Pitching is more than a game. It is, says Jack Osbon, a matter of life and death. It pays to play to your strengths.
The days of false nines, number eights and sixes are in fashion in the football world. Household names in the managerial world including the likes of Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho have brought a dynamic shift of style English football.
With the new attitudes and thoughts to formations such as 3-5-1-1, 4-1-2-3, and 4-6-0, the English staple of 4-4-2, which even has a football magazine named after it, seems to have diminished in popularity.
And when it comes to pitching in professional services, this cultural shift seems to have been mirrored. Whilst the new pitch styles offer a range of new ideas including humour, gamification and metrics, they can sometimes overcomplicate your pitch.
Critical messages can get lost in a bid to get the victory and win that trophy client. Keeping things in a solid formation with firepower will help increase the conciseness and then the effectiveness of your pitch.
With this in mind, lets go through an analysis of the tactics board to demonstrate the 4-4-2 formation.
4 in defence
Decision makers will have lots of ammunition as to why they shouldn’t select you, choose a competitor and make you concede defeat.
Having plenty of options in defence will allow you to block these attacks and fend off hesitations and worries about choosing your firm.
4 in midfield
The engine room is where the depth of detail can make the difference. Demonstrating abilities to decision makers will showcase your from and give you the switch of play you need.
Getting the right blend of experience and dynamism in midfield will see you win the midfield battle against your competitors and move the ball from defence to attack.
2 in attack
It is one thing to get an opportunity and it is another to convert it, so ensuring you have your best players on the pitch upfront in attack will help justify why the prospect should choose you.
We see so many features in pitches from the frontline, but the star strikers will put forward the benefits the decision makers will get by choosing you and hit the back of the net.
The 4-4-2 pitch formation may not guarantee a 100%-win rate, but it can move you further up the league table.
Jack Osbon is a is a chartered marketer in professional services.