How to Pitch a Client

How To Be on A Roll :Time After Time

If you work as a consultant or for an agency, you probably spend a fair amount of time being remarkable, convincing, and irresistable. Of course, not all days turn out that way, and I have had a number of client pitches that could have gone better. What matters most is being able to learn from mistakes, and perfecting pitch techniques as you go along. In my opinion, it’s not enough to just deliver a seemingly good pitch on the surface, but rather to read between the lines and peer into your audience’s thoughts.

Key Pitch Indicators

1. Overtones

We recall only about 50% of information that is delivered to us, 24 hours after processing and segmenting that information. Coupled with a lack of motivation, this is a key reason most people never create actionable plans – they simply can’t remember every relevant piece of information that they need to succeed. Similarly, in a client meeting, one can expect that the client won’t recall everything you talk to them about.

SEO, by its very nature involves a fair number of technical points in any discussion, and this is most likely what the client will not remember. Therefore, its important to have the right meeting overtones which a client can recall at any point because they can relate to what you’re telling them. These include:

Key Metrics They Understand - ROI, Brand Awareness, Recall : Not Clicks, Page Views, Bounces.
Case Studies of Past/Present Clients – Success that can be replicated for them.
Timelines, Budgets, Costs – Impart actionable strategies, and associated costs.

2. Undertones

Parts 2 & 3 relate to being able to read between the lines and really ‘read’ the client as you present. Things to observe include body language, inquisitiveness, lack of interest, and anxiety. The undertone of any meeting involves the direct perception of what is being said. In normal relationships, people always focus on what is coming out of their mouths, rather than how what other parties percieve what they are saying. In a client meeting, it’s imperative to read the client as they process what you are imparting. Some take aways a client perceives from a meeting that is going well includes:

This Guy/Girl Knows His/Her Stuff – Specialization is key to the success of any capitalist economy, and successful businesses understand that the value of their time in doing what they do best, while outsourcing the rest.
Glowing Recommendations – Case studies and testimonials help create trust and confidence in your skills. A colleague of mine name drops a lot during meetings, not to show off, but to reference all the good thingshis clients have to say about him. After all, who doesn’t want to work with the best, or have the best working for them?
You Will Take Care of Me and My Interests – The intangible value of positioning oneself as a thought partner to your client is paramount to building long term profitable relationships. No contract, pricing attractiveness, or actual business value can beat the trust that a client can place in you to ensure that their interests take precidence over your own in servicing them.

3. The After Taste

Much can be said about the after taste of any meeting. Looking back at many of the meetings you might been part of in your career, you probably won’t remember all the details, but are sure to remember how you felt after a particular meeting. By following steps 1 & 2, here is the ideal emotional recall that a client has after a great pitch.

The Warm Fuzzy Feeling – Man, that was a great meeting, wasn’t it? So we’re really going to this? Damn, I’m pumped about getting started. Those are all emotions that a client can feel after a great pitch.
Sign Now Because Time is Money – Nobody likes wasting time and opportunities, especially when you know you’re losing business to competitors. Instilling a sense of urgency will entice a client to sign earlier than later.
Anger & Testosterone – Strong A-type clients feel like they have a new weapon in their arsenal after understanding the potential of capturing market share from their competitors. I’ve had many an experience where the client has said ‘Dev, let’s blow them out of the water…’. This can work in your favour, as long as you set reasonable expectations for results with your client.
So there you have it – An actionable guide to perfecting your client pitch, employing sales tactics, human psychology, and the ability to instill and invoke different emotions. A veteran sales genius once taught me

“People Compare Similarities, but BUY the Differences”

“Any Sales Pitch is About a Transferrance of Emotion (regarding the product/service) From The Salesman to the Customer”

How to Manage layoffs

Two times in my life i had seen economic downturns and was pressurized to take some decisions that were many times against my heart. Call it by any name Downsizing, Rightsizing, Furloughs, Terminations or Layoffs but you will have to do the final 'Dirty Work' ensuring that the careers of terminated workforce is not affected by our decision. From here starts the tricky part. "How to keep rest of the employees motivated?"

As many of the studies prove, initially the remaining work force's motivational levels shoot up. Increasing the job responsibility of an employee would increase the motivational levels. This is due to the recognition and strong sense of responsibility.

But as the time progresses this alone would not help to keep the motivational levels high. First, some employees may begin to feel overloaded and overwhelmed. This can cause unnecessary tension and pressure. In these circumstances, many people begin to make mistakes, become irritable and often are less productive.

Even worse, they may gripe to other employees, criticize management and put forth less effort. Over the long haul, negative outcomes occur, such as decreased morale, motivation and productivity. This is the exact opposite effect you probably intended and wanted.

There is a spectrum of reasons expressed by the employees ranging from possible grief over the loss of colleagues--friends, peers and even managers to the nightmare of receiving the next pink slip. Some might actualy work due to this fear but as we can expect it would decrease the employee loyality.

It is a traditional approach that the manager in such conditions hide things behind desk and maintain as if nothing happened. But i suggest that you:

Meet with small groups of employees. Fully explain the current situation, the short-term outlook and the need for the action that you took.

Demonstrate sincere empathy. Be genuine and understanding toward the people who were let go and for the added responsibilities for those who remain. Ask individuals how they feel about the events that occurred. The key here is to allow them to vent their thoughts and emotions. This is the appropriate forum in which to do it, not behind your back, spreading rumors and ill will.

Recognize the powerful impact of your actions. Explain that you understand the additional responsibilities some employees will have to assume and the added stress some will have to endure. Describe how you will attempt to help them prioritize and deal with the changes, looking forward to success and accomplishment. Make every attempt where possible to eliminate unnecessary duties among the responsibilities other employees have had to assume.

Focus on positive action. Discuss how the difficult short-term steps will positively affect the future. With the changes you have made, you look forward to brighter, more secure prospects. When business improves, hopefully you will be able to rehire some of the terminated employees. Again, encourage them to share their feelings and try to empathize with them.

Let them know that leadership is on board. Explain that you and other management-level people will be available to discuss job questions, uncertainties and performance, gearing your comments to how to overcome obstacles in the way of success.

Be gracious. Sincerely thank everyone for trying to understand the difficult steps you have taken and for their attention, concern and willingness to put forth additional effort to get through these difficult times.

Mistakes of Steve Jobs

Very few people get the chance to make history. Even fewer get the chance to make it twice. Perhaps that is why it is so fascinating to watch Steve Jobs as he tries to usher in the era of mobile touch computing today, just as he ushered in the era of the personal computer three decades ago. But I wonder whether he is repeating the very same mistakes which relegated Macs to a niche market. Or did he learn from those mistakes so that Apple comes out on top this time?

Jobs is once again pitting Apple’s complete product design mastery against the rest of the industry, except this time he thinks he will prevail. Whether it is his repeated moves to keep Adobe’s Flash off the iPhone or his growing rift with Google over Android, Jobs is making the iPhone and iPad a relatively closed system that Apple can control. All apps need to be approved by Apple, the ads shown on the apps will also start to go through Apple, and no matter how hard Adobe tries to open up the iPhone to its Flash developers Apple will keep blocking all its efforts.

Developers and pundits can cry foul all they want about Apple’s lack of openness. But remember, companies are only open when it is convenient for them. The fight with Adobe has always been about making developers play by Apple’s rules. And right now they can make those rules because they have all the customers.

In the desktop era, Windows had the most apps, which translated directly into sales. Today on mobile, the iPhone has the most apps and Jobs wants to keep it that way. Allowing Adobe or Microsoft to port apps developed for other devices to the iPhone devalues the iPhone, which is why Apple is cracking down so hard on Adobe. It is not about Flash, it is about developers. As John Gruber writes:

The App Store platform could turn into a long-term de facto standard platform. That’s how Microsoft became Microsoft. At a certain point developers wrote apps for Windows because so many users were on Windows and users bought Windows PCs because all the software was being written for Windows. That’s the sort of situation that creates a license to print money.

But how long will that license last? The iPhone faces a growing threat from Google’s Android phones, which are the PCs of the mobile world. Only Apple makes the iPhone, but many phone manufacturers make Android phones just like many PC makers produce Windows PCs. Slowly but surely, those Android phones are getting better. And already Android sales are collectively catching up to iPhone sales.

Of all people, surely he sees what is coming. Is he ignoring his own history, or does he know it so well that this time he is going to try to rewrite it by changing the outcome? As long as the iPhone remains the leading smartphone, he can try to lock out Google’s ads and lock in developers with their apps (and, by extension, customers who want those apps).

Still, it seems like history could repeat itself, with the rest of the industry closing the innovation gap with Apple fast. With Google subsidizing the mobile OS, other phone manufacturers have an economic advantage as well. Jobs is trying everything he can to hold back the Android advance, including suing HTC, the largest manufacturer of Android phones. He is fighting Google with everything he’s got—undercutting Google’s pending acquisition of AdMob by entering the mobile advertising market and creating fear among Android partners with his patent lawsuit.

In the end, it is the victors who write history. Right now, Jobs is winning. Can he keep winning or is history against him?

Blue Ocean Strategy

Creating a new business is hard (understatement). But if it is successful, there is nothing greater. I read a book that looks at new businesses in a new and exciting way. Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne is about creating a new market space to avoid battling with competitors. The term red ocean refers to the bloody waters of fierce competition. Conversely, a blue ocean is a new market space that creates demand and has no direct competition. Here are two examples of blue oceans that have really been very successful!

Cirque du Soleil took the classic circus idea in an entirely new and amazing direction! They ditched the traditional 3 ring tent for a theatrical phenomenon that has taken the world by storm! They eliminated and reduced many of the traditional circus “rules” and created a whole new show. There is nothing like it, and it has been more that a success with over 20 different shows throughout the world.

Southwest Airlines has taken a completely different approach to the airline industry. At the time of Southwest’s arrival, the industry was full of big airliners with lots of luxury frills that kept prices high. Southwest came in with a bare-bones approach to travel that made it possible for very low fares. They targeted business travelers and eliminated meals, long flights, lounges, seating choices, but they offered amazing friendly service, speed and frequency of departures. Their business was highly efficient, keeping their costs and prices low. Now there are many imitators, but none have been as successful as Southwest.

Slice Marketing Review

Slice is the mango fruit drink brand from the Pepsi stable. Slice was launched in India in 1994. But even after 15 years, the brand has not been able to make a mark in the Indian market. The product was good, had the backing of world's best marketing company but could not become the market leader in the segment.

This analysis of mine is to do more with its Marketing Concepts alone and does not involve in any other

Issues With Positioning:

Slice never had a proper consistent positioning. It could have become an umbrella brand had Pepsi invested in the brand. But the promotional investment behind the brand was never consistent. While Frooti and Maaza positioned themselves on the Real Mango Flavor platform, Slice was a confused brand. It was unsure of what its 'Ultimate Drilling Word'.

I guess in 2005-06 Pepsi started seeing Slice as a potential Killer Brand. In 2006, the brand took the positioning of a provider of simple joy platform. The tagline was " Simple Joy ka Raas " . But there also the brand did not catch the imagination of the consumer.

Slice was relaunched in 2008 in a new avataar. Atlast, Slice anchored itself as a mango drink. The brand launched a very smart campaign - Aamsutra . They made it sensual, got in Bollywood Beauty Katrina Kaif as brand ambassidor, the shape of the bottle changed. These steps have worked for Slice it could position itself atlast!



But the euphoria died quickly. In 2009 and 10 they came with the extension of the same campaign. Than moving away from the sensuality they started concentrating more on the same now. I would not blame some brand for using sensuality to break the ice, but it is a bad idea to continue on with that on a long term basis. Since the brand is growing now, it is time for the Brand to look beyond sensuality.

Also an other problem is that the average screen life of the bollywood divas is 8-10 years. Kat is nearing that end.. it is just inevitable. She would be a good actor but might not be a diva then. Brand Slice would find itself in crisis the moment this problem arises.

I am not a cynic but would want brand Slice to look for sustainable marketing strategies and not 'boosters'.