What to Do When Your Pitch Isn’t Successful
Pitches don’t always work out. In fact, they’re unsuccessful more times than they’re successful. Yet, they’re also part of the process. You know the saying; you have to get some no’s before you get some yes’s. Unfortunately, the no’s can leave a person feeling rejected, defeated, and it can have a lasting impact on your future success. So what do you do when your pitch isn’t successful? How do you move forward and not let a setback set you back?
- Take a Moment, and a Breath
When you don’t get a yes, when a pitch is unsuccessful, take a moment to sit back and take a deep breath. Remember what your goal is and how this momentary setback is just that; momentary. Take a moment to collect your thoughts and get calm. It’s okay.
- What Worked?
Once you have some clarity and have taken a moment to get calm (and hopefully stop beating yourself up), let’s take a positive step. Consider what worked during your pitch. What are you proud of? What do you think you did well? What, if anything, did the media representative respond positively to? This can be something small, so you don’t have to look for big moments or revelations. You might want to write down what did work so that you can use it for future pitches.
- What Didn’t Work?
Okay, so now that you’ve achieved clarity and spent some time focusing on the positive you’re ready for the next step. What didn’t work? Keep in mind that you may not have complete answers here. Your media rep may not say, “your pitch didn’t work because…” They rarely say anything more than “I’m not interested at this time.” And sometimes they don’t reply at all. This is why clarity is important. If you don’t have concrete answers then you’ll have to consider the weaknesses in your pitch. Why do you think it didn’t work?
- Where do You Go Next?
What’s next? What are your next steps? These can be anything from continuing to try to connect with your chosen media representative to starting from scratch with a new media representative. Ideally you have more than a few media representatives on your list and this particular pitch wasn’t your one and only chance.
With clarity, take a few deep breaths, and then take a careful look at the strengths and weaknesses of your pitch. Look for areas where you can improve. Then and only then are you able to take positive steps forward. You can decide what you do next. And while clichés aren’t much fun, you are one step closer to a yes and getting great media coverage for your press release and your company.
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