So you don’t have to.

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I’ve been in enough pitches to know most of them don’t fail because of bad ideas. They fail because we misunderstand what the pitch (and the moments leading up to it) actually require.

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When I first transitioned out of PR and into agency growth, my first stop wasn’t a pitch room. It was Orlando, at Robin and Steve Boehler’s annual business development conference. I went four years in a row (seriously). Each time, I took what I learned back to my agency and watched it change everything: record-breaking wins, bigger awards, and, more importantly, a team and culture that understood business development and actually wanted to be part of it.

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Writing the foreword for Robin and Steve’s new book, It’s Not About You, was an honor. And having them back on the Question Everything podcast gave me a chance to reflect on those early lessons. 

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So while you wait for the book to arrive, here are a few mistakes I made the hard way so you don’t have to repeat them in 2026.

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Mistake: Viewing the agency website like a finished product. 

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Lesson: It’s not. It’s your storefront. For years, I treated our website as something to update when we had time. Or when someone complained loudly enough. Or we had major updates. Meanwhile, prospects were forming opinions before we ever spoke. 

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Your website isn’t a project. It’s a living, breathing thing that needs constant attention. It’s the first place consultants and prospects go to see what’s new, what’s changed, and whether you’re relevant right now. We update our website weekly. It’s that important. When building your site, remember there are a handful of core needs prospects have. 

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A few non-negotiables we focus on:

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• Launch a big campaign? It should be on your site day one. Don’t forget to add results when they come in.
• Consistent thought leadership in all forms (blog posts, podcasts, social, newsletter, etc). These show off your smarts and boost your search. 
• A homepage that clearly states your positioning and demonstrates what’s new at the agency. Keep it fresh for returning prospects.

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Build your website for prospects. Don’t build it for yourself. Robin and Steve give you a framework. It’s exactly what we built our site on. 10/10 recommend. 

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Mistake: Treating consultants like gatekeepers.

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Lesson: Turns out, they are your greatest ally. Early on, I saw consultants as something to “get through.” That was a mistake.

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With a small reframe of their role, I quickly understood their power and influence. Think about it. They’ve spent weeks, probably months, with the prospect before they ever called you. Time talking about their culture, their needs, and their business issues. That’s all valuable information. Lean into that. Ask questions. Ask for advice. But above all, treat them as your advocate, because they are. 

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Mistake: Believing our people were our biggest differentiation 

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Lesson: Talent isn’t a positioning. Every agency says they have the best talent (I know we do). But your agency must stand for more. Spend the time honing your positioning and ladder everything to it. Your process, your superpower, your capes and cases. Your website and social, your pitch decks. Absolutely everything should tie back to what makes you, you. We spent a lot of time on this in the early days, and it's still our filter today. 

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Mistake: Talking too much about my agency.

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Lesson: Guess what? It’s not about you. I still get the ick when I go back to those early pitches and hear myself opening up with our incredible roster of clients and shelf full of awards. What was I thinking? 

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The pitch room is your time to talk about the prospect, their business problem and how you will solve it. It’s not about you (hence, the name of the book). There’s a time and a place to show off (your website is one), but remind yourself: Your accomplishments are what got you into the room. The pitch? That’s where you make the real connection between your superpower and their superproblem. Keep your full capes (minus your five slides) back in the drive. What five slides, you ask?

• What makes the agency special. The brief slogan-like language that’s ownable to the agency and sums up what you do.
• The agency process: How do you get from the biz challenge to the solution in 3-5 steps.
• What it’s like to work with the agency. Why should the client want to work with you?
• A logo slide of all the clients you’ve worked with. This builds instant cred.
• A simple capabilities slide. What skills and offerings set you apart from the pack?

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Topics like your strategic process and relevant clients. If they want to know more about you, they will ask. And then, they will really listen.

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Mistake: Rushing to creative ideas 

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Lesson: Strategy trumps spec every time. If you are going to invest your precious resources in a pitch, start with strategy. You have to nail that. Everyone will come with good ideas. At this level, an epic fail is rare. But a good strategy based on consumer, category and brand truth can create confidence. Inspiring a client is great. Creating confidence with a client, is what wins. 

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I didn’t learn these lessons from a single win or a single conference. It took hundreds of at-bats and many mistakes to put these lessons into consistent action. It’s Not About You gives you the playbook, all in one place, so you can show up the right way the first time.