How to Make a Good Pitch

Episode 892: How to Make a Good Pitch, with Judy Sparks and Katie Cash

How to make a good pitch in sales? Listen to Judy and Katie share their methods on how to make a good pitch.

Time to learn how to make a good pitch with some guidance from our guests, Judy Sparks and Katie Cash. 

About Judy Sparks

Judy is the founder, CEO, and President of Smartegies LLC. Founded in 2008, Smartegies is a specialty marketing agency that has helped more than 150 companies across North America build stronger brands, implement effective communications, and develop winning strategies and proposals. Judy has worked in B2B marketing and sales roles exclusively since 1993, specializing in the AEC industry. Judy is a true expert in AEC marketing and has a proven record of success across her 25 years in the field.

About Katie Cash

Katie is an architecture, engineering, and construction marketer with over 15 years of experience serving the AEC industry. Katie is an expert strategist who helps her clients win big projects through creative marketing methods. Katie believes in thinking outside the box and has a gift for tackling challenges by using innovative and unconventional solutions. Today, Katie serves as the Vice President of Smartegies, working alongside Judy to help clients achieve maximum impact in their marketing efforts.

What you will learn in this episode about how to make a good pitch:

• The struggles that Judy saw in the design and construction industry that led her to start Smartegies
• Katie’s path to meeting Judy and what attracted her to work with Smartegies
• The changes that are happening within the design and construction industry and why marketing seems to have become an afterthought
• How Smartegies creates an impact and educates their clients on ways they can build a brand that will help them build their business
• How Smartegies defines marketing and sales
• How to make a good pitch and set yourself apart in the industry
• Why Strategies talks about strategies and how to support their clients’ business goals before getting into a project
• Why looking at other B2B industries can help innovate your marketing strategy
• How companies can stand out in the AEC industry with the “Art of the Pitch”
• The number one prevailing emotion that triggers someone to want to hire a firm
• The three things that Smartegies believes a presentation should do in order to stand out in a pitch
• Learn how to make a good pitch by incorporating some emotional storytelling
• Why more agencies/organizations are not implementing the “Art of the Pitch” process
• The skill that business owners need to master before being good at implementing the “Art of the Pitch” process
• Why design and construction firms need to be open to the idea of change
• The importance of recognizing when you need expert’s advice

Resources:

• Website: smartegies.com
• Judy Sparks Email: [email protected]
• Katie Cash Email: [email protected]
• Get more insights on how to make a good pitch by listening to these strategies from Judy and Katie

Additional Resources:

• Sell With Authority by Drew McLellan and Stephen Woessner: https://amzn.to/39y7x13
• Predictive ROI Free Resource Library: https://predictiveroi.com/resources/
• Stephen Woessner’s LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/stephenwoessner/
• Learn how to make a good pitch to generate leads and sales

 

 

How to Make a Good Pitch: Full Episode Transcript

 

Get ready to find your recipe for success from America’s top business owners here at Onward Nation with your host, Stephen Woessner.

 

Good morning. I am Stephen Woessner, CEO of Predictive ROI and your host for Onward Nation, where I interview today’s top business owners so we can learn their recipe for success, how they built and how they scaled their business. In fact, my team at Predictive ROI, well, we recently rebuilt our free resources section on PredictiveROI.com, so you can now download free practical and tactical guides for everything from search engine optimization to how to use LinkedIn to generate leads or other success strategies that we have compiled from the brilliant insights shared by our very generous guests.

 

Just go to PredictiveROI.com/Resources and whatever you request, we will send it right to your inbox. 

 

Learn more about how to make a good pitch by checking out these strategies from Judy and Katie

 

How to Make a Good Pitch: Judy Sparks and Katie Cash’s Introduction

 

Now let’s welcome today’s very special guests, Judy Sparks and Katie Cash. Judy has over 25 years of experience helping for profit companies, nonprofit organizations, and public agencies to develop and communicate their brand promise to their respective audiences. Judy and her Smart team have led visual communication and public outreach efforts for more than 150 organizations throughout the United States and Canada.

 

Katie is a seasoned marketer with over 15 years of experience serving both public and private industries, developing and managing business to business and business to consumer marketing campaigns. Katie joined Smartegies and Judy in 2011 and now serves as the firm’s vice president, where she leads strategy and relationships with clients. Welcome to Onward Nation, Judy and Katie. 

 

Learn more about how to make a good pitch by checking out these strategies from Judy and Katie

 

How to Make a Good Pitch: Judy’s Path and Journey

 

Thanks, Stephen. Glad to be here. Yes, thanks for hosting us. We’re so excited. My gosh. Well, thank you for saying yes. It is awesome to be able to spend the time with you, the two of you, so we can talk about a wide variety of things that I think are going to be really, really helpful to Onward Nation business owners who are in the trenches with brand and communication strategy and working with their clients.

 

And so your insights and wisdom are going to be super, super helpful to all of our listeners. So I’m very, very excited to have that conversation. However, before we do that, take us behind the curtain here. You’re both of your buyers. Super impressive. Your body of work, of experience, super impressive. But they both really only tell a portion of the story.

 

So let’s start with Judy and then we’ll go to Katie. But take us behind the curtain and tell us more about your respective paths, journeys that led you to this point. And then we’ll dive in with the questions. Great. So this is Judy, and I am very honored to be on your show, Stephen. My path is one that really was organic and not really premeditated.

 

But, in hindsight, all of the events in my career led me to Smartegies and what we do today for clients. I started in the design and construction industry, literally answering the telephone at a construction management firm while going to school at Georgia State University. Full time and, it was there in my first job that I really began to understand the nuances and how special the design and construction industry is in terms of how firms position themselves, how competitive the environment is.

 

If you think about the built environment, it’s all around us, buildings, parks, parking lots, airports, it is part of the everyday fabric of life. And so I never really thought about who designed that building or who built that building. And there’s a whole process that enables firms to do that. And so I really fell in love with the industry, as a young adult, and never really left.

 

And so, I like to tell my story in a way that, it says that I’ve, I’ve spent time on every rung of the career ladder, from answering the telephone to my last job as the chief marketing officer of an international design build firm where I. Ebersol all of our U.S. operations and, I should say, us marketing operations and our presence in Europe.

 

And during that time, I had a very talented in-house team. But I also had 3 or 4 agencies on retainer. And what I found to be the biggest struggle is because the design and construction industry is very different from a lot of B2B environments. I spent a lot of time educating those industries about my business, and that became incredibly frustrating.

 

Learn more about how to make a good pitch by checking out these strategies from Judy and Katie

 

How to Make a Good Pitch: How Smartegies Started

 

So when I started Smartegies in 2008, it was really to serve a need that I believed existed in the industry. And that is to have a marketing partner that really, truly understands your business and who can bring marketing solutions that drive the bottom line. And so I started the business, as a new mom in 2008, by myself in my kitchen.

 

And today, we have served over 150 brands in North America. And, I love it more today than I did even when I started. So, for me, it’s been a calling and a pleasure and, truly, rewarding career path. Wow. I don’t know if that answers your question, but that is my story.

 

It answers it wonderfully well. And in a great highlight that we’re going to come back to after, Katie also shares insights on her path and, and that big insight, that big Onward Nation that I really want us to delve into a little bit more is about that partner piece. You know, we’re all in the business to business space.

 

We’re all trying to help and serve clients the best we can in this partner piece that Judy, really believes strongly in. And I think that there are some big nuggets of value there. So we’ll come back to that. 

 

Learn more about how to make a good pitch by checking out these strategies from Judy and Katie

 

How to Make a Good Pitch: Kate’s Path and Journey

 

So Katie, take us into your path and journey. Sure. So very similar to Judy. My path to where I sit today was very organic.

 

Some might say it was just destiny that had the plan for me, but I found myself, coming out of college with a degree in communications and marketing, and then met Judy, who hired me right out of college at that international design build firm. And I found myself being part of a very progressive team in charge of the pursuit, winning both public sector and private sector design, construction and ultimately design, build work.

 

And really caught the bug. I loved the pursuit of the chase. I loved feeling like I was part of building these new landmarks across town and seeing our firm’s impact in the city skylines around the country, and really enjoyed the industry. I really can’t escape it. I married a civil engineer, so we talk about work when we go home, my family and the heavy equipment business.

 

So we talk about that over Thanksgiving and Christmas. But I really do love the industry in which we serve. And when I decided to follow Judy as she started Smartegies and kind of expand my path into the agency world, I really enjoy the fact that we can spread our marketing wings a little bit wider, and lift up our industry a little bit more to be a little more progressive when it comes to marketing and sales applications and tactics and how we can help those professional service firms when work, advance their brand and ultimately secure work.

 

Because again, I’m very competitive and I love that part of the job. So let’s go a little bit deeper. Because I just noticed, at least I think on the surface and maybe there’s some connective tissue here. Maybe, maybe they’re two separate topics, but, Katie, you just mentioned being able to lift up to the industry.

 

I’m looking back at my notes again about this partner piece that as Judy was sharing that too, it sounds like some real commonality there between the two of you. That not only is Smartegies looking to serve clients, but it seems like it runs deeper than that. It seems like you’re actually trying to impact whether you’re working with that company or not.

 

Learn more about how to make a good pitch by checking out these strategies from Judy and Katie

 

How to Make a Good Pitch: Changes That Are Happening in The Industry

 

You’re trying to impact companies as a whole, trying to impact the industry as a whole, to be almost like a guiding light, if you will, for the entire industry. Am I tracking with the two of you there, Judy? What do you think? Well, I think the industry is going through a lot of change right now. I think that there are a lot of activities around mergers and acquisitions.

 

I think there’s always the threat of commoditization. And I think that our industry at large has historically been based on a relationship based sales model. And as a result, marketing has been sort of an afterthought. If it’s been thought of at all. Still today, even the largest firms, are led by technically trained professionals, engineers, building construction, professionals, architects who really, are operationally focused and, I think that they’re very aware of the marketing world around them, that the prevalence of social media, the prevalence of digital communications, but the application of how it applies to their business is it’s difficult for them.

 

And so I think that’s where we become a good partner is understanding the marketing applications. And then because we have such a deep love and understanding of how our clients make money, we’re able to marry the two in a way that really makes sense for our CEOs that we work for. I think that a lot of times firms come to us with a problem at hand, like we keep coming in second for an interview.

 

I don’t know what we’re doing wrong, and it’s really, you know, thinking about the presentation as an actual pitch and there’s an art to a pitch. And how do you make a compelling story about your firm? I think that there’s also, the tendency for firms in our industry to be very inwardly focused where they truly believe that what they’re doing is different and special.

 

But, where we sit, we have this advantage of seeing a lot of different brands in the same space and being able to tell our customers with confidence. I know that what you’re doing is special, but it’s not different. And, so we need to really pull out those differentiators, and position your brand. And honestly, it’s even the idea of a company being a brand that is, believe it or not, really new for our customers.

 

So I don’t know if that has answered your question, Stephen, but I think that the partnership is really, the value of the partnership is our ability to say, this is how marketing online can actually work for you, because we have a deeper understanding of their business. Whereas some of the B2B tactics and B2C tactics wouldn’t apply.

 

Learn more about how to make a good pitch by checking out these strategies from Judy and Katie

 

How to Make a Good Pitch: Building and Designing a Brand

 

Yeah. Okay. That makes a lot of sense. And so Katie, take what Judy just shared there and tie that back into because again, I’m assuming there’s a connective tissue here tying that back into lifting up the industry piece you mentioned, because it really sounds like the two of you have that in common.

 

And maybe that’s what also helps, you know, in a DNA level makes Smartegies so awesome. Yeah. So for me, you know, as a young professional, I think a lot of my peer group would agree with this. We really want to make an impact and add value to the firms in which we work. You know, ultimately we want to save the world and, you know, just really make a big impact.

 

And as marketers within professional service firms, architects, engineers, contraction or construction firms, I think oftentimes the industry has not really looked at their sales and marketing team as maybe somewhat as equals because we’re not billable. You know, their trade craftsmen at design or engineering or and construction and their marketing team has kind of been siloed and not really thought of as an advocate and as a real tool to drive business and to help them with sales and to promote that brand very much like, you see marketing driving businesses and other industries.

 

So the way that the Smartegies team likes to come in and we like to partner with our in-house peer groups or with our client organizations is to really help educate the C-suite and some of those other business leaders who are very, technically aware of how to design a building or build it and help them understand how you can design and build a brand that’s going to help you build your business, and kind of bridging that gap so that they understand all the different pieces within their organization really play a critical role.

 

And in order to continue to grow and to build something beyond, you know, just that one project, you can really rely on marketing to help you get there. 

 

Learn more about how to make a good pitch by checking out these strategies from Judy and Katie

 

How to Make a Good Pitch: Understanding The Difference Between Sales and Marketing

 

Okay. So give me a litmus test here. Either one of you wants to jump in, but give me a litmus test here. If I’m tracking with you, it sounds like within the industry that marketing is looked at, almost as a cost, as part of overhead as opposed to, you know, marketing actually being a profit center that the work that’s being done can actually move the the conversations with prospects forward and can actually be a revenue generating source for the company in the industry, the architectural whether that’s construction firm, design firm, whatever. 

 

It sounds like you’re helping change that model I am tracking with you here, too? You are. I think that that’s very true about our industry, that marketing is a piece of what they would consider overhead. And they’re very fixed overhead structures, within professional service firms and construction companies.

 

And so, the other even more basic concept is most of our industry leadership would use the terms marketing and sales interchangeably for their actually very different things. So we define marketing and sales, in a very simplistic way in that sales is, things that you do 1 to 1, you know, you, make a sales call, you take someone to dinner or you play golf, you see somebody at a trade show, there’s that 1 to 1 contact and marketing.

 

We see as the things that you do that are one to many. And the one is actually your brand, not an individual. Within the company. And the many are a collection of buyers that are in the position to hire you for professional services or to build their building. So, that is fundamentally, where we start is that conversation of what is the difference between sales and marketing.

 

And then once we establish that understanding, I think that the partnership really depends on your marketing consultant, who is very ambitious about your cause, and is worried about your business before they’re worried about the project. 

 

Learn more about how to make a good pitch by checking out these strategies from Judy and Katie

 

How to Make a Good Pitch: Developing The Right Marketing Strategy

 

So I always tell our team here at Smartegies that our name is smart smarter because it’s Smartegies put together.

 

And first we need to make sure the strategy is right. And the way that you know that your marketing strategy is right is that it supports your overarching business goals. Once you use that as a starting point, then we get into what are the right channels to reach your audiences? And so we’re talking about strategy and how to support our business goals before we’re ever getting to a project.

 

I think too many marketers or agencies, at least this is what I experienced when I was in the CMO seat, want to get right to talking about the video that you want to produce or website you want to design or the press release, what should it say? And they don’t really know why that matters in the big scheme of things, we really, really dig in and try to understand what are you trying to achieve with this website?

 

What are you trying to achieve by going to this trade show and I hear so many stories about firms that spend tens of thousands of dollars going to trade shows, and they come back without any leads and there’s not an expectation that that is something that should occur at a trade show. So I think the professional services industry, the built environment, the AEC industry, whatever you want to call this space that we love so dearly, would admit, most people in this industry would admit that when it comes to marketing innovation, there’s a bit of a lag.

 

And, while that is unfortunate, it’s actually a great opportunity to look at other B2B industries and say what’s working for them and how do we scale that to, you know, our business and how do we implement those best practices? Because in some ways, you can very quickly identify things that have worked for other B2B industries and adopt them here in design and construction.

 

Learn more about how to make a good pitch by checking out these strategies from Judy and Katie

 

How to Make a Good Pitch: The Art of the Pitch

 

So thanks for that. And, you know, a few minutes ago, I actually maybe we’ll take that even deeper here with this next piece looping back to something that you said. I think it was you, Judy, who said, described like the art of the pitch and part of that process of the art of the pitch, that there’s really an art form to being able to do that well.

 

So, if an AEC firm like an architect, engineer, contractor, is going into a competitive situation for either a public or private project, a large multi-million dollar project, that there’s a process, there’s an art to doing that well, to working through that selection process. And so in thinking about this, I know that you’ve done this for many firms with excellence.

 

But I think that also translates to other service firms who are listening right now. They might not be in that industry or that same AEC industry, but they’re still competing for that prospective clients business, probably against other, you know, service firms or, maybe it’s a sole provider type of thing, but they want to stand out. They want to be distinctive.

 

Learn more about how to make a good pitch by checking out these strategies from Judy and Katie

 

How to Make a Good Pitch: Making Yourself Different from The Competition 

 

So from your perspective, Judy, then we’ll go to Katie. What are some of the things that really stand out or help a company stand out that you might put into this quote unquote, art of a pitch like how to do that really, really. Well, maybe 2 or 3 things. So I think the most important thing when it comes to the art of the pitch is to really understand how you’re different from everybody else that’s competing for the same job.

 

And as I said earlier, historically, our industry has been a relationship driven sales model. What’s happened over time, though, is many firms in our space have specialized because of the complexity of different building types. So there’s some efficiency, gain and benefits to the clients that they serve. If you know, if you’re building a hospital, you want to hire a company that specializes in building hospitals as well.

 

If you think about any vertical, whether it’s hospitals or, multiphase family or retail, mixed use or higher education or criminal justice, public or private aviation, you know, those are all specialty types of buildings. And if you have a, you know, no owner, meaning our client’s client really wants to hire a firm that’s never designed it before.

 

It’s never been built before. So over the last couple of decades, firms have specialized architects have organized themselves and studios, contract buyers have organized themselves in divisions that are aligned with the vertical markets they serve. And so if you think about sales and marketing, the next logical step is that when pursuing this work, what do you do?

 

You go to the places that your clients hang out. The trade shows that your clients are at the conferences that your clients go to. You read the publications that your clients read. And so you can imagine over time, it’s the same vendor community that shows up at that K12 conference. It’s the same vendor community that shows up at that aviation conference.

 

So if they’re all there and all the clients are there, guess what? Everybody has a relationship now, right? Everybody has a resume now. So what truly makes you different? And you really think that this is what our clients really struggle with, which is, you know, at the end of the day, we can all build this or design this.

 

At the end of the day, everyone is qualified. Oh, and at the end of the day, everybody knows the owner and has some level of relationships. So when you have a shortlist of 3 to 5 firms that are asked to interview for a project, sometimes it’s the interview itself that sets you apart and really thinking through, you know, your value proposition and what you’re going to pitch.

 

Learn more about how to make a good pitch by checking out these strategies from Judy and Katie

 

How to Make a Good Pitch: Tactics On Helping Clients

 

You know, to get past that meta syndrome. You know, your competitor says we build, you know, 2,000,000ft² of this type of building, and the next contractor can come in and say, well, we did two or we have to and it doesn’t take long for our clients to realize, you know what? Everyone’s equally qualified and everybody knows this client.

 

So you’re right. We have to get really creative with how we earn the client’s business in the interview. And, I’m going to brag on Katie a little bit. She is our very best person. We have, she, you know, she is running a 75% win rate, when coaching firms. And she’s been brought in on some of the largest, building pitches in the country.

 

And it’s very, very good at it and has lots of war stories to tell. So I might ask Katie to chime in on, you know, some of the tactics and philosophies we use when helping clients master the art of the pitch. That’d be awesome. Katie, help us there if you would. Sure, sure. Love to share my secret sauce with you.

 

So for me, you know what? I always try to remind our clients and the individuals that we’re working with is that regardless if you are selling architectural services or you’re selling your construction services, or even if you’re a law firm and you’re looking to represent a new particular client, at the end of the day, you’re selling to a handful of potential customers, often a selection committee, and everybody buys either products or services emotionally.

 

And when you look at the professional service industry, the number one prevailing emotion that triggers the person to decide whether or not they want to hire that particular firm is really revolved around trust. And when it comes to the art of the pitch, you might have 15 minutes, 30 minutes. Maybe you get an hour to convey to this potential selection committee group that they can and trust in you that they’re going to deliver the project on time.

 

You know, they’re going to adequately represent your vision and your goals for your business. And, the philosophy that we use it. Jeez. And that I like to use with my teams as I’m coaching them, is that all presentations should do three things. They should inform your audience, they should influence them, and they should also be entertaining because in most cases, especially in the public sector side, these committees are following a very formal procurement process where they’ve asked these 3 to 5 firms, all to come and talk about the exact same things.

 

And as Judy mentioned earlier, you can pretty much just change the firm names and everybody looks and sounds the same on paper. So the only way you can stand out is really in that interview pitch. And the way that we have been able to get across the inform, influence and entertain piece while also establishing that degree of trust with the selection committee is really through emotional storytelling, because everybody loves to hear a story.

 

Whether it’s a war story like I have, based on the presentation pitches that I’ve helped firms practice with or if it’s a success story, lessons learned. All of those are great case studies in which can convey trust to those potential buyers. And then ultimately, you want to tell a story that’s unique to you that you’re not, you know, grasping to be, another firm that might be on the competition team, but you definitely want to convey a story that’s unique to you, that’s authentic, that comes across very genuine.

 

And that shows a sign of your personality. In the world of design and construction, most of these projects are multi-million dollars, most of them take place over a prolonged period of time, months, even years in some cases. 

 

And if I’m on the selection committee and I put myself in the owner’s shoes and I’m thinking about whether or not I want to hire firm A over firm B, a lot of it comes down to whether or not I actually want to work with those individuals that you’re putting forth on my project team, whether or not we can connect and whether or not I want to see them on a weekly basis, whether or not I want to entrust with them, you know, this multi-million dollars or my personal reputation, because I’m going to stick my neck out and say, hey, I want to hire this firm. 

 

So when it comes to the art of the pitch, we really believe that evoking a sense of trust throughout the presentation is super important. And we like to use the trifecta of information, influence and entertainment.

 

Learn more about how to make a good pitch by checking out these strategies from Judy and Katie

 

How to Make a Good Pitch: Telling An Emotional Story

 

Wow. Okay, so let me give some of that back to make sure that I’m tracking with both of you. So for, you know, multimillion dollar projects that are being put up for bid for pitch, whatever the correct word is to say that in these situations, you know, all of the companies, all of the firms that are on the shortlist, they’re all good.

 

I mean, they all have the competency, probably to do a great job, otherwise they wouldn’t be on the shortlist. Right? Okay. So I don’t know if it’s probably demeaning to say the competencies an anti but really you have to be competent. You have to be able to deliver on the specification or they wouldn’t be there in the first place.

 

They would have, they would have been kicked out. So then in order to really be selected in that process, they have to get creative at telling their story in a distinctive way. But what I’m learning here from Katie is that there needs to be the emotionality in it, too. It certainly needs to inform and influence her team and the way to unlock those three things or to make them happen is through the emotional piece I’m tracking with you, Katie.

 

Yep, that is my philosophy, our philosophy here. Smartegies. Okay. And so when they do that, when somebody does that successfully, not only do they hopefully win, but one of the like the next ingredients or maybe one of the outputs tell an emotional story is then the fact that the selection committee who whoever’s in charge of that process says, oh, okay, I think we can trust firm A, B, and C because of that entire process, including the body of work that got them into the final in the first place.

 

Right? Yeah, absolutely. I think, you know, the body of work, the portfolio, the relationships, understanding the technical nuance of whatever project they’re going to deliver, that’s what we kind of refer to as table stakes. You know, that’s kind of general. That’s a given, the ability to communicate effectively and the ability to, you know, again, evoke that sense of trust that you and the desire to want to work with them is really what comes across through the emotional storytelling.

 

I also want to add that people remember stories. So if you are going to sit through, let’s say a series of five one hour interviews in one day and you start at 9:00 in the morning, your last interview is at three. And it’s for, you know, the same project and you’re interviewing five firms with comparable credentials.

 

They all start to blend together, right? You’re not going to remember which firm, you know, had 1,000,000ft² of this facility type versus, you know, 2,000,000ft² of this facility type in. And so it’s the stories that people remember. You can talk about a story you know, on how you dealt with some very difficult wetlands on a, you know, contaminated site and how you did it in a way that didn’t incur additional, costs to the project, or you were able to use an innovative, skin or structure that saved the owner millions of dollars.

 

Learn more about how to make a good pitch by checking out these strategies from Judy and Katie

 

How to Make a Good Pitch: Emotionality Will Result In Trust

 

Those are the stories that your selection committee is going to remember, and it gives you a great deal of credibility because you’re, you know, you’re talking about something you’ve actually done in a very, relatable way. And the other, I think, really important piece that our clients need to realize is they’re very, very technical, but sometimes they’re selling to an audience who is not.

 

And so if you’re presenting to a K-12 school board that is not accustomed to, or doesn’t have a technical background, you really need to be able to tell your story in a way that that audience is going to appreciate and understand. Because they might not know what CME block is or they might not understand the lingo and the terminology in our industry.

 

But what they do need to understand is the way we cited this building was a safety measure, and it benefits the school district in this way. It benefits the teachers and staff in this way, and it benefits students’ ability to learn in this way. So these are just off the top of my head. Ideas of how we translate highly technical subject matters down to bite size pieces that selection can relate to Onward Nation. 

 

This is so critically important, this recipe for the art of the pitch, the storytelling piece, the emotionality that then results in trust. And it made me think of way back in episode 410 with our great guest, Kevin Harrington from Shark Tank. And if you were to go back and listen to that episode again on predation, you would hear these connecting points that are this connective tissue.

 

Again, back to what Judy and Katie are sharing with you right now about, you know, he took his deep inside way behind the curtain at Shark Tank about how entrepreneurs get in front of the sharks and how they present their story. That’s a pitch. How they try to make an emotional connection with the investors. That’s a pitch. How they were then making emotional connections with their audiences.

 

Starting to develop demand for the product. All of that is pitch. All of that results in or needs to result in the trust. That’s what drives demand, drives acceptance, drives adoption into the marketplace. All of that. So the recipe or I should say, the ingredients and the recipe that Judy and Katie are giving you, are really industry agnostic.

 

And obviously it works very, very well in the ATC industry that they’re playing every single day in those trenches. But it really is industry agnostic that you can take out of this conversation and apply into your business, too. 

 

Learn more about how to make a good pitch by checking out these strategies from Judy and Katie

 

How to Make a Good Pitch: Building A Partnership with The Right Marketer

 

So, Judy, let’s go. Let’s loop back to one of the things that you mentioned kind of early on in our conversation, because as I’m hearing you and Katie mapped this out, it’s I’m tracking with it.

 

I understand it. I’m like, okay, why in the world is this not done on a more consistent basis? You know, in this industry, like you just mapped out the ingredients in the full recipe, like the blueprint is here. So why is this not being followed? Like why is there such a I don’t know, is it a skills gap?

 

Is it like what it is? Why is this recipe not being followed more consistently? Well, I think that it’s natural for people to, say, well, this is the way we’ve always done it, and we’ve been successful for 20 or 30 or 40 years. And this is all I know, or this is the only way I know to do it.

 

I’ll tell you once we work with clients and we’re able to help them develop a more effective pitch, we’ve yet to have a client say, oh, you know, I like the old way better. I think they are really at the end of the application and they get really, really excited about it. So, I think it’s simply awareness. When you say, why isn’t this done?

 

I think that the emergence of agencies in our space is new. Even the concept of outsourcing is new when it comes to marketing in our agency. You know, every other industry, B2C or B2B alike, typically the corporation that hires that agency has an in-house team that’s responsible for marketing, communications, branding, PR, digital. But lots of times when you look inside those organizations, what you find are brand managers whose full time job is to manage agencies.

 

And I think that the bigger corporations, the bigger B2B industries have learned that it’s more cost efficient and more effective to outsource to agencies that specialize in a certain craft or niche or market. And so just the idea of having an agency relationship in our industry is new, but it’s growing. I mean, if you look at the number of agencies that were around when we started in 2008 and the number that exists today, I mean, I don’t have the actual numbers, but I would guess that it’s probably doubled or tripled, across the country.

 

So, we’re lucky and, you know, fortunate that we were on the scene early and now one of the largest agencies in the country that specialize in this environment, in this industry. But we also see the emergence of, outsource, agencies. And so that really is the first reason why, to answer your question, why more and more companies are not doing it like this.

 

I also think that these companies are led by very operationally focused leaders that cannot quite wrap their head around. How can a non-technical professional help me sell a technical skill set? And I mean, I live this personally, being a person with a marketing degree coming into a technical industry, there’s a long journey to build credibility with this, with your internal audiences when you’re in-house at a design or construction company.

 

And I’ve been very fortunate in my career to have the opportunity to work alongside leaders that understood that just because I know how to design a building doesn’t know, doesn’t necessarily mean I know the best ways to convince someone to let me design their building so that those are separate skill sets. And I had the great fortune of being inside organizations that were very forward thinking and allowed me to bring marketing knowhow to the technical sale.

 

And I think that more and more technical leaders are starting to realize that the partnership that you can have with a marketer can propel you forward a whole lot faster than trying to figure it out. I liken it to if I had to figure out how to design and build my own house, I would be homeless.

 

But, I would hire a professional for that. And I think more and more technical leaders are starting to understand that, you know, we have a really great value proposition. Now, let’s leave it to the experts to figure out how to reach our audiences. The only other thing I would add is, a lot of times these interview teams are composed of the technical staff.

 

Learn more about how to make a good pitch by checking out these strategies from Judy and Katie

 

How to Make a Good Pitch: Mastering The Right Skills

 

And when you think about their daily life, like what they’re on the payroll to do, it’s to perform their technical duties. So marketing and preparing for the presentation is often an afterthought or just a necessary evil that they deal with on top of their day job. So a lot of times, it’s easier for them. Sometimes you just open up a recent proposal or a recent presentation, do a quick save as in change out the presenting, you know, client name and call it a day.

 

And so I know that a lot of our clients that have been there practice before we engage with them and talk about having a very pointed pitch for the particular project at hand that’s going to appeal and convey that level of trust with each of the individual selection committee members. That’s awesome. Okay, so thanks, Judy and Katie, for that additional insight.

 

Let’s take this into account because we started to sort of touch on it, and I want to make sure that we get really descriptive here about skills and going back to something that you shared. Katie, a few minutes ago when you mentioned the Art of the pitch and great presentations, they inform, they influence the entertainment.

 

And then it’s because there’s that emotional story telling piece. So let’s think about that from a skills perspective. So if you’re thinking about it from a skills perspective , what is a single skill? Or maybe it’s several skills, but is there a single skill that a business owner needs to master to really be good at that?

 

Like, how does that person get good at that? It takes practice. You know, a lot of people are not comfortable with speaking in public. Especially, you know, when I’m working with technical staff where they might be on a presentation team for the first time, the first three runs are always awkward. There’s a lot of fumbling.

 

There’s a lot of, you know, nervous tics that happen both verbally and just physically, that they’re playing with their hands or they’re rustling with keys in their pocket. You know, those are common things that I see a lot. And it really just takes practice. And there’s a lot of great tools out there. It sounds really silly, but you can videotape yourself.

 

Everybody has a smartphone. It’s got a camera on it. Just set it up, do a little selfie video. You’ll understand whether or not you have some nervous tics of your own. You’ll understand what your filler words might be. If you’re an, or a like or so kind of person. Like I just said, right there. But there’s some other things that I think are really helpful, and it’s just being able to be a little bit vulnerable.

 

Everybody is a human being, everybody’s a person. And just having some of that show through and not trying to be someone you’re not in front of an audience, especially when you’re going to be working with them for a long period of time. You’re going to have to keep up that charade. You’re going to have to keep having that imposter syndrome, if you will, if you’re successful in winning that pitch.

 

So I find that just being a little bit humble and understanding that it’s okay to be a little bit nervous and to, you know, show that you are an actual person in the interview people, people like to root for the underdogs. And so people kind of appreciate that level of honesty. You know, that’s so great. And because I think it’s so easy to see, you know, somebody making a presentation or somebody delivering a presentation from stage or a keynote speech or something like that and thinking, wow, that person is really gifted.

 

And that person may be really gifted, or making the assumption, like, wow, they just got up there and it was effortless and completely discounting the fact that that person may have been, quote unquote, using your word, practicing for the better part of 20 years to get really, really good at that. And it takes time so that’s awesome.

 

Learn more about how to make a good pitch by checking out these strategies from Judy and Katie

 

How to Make a Good Pitch: Remember That Authenticity Is Important

 

Katie and then Judy, were you going to add something else to the skills piece? Well, I think that Katie really did a good job describing it, but I think that there was a period of time in our industry where there’s these sort of generic presentation coaches where they would come in and do training, you know, presentation training, for these technical teams.

 

But it wasn’t really applied to a specific project or that the content wasn’t really developed, but it was more about how you stand and how you use your hands and how you, you know, speak and make eye contact. And what I found is that while those skills are important at times, that’s not what wins the day. And what I tell my clients is the most important thing you can do is be authentic and never, you know, underestimate the power of your own knowledge.

 

If you think about it, these engineers, these architects, these contractors, they come to interviews because the interview committee is seeking their knowledge about what they’re, you know, what they are an expert in. So, I’m constantly reminding my clients, I’m not asking you to talk about things you don’t know. I’m just asking you to articulate what you know in a really authentic and convincing way, and in a way that they can understand.

 

So I think that there’s sometimes this hesitation because they think that they’re supposed to be as good and as polished as that keynote speaker they saw at the National Engineering Conference last week. But that is not the expectation. I think authenticity is so important. And again, to Katie’s point, it’s important because what you’re trying to establish is a great deal of trust.

 

I mean, if someone’s going to spend $100 million on a project, they need to know that the firm that they’re going to deal with for the next 2 to 3 years, is one that they can trust. Yes. Well, especially because their building is going to be around for decades. And so that trustworthiness obviously goes into that piece as well.

 

And it is, this has been such a great conversation. This is exactly why I wanted you to share your insights and wisdom with Onward Nation. Because, whether that’s each and every day, we’re all presenting ourselves. We’re all trying to put a distinctive foot forward. We’re all trying to tell a better story. And I think you’ve filled in some key ingredients in recipes.

 

So I know we covered a lot. I know our time is quickly coming to an end. But before we go, before we close out and say goodbye, any final advice? Anything you think we might have missed? And then after that, please tell us the best way to connect with you. 

 

Learn more about how to make a good pitch by checking out these strategies from Judy and Katie

 

How to Make a Good Pitch: Final Advice from Judy and Katie

 

My final advice to firms, and particularly in our industry is to not fall in the trap of assuming that no one else is doing these progressive things.

 

Take the time and do your research. What you’re going to find is more and more companies are shifting money from their sales budgets to their marketing budgets. Much of that money is being spent on the digital channel. There are very targeted ways to reach your audience at a much lower cost of client acquisition than in the past.

 

And so I would definitely, advise the listeners, if you’re, particularly if you are in the design and construction industry, to be open to the idea that times are different now, and if you haven’t been doing things differently than you’re behind. Awesome. Katie, any final thoughts, any any final advice? Any final advice I have is just recognizing when you need a partner and an expert to kind of help you.

 

Sometimes just admitting that you’re a little bit out of your league is the first step for it. 

 

Learn more about how to make a good pitch by checking out these strategies from Judy and Katie

 

How to Make a Good Pitch: How to Connect with Judy and Katie

 

Okay, but the best way to connect with the two of you. We are very easy to connect with. We’re, we’re both on LinkedIn. Our website is Smartegies.com. We are socially active on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, all of the above.

 

Or you can send us an email at [email protected] or [email protected]. Okay. Onward Nation, no matter how many notes you took or how often you go back and re-listen to the words of wisdom shared by Judy and Katie. The key is you have to take the ingredients that are the recipe for success that they so generously shared with you, take it and apply it into your business right away and accelerate your results.

 

And Judy, Katie, we all have the same 86,400 seconds in a day, and I am grateful that you came onto the show to teach us the art of the pitch, to give us the advice, the recipe, to be our mentor and guide to help us move our businesses onward to that next level. Thank you so much my friends.

 

Thank you. Thanks for having us. This episode is complete, so head over to OnwardNation.com for show notes and more food to fuel your ambition. Continue to find your recipe for success here at Onward Nation.

 

Learn more about how to make a good pitch by checking out these strategies from Judy and Katie