I’m not a big believer in making promises I can’t keep. And, I deplore organizations such as United, Comcast and good, old New Jersey Transit who never deliver on their brand promises.

So, as one might expect, I nearly gagged when I received an unsolicited e-mail from an organization called Win Without Pitching. Talk about an oxymoron!

WWP is a British Columbia-based organization that delivers “helpful” tips for accomplishing what their name promises. They also offered training programs and four seminars in four countries.

I began in the PR business shortly after Gutenberg invented his highly-acclaimed printing press. And, if one recuses the ridiculous Dot Com days when agencies interviewed prospective clients, I’ve NEVER won without pitching.

Sure, there are the occasional situations in which we’re on a first name basis with a board member or CEO, but that’s not winning without pitching. It’s called being connected.

The rest of the time we, and every other agency under the sun, need to fill out an RFP, hope that we’re invited into the finals, make at least one, in-person presentation and then, almost always, wait for weeks or months to be told the decision.

So, as valuable as WWP’s tips, training and seminars may be, you’d be foolish to believe their brand promise.

If this blog had been authored by Charles Dickens, he’d headline it: False Expectations.