Making first impressions during an initial pitch

Our material and our team are much better organized when we are making a final presentation than when we make the initial pitch. What should we do differently and how can we make a better first impression?

– Sales Executive at a Money Manager

Let's assume that you, the sales executive, have made the initial contact with the prospective client and now have a face-to-face meeting set where you will be the only member of the team at the presentation.

First and foremost, your ultimate goal is to be invited back for a second meeting with members of the investment team. You will need to convince the prospect that the firm has a product that meets the objectives of the fund and other criteria both qualitative and quantitative. As they say, you only have one chance to make a first impression, so think carefully about what you want to convey and how to get across your key points.

For starters, do not rely upon a PowerPoint presentation. Instead bring only a very scaled-down presentation flipbook (or even an iPad), but use it sparingly because it is vital to keep the meeting informal and conversational. Only open the flipbook or computer when you need a key chart, graph or schematic to make an important point that can't easily be said.

The purpose of the first meeting is to have a one-on-one conversation in which you must get across the salient points that will pique the prospect's interest and leave him or her wanting to know more. Never start with performance, never end with performance and perhaps never bring it up unless asked. Be prepared, but don't use your time to play “plot the dot.”

First make it a point to convey the firm's investment philosophy, which will be short, slightly boring, sometimes pretentious and often platitudinous. It should be espoused early on, succinctly and with sincerity.

Then talk about “the team.” That would include a rather lengthy discussion about the senior investment professionals, their backgrounds, current roles and responsibilities and how they work together in the decision-making framework of the firm. Here it is important to add some personal, color commentary about your colleagues which should evidence some elements of the firm's culture.

Finally, give an overview of the investment strategy that includes some well-recognized terminology while at the same time begins to show your firm's edge or differentiating characteristics. Being different for the sake of just appearing unique is not the goal. The firm's edge is what made it successful over full market cycles and over multiple time periods.

The firm's differentiation could be how the firm sources new ideas, how it researches and analyzes these ideas and then how these ideas eventually survive the entire process and find their way into portfolios. For example, a firm's edge could be how research and portfolio management work in tandem, or it could be as simple and/or complex as to how trades are actually made. You want the prospective client to fully understand this process and that it is not only repeatable but also institutionalized, so the prospect truly believes they are getting a “product” of a well-oiled process and not the idiosyncratic preferences of one or two individuals.

Again, your first meeting should be compelling enough that the prospect wants greater granularity about the people, the process, your edge and how your firm will add value to the prospect's fund. Keep your meeting informal and conversational yet informative and substantive.