In my short media career of under one year in the industry, I have had the privilege of participating in two new business pitches. One being a well-known Sydney-born brand and the other, a global brand. Both relatively equal in size and both being of significant value to Kaimera. And by significant value, I mean by media billings and agency growth (if won). No pressure!
Both experiences were nerve-wracking, challenging and sometimes a tad stressful…but also incredibly rewarding. They had their differences, but in both, I observed similarities that opened my eyes to the world of pitching, and I took four key things from both, these were:
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Pay attention to the detail
The attention to detail that goes into a pitch is phenomenal. Prior to the pitch, the day of, the week following – nothing was overlooked or too difficult (I was riffling through my wardrobe for hours the Sunday before for fancy dress!). By the time we entered the meeting room, I was sure we could quote all 97 slides of the presentation by heart. And when I started to question the amount of time we were giving to something that wasn’t guaranteed, I was told – ‘everything must be perfect, because the moment they are distracted by an error, we lose their attention’ – a learning that will stick with me!
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Experience shines through
Throughout both pitches, I sat in awe as I watched my colleagues demonstrate their 10 to 20 years of experience. As someone who spent many hours memorising my slides and convincing my housemates to let me present ‘just one more time!!’, I felt a lot of respect for their ability to speak ‘off the cuff’ with such confidence – a skill I am now motivated to attain!
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Teamwork is everything
The camaraderie of our team during the pitching process was inspiring. Everyone was willing to pick up work where needed. Whether in the pitch team or not, everyone had a role to play and the feeling of ‘if you win, we all win’ was very much alive within our office.
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Winning feels great!
Which leads me to my final observation, the celebration of the win makes all the hard work worth it. The boost in morale within the team was felt immediately, brought on by the excitement of a new business win and a fresh challenge to tackle. The moment we found out, the whole team jumped from their desks and cheered, a moment I will ALWAYS remember. My first win!
