Pitch power

 

 

 

 

From Adelaide internet start-up in 1994 to capital raiser and business consultant in 2008, Peter Christo has sat on both sides of pitching equation. He has now taken his passion for the pitch one step further, as Founding Director and ‘Coach’ of Pitch Club.

 

My first big pitching experiences came about when a colleague and I started an internet marketing business in 1994. The internet marketing industry didn’t actually exist in 1994 the internet was still an obscure concept to most people. There was no text book on the subject. So, we began to create our own rules, which makes selling this type of service either extremely easy or extremely difficult. As a result, I spent a lot of time travelling, sleeping on the couches of friends in San Francisco in the late 90s.

 

I sold that business, to my business partner in 1999 and started something new in the telecommunications space, before winching that business up in 2004, commencing an Entrepreneurship and Innovation Masters Degree at Swinburne University. But it was only at the conclusion of my MBA that I began to truly understand the ‘power of the pitch,’ prompting some fellow graduates and I to form our own ‘pitch club’.

 

In 2006, a casual coffee with Anthill founder James Tuckerman and fellow consultant Manny Vassal, from BSB Consulting, inspired the creation of a three-way JV and, from that, Pitch Club in its current incarnation was born.

 

We held our pilot event in Melbourne in September 2007, after which we refined the concept to nail down its current format, which we tested in Sydney in November.

 

The main distinction between Pitchclub and other pitching events is the fun format and the sense of camaraderie it creates. For example, nine participants at each event are given 90 seconds to pitch from centre stage, in a miniature boxing ring! That might sound adversarial and confrontational but it’s proved quite the opposite. We push the point that there are no failures at Pitchclub.

 

Pitching, like business, is all about trial and error. Unfortunately, business doesn’t provide too many safe opportunities to make mistakes. The Pitchclub ethos is all about supporting entrepreneurs, not knocking them down. Feedback is always about the pitch, not the person.

 

The other distinction about Pitch Club is that it is a ‘PowerPoint-free zone’. In real life, when you step into the lift with a prospective customer or investor, you don’t get the opportunity to present 10 carefully prepared slides. You get the 90 seconds it takes to go from the lobby to the penthouse.

 

The main lesson I try to get across to my clients and Pitch Club attendees is not to go straight for the prospect’s cheque book. It’s very rare for a pitcher to immediately get buy-in from a prospective customer, client or investor. Don’t pitch for the money. Pitch for the next meeting. It’s through repeated contact and the development of relationships that deals are made. Pitching is simply about opening doors.

 

 

 

 

 

Selling stories to the media is a hard ‘pitch.’ Journalists are usually cynical, time-poor and hard to reach. According to Caroline Siler, Founder and Director of Keep Left Public Relations, it doesn’t have to be that way… if you do your homework.

 

Starting a consulting business at age 22 requires self-believe, a lot of determination and a well-honed pitch.

 

I launched Keep Left PR in 2001 after three years of working for a multinational PR agency and in-house for a technology company as its communications manager. The in-house role changed direction after about nine months from communications to pre-sales and I made my first ‘life-changing’ pitch.

 

The case I put to my then employer, Ingena, was simple (I hoped!).I would stay on as a freelancer, lease my current office space and, in doing so, set up my own consultancy. Either my pitch was rock-solid or my employer was sympathetic enough to give me a go and I was able to start Keep Left PR with my first client and a high-profile CBD address.

Not long after, I presented to members of the Executive Connection and picked up my second client. I had discovered that public speaking can be the best form of pitching because you’re pitching to multiple prospects simultaneously. If they like what they hear, they’ll approach you and they did!

 

As my business grew, so did my need to hire more experienced consultants. I now have two Groups Heads older than me, one of whom will in time become a partner in the business – Sally Locke.

 

Convincing Sally to leave her role at a much larger agency and embrace my vision for Keep Left PR was a big undertaking. We were talking for months before it actually happened. When Sally joined, the business had temporarily moved from the CBD to my home in St Kilda, with three staff. I can’t imagine what Sally would have been thinking, working from my dining room! They say timing is everything, however, because we haven’t looked back.

 

Now my job is, among other things, a mix of pitching ideas to clients and stories to the media.

 

The market is shifting away from the big agencies. We provide a service that cuts out a lot of the low-value account management stuff to provide a more affordable service that focuses on things that really matter to clients – great media exposure and tangible results that make a difference.

 

When pitching to the media, success comes from research and preparation. That’s what I teach my staff and explain to my clients. Distributing a media release en masse can be effective if you have a really big news announcement, but it rarely beats a well-crafted pitch that personally targets a short-list of journalists or media outlets with a customised angle.

 

 

 

 

 

From humble beginnings working in restaurants to the $20 million development of Shed 14 at Central Pier in the heart of Melbourne’s Dockland precinct, Hatem Saleh’s recipe for success is about selling the sizzle, and then the steak.

 

The last two years of my life have been one big pitch – to family, to staff, to business partners, to the government and then, of course, to the bank.

 

Around 1999, my business partner Chris Maziotis and I saw the opportunity to convert the derelict sheds at South Wharf on the outskirts of Melbourne’s CBD into event spaces. We converted Shed 7 into a venue called Atlantic in 1999 and Shed 6 into Sumac and Alumbra in 2002. However, in April 2006 the Victorian Government surprised us with their plans to compulsorily acquire the Sheds and, therefore, our business, so they could build the new the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre on the adjoining land. We went from being a successful business, with an $8 million turnover, to a company with a very uncertain future. We were informed that we’d need to exit the premises by the 15th of February 2007, despite the fact that we had taken deposits for over 50 bookings for functions and weddings scheduled for after that time.

 

We were faced with the prospect of calling anxious couples and explaining that they might not have a venue for their reception. Our staff, my business partners, our families and our clients were all stuck under this one big question mark.

 

At around this time, VicUrban fortunately put up a tender for the development of Sheds 9 and 14 at Central Pier, in the heart of the Docklands. It really was our only hope.

 

Suddenly, we were negotiating with the Victorian Government to get the best deal from the compulsory acquisition and at the same time we were tendering for Central Pier. I was negotiating with the bank to secure the capital needed for a $20 million development of four new events spaces in Shed 14 that we hadn’t even won yet. Chris and I brought on a new partner, Con Andronis. I had 16 full-time staff on the payroll – chefs, salespeople, administration staff – and they all wanted reassurances. They had mortgages to pay and, unlike the owners, they could easily move on to another company.

 

But the biggest challenge was managing customers. Imagine having customers including a large number of brides calling up wanting confirmation about their events. It was a very difficult and very stressful time. I was constantly negotiating with no guarantees that we could pull it off.

 

Of the 30 tenderers, we were shortlisted to 10, based on architectural drawings and renderings. We were then shortlisted to five, then two and then it was ours!

 

Looking back, I don’t think I ever considered that we would not win this tender, and that is what successful pitching is all about. The entire future of Atlantic Group [V] rested on its success. And I think that helped with my ‘pitch’ to everyone involved. I was hiring architects and consultants and moving forward on the basis that we would win.

 

In August, we opened the first event space Peninsula, after five months without revenue. In December, we opened the last venue ndash; a private dining room known as Sketch. When we opened we had 130 bookings already in place, and we’re on track toward having a $20 million turnover business, instead of eight. I am very proud to say that no staff jumped ship. No pitch is perfect, but a strong belief in what you are doing will go a long way.