This Special Report focuses on improving lawyers’ performance in one of the most challenging areas of their work: pitching for business. In today’s competitive market, making your work stand out from the crowd is essential – not only for winning new business but also for the future success of your firm. Whether pitching to a group, responding to a tender or having a one-to-one meeting, the ability to deploy a combination of effective marketing communication techniques, in-depth audience analysis and meticulous preparation will improve the quality of your pitch… and increase your success rate.
This must-read report takes a practical approach and offers a clear process for improving your pitching and responses to tenders. It covers key topics such as common mistakes, audience analysis, message and tone, persuading, what research really means when pitching, visual differentiation, and cross-border pitching. It also includes feedback and case studies from in-house lawyers and partners who have seen the most outstanding – and worst! – of pitches.
Table of Content
Acknowledgements 6
I. Introduction 7
1. Getting started 7
2. Using this report 11
II. Where we are now 13
1. Where do the opportunities come from? 13
2. International pitching 14
3. Types of pitches 16
3.1 From the coffee… 16
3.2 …To the request for proposal or tender 18
4. Win ratios 18
5. Where do people go wrong when pitching? 19
6. Receiving poor requests for proposals from business 24
7. Pitching as the incumbent law firm 24
III. The context 27
1. Know the competition 27
2. Know yourself 28
3. Relationship building 30
4. Contextual advantages 31
4.1 Profile building 31
4.2 Living your business values 32
IV. Approaching a pitch 35
1. Do we want to pitch? 35
2. Do the preparation and research 38
3. Who are our targets? 39
4. Dealing with the procurement department 41
5. Panels 45
6. Personality traits 45
7. Putting together your account team 50
8. Unique selling proposition: why buy us? 50
9. Brand context 51
10. Credentials 53
11. The client’s specifications: reading between the lines 54
12. Theme and style 56
13. Pricing 57
14. Drawing the relevant material and points together 58
15. Good writing 60
16. Visuals and design 62
17. You think you are finished… then go the extra mile 63
18. Getting in front of the client 64
19. Face to face 64
20. The presentation 65
21. Feedback 68
22. Now go and do it! 70
About the author 71
About Globe Law and Business 72