This sponsor post is produced by The List.

Ever had that one awful pitch you walked out from feeling completely deflated? Whether you’re new to Ad Tech business development or a seasoned professional, more than likely you’ve had your fair share of agency pitches that didn’t go as well as planned.

What did you learn from it though?

This month we co-hosted a webinar with Docurated fittingly titled, “Pitching Without the Sweaty Palms,” where Dave Currie (CMO of The List) and Scott Bleczinski (CRO of Docurated) walked us through the three most dreaded scenarios for pitching an agency, and included steps for avoiding potential disaster.

  1. Show Up and Throw Up
At some point, you’ve probably done this — walked into a meeting totally pumped, thinking you’re exceptionally brilliant, and passionate about what you’re going to present. Next thing you know, you’ve talked a million miles a minute and haven’t even paused to ask anything about your potential client, or their needs. Then, the decision-maker stands up and walks out of the room – not good!

Avoid This By – having an in-depth conversation with your prospect ahead of time and get a granular understanding of what their key business requirements are. From there, as simple as it sounds, create an outlined agenda that focuses on the customer, not you.

  1. He/She is Just Not That Into You
No, we’re not talking about your personal life here. But if we were, you’d easily notice the similarities between having a date and a prospect not being interested. They’re probably looking at the ceiling, playing Angry Birds on their phone, or possibly not showing up at all – all signs that it’s time to turn the conversation around and get them more engaged!

Avoid This By – switching it up a bit. If they’re used to receiving communications through the same channel (i.e., email or phone) surprise them with a package through FedEx. If that doesn’t work, play hard-to-get and withdraw your candidacy. You’ll likely get a response then.

  1. The Human Hand Grenade
Sounds scary, right? Nothing is worse than having that one person in the room who’s ready to blow up your entire presentation when you least expect it – enter the human hand grenade. They’re typically not the decision-maker and often times interested in promoting the incumbent or a competitor. A potential disaster waiting to happen.

Avoid This By - sending an email ahead of time asking who will be attending, their titles and expectations from the outset. Lean on your trusted party to collaborate and smoke out the hand grenade ahead of time.

Had an epic failure of your own when pitching an agency? Let us know via Twitter @The_List_Online.

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