An alarming 33% have considered leaving the industry because of ‘the stress of working in New Business or on pitches’

Increase in work life balance, support of pitch fees and action on mental health show improvement in working conditions. However, the stress of pitching is still a major issue for employees, employers and the industry as a whole.

The results of the Great Pitch Poll are out!

The results of the Great Pitch Poll, the annual industry survey undertaken by international business development company The Great Pitch Company are out. The survey measures pitching and business development practices across the industry’s UK agencies in 2024. As in previous years, it explores key topics such as new business challenges, mental health, diversity and new business training. New topics this year included questions on working from office policies, pitch fees and the industry’s Pitch Positive Pledge. Respondents come from communication agencies of all types including media, creative, digital, PR, direct, performance, design and healthcare.

Key Findings

  1. 42% said the stress of working in New Business or on pitches had made them think of changing job.
  2. An alarming 33% have considered leaving the industry because of ‘the stress of working in New Business or on pitches’.  
  3. 42% of respondents said they would consider looking for a new job if their employer insisted on them working from the office more than the current requirement. 
  4. A dramatic increase in the way agencies are compensating people who work on new business by giving them dedicated days off up 25% versus the previous year. 
  5. Respondents highlight a positive shift in both the intentions and actions of agencies with regard to mental health versus the previous year. However in comparison to the Covid peak in 2021 some metrics are down 30 percentage points. 
  6. Disappointingly, 34% of respondents had never heard of the ‘Pitch Positive Pledge’.  When asked to rate the impact of the Pitch Positive Pledge, it was scored an average 3 out of 10.
  7. 84% of respondents agreed that ‘if charging client pitch fees were commonplace, it would have a positive impact on pitching culture in the UK’.
  8. Agencies appear to be giving away Intellectual Property Rights in return for nominal pitch fees of less than £25K, as 13% cited their agency as doing so.

Whilst the findings make a sobering read, they will help keep the pressure up on the industry to consider the impact of poor pitching practices both on their people and ultimately their businesses.

The Great Pitch Poll was started by Marcus Brown, founder and CEO of The Great Pitch Company, an international business development company. Marcus realized that ‘if you don’t measure it, you can’t change it’, so in 2021 he launched the industry survey, which has run each year since.

Commenting on the results of this year’s poll Marcus said: “New Business is often considered the life blood of an agency but to learn that it has caused 42% of respondents to think about changing job, and 33% to think about changing industry should be a concern for anyone passionate about the future of our industry. Whilst some agencies have made great strides in their working practices around new business, it’s clear there is still much to do”.

Source: The Great Pitch Company

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