Yesterday SMPS (Society of Marketing Professional Services) held an event called the Project Pursuit Lifecycle. They experimented with a new way of presenting called Pecha Kucha, the Japanese term for "chit-chat". This is a presentation format is where 20 slides are shown for 20 seconds each totaling around 7 minutes. The benefit of Pecha Kucha is narrowing down all the information you contain to the most important and noteworthy slides. As we know from tailoring 60+ pages from RFP's down to 20-30 minutes presentation, this style comes in handy when deciding on what information you want to dedicate the most time to. SMPS used this style to present the six key points of the Project Pursuit Lifecycle. Here are some takeaways from the lecture:

1. Pre-Positioning / Business Development Process: Think of going after potential clients as a likability campaign. Clients don't need more hustle, they need more care.

2. Go / No Go Process: Ask yourself these important questions when deciding to pursue a project. Do we understand the investment? Do we know the decision makers? Do we understand the project? Do we know our competition and how we stack up? Do we have the time and resources available?

3. Pre-Proposal Kick-Off: Develop an agenda before the walk through and make sure to get some one-on-one time.

4. Proposal: Have a kick off meeting to identify team players, deadlines and dates, clear roles and to read over the RFQ/RFP.  

5. Short List Presentations: Practice, Practice, Practice. And most importantly, BE EXCITED. Clients want to know how much this project means to you.  

6. Post Pursuit Debrief: Win or Lose always do a debrief after the selection to gain insight on what areas you shined in and what areas you could grow in.