I get “pitched” a lot. It’s interesting because in most cases I don’t think the other person is really thinking about it as “pitching” me. Rather, they come to me with an idea or a suggestion of something they’d like to see happen which I have either some degree of control over or full control over, and they approach the conversation with me as simply “sharing” or “running something by me.”
Well, the reality is if you’re coming to me and asking me to give part of my day and my brain space to the idea you’re sharing with me, and if you want my help making it happen, then you’re pitching me. If you’re going to do this and expect me to be open to your idea then you need to have these three things in mind when you approach me (and when you approach an editor, recruiter, hiring executive, your CEO, conference organizer, etc…):
1. You absolutely need energy and passion behind your idea and it must infuse the way you present it to me. If we’re on the phone and I can’t feel your energy then it’s much less likely that I’ll say “yes” at the end of the call. If you send me something in writing and your passion isn’t jumping off the page at me then I’m more likely to be distracted by something else that does scream “passion.” That’s just reality.
After all, if you’re asking me to help you bring your idea to fruition and I can’t feel your own commitment to it, then I am, in essence, taking a much greater risk by saying, “yes.”
2. The clarity of your message is critical. Absolutely critical. I need to understand it without struggling if you are going to be successful. Moreover, I need to be able to envision how I will communicate it and champion it to others. Because no matter my level in the organization there is someone I will need to communicate and champion it to. Even the CEO must be able to communicate to her/his Board and shareholders why they said “yes” to funding your initiative.
Make this easy for me up-front by presenting a crystal-clear message and you’re more likely to get me to “yes.”
3. Your pitch must be aligned with my vision. Take the time up-front to understand what I am focused on providing for my stakeholders. Develop a good understanding of the vision that I have for my organization and for my customers, my clients or my shareholders and of the commitment I have made to them. Then look back at what you’re proposing to me and ensure that you see alignment. If not, then it would be very difficult to get me to “yes.”
Do these three requirements resonate with you? What gets you to “yes?” Please share in the comments so we can learn from your experiences…
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Photo is It’s Yes I Said Yes by It’sGreg.
23 Response Comments
I love these tips Lisa. I think one thing the person pitching needs to realize that my relevance is probably not their relevance. For example, if you’ve spent any amount of time reading my blog, you know that customer evangelism and efforts by companies to reach these people are topics that resonate with me. However I am NEVER pitched on anything relating to customer evangelism, it’s always about some topic that I rarely, if ever, blog about.
I hate to say it, but I’ve gotten so jaded toward pitches that I delete 99% of them as soon as they come in. I really need to write a ‘How to Pitch Me’ post. Thanks for the reminder!
Thanks so much, Mack!
And thank you for making it so clear why people need to understand your vision – your relevance – before coming to you if they want to be successful pitching you! The fact that you delete 99% of them says everything.
Thanks again for all of your amazing support!
Hi Lisa,
Chris Brogan has written about how people love to “pick his brain” over a ‘free’ lunch. A couple of months ago he posted about “Make the Ask” and he talks about your second point regarding clarity.
Your willingness to share how you evaluate requests is commendable. You are a leader and as Mark Schaefer talked about today: “Leaders Dispense Hope.” By providing these guidelines to your followers you are dispensing HOPE.
Also, when you say: “Moreover, I need to be able to envision how I will communicate it and champion it to others. Because no matter my level in the organization there is someone I will need to communicate and champion it to.” — I love that you use the word ‘champion.’ You and I talked about that word earlier this month when you posted: “Why You Must Rethink Your Marketing.”
As always…I learn from you with every post.
Judy
Judy,
You and I really do think so much alike! I loved Mark Schaefer’s post today about leaders dispensing hope! I didn’t see the connection to this post – so thank you so much for providing that for me!
And yes, knowing how and when to champion is an important leadership skill that I think you and I see eye to eye on!
Thank you so much, as always, Judy!
Lisa,
Great topic and read! I really like your first point about “passion.” If the owner of the idea or project doesn’t have the passion that is a great indicator that you do need to move to step 2.
Mark Burgess
Thanks, Mark! One of our MENG members who is a recruiter mentioned that without it you’re not “passing Go” – and I’ve realized that I respond the same way when someone is pitching me on the phone and I am just not “feeling it…” I have to work harder to justify the idea, and should not need to do so…
Thank you for sharing your time/insights Mark!
Excellent tips! And don’t forget to use your manners–don’t just simply show up at someone’s office or call them without a scheduled appointment and expect them to give you the undivided attention your idea may very well deserve.
Staci,
Great point! Thank you for adding it to the list… 🙂 The key you raise is “undivided attention” – which you won’t get if you haven’t been courteous.
Thank you so much for taking the time to add to the list!
Good stuff, Lisa. At some point I would like to see a bit of market research, competitive analysis, fit with overall strategy. risks and a business case with all of the assumptions behind the numbers. But even during the first discussion, I would like to hear the specific goals of the project and the metrics that would enable us to monitor progress, or lack thereof.
Rob,
Of course! But without these first three you probably won’t get to that point… 🙂
Thank you so much for the comment – I am honored when a fellow MENGer stops by!
Hello Lisa! – You continue to WOW me with every one of your blog posts!! – Reality is that with every blog post one makes …..we’re “Pitching” our audience ….. What do You think? 🙂
Oh my goodness – the video froze at 11 secs. http://www.twitvid.com/5U5QK – well …. I’m just going to have to come back tomorrow and do another one for another post of yours 🙂
See You Tomorrow 🙂
Thank you, Cate! That means a lot to me!
Interesting perspective you raise about blog posts! – I think we “pitch” with our titles and people decide, sometimes in a split second, if it’s of interest and if they’ll invest the time and brain power… 🙂
Thank you so much for trying to record a video – your interest and the time you spend with me and on my blog is so genuinely appreciated! 🙂
Lisa, You could write a whole post on point #3. Done authentically it’s about 90% of what’s required to close business deals. In my humble opinion.
Jim,
I think you’re right…which one of us should write it? 🙂 Maybe we both should!
Lisa
#3 is one of the biggest considerations people need to make before reaching out to pitch. We see it a lot where people are pitching the popular to go for what is perceived to be the big hit and instant attention. When it is not aligned with their vision, the pitch was wasted and the grand illusions that instant success will be attained becomes a distant memory.
Doing your homework before pitching and making sure that your idea, product or service are something that would be a match. Funny how people buy from people but yet when it comes to pitching that part seems to get lost in the translation. People pitch goods and services created by people. Seems simple but yet oh so hard.
@SuzanneVara
Suzanne,
Such a great point – you would think as “buyers” we would understand at a fundamental level how to “pitch” and how to do it well…but that’s very often not the case. And I love how you raise the point about “grand illusions.” They’re usually easy to envision when they involve other people coming through, right?!!
Thanks so much for your insights – so greatly appreciated!
My favorite radio station is W.I.I.F.M.
Anyone know what those “call letters” stand for?
They need to be extended sometimes to include A.M.C. (and my customers/clients)! 🙂
Touché
To me a good pitch has to go both ways. Are you pitching something just for your own benefit or is it a team benefit. I can see right through pitches that are all about the pitchers own agenda. Passion is important, communication is important…overall objective needs to be real clear. I am with you on the time point Lisa. Too many ideas are delivered with “air statistics” as I call them. Do the research, be well prepared and give me the data to support your direction. Good read my friend–be well.
Thank you, Jonathan!
Interesting that you raise the point of the pitcher’s own agenda v. the larger team’s or whoever the pitcher is representing – great point and I am definitely going to keep it in the back of my mind!
Lisa, thanks for a great post. With so many professionals now moving into the entrepreneurial side, the science of “the pitch” will probably soon be proclaimed as an art form. At least, I’m sure that we will be seeing it have its own dedicated blogs before too long.
Thanks for leading the pack on the subject.
Anne-Marie,
I love that insight that it may be its own niche and have its own dedicated blogs! So glad to have connected and I really appreciate you taking the time to comment!