Interestingly, this is very similar to the sales process to a large corporation. An 18-month sales cycle, lots of one-on-one meetings, many group presentations, a frantic, last-minute push and a result based more on the work over the 18 months than anything that happened on decision-making day.
Politicians get elected one vote at a time. Salespeople win sales one prospect at a time. The problem is that too many salespeople take shortcuts and attempt to sell prospects in groups. While it is possible to make a great group presentation, that is not where the selling actually takes place. Selling takes place one-on-one, and much earlier in the sales process. The presentation, and still later, the proposal, are simply a formality that leads to getting the business when the selling that was conducted earlier was effective.