Bidding hysteria: 5 things that make you tear your hair out.

As part of my complete devotion to using social media as a route to unlimited professional prosperity (read: I'm trying justify my addiction by using it as a work tool rather than as simply a sophisticated time-wasting device), I've started taking part in a few of the discussions raised by various sales and marketing groups on LinkedIn.

The discussion that caught my eye today was entitled: What are the most common problems bid managers face? Here is my response with the top 5 things that came to mind when I saw this question...

Bids, pitches, tenders, proposals, beauty parades ... whatever you call them they can be stressful; causing you to tear your hair out at times. As a business development manager in the professional services industry, they were always the aspect of the job that kept me late in the office and most frequently dialling for a pizza to get me through the dark office hours. But bid writing also keeps your professional adrenalin pumping. They can be immensely rewarding projects to work on and once you understand the challenges it gets easier to anticipate problems and manage them. I would list my top 5 common problems as:

1. Engaging a bid team. Bid management can be lonely (and demoralising) if you try to take it all on yourself. Assembling a team, getting them excited about the potential of the work on offer and securing their commitment and contribution is an important factor in success. It also makes bids far more enjoyable to work on.

2. Keeping the momentum going. As the bid manager you are often the one who makes sure the key milestones are hit that will ensure delivery of the bid, on time and in a winning format. Keeping people interested and involved means you need to radiate energy and enthusiasm (which after a long day/evening editing technical text into readable copy can be a bit of a struggle).

3. Panic! As the deadline gets closer, people panic, the blood pressures of the interested partners rise furiously as they realise they haven't done as much as they should. And as bid manager you need to keep calm and positive and resist the urge to join the hysteria.

4. Making sense of contributed text. Sometimes it can be a few disjointed bullets and sometimes reams of complicated copy presented in the form of long sentences and jargon. Against the clock you can find yourself under pressure to convert this into sparkling, persuasive sales copy that won't send the reader into a deep, peaceful sleep.

5. Managing your time. Pulled in all directions and expected to perform miracles, a good bid manager needs to know what and when to delegate e.g. can a secretary help with the minor tweaks and amends while you focus on creating original content, can an enthusiastic junior fee earner help chase contributions etc?

And looking back over these now, I realise it is overcoming these challenges and managing them with a smile that makes a good bid manager. And also what makes their skills so in demand. Bid managers out there - Afternoon Debate salutes you!

To bid or not to bid … that is the question

Deciding to bid can be a huge investment of time and resource - you need to make sure you are investing wisely. Your win rate could also be greatly improved by identifying and eliminating bidding opportunities that you have little chance or interest in winning.

Key questions

Do we want to win the work? Can we win the work?

Acting quickly 

The key to making the bidding decision is to make it quickly. Timescales for submitting bids are often short and the quality of your submission (and hence the chances of you winning) can be reduced by delaying and producing a bid at short notice.


Making the decision 
Consider:

Capability: Your ability to demonstrate that you can perform the work better than your competitors.

Probability of winning: Based on existing relationships, the competition, the client's motives behind the tender and your ability to put together a document in the time available.

Strategic fit: How well the opportunity fits with our objectives and interests as a firm.

Feasibility: How well you can respond to the requirement based on the client's criteria.

Risk: Would this work expose your firm to any risks (that you are not happy can be effectively managed)

Opportunity cost: What (if any) would be the impact of declining the opportunity to tender.

It's time to detox: flush out your bad bidding habits

Bids, pitches, proposals, tenders, beauty parades … whatever you call them, they can dominate the working lives of business development teams. And most of us have a love-hate relationship with them. Whilst winning is incredibly rewarding, bids are also the aspect of the job most likely to involve late-night pizzas in the office and tear your hair out frustration as the deadline gets closer.

To be competitive in a challenging market place and continue to win more work, firms need to be bidding selectively, effectively and efficiently at all stages (from pre-qualification questionnaires, through to more detailed documents and presentations.) I know, easier said than done. Everyone is under pressure to win more work and procurement teams seem to be on a mission to make this as difficult and time-consuming as possible. Which is why it is so important that your bid process (the way you identify and manage tender opportunities) delivers winning results.

And this means recognising and addressing bad bidding habits. I have listed a few of the big ones below - some may seem familiar!

Panic! - bidding sporadically and hastily for everything rather than focusing your time, energy and money on winning the best opportunities.

Cloning - cutting and pasting from old documents (come on some originality and thought please!)

Convenience over quality - moulding old documents/information to fit new requirements. Is that really going to persuade a client you are the firm with their best interests at heart?

The "thud factor" - the more is better approach. How would you feel about reading the bids you produce. Inspired? Or bored?

Poor document structure - savvy bidders will be thinking about how to craft a persuasive document that will keep their readers hooked.

Self-centric corporate blurb - you know the 'we-are-great-me-me-me' blurb you roll out in every pitch document. Too many bids read like corporate brochures. What the client is interested in is themselves and how you can specifically help them to save money, resolve a problem, make them more profitable etc.

You got it! You got the meeting

You are triumphant. After some savvy networking and diligent keeping in touch, you have been invited in; you have your first sales meeting in the diary with a new customer. Yipee. But restrain yourself from punching the air and breaking into your favourite celebratory jig just yet. Firstly, because, well, we don’t want you to embarrass yourself by revealing your David Brent tendancies.  And secondly, because there is lots to do before the meeting. It’s not just a case of turning up at the right time and rambling on about how great your organisation is.

To help you along here are a few reminders:

1. Do your research. Find out as much as you can about your prospective customer – get their accounts, scan the press, research your contact, does anyone else at your organisation have any information that could help you? Think about their issues, their problems and how you can help them. Then prepare some good open questions.
2. Set your objective. What information do you want to have by the end of the meeting? What outcome are you aiming for? And then think about open questions that can help you achieve this.
3. Consider preparing an agenda and sending it in advance for their feedback and additions. It gives the meeting an objective and ensures both parties are clear about their intent.
4. Prepare your introduction; it will give you confidence. In your introduction focus on the value you can bring to the person you are talking to rather than simply your job title.
5. What messages do you want to get across? Remember to focus on benefits rather than features – don’t just run them through your product list, think about what value you can specifically offer their business. 

And finally, if you really need to do that air punch and jig thing, maybe head to the toilet and get it out of your system in privacy!

Feel the fear ... and network on

Take a few deep breaths. Give yourself a quick, silent, confidence-boosting pep talk. You can do it. Rehearse your introduction line and pray nerves don't induce any embarrassing stuttering and stumbling. Double-check your pocket for business cards. Readjust and straighten your name badge one final time, hoping it’s in an appropriate and visible position. And go.

Walking into a room of strangers, armed with nothing more than a wodge of business cards and a name badge for comfort is daunting, but business networking has become an unavoidable recession reality for many people. In the world of competitive job-hunting and promotion-seeking, the old rule applies more than ever; it's often not just what you know but who you know. So, instead of looking on enviously at a colleague who always seems to know all the right people, it’s time to start investing time in building your own personal network. A well-stocked network could provide a vital lifeline in the event of redundancy and will help bring in the new business opportunities you’re feeling under pressure to deliver.

A few confidence tips for the nervous networker

• Arrive early - it's harder to enter a crowded room where everyone is already settled in conversations.
• Smile.
• Prepare open questions in advance to avoid awkward pauses and to generate conversation. 
• Be interested. Listen to answers to your questions. Nerves can cause you to focus completely on what you're going to say next rather than pick up on hooks to build interesting conversations.
• Set targets. How many people would you like to meet? Don't get too comfortable with one person, keep moving and keep to your objectives. Having a structure gives you a mission rather than floundering aimlessly (or hiding in a corner, then sloping off early).

And when the event is over don't just breath a sigh of relief and pat yourself on the back,  go over the business cards you've commected and plan your follow up actions to ensure you get the most from your networking effort.

Go on, show them you care

Selling professional services has distinct challenges.  Knowledge is undoubtedly a hard thing to sell.  Buying decisions in this sector are based on building trust, demonstrating understanding and personal chemistry.  So, a successful sale is unlikely to be achieved through a cheap and cheerful generic email shot or price driven special offers.  It’s all about relationships.  And with all firms raising their game, it’s harder than ever to compete and differentiate your offer.

But let’s not get too preoccupied with the challenges.  Self-absorbed analysis of the difficulties and procrastination are not remedies.  It’s a proactive approach and positive solutions that will drive successful sales activity.  Although it’s easy to be reactive and take the “they’ll call me if they need me” approach, in a competitive market place you can’t rely on this to deliver.  Focus needs to shift to getting out there, understanding the issues your clients face and proactively providing them with solutions – good reasons to buy your services. 

It’s more important than ever to keep contact going with your clients – existing and potential.  If you’re not talking to your contacts regularly, there’s a good chance one of your competitors is.  Many businesses are facing tough times.  It’s a slight cliché but people buy people.  We prefer to work with people we like and who care about what we are trying to achieve.  So, why not call a contact and ask how things are going? Offer congratulations or a sympathetic ear depending on the tone of their news; people will remember who supported them through the bad times as well as the good. 

And don't make the contact a one-off. Keep it regular, keep it relevant and keep it coming!