“If you don’t win the contract, we’ll pay all your expenses, including the time you put into the proposal.”
In our many years of working in the PR sector, these are words we genuinely never thought we’d hear. A potential client said these exact words to us recently, and, after our initial surprise – some might say shock – we started to realise what a commitment this phrase represents. For us, it’s a message that promotes faith in our processes, places trust in our talents and foresees results in our potential.
We really appreciated the gesture, especially as it was so unexpected, but it also occurred to us that there’s no reason why this shouldn’t be the case on some occasions. In this instance, the pitch we attended was some 250 miles away from our offices, so the cost to our agency, in terms of travel, overnight accommodation and of course time, was sizable. We’re not a large London-based agency which can easily absorb such an outlay, so the overall spend will always have an impact on our bottom line.
Many factors add up to an effective pitch
Over the years, we’ve spent a huge amount of money on pitches, and while many of these pitches were successful, there have been some which were not. We accept all this, of course; it’s part of life for PR specialists, after all. Needless to say, there’s more than just the pitch to think about. There are many other factors, including:
- Initial communications
- Pitch preparation
- Travel and accommodation arrangements
- Follow-up conversations
… and more.
And while we see no reason why a potential client shouldn’t be paying for our time, there’s a sense of etiquette in play here. Most of these companies simply don’t even offer to contribute to the agency’s costs. That’s the way it’s always been and no doubt that’s how things will remain for the most part. In this current instance, however, it’s fair to say that our assessment of the company making the offer, and the people working within it, has just taken a major step forward.
Starting a business relationship in the best possible way
Their gesture has energised us, and it made us more determined than ever before to create and perform a pitch that really hits the right notes for them. And if we get the contract, and we sincerely hope we do, you can be sure that the mutual respect and admiration between our two organisations will be heightened before the real work even gets under way. This, without a shadow of doubt, is the very epitome of relationship-building, in an industry sector that’s ALL about relationships.
