Member Article

Pitch perfect

One of the highlights of February for us was seeing Gary Verity, Chief Executive of Welcome to Yorkshire and the man who brought us Le Grand Depart, give a talk at York St John University.

Playing to a packed house, he delivered a rousing account of how Yorkshire’s biggest ever event came about – from a tentative email enquiry through a lavish and heavily choreographed pitch to the big weekend itself. Verity explained how he realised very early on that to win the bid, “we had to make sure we were answering the right exam question.”

A phenomenal amount of research and preparation went into the pitch, as Verity and his team realised that missing even the smallest detail could unravel the whole bid. Swooping helicopters over the Dales, a Michelin star chef preparing lunch at Verity’s farmyard, and that infamous moment where the big screen in central Leeds played out a video message from cyclist Mark Cavendish just as Tour de France race director Christian Prudhomme walked into view – this bid had it all.

When it comes to pitching, detail is everything. And yet some agencies concentrate so much on their own brand that they almost forget about the client. How many pitches have you been in where the slides are branded in the agency’s own style?

At Partners, we like to put the client at the centre of the pitch. Without giving away the family secrets, we take the time to learn about our clients’ needs. We look at content, language, tone and design. Is a visual proposal preferable, or does that person like a lot of detail? How much time have they got to consider and develop what we’ve proposed? How can we make sure that we fit that proposal around their business and (just as importantly) personal needs?

We like to think of ourselves as an extension of your team. Which means we spend less time talking about our brand, and more time understanding yours. And while we can’t promise you helicopters, we will dedicate time and expertise to make your business shine.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by The Partners Group .