Ice hockey great, Wayne Gretzky, explained his success in being a prolific goal scorer thusly: I skate to where the puck is going, not where it has been. It's a popular quote because it vividly illustrates something that everyone wants to do but may not understand just how to do it.

Advertisers will place about $30 billion up for grab in pitches this year. At a time that the CMOs tenure is shrinking again, according to recruiting firm Spencer Stuart, picking the right agency is vital. Yet, some companies take the steps of having the marketing department or procurement run the pitch themselves even though they may know the agencies, their talent, background with other clients, or their capabilities.

Some marketers hire external pitch consultants, those intermediaries between advertiser and agency. Most are former low-ranking agency people. They are simply administrators who facilitate the processes. Theyre not familiar with agency operations or cost structures only superficially.

On the other hand, a skilled pitch provides expert advice as well as facilitation. This is where experience comes into playonly if a senior pitch consultant has the background of working with world class clients on global or national campaigns or lead agencies and manage P&L.

The digital transformation puts newfound pressure on the perennial list of advertiser concerns around strategy, operating model, efficient use of technology, compliance of data use, in-housing and brand safety with the shift from reach and branding to direct-to-consumer strategies and performance marketing, to generate leads.

The marketing landscape is changing. Demand for digital services at the consumer level, the media level and at the enterprise level is accelerating. Traditional platforms such as linear TV or magazines are losing ground. It is now estimated that digital will be 70% of the advertising pie by 2024. That means two things: Firstly, advertisers need different insights from the agency into the shifting consumer trends. Secondly, they need agencies with enough flexibility to adapt quickly in response to those trends.

Ive have been involved in over 400 pitches in over 30 years as agency leader before becoming a pitch consultant, and it never ceases to dismay me of just how flawed the hiring process of those consultants was, especially with so much on the line, and how costly it proved for both clients and agencies.

For starters, many so-called consultants have no experience as such. Making matters worse, pitch consulting is a sector of the ad industry that is not regulated, and for which there's no real accreditation process or ethical practices enforcement by the trade groups. There are those that engage in pay to play, meaning they charge agencies to be placed in a pitch, without the advertiser even being aware of it.

Long RFPs seeking useless agency information (like billings for the last 15 years), need to be eliminated. Creative reels and case histories (which are often just a spin) are of little indication of potential and what the agency can do next.

Advertisers need a different type of ad agency now, and different pitch consultant pitch consultant 2.0. Here is what to look for when hiring these consultants:

1. Intuition: Hiring is more an art than science, and intuition often is a matter of experience. They use a scorecard to assess experience but respect the emotional componentthe human factor. They can figure who gets you, and with whom theres chemistry and alignment.

2. The next normal. The ecosystem has been transformed in the last couple of years and especially in 2020. Most consultants have not. Do hire a consultant who can evaluate how the agencies adapted and can evaluate their tech stack, eCommerce prowess, digital transformation, virtualization, content creation, social media, data analytics, bid-based media., etc.

3. Expertise. Some CMOs believe its their job to handle the agency selection processes themselves, and that its a sign of weakness to use an external pitch consultant. But a well-informed and up-to-date consultant is necessary to fill the gaps concerning agencies against a backdrop of complexity and transformation.

4. Independence. Consultant 2.0 needs being both a professional and empathetic advisorand not only advocate for the client but comfortable at pushing back at the client (softly, and politely). Hire a consultant with an independent point of view, someone not shy about expressing it.

5. Patience. Newsflash: Clients have organizational issues and politics that can derail a pitch process. An experienced consultant, especially one who has run a big organization, can help navigate different stakeholders patiently and tactfully, reconcile opposing opinions and will not get frazzled. Make sure you hire a grown-up that will be respected by all.

6. Agility. Market sentiment can change from week to week (and sometimes daily). The agile models pillars that a consultant 2.0 should probe are improvisation, iterations, testing and data over opinions, and collaboration over silos and hierarchy. The results are speed, adaptability and creativity.

7. AI. This will become the secret sauce of agencies. Consultant 2.0 needs to understand an AI-driven model that monitors CX in real time, and generate insights which allow seamless customer experience. Agencies need to capture how customers feel, and extract cognitive response, conceptualized through customer evaluations.

8. Endgame. Remember, youre not simply hiring a consultant: youre looking for a more effective partnership with a new agency. A senior professional consultant can assess what may have contributed to the failure of the last agency relationship and stop them from happening again by aligning you better with the new agency.

The age of the old-fashion agency search, paying attention only to the commercial the agencies come up with on the day of the pitch, is over. Because marketing and advertising services are filtered through so many parts of the enterprise, switching agencies involves a considerable risk exposure. A search has strategic implications for the company and financial and resources consequences. Hiring an expert, a senior search consultant, should be considered.