PowerPoint I know we have a problem and I can immediately identify the co-presenting symptoms.
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