Why Pitching New Business Sucks (Part 17 In A Continuing Series)
January 15th, 2011
True story.
Back in early December, I joined a local colleague and two SEO professionals from New York to pitch new business to a global company based here in Pennsylvania. The company was embarking on a Web site redesign and knew the project would take a solid year or more. In the meantime, they wanted to shore up their SEO profile.
We spent a couple of weeks preparing for the meeting and putting together a solid buttoned-down presentation. On December 3 we went in and had what felt like a good meeting; not an A+ home run, as those meetings can sometimes be, but a solid B or B+ for sure.
The next steps were clear: We were to provide references and additional background (we did) and the company was to provide a range of data from their Web analytics so that we could in turn develop a detailed projected proposal (they never did).
What followed was several weeks of radio silence during which several members of the presenting team followed up with requests for the data. On December 30 I followed up with a lengthy email that said, in part:
If there’s been a miscommunication or an erroneous expectation of some sort as the result of our meeting, I would appreciate knowing about it. If [company name] has decided to change its SEO plans for the coming year, I would appreciate that information as well.
Having been involved in Web development projects large and small over the past 15 years for regional, national and global companies, I understand that conditions can change rapidly and misunderstanding can occasionally occur.
What followed was two more weeks of radio silence. Today I finally brought it to closure:
I’m not quite sure what the issue is over there at [company name], but I do know that if an absolute lack of responsiveness is the way you typically deal with agencies and vendors, then I have no desire to work with [company name] on any level, now or in the future. The profound lack of professionalism and respect for others’ time on the part of [company name] has been deeply disappointing.
And that’s really what it is: A complete lack of professionalism and respect. For whatever reason they evidently decided they didn’t want to work with us. There were a half-dozen company representatives in that room; I would have thought one of them would have had the balls to explain why.
I get it: Pitching new business is part of being in business. Spending time on pitches and not getting the business is part of being in business. No problem. That’s the deal when you go into business.
The other part of the deal when you go into business is that you don’t necessarily have to work with people who have no respect for others on any professional level. In retrospect, I’m glad they didn’t respond right away; if they had, I might actually be in business with these schmucks today.
Takeaway for marketers: Look at the big picture. You may be pissed about something today, but in the longer run it may be one of the best things that’s ever happened to you.