In a famous quote, Lew Platt, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, said “If only HP knew what HP knows, we would be three-times more productive.”
He meant, of course, that HP employees individually and in small teams had critical knowledge of the enterprise, the customers, and the market: research and development, processes, procedures, manufacturing, quality control, and so on. And all of this knowledge is of great value in the sales and business development processes as well as in R&D and customer service.
But this priceless individual knowledge wasn’t known collectively, so that it could not be brought to bear on each new issue, problem, or opportunity. Everything took longer than it should have because critical knowledge wasn't shared deliberately throughout the enterprise.
Surprisingly, this problem may be even more acute in smaller companies.
I just finished working with a small business team preparing a very significant proposal in response to a federal government RFP. This is a very successful company with significant technical expertise in their field, a track record of great success, and very apparent management excellence.
Yet, as we tried to put "into words" HOW they do what they do, they were stymied. They are so accustomed to doing it, it does not occur to them to explain, or to write down the steps, or--in essence--to capture the knowledge.
In fact, they almost think that to explain it step-by-step would be boring and insulting to the reader. "Doesn't everyone know how we would approach this? After all, it's just common sense."
No matter how small you are, or where you are in the development of explicit processes, I encourage you to be certain that everyone in your company "knows what you company knows."
Whenever your team is selling, whether face-to-face or through an RFP, you can use explicit processes to your great advantage in going up against larger competitors, who are more likely to have well-crafted process materials.
And that means paying some special attention to documenting and sharing "how we do it here." Your proposals will get better; they will get easier; and you company's knowledge base will explode.
Do you have an example to share about "knowing what you know?" If so, please post it below.
The best thing about large accounts is that they offer many opportunities to sell more business--you may have different products and services that would appeal to different departments or divisions of the whale company. Or you might have the opportunity to sell more of the same product or service to other divisions or locations.
The worst thing about large accounts is that buyers tend to pigeonhole you in the niche where you currently fit.
Sometimes, selling new business to your existing large accounts is more difficult than landing a new account. Here's an example: We had a client that provided engineering validation services to the manufacturing division a large corporation. After several years of providing that service successfully, our client had introduced a totally new service--technical writing. Not only manufacturing but also marketing, R&D, training, and customer service could have used these new services provided by a company that the parent company trusts based on past performance. But the current end-users had no contacts in the other divisions, and the manufacturing division had pegged our client for engineering validation, not technical writing. Ultimately, our client found that it was easier to go elsewhere for the new business.
For another example, we had a client that provided a unique method of delivering discount coupons for local restaurants and other retail establishments to employees at their workplace. They were very successful in serving local and regional franchises of national chain restaurants and groceries. There was often a promise that if there service passed "a test" they would be considered for a national application. However, the national marketing buyers never do business with the companies they consider to be "local" suppliers.
So, sometimes it if best to move on to another customer. But there are ways to influence your current large clients if you are strategic about it:
The worst thing about large accounts is that buyers tend to pigeonhole you in the niche where you currently fit.
Sometimes, selling new business to your existing large accounts is more difficult than landing a new account. Here's an example: We had a client that provided engineering validation services to the manufacturing division a large corporation. After several years of providing that service successfully, our client had introduced a totally new service--technical writing. Not only manufacturing but also marketing, R&D, training, and customer service could have used these new services provided by a company that the parent company trusts based on past performance. But the current end-users had no contacts in the other divisions, and the manufacturing division had pegged our client for engineering validation, not technical writing. Ultimately, our client found that it was easier to go elsewhere for the new business.
For another example, we had a client that provided a unique method of delivering discount coupons for local restaurants and other retail establishments to employees at their workplace. They were very successful in serving local and regional franchises of national chain restaurants and groceries. There was often a promise that if there service passed "a test" they would be considered for a national application. However, the national marketing buyers never do business with the companies they consider to be "local" suppliers.
So, sometimes it if best to move on to another customer. But there are ways to influence your current large clients if you are strategic about it:
- Begin to build relationships outside of your current work area when the contract is new. These will take much time to develop.
- Engage your entire team--every area that touches the whale--in planning for new business.
- Turn "common knowledge"--what each person knows about the customer--into "shared knowledge" -- what everyone knows
- Separate fact from opinion and gossip about the customer and the divisions of its business
- create a grid of all the potential buyers of your products/services (divisions, locations, departments) and your offerings. Determine the most likely next sale for your company.
- strategize that sale as you would any new business, leveraging existing relationships
Free Expert Series Call January 20, 2010
Date: Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Our new monthly Expert Series conference call (every third Wednesday at noon Eastern time) features a prominent speaker on a timely Whale Hunters topic. This is a FREE call, and for the first call no registration is necessary. Just dial in!
The call is hosted by The Whale Hunters founder Barbara Weaver Smith with FEATURED GUEST Danny Ayala, Director of BidSourceTM, The Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce government bid procurement program. BidSource has helped small businesses in Arizona win $1billion in contract awards since its inception in 1988. Discussion will focus on RFP requirements for local, state, & federal government and following federal stimulus dollars. Topic: Winning RFPs and Government Stimulus Funds
Time: 9 am PST, 10 am MST, 11 am CST, 12 noon EST
Call duration: 60 minutes
Dial in: 866-476-8702
Participant Code: 929182#
Call duration: 60 minutes
Dial in: 866-476-8702
Participant Code: 929182#
For more information, contact The Whale Hunters Sales and Marketing Manager, Lindsay Bayuk, at lbayuk@thewhalehunters.com.
You’ve made the big sale to the big customer. You’ve inked the letter of agreement. You’ve shaken the hands and toasted the toast. Now what?
Most likely your deal now moves out of the hands of the buyers’ table and into the depths of legal and accounting. The formal contract remains to be completed, and the timetable remains to be determined. You are in a much bigger hurry to get started than your new customer is.
What can you do? Here are some tactics:
· Learn to anticipate that this will happen; don’t let it take you by surprise. Understand that bureaucracies do not move at the speed of entrepreneurs.
· Create and implement a carefully crafted plan for that period of time we call “sewing the mouth shut”—the time between when the whale says “yes” and you receive payment for your first invoice.
· In that plan, stipulate what steps people on your team will take with people on the whale’s team in anticipation of getting started. Most important:
o Schedule—work with the whale’s team to set get-acquainted meetings, site visits, information exchange, fact-finding, etc.
o Invoice—your proposal should have included some preliminary work that can be done while the contracts are processing. Make this whale a customer at your earliest opportunity.
o Visibility—have a system of simple reports to several of your new customer’s end users to keep them apprised of how you are preparing to fulfill your contract with them.
· Keep your account manager in close contact with his or her counterpart, and take action promptly if there is any lack of expected action.
Through some tough experiences, I’ve learned how important it is for the seller to own the ramp-up process. My team would be trying to schedule key events and activities with little success. We would be frustrated that the new customer was holding things up. But of course the whale always thinks that YOU are holding things up, which is why you need to manage the deal especially after you’ve sold it!
Have you had a deal that faded away after it was sold? I’d love to hear about it.
One of my long-time business friends called recently with a whale hunting problem. He is in the software development and training business and has had several whale-sized clients over the years.
This time, however, the prospect refused to sign his company’s standard contract in favor of their own. And this contract was onerous. In particular, it stated that the whale company would own all rights to any materials created for them or modified for them. The seller would technically no longer have the right to re-sell templates or standard software that had been customized in any way for this customer. They would also lose the right to include this customer’s bugs and fixes, anonymously, in their ongoing FAQ materials available to all customers.
Furthermore, the small company’s hesitancy on this contract was making the whale angry and the deal seemed about to slip away.
He asked what I thought he should do? Here are a few ideas I offered:
1. It’s very common for a big company to have a very different view of contracts than the small company does. Sometimes you will have requirements in your standard contract that no large company is going to sign, period. Other times, you will be faced as my friend was with a contract that frightens you. If you want to complete your big sales, you’ll have to find a way to come to terms quickly.
2. Big companies have staff lawyers; maybe you don’t. If not, be sure that you consult regularly with an attorney who specializes in entrepreneurial ventures and will come to understand your business. Have your attorney review the contract with an eye to any pitfalls. Now is not the time to save money—invest in some good advice.
3. If the attorney’s advice is ambiguous, you’ll just have to decide how much you want this business. Is it likely that the customer could or would cause you real trouble down the road contractually, or are they just using boilerplate language to protect their own interests? If there seems to be real danger, now is the time to say no. But if any danger is remote and unlikely, and otherwise you want to do the business, get the contract signed.
4. Once you begin doing the work, be scrupulous about following the rules of the contract. If issues arise that are not clear-cut, negotiate them and get agreement in writing.
Contracts between big and small companies are tedious because each faces different kinds and levels of risk, regulation, and responsibility. If you routinely have problems negotiating a contract with a large customer, work on your own contract to make it more familiar to the whales.
Have you ever lost a job through contract negotiations? Have you signed a contract that proved to be a mistake? Post your comments below.
In many industries, price has become the only apparent differentiating factor in contract awards. Pricing wars put small and mid size business at a disadvantage because larger competitors can low-ball a bid in order to freeze you out.
How will you know if you are in a pricing war? And if you are, how can you respond?
In an RFP circumstance, you should intend to be the lowest cost suitable provider or to decline to bid. Unless,
- you can beat the field on unique past experience (and don't kid yourself!)
- you can beat the field on a unique plan of work (which will save money)
- you know what the current provider is being paid (and you can beat it)
- you are the incumbent (and you can leverage the relationship)
So how will you prepare your pricing strategy? Here are some ideas:
- Explore your bidding history. What are the proposals in which you have lost out on price? Do you have detailed feedback on pricing and other elements of your proposal? If so, use them going forward.
- Find and use data. Be certain that you understand standard pricing for sales in your industry, especially pricing among your large competitors.
- Hire a consultant. Use a pricing expert to help you consider options and to understand the competition.
- Take more training. For government contracts especially, many training programs are available for your team to learn more about costs and pricing for government business at the local, state, and federal levels.
- Match your deliverables to the requirements. When you must compete on price, don't add any frills or "nice to haves." Stick with the minimum requirements and price aggressively.
We would love to hear your personal strategies for winning the pricing wars--or examples of coming in second and lessons learned from that experience!
At one or more points in your sales process, you will make a live presentation. Buyers participate in these pitches all the time--how will you set yourself apart?
1. Own the room. Your most important tactic is to control the space in which you are meeting. If the presentation is at your headquarters, you can assign seats, issue name tags, and provide table tents. But if--more likely--your team is presenting at the prospective customer's site, how can you own the room?
1. Own the room. Your most important tactic is to control the space in which you are meeting. If the presentation is at your headquarters, you can assign seats, issue name tags, and provide table tents. But if--more likely--your team is presenting at the prospective customer's site, how can you own the room?
- First, be absolutely certain that you know who will be in attendance. Check and double check with your key contact(s) and their staff.
- Match up your presenters with their attendees. Be certain that everyone on your team knows who they are responsible for on the whale buyers' team.
- Show up early. Bring table tents. Place them where you want them. Intersperse their team with your team.
- If you are providing handouts or presenting any kind of digital presentation, own your technology and arrive in plenty of time to be certain it will work in their space.
2. Surprise them. Everyone else who has presented to this buyers' table has led them through a boring power point deck of some kind. You need to be different!
- Only use slides if you have powerful visual images to present.
- Use no text on your slides--visual images only.
- Insert short audio or video into your slides.
- Ensure that no one on your team is watching the slides while they are being presented.
- Be sure that each person has his or her power tools, power points, and power questions.
- Rehearse with an internal and/or external team of supporters who will role play the potential client.
- Be very clear who on your team will field questions from the prospect and direct them to the appropriate person on your team. This person should not be the lead presenter.
Prepare everyone to speak comfortably in a sales/new business setting.
- Provide everyone with the confidence needed to present assertively.
- Communicate how important their performance is to your company's growth.
- Praise and reward great participation.
In a complex sale to a big customer, the buyers will want to meet your delivery team. They will not be content to deal only with a salesperson or business development leader. In fact, learning how to engage key non-sales staff in the sale gives you a huge advantage over other competitors, both large and small.
But this practice cannot happen successfully unless you devote some time to preparing. The harpooner (salesperson) needs to learn how to orchestrate a team presentation. No longer doing most of the talking, the sales lead introduces team members and manages all facets of the presentation, on the fly.
Likewise, key subject matter experts [SMEs] need to learn how to participate in a client-facing presentation. They will need the confidence that comes from knowing what is expected of them, having rehearsed, and understanding the whole plan.
We recommending preparing SMEs with three sets of material:
1. Power Points. Not a slide deck but a few key statements. Each SME should know the most important points about your company, your product/service, and their role in the delivery. And the harpooner should be prepared to ensure they have the opportunity to make their key points.
2. Power Tools. These are the fear-busters, those tangible pieces of evidence that calm the buyers and make you look capable of doing business with a whale. Power Tools are documents, white papers, testimonials, charts, graphs, diagrams, pictures, processes--brief but very professional representations of your company's capabilities in areas that are likely to make the buyers afraid.
3. Power Questions. The buyers want to know what YOU need to know in order to serve them well, and they will expect your presentation team to ask intelligent and probing questions. Be certain that each SME is prepared to ask one or more critical questions of the buying team, questions that will promote a lively discussion.
Teach your SMEs to incorporate power points, tools, and questions into the presentation. Rehearse so that they understand when to speak and when to listen. Invite other employees to role play the buyers and offer constructive feedback.
You will find that SMEs write better proposals and bring a new client on board faster and with fewer glitches and that your entire company becomes more excited about sales and business development. They will have a new respect for the sales process, a better understanding of the customers, and a bigger stake in your growth.
How do you engage SMEs in your sales process? We'd love your comments, tips and suggestions.
But this practice cannot happen successfully unless you devote some time to preparing. The harpooner (salesperson) needs to learn how to orchestrate a team presentation. No longer doing most of the talking, the sales lead introduces team members and manages all facets of the presentation, on the fly.
Likewise, key subject matter experts [SMEs] need to learn how to participate in a client-facing presentation. They will need the confidence that comes from knowing what is expected of them, having rehearsed, and understanding the whole plan.
We recommending preparing SMEs with three sets of material:
1. Power Points. Not a slide deck but a few key statements. Each SME should know the most important points about your company, your product/service, and their role in the delivery. And the harpooner should be prepared to ensure they have the opportunity to make their key points.
2. Power Tools. These are the fear-busters, those tangible pieces of evidence that calm the buyers and make you look capable of doing business with a whale. Power Tools are documents, white papers, testimonials, charts, graphs, diagrams, pictures, processes--brief but very professional representations of your company's capabilities in areas that are likely to make the buyers afraid.
3. Power Questions. The buyers want to know what YOU need to know in order to serve them well, and they will expect your presentation team to ask intelligent and probing questions. Be certain that each SME is prepared to ask one or more critical questions of the buying team, questions that will promote a lively discussion.
Teach your SMEs to incorporate power points, tools, and questions into the presentation. Rehearse so that they understand when to speak and when to listen. Invite other employees to role play the buyers and offer constructive feedback.
You will find that SMEs write better proposals and bring a new client on board faster and with fewer glitches and that your entire company becomes more excited about sales and business development. They will have a new respect for the sales process, a better understanding of the customers, and a bigger stake in your growth.
How do you engage SMEs in your sales process? We'd love your comments, tips and suggestions.
In The Whale Hunters parlance, the Polar Bear is the one buyer with the authority to say "Yes" to a deal. All of the caribou (technical buyers) can influence the ultimate decision, but they are relegated to saying NO or urging the Polar Bear to say Yes.
Sometimes the Polar Bear does not appear at the Buyers' Table. One client related an instance in which they were working with a large prospect to implement a blogging strategy. The deal had gone on for months, and the Marketing VP finally signed off. But when the proposed contract went to Legal, the Polar Bear [head of legal!] said "No way are we starting a blog! Too much liability!"
The CEO or CFO may be the Polar Bear. If you are working with someone at the VP level, that person will most likely present himself or herself as the Polar Bear. But very often there is a more formal, invisible vetting process that will take place once your VP makes a decision. That's what you've got to find out ahead of time.
So in a complex sales process with a whale, here are some questions you need to ask--always behaving as if your champion is the final decision-maker, but understanding that usually it is more complicated than that:
Sometimes the Polar Bear does not appear at the Buyers' Table. One client related an instance in which they were working with a large prospect to implement a blogging strategy. The deal had gone on for months, and the Marketing VP finally signed off. But when the proposed contract went to Legal, the Polar Bear [head of legal!] said "No way are we starting a blog! Too much liability!"
The CEO or CFO may be the Polar Bear. If you are working with someone at the VP level, that person will most likely present himself or herself as the Polar Bear. But very often there is a more formal, invisible vetting process that will take place once your VP makes a decision. That's what you've got to find out ahead of time.
So in a complex sales process with a whale, here are some questions you need to ask--always behaving as if your champion is the final decision-maker, but understanding that usually it is more complicated than that:
- who will be impacted by your decision?
- will you introduce us to them, bring them to the table?
- who are the people upline to whom you will present your decision/recommendations?
- how can we help you present our solution internally? What materials, formats, or meetings do you need?
- what are some reasons that this project may stall even if you are prepared to move forward?
- how can we help you mitigate those potential pitfalls?
Small companies and those small companies with designations as women-owned or minority-owned or disadvantaged businesses have huge opportunities to sell big deals to big companies that dwarf them. To gain that business, you need to become very savvy about locating the real decision-maker--the polar bear.
Are you hungry to grow your business fast? Do you have a sales process strategy designed to help you identify the polar bear every time? Do you have a polar bear story to share with our readers?
I would love to hear from you about how your small/midsize company is landing large accounts and what is your experience with the polar bear.
I wrote yesterday that your early meetings with the Buyers should be all about them and what you need to learn. But the more you learn, the more you need to begin to disclose to them about your products, services, unique value proposition, your team, etc.
A strong sales process will identify what you intend to discover and what you intend to disclose at each step. Of course your plan is subject to modification depending upon the whale's agenda; however, the more you control the timing and the content, the better your company will be positioned to make a big sale.
Now is the time to keep in mind that whale buyers are not usually looking for the best or most creative or most innovative idea. They are looking for a reasonable solution that will work, meet their budget, cause the least resistance and the least internal disruption. In other words, a safe choice.
What does this mean to you? Your early disclosure should focus on these points:
- ease of transition--how many things will NOT change if they hire you
- short term ROI--what benefits can they expect to realize in the first few months that will make the buyers' team look good
- safety factors--what qualities of your company are persuasive that you are solid, predictable, stable, and financially sound
- how much your company and the whale company have in common re: sales and implementation processes, standards, systems etc.
Most small and midsize company sales representatives lead with their story of benefits and advantages, even in conversations with a whale.
Contrarily, The Whale Hunters Process proposes that you build your entire sales strategy around two core concepts: what you need to discover and what you need to disclose at every step.
Today I am writing about discovery--the logical application of the "two card questions" in my last post.
Wat do you need to learn in your first meeting in order to decide it's worth your time to have a second meeting? What do you need to know from the whale before you launch a boat, commit resources, engage subject matter experts and your village leaders in a sales hunt? How much of your business development process depends on what you can learn at each step?
If you can't answer these questions or have only fuzzy answers, you have great opportunity for improvement. We know that a whale hunt is expensive and time consuming. So the sooner you can learn if you are unlikely to make a sale at this time, the better off you will be financially and in opportunity cost. Send that whale "back to Baja" and pursue another for which the timing is more appropriate.
Focusing on what you need to discover will put you in the driver's seat while also reassuring the whale that you are deeply committed to understanding their needs, their practices, and their problems.
Contrarily, The Whale Hunters Process proposes that you build your entire sales strategy around two core concepts: what you need to discover and what you need to disclose at every step.
Today I am writing about discovery--the logical application of the "two card questions" in my last post.
Wat do you need to learn in your first meeting in order to decide it's worth your time to have a second meeting? What do you need to know from the whale before you launch a boat, commit resources, engage subject matter experts and your village leaders in a sales hunt? How much of your business development process depends on what you can learn at each step?
If you can't answer these questions or have only fuzzy answers, you have great opportunity for improvement. We know that a whale hunt is expensive and time consuming. So the sooner you can learn if you are unlikely to make a sale at this time, the better off you will be financially and in opportunity cost. Send that whale "back to Baja" and pursue another for which the timing is more appropriate.
Focusing on what you need to discover will put you in the driver's seat while also reassuring the whale that you are deeply committed to understanding their needs, their practices, and their problems.
When you play Texas Hold 'Em, you have to be really good at understanding the odds based on your first two cards. Good players don't kid themselves about their hole cards and play lousy hole cards only in certain specific situations. More often, they fold, preserving their resources until the odds improve. In fact, the player who comes in second is the biggest loser, having paid the most to lose!
Likewise, in your sales process, there should be key questions to ask the whale in your early encounters so that you will know whether to pursue a deal or send the whale back to Baja. We call these your "2-Card Questions."
For example, here are questions that you may need to answer, early:
Likewise, in your sales process, there should be key questions to ask the whale in your early encounters so that you will know whether to pursue a deal or send the whale back to Baja. We call these your "2-Card Questions."
For example, here are questions that you may need to answer, early:
- do you have budget for the work we are proposing?
- have you ever done business with a company as [small, unknown] as us?
- when will you make your decision?
- is it possible you will select a provider that is not the lowest bidder?
- are you the ultimate decision maker?
- where does the budget reside for this project? when is that budget awarded?
- the last time you did business with a small company like us, what kind of experience did you have
- can you help me understand the steps in your process of selecting a vendor?
- the last tie you bought from a vendor who was not the lowest bidder, how did you arrive at that decision?
- who are the people who will be impacted by your decision? will you introduce my team to them?
Andy was a smart, savvy, energetic and beloved entrepreneur and community leader. His most untimely death is a sobering reminder that these are hard times for those who are responsible to nurture small and midsize businesses.
So today I just want to reach out to all of you and tell you how much The Whale Hunters appreciate your following, participation, and support. I will be back tomorrow with news, ideas, and tidbits. But for tonight, I only want to pay my respects to Andy Richter and offer my heartfelt sympathy to the incredible team that he helped to build at Terralever.
Rest in peace, my friend.
Whale Hunters know that big sales require teamwork, whether these are RFP responses or face-to-face sales presentations or statements of work. But do your capture teams know how to work fast, efficiently, and effectively--that is, to WIN most of the time?
The latest issue of Whale Hunters Wisdom identifies and explains the seven skills that high performing teams practice, based on years of winning (and occasionally losing!) experience and my very successful recent experience working as an external advisor/teammate to a very high performing team.
Read it online here: Seven Skills of a High Performing Team.
Would love to hear your team-ing stories--how do they work when you win? What goes wrong when you lose?
One of my favorite newsletters is the Working Solo Minute, written and distributed each Wednesday by Terry Lanier, founder of workingsolo.com.
Even if you're not a solo entrepreneur, her advice is great for business owners. This week she writes about the problem of "not having any money," and how she hears business people using that as an excuse for inaction.
Terry offers four things you can improve without money: your skills, your connections, your self-confidence, and your attitude. It's good advice for anyone who is responsible for sales and business development, for your own business or someone else's. Click through to Working Solo Minute to read more.
Even if you're not a solo entrepreneur, her advice is great for business owners. This week she writes about the problem of "not having any money," and how she hears business people using that as an excuse for inaction.
Terry offers four things you can improve without money: your skills, your connections, your self-confidence, and your attitude. It's good advice for anyone who is responsible for sales and business development, for your own business or someone else's. Click through to Working Solo Minute to read more.
I have been working with a client team going after a big RFP project for the federal government. They are an incumbent provider already doing much of the work that is being bid out. We found that incumbency, while it offers huge advantages, also poses risks for the incumbent when it comes to the win strategy for the RFP. Writing the RFP business proposal is especially challenging from the insider perspective.
I invite you to read today's newsletter on the topic Incumbent? How to Win (Again). Build some new strategies into your corporate RFP training plan.
Today's NAWBO brief references a Wall Street Journal article by Victoria Knight about how small businesses are positioning to get their share of contracts funded by federal stimulus money. Unquestionably, it can be lucrative to align your sales and business growth with that flow of dollars.
But it's a short piece hitting a few highlights, so I'm adding to it here:
Invest in some expertise. Be certain you can understand the likelihood of winning a contract versus the cost of bidding on it. The Whale Hunters do not recommend replying to a government RFP just to get the experience of doing it. That strategy gives away intellectual property, demoralizes your team, and still does not guarantee meaningful feedback. Rather, do the work you need to do and position to win.
If you need a Whale Hunting approach to the world of the government RFP, check out Winning Whales With an RFP in eBook format on our website. Or give me a call at 317-815-1170--we have some deep experience in this arena.
But it's a short piece hitting a few highlights, so I'm adding to it here:
- First thing you need to know is how the government defines "small business." In most industries, the category includes businesses with as many as 500 employees. So if you are much smaller, and much newer, than the competition, the odds are heavily stacked against you unless you have a product or service that the government wants and no one else offers yet.
- The idea of presenting yourself as a subcontractor rather than prime is especially relevant. Prime contractors need to demonstrate their inclusion of small businesses including women-owned and minority-owned firms. Companies in those categories that are professional, reliable, and knowledgeable about government contracting are at a premium. Rather than working directly for a local, state, or federal government, you work for the contractor.
- If the subcontractor route interests you, build a sales process that targets prime contractors, not government agencies. You will need a completely different approach and message.
- If you have not done business deals with public agencies, understand that there is a great deal to learn. Everything from how to respond to the RFP to how to invoice and track expenses will be new and foreign. If you are not ready, the requirements can undermine your company seriously. Even as a subcontractor, you will need to contribute meaningfully to the proposal.
Invest in some expertise. Be certain you can understand the likelihood of winning a contract versus the cost of bidding on it. The Whale Hunters do not recommend replying to a government RFP just to get the experience of doing it. That strategy gives away intellectual property, demoralizes your team, and still does not guarantee meaningful feedback. Rather, do the work you need to do and position to win.
If you need a Whale Hunting approach to the world of the government RFP, check out Winning Whales With an RFP in eBook format on our website. Or give me a call at 317-815-1170--we have some deep experience in this arena.
One of the toughest ways to make a sale is through a written response to a Request for Proposals (RFP). But it's a skill your team should acquire if you don't already have it. Federal stimulus money is becoming available for every kind of service and some products, and most of it will be awarded through contracts with federal, state, or local governments.
Likewise, corporations are relying more and more on the RFP as their method of buying almost everything.
RFP writing is more than a writing process. To be successful requires orchestrating your team to produce a plan, contribute written words and graphics to the proposal, and review and refine the document for submission. When all of your sales skills are reduced to words and pictures on paper, you are at a real disadvantage.
Nevertheless, there is great work available for companies that master this process.
I'm getting a great first-hand look at how a successful whale hunting company approaches the RFP since I am part of a client team right now working on a proposal with a short deadline. They have successfully integrated the Whale Hunters RFP process into their organization, and with each successive RFP they are getting better and increasing their odds of success.
Key steps:
What are your most successful RFP tactics?
Likewise, corporations are relying more and more on the RFP as their method of buying almost everything.
RFP writing is more than a writing process. To be successful requires orchestrating your team to produce a plan, contribute written words and graphics to the proposal, and review and refine the document for submission. When all of your sales skills are reduced to words and pictures on paper, you are at a real disadvantage.
Nevertheless, there is great work available for companies that master this process.
I'm getting a great first-hand look at how a successful whale hunting company approaches the RFP since I am part of a client team right now working on a proposal with a short deadline. They have successfully integrated the Whale Hunters RFP process into their organization, and with each successive RFP they are getting better and increasing their odds of success.
Key steps:
- put the RFP through your Target Filter to be sure it's worth answering
- learn how to critically read and evaluate the RFP
- calculate the cost of losing and the value of winning
- identify primary ways you can win
- identify most likely ways you can lose
- determine your theme and key points of your message
- make sure the capture team has organizational support to complete the best possible proposal on time
What are your most successful RFP tactics?
My friend Lorraine Ball, founder of the marketing firm Roundpeg wrote an interesting blog post this morning that got me thinking. It's about having just hired her daughter to work in her company, wondering if they could make it work?
Lorraine asked for thoughts from other business owners about their experiences. I have not hired any of my children except for short stints in the summer. I did hire a nephew in a full-time position, and we did not manage that well. However, in my Women Presidents' Organization group are two women who have adult sons in their employ at very high levels, and others who have family members in their business.
Since hiring and overseeing family members is a common thread in our WPO discussions, I've learned how they are making these business relationships work. And I thought perhaps many of you are dealing with family members who are partners or employees.
Here are some ground rules that seem to be effective:
- Clearly defined responsibilities and outcomes-based performance expectations, in writing, and agreed upon in advance.
- Agreement on the time line of deliverables and the consequences of failure to meet performance expectations.
- Separate business conversations from family conversations. For example, during the business day, all conversations are about business. Family conversations are for after-hours.
- Never talk to other family members about business issues until you have first discussed with each other. No surprises!
- Frequent, scheduled review of how things are working.
- Identification of an agreed-upon mediator that either can call if an issue can't be resolved.
Business women and business men alike may find themselves thinking of hiring family members, or perhaps you have done so and been disappointed.
I invite you to contribute your ideas by making a comment, and I will share your thoughts with Lorraine.
I'd like to introduce you to my friend Karen Valencic, principal of a company called Spiral Impact. Karen is currently promoting her book of the same name.
I first met Karen in February 2008 at a weekend retreat where she was the workshop presenter. At the time I was at a very low point in my business, unsure of what to do next for business development, and at a seeming impasse between what had been and what would be.
Karen's workshop was all about how to gain the strength, or power, to deal positively with really tough adversarial situations. And it was amazingly and immediately helpful to me. All of the entrepreneurs, business executives, sales people and sales managers I know have to handle controversy routinely, so whatever we can learn about how to do it better, with improved outcomes and reduced stress, is a plus. That's where Karen's book and training fit into our world and why I'm writing about it today.
Karen has awesome credentials to offer. She was an in-the-plant engineer at GM's Delco Remy Division during some years where that was the hardest place in the USA for a female professional to work. [I know--I was there too!]. She is a martial arts expert, practicing the art of aikado, a form of combat in which one protects the aggressor as well as oneself. It is definitely a fight to win, but not a fight to kill. Yet Karen is a gentle, softspoken person, easily likeable and not a bit aggressive off the mat!
She brings her work and aikado experiences together in a powerful methodology called "spiral impact" -- as explained in her book and ancillary materials. I'll give you one example that I learned in my first workshop.
The situation is this: you have a goal to accomplish something, and someone or some situation is directly in your way. What are your options? Karen suggests (1) you could fight it. Possibly lose because the adversary will fight back. Maybe everyone loses. (2) you could ignore it or sneak around it. Probably still have to deal with it even in an escalated way. (3) you could "spiral impact" it -- dance, disarm, catch off guard--put yourself in a position of greater strength.
That's a very weak rendition of the methodology (my limits, not hers) but it was profoundly helpful to me and has continued to be as I've learned more. So much of the "inner strength" psychology is focused on mustering up will power or belief systems--those do not resonate with me. This one is a "how to." I've never encountered a method that so perfectly aligns physical behavior with mental attitude. It is full of practical, do-able tactics--literally, how to stand, where to place yourself in relationship to the adversary, how to "center" and make yourself impossible to push over.
Wouldn't you like to have this quality in your next sales presentation? When someone at the buyers' table is leaning on you? When the whale is running out to sea or diving? When there is an eel in the room?
I heartily recommend Spiral Impact--both the book and the services that Karen Valencic provides. It's completely aligned with whale hunting since it's about thinking big, acting big, and being totally prepared. Check it out, and enjoy!
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