I would like to share a quick story with you about winning in tenders and what happens when you get it right.
A friend and colleague operates a professional services business. She recently aligned with a small team of similar businesses to form a Consortium. The Consortium came together to present as a nationally unified group to compete for a position on a national government agency panel to provide training services.
Through their response submission they were elected to the panel (check). They have responded to 4 RFQ’s thus far (check). And they have won all 4 (check).
Let’s take a quick look at what has happened.
By winning 4/4 they are delighted. Their competitors on the other hand, are disappointed and frustrated. At 0/4 they are either questioning their model, their pricing, or perhaps all elements of their response. They need to work it out, and quickly. If they can’t work it out, they will continue unsuccessfully or may even stop responding to future RFQ’s for this agency. This is the very tough side of tendering.
From the Consortium’s perspective they have changed the game. They haven’t just won four consecutive tenders – they have denied their competition the opportunity to impress and the opportunity to generate revenue. As the Consortium continues to improve its content, harmonise its collaboration and practises, deliver great value through its programs, and become more widely-known, their competitors are feeling beaten. If their competitors give up on responding to RFQs from this agency, the Consortium continues to win unchallenged. They will have changed the game indefinitely. At 0/4 the competitors are distracted and hurting – the Consortium on the other hand are establishing a dominant position. But this has been by design, not by chance.
Here’s the very important part – the Consortium had a clear strategy from the get-go; the strategy drove the formation of the Consortium. Namely, combine talents and knowledge to support strong, robust content. Through the amalgam, enable a consistent, integrated national presence. Because of this presence, offer low-cost services, as team-members seldom need travel and accommodation expenses. Lastly, on the back of that low-cost position, price to win.
How are you competing today and what is happening with your competition? Which side of the play the game / change the game are you?
Do take the lessons out of this and reflect them against your own organisation.
Do you have a clear strategy when you respond to each tender, are you able to tell the story of your client’s pending success with you by their side? Are you measuring and monitoring your performance against your competition? Are you supporting a learning capability in your business, with the ability to analyse, re-group and respond to successes and failures? Are you hopeful that the next tender is the one for you, and it’s your turn to win? Know that it is never your turn to win, I am sorry to say. It’s about focus, planning, preparedness and striving to change the game.
All of this is available to you – through building competency in tendering. If you are not like the Consortium in this story, it may be time to jump the fence. We can show you how.
Contact Local Roaming for more information on winning more often in tender practices.