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UK – Bristol
"If you can't state your position in eight words or less, you don't have a position" (Seth Godin) was one of the key quotes in an informative and thought-provoking presentation on persuasive pitching tech-niques given to members by Steven Pearce from The Results Consultancy. Steven is a trained actor and director and applies his knowledge in the business world to assist clients with pitching tech-niques to win new business. Having worked with a large number of organisa-tions, he highlighted the common factors which have resulted in losses for pitch teams and how they can be overcome to turn negative outcomes into positives. Common factors experienced were:
Steven explained the concept of "word clouds" using wordled.net, a programme which is available freely on the internet designed to relieve confusion amongst teams trying to describe their USP's to potential clients. This evolved from Steven's experience of firms who commonly want to voice similar messages in the hope of standing out as the best firm to do busi-ness with:
Doesn't every firm claim to do all of this and how can we nail the differences?
Forum members are often involved in the coaching of pitch teams and were advised that practice, practice and more practice is a key indicator of success with rehearsals and debriefs a necessary part of the process for getting it right. Working closely with the team and encouraging them to gain clarity of their roles within the overall process along with support for each other at all stages is also important, something that came under Steven's umbrella of 'cohesive interpersonal dynamics.'
Alignment for the firm's position and aspi-rations, open listening and a team free of unresolved conflict formed additional parts of the seven stages of success for persua-sive pitching.
Finally, the emotion and passion for why everyone is involved in the first place should come out of the pitch, to encourage the client that the team is not only the best one for the job, but enjoys doing it and understands the bigger picture.
Alison Woodhead