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One of the keys to successful pitching is understanding the person to whom you’re pitching. When it comes to pitches, there are usually two kinds of people: Relationship People and Results People. Relationship people like to talk. They like the interchange. It takes awhile to get to your project because they want to chat about the weather, your kids, the big game last night – anything. Meetings with relationship people can be 90% chit-chat and 10% substance. Think of buying something from a street vendor in the Middle East. It’s a complete opera – waving hands, arguing back and forth, lot’s of activity – all just to buy an apple. That’s a relationship person. On the other hand, I’m a results person. My mantra is “Don’t tell me how deep the water is, just bring in the boat.” I want you to get to the point, and don’t bore me with the details. You may have lovely children, but results people don’t want to hear about them. They just want to know why you’re taking up their time.

It’s not a matter of one being better, it’s a matter of recognizing the difference. And knowing that information can mean the difference between success and failure when it comes to pitching.

Recently, I spoke to a class of film students at Biola University in Los Angeles, who asked me to give them some career advice before graduation. My friend, award winning advertising writer David Morgenstern, shared some tips with me for the class that he had given to USC film students a few years ago, and they were so fantastic, I wanted to share them with you.

1) Return every call and e-mail quickly. Show up on time, even if you’re the only one there. Dress like you deserve your salary. Believe me, that will put you ahead of a surprising number of people.

2) Write thank-you notes. Remember birthdays. Remember the assistants, and the secretaries, the coordinators, and the mailroom folks. This is a people business. And people never forget how they are treated.

3) Every day, you are placing a brick in the tower of your reputation. Remember, everything you do, big and small, either adds or subtracts from your reputation.

4) Watch what you say in elevators, in restrooms, on airplanes and in casual conversation. She could be the client’s wife. He could be the boss’s brother. She could be your competitor’s accountant.

5) Don’t care who solves it. Just get it solved.

6) Learn how to tell a story: Every client presentation, every report, every commercial-it’s all about stories. Stories are how human beings make sense of the world. If you want to succeed in this business, be able to tell stories in ways that capture your audience’s attention.

7) When emotions are running high, make sure yours are running low. Life is unfair, so learn to lose with dignity. And, learn to win with dignity. That means no excuses. No crybabies. No bragging. No trashing. Learn how to move on.

Proofread. Spell-check.

9) Good enough, isn’t. There is going to be someone out there who will sleep less and work harder, will give up their weekend, and give it one more shot. That is the person that I bet on to win.

10) Think different. Be brave. The world is full of people with conventional ideas who go along with the crowd. It’s the mavericks and the dreamers who move things forward. When you hear an idea that makes you nervous, makes you sweat, occasionally gather your courage, take a stand, take a risk, suck it up and go out on a limb. Hey, you might even be right.

Because at any given time, our clients at Cooke Pictures represent some of the largest churches and media ministries in the world, we get a lot of people who want access to those clients. They figure they can pitch their idea, sell their products, or promote themselves to a big church or ministry, and since those ministries are our clients, we’ll help them. We also have a lot of friends in Hollywood, and people are always asking for us to connect to them. But we rarely ever do that, and if it happens – it’s only because I feel like it’s a solid win/win for both parties. The bottom line is that we viciously protect our relationships.

Because of that principle, our friends, clients, and relationships know they can trust us and be candid with us. We don’t sell them out or connect them with inappropriate people or projects. We never want to put them in awkward positions.

If you want to increase the quality and influence of your industry associates and relationships, protect them. Be careful connecting people who have different career velocities or if there is any chance they might take advantage of someone.

Because first, you never want a friend put in a bad position, and two, when something bad happens, it all comes back to you.