# How do I judge pitch presentations fairly?

**Short answer.** Fix the grid and the weights before the first presentation, have everyone score alone before the discussion, and only then talk. Otherwise you are measuring persuasiveness in the room, not the proposal.

The problem with pitch presentations is not that people are dishonest. It is that a group in a room always starts listening to each other, and whoever speaks first colours the rest.

## The three rules that fix the most

**1. Fix the grid and the weights before the first presentation.** Five axes are enough: the work, the team, the fit, the price per unit of work and the stability. Anyone assigning weight afterwards assigns it to the axis where their favourite happened to be strongest, and nobody does that on purpose.

**2. Have everyone score alone, right after the presentation and before the discussion.** On paper or in a form, without consultation. Only then talk. This is the cheapest intervention on this entire list and the most effective.

**3. Discuss the differences, not the average.** The two assessors furthest apart saw something the others missed. That conversation is worth more than a ranking.

## What to watch

**The order.** The agency presenting first sets the yardstick; the last one lingers best. Schedule the three as close together as possible, ideally on one day, and keep ten minutes of silence after each presentation for scoring.

**The presenter.** Presentation skill is a real skill and it counts, but it is not the skill you are buying. After a strong presentation, ask yourself whether the substance would be as strong on paper.

**The presence of the people who would do the work.** If the presentation is carried by someone who then disappears, you are assessing a salesperson.

## Two things to ask in advance

Ask every agency to deliver its proposal **in writing** as well, by the day before at the latest. Everyone can then read it without a voice and without animation, and that makes a difference.

And ask for **the same sections in the same order**: approach, proposal, team, planning, price. Comparing three proposals in three structures costs you half a day and produces a feeling rather than a judgement.

An independent chair helps more here than a better form: someone who guards the grid and has no stake in the outcome. That is the role IKAg plays in [Agency selection & pitches](https://www.ikag.be/en/agency-selection).

See also: [which criteria to use](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/criteria-om-bureaus-te-vergelijken) and [how to compare two agencies](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/twee-bureaus-vergelijken).

## Related questions

- [Which criteria do I use to compare agencies?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/criteria-om-bureaus-te-vergelijken): Five axes are enough: the work, the team you actually get, the fit with your sector and your way of working, the price per unit of work, and the stability of the business. Weight them before you see the first presentation.
- [How do I run a pitch?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/hoe-organiseer-ik-een-pitch): In four steps: build a longlist, hold chemistry meetings, have three agencies work up a written briefing, and decide on a scoring grid you fixed before the first presentation.
- [How do I compare two agencies with each other?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/twee-bureaus-vergelijken): Put them side by side on the same five axes and fill those from the same source, otherwise you are comparing sales stories. Two sets of annual accounts are comparable; two presentations never are.

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IKAg is the business consultant for marketing and agencies in Belgium and the Netherlands. Market figures come from the Agency Barometer, calculated on the annual accounts agencies filed with the National Bank themselves. Figures on pitches and satisfaction come from IKAg-guided processes, and are always presented as such.

- All questions: https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq
- Last updated: 2026-08-19