The finalists for the Enterprise Europe Network best practices awards are out!

In the case of Sector Groups, the Sector Group chairs have selected the finalists in a pitching session during the last Sector Group Chairs meeting held in Malta at the beginning of May.

Now it’s the turn to the Network partners to give their opinion and select the winners of this year, amongst whom there is the Retail Sector Group practice - 'Giving our clients a chance to pitch' - chaired by Maltese Network partner Lino Mintoff - Head of Projects and Internationalisation at The Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enteprise and industry.

Since the group has changed from being the Services & Retail Sector Group to the Retail Sector Group, the SG started putting a face to company profiles at each of their meetings.

During the Retail Sector Group meetings, the host country has the opportunity to offer selected clients the possibility to pitch their business offer or request directly to the Sector Group members. This went beyond placing profiles on on a common database or sharing them in the Network.

"It was felt that the benefit of the interaction between members during meetings could be extended to the client. That is why we decided to include a recurring session on the agenda for interaction with clients to enhance the focus on clients and deliverables" Lino Mintoff.

The business pitching sessions enabled Sector Group members to have a direct contact with the client and instantly gauge partnering potential. They can also ask the client direct questions and request clarification, if needed. From then on, there is a follow-up with those who have shown interest.

Since the pitching session was introduced in 2017, this practice has proved to be effective. It is giving the clients a direct contact with a person they have met. Network colleagues are physically part of the client journey and can establish a direct relationship.

This confers a sense of trust, credibility and effectiveness to the process engaged by the Network.