New business pitches are broken—here’s how agencies can fix them

They say new business is the lifeblood of any agency, so why does it feel like an entire industry has a bad case of anemia? There have been plenty of pitches lately, with some big wins and new campaigns on the horizon. The victors are hoping to hire, breathing a sigh of relief over not having to make staff cuts this quarter, while vanquished agencies are bereft, scratching their heads over where things veered off course. Yet even winning agencies seem more exhausted than elated, giving off a collective vibe of disenchantment like a bunch of Peloton owners after the lockdowns ended. I called around to ask why, and the answers I heard from both agencies and clients suggest new business is no longer an adrenaline-fueled roller coaster of creativity. Pitching today has become a treadmill marathon for survival. Even if an agency wins, the shortened lifespan of a CMO means this exciting new relationship may tear itself apart in two or three years, max. The doomsday clock ticking in the background sort of puts a damper on the honeymoon period. And for clients, a new agency relationship is a mixed blessing. CMOs are momentarily relieved because searching for a new agency bought them at least a year of job security. Last year’s disappointing performance can be blamed on the previous agency, and slow growth this year can be attributed to launching a new campaign. But onboarding a new agency is tedious, and though procurement will try to get more for less, the juice isn’t always worth the squeeze. Clients spend more time coordinating their agencies than they spend on actual marketing, with the rest of their time spent justifying marketing budgets to their executive team. This guarantees agencies only have limited access to senior-level clients, which means the relationship will sour again until the whole cycle of disintegration and rebirth begins again in the form of another pitch. The cynical subtext of this ephemeral enterprise is that agencies try to get one good campaign out of a client before things go sideways, while clients hope to move the needle just enough to keep their jobs. Both parties are using each other—a marriage of convenience. Agencies and clients clearly need couples counseling, so let’s bring a little romance back to new business. Make pitches shorter Big pitches have become 10,000-piece jigsaw puzzles. I spoke with several agencies that endured pitches lasting over six months, starting with a cattle call of more than a dozen agencies and narrowing to four in the finals. The 4A’s and ANA, two highly respected organizations focused on the collective health of the industry, issued a “Cost of the Pitch” report last year that estimates the average pitch cost for a non-incumbent agency is over $200,000. Now, get this: The same study suggests the average for clients is more than $400,000, from coordinating the pitch to onboarding a new agency. For agencies that fail to convert, a pitch is a catastrophic setback to the bottom line, but even for the winning agency it could take 18 months to turn a profit by the time a campaign is launched. With chances of winning starting at 12-to-1, that’s hardly a good investment. And yet with agency-client divorce rates so high, the only choice is to pitch continuously and play the odds. Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs Clients, make your pitches focused and fast. Two to three weeks, from brief to finals. Give agencies a clear challenge to see how quickly they ideate and how well they collaborate. Spare agencies the agony of a prolonged pitch and save yourself time and money. Leave full-funnel capabilities to case studies, and if it turns out the agency you hire can’t deliver, sue them for false advertising. Speed is also a test for seasoned talent because only someone who knows your category and has cracked similar problems can land a winning idea in days, while anyone with a laptop can generate an idea eventually given weeks of research and paint-by-numbers pitch theater. Choose experience and expertise if you really want to grow your business. Act like you’re already working together All too often clients severely limit the amount of contact between their team and each agency. The notion is to determine how agencies think in isolation, but this ignores the basis for a healthy relationship—an ongoing collaboration between like-minded people working around a shared ambition. A pitch isn’t a math quiz, it’s chemistry, which only happens when two parties interact. So stop being coy, let your hair down and work through the problem together. Savvy clients are not buying a campaign, and despite what procurement says, they’re not shopping for a better deal, either. They are looking for a dance partner, so start the music and remember, it takes two to tango. Treat each other like partners, not prospects Yes, there is an oversupply of agencies, but that doesn’t mean they should be taken for granted. It’s appalling how many agencies have been ghosted after a pitch. I have equal sympathy for clients and agencies in most matters, but after a grueling pitch, any client that ghosts an agency should be publicly shamed, with fines paid to an industry organization like the 4A’s as penance. Similarly, clients are under insane pressure from management, so agencies must respect that a pitch is a business challenge, a real-world problem in need of a creative solution. It’s not an opportunity created for agencies to trick a desperate client into tomfoolery. Agencies, if someone is trusting you with the future of their business, make it your business to listen. Remember, pitches often occur because the incumbent agency became tone-deaf. Bring some humility to every meeting and you might bring back some great ideas. New business should be a thrilling competition, not an obstacle course you run blindfolded. At its best, a pitch is a microcosm of everything that’s chaotic and creative about our business. So regardless of which side of the table you’re sitting, keep it simple and make it fun. If that’s what you throw out into the world, then yours will be a pitch worth chasing.

New business pitches are broken—here’s how agencies can fix them

Featured Stories