What Makes a Great Capabilities Pitch?

No matter the product, location, or goal of a business, prospective customers must be aware of what that business has to offer. Advertisers make that happen.  Advertising agencies are no different in their need to promote themselves effectively in order to obtain new clients. This is where a capabilities pitch comes in. A pitch is a way of letting the client know exactly what an agency has to offer. A well-crafted capabilities presentation will play a vital role in landing the job every time. So, how do agencies take the pitch from average to outstanding? It’s as simple as these four steps.

Step One: What we do.

Research. Research. Research. Research everything the potential client has ever done and learn all their strengths and weaknesses. An agency will never want to be caught off guard in a meeting. Highlight the agency strengths and align them with the job the client needs.  Know your agency’s weakness as well and don’t be afraid to admit a service that isn’t offered.

Step Two: Who we do it for.

Success is tangible.  Prove the agency’s core strengths with concrete examples.  Create a bulleted list that describes the talents and strengths of the agency.  Clients are visual.  Links, pictures, and case studies are specific examples of what may be used on a website in order to effectively communicate agency work.

Step Three: Why we’re different.

Don’t just sell yourself, listen, then sell the client.  Regardless of the talent the agency possesses, the needs of the client must be understood in order to gain their business.  Understanding the unique selling position of the client is the best way to begin the process of learning what the client needs.  An agency must know what makes their client stand out among their competitors. In order to advertise for a client, you must always keep in mind why they’re different.

Step Four: So What?

It’s the final countdown.  The last step is communicating why the client should choose your agency. This is accomplished by combining the previous three steps into one final message.  Taking special care to highlight the specific ways in which the agency is equipped to fulfill the client’s needs.

We’re going to get to work putting what we’ve learned here into practice. What about you?