Deciding whether to re-pitch for an existing client can be difficult. It’s important to consider many factors, including the potential impact on your agency new business rankings and staff if the pitch doesn’t go in your favour. On a positive note, if you do choose to withdraw, or are unsuccessful, you could take the opportunity to target another advertiser in the category, who might be looking for a new agency – you have a wealth of category knowledge and an agency team raring to work on another similar piece of business. If you do decide to re- pitch, here are some best practice tips to help you.
A client’s decision to re-pitch should be made clear prior to agreeing to participate. For an incumbent agency, a competitive and comparative pitch is not the ideal time to convince the client to remain with you.
Ensure that all parties, including pitch intermediaries refer to the principles of Pitch Positive Pledge. Importantly, the client must ensure that they address any problems that may have arisen in the client/agency relationship before calling a pitch.
Pitches are a huge financial and emotional investment, so if an incumbent agency decides to re-pitch, it is up to the intermediary and client to ensure that they have a genuine chance of success and are not only invited as a courtesy gesture.
For the incumbent, it’s important to put history to one side. Be brave, introduce ‘newness’ in terms of the team, ideas and thinking and always remember, the pitch is an opportunity to approach the brief in a new way.
The casting of the pitch team is very important. Ensure that you have a good blend of old faces (that have a close connection with the client) and new faces to inject energy and freshness into the team.
Be honest about what you’ve done well on the business and where you could have improved. Take learnings from what you know the client likes and doesn’t like into your pitch delivery and response.
Ensure that you have continual communication during the pitch. The client will often be more receptive to additional meetings with the incumbent, as you are currently working with them.
Most pitch briefs are hypothetical, so use it as an opportunity to inspire and provide the client with a vision of what could be done. Don’t let the current day-to-day relationship that you have with them hinder your ability to think bigger.
The team will be naturally disheartened at the prospect of having to re-pitch for a client that they’ve been working hard on. It’s important that they understand why the client has decided to re-pitch and why you’ve agreed to, or equally why you’ve declined to re-pitch, otherwise you risk a team with low motivation and morale.
The AAR have reported that only 20% of incumbents succeed at retaining the business when it’s up for review, so it’s important to think about any negative impact or comms if you don’t retain the account.
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