How to Get Client Testimonials: 4 Proven Strategies

Your team does great work, but you keep losing pitches you should have won. That is frustrating. The reason is usually not talent.

It is how you communicate value.

Most teams walk into new business pitches ready to present their credentials, process, team, and work. But clients are not only asking, "Are you good?" They are asking, "Do you understand our problem, can we trust you, and are you the right partner for this situation?"

To win new business pitches, you need to make the conversation about the client, not your agency. That means doing better research, showing sharper insight, telling a clear story, proving relevant experience, and making the next step obvious before the meeting ends.

A strong pitch does not feel like a performance. It feels like the beginning of a working relationship.

Key takeaways

• The best new business pitches are client-centered. They show that you understand the buyer's goals, constraints, risks, and decision criteria before you talk about your agency.
• A winning pitch needs a clear lead presenter, a simple story, relevant proof, and a deck that supports the conversation instead of overwhelming it.
• The follow-up matters as much as the meeting. Clear next steps, tailored materials, and fast answers help your pitch stay alive after you leave the room.

Why most new business pitches fail

Most new business pitches fail because the agency talks too much about itself.

The deck is polished. The case studies are impressive. The team is talented. But the client sits there wondering whether the agency actually understands their business, their pressure, and the decision they are trying to make.

Common pitch mistakes include:

• Opening with a long agency history
• Showing generic credentials before naming the client's problem
• Presenting too many services
• Using case studies that are not relevant to the buyer
• Bringing too many presenters into the room
• Reading slides instead of leading a conversation
• Ending without clear next steps
• Sending a generic follow-up after the meeting

If your pitch could be used for any prospect, it is not specific enough to win the right one. This is often a symptom of weak agency positioning and differentiation more than a delivery problem.

The winning pitch framework: before, during, and after

Winning a new business pitch is not one moment. It is a process.

The strongest teams prepare before the meeting, control the conversation during the pitch, and follow up in a way that helps the client keep selling the decision internally. According to Gartner research, B2B buyers spend only a small portion of their purchase journey meeting with potential suppliers, which means every pitch has to count.

Before the pitch: prepare around the client

The work you do before the pitch determines whether the meeting feels generic or specific.

A good pitch starts with the client's world, not your agency's capabilities.

Research the buyer and the room

Before building the deck, understand who will be in the room and what each person likely cares about.

Research:

• The company's current goals
• Recent news, launches, or leadership changes
• Their market position
• Their competitors
• Their audience
• Their likely internal pressure
• The role of each decision-maker
• What success would look like for them

A CEO may care about growth and risk. A marketing leader may care about pipeline, brand perception, and execution speed. A technical stakeholder may care about integration, feasibility, and implementation detail.

The pitch should speak to all of them without becoming scattered. This is especially important now that buying committees have grown to multiple stakeholders, each with different concerns and risk profiles.

Clarify the real problem

Do not assume the brief tells the whole story.

Before the pitch, look for the deeper business issue behind the request. A client may ask for a website redesign, but the real problem might be weak positioning, poor conversion, low trust, or a sales team that cannot explain the offer clearly.

Useful questions to answer before the meeting:

• Why is this project happening now?
• What happens if they do nothing?
• Who is affected by the problem?
• What has already been tried?
• What would make this project a clear win?
• What risks might make them hesitate?

The team that understands the real problem usually beats the team with the flashier presentation. This is also where strong lead qualification work earlier in the funnel pays off—you walk in already knowing the buyer's pain, budget, and timeline.

Build a master pitch deck, then tailor it

Do not start every pitch from a blank deck. Build a master pitch deck that holds your strongest reusable assets, then customize it for each opportunity.

Your master deck should include:

• A short agency positioning slide
• Relevant service overviews
• Case studies by problem type
• Case studies by industry
• Team bios by role
• Process slides
• Proof points
• Common objections and answers
• Sample timelines
• Example next steps

The master deck saves time, but the client should never feel like they are seeing a generic version. Tailor the opening, examples, case studies, recommendations, and next steps to their specific situation. If your case study library is thin or outdated, this is the moment to invest in writing case studies that drive results.

Choose one lead presenter

Too many voices can weaken a pitch.

Assign one person to carry the main story. This person should guide the conversation, manage transitions, and keep the room focused. Other team members can contribute in specific moments, but they should not all compete for airtime.

Choose the lead presenter based on the buyer.

• If the buyer is technical, lead with someone who can speak credibly about technical trade-offs.
• If the buyer is a founder or CEO, lead with someone who can connect the work to business outcomes.
• If the buyer is marketing-led, lead with someone who understands positioning, audience, messaging, and execution.

The client should leave knowing who is in charge and who they would trust to lead the work.

Practice out loud

A pitch that reads well in a deck may still fall flat out loud.

Practice the full delivery as a team. Time it. Record it. Watch for weak transitions, rambling, jargon, and slides that take too long to explain.

Ways to improve the rehearsal:

• Present to someone outside your team
• Ask where they got confused
• Cut slides that need too much explanation
• Tighten the opening five minutes
• Practice handoffs between speakers
• Prepare answers to likely objections
• Make sure the pitch leaves enough time for discussion

A strong pitch should feel clear and confident, not memorized.

During the pitch: lead a conversation, not a presentation

The pitch meeting is not just a slide review. It is a trust test.

Clients are watching how you think, how you listen, how you handle pressure, and how it might feel to work with you.

Start with their world

Open by showing that you understand their situation.

You can reference:

• A recent company announcement
• A market shift affecting their category
• A challenge they mentioned in the brief
• A pattern you noticed in their competitors
• A question you believe the project needs to answer

Then set the structure for the meeting.

For example:

"We will start with what we heard, then walk through the opportunity we see, share a relevant example, and close with how we would approach the first phase. We will keep space for questions as we go."

This creates clarity and shows that you are leading the room.

Tell a story the client can see themselves in

Stories are more memorable than service lists. Research from Stanford psychology professor Jennifer Aaker shows that stories can be more memorable than facts alone, which is why this part of the pitch matters more than most teams realize.

Use a relevant client example that follows a simple structure:

• The client had a problem similar to yours
• Here is what was really blocking progress
• Here is how we approached it
• Here is what changed
• Here is what we would apply to your situation

The story should not be a long case study. It should be proof that you understand the path from problem to outcome.

Show your thinking, not just your work

Clients want to see how you think.

Instead of showing only polished outputs, explain the reasoning behind your recommendation.

For example:

• "We would not start with paid media yet because the landing page does not answer the buyer's main objection."
• "We would prioritize the onboarding flow because conversion is the fastest path to revenue impact."
• "We would interview sales before rewriting the homepage because they hear the objections every day."

This shows judgment. It also helps the client understand why your approach is different.

Keep the deck simple

The deck should support the conversation, not replace it.

A strong pitch deck usually includes:

• The client's situation
• The problem you believe matters most
• Your recommended direction
• Relevant proof
• Your process
• The team
• Timeline and next steps

Keep each slide focused on one idea. If the slide needs a paragraph of explanation, it is probably doing too much.

Stay honest when you do not know

Do not bluff through a question you cannot answer.

A better response is:

"That is a fair question. I want to give you the right answer, so we will confirm that and follow up by tomorrow."

Then actually follow up.

Clients do not expect you to know everything. They do expect honesty, judgment, and follow-through.

After the pitch: keep the decision moving

Many teams put all their energy into the meeting and then lose momentum afterward.

That is a mistake.

The client will keep discussing the decision after you leave. Your follow-up should make it easier for them to remember your value, answer internal questions, and move toward the next step. This is also where strong pipeline management separates teams that win deals from teams that watch them stall.

Close the meeting with clear next steps

Do not end with a vague "Any questions?" and disappear.

Before the meeting ends, clarify:

• Who owns the next step
• What you will send
• When they will receive it
• Whether another call is needed
• What decision they are trying to make next
• Who else needs to review the materials

A clear close reduces uncertainty and shows that you know how to manage momentum.

Send a tailored follow-up quickly

Send your follow-up while the meeting is still fresh.

Include:

• A thank-you note
• The pitch deck
• Answers to open questions
• A short recap of the main recommendation
• A relevant case study or resource
• The agreed next step

Do not send a generic "great to meet you" message. Reference the specific issues they raised and show that you listened.

Help your champion sell internally

Often, the person in the pitch meeting is not the only decision-maker. Your follow-up should help your internal champion explain why your agency is the right choice.

Useful follow-up assets include:

• A one-page summary
• A short Loom walkthrough
• A relevant case study
• A clear pricing and scope summary
• A risk-reduction note that addresses concerns from the meeting

The goal is to make your recommendation easy to forward, easy to explain, and easy to defend. The right sales enablement tools can make this faster and more consistent across deals.

What to include in a new business pitch deck

A strong new business pitch deck should be clear enough to guide the live meeting and useful enough to stand on its own afterward.

Include these sections:

1. Client context

Show what you understand about their business, market, audience, and challenge.

2. The problem to solve

Name the real issue behind the brief. Keep it specific.

3. Your point of view

Explain what you believe needs to happen and why.

4. Recommended approach

Show how you would solve the problem in phases or steps.

5. Relevant proof

Use case studies that match the client's situation. Do not show every case study you have.

6. Team and roles

Explain who would work on the account and why they are relevant.

7. Timeline and process

Show what happens next, what the client can expect, and where key decisions happen.

8. Next steps

End with a clear path forward.

The deck should not try to prove everything. It should make the client confident enough to keep moving.

Common mistakes that cost teams the pitch

Making the pitch too agency-centered

If the first 10 minutes are about your history, awards, team size, and capabilities, you are making the client work too hard to find relevance.

Lead with their problem. Earn the right to talk about yourself by first proving that you understand them.

Showing irrelevant case studies

A famous client logo is less persuasive than a relevant result.

Choose case studies based on similarity:

• Similar problem
• Similar audience
• Similar business model
• Similar constraint
• Similar outcome

Relevance beats prestige.

Bringing too many people

A large pitch team can make the meeting feel unfocused. Bring only the people who need to be there.

Each person should have a clear role. If someone is not speaking or answering a likely question, they probably do not need to attend.

Overloading the deck

Too many slides can signal that you are trying to compensate with volume.

A clear pitch is more persuasive than a comprehensive one. The client does not need everything you know. They need the right information to make the next decision.

Failing to ask good questions

A pitch should not be a monologue. Strong questions show confidence and curiosity.

Ask questions like:

• What would make this partnership successful six months from now?
• What has made similar projects difficult in the past?
• What internal concerns do we need to address?
• What would make this decision easier for your team?

Good questions often reveal what the deck cannot.

How to improve your pitch process over time

Winning more pitches requires a feedback loop.

After every pitch, review:

• What questions did the client ask?
• Where did the room engage most?
• Where did attention drop?
• Which slides created clarity?
• Which slides created confusion?
• What objections came up?
• What follow-up was needed?
• Why did you win or lose?

Do not just track win rate. Track why deals move forward or stall. Over time, this feedback loop becomes one of your most reliable agency growth levers because small improvements to win rate compound across every deal in your pipeline.

Over time, this helps you improve your positioning, deck, delivery, case studies, pricing, and follow-up.

How to win new business pitches consistently

Knowing how to win new business pitches is not about charm, pressure, or a perfect deck. It is about showing the client that you understand their world, have a clear point of view, and can guide them toward a better outcome.

The strongest pitch teams do three things well:

They prepare around the client. They lead a clear conversation. They follow up in a way that helps the decision keep moving.

Start with your next pitch. Research the room, tailor the deck, assign one lead presenter, practice out loud, and close with a specific next step.

If you want help tightening your pitch process, from positioning to follow-up, Schmidt Consulting Group can help you identify where deals are being lost and build a stronger new business system.