How many rabbits are you chasing?
Article on proposals best practice
by
Scott Keyser of invitation2tender.com
In every economic downturn I‟ve lived through, I‟ve observed the same syndrome in the
business development world: a panic-stricken compulsion to bid for every opportunity
available.
And the impromptu research I‟ve run among BD professionals around the world confirms
this. Their biggest gripe is being told by their superiors to bid for any opportunity that comes
along. “Let‟s take a punt!” — “Let‟s wing it!” — “It could be massive!” — are familiar refrains
from naïve managers or over-enthusiastic sales people. The problem with this approach is
that there‟s no distinction between winnable and unwinnable opportunities. I call it
„proposals machismo‟ and it‟s bad business for the following reasons:
It’s demoralising and de-motivating. Bidding well demands lots of attention, energy,
motivation and time. Going for unwinnable opportunities makes it even harder for your
business development team to maintain that level of commitment. Why should they, if they
know there‟s scant chance of winning? They‟re likely to just go through the motions...and
resent doing so.
It’s inefficient. You risk investing the same quality of energy and resources in
opportunities you‟ll never win as in winnable ones. With organisations laying people off and
having to do more with less, it makes sense to invest those limited resources in a targeted
and efficient way.
Your bid team becomes a proposals factory. When it‟s all hands to the pumps, your BD
team don‟t have time to look up, assess how they‟re doing tenders and think about better,
more interesting approaches. It‟s all they can do to get the bids out on time. This „never
mind the quality, feel the width‟ approach results in a low win-rate, boring bids and burntout bidders.
So, what‟s the answer? Pre-qualify every opportunity!
Pre-qualification (don‟t confuse this with the public sector Pre-Qualification Questionnaire or
PQQ) is an internal process for deciding whether or not to respond to an ITT or RFP. It
should be the first step in your proposals process. Seek reasons both why you should and
shouldn‟t bid, then weigh them up to reach a conclusion. It‟s about carefully choosing the
bids you stand a good chance of winning, giving them your best shot and rejecting the rest.
Most organisations do it badly, if at all.
I‟ve identified at least seven benefits of pre-qualifying:
1. A higher win-rate, as you win more of the proposals you submit.
2. More profitable tendering, as you get a higher return per unit of effort.
3. You manage your limited resources better, by focusing on winnable opportunities.
4. A stronger, more creative end-product, as you spend more time on each bid.
5. Better managed risks, such as avoiding bad payment terms or conflicts of interest.
6. Less impact on existing clients (aka „opportunity cost‟).
7. Easier to justify a bid/no bid decision to your boss or the Board.
© Scott Keyser 2010
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What‟s not to like about pre-qualifying, then?
Having decided to pre-qualify, you have to know how to do it properly. There are four
„abilities‟ to consider:
Winnability:
Do you have recent and relevant experience? Have you done similar jobs successfully?
Can you field the best team, as opposed to the one merely available?
Does the client know and trust you? If you‟re going in cold, you‟ll have to work hard to gain
their trust, especially if access to them is limited. And if a competitor is already „in there‟,
dislodging them could be hard.
Number of competitors. Has the client invited lots of bidders? If the field is large and you‟re
making up the numbers, think twice — especially if you‟ve not worked with them before.
Do-ability:
Is your technical expertise up to the job? Don‟t be seduced by short-term gain if your
reputation could be damaged by a less than excellent job.
Do you have the capacity or resources to deliver, especially if the contract is larger than
you‟re used to? Are there particular technical, cultural, political or geographical constraints?
Desirability:
Does the contract fit with your business plan or BD strategy? Is it core to your business, or a
wild deviation with a dose of wishful thinking?
Will they be a breeze or a nightmare to work with? If they‟re known for being demanding or
unreliable, with unrealistic expectations of their suppliers, maybe leave well alone.
Profitability:
Will it boost or batter the bottom-line? Is there repeat business lurking within? Or will the
account take so much time, care and management attention that the ROI will be poor?
Opportunity cost: assess the impact on your existing clients of bidding for and winning a
new contract. Might they suffer as a result? It‟s more cost-effective to grow existing clients
than win new ones.
Invitation2tender.com bottom-line: Every bid you submit — and the process leading up
to it — must be no less than excellent. One way of doing that is to be choosier about the
opportunities you go for through systematic, rigorous and consistent pre-qualification.
Remember the Chinese proverb: „Chase two rabbits and both will escape‟.
820 words
Scott Keyser runs invitation2tender.com, which helps organisations across the board to win many
more private, public and third-sector contracts and grants. Ex-Ernst & Young,
PricewaterhouseCoopers, J Walter Thompson and Saatchi & Saatchi, Scott has distilled his vast
proposals experience into seven simple principles, which guide his training, consulting and coaching
work. Find out more at www.invitation2tender.com, or contact him directly on 020 8671 0457 or at
[email protected].
© Scott Keyser 2010
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