Why the Brexit Pitch Won - and why it's now falling apart

There are a few lessons to be learned from the Brexit pitch of what to do - and what NOT to do - for anyone who needs to pitch.

As a British citizen living happily in The Netherlands, I watch in horror as the reality of Brexit unfolds. In just 15 months, Britain has steered itself from a position of prosperity and comfort, to the point where it seems to be hurtling towards the edge of an economic cliff.

The Brexit decision now looks insane. Yet more than 50% of the British people voted for it. How did this happen?

Simple. It all started with a pitch. And then it failed, because the pitch was flawed.

Let's start with the three big reasons why this pitch succeeded.

1. They pitched - and quantified - the Pain.

Back in 2016, a bunch of energetic people, led by charismatic speakers Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage, got together and created the Leave campaign. The very first message in all literature was;

We send over ￡350 million to the EU every week – enough to build a modern hospital.

This was followed up by a visual that appeared everywhere - in press, on social media, and on campaign buses - expressing this need to take control of a quantified pain - and save the NHS (National Health Service).

It was a problem that people could talk about and pass on to their friends and colleagues in the pub and the coffee machine.

(But - was it true...? See below in the failures.)

Meanwhile, the Remain campaign mentioned that 3 million jobs are linked to the EU, prices are lower (but not by how much) due to the EU, 200,000 companies to business with the EU. But nowhere did they tell the Pain - there was no clear indication of what would happen if Britain was not part of the EU - just a neutral statement of a series of facts, leaving people to make their own conclusion.

The Leave campaign was clear and memorable, thanks to quantified pain.

2. They pitched it simple.

There were five basic pillars of the Leave campaign. Health; Control of our Laws; Immigration; Trade; and Safety. However, the subject the Leave campaign consistently returned to was Immigration.

They knew that this was what moved people - 'Controlling our borders.' This was the story told in the office and in the pub - nobody talked about the impact on trade when having lunch or a beer. They talked about foreigners.

3. They pitched the emotion.

In one statement, the Leave campaign said;

'If we vote to remain, EU laws will overrule UK laws and the European Courts will be in control of our trade, our borders, and big decisions like whether prisoners are allowed to vote.'

My goodness - who wants prisoners to have the right to vote? Whether this was actually happening or not, as a result of EU legislation, was not the issue. It's a simple plea to the heart. Instead, they told us:

'If we Vote Leave, UK laws will have ultimate authority and we will take back control.'

Ultimate authority - take back control - brilliant statements to cause people to feel secure, under the threat posed. The campaign was even named Project Fear!

Shameless emotional framing of remaining in the EU as disastrous for the National Health Service was also seen in this advert;

Now check the emotion in this Remain campaign. Could they have got a more lifeless voiceover? I doubt it.

'6 Reasons' = Pure fact. 'You need to vote...' = We tell you what to do. Meanwhile the Leave campaign was saying, 'Take back Control.'

I mean, seriously - which one would you choose?

Oh - one more thing... They had a better pitcher.

Nigel Farage is one of the most convincing speakers I have ever heard. He has been a politician for 20 years, with a Far Right ticket that never gained any traction - his party regularly failed to gain 5% of the vote over a 20 year period. But this was his moment.

With a clearly quantified message, a story that touched the emotions, and simple messages to communicate, he outshone then Prime Minister David Cameron and crew.

Conclusion: the Leave Vote won and Brexit became very real.

So does this mean you can pitch anything? Does this mean you can hustle your way into persuading people about bad ideas? Isn't The Pitch a dangerous thing?

Well, here's the three reasons why the Brexit pitch is falling apart.

Failure 1: They don't believe their own pitch.

Prime Minister Theresa May has regularly been asked - do you stand behind the Brexit decision? She refused to answer. Why on earth did they ask her to be Prime Minister - she voted against Brexit in the first place!

It's like asking someone who doesn't have a car to be CEO of a Parking App company. They don't believe in the problem they are solving. And neither does Theresa May.

Conviction in the story, believing every word, and being prepared to stand up for what you believe, is critical for any pitch.

Failure 2: They lied.

The 350 Million statement was simply untrue. Just like a lot of other statements made by the Leave leaders were untrue. But they stated them with enough confidence, and received so little resistance from the Remain campaign, that they were not challenged on them - until after the vote!

In my coaching, I insist that nothing is untrue. Yes, shine the light on the good stuff, but;

Startups that tell untrue stories of customer deals signed, or funding raised, will always get found out.

Failure 3: Nobody was prepared for winning.

You succeed - now what? Those trying to negotiate a good settlement - or, in the words of Boris Johnson, 'have our cake and eat it' - have discovered that the EU doesn't quite see it that way. Neither does the US (who recently imposed a 219% tariff on a major UK export to US. So much for the 'great deal' our 'friend' Trump promised. Great for whom?)

The leave politicians had no idea what they were pitching for, and what the consequences of success would be. This can also be the case for a Startup that pitches the idea of scaling their business, if they get funding.

Many Startups have no experience of growing a company, and fail even after raising funding. Knowing what the big milestones might be, and how to achieve them, is an important part of the pitch.

Startups can learn a lot from this mess. The big advantage for them, compared to these Leave politicians is: they get the chance to experiment with limited consequences of failure. The UK politicians are dealing with 60 million lives!

They most certainly should have taken the pitch more seriously.

David Beckett is a pitch coach to Startups, Scale Ups and Innovation teams at major corporates. He made his own personal Brexit 20 years ago, and is currently seeking Dutch nationality.

Find out more about his work at pitchprofessionals.com.

Check out his Pitch Academy. Find out more HERE.