RFP - Request for Pitch?

"I have a big pitch next week." 

...said a close friend who I was catching up with in the pub last week. 

He works in finance & his deals are usually 7 or 8 figures.

"So how do you normally structure the meeting?" 

I asked. 

"Well we present and then answer all the client's questions."

"OK - and how do the meetings normally come about?"

"Usually in response to an RFP."

"Right. And how do you establish what to pitch?"

"We go by the RFP."

"Right - and I guess that's what your competitors are doing too?"

"Yes." 

"So how do you differentiate yourself?" 

"We plan our presentation to cover the points we think are most important...those that should make us stand out."

"Do you ask them questions?" 

"Err, no we don't need to. We tell them what we can offer & then answer all of theirs."

"So how do you know about their situation, in any sort of detail? I'm guessing it's complex."

"The RFP."

"But isn't that more broad-brush & lacking detail & context? And what about things they hadn't considered that you think may be important."

"We put that in our pitch."

"But how do you know you're right? Could you sometimes be off the mark?"

"Well...maybe sometimes I suppose yeah." 

"So why not ask them questions to establish their specific situation in order to get to the truth & help advise them as the expert?"

"That's actually not a bad idea...though it is a pitch and not really a meeting." 

"So more like a dog & pony show?"

"Haha well... that's one way of putting it!" 

We then chatted for a bit more and I offered some more of my perspective in how good questions are a superpower...allowing for more of a partnership approach rather than just another vendor.

And how the dynamic shifts depending on who is asking the questions. 

Credibility isn't earned through the answers you give - it's through the questions you ask. 

I find it incredible how sophisticated companies pitching for multi-million pound contracts take this kind of approach. 

Whatever the industry, sales is sales.

Yet for so many, it's completely misunderstood.

#sales #selling #meeting