Matthew Parker
It's all about a transparent procurement process:  the client should be happy to outline their purchasing process to potential suppliers, and suppliers should be asking those questions!

As well as thinking about creatives there is also the question of how much information to give at a pitch.  I have lost work by giving potential clients too much useful information, which allowed them either to brief preferred competitors or to do some work themselves.

A good pitch for marketing materials might also include  some useful strategies on reducing print spend.  Adding extra value to the pitch can often be very effective with potential clients.

Matthew Parker
www.printandprocurement.com
Chris Hammond
I am still surprised how many Marketing Directors are hesitant to give agencies the full picture when requesting a free creative pitch. It is common sense for a design agency to ask how many agencies (and who) are involved, budgets constraints and how thorough the brief is. Only then can an agency make an educated decision on whether there is a business case for investing much money and man-hours.
John Toppin

Many agencies are their own worst enemies when it comes to looking at this issue from a commercial perspective.

There are things you can do to avoid having to pitch but leaving these aside, what should you be thinking of if you are invited to pitch?

As well as the points raised by Marc:

Does the potential client fit with your business? If the fit is not strong then why pitch?

How much time are you prepared to invest in the pitch? If you spend a total of 20 man days in preparation and the cost of those days is say £10k then you will need assess this against the likely profit you might earn from work you win.

Why has the potential client selected your agency to pitch? If the reasons are not good ones or don't make sense then what does that tell you.

What criteria is the potential client going to use to assess each agency pitching? If key criteria don't match your strengths then why pitch?

What is the pitch process? Is it well thought through?

Finally, I would recommend you work out how much effort you put into pitching last year, what the success rate was and what the payback was, what worked and what didn't work. You might find some interesting and helpful insights.

Martin S

In a previous job the company I worked for answered an advert for council recruitment advertising. It said something like 'Submissions are sought from Agencies by XXXX date, and these should include creative'

Personally I thought it was a waste of time as how did we know what our chances were?

We pitched up and didn't get the work not surprisingly - and the company I worked for has since gone bust. Maybe they just made a bad call.