Marketing agency · New business
New business pitch
Pitch only for the clients you can win, and stop building pitches the night before. Each brief passes a go or no-go decision on fit, budget and effort, the prospect answers your questions through a shared link, and the director approves the pitch before it is presented.
- Duration: 2 to 4 weeks
- How often: For every pitch invitation
- Steps: 10 steps
- AI agents: 1 AI agent
- Approvals: 2 approvals
Free plan, no credit card needed.
What changes with this template
Without it
The agency pitches for every brief that arrives.
The budget comes up for the first time in the final meeting.
Strategy, creative work and fee come together the night before.
Lost pitches are forgotten without a lesson.
With it
Every brief passes a go or no-go decision on fit, budget and effort.
The prospect gives a budget range through the shared link before any work starts.
Each part has its own owner and checklist, and the director approves the whole pitch first.
Every outcome, the reason for it and the lessons are recorded for the next pitch.
The template, step by step
Each step says who does it: someone on your team, an AI agent, or the client through a shared link. An approval keeps every later step locked until it is given.
- Done by your team
- Done by an AI agent
- Done by the client, through a shared link
Starts when
A prospect invites the agency to pitch or sends a request for proposal. The new business manager starts a run with the prospect name and the pitch date.
- 1
Record the brief and the pitch date
Hidden from the shared linkDay 1New business manager · Team
Record the prospect, the link to the brief, the pitch date and the fee you could expect, and send the prospect the shared link with your questions.
Checklist
- Decision makers named
- Number of agencies pitching known
- Shared link sent to the prospect
Fields to fill in
- Prospect name (required)
- Link to the brief (required)
- Pitch date (required)
- Expected yearly fee (required)
- 2
Prospect answers the agency's questions
Days 1 to 4Prospect contact · Shared link
Through the shared link, the prospect answers the agency's questions about budget, goals, how the decision will be made and when.
Fields to fill in
- Budget range (required)
- Main goals (required)
- How the decision will be made (required)
- Decision date
- 3
Draft the go or no-go summary
Hidden from the shared linkDay 5Pitch qualifier · AI agent
The pitch qualifier summarises the brief details and the prospect's answers against the criteria in its step instructions: fit, budget, chance of winning and effort.
Fields to fill in
- Go or no-go summary (required)
- Recommendation (required)
Checked by: The managing director checks the summary and makes the go or no-go decision in step 4.
- 4
Decide go or no-go
Hidden from the shared linkDay 5Managing director · Team
Check the summary against the brief and the team's availability, then decide. If you decline, tell the prospect, record the reason and close the run.
Checklist
- Summary checked against the brief
- Fee worth the pitch effort
- Team available before the pitch date
Fields to fill in
- Reason for the decision (required)
Approval: No time goes into the pitch until the managing director approves going ahead.
- 5
Build the strategy
Hidden from the shared linkWeek 2Strategist · Team
Turn the brief and the prospect's answers into an insight, an audience and a strategy that answers every question in the brief.
Checklist
- Insight and audience defined
- Every question in the brief answered
- Strategy shared with the creative director
Fields to fill in
- Link to the strategy (required)
- 6
Create the idea and the pitch deck
Hidden from the shared linkWeeks 2 to 3Creative director · Team
Develop the creative idea from the strategy and build the pitch deck around it.
Checklist
- Creative examples ready
- Team and credentials slides added
- Deck tells one story
Fields to fill in
- Link to the pitch deck (required)
- 7
Write the fee proposal
Hidden from the shared linkWeek 3New business manager · Team
Write the scope, the team, the fee and the payment terms, checked against the effort the strategy and the idea will take.
Checklist
- Scope matches the deck
- Fee checked against the expected effort
- Payment terms set
Fields to fill in
- Proposed yearly fee (required)
- Link to the fee proposal (required)
- 8
Approve the pitch
Hidden from the shared linkWeek 3Managing director · Team
Review the deck and the fee proposal together in a rehearsal, and approve the pitch.
Checklist
- Deck answers the brief
- Fee and scope agreed internally
- Rehearsal held
Approval: The pitch is not presented or sent until the managing director approves the deck and the fee.
- 9
Present the pitch
Hidden from the shared linkPitch dayNew business manager · Team
Present the pitch, send the deck afterwards and record the prospect's questions and the next steps they named.
Checklist
- Deck sent after the meeting
- Follow-up date agreed
Fields to fill in
- Presented on (required)
- Questions from the prospect
- 10
Record the outcome and the lessons
Hidden from the shared linkAfter the decisionNew business manager · Team
Record the prospect's decision and the reason they gave. If you won, start a client onboarding run; either way, note what to repeat or change in the next pitch.
Checklist
- Reason asked from the prospect
- Lessons shared with the pitch team
Fields to fill in
- Outcome (required)
- Reason the prospect gave
- Lessons for the next pitch (required)
Done when
The pitch is presented, the prospect's decision and the reason for it are recorded, and the lessons are noted for the next pitch.
Make it yours. Rename steps, change owners and add checklist items, fields or approvals. The template is a starting point for the way your team works.
The AI agents in this template
An agent only works on its own steps, and a person on your team checks what it did. Anything an agent writes to a connected app waits for approval unless you allow it.
Pitch qualifier
Summarises the brief and the prospect's answers against your go or no-go criteria.
What it does
- Reads the brief details and the prospect's answers on the run
- Weighs fit, budget, chance of winning and effort against the criteria in its step instructions
- Writes a summary and a recommendation
- Records them in its step
Checked by: The managing director checks the summary and makes the go or no-go decision in step 4.
Questions this template answers
Score every brief on fit, budget, chance of winning and effort before you spend time on it. In step 3 the pitch qualifier drafts that summary, and step 4 is the managing director's go or no-go approval gate.
Ask about budget, goals, how the decision will be made and when. Step 2 asks the prospect exactly these questions through a shared link, so the answers are on the run before the go or no-go decision.
Let AI summarise the brief and the prospect's answers against your criteria, and let your director decide. The pitch qualifier writes the summary and a recommendation in step 3, and the managing director checks it in step 4.
Ask for the budget range before you decide to pitch, and compare it with the fee you need. Step 1 records the expected fee, step 2 the prospect's budget range, and step 4 decides with both in view.
Fix the pitch date at the start and give strategy, creative work and the fee their own owner. Steps 5 to 7 each have an owner and a checklist, and step 8 is the final approval gate, with a rehearsal, before the pitch.
Ask the prospect for the reason and write down a lesson every time, whether you won or lost. Step 10 records the outcome, the reason the prospect gave and the lessons for the next pitch.
Run this workflow in OKiDO
Set up the steps, owners and approvals once, then start a run for every new case.