The who and why of pitching
Sometimes I am the one pitching and sometimes I am being pitched: you too I imagine.
Pitching in this not context is not sport related but the ‘art’ of approaching a potential client or opportunity to promote yourself and your services.
As a trainer and consultant I am pitching to my clients – that could be you! – and I hope I come across in a supportive manner.
In another role I am sometimes pitched at. As Chair of Coventry & Warwickshire Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development (CIPD) our committee organises events for CIPD members locally and across the Midlands in the UK. I have a steady stream of people wishing to speak to our members – often because they can provide something of interest, but sometimes the commercial self-interest is transparent.
It was from this perspective last week I spoke to the Professional Speaking Association Ireland on the topic of Speaking Professionally to Professionals, sharing tips and experiences as both speaker and someone who books speakers.
Getting in front of fellow professionals adds a useful edge to networking and enables your audience to see if you might be a good fit for them.
In this situation it is important to be aware of how professional your audience is – hence the model I shared in the picture above.
If you are about to approach a client or opportunity, here’s 3 thoughts:
- Relevance – how directly do you appeal to their needs and wants? Remember no one buys what you supply, they buy what it does for them
- Opportunity – what is in this for the client, as I sometimes say WIIFT?*
- Interested/Interesting – the old saying “they will not care how much you know until they know how much you care”. You have to demonstrate interest in them before they will find you interesting.
After the Ireland meeting, I received an email from one of the audience members:
“…it was a pitch that went like this – ‘this is my talk, I’m really good, have me talk to your client’ rather than ‘I think I can support you with this talk and here’s why’. “
You will receive a number of sales approaches this week – how do they look?
You may also be making sales approaches: remember your – and their – ROI.
- *What’s In It For Them?
Buzzword of the Week – Asset Turnover
Definition – Calculated by dividing sales by average total assets, this is a measure of how hard the firm’s assets are being put to use. A high ratio may indicate running close to capacity. This ratio could also be calculated as sales divided by fixed assets or net working capital.
Alternate View – Easy to calculate, and a year on year measure the trend should move up. But remember the significant increase of intangible assets – especially goodwill – in recent years. Many businesses are not so dependent on tangible fixed assets as they once were (Offices post pandemic?). Far less important than other ratios like Return on Capital or Profit Margins.