Approach to New Business pitches…

In last couple of years I have had huge opportunities to participate / work along on new business development / new pitches. I have learnt a lot from all those pitches doesn’t matter whether we won or we lost. I thought to pen down how one can approach new business pitches, ya I am no authority on this subject…these are just my some of my learning’s…
I think we can take some inspiration from the 4 Ps of Marketing.
First a bit on the 4 Ps (I know we all know!):
1) Product: A product is seen as an item that satisfies what a consumer needs or wants. It is a tangible good or an intangible
2) Price: The price is the amount a customer pays for the product. The price is very important as it determines the company's profit and hence, survival
3) Promotion: represents all of the methods of communication that a marketer may use to provide information to different parties about the product
4) Place: refers to providing the product at a place which is convenient for consumers to access.
So let us see how each P of marketing can be applied to ‘Pitching for New Business’
1) Product: Absolutely critical this is your core strategy it has to address the brief ‘need of the client’. Get this right. One simple step is get the ‘brief right’ and you will get the ‘right output’
2) Price: Aha! Extremely sensitive but if you do a good job then I think we should link it with Performance!
3) Promotion and Place: Now this is gaining lots of prominence. U got to make use of every moment, every single time u makes a contact with the prospective client you got to ensure excellence. Right from the moment you received the first call, the first mail, the briefing session you attend, clarifications you ask for on the brief, during the presentation, post presentation follow up (HUGE, HUGE, HUGE) every single moment is absolutely critical. Treat it as break or make deal moment. Every moment of contact is THE place, THE opportunity for showcasing your company. It’s Showtime! All the Time!
The last one is ‘Passion’….not sure if they teach you in business schools…Take your passion and make it happen.

Trust plays a massive role in our lives. We decide almost everything basis our trust for that brand. It is interesting to see who the new age media scores on this parameter versus the more traditional mediums. I came across an interesting study from Edelman Trust Barometer 2012. The question asked is 'below is a list of place you might get information about a company. For each please indicate if you trust it a great deal, somewhat...
Here is the outcome...
1) Traditional media continue to have highest scores but online sources scores are almost neck to neck
2)But it is the Social Media scores which are growing fast and catching up quickly with other source’s 75% growth over last year
3) Corporate website shown a decline
In sum: Another reason why brands should start to treat Digital media a lot more seriously.

QR Code

Hi

As a part of my endeavour to climb the rope of Digital Media here goes QR code for my blog.

Hope I blog more regularly than thrice a year!

Cheers!