Agency Pitch Process: Steps, Pitch Fees and Idea Ownership
Short answer: A fair agency pitch process invites three, at most four, agencies after a short chemistry meeting, gives them all the same written brief, fixes the judging criteria in advance and pays a pitch fee when concept work is requested. State in writing that work submitted by agencies you do not hire remains theirs.
Pitches look free from the client side. They aren’t. Picture three people at an agency spending four days on research and concept work, plus a deck. At a day rate of £800, that’s close to £10,000 of time for a one-in-three chance of winning. Every agency runs that sum in its head before saying yes, and the result decides which team shows up in your boardroom.
So treat a pitch as a selection method with costs on both sides, not as a free idea competition. Done well, it finds you the right partner. Done badly, you watch three polished shows from senior people you will never see again.
When a pitch is worth running
You don’t need a pitch for a 20-page website. Two proposals against a solid brief and a conversation with your favourite will do.
Pitching starts to make sense when several things are true at once:
- The budget is large, or the account will run for several years, so the selection effort pays for itself.
- The problem is open. There isn’t one obviously right answer, and you want to see different approaches.
- Your own team has the time. Writing the brief, answering questions, sitting through presentations and scoring them easily adds up to three to five person-days.
Software projects rarely suit the classic creative pitch. Paid discovery workshops or short technical scoping phases tell you more, because the decision hinges on architecture and risk rather than on a big idea.
The process in six steps
- Longlist and first cutResearch 10 to 15 agencies, then reduce to 5 or 6 on references and fit.
- Chemistry meeting60 to 90 minutes, no speculative work. Leave three, at most four agencies standing.
- Brief and questionsSame written brief for everyone. Every question and answer goes to all agencies.
- PreparationThree to four weeks. Cap the expected output, for example a strategy and one design direction.
- PresentationSame length and same panel for everyone. The delivery team presents.
- Decision and feedbackDecide quickly, pay the fee, give every agency honest feedback.
Durations are typical orders of magnitude, not a standard.
Two details make the difference. Fix the panel and the scoring criteria before the first agency presents; if you debate what mattered after the shows, you end up scoring the show. And make sure the people presenting are the people who will do the work. Ask for their names in writing.
The brief itself follows the usual structure, covered in our agency brief template. For a pitch, add one section: exactly what you want agencies to deliver, how much of it, and what you don’t want.
How big should a pitch fee be?
There’s no official rate card. A sensible way to think about it: a pitch fee rarely covers an agency’s effort, but it signals that the request is serious. The fee is a contribution, not payment in full.
One way to arrive at a figure is to work back from the effort:
- Research and strategy: 2 people × 2 days
- 4 person-days
- Concept and design: 2 people × 3 days
- 6 person-days
- Deck, rehearsal, meeting: 3 people × 1 day
- 3 person-days
- Total at an assumed £800 per day
- £10,400
- Pitch fee at a 20 to 30% contribution
- £2,080 to £3,120
Day rate, effort and contribution share are assumptions for the example. Plug in the numbers from your own brief.
Don’t shrink the fee by leaving the scope vague. Ask for “a few initial thoughts” and ambitious agencies will still send finished layouts, because they want to win. Cap the output explicitly: one page of strategy, one design route for two page types, a rough timeline and budget.
One variant works well for both sides: the fee is credited against the first invoice if the agency wins. Effectively, you only pay for the agencies you turn down.
Who owns the work if an agency loses?
Usually the agency. Under the UK’s Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, the author of a work is its first owner, and section 11(2) gives copyright to the employer when an employee creates the work in the course of employment. That employer is the agency, not you. US law points the same way: commissioned work only becomes “work made for hire” in narrow categories and with a signed written agreement.
Germany adds a twist that matters if you pitch to German agencies. Pitches with a prize for the winner can count as a prize competition under § 661 of the German Civil Code, and that section lets the organiser claim ownership of entries only if the announcement says so.
Copyright protects expression, not abstract ideas. “Use real customers instead of models” is an idea anyone may use. The specific layout or script that expresses it is protected. Where exactly the line runs is a question for lawyers.
The practical fix is a sentence in your invitation: “All rights in submitted work remain with the agency. We will only use it after a separate commission and payment.” Agencies read that as professionalism, and it protects you from any suggestion that you harvested ideas.
What you are actually judging
Presentations are theatre. You need criteria that see past the stage.
| Question for the panel | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Did they understand our problem? | They cite our numbers, challenge the brief where it is weak, name risks |
| Can this team deliver it? | Presenters answer detailed questions themselves instead of passing to the founder |
| Does the price fit the solution? | A rough budget with stated assumptions, not a lump sum with no workings |
Swapping the presentation for a working session can help. Two hours in which the agency tackles a real sub-problem alongside your team shows how they listen, how they handle objections and whether the day-to-day chemistry works.
If you are commissioning software and don’t really need a contest so much as an informed second opinion on effort and approach, a free technical consultation, such as the one OnlineBuilders offers, can sit alongside your comparison. It won’t replace it.
Feedback that doesn’t burn bridges
Agencies often hear nothing for weeks, then get two lines saying they “narrowly missed out”. That damages your reputation. The agency world is smaller than it looks, and your next pitch will feel it.
Tell every agency within two weeks of the presentation. Give two reasons it didn’t work and one thing that impressed you, ideally on a short call. Pay the fee promptly.
After the pitch
The winning concept still turns into a proposal, and that proposal deserves the same scrutiny as any other. Read how to compare agency proposals for the checks, and agency hourly rates if day rates are quoted. If you don’t have a shortlist yet, start with how to choose an agency.
Your next step: put the scoring criteria and the rights clause into the invitation before you phone the first agency. Introducing either one later always looks like a correction.
Questions people ask
Do I have to pay agencies to pitch?
No law requires it. If you ask for concepts or designs without paying, though, the strongest agencies often decline, and you get the ones with spare capacity. A fee also gives you a clearer basis for agreeing what happens to the work.
How many agencies should I invite to pitch?
Three, four at the most. Each extra agency lowers everyone's odds of winning, and with them the effort and seniority each agency is willing to commit. Your own evaluation work grows without telling you much more.
Can I use ideas from a losing pitch?
Designs, copy and illustrations are normally protected by copyright and stay with the agency that made them. Bare ideas are not protected, but the line between an idea and its expression is hard to draw. Settle it in the invitation instead of arguing about it later.
What is a chemistry meeting?
A short get-to-know session before the real pitch, usually 60 to 90 minutes with no speculative work. It is used to cut a longlist down to agencies you could actually imagine working with.
