Edward Wise: The Total Pitch

[00:00:05]

[00:00:28] Jason S. Bradshaw: Are you hooked? I bet you are because that is the opening to the most amazing book I've read all year so far. And we have the author of that book with us today, but before we get into that, welcome to the show. This is Chats With Jason. I'm your host, Jason S. Bradshaw, the show that helps transform your experience to transform your business.

[00:00:50] Jason S. Bradshaw: Now, today's guest is an absolute pitchmaster, Edward Wise. He was the founder and CEO of Omnicom Health Group, the largest healthcare communications group in the world for over six years. Before that, he led the CDM Group, a healthcare advertising agency startup where he grew a client roster from one major client to over a hundred in 10 years as president and CEO. In large part by perfecting the pitch process from beginning to end. Today, Edward Wise is an author, investor, executive advisor, and is a certified executive coach by the international coaching federation. He also serves on the board of several private equity owned companies. Who better to talk to us about mastering the art of pitch and that is, of course, Edward Wise.

[00:01:36] Edward Wise: Thank you very much, Jason. Really happy to be here today.

[00:01:54] Jason S. Bradshaw: I could go on for hours about it, but I didn't write it. You did. What led you to write the book, Edward?

[00:02:53] Edward Wise: This happened time and time again. I came home to my wife and I said, every time we end up, it's a mess. And I just can't deal with this. She said, if it's the same thing, every time, why don't you fix it? And I was like how could you be joking at a time like this? And so I listened to her. I actually applied a team to this. We started taking apart our pitches. What worked, what didn't work. We needed a system. And so I developed a system and dedicated myself to really focusing on developing a system, a process, ways to do things that still allowed a lot of creativity because we were in a creative business. Each pitch was going to be different, but they're going to be fundamental things that were the same that we're going to carry us through. And we're always learning at the end where I was like, what worked, what didn't work, let's make it better. And out of need for survival and out of need of no desire to suffer anymore. I did this. It became a huge competitive advantage for us moving forward. So we created a whole system and that was the inspiration for this book, trying to save other people, the pain and agony that I happen to go through.

[00:04:29] Edward Wise: You do need a system because time, and I have a chapter that talks about, turning time on its head because time appears to be the enemy when you're doing a pitch. It's working against you. There's not enough of it. You're being dragged in a lot of different directions.

[00:05:41] Jason S. Bradshaw: Yeah, it gives me flashbacks to when I was sitting in the boardroom, having agencies pitch to me around, what their next campaign idea was and how it would come to fruition. And I would quite often ask the question at the end, so was there any other ideas? But this is the idea. This is the winning idea. And I'm sure I frustrated them. And I wasn't doing it to frustrate them, just to be clear, but I would to understand how we landed or how they landed, I should say, on what they were pitching. So a lot that you cover in the book, and is a great read but still a load of content and no matter how easy the read is, it just shows such a great communicator that you are.

[00:06:26] Edward Wise: You have to commit to a single minded idea that connects to your customers across every aspect of that pitch journey. So that is the main idea, but you know, to really focus on the two central parts of it: One is committing to a single idea and connecting to your customer.

[00:08:08] Jason S. Bradshaw: Before we get into the second part, what I really want the audience to hear, and that's why I asked you the question again, is and you've mentioned it twice and I'm going to make sure I mentioned it a third time- commit to a single minded idea. Whether it's a pitch or whether it's your business strategy, if you don't have a single clear vision, a single minded idea that you're chasing, then you are just spread too thin. You can't commit to delivering on anything if you're trying to do everything. And so I really want you, the audience to understand the power of committing to this single idea. And the second thing that you mentioned then Edward was understanding your customer now.

[00:09:15] Jason S. Bradshaw: So I love those two clear concepts coming out, the single minded idea, understanding your customer. Now, I cut you off, you were about to jump in telling us about part two, so I'll let you go forward, Edward.

[00:10:53] Jason S. Bradshaw: Yeah. Decluttering the idea, I see as a key way to be able to communicate it because you're not trying to tell everyone about everything, you're telling them the key elements that you're ripping it back to what really matters and all the other stuff might be important when it comes to execution, but in that pitch, being crystal clear and easy to understand is important.

[00:11:30] Edward Wise: Yeah, absolutely. It has a bunch of different business focuses, but it certainly has application to help anybody organize their thinking around something. So one place where it's very helpful, I do a lot of mentoring for young people who are entering the workforce. And yes, this is a business purpose in a way, but it's really people pitching themselves, and helping them to understand how to connect with a customer, how to see the world through their customer's perspective, and really even how to write their resume in a way that connects with our customer in a very direct way. And also to have a point of view in your resume. That you really have an idea about yourself and that resume that comes through clearly. That's one way.

[00:12:29] Edward Wise: Another place where I've used it in business, which is not pitching, is in leadership. At my last role. I oversaw 4500 individuals. I had 15 CEOs reporting to me, a very complicated organization. And so when I saw the need to shift some of the thinking within our organization, I had to reduce my thinking to a very simple set of messages that I could deliver to people. And this was very helpful to me. In companies trying to establish their vision and their purpose, these reductive platforms these systems to get more reductive, are very valuable in those pursuits as well.

[00:13:29] Jason S. Bradshaw: But one chapter that title that really jumped out to me was- Win By Choosing Better Prospects. Now my ears pricked, and I was like of course you get better prospects. It's easy to pitch to them, but that's not really what you're saying, is it?

[00:14:39] Edward Wise: So it sounds a little arrogant that I get to choose who has the privilege of working with me. And so it's not meant to exclude the better part of people, the better, the bigger group. What it does is it just refines it a little bit so you're not saying yes to every opportunity. And you're refining your ability to pitch and win and connect.

[00:16:14] Jason S. Bradshaw: Great. So we've got a single minded idea. We've got understanding your customer. We've got being completely specific about who we're going to serve, who we're going to pitch- to make sure that we're using energy in the right time. Lots of great work here but you know now that you've got this formula and you know how you're going to go into every pitch, does that mean you just put together your pitch deck and rock up on Monday morning to deliver the pitch, or do you have to do any pre work? Or is there something I'm missing?

[00:18:54] Jason S. Bradshaw: Yeah, I I think that's great reminder. I know myself that I still find myself in hotel rooms the night before delivering a presentation. I will, of course, know the content. I will, of course, have delivered the content in various ways, maybe dozens, if not hundreds of times, but I still want to make sure I land it the next day. I'll be awkwardly in my hotel room, often, wondering whether the person next door can hear me. And if they think that I've lost my marbles for the night or something, because I'll be going over and making sure that not only that the content is fresh in my mind, but that I'm ready to present and that I think that's a great way not only to deliver a great presentation or a great pitch, but also a great way to manage your nerves because even if you've done it a hundred times, you still have some nervous energy because you care, you want to do a great job.

[00:20:23] Jason S. Bradshaw: Now the book, The Total Pitch: An End-to-end Guide To Winning The Pitch Every Step Of The Way. If I was dive on Amazon, I'm sure it would tell me that it gives me the tools to ensure your message and your total pitch is clear, compelling, and impossible to ignore. Where can the audience get a copy of your book, Edward?

[00:20:49] Jason S. Bradshaw: Fantastic. And of course, in the show notes, we'll be putting links to the easiest way you can get the book, which is the world's largest bookstore, Amazon. But of course, how you can connect with Edward and follow his work. Now, Edward, before I let you go today, I have one last question for you.

[00:21:17] Edward Wise: I think we need to start letting go of all the things that we think we need to communicate to people and become better editors, and really narrow it down to a single minded idea. And as I say in the book, simple, isn't simple It's hard. It requires fortitude. It requires tremendous effort and energy to get to simple. And it's work you have to do. But once you've made it simple, then you'll be able to repeat that, at every step along a pitch journey, and be able to really make your point.

[00:22:01] Jason S. Bradshaw: Edward, it's been great having you on the show. Absolute dropping bombs of wisdom throughout. Really appreciate your time today.

[00:22:10] Jason S. Bradshaw: And to you, the audience, really appreciate you taking the time to listen to this episode.