Winning awards can sometimes be like writing an RFP – make sure you fulfil the criteria, do it for the right reasons, and definitely don’t leave it last minute! Coming fresh from winning The Drum’s Startup of the Year award with a stellar pitch conversion rate, The Park’s Co-Founder Jack Lamacraft shares the secrets to his successes.
Jack joins Katie Street for episode 8 of Word on the Street, where we uncover some of his key philosophies regarding client relationships and how he maintained his experiential agency’s client base through an undoubtedly brutal year for the events industry.
We also hear how the need for a “ta-da” moment to wow clients is now a thing of the past, and what the most successful approach might be in the current climate…
This episode covers
- Crafting award winning work
- Demonstrating your dedication to a brand’s work
- “Pitch theatre” and the “Ta-da” moment
- Achieving a stellar pitch conversion rate
- Maintaining client relationships after the ‘honeymoon’ stage
Word on the Street is lucky enough to be sponsored by the wonderful team at Just After Midnight who are experts in uptime. Whatever the issue, whatever the time of day, they are supporting your websites and applications 24/7, while your team sleeps. Learn more: https://www.justaftermidnight247.com/
Links & references
Katie Street: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katiestreet/
Jack Lamacraft: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-lamacraft-56483bb/
The Park: https://www.thepark.london/
Get in touch: [email protected]
Episode highlights
“Make sure you’re ticking all the boxes. If you ignore one of the criteria that they’re judging against and that’s worth 20%, you’re definitely not going to win.” – 9:24 – Jack Lamacraft
“We’ve had a couple of pitches during lockdown, and I think the thing that I miss most is the tissue session, being able to show your workings.” – 12:37 – Jack Lamacraft
“In the old days of creative agencies, you’d have that moment where in front of the client, you’re suddenly revealing this amazing thing that you’ve been crafting for ages. And it’s exactly what they want. It’s almost like pulling the curtains back on the stage, but that’s not the way clients work anymore.” – 15:06 – Jack Lamacraft
“It was great having that support, but also that freedom to do our own thing and shape our own culture. But we were still plugged into a brilliant business over there, and M+C Saatchi Sydney is a very, very good business.” – 23:30 – Jack Lamacraft
“Just because you can’t deliver the live experience, that doesn’t mean there shouldn’t be an experience at all – people still need an experience.” – 29:32 – Katie Street
“It was a very serious time. And a lot of businesses didn’t even know, fundamentally, if that business in the way it had existed previously was even going to exist like that anymore.” – 36:29 – Jack Lamacraft
“Don’t get me wrong, the work is very important. But we try to establish a good working relationship with the potential client as early as possible, and bring through that collaboration, taking them on the journey.” – 45:48 – Jack Lamacraft
“For us, it’s about how we deliver 10 wows before the pitch even happens. Fundamentally, we want to win that pitch before that final meeting.” – 52:19 – Jack Lamacraft