The Time I Was Asked to Leave the Building During a Pitch Meeting

If the first five issues of this newsletter were focused on how to win business and keep clients happy these next five will be about how to absolutely blow it at both.

It recently occurred to me that I’d learned half of what I know by observing my own mistakes and the other half by having them pointed out to me. So I thought we should give some airtime to the hardest moments of learning I’ve been through. 

I’m going to start with possibly the worst a sales pitch meeting could have ever gone. By the title, you already know how it ended but by the time it got to that, it was a relief. 

The story takes place right at a time when my agency was finally picking up some self-sustaining momentum. I was pitching and winning web-design work and some websites were coming in on their own. Beauty. 

But I wanted more big local brands and “Unnamed Grocery Chain” was perfect. 

I had a contact that worked with them for years and told me they’re not looking for outside agency help. That every agency in town was trying to win their work. 

But my agency was different. We were small. Nimble. And cool. I reached out to them and got a polite but firm no. So I reached out again and maybe a couple more times. Each reply was a no until suddenly it wasn’t.

“Can you come in tomorrow at 9am?”

Hell yeah. I’d done it. Broken through with just the charm of my well-crafted emails. 

Just a Casual Chat

I showed up early. I showed up confident. 

The head of marketing was waiting for me and led me to a boardroom that couldn’t have been as giant as I remember it. They sat directly across from me, opened a large binder and asked me pointedly why I was there. 

“I just want to have a casual chat about how we can work together” I demurred.

To which the reply was “Who do you think our target market is?”

Thrown off guard I umm-ed and ahh-ed some nonsense about families. The answer was cut off with “Why do you think shoppers choose our store?” My next answer and the answer after that were each cut off with increasingly sophisticated questions. Leading up to the final question. 

“What do you think of the promotions that are on our website right now?”

My head spinning I said “I haven’t looked at your website today but-“

The binder snapped shut. “I think I’ve heard enough.” said the head of marketing at Unnamed Grocery Chain “If you can’t bother to do the research before coming in here, I don’t need to use my time with you.”

It was at this point that I was escorted out.

The whole meeting was less than ten minutes.

Over Confidence and the Absence of a Plan

Holy shit dude what the hell went wrong?

I was stunned. The project manager I brought along was stunned. Our team back at the office was confused that we were back at the office less than 30 minutes after we left but then also stunned.

I had won so many projects with my charming-emails plus casual-chat 1-2 punch that the scope of the failure here was hard to grasp.

How had the same approach that had always worked so well bomb so badly?

I understand, as I’m sure you understand, that this story was an extreme example but the lessons here have never left me. 

Looking back now I see quite clearly two critical errors made. 

1. Pushing too hard for the meeting

Pushing for a sales pitch is a balance game. Go too hard and you’re going to irritate. Ease off too much then you’ll end up fading out of view.

Most potential clients will likely just ghost you. But it’s important to understand and sense the impact of your persistence. 

When someone says no, respect that. Make sure to clarify what they’re rejecting is in fact what you’re offering - but a no is a no. Not an invitation to turn up the charm.

2. Rolling in unprepared

In previous issues I’ve extolled the virtues of going into a meeting with no agenda. Just meet as many people as possible! Meetings are magic. But always ask yourself this:

Is someone being paid for their time spent meeting with me right now? *

Think of how much that person’s salary might be and how much that hour (or ten minutes in this case) is worth in dollars. You have to respect this by having a clear outline of what you want to achieve with that meeting and be prepared to lead it. 

Do your research. There isn’t a meeting you can have out there that isn’t improved by letting them know you cared enough to read their backstory.

Of course if the meeting is casual - don’t present a PowerPoint. But be prepared for the event that the meeting isn’t as casual as you thought. You can read the room and decide whether it’s PowerPoint time or Casual Chat o’clock. 

I’ve since brought more presentations to meetings that I didn’t show than ones I did. You can always send it as a follow-up.

* This is even more paramount if they’re not getting paid because  they’re in a meeting with you and would be otherwise doing their expensive thing of value.

The One-Question Interview

Working Creative: What's the biggest mistake you've made in a client relationship that seemed perfect at first?

Erik Mohr: Being too available. Finding that balance is tricky. We take pride in being accessible and open to impromptu brainstorming—but for some clients, that’s read as “always on.” I’ve had to say, “I can’t be on this call. It’s 3am.” Now, we include a simple section in our proposals that outlines our availability and expected response times. It helps set clear boundaries upfront, in a transparent and professional way.

Bonus Question:

Working Creative: What do you imagine/picture/visualize when you hear the words “Working Creative”?

Erik Mohr: This might not be what you want to hear... but I can't help but think of the movie Working Girl.

Parting Thought

Writing this week’s newsletter brought back that whole day to me and man, it has really stuck with me. I spent years plotting how I was going to get my redemption but in the end,I had to just own the epic fumble.

If you don’t collect a good batch of memories that make you wince, then you probably didn’t put yourself out there enough. It’s hard but you gotta take a few lumps. 

Nowadays, when groaners rush back in 4k like this, I take a deep breath and repeat this little thing I made up and the groans subside:

You did the best you could
With love in your heart
And with what you had available to you at the time
And it probably wasn’t as bad as you remember it

Now go send some charming emails.