Pitch Perfect(ish) - Tips for that Finals Presentation

So, you’ve done the hard yards. You’ve built your relationship with the consultant and got onto a long list. You've submitted the exhaustive client questionnaire, trying desperately to keep it consistent, and not looking like it’s been cobbled together from old responses to previous enquiries. You and your sales people have built the relationship with the client, and got them to feel positive about your company and product. They’ve even been to your thought leadership event in a nice hotel somewhere.

So now you’ve got to the finals. The prospect or their consultant invites you to pitch, and it’s your chance to shine. You might feel you’re ideally placed to win: your performance is good, you have a good story to tell, and surely nothing can stand between you and that tasty (not to mention lucrative) investment mandate.

Yet so frequently it doesn’t happen. Yes, the competition is strong, with far more players in the institutional investment management world than twenty years ago, but decisions can be swung by many factors, some of them seemingly random and frustratingly beyond your control.

There are many common errors in pitches and their preparation which can have a deleterious effect on your chances. But by controlling the controllables, you minimise your chances of losing. There will always be the chance of an uncontrollable or arbitrary dislike (they didn’t like your shirt or somesuch nonsense), but this is about the stuff you can control.

This article doesn’t attempt to cover everything, but simply highlights some key concepts which long years of experience have shown are best followed.  

First, be yourself, both personally and professionally. Dress as you would for a working day (maybe polish your shoes the night before though). Don’t make a huge effort to be in all your best finery, like you’re going to a wedding. You want to feel like it’s a working day, not a photo shoot. If you don’t wear a pocket square normally, don’t wear it on pitch day. The same goes for jewellery, so don’t scatter yourself in sparkles unless that’s how you dress in the office. So long as you are smart, there are no curry stains on your shirt/blouse/tie, your hair is tidied and your flies done up (yes, that mistake does get made…), that’s fine.

Equally, you don’t need to try to mirror your client. Don’t feel you have to wear tweed to see a rural client, or dress less formally for a manufacturing company. Be who you are, don’t try to be like your client. They are hiring you as professional investors, so look and behave like that’s what you are.

Finally on being yourself, treat people as you’d treat anyone, friendly and professional. Smile when you walk in, and greet everyone individually (unless there’s hundreds of them, clearly). Don’t put yourself on a pedestal either; in fact, a good touch of self-deprecation at the beginning of the presentation gets people on your side very quickly.

Second, relate to your client. No, this doesn’t contradict what’s above. This is about understanding their needs, and relating to them as people and professionals. Make sure in your presentation that you verbally reach out to the client. Use “you” frequently, explain why your solution is right “for you”, not just why it’s good.  Set your presentation in the context of their situation, their industry, their world.  If you can, pick up on a point made in the social niceties at the beginning, and relate it to your presentation. Result: a warm feeling in the person who’s said something that you’ve clearly listened to.

So, to the presentation itself. There are many obvious things to say like keep to the allotted time, make good eye contact with everyone in the room, and speak clearly and confidently, but content and structure are hugely important too. So structure your pitch carefully, delivering, repeating and emphasising your main messages in the right way, and in the right order.

Of course, you have to know what your key messages are first. This should be ingrained in you and your colleagues well in advance, giving you the best chance of success. If you don't believe the messages, you'll never convince others to do so. Don’t try to tell a long story, tell them why you’re different from, and better than, your competition. 

Try to think of a pitch as a piece of music, maybe a concerto, with three movements. The first movement is bright and positive, and states the main themes and messages clearly and confidently.  The second movement is more detailed, slower, deeper, and develops each of those themes, turning them around and giving examples and practical applications.  The final part brings everything home, reminds listeners of the main themes before bringing them together in a final restatement and emphasis (musicians might even say a recapitulation), for a rousing finale.  You want your clients humming your tune by the end of the pitch, not the tune the opposition played. (Incidentally, you can apply the structure of a twelve-bar blues to this just as easily as a concerto; the similarities are remarkable, but I digress...).

There’s a huge amount more detail in this structure, but the form above is a great start.  But remember to get those three big messages (and three is plenty, people won’t remember any more than that) in the right order.  Have an honest think to yourself, and you’ll find that of your three messages, one will be the strongest, one in the middle and one weakest. If one is really weak, you should really rethink your presentation, but even with three great themes, there will be a pecking order. Know what that is, and work with it.

So do you go 1, 2, 3? No. Remember the musical analogy. You want a rousing finale, so put your best point last, so you go out with a bang. Put your second best point first, to give a strong opening, and the third best argument sits in the middle. You’re not hiding that message, merely delivering the best impact on the others, while also helping the rhythm and shape of the presentation. So it’s 2, 3, 1. Your last shot should be the best.

Use this order in all three sections of the presentation (statement, development, conclusion), and again, the rhythm and structure become more cohesive. That way the listener will feel they’ve heard the whole story and will be more likely to remember the key messages.

So there’s the pitch done, and you’ve delivered a strong performance. Then follows the Q&A section, where again many decisions are settled. There are many pitfalls, but maybe two things need to be highlighted above all else. 

First, try to keep answers short and definitive. A rule of thumb is to try to use a single grammatical sentence as an answer, then shut up before you start waffling. It’s a good idea to take a couple of seconds to think before saying anything too. You’ll give a better answer that way.

Second, don’t get into protracted sparring. You will get audience members with an axe to grind and who want to make a point. Sometimes it’s better to let them have their say, then respond, simply and humbly, with your view, before, it is hoped, moving on to the next question.

And that’s it. You’ve finished. Make your farewells, remembering to smile (particularly at the person with the axe to grind), leave the room and head for the nearest coffee shop or bar to relax, let the adrenaline drain away, and debrief. If you’ve followed everything above, you’ve controlled many of the controllables, and given a good account of yourself. It won’t always work of course, but it will give you a better hit rate. Travelling to a pitch, which could be anywhere in the world, is an exhausting and expensive, not to mention climate-unfriendly affair, so you have an obligation to do the best you can. There will always be uncontrollable factors that can derail you, but there’s nothing you can do about them, by definition. Focus on what you can control, and deliver it well. Good luck!