Peter Levitan

Peter Levitan speaking at Fuel Lines New Business Conference

Peter will be speaking on Thursday, October 8 at 8:30 AM and also on Friday, October 9 at 11:15 AM.

October 8 Keynote Session Title and Description:

Win more new business pitches. It’s easier than you think.

“Hello, we’ve selected your agency to pitch for our AOR account.” These are without question some of the sweetest words an ad agency can hear. “Sorry, you’ve come in second”, are some of the most painful. Between these two statements is one of the most exciting, stressful and expensive events in an agency’s life – the new business pitch.

There is no question that you can dramatically increase the odds of winning your advertising agency’s next pitch. The most successful agencies win many more pitches by having a detailed pitch development and presentation system and avoid the most common pitch killing mistakes.

This ‘how-to’ session will isolate best pitch development and presentation practices, and will help you learn how to manage your team and get that client to love you. Insights from agency search consultants and clients will help us better understand how we look from the other side of the table.

October 9 Session Title and Description:

Like Lambs to the slaughter.

How to get past being ‘nice’ to winning more negotiations.

This session will be a wake up call for agency managers that have not studied the art of negotiation. Unfortunately, many of their clients, especially procurement departments, have spent a great deal of time learning how to win.

We’ll approach the art of negotiation as a mini-course that examines the science of negotiation, best practices and how to get what you want. You will see why the standard agency approach of ‘win-win’ does not usually work.

Over the past 20 years the advertising industry has let the market devalue its services. It is time to learn how to leverage our expertise to win more negotiations from daily activities to post pitch compensation discussions.

You will even learn how to say a word that most agencies do not like to say… “No!”

More About Peter

The preeminent thought leader on how to win agency pitches.

“I use 30 years of advertising agency new business development experience (I ran my own agency and managed business development at Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising in New York and London) to dramatically improve small to medium size advertising agency new business programs.

‘The Levitan Pitch. Buy This Book. Win More Pitches’, my detailed book on pitching & presenting is up on Amazon. It is designed to help advertising agencies improve their odds of winning the new accounts they attracted with my customized business development system.”

Don’t take Peter’s word for it:

“Peter knows the ad agency business, is always ahead of the curve, and thinks way outside the box and at lightning speed. He’s exactly the kind of person I’d want on my team if I still owned an agency or just about any other business that thrives on innovation.”

– Barbara Findlay Schenck. Author of “Small Business Marketing For Dummies” and “Branding For Dummies”

Peter’s history:

“I worked at Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising Worldwide for 16 years. I held the titles of European Director in London, GM of the Minneapolis office, Business Development Director and Management Director in New York. My clients included General Mills, Johnson & Johnson, Northwest Airlines, Sara Lee and Western Union’s EasyLink service – the first commercial email system.

I owned my own advertising and digital design agency in Portland, OR. Our clients included Dr. Martens, Legalzoom, Nike, Montana Lottery, Harrah’s Hotels and Casinos, The United Nations and regional accounts across the western states.

I founded two industry-leading Internet publishing and technology start-ups in New York and New Jersey. Microsoft bought ActiveBuddy.

I am on the board of the Portland Advertising Federation and write for industry websites like AdPulp, Agency Post and Advertising Week.”

An interview with Peter Levitan, by Portland’s Rebecca Armstrong MD of the advertising agency North about his book: “The Levitan Pitch. Buy This Book. Win More Pitches.”

Connect with Peter via Twitter: @PeterLevitan  #FuelLines

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