By Darren Gilbert

What might work for one client will fall flat for another. However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t a few pointers that you should at least consider when next you have the chance to pitch. They may even secure you the account. We asked a few PR’s what they consider absolute no-no’s.

You’re making promises you can’t keep

Don’t promise the world when you know you can’t deliver. It’s a reworked cliché, to be honest, but it’s appropriate considering the topic.

“Don’t promise that their brand will be featured in all the glossies, just to find that perhaps their brand does not resonate with the media titles,” says Butter Knife PR, a lifestyle and consumer PR agency based in Cape Town.

Gabbi Rego, head of PR at CN&CO agrees: “To this day, I hear of agencies or individual publicists who promise to get their clients X Rand value of AVE (which in itself is not a true measurement of value for PR) or promise to get them into all major media outlets before they even know what they’ll be pitching or motivating for.”

The result is a client that is angry while your agency’s reputation suffers. “When it comes to PR, you cannot control when the media will publish something from/about your client, if they even publish it at all,” adds Rego.

Rather under promise and over deliver. The client will love you for it.

You’re thinking about yourself first before selling your approach

It’s tempting to talk about yourself whenever you meet someone for the first time. Or even when you chat to someone you know well. When it comes to pitching to a potential client, however, it’s best to refrain. At least for a while.

“I have found that clients are there to hear about themselves,” says Rebecca Cronje, director of Cultivate Communications, “not about who you are.” So instead of going on about your agency and how amazing you are, sell them on your thinking first.

After all, it’s what you can do for your client that will impress them.

Once you’ve done that, then “wax lyrical why you think you’re the agency for them and why you think you’ve answered their brief”, adds Cronje.

You’re too cold and clinical in your approach

Having said that, when it comes to any pitch, it’s important that you don’t become, as Rego puts it, “too clinical”.

“Yes, you want to come across as being professional and knowing what you’re talking about to a potential client,” she says, “but don’t forget, you are pitching to human beings with feelings and thoughts.”

‘Cold and calculating’ alone doesn’t get the blood pumping. Instead, include a balance that has you appealing to their emotions as much as their bottom line.

“It is possible to be charismatic and build a relationship with a person in a pitch, while at the same time displaying professionalism and showing the potential client that you are damn great at your job and deserve the business,” adds Rego.

If you go in solely focusing on the business element of the pitch, it will show. You’ll most likely come across as a robot, executing moves and commands rather than reacting to the situation. The result will be a lost opportunity to connect with your client on a human level and build a relationship.

After all, isn’t that what PR is all about; building mutually beneficial relationships? Why would you want to ruin that?

What are your thoughts? What else is a big no-no when it comes to pitching to a potential client?