Is there any such thing as a perfect pitch? In regards to marketing and communications campaigns, probably not. There are, however, ways to make your pitch irresistable.
Pitches are like a recipe. It takes more than just solid research and a good strategy. It takes more than just creativity and a good idea. This is because you are selling one idea to potentially one person or group of people. By the end of the pitch, they need to know exactly what you're offering and how you're attempting to execute it.
The group hearing you out is looking for two main things: a good idea and a realistic strategy. They need to know that they are signing a proposal that your team has thought through completely. They may love your idea and think that you've captured exactly what they're looking for, but if you're budget or evaluation plan is not based on a realistic approach, your pitch falls flat.
Plus, there's one more ingredient to making a two-fold pitch three-fold. Once you have a creative idea and a solid strategy, you need to add the unspoken ingredient: cohesiveness. This is subtle and often missing from proposals and campaigns. If the message that your strategy is built on does not directly and obviously precede your great idea, then it's not going to click.
A good example is the Obama campaign in 2008. No matter what side people were on politically, many lauded the campaign for its strategic use of the concept of "change" throughout the entire campaign. It was an idea that was used cohesively with every tactic that was executed, and it definitely produced results.
Coming up a creative idea is not difficult. Doing your research and being grounded is not difficult. Making these two practices come together cohesively, however, is what separates the so-so pitch from your perfect pitch.
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