The Marketing Pitch!

Pitch has many definitions: the slope of a roof, the toss of a ball, the tone of a voice, the sway of a ship or the presentation of a product or service.

This can be a heart stopper for some people, and a struggle, at best, for others. Pitches do not have to be intimidating.
I gave my first pitch when I was in college. I was pitching a marketing plan for an event. I was dressed in my best conservative wool suit, with a brightly colored silk shirt and my new shiny black pumps. I was scared to death, but I had my notes, I had practiced, and I had this stuff down...

I was golden. I stood up and started to talk but something felt weird. While I was talking, I went through a mental check list to see if I could figure it out. My hands weren't shaking, my voice was not stuttering, but something was off. I decided to just ignore it and plow through to the conclusion. Afterwards the teacher was pleased and gave me a great grade, but had one comment for future presentations: to wear a skirt that hit below my knees. I was shocked. Why would that be? The teacher said the entire time I was speaking, my kneecaps were shaking. THAT'S IT! That is the reason I felt so strange.
Many days and pitches have passed since this one, but one thing remains the same - I still wear longer skirts or pants, anything to cover my shaking kneecaps. The rest was an evolving and refining process.

I have learned many things over the years about pitches:

• Keep them simple
• Know your audience
• Know the problem you are solving
• Leave them with something memorable.

Keep your presentation relevant to the topic and focused on your audience. It is always a good idea to know why you are there and what problem you are solving. Working through the process of solving the problem for your future clients will let them know you did your homework. It's important that you know who they are, what they need, and why they called.

Make sure to leave them with something memorable, like a story. I love pitching to new clients. It is a great way to solve problems and be the hero. I like being the hero.

OK, so here is my story to wrap this up. We were developing a trade show design pitch for a client called Clo2ix. Their product disinfects water wisely. We developed a concept where the product was seen as a super hero. The booth had 6 ft by 6 ft panels with the product depicted as a comic book style super hero here to save the day. We shipped the booth and had it set up for the clients and they were thrilled. About a hour before the show opened the client called with an issue. They were very concerned that their competitors, who were across the aisle from them at this 20,000 user trade show, had moved their booth to another location. I said "In the game of life, the one with the better display wins the game of chicken." The show was a great success; so Go Big or Go Home!

Pitches are intimidating, but don't let them defeat you. Be a hero, pitch away, and leave them smiling!