I like talking to agencies and to clients. Always learn a lot with a little listening. I was talking to my agency friends at Tag in Philadelphia the other day. We were having a proper chat. They shared a story about a recent New Business pitch that they made with a three page deck.
Intrigued I said please share more. The three slides were their logo page, an infographic and their brand wheel. Tag is part of the Brand Establishment network so brand is their mantra. The infographic was a snapshot of the client’s current situation. It immediately got their New Business prospect talking. That is always very good in a New Business pitch. It provides an opportunity to build chemistry and show your smarts.
I have become very interested in infographics in the last year. There is an agency in OC called Column Five that has a strong practice in the area.
I like the snapshots of infographics. They look like a picture of facts to me. I was taught a long time ago that you have to visualize to realize.
As an agency search consultant I have seen many agency New Business decks. Most are too long. Many are 30 plus slides long or longer. Talking takes time in a pitch. If you have a 30 page deck and you take 3 minutes on each slide you have a 90 minute presentation. Agencies generally like to talk. During a pitch everybody in the room from the agencies loves to talk. Everybody wants a role. Everybody wants to contribute. Big decks create long times before the clients get to talk and that is the most important part of a pitch. They often also leave agencies rushing at the end.
I have never heard any client in any review that I have done say Stop Talking About My Business. Never. All clients love talking about their business. It’s their baby.
When I talk to clients about New Business presentations they have conducted they often groan about agency’s New Business decks. Most hate sitting in them because the decks are all similar and they know they are going to be seeing largely the same thing down the street. Not every time but enough that the current sentiment among a broad swath of clients is that agencies are all the same. Agencies created that perception I think because they follow a pretty standard template that needs to be blown up.
I think today in the New Normal we are all very much over capacitated. In New Business today less can be truly more.
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