Our Account Director Alexandra May shares her tips with PR Moment on how to win new business in a remote setting where face to face meetings and pitches are becoming more scarce.
She expands on her commentary in our blog, where she outlines 3 tips to put your best foot forward when it comes to new business:
Use tools like Linkedin & check-in with your network
One of my top tips for getting in new business right now, is to be extra proactive with reaching out to your own network, as it can be easy to loose contact with people who you may have been used to seeing face to face regularly in the past.
Being active on Linkedin – sharing content from your own platform as well as engaging with your network’s content is a great way to increase your visibility and create a starting point for conversations around new business. Simply calling close contacts – without an agenda – just to see how they are doing, can give you some good intel and ideas that can be mutually beneficial for both parties.
Never ‘wing it’ in new business proposal presentations, be it online or offline
I would argue that virtual meetings are trickier to nail than face to face meetings as you are simply more exposed, but if you are well prepared both virtual and face to face meetings can be equally effective.
In virtual meetings, your presentation really takes centre stage – more than in an offline pitch where your audience is usually focusing more on the presenters than the presentation itself. Virtually, prospects are more likely to zoom into a typo or incorrect interpretation of their brand – so keep your slides simple, visually appealing, and very well researched.
Rehearse to sound ‘un-rehearsed’ & take breaks for questions
In a virtual pitch, you need a clear leader who takes everyone through the pitch, otherwise it can appear very messy. It’s important to practice to get a feel for looking straight into the camera and establishing what you want to say in a straight forward and direct way. The transitions are equally important and it’s important to pause, and ask if your audience has any questions – this can help you get a feel for how individuals are responding to your pitch.
The main advantage with offline pitches is that you can read your audience better. So when pitching virtually, it’s key to take those breaks, take some time for questions and try to engage your audience as much as possible.
The second advantage with offline pitches is that it’s an easier medium for storytelling – encouraging spontaneity and improvisation. With online pitches, presentations simply need to be rehearsed so that they sound as natural and spontaneous as possible – after all, no one wants to feel like they are being lectured to for an hour.