Running safer pitches

People do their best work when they feel safe. That’s not some fluffy sentiment, it’s just how humans work.

If they’re worried about how they’re being perceived or ‘saying the wrong thing’, they’re not going to take the creative risks that lead to the best outcomes. They’re going to play it safe, stick to the script, and do what’s expected.

Which is exactly what happens in most pitches.

Procurement teams are under pressure to show that every penny delivers value and aligns with the company mission. But if your pitch process isn’t inclusive or fair, you risk choosing the team that performs best under stress, not the one who can deliver the most impact when the real work begins.

Because, let’s be honest, pitches are fundamentally weird. A group of people (the client) hold all the power, and another group (the agency) has to perform. That performance needs to be confident, creative, inspiring and insightful, all at the same time. And all while trying to guess what the client actually wants.

It’s no surprise that people don’t always show their best thinking in that kind of environment.

Why most pitches feel unsafe

There’s an inherent power imbalance built into every pitch. That’s hard to avoid, and no one’s pretending we can create some utopian procurement world where everyone’s equal. But if we don’t at least try to level the playing field a bit, we’ll keep hearing the same ideas from the same types of people, and wondering why nothing feels different.

It’s especially tough for:

• junior team members

• people newer to the industry

• folks from underrepresented or marginalised backgrounds

• neurodivergent people

And it gets worse when they:

• don’t know who they’re pitching to

• are unclear on who else is in the running

• have not had the time or information they need to prepare properly

• are expected to ‘read the room’ and adjust in real time

All of this adds up to a room where people are less likely to be honest, less likely to be bold, and more likely to give you a version of what they think you want to hear.

Which means, as clients, you don’t get what you actually need.

Why it matters (spoiler: it’s not about being nice)

This isn’t about being polite. It’s about getting better results.

As a leader, the way you run a pitch sets the tone for every conversation that follows. If you want challenge, creativity and collaboration start by making space for it from the very first meeting.

You want teams who will challenge your assumptions, give you new ways of looking at a problem, and suggest things you wouldn’t have thought of. But that kind of thinking only comes from people who feel safe enough to take a risk.

If you’ve got an EDI policy on your website but you’re running pitch processes that reinforce traditional power dynamics, then you’re not going to see much change in who you work with or in the ideas they bring.

Practical things you can do to improve your pitch process

There’s no silver bullet. But there are some very doable, very real actions that will make your pitch process more equitable and more effective.

1. Share who’s going to be in the room

Reduce the unknowns. Help people prepare. Include job titles, LinkedIn profiles and what they’re most interested in.

2. Tell agencies who else is pitching

You’re not giving away state secrets. You’re building trust with at least one partner you’ll end up working with for a long time.

3. Share new strategies like brand, comms, and audience insight

The more relevant the input, the better the output. The number of organisations who still guard a new set of brand guidelines like it’s a highly classified document is staggering.

4. Set up a pre-pitch call

Ten minutes of context can save hours of second-guessing. Make time for this close to the pitches.

5. Leave breathing room between submission and pitch

People do better work when they’re not sleep-deprived, both in a client team and an agency. There’s no chance your CEO is going to have read through an entire submission in the 48 hours some people leave between the deadline and pitches.

6. Only invite a small number of agencies

Three is ideal; any more and it’s hard to keep it focused. You simply can’t hold that much information in your head.

7. Share a detailed agenda and specific questions

“Walk us through your proposal” doesn’t cut it. You know what you want to hear about and you know what is pretty much the same between each agency. Let everyone know.

8. Be transparent about how you’ll make the decision

Show people what ‘good’ looks like. It’s not cheating, it’s helping you get what you need. If you’ve got a scoring framework then share it.

9. Be sensible in the time options you offer

Offering pitch sessions that are one day after another, all at 10am, doesn’t give a lot of flexibility for getting the right people there. This is before we start to consider people with different working patterns or caring responsibilities.

Better processes lead to better partnerships

The pitch isn’t the end, it’s the start of a relationship. And relationships are built on trust.

If you want to see the best work, from the best people, then you need to give them the space to show up fully. That means making your pitch process feel less like a test and more like the beginning of a proper conversation.

Because when people feel safe, they stop performing and start contributing.

And that’s when the really good stuff happens.