The experience of trying to convince a client that your idea is the best and that the result will be exceptional is exciting, and it kills you on the nerves at the same time.

Selling an idea (also known as “pitching”) does not have to be a disaster if we do it with preparation and organization. This way, you will convince your client that it is the best solution for their needs.

• Be clear and concise.

Your client probably has dozens of meetings in a row every day, and this one is not going to be an exception. Attention span and tiredness affect whether or not you are receptive to an idea, so the clearer and more concise your presentation, the better impact it will have.

When you have a short message and don’t get bored with unnecessary slides or speeches that never seem to end, you show the customer that you care about their time and that you have very clear ideas. Being brief does not mean that information is missing, but that you know how to synthesize and sell an idea without having to overexplain anything.

• Focus on the goals

The customer and their needs are most important and should be the center of attention. Before presenting your idea, you must do some prior research to find out what their communication needs are, what their previous events have been, and what they hope to achieve with this and create a project around all these points.

• The importance of the visual

It does not matter if you use a static format, a PowerPoint, or a video, but it is evident, and it has been demonstrated that our attention span will always be greater when we are receiving visual information.

Including photographs, small infographics, or diagrams without saturating them with information in the text is totally a priority. The most complex ideas can be reduced to a simple image.

• Create a narrative

Think of presenting your idea as a story. It has to have a message, a theme, some protagonists, and an ending.

Don’t expect your client to put the pieces together by himself with a bunch of disorganized ideas, create that narrative from his point of view and accompany them all the way.

• Use the strengths of your proposal.

You are probably not the only agency that presents an idea to the client, so it is important to separate as much as possible from other proposals (even if we are blind to it) being very clear about what our differential value is and betting firmly on it.

If the most important need for this event is to strengthen the brand image they have, focus on it, justify and defend why your idea is the one that will achieve the objective they have in mind.

• Listen and be humble.

Obviously, we have to explain our idea and convince the client, but we also have to be open to listening to criticism and receiving feedback from them.

Don’t just wait for the customer to comment, ask them about the key points of your presentation; let them know that you are open to working together. That will make me see that you are flexible and have an open mind to accept changes.

Finally, one should not fall into superlatives and bombast when it comes to justifying an idea. The important thing is to do it with passion and humility and always give thanks for listening and being considerate.