I have to disagree with a lot of the discussion that's going on here. If the client asks for "only those people that would work on the business," you must do this. It's a valid request from the client. They're so worried about the bait and switch that agencies do.

I say that you focus on getting your people all trained on being good presenters. You just can't ignore this request.

How do you handle it when it's "someone very very senior" that is "not the strongest" presenter?

But if you break the rules, you'll get tossed out of the pitch. Clients, particularly procurement are very clear about this.

Performance should also be measured against how well they "manage the management team." Although this is more difficult when you're junior, there are still best practices in terms of keeping the team focused on a plan... or on a pitch, as the case may be.

On the flip side, CEOs must recognize that the more senior their hire for the NBD role is, the better the overall results of the position will be. While this sounds obvious, too many agencies are cheaping out on their NBD investment. The results speak for themselves.