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Has your firm mastered the perfect pitch?

BD teams can produce one pitch document every 15 minutes - how do you make that unique?

October 26, 2017 at 06:44 AM

1 minute read

By Dominic Carman | Updated on October 26, 2017

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In every law firm, business development professionals focus on one question: what differentiates our offering from the rest so that a client or potential client will choose us ahead of the competition? Of course, there is no simple answer but the effort put into creating an effective pitch document can play a big part.

Richard Grove, Allen & Overy’s (A&O’s) director of marketing and business development, summarises the challenge: “You’ve got to understand the client’s problems and issues and sympathise with those problems and issues: share the pain, demonstrate understanding, and then use that understanding and sharing to validate the solution that you’ve come up with, and effectively lead the client to confirm their approval of your solutions.”

Law Firms Mentioned

<a href="http://www.almcms.com/contrib

Macfarlanes
Mishcon de Reya New York LLP

/uploads/sites/378/2017/10/AgreementDeal-Article-201710250948.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-69014" src="http://www.almcms.com/contrib

Macfarlanes
Mishcon de Reya New York LLP

/uploads/sites/378/2017/10/AgreementDeal-Article-201710250948.jpg" alt="" width="620" height="372" /></a> In every law firm, business development professionals focus on one question: what differentiates our offering from the rest so that a client or potential client will choose us ahead of the competition? Of course, there is no simple answer but the effort put into creating an effective pitch document can play a big part. Richard Grove, Allen & Overy��s director of marketing & business development summarises the challenge: ��You��ve got to understand the client��s problems and issues, and sympathise with those problems and issues: share the pain, demonstrate understanding, and then use that understanding and sharing to validate the solution that you��ve come up with, and effectively lead the client to confirm their approval of your solutions.�� ��There is a lot more thought that goes into the document and the planning behind it than there was before,�� adds Kirsten Sutcliffe, Senior Business Development Manager at Macfarlanes. This is reflected in the pitch document aspirations of business development teams. When giving advice, often claim to deliver a service that resembles a bespoke Rolls-Royce. But in reality, the practical constraints of time and mass production mean that the pitch document process is often more like a Ford assembly line in the level of output required: the progressive assembly of interchangeable parts as the semi-completed pitch moves from workstation to workstation where parts are added in sequence until the final document is produced. The disparity between reality and what firms hope to offer is highlighted by a new report from Enable Business Solutions, which surveyed 46 of the 100 largest law firms in the UK and found that while almost every firm wants to make their client pitch documents unique, the overwhelming majority fail to do so. Its research found that while 98% of firms taking part in the survey believe it is very important (70%) or somewhat important (28%) to make each pitch document unique, a full 71% admitted that their own pitch documents are not significantly customised. Given that the firms surveyed create more than 60,000 pitch documents a year on average, this is perhaps unsurprising. Business development teams in leading firms range from five to nearly 100 staff. For the largest, this equates to creating a new pitch document every 15 minutes on average (where��s this stat from) whereas firms in the lower half of the top 100 firms create roughly one a day. ��We should be able to pull a document together in an hour,�� confirms Andy Towler, associate director of business development at Kirkland & Ellis. ��If it��s a big, wide-ranging RFP, that can take a week or more of back and forth.�� Another BD director identifies wider parameters: ��Pitches range from 4-month long panel pitches to one-page fee quotes.�� Client expectations of what they should receive from firms have changed. ��The days of solely drafting long, text heavy pitch documents have gone,�� explains Towler. ��In the past, the thinking was often: if we put 100 pages in front of them, they��re not going to read it, but it looks like we��ve done a lot of stuff.�� Economy is his current watchword. ��The approach now is often to try and display in as short, and succinct a way as possible - four or five bullet points - why we are the very best firm in this space.��   As Grove suggests, there is considerably more to the process than the simple production of a compelling document. Scoping, research, evaluation, planning, team building, pricing, timetabling, reviewing and presenting - all play their part. But writing, proofing and submitting the pitch document are also key elements. As Matthew Fuller, director of business development & marketing (EMEA) at White & Case, explains: ��The pitch or proposal is a moment in time in a relationship with a client. It��s not a one off, or shouldn��t be.�� Seizing the moment and maximizing it to the full means turning down some requests at the outset. The time and effort put into a pitch document in the combined hours spent by marketing teams and partners - costed using their charge out rates - can range from ��3,000 to ��100,000, sometimes more. Careful discrimination means that up to a third of all RFPs are declined, which in turn can lead to higher win rates. Firms are notoriously coy in discussing these on the record, and a wide disparity exists. From recently published research, half of large UK firms have a win rate of less than 50%, but 36% of them win 51%- 70% of their new client proposals, while 23% have a win rate above 70%. Which research is this? ��We don��t track opportunities that we don��t pursue,�� says Stephen Rowe, Senior Business Development Manager at Mishcon de Reya. ��But probably a quarter of opportunities that come in we decide just aren��t for us.�� He explains that ��there may be particular types of work that we would prefer not to do, so right at the start there should be consideration as to whether the rewards outweigh any detriments.�� Fuller adds: ��There are certain sectors where we don��t have the expertise and we haven��t bothered to pursue particular clients because of that - there are better things that we can do with our time.�� Getting lawyers involved in the process divides opinion: 43% of firms train their lawyers in content and production; 57% do not. At CMS, Geraint Evans, head of new business, explains that ��from the moment our lawyers become trainees, newly qualified, to associate, senior associate and then the senior associate programme that goes into the partnership track, pitch training covers many different elements. Within that is winning the work, pitches and tenders, and pitching to clients.�� He adds that includes ��the project management element, the development of a proposition, or benefits and understanding what benefits to the client mean.�� Similarly, White & Case believes that lawyers need to know about the pitch process. ��We put a lot of effort into training our lawyers and increasingly our associates,�� says Fuller. ��We believe very strongly that they should have a very significant part to play in the production of pitches. So we��ve made a real push in engaging our associates and getting them more involved in pitch production. It��s good for their careers: if they want to become partners, they have to have their own business and need to understand the levers and mechanisms around how you win and sustain business.��   However, Kirkland & Ellis does not train its lawyers in pitch document content. ��We have a significant sit down session with attorneys at the beginning of the pitch process and plan out how this pitch is going to look,�� says Towler. ��That hopefully minimises the chances of sending back a draft and it not being totally on point.�� On one theme, there is significant common ground: understanding what the client wants is imperative. Sutcliffe says that ��it is critical to ensure that we��re up to date on the client - if things are changing in their world, we need to have read the news and thought about the sector they are in and what��s affecting them.�� Rowe adds: ��We engage our business insights team to research the particular company and sector or market and do an analysis solely so that we can target the document and make it more focused on what the client is after.�� A review of pitch strategy is undertaken at least once a year by three quarters of firms. How much senior management choose to involve themselves in the pitch process is surprisingly high: 28% are very involved, 61% somewhat involved, and only 11% are not involved at all. Among those who are very involved is Mishcon de Reya. Inevitably, the firm��s senior management are most hands on ��in larger tenders, for example at the initial stage where we consider whether or not the opportunity is for us,�� says Rowe. ��Then there��s a period during which the technical elements of the pitch are pulled together by relevant partners and the business development team. The document will then be circulated more widely before it is sent to a prospective client, to ensure everyone is happy. That��s a second opportunity for senior management to provide input.�� BD professionals clearly face many challenges, from meeting high demand for their work with only limited resources, to working out the most winnable opportunities at the outside to deliver a better return on investment. But perhaps the biggest challenge is being able to present a unique offering to clients when time and resources are scarce. As one respondent at a major law firm concludes: ��We are not able to devote sufficient time to the process generally, which leads to a lack of proper scoping on receipt of invitation; there is insufficient team brainstorming to come up with relevant key messages and examples of ways our skills can translate into tangible benefits for clients.�� In every law firm, business development professionals focus on one question: what differentiates our offering from the rest so that a client or potential client will choose us ahead of the competition? Of course, there is no simple answer but the effort put into creating an effective pitch document can play a big part. Richard Grove, Allen & Overy��s director of marketing & business development summarises the challenge: ��You��ve got to understand the client��s problems and issues, and sympathise with those problems and issues: share the pain, demonstrate understanding, and then use that understanding and sharing to validate the solution that you��ve come up with, and effectively lead the client to confirm their approval of your solutions.�� ��When they are giving advice, law firms often claim to deliver a service that is like a bespoke Rolls-Royce. This is further reflected in the pitch document aspirations of their business development teams. As a consequence, the process surrounding their production has become much more sophisticated: ��There is a lot more thought that goes into the document and the planning behind it than there was before,�� says Kirsten Sutcliffe, Senior Business Development Manager at Macfarlanes.       But in reality, the practical constraints of time and mass production mean that the pitch document process is more often like a Ford assembly line in the level of output required: the progressive assembly of interchangeable parts as the semi-completed pitch moves from workstation to workstation where parts are added in sequence until the final document is produced.   According to a new report published by Enable Business Solutions, which surveyed 46 of the 100 largest law firms in the UK, almost every firm wants to make their client pitch documents unique, yet the overwhelming majority admit that they usually fail in that objective.   Although 98% of them believe it is very important (70%) or somewhat important (28%) to make each pitch document unique, a remarkable 71% also admit that they do not create pitch documents that are significantly customised. The firms surveyed create more than 60,000 pitch documents a year.   Business development teams in these firms range from five to nearly 100 staff. For the largest, this means creating a new pitch document every 15 minutes on average whereas firms in the lower half of the top 100 firms create roughly one a day.   An important caveat applies: in crude data terms, working on a single pitch for two hours counts exactly the same as crafting another which takes two weeks. ��We should be able to pull a document together in an hour,�� confirms Andy Towler, Associate Director of Business Development at Kirkland & Ellis. ��If it��s a big, wide-ranging RFP, that can take a week or more of back and forth.�� Another BD director identifies wider parameters: ��Pitches range from 4-month long panel pitches to one-page fee quotes.��   Client expectations have changed. ��The days of solely drafting long, text heavy pitch documents have gone,�� explains Towler. ��In the past, the thinking often was: if we put 100 pages in front of them, they��re not going to read it, but it looks like we��ve done a lot of stuff.�� Economy is his current watchword. ��The approach now is often to try and display in a short, and succinct a way as possible - four or five bullet points - why we are the very best firm in this space.��   As Grove suggests, there is considerably more to the process than the simple production of a compelling document. Scoping, research, evaluation, planning, team building, pricing, timetabling, reviewing and presenting - all play their part. But writing, proofing and submitting the pitch document is a key element. As Matthew Fuller, Director of Business Development & Marketing EMEA at White & Case, explains: ��The pitch or proposal is a moment in time in a relationship with a client. It��s not a one off, or shouldn��t be.��   Seizing the moment and maximizing it to the full means turning down some requests at the outset. The time and effort put into a pitch document in the combined hours spent by marketing teams and partners - costed using their charge out rates - can range from ��3000 to ��100,000, sometimes more. Careful discrimination means that up to a third of all RFPs are declined, which in turn can lead to higher win rates.   Firms are notoriously coy in discussing these on the record, and a wide disparity exists. From recent published research, half of large UK firms have a win rate of less than 50%, but 36% of them win 51- 70% of their new client proposals, while 23% have a win rate above 70%.   ��We don��t track opportunities that we don��t pursue,�� says Stephen Rowe, Senior Business Development Manager at Mishcon de Reya. ��But probably a quarter of opportunities that come in we decide just aren��t for us.�� He explains that ��there may be particular types of work that we would prefer not to do, so right at the start there should be consideration as to whether the rewards outweigh any detriments.��   Fuller adds: ��There are certain sectors where we don��t have the expertise and we haven��t bothered to pursue particular clients because of that - there are better things that we can do with our time.��   Getting lawyers involved in the process divides opinion: 43% of firms train their lawyers in content and production; 57% do not. At CMS, Geraint Evans, Head of New Business, explains that ��from the moment our lawyers become trainees, newly qualified, to associate, senior associate and then the senior associate programme that goes into the partnership track, pitch training covers many different elements. Within that is winning the work, pitches and tenders, and pitching to clients.�� He adds that includes ��the project management element, the development of a proposition, or benefits and understanding what benefits to the client mean.��   Similarly, White & Case believes that lawyers need to know about the pitch process. ��We put a lot of effort into training our lawyers and increasingly our associates,�� says Fuller. ��We believe very strongly that they should have a very significant part to play in the production of pitches. So we��ve made a real push in engaging our associates and getting them more involved in pitch production. It��s good for their careers: if they want to become partners, they have to have their own business and need to understand the levers and mechanisms around how you win and sustain business.��   However, Kirkland & Ellis does not train its lawyers in PD content. ��We have a significant sit down session with attorneys at the beginning of the pitch process and plan out how this pitch is going to look,�� says Towler. ��That hopefully minimises the chances of sending back a draft and it not being totally on point.��   On one theme, there is significant common ground: understanding what the client wants is imperative. Sutcliffe says that ��it is critical to ensure that we��re up to date on the client - if things are changing in their world that we have read the news and thought about the sector they are in and what��s affecting them.�� Rowe adds: ��We engage our business insights team to research the particular company and sector or market and do an analysis solely so that we can target the document and make it more focused on what the client is after.��   A review of pitch strategy is undertaken at least once a year by three quarters of firms. How much senior management choose to involve themselves in the pitch process is surprisingly high: 28% are very involved, 61% somewhat involved, and only 11% are not involved at all.   Among those who are very involved is Mishcon de Reya. Inevitably, the firm��s senior management are most hands on ��in larger tenders, for example at the initial stage where we consider whether or not the opportunity is for us,�� says Rowe. ��Then there��s a period during which the technical elements of the pitch are pulled together by relevant partners and the business development team. The document will then be circulated more widely before it is sent to a prospective client, to ensure everyone is happy. That��s a second opportunity for senior management to provide input.��   BD professionals clearly face many challenges. One says: ��We have a large demand for proposal development, but limited resources with the experience and knowledge to create compelling proposals.��   Another comments: ��Our biggest challenge is qualifying opportunities so that the time spent on pitches is targeted at winnable opportunities which deliver the most revenue to the broadest cross section of practice areas.�� A third summarises their challenges as: ��Getting partner input into the process of substantively tailoring pitch documents; managing our library of content and experience; incorporating infographics and other visually interesting content into our pitch materials.��   But perhaps the biggest challenge is presenting a unique offering when time and resources are scarce. As one respondent at a major law firm concludes: ��We are not able to devote sufficient time to the process generally, which leads to a lack of proper scoping on receipt of invitation; there is insufficient team brainstorming to come up with relevant key messages and examples of ways our skills can translate into tangible benefits for clients.��   To receive a complimentary copy of the full report, please see: enableplc.com/pitch-management-report   <

Macfarlanes
Mishcon de Reya New York LLP

> Unable to process long text (Analysis too complex: analysis too deep (50000)): &nbsp ; <a href='http://www.almcms.com/contrib
Macfarlanes
Mishcon de Reya New York LLP
/uploads/sites/378/2017/10/AgreementDeal-Article-201710250948.jpg'><img class='aligncenter size-full wp-image-69014 ' src='http://www.almcms.com/contrib
Macfarlanes
Mishcon de Reya New York LLP
/uploads/sites/378/2017/10/AgreementDeal-Article-201710250948.jpg ' alt= '' width='620 ' height='372 ' /></a> In every law firm , business development professionals focus on one question : what differentiates our offering from the rest so that a client or potential client will choose us ahead of the competition ? Of course , there is no simple answer but the effort put into creating an effective pitch document can play a big part . Richard Grove , Allen &amp ; Overy��s director of marketing &amp ; business development summarises the challenge : ��You��ve got to understand the client��s problems and issues , and sympathise with those problems and issues : share the pain , demonstrate understanding , and then use that understanding and sharing to validate the solution that you��ve come up with , and effectively lead the client to confirm their approval of your solutions.�� ��There is a lot more thought that goes into the document and the planning behind it than there was before,�� adds Kirsten Sutcliffe , Senior Business Development Manager at Macfarlanes . This is reflected in the pitch document aspirations of business development teams . When giving advice , often claim to deliver a service that resembles a bespoke Rolls-Royce . But in reality , the practical constraints of time and mass production mean that the pitch document process is often more like a Ford assembly line in the level of output required : the progressive assembly of interchangeable parts as the semi-completed pitch moves from workstation to workstation where parts are added in sequence until the final document is produced . The disparity between reality and what firms hope to offer is highlighted by a new report from Enable Business Solutions , which surveyed 46 of the 100 largest law firms in the UK and found that while almost every firm wants to make their client pitch documents unique , the overwhelming majority fail to do so . Its research found that while 98% of firms taking part in the survey believe it is very important ( 70% ) or somewhat important ( 28% ) to make each pitch document unique , a full 71% admitted that their own pitch documents are not significantly customised . Given that the firms surveyed create more than 60,000 pitch documents a year on average , this is perhaps unsurprising . Business development teams in leading firms range from five to nearly 100 staff . For the largest , this equates to creating a new pitch document every 15 minutes on average ( where��s this stat from ) whereas firms in the lower half of the top 100 firms create roughly one a day . ��We should be able to pull a document together in an hour,�� confirms Andy Towler , associate director of business development at Kirkland &amp ; Ellis . ��If it��s a big , wide-ranging RFP , that can take a week or more of back and forth.�� Another BD director identifies wider parameters : ��Pitches range from 4-month long panel pitches to one-page fee quotes.�� Client expectations of what they should receive from firms have changed . ��The days of solely drafting long , text heavy pitch documents have gone,�� explains Towler . ��In the past , the thinking was often : if we put 100 pages in front of them , they��re not going to read it , but it looks like we��ve done a lot of stuff.�� Economy is his current watchword . ��The approach now is often to try and display in as short , and succinct a way as possible - four or five bullet points - why we are the very best firm in this space.�� &nbsp ; As Grove suggests , there is considerably more to the process than the simple production of a compelling document . Scoping , research , evaluation , planning , team building , pricing , timetabling , reviewing and presenting - all play their part . But writing , proofing and submitting the pitch document are also key elements . As Matthew Fuller , director of business development &amp ; marketing ( EMEA ) at White &amp ; Case , explains : ��The pitch or proposal is a moment in time in a relationship with a client . It��s not a one off , or shouldn��t be.�� Seizing the moment and maximizing it to the full means turning down some requests at the outset . The time and effort put into a pitch document in the combined hours spent by marketing teams and partners - costed using their charge out rates - can range from ��3,000 to ��100,000 , sometimes more . Careful discrimination means that up to a third of all RFPs are declined , which in turn can lead to higher win rates . Firms are notoriously coy in discussing these on the record , and a wide disparity exists . From recently published research , half of large UK firms have a win rate of less than 50% , but 36% of them win 51%- 70% of their new client proposals , while 23% have a win rate above 70% . Which research is this ? ��We don��t track opportunities that we don��t pursue,�� says Stephen Rowe , Senior Business Development Manager at Mishcon de Reya . ��But probably a quarter of opportunities that come in we decide just aren��t for us.�� He explains that ��there may be particular types of work that we would prefer not to do , so right at the start there should be consideration as to whether the rewards outweigh any detriments.�� Fuller adds : ��There are certain sectors where we don��t have the expertise and we haven��t bothered to pursue particular clients because of that - there are better things that we can do with our time.�� Getting lawyers involved in the process divides opinion : 43% of firms train their lawyers in content and production ; 57% do not . At CMS , Geraint Evans , head of new business , explains that ��from the moment our lawyers become trainees , newly qualified , to associate , senior associate and then the senior associate programme that goes into the partnership track , pitch training covers many different elements . Within that is winning the work , pitches and tenders , and pitching to clients.�� He adds that includes ��the project management element , the development of a proposition , or benefits and understanding what benefits to the client mean.�� Similarly , White &amp ; Case believes that lawyers need to know about the pitch process . ��We put a lot of effort into training our lawyers and increasingly our associates,�� says Fuller . ��We believe very strongly that they should have a very significant part to play in the production of pitches . So we��ve made a real push in engaging our associates and getting them more involved in pitch production . It��s good for their careers : if they want to become partners , they have to have their own business and need to understand the levers and mechanisms around how you win and sustain business.�� &nbsp ; However , Kirkland &amp ; Ellis does not train its lawyers in pitch document content . ��We have a significant sit down session with attorneys at the beginning of the pitch process and plan out how this pitch is going to look,�� says Towler . ��That hopefully minimises the chances of sending back a draft and it not being totally on point.�� On one theme , there is significant common ground : understanding what the client wants is imperative . Sutcliffe says that ��it is critical to ensure that we��re up to date on the client - if things are changing in their world , we need to have read the news and thought about the sector they are in and what��s affecting them.�� Rowe adds : ��We engage our business insights team to research the particular company and sector or market and do an analysis solely so that we can target the document and make it more focused on what the client is after.�� A review of pitch strategy is undertaken at least once a year by three quarters of firms . How much senior management choose to involve themselves in the pitch process is surprisingly high : 28% are very involved , 61% somewhat involved , and only 11% are not involved at all . Among those who are very involved is Mishcon de Reya . Inevitably , the firm��s senior management are most hands on ��in larger tenders , for example at the initial stage where we consider whether or not the opportunity is for us,�� says Rowe . ��Then there��s a period during which the technical elements of the pitch are pulled together by relevant partners and the business development team . The document will then be circulated more widely before it is sent to a prospective client , to ensure everyone is happy . That��s a second opportunity for senior management to provide input.�� BD professionals clearly face many challenges , from meeting high demand for their work with only limited resources , to working out the most winnable opportunities at the outside to deliver a better return on investment . But perhaps the biggest challenge is being able to present a unique offering to clients when time and resources are scarce . As one respondent at a major law firm concludes : ��We are not able to devote sufficient time to the process generally , which leads to a lack of proper scoping on receipt of invitation ; there is insufficient team brainstorming to come up with relevant key messages and examples of ways our skills can translate into tangible benefits for clients.�� In every law firm , business development professionals focus on one question : what differentiates our offering from the rest so that a client or potential client will choose us ahead of the competition ? Of course , there is no simple answer but the effort put into creating an effective pitch document can play a big part . Richard Grove , Allen &amp ; Overy��s director of marketing &amp ; business development summarises the challenge : ��You��ve got to understand the client��s problems and issues , and sympathise with those problems and issues : share the pain , demonstrate understanding , and then use that understanding and sharing to validate the solution that you��ve come up with , and effectively lead the client to confirm their approval of your solutions.�� ��When they are giving advice , law firms often claim to deliver a service that is like a bespoke Rolls-Royce . This is further reflected in the pitch document aspirations of their business development teams . As a consequence , the process surrounding their production has become much more sophisticated : ��There is a lot more thought that goes into the document and the planning behind it than there was before,�� says Kirsten Sutcliffe , Senior Business Development Manager at Macfarlanes . &nbsp ; &nbsp ; &nbsp ; But in reality , the practical constraints of time and mass production mean that the pitch document process is more often like a Ford assembly line in the level of output required : the progressive assembly of interchangeable parts as the semi-completed pitch moves from workstation to workstation where parts are added in sequence until the final document is produced . &nbsp ; According to a new report published by Enable Business Solutions , which surveyed 46 of the 100 largest law firms in the UK , almost every firm wants to make their client pitch documents unique , yet the overwhelming majority admit that they usually fail in that objective . &nbsp ; Although 98% of them believe it is very important ( 70% ) or somewhat important ( 28% ) to make each pitch document unique , a remarkable 71% also admit that they do not create pitch documents that are significantly customised . The firms surveyed create more than 60,000 pitch documents a year . &nbsp ; Business development teams in these firms range from five to nearly 100 staff . For the largest , this means creating a new pitch document every 15 minutes on average whereas firms in the lower half of the top 100 firms create roughly one a day . &nbsp ; An important caveat applies : in crude data terms , working on a single pitch for two hours counts exactly the same as crafting another which takes two weeks . ��We should be able to pull a document together in an hour,�� confirms Andy Towler , Associate Director of Business Development at Kirkland &amp ; Ellis . ��If it��s a big , wide-ranging RFP , that can take a week or more of back and forth.�� Another BD director identifies wider parameters : ��Pitches range from 4-month long panel pitches to one-page fee quotes.�� &nbsp ; Client expectations have changed . ��The days of solely drafting long , text heavy pitch documents have gone,�� explains Towler . ��In the past , the thinking often was : if we put 100 pages in front of them , they��re not going to read it , but it looks like we��ve done a lot of stuff.�� Economy is his current watchword . ��The approach now is often to try and display in a short , and succinct a way as possible - four or five bullet points - why we are the very best firm in this space.�� &nbsp ; As Grove suggests , there is considerably more to the process than the simple production of a compelling document . Scoping , research , evaluation , planning , team building , pricing , timetabling , reviewing and presenting - all play their part . But writing , proofing and submitting the pitch document is a key element . As Matthew Fuller , Director of Business Development &amp ; Marketing EMEA at White &amp ; Case , explains : ��The pitch or proposal is a moment in time in a relationship with a client . It��s not a one off , or shouldn��t be.�� &nbsp ; Seizing the moment and maximizing it to the full means turning down some requests at the outset . The time and effort put into a pitch document in the combined hours spent by marketing teams and partners - costed using their charge out rates - can range from ��3000 to ��100,000 , sometimes more . Careful discrimination means that up to a third of all RFPs are declined , which in turn can lead to higher win rates . &nbsp ; Firms are notoriously coy in discussing these on the record , and a wide disparity exists . From recent published research , half of large UK firms have a win rate of less than 50% , but 36% of them win 51- 70% of their new client proposals , while 23% have a win rate above 70% . &nbsp ; ��We don��t track opportunities that we don��t pursue,�� says Stephen Rowe , Senior Business Development Manager at Mishcon de Reya . ��But probably a quarter of opportunities that come in we decide just aren��t for us.�� He explains that ��there may be particular types of work that we would prefer not to do , so right at the start there should be consideration as to whether the rewards outweigh any detriments.�� &nbsp ; Fuller adds : ��There are certain sectors where we don��t have the expertise and we haven��t bothered to pursue particular clients because of that - there are better things that we can do with our time.�� &nbsp ; Getting lawyers involved in the process divides opinion : 43% of firms train their lawyers in content and production ; 57% do not . At CMS , Geraint Evans , Head of New Business , explains that ��from the moment our lawyers become trainees , newly qualified , to associate , senior associate and then the senior associate programme that goes into the partnership track , pitch training covers many different elements . Within that is winning the work , pitches and tenders , and pitching to clients.�� He adds that includes ��the project management element , the development of a proposition , or benefits and understanding what benefits to the client mean.�� &nbsp ; Similarly , White &amp ; Case believes that lawyers need to know about the pitch process . ��We put a lot of effort into training our lawyers and increasingly our associates,�� says Fuller . ��We believe very strongly that they should have a very significant part to play in the production of pitches . So we��ve made a real push in engaging our associates and getting them more involved in pitch production . It��s good for their careers : if they want to become partners , they have to have their own business and need to understand the levers and mechanisms around how you win and sustain business.�� &nbsp ; However , Kirkland &amp ; Ellis does not train its lawyers in PD content . ��We have a significant sit down session with attorneys at the beginning of the pitch process and plan out how this pitch is going to look,�� says Towler . ��That hopefully minimises the chances of sending back a draft and it not being totally on point.�� &nbsp ; On one theme , there is significant common ground : understanding what the client wants is imperative . Sutcliffe says that ��it is critical to ensure that we��re up to date on the client - if things are changing in their world that we have read the news and thought about the sector they are in and what��s affecting them.�� Rowe adds : ��We engage our business insights team to research the particular company and sector or market and do an analysis solely so that we can target the document and make it more focused on what the client is after.�� &nbsp ; A review of pitch strategy is undertaken at least once a year by three quarters of firms . How much senior management choose to involve themselves in the pitch process is surprisingly high : 28% are very involved , 61% somewhat involved , and only 11% are not involved at all . &nbsp ; Among those who are very involved is Mishcon de Reya . Inevitably , the firm��s senior management are most hands on ��in larger tenders , for example at the initial stage where we consider whether or not the opportunity is for us,�� says Rowe . ��Then there��s a period during which the technical elements of the pitch are pulled together by relevant partners and the business development team . The document will then be circulated more widely before it is sent to a prospective client , to ensure everyone is happy . That��s a second opportunity for senior management to provide input.�� &nbsp ; BD professionals clearly face many challenges . One says : ��We have a large demand for proposal development , but limited resources with the experience and knowledge to create compelling proposals.�� &nbsp ; Another comments : ��Our biggest challenge is qualifying opportunities so that the time spent on pitches is targeted at winnable opportunities which deliver the most revenue to the broadest cross section of practice areas.�� A third summarises their challenges as : ��Getting partner input into the process of substantively tailoring pitch documents ; managing our library of content and experience ; incorporating infographics and other visually interesting content into our pitch materials.�� &nbsp ; But perhaps the biggest challenge is presenting a unique offering when time and resources are scarce . As one respondent at a major law firm concludes : ��We are not able to devote sufficient time to the process generally , which leads to a lack of proper scoping on receipt of invitation ; there is insufficient team brainstorming to come up with relevant key messages and examples of ways our skills can translate into tangible benefits for clients.�� &nbsp ; To receive a complimentary copy of the full report , please see : enableplc.com/pitch-management-report &nbsp ;

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