This week, Oystercatchers hosted its first X-Series event of 2025, Beyond the Pitch, bringing together up and coming agency talent to explore how to turn a pitch win into a long-lasting partnership. Moderated by Becky McKinlay, Managing Director of Oystercatchers, the panel featured Rich Atkinson-Toal (VP, Global Brand & Marketing, Amex GBT) and Yolande Battell (Agency Growth Expert, formerly Jellyfish, Unilever, and Kraft), who shared their actionable insights on asking the tough questions, understanding commercial priorities, and how to add value at every interaction with the client.
by Annie Mallin, Programme Manager
The Post-Pitch Reality: Setting Up for Success
Winning a pitch is just the beginning. As Yolande Battell noted, agencies often celebrate the win but then face a lull as contracts are negotiated and teams transition. “The pitch is an audition – the real work starts when you join the band,” she said, emphasising the need to quickly align with the client’s broader goals.
Rich Atkinson-Toal also highlighted a surprising gap: few agencies explain what will happen post-win during the pitch itself. “Agencies that outline their 30-60-90 day plans upfront signal confidence and foresight,” he said. Planning beyond the pitch not only reassures clients but also mitigates the common slowdown caused by legal and procurement hurdles.
Beyond the Brief: Becoming Indispensable
Both speakers agreed that the best agencies act as strategic partners, not just executors. A key way to do this is bridging the team gap, ensuring the people delivering the work build chemistry with client counterparts – after all, it’s not just the senior leaders who pitched!
A useful way that up-and-coming agency talent can do this is to become indispensable and know your clients’ business inside out. Yolande urged teams to “ask the questions no one else does” and understand the “surrounding pieces of the client’s puzzle.” Proactive steps could include setting up Google Alerts, attending their clients’ industry events, and be curious about commercial priorities.
Agency talent should also ensure they make interactions count: with senior clients spending only ~5% of their time with agencies (Rich’s estimate), every touchpoint should add value. Build relationships at all levels to yield insights about your clients’ business - even casual coffee chats with mid-level clients teams can be valuable,
Rich added that agencies should use the pitch process as another valuable opportunity to gather unanswered questions and revisit them post-win, demonstrating deeper curiosity about the client’s business.
Keeping Momentum Alive
Momentum often dips post-pitch due to misaligned expectations or bureaucratic delays. To avoid these, Yolande stressed the importance of proactivity: “Constantly ask, What’s next? Don’t wait for the client to drive progress.” Yolande continued, “Treat every client interaction as if you’re still pitching, always bring your boldest thinking.” Both panellists stressed the importance of building the confidence to speak up and if you see a gap, to propose a solution.
Another way to maintain momentum is to ensure client meetings go beyond deliverables. Rich shared how Amex GBT hosts quarterly “relationship reviews” (not just business reviews) to discuss broader challenges and opportunities. “These meetings are where the real magic happens – when you’re not just talking about the next campaign,” he said.
As both Yolande and Rich noted, these are important as the relationship should be reciprocal, “You’re not a vendor; you’re a partner.” If necessary, challenge clients and ask for the same transparency you’re expected to provide, and push back respectfully when client demands are unsustainable (e.g. 2 AM emails).
The event closed with a nod to the Oystercatchers X-Series’ mission: equipping agency teams with the tools to thrive in an industry where relationships are the ultimate currency.
Our X-Series events take place once every quarter for our junior/mid-level Oystercatchers Club members. To find out more, contact: ludo.graham@theoystercatchers.com