The anatomy of a great pitch presentation

When tendering to award high value contracts, business and government entities often include a presentation in the procurement process.

Presentations provide an evaluation committee with a chance to ask detailed and technical questions about a tenderer’s written submission. Gaps and ambiguities can be clarified.

When technology is integral to service delivery, a presentation might double as a system demonstration.

And when a tender has been submitted by a joint venture, or involves subcontractors, a presentation allows the evaluators to assess how well the various parties relate. Will the involvement of multiple parties help or hinder achievement of the desired outcomes?

When you reach the pitch presentation stage of a procurement process, do take it seriously. Complacency is your enemy.

Don’t assume you’ve won the contract — you’re merely one step closer.

Consider who is attending the pitch presentation — and why

The evaluation committee will be made up of people with a mix of backgrounds and expertise. Some might even be external advisors.

Consider the makeup of the evaluation committee as this could signal the buyer’s priorities and each individual assessor’s agenda and interests.

For example, if the CFO is present, you could expect questions about your pricing.

If the head of legal is in the room, your governance or risk management approach might be probed.

If an IT expert is in attendance, data security or systems integration could be the focus.

Knowing who will be in the room will also help you to select your presenters. Who in your business is best placed to speak to the buyer’s pain points and to have peer-level discussions with each evaluator?

It’s not unusual for a buyer to limit the number of people who can attend a presentation. Be prepared for this — you may need to make sacrifices.

Word of caution

Don’t under-estimate any buyer representative. The person who might appear to be the most unassuming could influence the tender outcome.

Present a diverse and inclusive team

These days, almost every request for tender contains pointed questions about diversity and inclusion. Reflect your company’s commitment to diversity in the composition of your presentation team. Gender diversity is the obvious place to start.

In doing so, take care to give every presenter a meaningful role — there’s no place for ornaments.

Elaborate, don’t regurgitate

When you’re shortlisted to present, you can feel confident that all members of the audience have read your proposal.

This is an opportunity to elaborate.

Often, a buyer will provide in advance questions or themes that it would like addressed during the pitch presentation.

For example:

• We would like you to explain in further detail your resourcing strategy;
• We wish to better understand your methodology and in particular why you have proposed a decentralised approach; or
• We would like to meet the individuals who you have nominated as key people.

On other occasions, a buyer will allow you to decide how you use the time.

Don’t go in blind. Clarify what the buyer needs and wants. And, if you are required to, or elect to, deliver a formal presentation, make it worthwhile by focusing on what is most important to the buyer.

Q&A should be robust and illuminating

Sometimes the word “presentation” is a misnomer.

Sometimes the presentation stage is actually a Q&A session or a panel interview.

When this is the case, nominate a team leader. That person will have two roles: firstly, they should field questions to the appropriate person; secondly, when necessary, they should prompt the other presenters to ensure key messages are delivered and nothing important is overlooked.

For example:

“Megan, you might also like to touch on our ESG policy…”

“You’re right — thanks, Ella. In 2021, we updated our ESG policy to…”

Without a leader, you risk everyone talking over the top of each other, or nobody speaking at all. On that point, note that the team leader’s role is not to dominate, but to direct.

Be sure to rehearse ahead of your pitch presentation. Role play Q&A to put your team through their paces. Test how well the team knows your submission. See how well they cope under pressure. Rehearsing will make each presenter feel more confident and will help your team to project as a cohesive and inclusive group.

Make appropriate use of tools and technology

In the digital age it’s tempting to make every presentation as flashy and high tech as possible but that’s not always a good idea.

Think about it: if your audience is fixated on a screen, they’re not going to be forming a human connection with your people.

A presentation is an opportunity to convince and connect — to give the buyer a sense of what it will feel like to work with you.

Are your people likeable? Friendly? Fun, even? Or are they serious and sombre?

Spend time thinking about tools and technology. Is Powerpoint really the best approach? Is playing a video going to add value, or consume valuable time?

To illustrate, when shortlisted to present to a major banking institution, I once coached a professional services client to boycott technology altogether and instead use large-format corflute storyboards as visual aids. Easels were positioned around the room which made the session fluid and informal and allowed each of the presenters to show their personality.

Later, when announcing my client had been successful, the evaluation panel described the approach as unexpected, refreshing and made a positive, lasting impression.

Mission accomplished.