A regional accountancy firm was struggling with its tenders, winning only 1 in 8. Their process was ramshackle, their submissions were uninspired, their bid managers were exhausted and their results were…predictable. The opportunity cost to the business was huge.
I worked closely with the senior partner in charge of marketing and the head of Business Development to identify the blockages. We spotted three major problems:
I shadowed different teams in the firm, observing how they responded to tenders and which ones did it best. I also ventured outside the firm, interviewing clients on the receiving end of the firm’s bids. Getting this ‘from the horse’s mouth’ feedback was invaluable and gave credibility to the recommendations I then submitted to a working group. Together we agreed the broad principles of a best practice approach.
Alongside the senior marketing partner, I ran a training programme for all fee-earners on this approach. It underlined the importance of partners releasing RFPs (Requests for Proposal) early and to the right people; the vital role of systematically pre-qualifying every tender opportunity; the need to establish relationships with the client before the tender is issued; the need to strike a balance between technical competence and interpersonal skills; what a value proposition is and how to communicate it powerfully.
One of the messages of the programme was that an inconsistent tendering process harms everyone in the firm in terms of stress, wasted time, neglected clients and dented profits.
The training programme succeeded in putting a stake in the ground. As part of the follow-up I coached partners and senior managers in the firm’s best practice and supported the Business Development team as they worked with fee-earners on tenders and embedded best practice.
The Business Development team and I enshrined the new approach in a best practice bible, designed by a graphic artist and distributed to all staff. This was full of stats, client quotes, war-stories, anecdotes and practical examples; a reference resource for anyone involved in a tender.
Over several months, the best practice approach began to bite and the firm's win-rate started climbing from its nadir of 1 in 8. This was not just down to the quality of its submissions. It was also due to the fact that each opportunity was rigorously pre-qualified, so the firm’s limited resources were only directed to tenders that it stood a good chance of winning and that made strategic and financial sense.
The bid documents were also better: packed full of relevant benefits supporting a clear value proposition; more concise, punchier and easier to read; and better structured, so clients could find the information they wanted quickly and easily.
By the time I said goodbye, the firm’s win-rate was 1 in 3.