Charge more allows me to dedicate more time to each client, and do really great job. I ll attract better clients. I ll have margins to work in case something goes bad. I can have more free time, less stress, and provide more value to everyone, including my friends and family. There's only upside! It sounds like a fait accompli. But Enns has robust countermeasures to offer. The 12-step manifesto signposts a trail blazed by businesses which have dared resist pressure to pitch. They’ve found a more satisfying and lucrative way of doing business. Tips include encouraging agencies to specialise and be genuine experts in their field, breaking free from the adrenaline rush of the big pitch and replacing presentations with conversations and collaboration. Enns advocates diagnosis before prescribing a solution with a genuine understanding of what clients need.

Our premium pricing will cost us from time to time, but if we are not losing business on price occasionally, then we arent charging enough Power in the client-consultant relationship often rests with the client and this power comes from choices (competition). Accept that clients will turn over —> this is healthy —> client hire in times of need —> if we do our job, this need reduces. A good client will begin to relinquish control once he has the confidence that the expert practitioner knows more than he does, or has the tools to learn more." Charging more allows to invest in oursleves our enterprise (research and development) and most certainly to improve the outcome and the experience for the client.It has given us confidence to talk about financial matters early and often in a strategic manner to get to a good shared outcome with our prospects,” adds Kadlic. “The concept of presenting multiple options and resisting the urge to overinvest in endless proposal iterations is sage advice and very effective.” Who are we without our passion? We should walk away when we are not seen as the expert. Beginnings are always hard.

We do not need to be faster, smarter or more creative than other firms, only more focused. Start with focus. Best salespeople = help clients see their problems / opps and solve / get them (they are respectful facilitators of change). The book contains twelve sets of proclamations (since it’s a manifesto of business practices for creative firms) and I really find the format interesting.I am a strategic communication consultant working with agencies and in-house teams to deliver personal communication preparedness and organisation resilience. I bring a 25-year global PR agency pedigree working with market leaders including Ketchum (Global Corporate Practice Director), Text100 (EMEA Regional Director), Hill & Knowlton Strategies (Director) and GCI (Director) to drive lasting reputational growth and business change. We are not paid for our service, we are paid for our expertise. And also, the customer is not always right. This may be one of the most important books you will read if you ever pitch anything. And I have pitched a lot. Sometimes I lose miserably and this book can tell you why. But more important it is telling you not to pitch at all. Much better. When presenting, we give our ideas for free and we opt for somebody to hire us. When we converse, we come to an agreement that if we work together, both parties will be well served. Now more than ever, creative professionals and firms worldwide are rising up to reclaim both their power and dignity in the buy-sell relationship.

We will see ourselves as professional practitioners who bring real solutions to our clients’ business problems. We will seek respect above money, for only when we are respected as experts will we be paid the money we seek." Profit margins are higher in the first two phases (diagnose and prescribe) than in the last two (apply and reapply). Our thinking is the value-added differentiator in the first two phases.Win Without Pitching: "secure the business before it gets to a defined, competitive selection process" If the prospect isn’t committed to a future date or event, then "the written proposal is not the tool to help propel him forward. If the engagement has not yet moved from his wish list to his to-do list, then it is still inspiration he seeks. … We are better off in these cases exploring our previous work for examples of inspiration, or examining with him his competitor’s work or other best practices from further afield. Sometimes such explorations merit a small paid discovery engagement, and sometimes they are merely part of the conversations in the buying cycle." I love that the author wrote this from Kaslo! I lived in that tiny BC town for half a year when I was six years old, and it was a foundational little adventure. And since I live with my family in a medium-sized BC town right now, working remotely for clients, doing writing and thinking work, this is a nice fit.

The book is written for someone who wants to provide their expertise as a service (e.g. consulting, design, software development, writing, etc.). Enns' path is also one of control. He wants to be "in charge" of the client relationship, to show strength, and to not be screwed over. I understand that, but suggest there may be a path available that involves more collaboration, openness and empathy, instead of ratcheting up prices and control. The proclamation "We Will Replace Presentations With Conversations" is the closest thing Enns presents as an empathetic approach. Going along that vein, Enns talks about how to approach 'sales' in a way that doesn't injure the entire point of the approach. So, he contrasts the typical sales presentation, which is geared towards persuasion, with an entirely separate approach, which is trying to find out if there is a fit between the service offering and the needs of the business WITHOUT doing the free work of diagnosing the business' problem. Enns then goes on to talk about why trying to treat without diagnosing is as bad an idea in creative or business service ventures as it is in medicine or law and how other professionals don't allow people to pressure them into doing things that are bad for both, including offering free diagnostics. Good quote: “A good client will begin to relinquish control once he has the confidence that the expert practitioner knows more than he does, or has the tools to learn more”)

Customer reviews

Only We Present Our Work → When our work is shared internally, we require the client to allow us to be there. They haven't heard a great diagnosis of their problem and possible solution. And often we haven't responded to the motivation but to the request. If a client is concerned about their FUTURE and you are responding to TODAY.. you will lose. I know this. The book starts by defining a pitch as an ‘attempt to sell or win approval for one’s ideas by giving them away for free, usually within a competitive, buyer-driven process.’ Enns goes argues that market forces are aligned against agencies, pressuring them to give work away for free to prove their worth to clients with creatives resigned to this and trade associations seemingly powerless to challenge the status quo.