Or, you’re the one deciding who goes to the pitch … which means you are really answering these three questions:

1. Who do I want to work on this account if we win;
2. Do they have the time to allocate to this account and finally,
3. Do they have the right experience or any experience in this category that will help us win?

I have often thought this is where agency leadership holds the reins too loose when it comes to running their own business. The reason is that we leave these sort of decisions at the behest of the potential client by wanting the answer to THE ultimate question: “Do they want the team in the room that will work on the business.” So yes, not only do we want their business, apparently we want them to run ours too.

In the agency world having two clients that are in the same category or line of business is a “conflict.” Where as with any other business if you have two clients that are alike, that means you have a “practice area.” But yet, the client you are pitching wants a team that has experience in their category. Do you see where I’m going?

So, the client wants a team with experience, but yet because you do not have a client in that category, you are pitching to try and win one. In other words, you are apparently supposed to have staff with experience in every category you aspire to service sitting around twiddling their collective thumbs until a client in said-category falls in your lap … Makes complete sense, right?

So, how do we get around this? First, a potential client should not be telling your agency how to run your business. Yep, there, I said it.

Secondly, if they are looking for an agency they have either fired their previous agency, or plan to, OR they are looking for agency that can ultimately help them sell more of the shit they sell. Either way, “best practices” are not what they should be looking for, because obviously best practices were not helping get the job done. They need fresh thinking.

So this is what we advise our agency clients when pursuing RFPs:

1. Identify your credibility bridges. What category experience does your team or staff have? If you want to pitch Ford, you obviously can’t have Chevrolet or Toyota as a client … but you may have team members who have worked on Continental Tires, or an aftermarket automotive brand … not in the category, but a bridge to credibility. Why? Because you are marketing to a mindset. The same person who is going to buy a Ford, will need to buy four tires. Same consumer … same mindset.
2. Who goes in the room to pitch should not be dictated to you, however, it does matter to most potential clients. What you must convince them that truly matters is “Continuity of Leadership.” You are in the game and at the table because you can execute … tacticians are a dime a dozen. What should be of value to your client is the account leadership that will drive strategy, creative, client service, etc. That could be just your Head of Client Service. They oversee it all, to some degree, and they are probably in that roll because they’re pretty great in a pitch. A ringer.

So what truly matters are “Credibility Bridges” and “Continuity of Leadership.” Not specific category experience and certainly not who is in the room for the pitch.

In the end, you are answering the age old question: Do they want counselors, or do they want order takers? You and your agency have to decide which you are most comfortable being because the decision which you will be is decided in that room.