Foreword: We apologise for the lack of posts recently – this has been due to being somewhat busy, partly as shall be explained below…
So, it’s post New Year, post VAT rise, post vast increases in the cost of living (petrol being not the least of them) and post Pacific Rim earthquakes and tsunamis (for the moment).
So what’s on everyone’s minds in the business world?
In this neck of the woods it has been new business, new business and a bit more new business, building on the contacts already made.
Despite the fact that new business is a ‘numbers game’ and you know there are going to be disappointments probably more than high fives, there’s still that thrill at getting the request to pitch.
Looking at the (prospective) client’s position in the marketplace. Getting the team together to discuss the fine points of the pitch. Making sure you have covered everything off, the document looks professional, the creative work and strategy is spot on, and rehearsing and finally presenting the actual pitch.
In the end, you know that you are mainly going to be judged on just two or three things:
- Chemistry – is there a rapport?
- Ability – can you do the job and convince comparative strangers that you can?
- Creativity – have you come up with something that not just answers the brief, but also that the client actually likes?
Ah! The final point that causes so much heartache. How do you judge what a client is going to like and what they are not?
Me? I probably get it wrong perhaps as often as I get it right. But I see that as pretty good going, being able to judge from just a short meeting what is going to be correct – not just for the client but also what the client feels happy to present themselves, because after all, they have to live with the image day to day.
To get ‘under the skin’ of a company – to be able to put yourself into a prospect’s shoes in just a few hours – is something that can only come with experience. We do that on a regular basis and we do that well.
So how do I console myself when we don’t quite get it right, when we don’t see eye to eye with what the customer wants? You can’t please all of the people all of the time.
To be fair, most clients realise that. And the ones that don’t, you can always say it’s just the way it is.
So to finish, let’s cue a terrible but apt pun…
Creativity is like art. One man’s Magritte is another man’s Poussin.
