4 Key Roles For Team Pitches

Author: David King

2007-08-30 Word Count: 594 Category: Sales

Every team has roles. Your presentation team is no different. You must assign these roles and your team needs to “play in position” if you want to taste true success in a team presentation.
The alternative is “everyone for themselves”. Assign roles and you can thank me later.
The Quarterback.
The Quarterback is responsible for “calling the plays”. This is not the most senior member or the person who will speak the most, but it is the critical role.
The Quarterback is responsible for:
1. Keeping the presentation on-time – slowing down and speeding up as necessary.
2. Ensuring a level of “understanding” by the client and constantly monitoring the level of engagement from the client.
3. Ensuring the team has delivered all its key messages but also obtained the outcomes it was seeking.
The Captain
The Quarterback is a busy person. Their mind will generally be focused on timing and content. Ideally, someone on the team will then take on a “Captain” role. Usually, this would be the most senior member of the team.
The Captain’s role isn’t to run the meeting and the Captain needs to be comfortable leaving that role to the Quarterback. Ideally, the Captain isn’t also the main speaker.
The Captain is a “pitch hitter” - a role that works best when used sparingly for maximum effect.
1. Emphasise key points.
2. Emphasise the brand/relationship.
3. Back-up other team members.
4. Make the client feel important.
5. Take the client’s side by asking questions on behalf of the client to the presenting team (good for prepared answers or just to break up the presentation).
6. “Reading the client”. Like the Quarterback, the Captain should also be watching the body language of the client to ensure understanding.
Depending on the seniority of the Captain, they may need to be well briefed or even “fed” their questions prior to the meeting.
The Players.
Everyone else is a “Player”.
Picking the right team for any meeting, pitch or presentation is a whole topic in and of itself. But one critical point is that everyone who attends a meeting should “play” – ie, speak.
Clients can find it very distracting if a team member is sitting silently through the entire meeting.
This also comes down to rehearsal and presentation development. Everyone needs to be allocated topics and time to speak. Even if it’s just a single topic, it will allow the client to understand why that person is attending and what value they bring to the team/the client.
Debutants.
Pitching to a client for the first time, particularly in a formal setting and especially in front of work colleagues, is usually nerve wracking for even the most confident graduate or new recruit.
But its also a huge learning experience. So I strongly encourage you to bring junior or new team members to client presentations as quickly and as often as possible.
Remember to give them something – even a single point or page – to talk about, however.
Conclusion.
Assign roles and stick to them. No matter what, you are already well ahead of most of your competitors. Remember, it’s not just what you say, but how you say it.

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David King is the Managing Director of Vue Consulting Pty Ltd, an Australian sales and marketing consultancy. He has held numerous Executive and Sales positions with JPMorganChase, BNP Paribas and ANZ, working extensively in investment banking, capital markets and private banking. He has lived and worked in Sydney, Tokyo, New York and London. Visit his website www.vueconsulting.com.au and email him at info@vueconsulting.com.au.