Apparently, to successfully mate rabbits, you have to take the male to the female.
If you take the female to the male, it has a lower chance of working.
This is because she’s stressed.
She’s been taken out of her own nice warm hutch.
Transported in a dark, moving basket.
Taken out again, and placed in strange surroundings.
A hutch that clearly belongs to someone else.
That smells of different rabbit smells.
She doesn’t recognise anything, everything is unfamiliar.
So she can’t relax.
If the male tries anything there’s a fair chance she’ll bite, kick and scratch him.
Until he backs off and leaves her alone.
So they don’t mate.

But if you bring the male to the female’s hutch it’s a different story.
She’s completely relaxed.
She knows exactly where everything is.
Everything smells and feels familiar.
This is her territory.
The only thing that’s new is the male rabbit.
And, because she’s feeling secure and unthreatened, she’s more likely to be interested.
Now she’s in the right mood.
So the rule for mating rabbits is, always take the male to the female. Not the female to the male.
I feel the same way about pitches.
For me, the client is the female rabbit and the agency is the male rabbit.
I’ve usually found it works better to take the agency to the client, not the client to the agency.
Again, it’s all about what makes the client feel comfortable.
And, consequently, receptive.
Plus, where you think your advantage lies over the other agencies pitching.
Is it in the stylish way you’ve had your offices decorated.
Or is it in the work.
If you’ve got fabulous offices that clients love, and feel immediately relaxed in, then that’s your advantage.
Do the pitch there.
But the client is in new surroundings, unfamiliar, strange.
New furniture, new views from the windows, new pictures on the walls.
So there’s lots to concentrate on and be interested in.
Lots of things other than the work.
And that’s the problem for me.
Because I want their full attention on the work.
I have to believe that’s where my advantage lies.
So, if I present to the clients in their offices, everything’s familiar and normal.
They know what to expect from their surroundings.
The only thing new in that context is the work.
So I get all their attention in the right place.
Which is why I prefer it when all the competing agencies are presenting at the client’s offices, not at the agencies’ offices.
That way we’re all equal in everything except the work.
The client won’t be impressed by who’s got better offices, because we’re all in the same offices.
The client’s offices.
And everything’s familiar.
And everyone’s relaxed.
And there’s nothing new to look at except the work.
So the only difference is the work.
And, if you believe that’s where your advantage lies, it makes sense to set the game up that way.

Take the male rabbit to the female’s hutch.
Not the female to the male’s.