When I arrived at JWT in New York the agency couldn’t win a pitch. We couldn’t get past the creds stage of a pitch. We had great people, lots and lots of them. Our clients were happy to testify that we were competent and efficient and creative enough for their needs – but something was off.
Our chemistry seemed more Carbon Monoxide than Oxytocin. Clients slipping gently out of reach as we pointed out the dots on the map, introduced the proprietary processes and gave our Oldest Agency In The World spiel.
When Rosemarie Ryan and Ty Montague arrived they did a lot to help turn that around. The machine got an overhaul, parts were replaced, the office was brought into the current century, the work referenced popular rather than ancient Roman culture.
But, in my mind at least, the most powerful change was that Rose & Ty switched the focus from the process to the people.
She’d stand up at the beginning of the meeting, walk around the table and place a hand on a shoulder (Traitors style) introducing the person as she did it
“This is Steve, he’s spent most of this pitch photographing teenage girls' bedrooms. Which makes him sound creepier than he actually is. He’ll explain all later.”
“This is Pilar, she has a magical ability to get people to talk – and she’s been talking to the people who founded your company 40 years ago. They may have retired, but boy do they have an opinion. You’re gonna be amazed at who she tracked down and what she got out of them” – and so on around the room.
It was really powerful. It showed that the CEO knew her team. It showed that she knew what they did. It showed that she’d been involved in the pitch, rather just being there to front the meeting. It set up some of the key points that would be hit – giving the meeting a shape. And importantly it set up the people in the room as experts, indicating that they had something valuable to contribute.
It was a breath of fresh air in a world where introductions tend to go,
“Hello, I’m Matilda, I’m an Account Director at JWT – which means that mine is the throat to choke (uncomfortable chuckle, forced smiles). I’ve been working here for 13 years, mainly in your category though I also worked on something vaguely cool for six and a half minutes. And I’ll hand it over to Jensen."
The move from saying “We’re a giant agency, with lots of process and the people needed to run it.” to saying “We’re a giant agency, full of the most amazing people, let me introduce them.” was a massive one.
And we started to win. Not just because of the way that people were introduced, but because people were genuinely valued for their contribution. Because nobody was looking for a “slide to present so that I have a role in the room” the day before the pitch.
We pitched people, not process.
And in doing it we managed to demonstrate not only that we had great people, but that they created great process.
It sounds like an easy trick. It was a magical change.
This is awesome 👏 congrats