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Often in a pitch you are in a competitive situation. Six of your rivals are sitting in the prospect’s lobby waiting for their shot. It is also not unusual in this kind of dynamic that the prospect wants to hurry you along. He or she has a lot of people yet to interview and wants you and your crew to present quickly. When this happens, be afraid. Be very afraid.
The danger is that you’ll do just what the prospect is asking. You rush the opening and leave out important information. The way you open sets the pace for the rest of the pitch so now everyone on your team will rush. The big idea that you worked so hard on never gets a fair airing because it was presented at high speed.
There is nothing more important than the opening. Even if your time has been cut in half, do the opening the way you rehearsed. If you constructed the opening properly it will contain the most relevant information the prospect needs to hear.
There are lots of reasons you might not win a pitch – price, chemistry, expertise. But, you should never lose because you presented poorly.
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