Highlights of 2021

Another year that is almost over. If you thought that 2020 brought a lot of changes, wait till you read what 2021 had in store for Pitch Perfect. This year was all about "growing", both literally and figuratively. To close the year, we would like to share the highlights of the past year.

In addition to many great collaborations with various new independent Pitchies, we have also been able to add three permanent employees to the team in the past year. We welcomed our Creative Instigator Joeri in April and he immediately took on the project for Vakantie Expo Antwerpen as well as the CRM implementations for the internal operations. A while later, we were in need of a person who could take care of things internally and support the projects. This was a perfect match with Hannelore who joined the team in July. Not long after, we also found the new Business Development Manager for one of our partners, Iberostar, in Bart. In September, our team had no fewer than 6 Sales Instigators, almost double the number from the year before.

Furthermore, not only our team grew, but also the number of partners and collaborations. We welcomed 25 new partners who have joined forces with us in different ways to grow their sales. On the one hand, this is done through sales training to learn the tricks of the trade or more intensive training that goes beyond the basics. We have also helped many entrepreneurs through strategic exercises to create both a sales plan and the right plan of action tailored to their business. Both services, advice and training, we can offer from 2021 onwards more advantageous conditions for SMEs through the KMO-portefeuille. You can find us on the Vlaio website. Furthermore, many of our new partners were also looking for motivated sales people and of course we can easily respond to this. KMO-portefeuille. Je kan ons terugvinden op de website van Vlaio. Verder waren ook heel wat van onze nieuwe partners op zoek waren naar gemotiveerde sales en uiteraard kunnen wij hier gemakkelijk op inspelen.

Comprehensive sectors

Tourism was the most common sector among our partners in 2019. About 90% of our partners were hotels, meeting & event venues, cruise lines, destinations, ... . We won't have to explain that this has changed drastically in 2020. What used to be a 90-10 ratio, with tourism taking the upper hand, could be reversed in 2020. Only 10% of our partners were still in the tourism industry. Other sectors such as automotive, media, HR, ... also found their way to Pitch Perfect to boost their sales. In 2021 we were able to secure growth from both sides and today we can say that we work about 50-50 inside and outside tourism.

A well-known workplace this year was the home office. For one, that is in Aalter, for the other it is in Bredene or in Herdersem. To be honest, this was not a big adjustment for us. Working from home is a very normal thing for all Pitchies. Of course we all like to meet at the office in Berlare or Hulst (NL). When this was not possible, we solved this by having a virtual coffee break with all of us in the afternoon. 

Business trips are part of our business strategy

In total, there are 25 business trips this year. Not bad if you ask us, but you can always do better. Davy and Bart are the big winners because they collected the most Air Miles this year. The reason for this is probably that the head office of Iberostar is located in Mallorca. Besides, the newest Pitchie Bart still had to get to know all Iberostar hotels and so we sent him to some destinations to explore. We also went to Barcelona, Valencia, the north of the Netherlands, Brittany, Nantes, Hamburg, ... . Maybe we should have added the car and the plane to the places where we spent the most time?

Of course, not everything was done abroad this year. We also carried out some major projects for our partners in Belgium. We spontaneously think of the Antor Event in the Qbic Hotel in Brussels, the network event of Visit Antwerp in the Handelsbeurs, the Slovenia Event in Chocolate Nation, the virtual Sales Blitz for German Convention Bureau and many other fantastic events. On to a 2022 full of events like those of the past year.

Don't be busy, be productive

You read it, we really didn't sit still in 2021. During our review of the past year, it was clear to see that the month of November broke all our records. It was the month in which each of the team gave the utmost of themselves to ensure that all projects run smoothly, to look for new partners, to help and guide current partners, … . We can say that November has been the most productive month of the whole year where we all gave 120% of ourselves. Other months we only gave 119.99% of ourselves to our partners.

Fabulous Friday

2021 was also the year of the "Fabulous Friday". Every last Friday of the month, we have a team meeting where we briefly discuss the past month, but also go over the projects that will take place in the coming months together. This is often followed by a fun activity or an aperitif to round off the working week. This meeting has been christened Fabulous Friday by our Creative Instigator and because we all have the necessary sense of humour, there is a competition every month to win a trophy. In total, there are three trophies to be won.

Ready for 2022? Bring it on!

How can we help you in 2022?