PASS THE TISSUE: CLEANING UP THE PITCH FALLACY
by Peter Booker

There is a fundamental question at the heart of how the pitch process is perceived in our industry. It comes down to what a potential client thinks a pitch is: A competition between agencies to win their business or a process to get to the best work and agency for their brand. Too often it appears that the former is the view.

Indicative of this is the reluctance to have a tissue meeting. This is not usually a significant commitment from the potential client; perhaps just an hour of their time in their own offices. Yet many a BM has point blank refused to have a tissue meeting for such exotic and short sited reasons as: They don’t have time, they would have to give all the agencies a tissue meeting or the classic ‘send me an email of your questions’.  
 
A tissue meeting is not only an opportunity for the client to see the agency in action and get a feel for the mutual chemistry, but it is the most direct and efficient route for getting the best possible solution to their brief. Clients know what they don’t want and sometimes they even know what they do want. A tissue session is the chance to sort the wheat from the chaff and use the clients’ understanding of their brand to produce a more relevant pitch response from an agency.
It’s not just a competition. As a prospective client you can and should collaborate with your pitching agencies to get the best result for your brand. Tissues clear things up, that’s what they’re there for.