The Win Without Pitching Manifesto

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As artists, we do not work for money, but for the sake of creating something and hopefully making a positive change in the world. We will see ourselves as professional practitioners who bring real solutions to our clients’ business problems. We will seek respect above money, for only when we are respected as experts will we be paid the money we seek." Selling = determining a fit between a client’s needs and your service, then facilitating a next step.

Strategy First: "We will not develop, nor share with the client, creative of any kind before the challenge has been diagnosed and the strategy prescribed and agreed to." Say no early and often —> weed out those that would be better served by others and those that cannot afford you. Our premium pricing will cost us from time to time, but if we are not losing business on price occasionally, then we arent charging enough NOTE: when you pitch too hard, you make it difficult for the client to be honest / trust. This makes it hard to get to no / understand objections.Through thought lidership, you educate clients and it helps them to get at you. However, thought lidership is not persuasion. Always write, cause experts always write. In this way you help the unaware client. Mission: to position myself as the expert practitioner in the mind of the client (Positioning / Trout reference) It has given us confidence to talk about financial matters early and often in a strategic manner to get to a good shared outcome with our prospects,” adds Kadlic. “The concept of presenting multiple options and resisting the urge to overinvest in endless proposal iterations is sage advice and very effective.” I feel that the proclamations are easier for established firms to follow than those that haven't yet built up a strong reputation.

We are addicted to the adrenaline rush that comes from the win-or-lose situation of a presentation.and we will never put our clients or ourselves in the position where we are prescribing solutions without first fully diagnosing the client's challenge." Then I started charging higher, and that did some great things. I weeded out the bad clients. I was earning way more while working 10x less. Only We Present Our Work: "Whenever our diagnostic findings, strategic recommendations or creative solutions are presented to anyone in our client companies, it will be personnel from our firm that does so."

I run a creative firm and was always learning with my mistakes. The growth rhythm is above average but not news worthy. And after reading this... Brace yourself world! We will not develop, nor share with the client, creative of any kind before the challenge has been diagnosed and the strategy prescribed and agreed to." Make stepping over and taking control with a diagnostic process, rather than client's self-diagnosis, a second nature. It is your strength. Project work (waiving the MLE) is permisable in case you have the capacity, if it is profitable, if you do not need to compete, if it sears the opportunity to bigger projects and if it does not interfere with clients which you have included in your MLE.If we are to build a lucrative expert firm then we must regain this balance of a small number of high-quality clients. Once regained, we must accept that our client base will turn over and we must understand that this churn is healthy." We want to develop the habit of putting on the table for early discussion these or any other concerns we, or the client, might have." His first proclamation is that we will specialize, and the second proclamation is we will replace presentations with conversations. Value=Qulity/Price. In most cases clients are uncertain of the quality, but your expertise should do the work. Avoid providing reference of services, process and the price. Things speak for itself.

I’m looking forward to discussing some of these approaches this week at our PM Society session on Maximising The Agency & Procurement Relationship – New Models for Pitching. Thank you Paul Morrissey, fellow PM Society member, for recommending this inspiring read. Healthy profit margins give us the opportunity to fix mistakes/problems. Hence, best service is delivered to most profitable clients. We will be paid well and we will take care of the client, in such way, we make the little problems go away. Blair's principles have really helped us think more strategically about pricing strategies and how to engage with prospects productively during the courtship process,” says John Kadlic, CEO of Colorado-based advertising agency Parallel Path. A good client will begin to relinquish control once he has the confidence that the expert practitioner knows more than he does, or has the tools to learn more. Formalized diagnostic processes are such tools." We Will Rethink What it Means to Sell 3 selling steps, based on client’s place in buying cycleCharge more allows me to dedicate more time to each client, and do really great job. I ll attract better clients. I ll have margins to work in case something goes bad. I can have more free time, less stress, and provide more value to everyone, including my friends and family. There's only upside! Move from the presenter/complier role to that of the expert practitioner. This we do as a doctor or lawyer would, through conversation and collaboration and not through presentation." Our mission is positioning (Purpose, Calling). We will not sacrifice any short-term gains, if we do not position to our clients as the expert practitioner.