Pursuits Academy

How to Turn A Tender Evaluator Stone Cold: 'Pitch' Them

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Sat, 13 Sep 2025 03:20:47 GMT

‘Pitch’ – a buzz word borrowed from the advertising industry – is a term some of the “cooler types” in other industries like to throw around .

It’s also close to my most despised term.

Why?

Ask any customer, client or professional tender evaluator if they like to be “pitched” to . . . and you’ll be treated to a range of impassioned responses with a clear central theme: Just like you, clients and procurement professionals don’t like to be “sold” (what they like, is to think they are making balanced, well-informed procurement decisions).

They certainly don’t relish being forced to listen to a salesy, supplier-centric, “push” monologue (or to read the written equivalent).

And that, of course, is exactly what a “pitch” is.

Even the use of the word “pitch” is an expression of self-centred thinking. It’s an indication of the place its user is coming from: A short-term-focused, whatever-we-have-to-do-or-say-to-bag-this-deal mindset. (Which is bad enough in its own right, if you value successful incumbency and/or repeat business.)

Most “bid strategy” workshops I’ve sat in on (i.e. not as the facilitator) are little more than pitch development sessions. The participants – and worse still, often also the facilitator or leader – bangs on about “win themes” and “silver bullets” . . . and other concepts that frequently, at root, are actually more about the bidder than the client.

The Pitchfest Litmus Test

Let me give you a litmus test to use, in a bid strategy workshop, that will hold up a mirror to the process and indicate to you whether you’re developing a genuinely client-centric bid strategy, or a self-centric pitchfest of “things you can say” in your proposal.

Here it is:

Has anybody made an utterance to the effect of, “coming up” with (some form of) a “value proposition” (which, in reality, is little different to a “win theme” or “silver bullet”)? Or, in fact, “coming up” with anything?

What will ring the client’s bell most vigorously is not your “win theme”, “silver bullet”, “value proposition” or anything else you “come up with” to say. What will really capture them is your demonstration of a deep and detailed understanding of their world, their organisation and the circumstances surrounding their intended procurement . . . followed by your identification of their related challenges and priorities, and then the alignment of a success-critical competitive strength on your part.

A long way from a “pitch”, isn’t it?

A Mind Picture to Help You Avoid Temptation

Let me implant a vision in your mind that should help you – as an individual of dignity – develop a healthy degree of “cringe factor” for the whole notion of a “pitch”.

I once witnessed an advertising agency giving its pitch for a potential new account. (Admittedly, this was quite some years ago, before the proliferation of easy-to-use digital media technologies.)

Three women in suits stood side by side in front of a small group of senior executives and marketing personnel from the prospective client organisation.

Each held up a “storyboard”. Some “happy” music started playing. With over-exaggerated grins, the three women each started bopping up and down to a jingle on a ghetto blaster while wobbling their respective storyboards, Rolf Harris-style.

And then came the truly unthinkable: They started singing.

That should embarrass you, just reading it.

Keep that picture in mind next time you suspect you may be entering into “pitch” territory – in your bid strategy workshops or even in your language or in your thinking.

TO BID OR NOT TO BID

(Training Program)

The real value of a thorough and well thought-out bid/no bid decision analysis – whether highly structured or less so – results from asking the right questions (in a logically-progressing order) and seeking out well-researched answers.

It's a customised, deep-thinking process during which a valuable perspective of the client and the opportunity is built. When that is followed by a realistic self-analysis, the framework is in place for making a genuinely strategic, properly informed decision.

THE ART OF THE DEBRIEF

(Training Program)

The key to getting the best value from any de-briefing session offered to you is to plan carefully, in order to extract every possible clue from the process.

This two-module training will provide step-by-step, real-time guidance to assist you in maximising the intel and insights available from the de-briefing opportunity.

It will also guide you along as you seek to ensure the permanence of the insights obtained, and the incorporation of their value into future bidding processes.

Four Key ‘Don’ts’ When Giving Shortlistee Presentations

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Thu, 17 Apr 2025 05:52:27 GMT

Here are four prime no-no’s when giving shortlistee presentations:

1. Don’t use lots of unexplained technical jargon to make yourself sound smart.

( NB: The same advice applies to your written submissions.)

2. Don’t let everyone know how important you are.

3. Don’t recite your presentation from memory or sound as though you are.

4. Don’t cram your slides with numerous text bullet points in multiple fonts.

Source: Chris Anderson’s ‘How to Give a Killer Presentation’, Harvard Business Review.

BEFORE THE CURTAIN FALLS

Optimising Prospect Meetings & Intel-Gathering Prior to Probity

Sometimes - often, in fact - the race is won before it starts.

THE ART OF THE DEBRIEF

The key to getting the best value from any de-briefing session is to plan carefully, in order to extract every possible clue from the process . . . and to ensure the permanent incorporation of those insights into future bidding processes.

(Training Program)

COMING SOON

Aligning Bidding Priorities with Corporate Growth

Wed, 16 Apr 2025 22:13:00 GMT

If you’re a senior executive responsible for setting – and overseeing the attainment of – your enterprise’s corporate growth goals, I have a question for you:

How informed are you on the individual contracts that comprise the overall total of your organisation’s business-under-pursuit?

How certain are you that the priorities underpinning the prioritisation of current new-business pursuits are 100 percent aligned with the rationale held by your management team and your directors when you set the growth goals for your company or your division?

Often, when developing the strategy for a bid, I’ll dig down – and backwards, so to speak – to understand the value of that contract or project in the context of corporate growth goals. Too often, my resultant observation is that the piece of business being bid for hardly seems a particularly strategic pursuit at all.

It turns out that, in reality, the criteria for selecting the pursuit has been applied by a range of parties and has, at best, been somewhat fuzzy. Reasons given for participating in a bid range from “economies of scale” and “we can’t afford to lose this to a (specific) competitor”, to “we want into that market”, “we want to grow that business” and “we have excess capacity” . . . oh, and, even more simply, “we want it”.

Of course, any or all of these may be perfectly valid in any given instance – but, for the most part, they lack clarity, quantification, and a readily articulated supporting connection with board and senior management’s expressed growth goals.

The following suggestions may be helpful.

(Initial) Senior Management Participation

It may be a valuable exercise for senior management to participate (at least initially i.e. upon release and in articulation of their higher-level goals) in drill-down, component-specific plans for on-the-ground implementation of their objectives.

I’m not suggesting senior executives become micromanagers or demoralise their division heads by telling them “how” to do the job. I’m simply suggesting that some early and initial integration of thought processes would go a long way to ensuring that the business-hunters out at the sales coalface are on the same page as senior management, and that so also are all levels of management in between.

Upwards Explanation of Rationale

It may be useful for board report contributions from sales divisions to include a specific underlying rationale for the pursuit of any contract or project above a specified value.

These written contributions would:

(a) Demonstrate the connection between the prize in question and corporate-level market growth goals;

(b) Outline a holistic indication of the cost (both soft and hard) of pursuing the piece of business;

(c) Provide a realistic comparative projection of its ROI, and

(d) Provide commentary on any sacrificed opportunity cost resulting from other business not pursued or from which focus or resources were withdrawn.

In summary, clarifying and articulating corporate and business development goals helps ensure priority is placed on identifying and pursuing the opportunities and bids that most directly support those bigger picture objectives.

Meantime, periodically (better still, regularly) checking in with sales and business development teams (at all levels) to ensure the higher-level imperatives and objectives are reflected in the trenches (and in bidding endeavours), helps ensure the organisation stays aligned from top to bottom.

COMING SOON

Sometimes - if not, often - the race is won before it starts.

TO BID OR NOT TO BID

(Training Program)

The real value of a thorough and well thought-out bid/no bid decision analysis – whether highly structured or less so – results from asking the right questions (in a logically-progressing order) and seeking out well-researched answers .

It's a customised, deep-thinking process during which a valuable perspective of the client and the opportunity is built. When that is followed by a realistic self-analysis , the framework is in place for making a genuinely strategic, properly informed decision .

(Training Program)

BEFORE THE CURTAIN FALLS

Optimising Prospect Meetings & Intel-Gathering Prior to Probity

9 Ways to Slash the Cost of Bidding

Thu, 27 Mar 2025 06:33:00 GMT

How do you slash the cost of bidding without bringing about a correspondent drop in submission quality?

I’m about to present you with nine suggestions which, when implemented, will not only save you time and resources (read: budget ) but will, in fact, streamline the process and produce a superior end product.

Fair warning: Some are counter-intuitive, and some go distinctly against conventional bidding philosophies and practices.

Nine Ways to Slash the Cost of Bidding

1) Deem the research and thinking you do prior to your decision to bid as important as that which you do afterwards.

The starting point in preserving your company’s bidding resources is ensuring against an inadvisable decision to bid.

2) Start with a recap of the debrief associated with the most similar recent bid your company submitted.

Ensuring against the repetition of previous mistakes is an excellent way to avoid their consequences this time around.

3) Make careful advance consideration of the broad topic areas you need to cover in your strategy workshops, and have the right people there (and all of the right people there).

If you don’t have the right knowledge resources at your bid strategy planning sessions, you’ll either end up with an uninformed (or worse, a misinformed) strategy, or you’ll have to run additional sessions (which, in turn, risks others then not being in the room at those sessions).

4) Ditch consultants with their “one size fits all” templates and their expensive fees.

Teach your people all bid-relevant thinking skills, rather than creating their reliance on consultants’ “trademarked” templates . . . the same templates they then use with your competitors.

If you want to read more on this, I unashamedly recommend my book, ‘THINK & WIN BIDS: Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening and Thinking Skills’.

5) Run a tight ship at planning sessions.

Want to make as much progress as possible at each session (thus reducing the overall number of planning sessions needed)?

Mobiles off and out of sight. Laptops not necessary (documentation is the strategist’s job). Unrelated side conversations actively discouraged.

6) Save time in the writing phase by producing a well-researched, well-considered, documented-in-detail strategy blueprint at the outset.

Curtail the production of waffly, essentially meaningless, content-unco-ordinated written contributions. Provide writing team members with a comprehensive, user-friendly strategy document to shape their input.

7) Ditch the “war room” concept.

With “collaboratively produced” responses the buzzword in corporate circles, this advice won’t be popular with the larger bidders.

However, it’s totally unrealistic to expect anyone (particularly anyone who’s not a writer for a living) to maintain the degree of focus and concentration required to produce quality copy whilst sitting in the cross-flow of a variety of different conversations, mobile phone calls, and constant miscellaneous interruptions.

8) Ensure the developing bid documentation is regularly reviewed by the individuals whom have had peak responsibility for the production of strategy.

If you don’t want to be summoning all hands to deck to re-write the bid documentation at the 11th hour (i.e. when senior management sees it and questions its poorly reflected strategy), have those with whom the “strategy” buck rests involved throughout the process.

9) Whether or not you were successful with this bid, prepare thoughtfully and comprehensively for your de-brief with the client organisation.

Here we come full circle: any bid that you go for and don’t win is expensive.

The No. 1 way to strike a consistently high win rate is to make it a top priority to understand why you won, or why you lost, all those that came before the one you’re currently working on.

THINK AND WIN BIDS

Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Book)

The three fundamental skills of a genuinely sharp, sustainably successful bid professional are the ability to think, listen and ask quality questions .

Furthermore, formulating successful business development and bid strategies is the process of well-directed research and thinking ; not the product of tools and templates .

TO BID OR NOT TO BID

(Training Program)

The real value of a thorough and well thought-out bid/no bid decision analysis – whether highly structured or less so – results from asking the right questions and seeking out well-researched answers .

It's a customised, deep-thinking process during which a valuable perspective of the client and the opportunity is built. When that is followed by a realistic self-analysis , the framework is in place for making a genuinely strategic, properly informed decision.

BEFORE THE CURTAIN FALLS
Optimising Prospect Meetings & Intel-Gathering Prior to Probity

THE ART OF THE DEBRIEF

(Training Program)

A two-module learning experience that can be delivered in real-time, as your team prepares for their participation in any especially important debriefing session.

COMING SOON

BID COMMANDOS

On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

(Training Program)

BID COMMANDOS is my "blockbuster", comprehensive, 11-module training program.

It's intricately formulated to ensure your team excels at every stage of a formal bidding process . . . from the initial bid/no bid analysis, through research and intelligence-gathering, through the strategy development and documentation process, through strategic and compelling writing and competent editing, and on through the shortlistee presentation stage, right through to optimisation of client de-briefing session/s.

BEATING THE BIG BOYS AT BIDS

(Training Program)

Capitalise on the natural advantages of being a smaller, more agile - and potentially, more aware - operator than your corporate competitors.

A five-module training available for delivery in tandem with your team's preparation for, and participation in, any especially important bid . . . and preferably one that stands to see your enterprise increase its competitive ranking within your industry.

(Equally applicable for producing proactive proposals and participating in less formal processes.)

The Anatomy of Bid Strategy

Wed, 19 Mar 2025 21:55:00 GMT

One particularly common mistake I see made from the level of bid operations right through to senior management, is to confuse strategy with tactics .

These are not interchangeable terms and they’re certainly not interchangeable concepts:

Strategy informs tactics. Two different things. Two different functions. Two different processes.

A basic, high-level definition of “strategy” might be: A way to get from a current “state” to a specific desired end-state.

Between this current state and the desired state may be any degree of gap; it doesn’t matter. “Tactics”, then, are the components of the plan designed to achieve the overarching strategy.

If we take this elementary, macro-level focus, it helps to prevent a very common “strategic planning” flaw i.e. the tendency to start identifying tactics before a strategy has been fully formulated .

By paring the strategy definition back to something as fundamental as the “current state”/“end state” concept, the need to get clear on the “what” before lurching off to brainstorm the “how”, becomes obvious.

THINK AND WIN BIDS
Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Book)

The three fundamental skills of a successful bid leader and strategist are the ability to think , to listen and to ask quality questions .

So much the better if all members of a bid team understand the role of those fundamentals in formulating a successful bid.

Available both individually and as a six-pack (6 books for the price of 5) , Think and Win Bids is ideal to ensure everyone is "on the same page".

BID COMMANDOS
On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

(Training Program)

BID COMMANDOS is my "blockbuster", comprehensive, 11-module training program.

Improving the Written Articulation of Your Submissions

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Sun, 02 Mar 2025 05:25:48 GMT

Whilst the first and most immediately obvious step in improving poor articulation performance in a submission is to subject it to a rigorous editing process, there’s almost always a greater issue at play.

That issue is the largely non-client-specific (at least, not convincingly specific) and generally “same, same” nature of the content . . . the supplier-focused “brochureware” that results from an unclear, uncertain or absent bid strategy. Or an insufficiently documented one.

In almost every bidding enterprise I’ve worked with, writers have previously had to either rely on little more than workshop notes, together with existing generic content, to inform their response sections. For the most part, they’re forced to interpret and piece together in their own minds, the intended underpinning strategy and guiding themes supposedly resulting from planning sessions.

In many cases, they’re faced with making up the content themselves without any guidance.

It’s critical to recognise that producing a client-focused submission requires more than a simple emphasis on writing techniques and editing processes (e.g. flipping sentences around to commence with the client organisation’s name versus the bidder’s).

If writers are given a comprehensive and user-friendly bid strategy blueprint to guide them, and along the way their outputs are nurtured by the appointed strategist within the group, their writing should, by default, adequately convey the bid strategy. And it should do so in a client-focused manner.

BID COMMANDOS

On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

My most comprehensive, "blockbuster" training program, comprising 11 detailed and dynamic modules to sharpen your skills in every stage in the bid process - from understanding the mission all the way through to effective debriefing.

THINK AND WIN BIDS

Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

The only way to arrive at an optimal and client-centric bid strategy is to ensure it has been formulated from the starting point of thinking , listening and asking quality questions .

(Training Program)

(Book)

Why You Should Take Cultural Alignment – and Misalignment – Seriously

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Sun, 02 Mar 2025 05:22:52 GMT

One of the less tangible, less immediately “visible” reasons for the loss of either a new-business pursuit, or an existing account, is a misalignment between organisational cultures.

I’ve seen this happen on a number of occasions. One that springs colorfully to mind involved an SME client, quite some years ago:

A sizeable print management firm was pursuing an account with the Australian operations of a large consumer goods multinational, with requirements that included high-volume direct mail campaign activity. The business development operative (“BD”) on this account had, for over a year, been aggressively endeavouring to win over the account from a competitor. Each time he’d gotten close to potentially consummating the deal, however, this potential client appeared to back off.

Finally, he’d moved the relationship to the stage where a serious, formal proposal had been requested of him . . . the point at which he contacted me.

When the Client’s Psychology Differs from Yours

Conducting a detailed interview with this BD to understand the client’s psychology, it became clear to me that the BD’s aggressive and gung ho culture (which was also that of his company at large) was at complete loggerheads with the far softer, more relationship-respecting modus operandi of the client organisation.

It didn’t take me long to work out from an analysis of the historical dialogue that there was, in fact, no lack of interest in the service and other aspects of this provider’s offer. Rather, there was pushback based on this BD’s manner and approach.

He didn’t see it. Not only was he oblivious to it, he advised me that when I’d produced the proposal he was tasking me with, he intended to brandish it forcefully before the client representative with an ultimatum that she make a decision forthwith or . . . well, the rest of the intended statement was quite colorful (something to the effect of "shit or get off the pot").

With some considerable persuasive effort, I managed to convince him not to take this stance. I suggested that, instead, he recognise the nature of the corporate culture he was dealing with and take a far more empathetic approach.

Long story short: A little bit of “empathy” and a couple of weeks’ more patience on the BD’s part, and he bagged a new, $20m per annum account for his employer.

The moral of the story is this:

The Client Knows . . . Either Consciously or Subconsciously

When pursuing any type of account, project, implementation, or other form of deal that requires your people to work closely with the client organisation, take culture seriously.

Even if the potential client doesn’t consciously recognise the reason for any resistance on their own part, he or she will “at a gut level” detect cultural misalignment.

And even if you do win the deal, a poor cultural match has the potential to be, at best, a constant challenge in the ensuing relationship. At worst, it has the potential to create disaster.

Here are five steps you can take in the event that you sense a potential cultural mismatch:

5 Steps for Averting or Dealing with A Cultural Mismatch

Determine the degree of mis-match.
Determine whether or not this has, or may, cause mis-alignment in more tangible ways as the relationship progresses.
If, given your consideration of these facts, you decide to press ahead, map out a strategy for addressing and to the greatest extent possible overcoming the mis-match. Where possible, make the elements of your plan measurable by, for example, formulating strategic Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
Recognise that this will be an issue that needs constant monitoring throughout the life of the project or contract.
Be upfront with the client about your plans and efforts.

Again, you’re probably only kidding yourself if you think the client organisation is unaware of the cultural mis-alignment. Far better that you demonstrate your own awareness, and your proactive approach to striving for a successful working relationship.

THINK AND WIN BIDS:

Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Book)

The three fundamental skills of a sharp and successful business development professional are the ability to think , listen and ask quality questions .

BEATING THE BIG BOYS AT BIDS

(Training Program)

Recognising and capitalising on the strengths of the smaller enterprise . . . including taking advantage of the competition's arrogance.

To Produce Top Quality Bids, Try Uni-Tasking Instead of Multi-Tasking

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Sun, 02 Mar 2025 05:16:06 GMT

Have you ever had the demoralising experience of being engaged in a phone conversation with someone who suddenly starts shuffling papers, filing or (worse still) reading and responding to an unrelated email?

If you were sufficiently forward as to protest and the other party sufficiently ignorant as to persist with his or her other activity, he or she would no doubt have given you the “I can multi-task” line. But I’ll wager it was obvious to you that, at best, your “multi-tasking” conversation partner was hearing only sporadic soundbytes of your end of the conversation.

It’s a neurological fact that the brain can focus on only one matter at a time. It might flit between subjects, issues and conversations . . . but it can concentrate properly on only thing in any given moment.

In his recent best-seller, ‘The Organized Mind’ , neuroscientist Daniel J. Levitin produces evidence to underscore how minimising the attention devoted to any one thing (the natural consequence of trying to spread one’s concentration amongst several things) dramatically decreases the quality of attention both to that and to everything else on that individual’s plate.

Conversely, conceptual and critical thinking, along with insight and ingenuity, Levitin stresses, happen only when we screen out distractions and properly focus.

Already, it’s pretty obvious how the nonsense practice of “multi-tasking” negatively impacts not only the quality of critical submissions, but every process that feeds into their production.

As a bid strategist and coach, here are just two of the key processes that I regularly witness being adversely affected:

Participants in strategy workshops insisting on reading and responding to emails and text messages . . . switching off to the thread of fast-moving, group conversations and thus forgo-ing their understanding of, and input into, the evolving bid strategy.

Section authors and other writers interrupting their flow of writing inspiration to answer emails and their own incoming phone calls. (If professional authors feel the need to shut themselves away in order to place their full and uninterrupted focus on the piece they’re working on, why would someone who doesn’t write for a living feel they can produce a quality written output while “multi-tasking”?)

Aligning with my cynicism over the concept of “multi-tasking” proficiency, Stanford University researchers have found that “multi-taskers” (a) have difficulty organising their thoughts and filtering out irrelevant information, and (b) are actually slower at them, with their switching from one task to another (versus those who stay focused on one activity until it is satisfactorily completed).

Potentially, there’s also evidence that multi-tasking lowers one’s IQ. A University of London study found participants who multi-tasked during cognitive tasks experienced compromised IQ score declines similar to what might be expected had those individuals smoked marijuana or stayed up all night.

Coming back to bidding. When you’re otherwise throwing everything at a must-win, high-stakes bid, why go at it with diffused mental energy? To do so argues with every claim you make – to yourself, to your bid team colleagues, and to the potential client – as to the importance of victory.

BID-WRITING LESSONS FROM THE WORLD'S GREATEST AUTHORS

Learn the secrets, skills, philosophies and practices of history's literary greats . . . and exactly how these apply to bid strategy and bid writing.

THE BID WRITER'S STYLE & GRAMMAR GUIDE

First and foremost a guide to precision-based written articulation, this book also provides tuition on many other basics of compelling bid-writing (including on strategy, as the essential foundation of a high-quality proposal document).

(Book)

In A ‘Too-Tight’ Timeframe, Use Individuals’ Strengths to Your Advantage

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Sun, 02 Mar 2025 05:13:08 GMT

When you’re under the pump with a short submission timeframe, your best default strategy for getting a top-notch bid out the door in good time and with the least stress possible is to “go with the current” in terms of people’s natural talents.

You can coach people in their areas of weakness to a reasonable degree, but rarely will they be great in those particular aspects of bid production. The fact is, people generally gravitate back to the aspects in which they naturally excel and endeavour to avoid those in which they don’t. And when a bid manager is under the pump, the cold, hard fact of the matter is that he or she simply doesn’t have the time to coach or cajole.

Identify the Priority Skills Needed

The first step is to accurately identify the priority skills required for each part of the submission and the process, giving careful consideration to which individuals possess these.

It’s also smart to consider personality traits or work habits that stand to either propel or impede progress towards the finish line.

Really think about each person and who (rather than what ) they are. ‘Day job’ position titles can be misleading in the context of a bid. Often, the strengths and weaknesses you’d assume of an individual in a particular role just don’t import across into a bid team environment in the way you’d expect them to.

I’ll cite as a case study, a small, component operation of a larger organisation with which I had been working. One of the operation’s few "white collar" staff members (aside from the GM) was assigned as bid manager.

It was a pressure cooker timeframe and, a few days after kick-off, the schedule was already floundering. In short, this assumedly "natural" bid manager appointment was a disastrous choice.

As it happened, fate graciously stepped in and saw that individual suddenly pulled off onto another contract elsewhere. Because I was working with the team by remote control, there was little choice but for the Construction Manager to take over the bid management role.

‘Humble Hammer Swinger’ Saves the Day

Fate dealt the bid a lucky hand that day. The previous appointee’s weakness was the Construction Manager’s strength.

This "humble hammer swinger" (his own words) made a brilliant bid manager. He was organised, efficient, exercised total diligence in keeping his own commitments, and had an affable but effective way of holding others to their's.

His humility came in handy, too: If he could see anything going off the rails, he was quick to pick up the phone for advice.

The fact that he couldn’t string two coherent sentences together on paper turned out to be inconsequential. When the now-former bid manager returned to the team, he gravitated directly towards - and excelled at – the bid’s writing tasks, taking on those that had, in fact, been assigned to the Construction Manager.

So, by complete accident, we ended up with a highly functional bid team and a top-notch bid out the door in what, for that particular operation, was apparently record time.

To re-emphasise the moral of the story:

When time is unavoidably tight, ensure the highest quality and the least stress by getting to know your "human resources" and letting each wear the cap that most comfortably fits him or her.

BEATING THE BIG BOYS AT BIDS

(Book)

Learn how to identify and deploy your inherent strengths as a smaller operator, against your corporate competitors.

CRACKING THE VfM CODE IN COLLABORATIVE CONTRACT BIDDING

Value for Money . . . Understanding It & Articulating Your Ability to Deliver It

(Book)

Written specifically for the civil infrastructure sector and for contract types such as project alliancing, this book is relevant to any bidder seeking to demonstrate superior holistic value in their proposals.

The 13 Stages of Competent, Comprehensive Post-RFP-Release Bid Management

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Sun, 02 Mar 2025 05:10:39 GMT

This article is a direct follow-on from, ‘The 11 Stages of Competent & Comprehensive Pre-Probity Bid Management’.

Those stages that should be conducted post -release of the RFP are:

Stage One :

Hold a session to ‘reality check’ and finalise the Strategy Document against Expression of Interest or Request for Proposal content and requirements.

It is critical that all participants undertake – prior to this session – their own personal, detailed reading of the market call documentation.

Without this prior study of the document, the first few hours of the session will be soaked up by this exercise or - if the session proceeds without participants having read the EOI or RFP - the only contributors of value to the session will be those whom have read it.

The purpose of the session is to complete and “reality check” the pre-probity-formulated interim strategy document against the client organisation’s actual information and requirements.

Where significant additions or departures are identified, a revised Strategy Document must be issued. (It can reasonably be assumed that, most times, a revised Strategy Document will be necessary.)

Stage Two :

Submit the Bid Strategy Document to senior management for approval.

This is a critical step in ensuring that the underlying strategy and the content of a proposed end submission is not rejected, by senior executives, at the eleventh hour.

Stage Three :

Confirm or modify brief to designers based on above.

With reference to Stage 11: Formulate brief for designers (see ‘The 11 Stages of Competent & Comprehensive Pre-Probity Bid Management '', this earlier “heads up” preparatory brief should now be revised/refined/supplemented and formalised).

Stage Four :

The Strategy Document should be issued to authors, and a writing coaching session should be held for those authors (including subject matter experts) contributing to each submission section.

A bid-specific coaching session is a valuable exercise, to identify the degree of writing competence possessed by each contributor and apportion any assistance resources early and appropriately.

Stage Five :

Early-Stage Review.

The Bid Strategist, along with whomever the Bid Manager has appointed as the editor of the end submission, should review each contributor’s first few paragraphs / first page, to determine whether he or she is “on the right track” with his or her copy.

This allows for the provision of direction and any material input in the early stages, as opposed to the latter stages (which creates editing and re-writing bottlenecks dangerously close to the submission deadline).

Stage Six :

Strategic diagrammatic support identified and briefs given.

Opportunities to support/supplement the written content with diagrammatic and other visual content should be identified, and the relevant subject matter experts pulled in to brief the design team (to whom preliminary relevant copy sections should be provided).

Stage Seven :

Subsequent series of reviews.

Upload of first and subsequent drafts (allow for at least five ) by the date identified jointly by the Bid Strategist, Bid Manager and editor.

The number and timeframes for these reviews should be realistic to accommodate the number of Bid Manager/author exchanges that will be necessary to bring copy to Final.

Take into consideration that:

a) Where contributors are not professional writers, considerable redrafting and/or editing will likely be necessary.

b) Where professional writers are producing the content, these writers are unlikely to also be subject matter experts, and revisions to the substance and detail of their copy will likely be necessary when reviewed by the topic experts.

c) Diagrammatic and other visual supplementation should be submitted back to the subject matter experts who briefed the design team. As above, this must be done with plenty of time to allow for several rounds of correctional iterations.

Stage Eight :

The Bid Manager should make a final review of content prior to tabling to the Pursuit Leader and Bid Strategist.

The Bid Manager must ensure the draft submission is technologically sound, as well as comprehensive, in terms of strategy.

If there are significant shortfalls in these areas, the Bid Manager should return the copy to the author for correction and/or completion. It should then be submitted back to the Bid Manager by the author.

After the Bid Manager is satisfied with the soundness and comprehensiveness of the draft in question, the Pursuit Leader and Bid Strategist should be brought back into the review process.

For quality control and consistency purposes, all copy (e.g. case studies, CVs, appendices) – within reason – should be reviewed by the Pursuit Leader and the Bid Strategist.

Stage Nine :

Production of Executive Summary (i.e. towards end of above process, when a more detailed and authoritative picture of the content is known).

Writing a submission’s Executive Summary before the production of the bulk of its content, is illogical.

An Executive Summary should be precisely that i.e. a Summary . Unfortunately, many (if not, most) bidders treat this as either a covering letter or a preamble sales piece.

Stage Ten :

Graphic production and checking.

Review of the various iterations of the graphic design should follow the same basic procedural format as for the review of the written content.

Stage Eleven :

Senior management review/comment.

The bid strategy document should be provided to any reviewing senior management who were not privy to it in the earlier stages, and in plenty of time for each to have read and absorbed it before receiving the proposed end submission for approval.

Meantime, as a refresher, a summarised, key point version of the strategy document should be provided to those whom have already been provided with the fuller version.

Stage Twelve :

Final adjustment and editing to professionally blend in management additions and alterations.

Do not underestimate the potential volume of revisions, additions and subtractions senior management has a propensity to request – especially if the bid involves joint venture partners and, thus, executives from several organisations (who may not be in agreement with each other on matters of detail).

Stage Thirteen :

Insertion of copy into page design framework.

The Pursuit Leader, Bid Strategist and Bid Manager overview the intended final design production, quality-control-checking at the very finest level of detail, before delivery to prospective client organisation.

See: ‘The 11 Stages of Competent & Comprehensive Pre-Probity Bid Management’ .

THINK AND WIN BIDS

Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

Competent bid management relies on the production of a clear and executable bid strategy.

This book lays out the fundamentals that underpin a winning strategy blueprint.

BID COMMANDOS

On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

The 11 detailed Modules of this course cover every step in a bid, from the initial decision to enter into one through to ensuring an effective debriefing at its conclusion.

I have also formulated them such that they can be delivered in "real-time" to guide a live bid.

(Book)

(Training Program)

How to Succeed with Export Bids

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Sun, 02 Mar 2025 04:59:31 GMT

Bidding for business in offshore markets? Take market reconnaissance very seriously if you wish to be taken seriously.

The adage “preparation is the key to success” is nowhere so relevant as in a bid to an export customer or client (or in any form of export market entry endeavour).

While research and a detailed understanding of the customer is, of course, what underpins a win in a tender, proposal or any form of bid in any market, cross-cultural differences alone render it imperative when bidding in an export environment.

While, for example, you’ll get the opportunity to ask questions or seek clarifications to tender documentation, it’s no substitute for the different, far deeper level of understanding a bidder receives when investigating the issue in question within the local industry and commercial environment.

In fact, as in any bidding process for a big-ticket procurement, once the opportunity is formally announced to the marketplace, either the front-runners are already well-established, or the vast amount of necessary knowledge and understanding make it a case of “too little, too late” if you’ve left it until then to start your research. And you don’t want to waste your resources on a bidding process in which you’re just there to make up the numbers.

The bottom line is: Unless you’ve taken the time to research the customer and the market, you’re wasting your time entering into a formal submission process. And nowhere more so than in an export market bid.

Your most basic starting point in a competent investigative process is to understand:

• The politics and culture of the organisation to which you’re tabling your bid. (In this regard, it’s almost always advantageous to identify a competent and committed local partner.)

• The customer or client organisation’s market demographic, where they’re positioned within their overall commercial and competitive environment, and the characteristics of the groups they sell to.

• The influencing forces on buyers.

• (If you’re dealing with retail) What the retail chain looks like and the most prevalent types of pull-through marketing.

• Your likely competition (both local and overseas) and their relevant strengths and weaknesses.

Export Bids Aren’t Won By Remote Control

On this latter note, if you haven’t done your homework before a formal market call is made, you’re up against local companies that most assuredly will have.

Doing your research is part of making it as easy for customers to do business with you as it is for them to do business with their local product suppliers or service providers.

And on that note, it’s about being real rather than being carried along by a romantic vision.

Every now and then there’s a company that’s in the right place at the right time with exactly the right offer. But it’s rare, and you can’t base a serious, broader export initiative on such flukes.

If you don’t have an up-to-date, first-hand understanding of the landscape, and thus can’t convey that in your formal bids, tenders or proposals, bidding into the export market is a hard way to try to win business. And, in most instances, the best (if not the only) way to attain that understanding is to pound the pavement, or to work with someone who will do so on your behalf.

THINK AND WIN BIDS

Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Book)

Preparatory "intel" is the way to sustained success in high-value bidding.

The key skills and methods are laid out in this compact and highly readable book.

TO BID OR NOT TO BID

(Training Program)

The real value of a thorough and well thought-out bid/no bid decision analysis – whether highly structured or less so – results from asking the right questions (in a logically-progressing order) and seeking out well-researched answers.

Thinking from the Client's Head: The Starting Point of Meaningful Differentiation

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Sun, 02 Mar 2025 04:57:04 GMT

Prominent social commentator of the Victorian era, John Ruskin, famously observed:

"There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man’s lawful prey."

Ruskin’s words are nowhere more applicable than in the world of high-value tenders. With rarely an exception, those organisations that issue market calls with the sole or primary objective of sparking price competition (and getting a cut-throat deal), inevitably pay the price in some other form.

That’s not news. But it doesn’t apply to all potential customer organisations . . . and the ones to which it doesn’t apply are, obviously, the ones smart transport operators want to be targeting.

The trick is to give those organisations a solid reason – other than cost – to choose you .

Differentiating in A Highly Commoditised Space

You know what’s coming, right? You guessed it: The predictable admonition to differentiate your company and your offering on something other than price.

That’s all well and good, but let’s take, for example, my readers from the transport sector (and other highly commoditised industries): When the competition offers exactly what you do and you’ve done everything you can – exactly how do you differentiate?

The answer: You think from the client’s head.

The point of self-focus from which the vast majority of bidders come when responding to an Expression of Interest (EOI), Request for Tender (RFT) or Proposal (RFP) renders it hard to see what’s most meaningful to the client. Sure, what the client wants is articulated in the selection criteria . . . but, in some industries particularly, these criteria can be pretty bald and (often, if the client documentation is template-based) not nearly as contract-specific as they could be.

So . . . you have to dig deeper . Way below surface level.

A Courageous Pursuit

Recently I conducted a series of bid strategy sessions for a rapidly growing mid-tier organisation in a somewhat courageous pursuit for a certain type of contract with a very large mining consortium.

After leading the senior management and the appointed bid team through a comprehensive and in-depth analysis of the competitive landscape, the surprised and humbled team made the collective observation that, “We’re not anything special after all. We don’t do anything more or anything different than anyone else.”

I assured them they did. They had done something very different indeed by conducting a series of detailed, in-depth analyses of their prospective client’s world, of its priorities, and of their own capabilities in the context of their new-found knowledge.

There’s A Tangible Value to A Client-Focused Bid

That made them immeasurably different. Unlike their competition which would undoubtedly present the same old template-style, supplier-centric dross as everyone else, they would – through a now- deep understanding of their client – produce a bid that clearly demonstrated a superior knowledge of that organisation’s operating environment and challenges.

Critically, my client would demonstrate that it had formulated its service proposal in direct (and comforting) accordance with these.

A response of that quality offers a distinct and very real value to the procuring organisation . . . a value in terms of risk minimisation, frustration avoidance, value maximisation , and general peace of mind . And all of these, in turn, ultimately have a monetary value – especially in a long-term service provision contract.

THINK AND WIN BIDS

Winning High-Stakes, High-Value Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Book)

A deep understanding of the prospective client and its world is the foundation on which a competent bidder builds differentiation into its bid strategies.

Key to that is the ability to gather and process critical intelligence.

BEATING THE BIG BOYS AT BIDS

(Training Program)

There are so many points of meaningful differentiation available to smaller enterprises when going up against those in the upper tiers of their industries, that I decided to develop an entire course to help those SMEs identify and capitalise on these.

Are You A (Genuine) Solution Provider . . . Or A Software Spruiker?

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Sun, 02 Mar 2025 04:56:49 GMT

"You’ve proposed a ‘sledgehammer’ solution and we are a ‘walnut’ customer."

Feedback of this nature is not uncommon in ICT bid debriefs, by my observation.

And it’s just one example of the many different ways in which a proposed “solution” can be totally out of alignment with a client organisation’s actual needs.

Taking the above example, how does it come about that a client organisation finds a huge solution put forth to it, for a comparatively small need?

Often, it results from the vendor sales team’s excitement over their company’s latest technology/product, and their un-resisted temptation to promote it as the solution to all problems, both great and small.

A Lack of Questioning Know-How

Sometimes, however, it’s a lack of know-how, when it comes to mapping out a process for digging deeply into the client’s “big picture”.

Let’s take a look at the dangers of not knowing your prospective client’s world as intimately as you perhaps think you do.

Here’s a telling comment made to me by a client of one of my own clients some years ago. I’d been digging around (in a proactive proposal scenario i.e. one not subject to probity restrictions) to identify the reason for the significant amount of push-back the BD team sensed during interactions with the organisation in question:

“(Vendor) is used to dealing with organisations with daily throughputs equivalent to our monthly throughput volume. We’re not there yet. They want our business but they’re in auto-pilot mode when they converse with us. They don’t get us or where we’re at. If they did, they wouldn’t be proposing this big thing.”

The vendor’s reputation was being compromised by this situation: Pushing what the prospect saw as an overkill solution was creating the distinct impression that that organisation was seen simply as a “great big cash cow”. Worse still, one that didn’t know any better.

If, for example, your client is an organisation with a call centre, does your client consider its needs – in the context of its own industry norm – relatively simplistic? Or, in fact, quite complex? Or somewhere in between?

Frame the Question from the Client’s Perspective

You need to ask the question from the client’s perspective . And then you need to understand precisely why the client considers that the organisation’s need sits at this level of simplicity or complexity.

And within that level of simplicity or complexity, what are the client organisation’s specific priorities and why?

What aspects of their business or their customers’ behaviour dictates that these are the priorities? And what are the risk factors associated with these priorities not being recognised?

And, coming back to simplicity (or complexity), are their hidden layers of complexity required to actually achieve the simplicity (i.e. in a risk-free manner) that the client desires? Perhaps what the client desires more than anything is simplicity of implementation and operation . . . but is overlooking the fact that there is necessary complexity involved in creating that simplicity?

Good Questions Catalyse A Deep & Meaningful Relationship

The point is, there’s a whole line of investigation that needs to be conducted, and this is the type of question that can catalyse a deeper and more meaningful conversation between vendor and client.

It’s the type of questioning that lets the client know you’re not just trying to apply your newly released technology or other flavour-of-the-quarter solution to that organisation’s needs or problems, regardless of whether it really is the best, most client-centrically thought-through option.

Questions like these show that you see your role as understanding specific problems and solving them, or understanding specific desires and fulfilling them . . . as opposed to simply spruiking your software (or other form of “solution”).

The key is for you, the vendor, to enable the customer – and to do so in the most proficient, cost-effective, adoptable, adaptable and results-oriented fashion.

And the only way to be sure that what you propose will do that – in the words of the afore-mentioned end-client – is to:

“Get involved and not just talk the talk. Interact with us and immerse yourself in ‘a day in the life of’. Invest some time looking at the world through our eyes and, more specifically, through the eyes of those in our organisation who have to pick up your technology and kick goals with it.”

TO BID OR NOT TO BID

(Training Program)

A thorough and well thought-out bid/no bid decision results from asking the right questions and conducting the sort of customised, deep-thinking analysis needed to produce an in-depth perspective of the client's world.

When followed by a realistic self-analysis, a vendor can reach a properly informed, genuinely strategic conclusion.

BID COMMANDOS

On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

(Training Program)

Making an informed and insightful “bid/no bid” decision is the first and most fundamental phase in any competently conducted bidding process.

This is the starting point for this comprehensive 11-module course, during which I guide the bid team through every phase of a major bid, including the final client debrief.

Facilities Management in the Mining Sector

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Sun, 02 Mar 2025 04:56:33 GMT

If you’re a provider of Facilities Management, accommodation or related services to the resources sector, here’s some advice from an FM tender evaluator who’s worked with numerous end-clients in both public and private sectors.

Martin Leitch reckons the advice he imparted for this article will propel you out ahead of the pack when bidding for remote camp services contracts.

In his role as a Facilities Management consultant, he’s worked with clients to ensure their FM strategies contribute to bottom-line performance – increasingly a “hot button” procurement issue in this space.

He’s also served on several dozen FM tender evaluation panels.

What’s the Relevance to Remote Services Bidders?

He says that in a Facilities Management bidding race – all else being equal – the bidder most likely to be awarded a key, long-term contract (the nature of which we’re currently seeing in the remote accommodation / camp management space) is the one whose proposed solution directly supports the client’s broader corporate objectives.

The starting point for any bidder wanting to take this “value added” approach, he advises, is to first demonstrate a genuine and detailed understanding of those broader objectives – both at the overarching corporate level and at the level of the client’s key business / operating divisions.

Further on from that, the bidder must understand the critical interplay between the client’s various business units and their individual strategies. It’s only from there, he says, that a bidder can formulate a solution to specifically underpin the attainment of those goals and support those component strategies.

In contrast to this, Leitch says, the average facilities or accommodation management services provider (be that camp accommodation in the most holistic sense, or any component service thereof) will likely limit its focus to the objectives and issues that relate directly to that service.

Winner Will Translate Corporate Strategy into FM Plan (Losers Won’t)

If you’re about to throw your hat in the ring for a substantial piece of action in the remote accommodation (and/or related services space), this has direct implications for you.

Following Leitch’s advice will not only inspire the evaluation panel’s confidence, but – in the context of contract periods of unprecedented length – it will awaken the evaluators to the dangers inherent in selecting a bidder without the ability to understand, interpret and support these key corporate strategic objectives.

These corporations, at the same time as becoming increasingly cost-conscious, also want to achieve stable, resilient, satisfied and happy work forces.

A Bid Strategist’s Advice

As a pursuit strategist and bid leader, I say that’s an indication of the various corporate objectives and individual departmental strategies you need to be all over.

I’d be urging you to seek out information that will give you an understanding of the client’s current thinking and future directions in the HR space. Obviously, HR will have its own strategy in relation to the procurement and the management of remote workers . . . but, importantly, that strategy will include not only what’s happening now, if it’s a solid plan, it will also incorporate provision for considerations such as projected changes in worker demographic.

In the context of a long-term contract, you need to be on top of this.

And, when it comes to IT-related recommendations within your proposed solution, I’d be urging you to hotly avoid innovating in a vacuum. The practicalities of “good ideas” need assessed not only against the implications of implementation at a camp level, and not only against their compatibility with existing systems within the client organisation, but also within the context of future technology-related intentions.

These are just two examples. By demonstrating this depth of research across all relevant divisions, you’d be showing yourself as an invaluable support player within the client’s “big picture” . . . a player that’s sufficiently agile to predict and respond to the resources client’s critically balanced and ever-changing business environment.

CRACKING THE VfM CODE

How to Identify & Deliver Genuine Value for Money in Collaborative Contracting

The product of two years' intensive research and numerous interviews with industry leaders, this weighty, 350-page book offers an unprecedented degree of insight into what it takes to produce a consistent record of value-for-money results in major public infrastructure projects.

CRACKING THE VfM CODE IN COLLABORATIVE CONTRACT BIDDING
Value for Money . . . Understanding It & Articulating Your Ability to Deliver It

Standing alone or forming a duo with its partner book, Cracking the VfM Code , this large-format production offers insightful and authoritative mentorship and intelligence on winning high-value, collaborative contracting bids.

(Book)

Big Reforms to NZ Public Works Act to 'Unleash Infrastructure Boom'

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Wed, 26 Feb 2025 04:37:55 GMT

New Zealand Government Press Release, February 25, 2025

From the Office of the Minister for Building & Construction and Minister for Land Information, the Honorable Chris Penk

The Public Works Act will undergo its most significant reform in nearly 50 years to help unleash an infrastructure boom, Land Information Minister Chris Penk has announced.

“Removing barriers to make it faster and more affordable to build the homes Kiwis need, creating jobs through new projects and providing infrastructure to support better public services is a major part of the Government’s economic growth agenda,” Mr Penk says.

“Complex regulations and inefficient processes are slowing down development, resulting in blown out budgets and added costs for taxpayers.

“The Public Works Act is the mechanism which empowers us to acquire land for new infrastructure, while ensuring that fair compensation is provided to landowners – but it is no longer fit for purpose,” Mr Penk says.

“A targeted review last year has found unnecessary duplication in the system, issues with outdated negotiation processes and disjointed government agency practices.

“Right now, it takes up to a year on average to acquire land. If compulsory acquisition is required, the process generally takes up to two years, with at least another year tacked on if objections to the Environment Court are made.

“We cannot afford this in the face of a productivity crisis and critical infrastructure deficit. A modernised Public Works Act will set the foundation for building better.”

Extensive policy changes will be announced over coming weeks.

The first tranche will:

Delegate land acquisition responsibility : Empower government agencies like the New Zealand Transport Agency, which regularly use the Public Works Act, to enter into acquisition agreements with landowners. The Minister for Land Information will remain responsible for compulsory acquisition by the Crown.

Enable collaboration between agencies : Allow government agencies to work together when acquiring land for connected public projects. Instead of each agency acquiring land separately, they will be able to co-ordinate acquisition of land as needed to make the process smoother.

Enable relocation of infrastructure : Allow both the government and local authorities to acquire land when they need to move existing infrastructure (like powerlines or pipes) that are in the way of new public works.

Refine the role of the Environment Court : Clarify the factors that the Environment Court can consider when reviewing objections to land acquisitions for public works, with a renewed focus on individual property rights, removing overlap with the Resource Management Act.

Require mediation for compensation disputes : Require that parties try to resolve disputes over compensation through mediation or alternative dispute resolution before going to the Land Valuation Tribunal, to avoid lengthy court proceedings where possible.

Allow Transpower to by-pass standard processes : Enable Transpower, the State-Owned Enterprise managing New Zealand’s power grid, to use the Public Works Act to acquire land by agreement. This would streamline their process for building energy infrastructure.

“We have already announced that the Government will fix a discrepancy in the Public Works Act which undervalues Māori freehold land compared to other land types,” Mr Penk says. "Further improvements will be revealed as we prepare to introduce the Public Works Amendment Bill to Parliament around the middle of 2025.”

CRACKING THE VfM CODE

How to Identify & Deliver Genuine Value for Money in Collaborative Contracting

(Book)

This weighty, 350-page production is the result of two years’ research, investigation, and numerous in-depth interviews with industry leaders.

It demonstrates in unprecedented detail, exactly what it takes to produce a consistent record of value-for-money results in major public infrastructure projects.

CRACKING THE VfM CODE IN COLLABORATIVE CONTRACT BIDDING

(Book)

Book 2 in the Cracking the VfM Code duo provides insightful and authoritative mentorship for winning high-value, collaborative contracting bids.

It will uplevel your organisation's ability to discern exactly what VfM means in the context of a specific client or project - and sharpen how you communicate your ability to deliver it.

How to Convert Features Into Project-Relevant Benefits

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Mon, 24 Feb 2025 20:09:01 GMT

In a challenge workshop I held recently for a meeting of the senior marketing and sales personnel of a multi-national in the broader infrastructure and engineering space, I was told (I’m paraphrasing):

“We struggle with converting client needs into end benefits. We’re good at communicating features, but not extrapolating these into project-relevant end-benefits.”

Now, notwithstanding that the industry in question requires substantial use of technical specifications and other feature-related detail in submissions to its client audiences, the workshop participant that voiced that general concern was right on the money. These features still need to be converted to actual “benefits”.

There’s a simple exercise for arriving at the benefits of a feature, without losing the necessary details of that feature, as required for the satisfaction of the client-side’s technical evaluators.

Here’s the basic version:

Throw up three columns onto your whiteboard.

Head up the left-hand column, “Feature” – and articulate the key elements of the feature.

Head up the middle column, “Relevance to Which Specific Project Objective?” .

Head up the third column, “How It Helps to Achieve That Objective” .

Again, this is just the basic version; more extrapolations are required to take this all the way through to any form of “win theme” contribution. But it’s a great start.

HOW TO INNOVATE IN BIDS

(Training Program)

This program is for bidders who want to take "innovation" past a vague buzzword.

While I draw heavily on the deep insights provided by my work on major civil infrastructure bids, this training is of equal applicability and value to any B2B or B2G sector.

CRACKING THE VfM CODE IN COLLABORATIVE CONTRACT BIDDING

VfM . . . Understanding It & Articulating Your Ability to Deliver It

(Book)

Written specifically for civil infrastructure bidders, this book focuses on the core tenet of project alliancing and other forms of collaborative contracting i.e. VfM.

It's also especially relevant to the newer "Market-Led Proposal (MLP)" form of contract, introduced in recent years.

Why You Should Take Cultural Alignment Seriously

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Mon, 24 Feb 2025 09:22:12 GMT

One of the less tangible, less immediately “visible” reasons for the loss of either a new-business pursuit, or an existing account, is a misalignment between organisational cultures.

I’ve seen this happen on a number of occasions. One that springs colorfully to mind involved an SME client, quite some years ago.

After a long and energetic courtship on his part, he’d moved the relationship to the stage where a serious, formal proposal had been requested of him . . . the point at which he contacted me.

When the Client’s Psychology Differs from Yours

Conducting a detailed interview with this BD to understand the client’s psychology, it became clear to me that the BD’s, and his print management company’s, aggressive and gung ho culture was at complete loggerheads with the far softer, more relationship-respecting modus operandi of the client organisation.

He didn’t see it. Not only was he oblivious to it, he advised me that when I’d produced the proposal he was tasking me with, he intended to brandish it forcefully before the client representative with an ultimatum that she make a decision forthwith or . . . well, the rest of the intended statement was quite colourful . . . like, err, "shit or get off the pot" . . . not a particularly relationship-nurturing statement.

Long story short: A little bit of “empathy” and a couple of weeks’ more patience on the BD’s part, and he bagged a new, $20m per annum account for his employer.

The moral of the story is this:

Even if the potential client doesn’t consciously recognise the reason for any resistance on their part, he or she will “at a gut level” detect cultural misalignment.

And even if you do win the deal, a poor cultural match has the potential to be, at best, a constant challenge in the ensuing relationship. At worst, it has the potential to create disaster.

Here are five steps you can take in the event that you sense a potential cultural mismatch:

5 Steps for Averting or Dealing with A Cultural Mismatch

Determine the degree of the mis-match. Minor . . . or real deal-breaking stuff?
Determine whether or not this has, or may, cause mis-alignment in more tangible ways as the relationship progresses.
If, given your consideration of these facts, you decide to press ahead, map out a strategy for addressing, and to the greatest extent possible overcoming, the mis-match. Where possible, make the elements of your plan measurable by, for example, formulating strategic Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
Recognise that this will be an issue that needs constant monitoring throughout the life of the project, contract or other form of commercial relationship.
Be upfront with the client about your plans and efforts.

BEATING THE BIG BOYS AT BIDS

(Training Program)

Savvy SMEs have numerous opportunities to take advantage of chinks in the armour of their corporate competitors.

In this program, I'll show you how to identify and optimise these.

TO BID OR NOT TO BID

(Training Program)

"Throwing your hat in the ring" in a competitive bidding process is not a decision to be taken lightly.

The budgetary, people and other forms of resource that will be absorbed, are substantial.

Are You Ready for Your Section Authors to Start Writing?

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Mon, 24 Feb 2025 09:05:51 GMT

If – as pursuit leader or bid strategist – you haven’t checked off the following key preparatory measures before your bid writers put fingers to keyboard, you greatly risk falling into the standard default position i.e. section authors producing thinly-disguised "brochureware", and others producing what comes across as cut-and-pastes from a product or procedures manual.

So ensure you can answer fully in the affirmative before you set your section authors loose on their tasks:

Have you produced a comprehensive, high-readability, overarching strategy document?

Have you produced writer’s guides – based on the above – for each major section or Schedule?

Before finalising the above, have you shown these to several of the writers to ensure they are user-friendly from their perspective?

Have you held a collective briefing session i.e. between the strategist, one or two other key participants in the strategy workshops, and the section authors i.e. to verbally explain the strategy and how it underpins or influences their sections?

Have you returned to each section author, individually, following this initial collective briefing, to ensure they understand and can follow their respective writing guide? And that they have aligned the content of their writing guide with their section content plan?

Does any section author feel he or she needs more supporting information that they need help to obtain?

These are the key steps to ensuring bid content that reflects, and adheres to, a central, cohesive, underpinning strategy.

BID COMMANDOS

On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

(Training Program)

A blockbuster 11-module program that covers the intricacies of every phase of a mission-critical bid - from a well-researched bid/no-bid decision all the way through to ensuring a high-value post-bid de-briefing.

50 ESSENTIAL BID-WRITING TIPS

Must-Know Standards, Methods & Insights for Writing Compelling Bids, Tenders and Proposals

(Book)

This book provides concisely packaged tuition on the timeless principles of bid-writing.

It lays these out in a manner that’s easily understood and implemented by any level of writer or contributing subject matter expert.

Top 10 Tips to Sharpen Your Bid-Writing (Part Two)

Mon, 24 Feb 2025 03:17:00 GMT

In Part One, I wrote about the importance of having a clear and documented bid strategy, of focusing on benefits, of answering the client’s questions, of substantiating your claims, and last but not least – of avoiding consultant-style parroting.

These considerations all, in one way or another, relate back to effectiveness in the strategy planning stage. That is, you can’t expect to execute these tips successfully unless comprehensive research and thinking has taken place beforehand.

My next lot of tips relate to the writing function per se .

Tip No. 6 – Client Focus vs Supplier-centrism

Be client-focused not only in your content (i.e. as above, this relies on a solid bid strategy), but also in your writing.

Your choice of opening words should let the evaluators know that your answer and information is going to be framed in the context of the client organisation’s interest , its needs, its project / account / contract, its priorities, and its concerns.

Then keep the focus squarely on the client . Don’t revert to an organisationally self-centric tone.

Tip No. 7 – Steer Clear of Hot Air & Hype

Avoid the temptation to slip into sales-speak.

Don’t be tempted to go into marketing copywriter mode. It’s not required. Worse, you’ll come across as an amateur, if copywriting isn’t your day job.

For the most part, write as you would speak. It’s the most readable way to write. If your writing is natural, informal and not stilted, that is in fact what you are doing: You’re speaking to the client. You’re just doing it through the written word.

So don’t out-clever yourself by falling into the mistaken mindset that you need to be a creative writer to write bids. In fact, trying to be creative or “salesy” is what brings a submission down. It’s about getting the basic content correct and complete, then simply making sure it progresses logically and reads sensibly.

Tip No. 8 – Avoid the ‘Cut & Paste’ Trap

Do not “cut-and-paste” from your company’s policies and procedures manual or corporate / product marketing materials.

Give the evaluators more credit than to think they would fall for this practice.

Tip No. 9 – Be Wary of the Template Trap

Similarly to the above, don’t rely on templates and text from previous submissions.

Apart from the obvious scope for mistakes, when you cut-and-paste you’re not exactly working with a genuine client-centric focus. That is, the focus of the copy in question is not this particular client . . . at best, it’s any client.

Tip No. 10 – External Impressions

Read your finished piece out loud . . . to someone else. And read your material to a disinterested party. You’ll avail yourself of the invaluable phenomenon of hearing your writing through that person’s ears .

So much the better that they have no knowledge of the topic; you’ll quickly ascertain whether or not your piece makes sense to the common reader or other non-technical audience.

THINK AND WIN BIDS

Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Book)

The three fundamental skills of a genuinely sharp, sustainably successful bid professional are the ability to think , to listen and to ask quality questions .

Furthermore, formulating successful business development and bid strategies is the process of well-directed research and thinking ; not the product of tools and templates.

50 ESSENTIAL BID-WRITING TIPS

Must-Know Standards, Methods & Insights for Writing Compelling Bids, Tenders and Proposals

(Book)

This 220-page, high-quality paperback production features 50 mini-lessons to ensure both your professional writers and your contributing subject matter experts produce client-centric, substance-based submission content.

Available individually or as a six-pack (6 for the price of 5) .

Skipping the Formal Tendering Process: 4 Steps to Increase Your Chances

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Sun, 23 Feb 2025 06:56:13 GMT

In the case of a pursuit in which a formal tendering process is not yet a foregone conclusion, your best chance of avoiding it turning into one is to:

Progressively formulate an offering based on an increasingly deep knowledge of the customer or client organisation’s specific environment, needs and circumstances (which involves quality questioning, deep research and formulation of the solution and strategy in incremental stages);

Careful alignment of every aspect of the customer’s / client’s need with the strengths, and preferably, the uniquenesses, of what you are able to offer;

A de-risked solution or proposition, and

Real-time evaluation of any competitive threat and offering.

With the patience and tenacity to progress the pursuit in accordance with this strategy, you’ll stay close to the action as it evolves. Preferably you will drive the action . . . or, more specifically, the thinking behind it i.e. on the customer’s part.

This, unfortunately, is where many business development and sales teams weaken their opportunity i.e. by over-riding human nature: The customer’s key people want their thoughts and decisions to be their own; they don’t want to be sold to. But, in many instances, BDs – in their keenness to stake their product’s ground in the customer’s mind as firmly and quickly as possible – go into “salesman” mode.

Don’t give them their opinions – or don't try to. Help them shape their conclusions with quality questioning and collaboratively and progressively formulated strategies that they can own .

To attempt to forcibly chisel out pre-formed conclusions for them, creates natural human nature-based resistance – in terms of intellectual ego and, possibly, also in terms of suspicion.

Be a strategic collaborator, a genuine trusted advisor . Not a self-serving salesperson.

It doesn’t matter how senior your position within your own organisation, you still very much risk coming across as a salesperson by not investing the time, patience and smarts in drilling deeply into the customer organisation’s stakeholder environment and needs – which, if the procurement isn’t in the process of going to a formal tender – may not be fully known even to customer organisation itself yet.

That provides you with a perfect opportunity to be a strategic collaborator who brings genuine value to each meeting, as opposed to being just another product pusher.

And if your product or service is a natural fit, then your quality questioning will enable you to table all the right information, which – in turn – will support the drawing of the logical conclusions, in incremental stages i.e. that a formal bidding process may be unnecessary . . . particularly if you have also identified and presented a maximally de-risked proposition.

THINK AND WIN BIDS:

Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Book)

The three fundamental skills of a genuinely sharp, sustainably successful bid professional are the ability to think , listen and ask quality questions .

HOW TO INNOVATE IN BIDS

(Training Program)

"Innovation" in the context of the big-ticket bidding space takes on a very specific definition.

It’s the bidder that demonstrates a deep and genuine grasp of this definition that is likely to be successful.

Editing for Style & Tone

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Sun, 23 Feb 2025 06:16:25 GMT

The tone or writing style of a bid need not be 100 percent uniform across all sections of the submission, but an editor should ensure against a mish-mash of different, non-complementary styles.

A bid with a “salesy” Executive Summary or “front end”, and a “back end” that ranges widely from misplaced “brochureware” to dry academia, gives the impression of a disorganised vendor or bidder.

Depending on the degree of disparity, it could even convey the impression that the various departments within the bidding enterprise are not on the same page.

In answer to the question, “What’s the best style of writing to employ in a bid?” , it would be simple to say, “That which comes naturally to the writer.”

Unfortunately, it would also be simplistic.

The problem is, sometimes (often, in fact), a stilted, convoluted academic style is the section contributor’s default writing style.

A partial answer to this – and one which avoids this pot pourri of styles ending up on the editor’s desk in the first place – is to coach all section authors in the use of the active voice in their writing.

THE BID WRITER'S STYLE & GRAMMAR GUIDE

(Book)

This resource has been produced both for the professional bid writer and for those subject matter experts who are called upon to author sections for submissions.

It covers not only grammar and style but also provides tuition on many other basics of effective bid-writing (including strategy, as the essential foundation of a high-quality proposal document).

50 ESSENTIAL BID-WRITING TIPS

Must-Know Standards, Methods & Insights for Writing Compelling Bids, Tenders and Proposals

(Book)

Professional bid-writing exhibits the same qualities as any other good writing.

However , there are important additional elements that characterise compelling and effective bid copy.

Why You Should Apply Greater Selectivity in Pursuit Decisions

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Sat, 22 Feb 2025 22:53:43 GMT

“It’s the deals you walk away from that make you rich, as much as the successful deals.”

This line leapt out at me one night, when I was reading something as otherwise unrelated to bids as it gets.

That simple, yet profound statement catapulted me straight back into bid strategy mode.

Why?

Because I’ve seen numerous companies insist on investing huge resources in a bid they didn’t have a chance of winning. And most times that bidder knew it.

They knew their pre-sales engagement was inadequate (or non-existent). They knew their insider knowledge of the prospect organisation was insufficient. They weren’t even sure who they were really up against, or the competition’s standing with the prospect. They were aware of many other knowledge gaps they’d left it too late to address by the time the EOI / RFP / RFT was released. And they couldn’t put their hand on their heart and say they believed their offering was the prospect’s best option – a situation that may well not have altered even if they were in possession of a lot more information.

Worst of all, sometimes they hadn’t even done sufficient research to determine whether or not the EOI, RFP or RFT was the real deal. (We all know it’s not uncommon for procuring organisations to issue a call for tenders without being in a position to actually finance the contract, or already knowing full well whom the contract will be awarded to, or simply to keep the incumbent on its toes.)

‘Oh Well. We’ll Just Go For It Anyway.’

But still these keen bidders insisted on going through the resource-draining motions of submitting a Response. And at the predictable outcome, there were numerous disappointed and demoralised staff members to console, all of whom now had to peddle furiously just to catch up with the responsibilities they’d put on hold during the all-consuming madness of the bid production period (which usually was frantic because, most times, they were playing catch-up in their information-gathering efforts).

So why does a company take the decision to produce a submission for a bid contest it has little chance of winning?

Let me give you just some of the reasons:

1) To be seen to be “in the game” because primary competitors are, or are assumed to be, bidding.

2) Their inadequate background/pre-sales research failed to identify a bad technological or cultural fit. (Pre-qualification processes will hopefully ensure technological capability. Cultural compatibility is a less tangible but equally important issue.)

3) The contract is with a high-profile organisation that would look impressive on the bidder’s client list and/or represent a valuable reference.

4) “ The company needs the business.” (Flawed logic in the extreme. It would be best identifying, researching and going after more achievable pursuits.)

5) Unrealistic thinking, plain and simple.

Let’s consider each of these “reasons”.

To be ‘in the game’.

If your competitors have done a better job of their pre-sales research and relationship-building and – assuming they can put together a halfway decent proposal – how will it behoove your cause to have your half-baked bid laid out beside theirs in front of the evaluation team?

Failure to identify a bad technological or cultural match.

A poor technology fit is going to be obvious from the information you provide in your Response.

How is that going to make you look?

Firstly, most switched-on evaluation teams don’t like wasting their time any more than you’re going to have appreciated squandering your own resources.

Secondly, conveying the impression of an ill-researched or unrealistic bidder is not the impression you want to leave with an organisation with which you may want to bid for work in the future (for a project, product or service your company is more suited to delivering).

A poor cultural match has the potential to be, at best, a constant challenge, at worst, a complete disaster. If you’re a young, risk-taking, gung-ho sort of company, and the customer is old-school, staunch, slow-moving and bureaucratic, for example, project forward with a strong sense of reality before deciding to bid for a close, ongoing working relationship.

The ‘If We Can Get This One’ syndrome.

The higher you fly, the harder you fall.

If a deal’s high-profile enough to “make” you, imagine how quickly it can break you if you do win it and you’re not really up for it.

‘We need the business.'

At any cost?

Does it fit with your overall corporate marketing strategy? Is it genuinely taking you places?

How will the contract turn out if you don’t really have the resources it’s going to take to do the job well and create a happy, satisfied client or customer organisation?

Lack of realism.

See all the above.

There’s so much downside and very little upside when you decide to enter a bidding contest you should have gracefully declined. Wasted budget, demoralised staff, compromised corporate image . . .

One simple piece of advice: Be realistic.

As you can see, there’s no point in being anything else but.

Think of the opportunity cost in other areas where resources might have been far more profitably invested, and your corporate image enhanced rather than compromised.

Think of the comparative ease of those sales efforts versus the effort of trying to put up a convincing case when you haven’t really got one.

TO BID OR NOT TO BID

(Training Program)

The real value of a thorough and well thought-out bid/no bid decision analysis – whether highly structured or less so – results from asking the right questions and seeking out well-researched answers.

Follow that through with a realistic self-analysis for a genuinely strategic, properly informed decision.

This program will show you how.

THE ART OF THE DEBRIEF

(Training Program)

In Module 1 of this two-Module program, I will help you extract maximum value from post-bid debriefing sessions by showing you how to formulate quality questions - whether in advance or "on your feet".

In Module 2, I'll guide you through a fearless self-assessment, in order to ensure permanence of the insights you've gained into your own performance.

De-Commoditise, Differentiate & Prosper

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Sat, 22 Feb 2025 21:04:42 GMT

If a company struggles to differentiate its product or service from that of its competition, the first element of any corrective strategy should be to seek to deepen the level at which it understands its prospects and its clients.

Not all companies do this well. Most don’t. Why am I confident to make such a sweeping statement? I see the evidence on a daily basis as a bid strategist and writer, and as an evaluator and bid coach.

When I take on a new client, almost without exception, that organisation’s previous bids, tenders and proposals literally shout self-centricity. Those that think they don’t, are always surprised to learn just how much further they could go in taking a genuinely client-centric approach and, in the process, de-commoditising themselves far more effectively.

Symptoms of Self-centricity

Let me demonstrate how a self-centric perspective shows up in a bidder’s documentation.

I’ll focus on just one part of a bid document — the Executive Summary .

Here are two examples that literally whack an evaluator between the eyes with this syndrome on the bidder’s part:

Example One: ‘We’, ‘Our’, ‘Us’

I once evaluated a bid, the Executive Summary of which featured the seller’s name no less than 17 times in a short series of introductory paragraphs.

Don’t laugh; a large percentage of these key front pieces end up with the seller’s or service provider’s name (or ‘we’, ‘our’ and ‘us’) at the beginning of most paragraphs.

This indicates a lack of knowledge, understanding and caring about the client organisation and its issues and priorities, as well as a lack of listening skills and a probable low “care factor” on the part of the bidder.

The propensity for a bidder to communicate in such a way that the world revolves around them i.e. the supplier or service provider, rather than around the prospect/client makes it obvious to the client and its evaluators that the entire working relationship is likely to evolve in this same, very predictable, direction.

This — in the client’s mind — places that bidder in the same self-focused category as the majority of its competition. And this, in turn, relegates it to a largely undifferentiated status.

Example Two: Framing Strengths

Most Executive Summaries focus almost exclusively on getting across the bidder’s strengths.

Some do go slightly further, communicating the purported competitive uniqueness of the offering.

Few, however, investigate and explain the specific relevance of these to the client and its operating environment. And without doing so, they come across as arrogant, lazy or both. It’s also a wasted opportunity.

Regardless of any information requests made in a client’s tender call documentation, the client’s interest in the service provider centres around the relevance of that information to its own organisation, its own priorities, its own issues and how all these will be satisfied in any potential contract with the bidder.

Let’s come back to de-commoditisation.

The degree to which your company can demonstrate a relevant and competitively superior understanding of the client organisation, and how your strengths and the aspects of your offering uniquely position you to solve the client’s problem and/or achieve that organisation’s desires, is the margin by which you’ll be out in front of your competition.

In turn, the extent to which you are out in front of your competition (on elements of your offer other than price) is the extent to which you have successfully differentiated your company and your service or solution.

In turn, the extent to which you’ve differentiated your proposition, is the extent to which you free yourself from the price trap into which most operators in heavily commoditised industries otherwise fall.

BID COMMANDOS

On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

(Training Program)

This is my most comprehensive, "blockbuster" training program.

An 11-module course, it will ensure your team excels at every stage of a formal bidding process - from the initial bid/no bid analysis, right through to the client de-briefing session/s.

BEATING THE BIG BOYS AT BIDS

(Training Program)

Capitalise on the natural advantages of being a smaller, more agile - and potentially, more aware - operator than your corporate competitors.

In this five-module training program, I'll guide your team in real-time, as it prepares for, and participates in, a formal tendering process.

(Equally applicable for producing proactive proposals and participating in less formal processes.)

Before You Let the Tech-Heads Loose on Your Clients . . . Do They Speak in Geek or English?

Sat, 22 Feb 2025 07:50:00 GMT

Let me share with you a communique I received in recent times from a website developer vying to take over my business from my existing service provider.

(You’ll be wondering what this has to do with high-value bids and pursuits, but bear with me.)

The degree of said communique’s un-interpretability was mind-blowing and, unfortunately, not at all rare when technical professionals attempt to communicate with their less technologically-adept clients and prospective clients.

The email was the culmination of an urgent and frustrating weekend’s search for a website developer who could step in and facilitate a conversation with a software supplier’s support desk staff (who, in turn, couldn’t speak in plain English):

Read It & Weep

Here it is:

“I understand and that being the case I offer you work through your problem via the Knowledgebase (sic) that you’re already familiar with and Live Chat on Monday.

“(Software brand) itself is a premier platform, if anything I think the problem is that (sic) allows the website owner to ‘drink from the fire hose’ i.e. it is a very sophisticated, complex solution that offers so many features and is more like an enterprise-level CMS.”

Now, you could be forgiven for assuming this developer was based in Romania, India, the Philippines or some other part of the non-English-speaking world.

Actually, he’s based in regional New South Wales, Australia.

Consider This

I’m going to ask you to consider just two things. (But first, I’ll set the scene by letting you know that I made abundantly clear to this developer that I had minimal technological know-how – which is why I needed assistance.)

1) How desperately out of options would I have needed to be to embark on a relationship with a service provider whose emails I couldn’t understand a word of?

2) Is it conceivable that, when your technical people are dealing directly with clients and prospective clients, they may be talking to people insufficiently conversant with the technology in question to decipher their jargon?

Magnified Implications in the Bidding Arena

These issues take on a heightened dimension in the bidding arena.

One critical mistake many ICT bidders make is not taking into account the fact that evaluation teams frequently include members with non-ICT backgrounds. When bids fail to communicate in what is at least moderately understandable language then, all else being equal, the proponent in question wins far less favour than the bidder that demonstrates the consideration of communicating in plain English – or that takes the time to explain the necessary technicalese.

And that’s at best.

At worst, the confusion that’s seeded pushes the evaluator towards simpler and more readily understandable options.

Understand the Distinction Between A Technology Need & A Business Need

The first step in ensuring that the content of an Expression of Interest (EOI), Request for Proposal (RFP) or Request for Tender (RFT) response is couched to hit a home run with the evaluators, is to understand the distinction between a technology need and a business need.

A bidder’s technology is nothing more than the thing the customer needs to solve a problem or to meet a business need .

It’s up to the bidder to demonstrate a clear appreciation of the business requirement for which the technology is being evaluated as the possible enabler – and to communicate that appreciation in the clearest, simplest English possible.

50 ESSENTIAL BID-WRITING TIPS
Must-Know Standards, Methods & Insights for Writing Compelling Bids, Tenders and Proposals

(Book)

Intentional successful bids are guided by a strategy that is well-researched, customer-centric / client-centric, substance-based, savvily-formulated, and documented in detail.

It is the bid writer's job to ensure that strategy (the primary – but not exclusive – role of which is to address all known selection criteria) is then articulated clearly, consistently and compellingly throughout every section of the proposal .

Available individually or as a 6-pack (6 books for the price of 5) .

THE BID WRITER'S STYLE & GRAMMAR GUIDE

(Book)

Your organisation’s credibility hangs on the quality of your writing and the standards it reflects.

Used diligently, this 196-page, high-quality paperback production will ensure the highest degree of grammatical diligence in your submissions, along with a consistent, professional writing style throughout.

Available individually or as a 6-pack (6 for the price of 5).

How to Convert Features Into Bid-Relevant Benefits

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Sat, 22 Feb 2025 07:10:31 GMT

“We struggle with converting client needs into end benefits. We’re good at communicating features, but not extrapolating these into project-relevant end-benefits.”

Now, notwithstanding that the industry in question requires substantial use of technical specifications and other feature-related detail in submissions to its (equally “technical”) client audiences, she’s on the money: these nonetheless need to be converted to actual “benefits”.

There’s a simple exercise for arriving at the benefits of a feature, without losing the necessary details of the feature required for the satisfaction of the client-side’s technical evaluators.

Here’s the basic version:

Throw up three columns onto your whiteboard.

Head up the left-hand column, ‘ Feature ’ – and articulate the key elements of the feature.

Head up the middle column, ‘ Relevance to Which Specific Project Objective ’.

Lastly , head up the third column, ‘ How It Helps Achieve That Objective ’ .

Again, this is just the basic version; more extrapolations are required to take this all the way through to any form of “win theme” contribution. But it’s a great start.

CRACKING THE VfM CODE IN COLLABORATIVE CONTRACTING & BIDDING

(Book Duo)

A weighty 350-page production, Book 1 in the Cracking the VfM Code duo, How to Identify & Deliver Genuine Value for Money in Collaborative Contracting , offers an unprecedented degree of insight into what it takes to produce a consistent record of value-for-money results in major public infrastructure projects.

It's the result of two years’ research and investigation and features my numerous up-close-and-personal interviews with industry, thought and opinion leaders from around Australia, New Zealand and further afield.

Book 2, Understanding It & Articulating Your Ability to Deliver It , offers insightful and authoritative mentorship and intelligence on winning high-value, collaborative contracting bids.

BID COMMANDOS

On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

(Training Program)

A comprehensive, 11-module program to ensure your team excels at every stage of a formal bidding process - from the initial bid/no bid analysis, right through to the client de-briefing session/s.

I place particular focus on ensuring consistency of client-centricity, along with communicating in the language of benefits over features.

Prove Your Points (Or They're Worth Nothing)

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Sat, 22 Feb 2025 01:40:36 GMT

One of the most fundamental mistakes bidders make when answering a call for Expressions of Interest or Requests for Proposal, is submitting a response that’s full of unsubstantiated claims (as website copy and general marketing materials commonly are).

Too often, a statement is made in an EOI or RFP response that offers no substantiation, no demonstration of its accuracy. It appears the evaluation committee is simply expected to accept the claim at face value. Yet the evaluators would not be doing their job if they do . . . and you, as bidder, haven’t done “your” job if you expect them to.

Further, how can an evaluator award you selection criteria-related points when you answer a question with an empty, unproven claim?

Respondents and their writers should ask these questions as they plan and write their answers:

What is the proof that this is true / fact?

Offer adequate and genuine substantiation – whether of a “third party” nature or by providing some form of provable quantification.

Table a statistic, for example, and state the source (which should be a reputable body recognised either by your industry, their industry, or the business sector at large).

What is the credibility of this information?

Many bidders include lightly edited, thinly-disguised versions of the same material they include in their marketing material or on their websites.

The credibility of this information is generally nil, since it is based on opinion-based claims the bidder is making about its own service or product.

To be authoritative, you must be able to show that any opinion is, in some form, supported by a credible third party e.g. by accreditation.

Why is it relevant / critical to the client / customer organisation?

Don’t just state facts or table data and leave it to the evaluation committee to determine their relevance.

Explain why, in the context of this bid, you consider that fact or datum important. In that way, you strengthen the support those inclusions loan to your proposition. If, on the other hand, you neglect to do this, you will have potentially wasted that opportunity.

Worse still, the evaluator may misinterpret the connection you intended him or her to make.

With regard to the answer generated by the above question, what is the proof point of this high-relevance criticality?

A savvy bidder will offer a double layer of substantiation.

First, it will offer proof of a claim, and/or demonstrate that the claim is proven or provable.

Then, after drawing the relevance of that information to the client organisation’s specific needs or challenges, the bidder will go on to demonstrate and/or quantify the benefits that will result from the evaluator making a decision in the bidder’s favour, based on this information.

In summary, table proof that your claim is true (not just your opinion); provide some authoritative indicator of third-party concurrence; make it relevant to the client and, in turn, prove this relevance.

Finally, if possible, quantify the benefits to be gained by taking the action that your claim suggests should be taken.

BEATING THE BIG BOYS AT BIDS

(Training Program)

Capitalise on the natural advantages of being a smaller, more agile - and potentially, more aware - operator than your corporate competitors.

In this five-nodule training, I'll guide your team, in real-time, as it prepares for, and participants in, a formal tendering process.

(Equally applicable for producing proactive proposals and participating in less formal processes.)

THINK AND WIN BIDS

Winning High-Stakes, High-Value Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Book)

The three fundamental skills of a genuinely sharp, sustainably successful bid/proposal/tender professional are the ability to think , listen and ask quality questions .

Furthermore, formulating successful business development and bid strategies is the process of well-directed research and thinking ; not the product of tools and templates.

Available individually or as a six-pack (six books for the price of 5).

Over-Templating: Is It Straitjacketing & Demotivating Your Workshop Participants?

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Sat, 22 Feb 2025 01:05:03 GMT

Many organisations place a heavy focus on developing a raft of heavily prescriptive templates, in the belief that this will produce comprehensive and well-thought-out bid "strategy".

In other Pursuits Academy articles, I articulate, in detail, precisely why it is that quality strategy (in fact, why real “ strategy”) cannot be produced by templates. Now, in this upload, I will make the additional observation that “over-templatisation” actually de-motivates workshop participants and others looked to for strategy input.

There’s an irony at play in many B2B organisations:

While at the upper levels of strategy direction, someone is busy creating more templates and injecting existing templates with more fields to be filled in, the root of the problem (i.e. poor quality strategy) is the templates themselves .

And it’s not only the fact that these templates (no matter how detailed) don’t produce quality (or even genuine ) strategy, it’s also that their usage fails to enthuse and compel people to avidly embrace the whole (as in, the whole of the ) strategy development process .

Are You Addressing the Root of the Problem?

Try this possibility on for size, as regards your own organisation:

Are you too focused on making your processes more involved and more complex, when the immediate problem is actually that you’re struggling to get your client-facing personnel (i.e. business development and sales representatives) to use the existing processes/templates effectively and enthusiastically?

The alternative is to understand that the mining of critical client-facing insights and information, and the subsequent formulation of bid strategy, is not – in general – well-served by templates . . . or, at least, not past a certain, still reasonably elementary, stage in the process.

True strategy is fluid, and results from free-flowing (albeit tightly directed) investigative conversations that range both deep and wide . . . the direction of which cannot be determined by a template approach.

Let me conclude with a (true) story from my early days specialising in this field.

The Australian head office of a multinational IT giant had spent some hundreds of thousands of dollars on implementing new software that provided a range of templates – predominantly for the capture of information gleaned by BDs following any meetings they had with potential customer organisations.

An Expensive White Elephant

Although the use of these templates was mandated, the BDs used these minimally, if at all. (They considered them the ruination of an otherwise nice afternoon in the company of a major customer or prospect.)

After months of unsuccessfully cajoling the BD team into embracing the software a little more enthusiastically, I was called in by the company . . . initially to add to their efforts to gain traction for the use of the program (which, by this stage, had turned into an expensive white elephant).

I’ll cut the story short, by saying that my approach to the problem involved closely evaluating the modus operandi of the various key BD team members, in order to determine the role each was best suited to playing in the gathering and documentation of customer insights, the supplementation of these with secondary research, and the conversion of all these information types into actionable strategy.

This approach worked. Why? Because (a) it reflected how real strategy is developed, (b) it inspired the team members to think through the contribution of their individual roles and make strategic use of their opportunities, and (c) it allowed each individual to operate in a manner conducive to their own personalities.

THINK AND WIN BIDS
Winning High-Stakes, High-Value Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Book)

The three fundamental skills of a genuinely sharp, sustainably successful bid professional are the ability to think, listen and ask quality questions.

Furthermore, formulating successful business development and bid strategies is the process of well-directed research and thinking; not the product of tools and templates.

Think and Win Bids is available individually and also in a (6-for-the-price-of-5) six-pack.

BID COMMANDOS
On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

(Training Program)

My "blockbuster", comprehensive, 11-module course that ensures your team will excel at every stage of a formal bidding process - from the initial bid/no bid analysis, right through to the client de-briefing session/s.

BID COMMANDOS will also ensure your organisation doesn't shoot itself in the foot by trying to achieve with templates, what templates simply can't achieve.

Excellence in De-briefing: The No. 1 Way to Strike A Consistently High Bid Win Rate

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:07:42 GMT

The No. 1 way to strike a consistently high win rate with your bids and high-stakes proposals is simply this:

Make it a top priority to understand why you won, or why you lost, all those that came before the one you’re currently working on.

Clearly, the client-delivered debrief is the most obvious way to achieve a first-hand understanding of whether and where a submission hit the mark, or whether and where it didn’t – and (also, hopefully) how it stacked up against the competition.

The value of the information and insights obtained from such an exercise, however, is almost always directly proportionate to how effectively each side prepares for, and participates in, the debriefing session.

The “trick” to using the debrief as your “secret weapon” in your quest to consistently pip the competition at the post, lies in extracting high-potency intelligence; frank, no-holds-barred, painstakingly detailed commentary . . . “news you can use” to mastermind quantum leaps of continuous improvement in your processes. Even when you’re already submitting winning bids.

Assumptions Make Dangerous Allies

Don’t let a successful bidding track record blind you to the merits of working hard to extract valuable feedback on all aspects of your most recent bid: To repeat success wilfully , you must know exactly what created it.

Assumptions make dangerous allies. In my opinion, one of the greatest quotes of all time was uttered by Napoleon Bonaparte, when he said: “The greatest danger occurs at the moment of victory.”

When being enlightened as to why it won, many a jubilant winning team has had its proverbial bubble burst by learning that it was a completely different factor that won it the bid, than that which it had assumed. (It goes without saying, of course, that if you’re on a losing streak you have an even greater incentive to find out all you can from a debrief, to help steer you towards success.)

How to avail yourself and your team of a high-value debrief, then?

Corral the Horses: You Want It from Their Mouths (Not Third-Hand)

First and foremost, you want the feedback to come from “the horses’ mouths” i.e. the members of the tender evaluation panel . . . not second-hand, from personnel who weren’t directly involved in the evaluation, and who (worse still) may never had read your submission in detail.

Getting the right people at the debriefing table is critical.

You’ll greatly increase your chances of this by targeting your (formal) email request/s to the most senior client organisation representatives, conveying the importance, to you and your team, of the debrief. If applicable and appropriate, ensure the probity auditor of the bidding process is included in, or cc’d in on, these communications.

Don’t try to achieve this objective through phone calls, or “whipped off”, informal emails. This risks downplaying the significance of your request and of the debrief per se. Don’t be timid on this point.

You should (politely, of course) state that you’d appreciate the client-side debrief participants include those directly involved in the evaluation process. This transmits the message (in an acceptable manner) that you’d appreciate the client-side preparing adequately for the debrief, as you’ll be expecting accurate and detailed feedback.

This latter point is particularly important. In the case of a major project, it could be four or five months post-decision before a debrief is held. Thus, the evaluators need to be prompted to refresh themselves with regard to the detail of your bid documentation.

End With the Start in Mind

Secondly – plan, plan, plan.

To turn an old saying on its ear, when planning your own approach to the debrief, end with the start in mind. That is, set out to learn as much as you can about the strengths and weaknesses you exhibited in the current bid, in order to start out on a stronger footing with your next bidding performance.

When I’m preparing a bid team to attend a submission debriefing session with one of its prospect or client organisations, I work with it to do what I’m about to recommend to you here:

(1) Plan your approach and questioning outline in the same detailed manner as you’d approach preparing the outline for a bid strategy formulation workshop,.

(2) Exercise both tact and strategy when framing the questions.

(3) Practice “proactive” listening skills – and exhibit an open mind and broad shoulders.

Let’s address these three points in turn.

Mapping Out Your Approach

You don’t enter into a bid strategy workshop with no prior planning whatsoever, so why would you enter into a debrief with no pre-determination of the desired result . . . and without a roadmap to exercise your optimal level of influence over the quality of output?

If you’re thorough in identifying all the areas in which you want detailed feedback, chances are you’ll come up with more questions than you can ask in the time allotted for the debrief.

My advice is to prioritise these in accordance with the degree of value they afford you, in terms of:

(a) (if your bid lost this time) winning another similar bid or another bid with the same client, or

(b) (if your bid won ) performing in a manner throughout the contract, that will ensure you of success in your project/product/service delivery, and favourable and robust positioning for future business with the client in question.

Framing the Questions

To derive accurate, detailed information, and the frankness of client commentary that might otherwise have proved too uncomfortable for the parties, you must frame your questions sensitively and productively.

One of the most important considerations you can make in mapping out your questions, is to be cognisant that there are three categories of information in any given “debriefing” environment and the associated dynamics:

1) Conscious and willing to share.

2) Conscious and not willing to share.

3) Unconscious, so can’t share.

It’s easy to get the Category 1 information. That’s what the client has prepared and has come there ready to offer.

Category 2 is tricky . . . but this information is particularly valuable.

Here’s how to extract it – as painlessly as possible:

Minimise the evaluation team’s discomfort by framing your questions, and pre-establishing the tone of the evaluators’ responses, such that observations are delivered as constructive criticism. Make it easy and comfortable (or as comfortable as possible) for the client-side executives to speak their minds.

Let's take, by way of example, the situation whereby a bid team that tabled a losing bid is dealing with one of the trickiest issues of all: whether or not they lost on price. And whether or not the client is prepared to admit it.

Here's how that bid team might frame its approach in the client's debriefing session:

“Obviously, when we prepare our estimates, our pricing is based on delivering the optimal result in every aspect of the project. It follows then, that in some projects there might be a connection between price and what we believe it will take to deliver that optimal result.

“It would be valuable for us to understand, from your perspective, how valuable (or otherwise) you feel that extra guarantee of satisfaction is, when we’re up against someone that comes in with a lower price.”

Category 3 requires a different type of prompt.

In this example, the bid team is endeavouring to determine where it hit the right hot buttons and where it didn’t:

“We carried out extensive background research into this project and your stakeholders’ issues, and we worked hard to pinpoint what appeared would be your top concerns and priorities. Then we worked our methodology and general approach around these.

“Could you give us some specific feedback on where we were correct with our assumptions? And could you also give us some indication of where we focused on things that weren’t as important to you?”

You may or may not agree with these hypothetical questions.

Perhaps you’d craft them a little differently. That’s fine. The point is, it’s critical to determine the specific insights you’re after, and each of the aspects of the bid in which you want those insights, and then to frame up some questions that will draw out the most instructive answers, in the most productive manner.

Testing the Answers

As politically incorrect as it may be to write this, there will be times (especially in the case of a loss) when you feel you want to be “extra sure” the feedback you received was “kosher”. I’m sure I don’t need to elaborate.

The way to deal with this is to find a polite and acceptable way to ask the same question from more than one angle and, preferably, to ask it of more than one of the panel members.

Listening & Implementing

Be sure to exhibit strong listening skills , demonstrating your appreciation of the insights being delivered and ensuring your full understanding of them (this client will now be less than impressed if your future proposals ignore the advice they’ve just imparted).

And take detailed notes. The more detail you can capture from the client team’s answers, the more useful direction you can provide back to your organisation when you debrief the broader team back at home base. (You do undertake this all-important second-level de-brief, of course, don’t you? )

In conclusion:

Bid teams often claim clients don’t give them the valuable answers and feedback they’d have liked.

I say: The responsibility for asking quality questions is yours i.e. the bidder’s .

Likewise, the responsibility for milking the most value out of the information you gather from a debrief, is yours also.

Follow these fundamentals and you’ll be well ahead of the competition when it comes to positioning your organisation for a win next time (if you lost this time) or, if yours was the winning bid, a win by a larger margin of certainty next time.

THE ART OF THE DEBRIEF

(Training Program)

The key to getting the best value from any de-briefing session offered to you is to plan carefully, in order to extract every possible clue from the process.

This two-module course provides step-by-step, real-time guidance to assist you in maximising the intel and insights available from the de-briefing opportunity. It also guides you along as you seek to ensure the permanence of the insights obtained, and the incorporation of their value into future bidding processes.

TO BID OR NOT TO BID

(Training Program)

A Macro-Level Checklist for Bid Strategy

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Fri, 21 Feb 2025 06:52:13 GMT

A "checklist", in the context of a document, usually limits its embrace to non-subjective, cut-and-dried elements of inclusion or accuracy.

However, it’s equally important – in the case of a big-ticket bid – to step back and view your content from a broader perspective, to assume nothing, and to ensure your writing style and/or structure packs a decent punch.

Here are some key such ‘macro-level’ checkpoints:

Does your piece reflect that you’ve followed a cohesive and well-structured, or at least well-thought-out, content plan ? Whether you’re a seasoned bid writer or a newbie, you should plan your work and stick to your plan.

Check your “facts”. There’s no room for the inclusion of assumptions or the reliance upon unverified third-party statements or claims in your EOI and RFP responses.

Make sure your first paragraph – as the “introduction” to your piece –is strong, punchy and provides a compelling entry point to the rest of your material.

Draw out the project-specific or contract-specific relevance and meaning of anything you write. Don’t leave it to the evaluators to connect the dots.

Ensure you’ve communicated the benefits associated with the features of your technology or service ( not just the features ).

THINK AND WIN BIDS
Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Book)

The three fundamental skills of a genuinely sharp, sustainably successful bid/proposal/tender professional are the ability to think, listen and ask quality questions .

Furthermore, formulating successful business development and bid strategies is the process of well-directed research and thinking ; not the product of tools and templates.

BID COMMANDOS
On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

(Training Program)

BID COMMANDOS is my "blockbuster", comprehensive, 11-module training program.

It's intricately formulated to ensure your team excels at every stage of a formal bidding process - from the initial bid/no bid analysis, through research and intelligence-gathering, through the strategy development and documentation process, through strategic and compelling writing and competent editing, and on through the shortlistee presentation stage, right through to optimisation of client de-briefing session/s.

Is Your Proposal Genuinely Compelling? A Macro-Level Checklist.

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Fri, 21 Feb 2025 06:39:28 GMT

Here are six absolutely fundamental, editing-stage questions to ask yourself and your team, about the draft of your Expression of Interest (EOI), Request for Proposal (RFP) or other form of bid or sales proposal:

Does your proposal or submission demonstrate an in-depth understanding of the prospect’s world?

Does it demonstrate that deep, multii-faceted, multi-source research was done into the (e.g. historical/political) backdrop of the procurement?

Is your proposal or submission genuinely client-focused , framing all information about the bidder in the context of the client’s interest?

Is your submission bold and confident in its articulation of its conclusions, but does it stop well short of arrogance?

Is it authoritative yet not condescending?

Does it demonstrate/substantiate all of its claims?

BID COMMANDOS
On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

(Training Program)

BID COMMANDOS is my "blockbuster", comprehensive, 11-module training program.

BEATING THE BIG BOYS AT BIDS

(Training Program)

Capitalise on the natural advantages of being a smaller, more agile - and potentially, more aware - operator than your corporate competitors.

(Equally applicable for producing proactive proposals and participating in less formal processes.)

The Five Most Counter-Productive Bidding Practices

Fri, 21 Feb 2025 06:00:00 GMT

Here are five of the most common, and damaging, mistakes I've observed bid teams making, during my more than two decades as a bid strategist and bid writer.

Each one of these practices is, in its own right, damaging to a bid’s success. Collectively , however, they as good as guarantee that the only hope you have of winning is either a cut-price approach or an absence of viable competition.

Ready?

Errant Practice No. 1 :

Seeing bid strategy planning sessions as either (a) unnecessary, or (b) something to be rammed through in a half-day workshop (a quarter of which is taken up by coffee breaks).

Wherever a solid bid strategy has not been formulated and articulated, the resultant EOI, RFP or RFT response will almost certainly constitute little more than directionless, “salesy” waffle. It is also almost guaranteed to be supplier-centric versus client/customer-focused.

It is also highly likely that, without strategic alignment of the service provider’s/supplier’s strengths with the client or customer organisation’s very specific needs, the bidder will feel tempted to compete on price more than would, or should, be necessary.

Errant Practice No. 2 :

Allocating overly tight little 30 or 45-minute time slots to critically important concerns like competitive intelligence.

I frequently witness bid managers (i.e. those I have not yet worked with!) distribute bid planning workshop agendas that allocate a half-hour to competitive analysis.

Quite simply – that’s absolutely crazy. If you have a field of, let’s say, five very viable competitors, 30 minutes will buy you discussion time of six minutes per competitor. To think that the threat/s posed by each individual competitor, and the potential opportunities their weaknesses might offer you, can be covered off in six minutes is either incomprehensibly foolish or incomprehensibly arrogant. Or both.

Errant Practice No. 3 :

Failing to think carefully and strategically about whom should be part of the bid strategy planning sessions.

Simply filling the room with the “available” demonstrates no thought as to what a bid manager is trying to achieve.

Getting some "acceptable number of bums on seats" does not automatically equate to producing strategic insights into the client organisation, the project, or the competition.

Errant Practice No. 4 :

Allowing know-alls to run the show.

Bid managers who allow the loudest participants to dominate in bid strategy workshops do everyone, and the quality of the eventual submission, a grave disservice.

Participants whom haven’t the personality or the desire to force their way into the conversation to make their input, simply won’t bother.

The resultant bid strategy is at risk of being founded upon the limited knowledge base and perspectives of the few.

Errant Practice No. 5 :

Believing it unnecessary to properly document bid strategy.

Almost without exception, bid writing teams are left to knit the threads of a supposed strategy together from the bullet point-style content of flip sheets pinned up around the workshop room.

If it’s not documented , it’s not a strategy .

In this (very common) set of circumstances, bid writers are armed with little more than a loose collection of supplier-centric “key messages”. And that, in turn, is why most submissions end up being little more than what I call, “brochureware”.

THINK AND WIN BIDS

Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Book)

The three fundamental skills of a genuinely sharp, sustainably successful bid professional are the ability to think , listen and ask quality questions .

Furthermore, formulating successful business development and bid strategies is the process of well-directed research and thinking ; not the product of tools and templates.

Also available as a six-pack (6 books for the price of 5) .

BID COMMANDOS

On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

(Training Program)

BID COMMANDOS is my "blockbuster", comprehensive, 11-module training program.

Encouragement for Non-Professional Bid Writers

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Thu, 20 Feb 2025 06:48:10 GMT

This advice is for those contributing content to a tender / proposal / bid or other form of submission, but who don’t write as a “day job”.

It’s too easy, and sometimes automatic, for subject matter experts or other “non-writers” to come to a bid-writing task with the mindset that, “No-one can expect too much from me; I’m not a professional writer.”

But that attitude both limits your thinking and your confidence and stymies your standards.

Instead, try moving all the way to the opposite end of the spectrum:

Write as though the whole world is going to read and savour every word you write, contemplate the sentiments underlying it and the strategy informing your piece, and be influenced to move by its convictions and the propositions it puts forward.

In 2000, Stephen King detoured briefly but potently into non-fiction, with the publication of his ‘ On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft’ part-autobiography, part-guide book both for established writers and would-be writers.

In it, he explains his own attitude towards the written word:

“You can approach the act of writing with nervousness, excitement, hopefulness, or even despair – the sense that you can never completely put on the page what’s in your mind and heart.

“You can come to the act with your fists clenched and your eyes narrowed, ready to kick ass and take down names. You can come to it because you want a girl to marry you or because you want to change the world.

“Come to it any way but lightly. Let me say it again: you must not come lightly to the blank page.”

– Stephen King, ‘On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft’

What if you were to take King’s recommended approach to those written pieces you’ve been tasked with contributing to the bid team’s submission? Would it make a difference?

Writer’s Block

Perhaps you struggle with “writer’s block”?

See ‘ How to Beat Writer’s Block’ .

Just start. Somewhere. You can always go back and write skipped elements (even the introductory paragraphs) or re-write. And by the time you head back there, you’ll likely be on a roll.

What if your problem is simply discomfort with the whole process of writing?

King has the answer for that:

Read copiously.

“If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.”

Write something every day, just for the sake of writing deliberately and with focus.

King himself writes at least 10 pages a day including Christmas, Independence Day, and his birthday.

When the Going Gets Tough – Push Through

And finally, don’t give up when the going gets hard:

King wrote the 1974 blockbuster ‘Carrie’ , his first published book, while living in a caravan or – in North American terminology – a “double wide trailer”. Frustrated when he hit creativity Roadblocks, he threw the manuscript in his wastepaper basket. Later, his wife discovered it there, pulled it out, uncrumpled it, and read it.

The rest is history.

As he points out in ‘On Writing’ , “stopping a piece of work just because it’s hard . . . is a bad idea.”

BID-WRITING LESSONS FROM THE WORLD'S GREATEST AUTHORS

(Book)

History’s literary greats have much to teach the writers of today. No-one, however, could benefit more from becoming a student of these masters of the written word than the commercial bid writer.

Their philosophies are enduring, and the principles that guided their work are as relevant to twenty-first century proposal professionals as they must have been to the disciples of their living years.

BID-WRITING LESSONS FROM THE WORLD'S GREATEST AUTHORS

(Six-Pack)

This illuminating (and fun) little read is an assembly of the enduring and pithily expressed wisdom of over 100 authors, strategists, philosophers and other accomplished figures.

It features 47 smart little lessons yours truly, on Research, Thinking & Strategy, on Writing, and on Editing, Re-Writing, Practice & Perfection – reinforcing the timeless advice of these sages.

Well worth putting one on the desk of everyone in your writing team.

Your Fabulous Culture . . . So What? Make It MEANINGFUL.

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Wed, 19 Feb 2025 22:03:58 GMT

When you tout "the (your company’s name goes here) culture" as some sort of meaningful competitive differentiator, do you go on to explain exactly w hy – in a manner that is less generic, more specifically and commercially meaningful to your prospect client or customer organisation?

Or do you offer some potted fluffy like “our can do / customer-focused / inclusive / collaborative (fill in the blank) culture” and expect the customer to be just as jazzed as you are?

Or, worse still, perhaps you simply assume the prospect organisation somehow knows what you mean by your great culture?

One of the first ditties I ever coined when I developed the bid strategy niche, in order to convince my clients of the need for a 100 percent client-centric approach to everything, was this:

The only thing the client needs or wants to know about YOU, is what’s directly relevant to HIM (or her).

And, of any facet of your business that you offer up as in some way of benefit and value to the organisation the business of which you’re pursuing, "culture" – arguably – is one of the toughest sells.

Harden It Up & Make It Relevant

So you need to harden it up . . . you need to explain this “culture”, then qualify its relevance, and quantify its value.

You must provide a client-focused, compelling explanation of the depth and breadth of its relevance to achieving the client’s goals and solving their challenges.

In short, don’t leave “culture” as some simplistically-expressed, generic (and supposed) competitive strength.

Your starting point, if you’ve never put words to it before, would be to develop a “USP” (the ubiquitous “Unique Selling Proposition”) purely for your culture .

For example, I have one client organisation whose leadership and people view their culture as perhaps their strongest competitive differentiator. To them, it underpins every aspect of peak performance and competitive superiority it offers its marketplace.

But there is an assumption t hat exactly what that culture is, is to some degree evident through its branding, in-person communications, and proposals. Nowhere have I ever seen any defining statement that encapsulates the essence in any tangible way. Thus, when its sales force refers to it, and its bid writers use it in their proposals, it comes off as sheer “brochureware”.

And that is sad. Because the company does, in fact, have an outstanding culture – and by virtue of that culture, provides outstanding service to its nearing-global customer base.

Here’s An Example

If I were asked to distil the culture into a couple of core concepts that are meaningful at a generic level, at least, to all clients, then – without thinking too deeply – I’d probably say:

“It’s a culture in which all employees readily and willingly assume full personal responsibility for the customer’s / company’s required / most desired outcome.”

Or (although I prefer the above, simpler version):

“It’s a culture in which an individually-empowered, flat structure is used to the best advantage of both the company and the customer.”

It’s the ultimate “can do” culture – but that buzzword-based concept isn’t particularly meaningful.

If you consider your “culture” really something worth holding up as an offering of value, a genuine and meaningful competitive differentiator, then you need to work to articulate that culture just as clearly as in the above examples.

From that point, it needs to be aligned with each of the specific prospect’s current or persistent challenges and goals. This is particularly so against the backdrop of a corporate sector within which almost every website features brochureware-style claims like “our people are our greatest asset”.

If you identify the client-specific and client-relevant benefits of your “culture” and articulate these effectively – from the perspective of the client – in your business development and pursuit-based communications, you’ll stand head and shoulders above any competitors banging on about “our people” and “our culture”.

Conversely, if – as in the case of my above-case-studied client – you have a genuinely great culture, it would be an equally great shame if you never got the chance to provide physical demonstration of what that means to your prospective customers or clients.

BID COMMANDOS
On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

(Training Program)

BID COMMANDOS is my "blockbuster", comprehensive, 11-module training program.

It's intricately formulated to ensure your team excels at every stage of a formal bidding process . . . from the initial bid/no bid analysis, through research and intelligence-gathering, through the strategy development and documentation process, through strategic and compelling writing and competent editing, and on through the shortlistee presentation stage, right through to optimisation of client de-briefing session/s.

BEATING THE BIG BOYS AT BIDS

(Training Program)

Capitalise on the natural advantages of being a smaller, more agile - and potentially, more aware - operator than your corporate competitors.

(Equally applicable for producing proactive proposals and participating in less formal processes.)

Grammar Goofs to Avoid in Tenders & Proposals

Wed, 19 Feb 2025 07:53:00 GMT

If you are to produce an authoritative submission, you must know the precise meaning of every word you use and be sure to use that word correctly.

To a large degree, the credibility of your company rests upon your grammatical diligence.

Here’s a quick list of words that regularly appear in bids, tenders and other forms of proposal . . . and that are also often mis-used in them.

These words have been drawn from the much larger list you will find in ‘The Bid Writer’s Style & Grammar Guide’ (Part 4: Commonly Confused Words) , and in my e-book, ‘Faulty Terms’ (which is dedicated specifically to this topic).

Ability / Capacity

Ability is a skill: “He has great ability as a mechanical and electrical engineer.”

Capacity is the potential for something: “His capacity for further learning in this field is limited.”

Adopt / Assume

To adopt is to take as one’s own:

“X Corporation adopted Y Corporation’s safety policies when it made the acquisition.”

Assume means (a) to take on at that moment in time, or (b) to suppose or take for granted:

“He assumed the stance of someone somewhat higher in office.”

“It’s less than ideal, but we’ll have to assume that’s what the client wants at this late stage.”

Alternately / Alternatively

Alternately means by turn: A cyclist presses the pedals alternately to propel the machine.

Alternatively implies a choice: We can travel by air or, alternatively, by sea.

Alternatives are limited to two at a time. There cannot be three, four, or more alternatives.

Collaborate / Corroborate

To collaborate is to work together with towards a common goal:

“When we began to collaborate on this project, all tension dissolved.”

To corroborate is to use evidence to confirm an assumption or assertion:

“They said her account of the incident couldn’t be corroborated with that of the staff, but the truth of the matter is that the staff wouldn’t break ranks.”

Complimentary / Complementary

To compliment is to express a favorable observation; complimentary refers to being forthcoming with praise and compliments:

“To acknowledge the quality of the writing in our submission was a welcome compliment. Thank you.”

To complement , or to be complementary , refers to something which completes or enhances another thing:

“The material the two subject matter experts produced was complementary.”

Comprise / Compose / Constitute

Comprise: The house comprises 10 rooms. (Do not write “is comprised of”. That is incorrect.)

Compose: The party was composed of state managers and their BDMs.

Constitute: Writing skills in themselves do not constitute a total education in strategic bid production.

Discreet / Discrete

Discreet means judicious in speech or conduct, especially with regard to privacy – either one’s own or others’. One can be discreet out of good grace, or for advantage:

“Your colleagues will respect you if you are discreet.”

Discrete means separate, distinct, apart from something else or the rest:

“That part of the factory’s plant performs discretely.”

Effective / Effectual

Something that is effective has generated a result:

“She’s an effective bid manager.”

Something effectual has achieved its purpose:

“The meeting was effectual in bringing about a resolution.”

50 ESSENTIAL BID-WRITING TIPS
Must-Know Standards, Methods & Insights for Writing Compelling Bids, Tenders and Proposals

(Book)

Available individually or as a 6-pack (6 for the price of 5) .

THE BID WRITER'S STYLE & GRAMMAR GUIDE

(Book)

Your organisation’s credibility hangs on the quality of your writing and the standards it reflects.

Available individually or as a 6-pack (6 for the price of 5).

Shakespeare on Bids: What He Can Teach You

Wed, 19 Feb 2025 07:16:00 GMT

The Bard and His Pearls of Wisdom . . . As Applied to Bid Strategy

Shakespeare would have made a brilliant business development operative ("BD") or bid strategist.

As a writer, I could live and breathe the writings of Shakespeare. But what few people today appreciate is the sheer strategy behind the musings in his many plays.

Let me treat you to some of The Bard’s wisdom . . . pearls at the very heart of effective business development and winning non-price-based bids.

Here’s a handful of his quotes – along with, either for your light entertainment or for your deeper pondering – the underlying philosophical message I have chosen to interpret and apply for the benefit of BDs and those who lead major bidding endeavours.

‘Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice.’ (Hamlet, Act I, Scene III)

So often we are tempted to give every man our voice, but few thy ear . . . especially in client-facing situations where we’re convinced we have a superior solution or offering to that of our competitors, and we’re keen to let the prospect know all about it.

Mistake.

It is the degree to which one listens , that determines the volume and quality of insights with which one will return to his organisation, and thus the value of information with which he will endow his fellow bid team members.

In turn, the value (or otherwise) of the information that he conveys will have a direct impact on the quality of the submitted proposal.

‘The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.’
(As You Like It, Act V, Scene I)

‘The empty vessel makes the loudest sound.’ (Henry V, Act IV, Scene IV)

(Closely related to the previous quote and observations.)

Shakespeare clearly detested arrogance – especially when coupled with ignorance (which, ironically, it usually is).

With good reason when it comes to business development and major bids: Arrogance erodes the capacity for developing a genuine and deep interest in the prospect or client.

It creates an inability to truly hear the other party, their concerns, their desires . . . and thus to use these insights to formulate a hot button-hitting, competitively superior bid strategy.

‘Yon Cassius has a lean and hungry look. He thinks too much; such men are dangerous.’ (Julius Caesar, Act I, Scene II)

The greater the investment one makes in thinking deeply, the more power he has in any given situation. In a commercial sense, clearly this applies to the advantage an organisation has over its competitors.

‘Wisely and slow; they stumble that run fast.’ (Romeo and Juliet, Act II, Scene III)

Don’t cut yourself short of time to conduct comprehensive research and fully develop your bid strategy, such that you’re rushing the process.

I’ve seen totally counterproductive workshops that try to push through a “competitive intelligence” analysis in a tightly allocated 45-minute window, by way of classic example.

‘Words without thoughts never to heaven go.’ (Hamlet, Act III, Scene III)

Never write about something you don’t understand; the fact you’re out of your depth will be, or will become, obvious.

(This is one of the primary reasons I favour the writing of highly specialist bid sections by the relevant subject matter experts themselves, as opposed to by general bid writers.)

Consistently commit these follies, and – as the great philosopher writes in ‘ A Midsummer Night’s Dream.’ (Act V, Scene 1) – it will be: ‘ The true beginning of (y)our end.’

BID-WRITING LESSONS FROM THE WORLD'S GREATEST AUTHORS

(Book)

History’s literary greats have much to teach the writers of today. No-one, however, could benefit more from becoming a student of these masters of the written word than the commercial bid writer.

BID-WRITING LESSONS FROM THE WORLD'S GREATEST AUTHORS

(Six-Pack)

This illuminating (and fun) little read is an assembly of the enduring and pithily expressed wisdom of over 100 authors, strategists, philosophers and other accomplished figures.

It features 47 smart little lessons yours truly, on Research, Thinking & Strategy , on Writing , and on Editing, Re-Writing, Practice & Perfection – reinforcing the timeless advice of these sages.

Well worth putting one on the desk of everyone in your writing team.

Tap Into Primary AND Secondary Information Sources

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Tue, 18 Feb 2025 06:51:08 GMT

"Primary" information is that which is obtained first-hand . . . straight "from the horse’s mouth" or direct from the source.

This is the information you derive and capture from conversations with customer representatives, user group members and other stakeholders. It’s your direct observations and insights.

“Secondary” information is that which you source already formed, published or otherwise documented – “ready packaged”, so to speak. It’s the policy documents, the website content, the white papers, the media coverage, the consultant’s reports (i.e. if not commissioned by you).

Make extensive use of both. It is usually best to precede your primary information endeavours with collection of secondary information. This provides an informed starting point and allows you to ask quality questions of your prospective client or customer.

THINK & WIN BIDS

Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids Through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Book)

The three fundamental skills of a successful bid leader and strategist are the ability to think , to listen and to ask quality questions .

Better still, if all members of a bid team understand the role of those fundamentals in formulating a successful bid.

Available both individually and as a six-pack (six books for the price of five) , Think and Win Bids is ideal to ensure everyone is "on the same page ".

BID COMMANDOS

On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

(Training Program)

BID COMMANDOS is my "blockbuster", comprehensive, 11-module training program.

The 11 Stages of Competent and Comprehensive Pre-Probity Activity & Management

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Tue, 18 Feb 2025 06:09:50 GMT

The best-quality submissions have one thing in common: research and other forms of preparation start early . . . long before the formal Expression of Interest or Request for Proposal is released into the marketplace.

Conversely, inadequate pre-probity preparation sets the scene for a submission characterised by rushed background research (if any), as well as the disorganisation that results from waiting until the client’s always-too-short deadline is upon the bidder.

The following is a set of recommendations for the research and preparation an intending bidder should conduct prior to the client’s release of the formal market call documentation.

I have developed, tested and consistently employed this series of pre-probity bid management steps over the course of the past dozen years. It’s been refined now to the point where it represents a logical, comprehensive, streamlined framework – and ensures a strategy-based, high quality end-submission.

Stage One :

Collation and sharing of the existing information resulting from all previous prospect/client meetings and communications.

Prior to the conduct of any bid strategy formulation sessions, all information gathered by business development personnel needs to be corralled, co-ordinated, verified and expanded upon.

Stage Two :

Initial overview strategy session with management personnel responsible for selecting external partners and bid team members.

It’s critical to identify the most likely core elements of your intended approach (notwithstanding that this can, at this stage, be based only on pre-release research, communications and assumptions) before the selection of bid team participants and contributors, and before the selection of any joint venture partners, in order to ensure the assembled team is relevant to that strategy .

Stage Three :

Identify external partners and team management.

Logical follow-on from Stage Three.

Stage Four :

Strategy session/s to map out an interim/likely strategy.

The Pursuit Leader / Business Development operatives, Bid Strategist and Bid Manager should work closely together to identify the most strategic participants for this early and initial (pre-release) bid strategy development session (or series of sessions).

The invitee list should focus tightly on those with direct client and project/contract experience , and relevant competitor knowledge , in order to ensure those participating have a valuable and specific contribution to make to the strategy development process.

Stage Five :

Production of a formal Interim Bid Strategy Document.

This forms an early blueprint for the approach to the EOI/RFP response. It also documents a clear “to do list”, to ensure identified knowledge gaps are filled.

(It needs to be recognised that although this will be based on the best information available at the time, it will be subject to any degree of change both before and after the client’s market call documentation is released.)

Stage Six :

Follow-through of Interim Strategy Document recommendations.

The Pursuit Leader and his or her team, the Bid Strategist, and the Bid Manager must work closely together in the collection of additional information and actioning of items directed by the Interim Strategy document.

This stage should include the identification of any Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) whose input may be required into any sub-strategies (flagged by the Interim Strategy document) for development.

Stage Seven :

Team education.

The opportunity exists – while Stage Six is being conducted – to assess the broader team’s (a) project knowledge base, and (b) relevant writing competencies, and to address these issues prior to the bid production phase.

Stage Eight :

Second strategy session and production of "anticipated final" Strategy Document.

The purpose of the second series of strategy sessions is to bring together the further information requested by the Interim Strategy document, firm up sub-strategies, and work with this new/refined input to develop the anticipated final strategy.

(Clearly, if the directives of the Interim Strategy Document have not been actioned, the value of outputs from these second sessions will be negatively impacted.)

This document will then form the final bid strategy blueprint, subject to its testing against the content and requirements of the actual RFP, upon release.

Stage Nine :

Customising of case studies and Curricula Vitae.

The bid strategy blueprint in hand, an immediate start can now be made on the production of customised case studies / project data sheets, contract/project-specific CVs, along with any other supporting documentation likely to be required as part of the submission.

Stage Ten :

Testimonial-gathering, in accordance with Strategy Document intentions and directions.

Similarly to Stage Nine, high-value testimonials should be sought from the most relevant of the bidder’s clients/customers.

Stage 11 :

Formulate brief for designers.

As a “heads up”, if the submission will be heavy in volume, a specifically-formulated written design brief – the essence of which is distilled from the Strategy Document – should be produced for design / production personnel. This should be supplemented by an oral presentation of the essential elements of the bid strategy.

Lengthy experience working directly with designers over many years has shown that the delivery of a clear, detailed and definitive design brief is essential to the design team’s development of a competent and strategic design concept proposal.

TO BID OR NOT TO BID

(Training Program)

It's a customised, deep-thinking process during which a valuable perspective of the client and the opportunity is built. When that is followed by a realistic self-analysis, the framework is in place for making a genuinely strategic, properly informed decision .

BEFORE THE CURTAIN FALLS

A Pre-Flight Checklist for Optimising Prospect Meetings Prior to Probity

(Training Program)

More often than not, the race is won before it starts.

COMING SOON

10 Reasons the A Team / B Team Bait-and-Switch Is A Flawed Strategy

Tue, 18 Feb 2025 03:43:00 GMT

There are reasons beyond the obvious that you really don’t want to be one of those tenderers that engages in the flawed strategy of surreptitiously swapping out delivery team members for those of a lesser calibre, post-bid.

But let’s start with the "above the surface" reasons:

Depending upon how far down the food chain you’ve reached for your substitute team members, you’re taking a performance-based risk on multiple fronts – from those in hard core commercial areas right through to safety issues.

You’re demonstrating either an inability to plan and forward-schedule work and projects, or an inherent non-trustworthiness. Or both. Going forward, that non-trustworthiness and/or incompetence will see your general credibility compromised in the eyes of the client.

Now let’s look at the more insidious, "below the surface" ramifications of swapping out "A Team" members with "B Team" members.

Actually, if we are honest here and with specific reference to the civil infrastructure sector, it’s not unheard of that it’s worse than a "B Team" for "A Team" swap-out. Some contractors have been known to roll out the F Troop. There’s no way that strategy, or any part thereof, can ever be excused by the client or project owner, to whom it will now be clear that you should never have submitted a bid in the first place.

That eroded trust factor will cast suspicion over your honesty in, for example, variations. So – whether you’ve been honest or not – if you’ve gone as far as presenting the C Team, the D Squad or F Troop – you’ll be on the back foot in terms of the client’s attitude towards you in any negotiations that need to be had during the project or contract.

If this project or service delivery doesn’t go swimmingly well, a default conclusion by the project owner or client will be that the lesser calibre of team members likely contributed significantly to a compromised or non-optimal out-turn.

In the mind of the client, if you’ve pulled this stunt once, you’ll likely do it again. That doesn’t augur well for your chances in future contracts for which you may want to bid.

Used in accordance with a savvy strategy, testimonials are powerful inclusions in submissions. Thus, every testimonial you are able to collect from a completed delivery, or even a delivery in progress, is of immense value. What sort of a testimonial are you going to get from a client with a sour taste in his or her mouth over a disingenuous move like substituting key personnel?

Sin begets sin. Once moral standards are compromised in one area of a project, the bar gets lowered in others. Often, it becomes a systemic problem for the business as a whole.

The “uneven wheel” syndrome: Bringing in personnel of a lower calibre / qualification / experience level than the remaining original members of the team, stands to cause disgruntlement in those members, and potentially, to de-stabilise the dynamics within the delivery team as a whole.

If an individual is elevated “above their pay grade” and into a project that they’re not truly up to, when that individual leaves your employ and your project is included on the CV his new employer submits for future bids, a savvy tender evaluator – who’s been around for a while – is going to look at the calibre of individual you put on projects you win.

Don’t Under-Estimate That Last Point

The individual who found himself or herself “over-recognised” by inclusion on a project that he or she shouldn’t have been, is going to herald that entry on their CV prominently. And you were, of course, their employer at the time.

TO BID OR NOT TO BID

(Training Program)

CRACKING THE VfM CODE IN COLLABORATIVE CONTRACTING

(Book Duo)

Book 1 in the 'Code' duo is a weighty 350-page production that provides an unprecedented degree of insight into what it takes to produce a consistent record of value-for-money results in major public infrastructure projects.

Completing the 'Code' duo, Book 2 offers insightful and authoritative mentorship and intelligence on winning high-value, collaborative contracting bids.

NB: Each book is a fully self-contained, stand-alone production in its own right .

Don’t Let Your RFP Responses Read Like A Procedures Manual

Tue, 18 Feb 2025 03:40:00 GMT

Some questions in a client organisation’s Request for Proposal (RFP) documentation appear to invite particularly standardised answers . . . and bidders usually give in to the temptation to cut and paste their responses from the last 17 submissions they produced.

After all, how do you make the answers to such standard, black-and-white, non-subjective sections anything other than a standard response?

Easily.

You get inside the client’s or customer’s head .

To avoid coming off like a cut-and-paste, a textbook, or an excerpt from your procedures and policies manual, don’t even put fingers to keyboard until you’ve thought deeply about the following points, as they relate to the specific question the client’s documentation is asking:

What is the client’s underlying concern?

What are they seeking comfort about?

Is this a test question in some way?

In fact, a sharp bid strategist and bid writer will use these apparently standard RFP sections as an opportunity to demonstrate how your specific systems facilitate or underpin your central bid strategy and its key component themes.

For example, let’s say the following question is posed by the client’s documentation:

"Provide details of your program management approach to projects of this size and nature."

As bid strategist, you might prompt your team’s thinking by asking:

“What critical elements of our program management procedures will be particularly beneficial to this project, given everything we know about it so far?”

And, "How have these elements of our program management system worked particularly well on other projects of this type? What potential problems did they ensure against?"

A System That's Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts

Also, systems and procedures usually involve a variety of component parts .

Thus, in outlining these component parts, you have the opportunity to highlight any that will be particularly important in the context of this particular project or procurement.

State why, and what actions you’re planning to place extra emphasis on, in order to mitigate risks that are particularly pertinent to this project.

Approached like this, even the most standard RFP questions represent an opportunity to demonstrate your deep understanding of the procurement and its associated challenges and required benefits.

CRACKING THE VfM CODE

How to Identify & Deliver Genuine Value for Money in Collaborative Contracting

Book 1 in the 'Code' duo, this weighty 350-page, high-quality paperback production offers an unprecedented degree of insight into what it takes to produce a consistent record of value-for-money results in major public infrastructure projects.

The result of two years’ background research and investigation, it features numerous up-close-and-personal interviews with industry, thought and opinion leaders from around Australia, New Zealand and further afield, and captures in detail all aspects of the energetic and robust “VfM” debate.

CRACKING THE VfM CODE IN COLLABORATIVE CONTRACT BIDDING

Value for Money . . . Understanding It & Articulating Your Ability to Deliver It

Completing the 'Code' duo, Book 2 offers insightful and authoritative mentorship and intelligence on winning high-value, collaborative contracting bids.

The duo's collective insights provide a powerful competitive advantage for any organisation wanting to sharpen its understanding of “VfM”, and to demonstrate – through its bids – its ability to apply that working knowledge to a client’s project.

Prepared Frontline Personnel Make for Better Quality Bid Strategy

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Mon, 17 Feb 2025 01:36:52 GMT

Key to ensuring quality inputs to a bid strategy effort is, in turn, ensuring the relevance, sensibility and comprehensiveness of notes (and verbal accompaniments) provided by the bidder’s Business Development Managers and other front-line personnel.

And the key to ensuring this relevance, sensibility and comprehensiveness is for these information-gathering parties to have first done the following:

Planned their conversation outline and questions asked of the client, from the perspective of those bid team members who will ultimately shape (a) the bid strategy, (b) the proposed offering, and (c) the submission document.

Reviewed their notations to ensure that any vagaries are corrected with the required clarity, that any information holes are filled adequately, and that any obvious questions have been anticipated (so that answers can be sought).

Before, during and after all communication opportunities, those in these front-line, client-facing roles must be cognisant that they (and sometimes, they alone) are tasked with ferreting out critical bid-winning insights on behalf of all the various specialist roles in both the bid and delivery teams.

BID COMMANDOS
On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

(Training Program)

A comprehensive 11-module course to ensure your team excels at every stage of a formal bidding process - from the initial bid/no bid analysis, right through to the client de-briefing session/s.

BEATING THE BIG BOYS AT BIDS

(Training Program)

Capitalise on the natural advantages of being a smaller, more agile - and potentially, more aware - operator than your corporate competitors.

In this five-module training program, I'll guide your team, in real-time, as it prepares for, and participates in, a formal tendering process.

(Equally applicable for producing proactive proposals and participating in less formal processes.)

Why Detailed Documentation of Client Transmissions Is Critical

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Mon, 17 Feb 2025 01:23:46 GMT

Unbeknownst to most of my clientele, I once completed (well, almost, just two weeks short of the finish line) an Officer Training Cadetship at Australia’s most prestigious military academy, the Royal Military College of Duntroon.

One day my unit’s staff sergeant had us fall in and play “Chinese Whispers”. You know, the party game during which one person whispers a message to the person next to (or, in our case, behind) them, with that individual passing it on to the next, and so on. ( NB: In the United States, this game is apparently referred to more commonly as “Telephone” or “Gossip”.)

The inaccuracies compound as the game progresses and the message is transmitted on down the line.

In a party context, the purpose of the game is pure entertainment, with the final transmission rarely even remotely recognisable against the original message – and, invariably, nonsensical and hilarious.

Don’t Over-Estimate Yourself

However, you’d think that a unit of young, serious-minded, keen-eared officer cadets with a savage staff sergeant breathing down our necks, would do a better job of retaining the integrity of the message as he communicated it to the first cadet in the line.

Not so.

Years later, I recall neither the original message nor the hilarious result of its being passed down our six-man and one-woman line-up, but let’s just say it probably went something like the following.

Original message:

The enemy will be positioned behind the red brick building, on the right, two miles over the border line, with full combat weaponry and orders to eliminate anyone approaching from the northeast.

Final version:

The whales are going to die soon, so meet me behind the brick wall.

Capture the Macro, the Micro, and the Minutiae

What I’d like to achieve with this little story from my Army days is to have you, the all-important first point of prospective client/customer interface, understand how critical it is for you to document – clearly and in detail – the macro, the micro, and the minutiae of each meeting or other form of meaningful frontline interchange.

The quality of the bid strategy (i.e. that which informs the end submission) is dependent, first and foremost, upon the accuracy and comprehensiveness of the information you derive from your communications with the client or customer. And, as you can see, the more concrete the condition in which you pass on these discoveries, observations and conclusions, the less chance they have of being diluted, misinterpreted or just plain lost in the communications chain within your organisation.

Some companies have invested in software programs (often little more than basic online forms) for the capture of meeting proceedings and other customer/client dialogues. Generally, I’m not in favour of these. Certainly, the ones I’ve been exposed to, in effect, discourage any real depth or thought development by the business development (BD) operative, salesperson or other client-interfacing individual.

However, they’re vastly more preferable than the common alternative: nothing.

Urgency is Key to Comprehensiveness

A key to producing the most valuable ( read: comprehensive, detailed and accurate ) notes following any meeting or communication is to do it as soon as you possibly can after that event.

And I do mean ASAP.

On one particularly business-critical (i.e. for my client) pursuit in which I took the role of bid strategist, I had the two-person tag team appointed to meet with the client, call me from their parked car immediately they left that meeting - dictating to me the content and conclusions of the interchange, while it was fresh in their minds.

This was the difference between seven pages of invaluable client and competitor insights versus the likely alternative: half a page of sketchy bullet points produced later that week from a greatly diluted memory of the one-time-only hour-and-a-half meeting.

Those seven pages of sharply focused, technicolour detail provided the foundation of the bid strategy, and the guideposts for considerable further research – research that led to unveiling nearly every other competitor’s likely strategy and related “USP” (Unique Selling Point).

When added to the insights the client representatives gave us into their world, we were able to formulate an offering that overcame almost every major challenge (which were numerous) that the client organisation either had or perceived itself to be struggling with. What’s more we overcame these with elements that we were reasonably confident no competitor either could, or possessed sufficient insights to be able to, table.

A Simple Pre-Planning Practice

The point I’d like to return to here, is that producing such a high-quality bid strategy, and formulating such an on-the-money offering, was only possible due to the quality of the coalface, primary information captures.

In addition to developing a strong sense of urgency for documenting the proceeds of a client meeting, I’ll make one further recommendation:

For quality of insight and information capture, pre-format a simple notepad with a list of headings – each heading representing an area of questioning and “drill down” that you intend to pursue with the client.

Ideally, the client won’t be phased by your request for permission to jot down basic notes during your discussion. The headings and subheadings in such a pre-formatted capture document will act as valuable prompts when you go to expand, after the meeting, on the detail of your in-situ jottings.

BID COMMANDOS
On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

(Training Program)

A comprehensive, 11-module course to ensure your team excels at every stage of a formal bidding process - from the initial bid/no bid analysis, right through to the client de-briefing session/s.

HOW TO INNOVATE IN BIDS

(Training Program)

"Innovation" in the context of the big-ticket bidding space takes on a very specific definition.

It’s the bidder that demonstrates a deep and genuine grasp of this definition – and stays tightly guided by it in the “innovative approach” it is asked to propose in its submission – that is most likely to be successful.

Productivity Secrets of Super-Prolific Writers (Part Three)

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Sun, 16 Feb 2025 22:23:20 GMT

In the third and final Part of this series of recommendations on productivity, I’ll give you a window into how multiple-title non-fiction authors (of which I’m one) maintain a steady flow of published books (often while running some form of business in parallel and also "having a life").

Here are my final three tips on achieving writing “super-productivity”:

1) Invest in Axe-Sharpening Time

‘Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.’

– Abraham Lincoln

What is it you want your writing to achieve? What’s its macro-objective? What are the micro-objectives? Who is your target audience? What’s its current degree of knowledge on your topic? What’s its current mindset? Can that audience be categorised collectively? Do its members require more granular analysis?

These are just a very few of the questions to which a competent, efficient writer gives deep thought before putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard.

Invest this time up front and you’ll write with greater clarity and greater speed. And you’ll spend less time re-writing.

2) Do Your Research Thoroughly

‘Resist the temptation to try to use dazzling style to conceal weakness of substance.’

– Stanley Schmidt

Why do so many Expression of Interest (EOI) and Request for Proposal (RFP) responses (by way of example) go through time-consuming re-write after re-write after re-write?

One of the biggest reasons after (1) above i.e. lack of planning and consequent lack of clarity - and closely related to that – is that a lack of research has resulted in a lot of waffle.

They read poorly. And that’s being kind.

They read poorly because they’re trying to smoke over a lack of solid facts and genuine insights.

Which, in turn, is due to a lack of research. Proper research. Real research. Meaningful research.

Think deeply about the facts, statistics and insights you would do well to be in possession of before you sit down to write , and when you do sit down . . . once you’ve organised those facts into a logical, flowing order, you’ll write like the wind.

3) Keep A Recording Device or Notepad Handy

‘The best time for planning a book is while you’re doing the dishes.’

– Agatha Christie (Best-selling author of all time, her murder mysteries and other works of crime-and-detective fiction having sold four billion copies in more than 100 languages.)

Those who genuinely think about what they write before they sit down to write it, know that thoughts on their intended subject matter can come to them anywhere, any time.

It’s tempting to tell yourself you’ll recall these thoughts later – especially when they come at logistically inconvenient times. The fact is, it’s rare that you will actually remember these valuable nuggets. So take the time to write them down, as and when they flow into your mind. You won’t regret it . . . but you will regret being unable to recall them when the time comes to put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard.

I often carry a little dictaphone (the type lawyers use) in my handbag. Likewise a small notepad. And when I’m hit by a bolt of brilliance I take the time to stop and record the full detail, rather than risk not being able to get the thread back later. A few keywords won’t do. If it was a thought worth recording, it was a thought worth not losing.

BID-WRITING LESSONS FROM THE WORLD'S GREATEST AUTHORS

(Book)

History’s literary greats have much to teach the writers of today. No-one, however, could benefit more from becoming a student of these masters of the written word than the commercial bid writer.

BID-WRITING LESSONS FROM THE WORLD'S GREATEST AUTHORS

(Six-Pack)

This illuminating (and fun) little read is an assembly of the enduring and pithily expressed wisdom of over 100 authors, strategists, philosophers and other accomplished figures.

Well worth putting one on the desk of everyone in your writing team.

Your Strategy Blueprint: 'Big Picture' or 'Join the Dots'?

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Fri, 14 Feb 2025 15:52:11 GMT

You’ll notice that – in all relevant Pursuits Academy content – I take the opportunity to remind business development operatives, bid strategists and bid managers of the absolute criticality, of producing a formal, detailed and comprehensive bid strategy document to inform the content of the submission and to guide the individual section authors.

I’m often asked, “Should this be a ‘big picture’ thematic document, or a join-the-dots, able-to-be-cut-and-pasted-into-the-response type of resource?”

My answer: Ideally, it will be both.

Certainly, though, it will be the former. While it is acknowledged that some team members would like such a document to comprise fully self-contained, “cut and paste-able” components, it often serves a better purpose to simply lay out the document under headings likely to align with the client’s required response format.

This allows each contributing author to pluck and paste in support of his or her own section/case-being-made. This way the author is not steamrolled into following what may be a too-narrow content outline.

Additionally, a bid strategy must first be grasped holistically , so that its component parts can be communicated with full impact and relevance to the client’s all-important “big picture”.

THINK AND WIN BIDS
Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Book)

The three fundamental skills of a genuinely sharp, sustainably successful bid/proposal/tender professional are the ability to think, listen and ask quality questions .

Furthermore, formulating successful business development and bid strategies is the process of well-directed research and thinking ; not the product of tools and templates.

THINK AND WIN BIDS
Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Six-Pack)

Ideal to ensure your entire team of writers and contributing subject matter experts are all on the same page, Think and Win Bids is offered as a six-pack (six books for the price of five).

One Question To Move Any Sale Forward (or Remove It from the Radar)

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Wed, 12 Feb 2025 23:26:13 GMT

Next time you’re trying to move a stalled deal (i.e. one that’s not subject to the release of a formal tendering process) towards a close, pose this question:

“What can we do to make this work for you?”

This simple question eliminates the futility of trying to figure out what you need to do or say to bag the business.

Conversely, it gets the prospect to tell you exactly what their organisation needs to be assured of, or be offered, to be convinced to move forward conclusively.

Excerpted and adapted from source material: Charles, Marc, “10 Words to Close Any Sale,” Early to Rise.

TO BID OR NOT TO BID

(Training Program)

It's a customised, deep-thinking process during which a valuable perspective of the client and the opportunity is built. When that is followed by a realistic self-analysis , the framework is in place for making a genuinely strategic, properly informed decision.

HOW TO INNOVATE IN BIDS

(Training Program)

‘Innovation’ in the context of the big-ticket bidding space takes on a very specific definition.

It’s the bidder that demonstrates a deep and genuine grasp of this definition – and stays tightly guided by it in the “innovative approach” it is asked to propose in its submission – that is likely to be successful.

Edit Out Wasteful Words

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Wed, 12 Feb 2025 22:35:20 GMT

Edit out wasteful words, for example:

“held a meeting” = “met”

“put in an appearance” = “appeared”

“reached an agreement” = “agreed”

“submitted her resignation” = “resigned”

“in the event of” = “if”

“in view of the fact that” = “because”

50 ESSENTIAL BID-WRITING TIPS
Must-Know Standards, Methods & Insights for Writing Compelling Bids, Tenders and Proposals

(Book)

Available individually or as a six-pack (6 for the price of 5) .

THE BID WRITER'S STYLE & GRAMMAR GUIDE

(Book)

Your organisation’s credibility hangs on the quality of your writing and the standards it reflects.

Available individually or as a six-pack (6 for the price of 5) .

Take Advantage of the Competition’s Arrogance

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Wed, 12 Feb 2025 22:32:56 GMT

I’ve written copiously about the advantage corporations create for small and medium-sized enterprises when these larger organisations exercise an arrogant attitude – as, unfortunately for them, they so often do.

In this article, I’ll give you a window of insight into how arrogance shows up in bid documentation tabled by arrogant B2B enterprises.

It comes down to this: If those frontline personnel responsible for a company’s sales think they already know it all then, in general, they’re unlikely to listen with the required intensity to pick up the vital clues that will help them differentiate their offering from those of their competitors. And they’re unlikely to have developed sufficient understanding of the client or customer organisation to feed back to their bid teams the quality of information and the depth of detail required to produce a genuinely client-centric Expression of Interest, Request for Tender, or other form of proposal.

So let’s see what the end-product of a know-it-all approach looks like in practice. For the purpose, let’s discuss the most valuable piece of proposal real estate: the Executive Summary .

There are three fundamental flaws that show up consistently in this all-important front piece. Each is the product of an insufficient appreciation of the client or customer organisation’s bigger picture, its priorities, its concerns – and all the other elements of understanding that would have resulted from competent information-gathering and a humble mindset.

Fundamental Flaw No. 1:

‘We, Our, Us’

Most Executive Summaries I see are self-focused to some degree. Some to a very considerable degree.

I once evaluated a bid, the Executive Summary of which featured the seller’s name no less than 17 times in a short series of introductory paragraphs.

You might laugh at that, but a large percentage of Executive Summaries end up with the seller’s or service provider’s name (or “We”, “Our” and “Us”) at the beginning of most paragraphs.

Other Executive Summaries start out talking about the client, but only as a prelude to a monologue about their own capabilities and credentials . . . often not taking the time to fully draw out the client-specific, contract-specific, or project-specific relevance of these.

Fundamental Flaw No. 2:

A No-WIIFM ‘Win Theme’

Many corporate bid teams wax on about “win themes”. Yet their “win themes” are usually all about themselves, their product or service, and what makes them so superior. And all in the most self-focused, self-congratulatory, unsubstantiated manner.

What they fail to recognise is that the interest a prospective client or customer has in any service provider or product supplier, is directly proportionate to how relevant that provider or supplier has made itself to that client or customer – the “What’s In It For Me” factor.

To draw that relevance requires listening skills. And to be a truly effective listener requires an open mind and an attitude of humility.

And so results an Executive Summary – and often, in fact, a whole proposal – that is peppered with empty “brochureware” statements such as “best in class”, “world’s best practice”, or “cutting-edge technology” . . . and precious little clue as to what value this self-proclaimed grandeur brings to the client organisation in its specific set of circumstances.

Fundamental Flaw No. 3:

Fluffing Out with Filler Copy

“We are excited by the opportunity to embark on this project with XYZ Corporation, and we look forward to bringing unparalleled skill and experience to drive your objectives forward.”

Or, how to spin 29 words out of nothing to fill space at the beginning of an Executive Summary.

Do executives and bid teams really write this sort of filler material in all-important pieces like the Executive Summary?

Yes. And, yet again, they do it because they haven’t listened to the client, asked quality questions, and formulated a bid strategy from a position of true understanding of that customer’s world. If, in fact, they have formulated anything that represents a genuine bid strategy at all – since they may have considered such an activity expedient, given their self-perceived knowledge of the client or customer.

Such are the very common weaknesses of large and supposedly highly skilled corporate bid teams. And such are the competitive advantages of the nimble and more attitudinally flexible SME that recognises the value of assuming nothing, taking the time to conduct quality research, crafting high-value questions, adopting an attitude of humility and employing strong listening skills, then taking detailed heed of the answers and using these as the foundation of a customer-centric bid strategy.

Even if that SME’s offering were no better in any tangible regard than its larger competitors’, all else being equal, its proposal would stand an excellent chance of hitting enough hot buttons to pip the bigger guys at the post.

BEATING THE BIG BOYS AT BIDS

(Training Program)

Capitalise on the natural advantages of being a smaller, more agile - and potentially, more aware - operator than your corporate competitors.

(Equally applicable for producing proactive proposals and participating in less formal processes.)

THE ART OF THE DEBRIEF

(Training Program)

A two-module learning experience that can be delivered in real-time, as your team prepares for their participation in any especially important debriefing session.

Insider Terminology . . . Use It At Your Peril

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Wed, 12 Feb 2025 09:18:15 GMT

When you pepper your bids, proposals and other client communications with your own in-house jargon, you demonstrate your inward, internal, self-focused thinking.

You give him or her the clear message that you are either unable or unwilling to think or communicate from any perspective other than your own / your company’s.

And you indicate to them that they’ll have to constantly make the effort to interpret you and your position, rather than vice versa, as it should in fact be.

To prevent this internal speak and in-house or industry jargon, pair up with someone who can competently and knowledgeably role-play a representative from the customer / client organisation (i.e. someone who KNOWS the customer organisation’s relevant personnel).

Read the copy aloud to that person and have them stop you as soon as they hear a word, term or phrase with which they are unfamiliar, or that smacks of your company’s internal processes and philosophies.

Better still, read the copy aloud to several people role-playing a variety of the client’s key personnel. That way, you’ll also pick up on language that may be too technical for some.

THINK AND WIN BIDS
Winning High-Stakes, High-Value Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Book)

Ideal to ensure your entire team of writers and contributing subject matter experts are all on the same page, Think and Win Bids is offered as a six-pack (6 books for the price of 5), as well as individually.

BID COMMANDOS

On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

(Training Program)

BID COMMANDOS is the ultimate "anti-template" system, and a perfect action step-based accompaniment to my flagship book, Think and Win Bids (see opposite).

This blockbuster 11-module training can be timed for delivery in tandem with your team's preparation for, and participation in, a mission-critical bid.

Pre-Bid Communication That Prospects Will Appreciate

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Wed, 12 Feb 2025 06:57:39 GMT

Five tips for cementing your company, your service or product, and yourself in a prospect’s mind, long before the formal bid phase:

1. Source credible, neutral information; content from reliable, independent sources. Buyers value pertinent information that’s truthful and unbiased.

2. Seek out research and benchmarks. Give them solid, independent data they
can use to make a case to their stakeholders.

3. Curate it carefully. Don’t do a data dump. It won’t impress them. It risks annoying them, with otherwise valuable material. Show them the full extent of your intelligence by excerpting and quoting in accordance with their needs and issues.

4. Give them news they can use: tips, techniques, independent evaluations, feedback from users that you’ve found elsewhere than your own marketing department.

5. Source case studies that feature peer organisations making similar procurement decisions or employing similar procurement methodologies. Help buyers see products and solutions in the context in which they will be rolled out in their own environments.

It’s about showing your integrity, your diligence, and your understanding of their world, their vision, their experiences, and their issues.

BID COMMANDOS

On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

(Training Program)

BID COMMANDOS is my "blockbuster", comprehensive, 11-module training program.

BEATING THE BIG BOYS AT BIDS

(Training Program)

Capitalise on the natural advantages of being a smaller, more agile - and potentially, more aware - operator than your corporate competitors.

A five-module learning experience available for delivery in tandem with your team's efforts as you prepare for, and participate in, any pursuit during which your enterprise is competing with larger or higher-tier organisations.

To Avoid Last-Week Panic, Adopt A Sense of Urgency Throughout

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Wed, 12 Feb 2025 06:14:15 GMT

Where a bid team operates with at least a moderate sense of urgency from the outset, this (generally) eliminates the need to enter into panic mode in the bid’s closing stages.

In my experience, there is a direct correlation between the sense of urgency attributed to the early stages of a submission process, and the stress either experienced or avoided in its final stages.

Where the bulk of the writing and production activity is compressed into the latter stages of the bid process – lack of control, un-exercised opportunities, inaccuracies and a general lack of quality control result.

Keep It Moving

It’s important to keep all components of the overall bid production process continually moving, as any singular point of unnecessary delay e.g. in the completion of the strategy workshops, in the production of the strategy blueprint, or in the individual section authors’ camps can result in a collective bottleneck.

Bottlenecks also occur within each process area itself. For example, if you’ve scheduled the editing process such that the various section authors’ contributions arrive in for editing in a neatly staggered manner, but some of the writers miss their deadlines, you’ll end up with a jam-up on the editor’s desk.

An early and consistent sense of urgency allows for a more realistic number of editing rounds (and re-writes, which are necessary in the majority of cases), along with a macro-level, across-the-submission edit, to ensure the response reads as one cohesive, flowing and comprehensive document.

Bids, Stress & Sustainability

There’s another reason to avoid the common scene at the end of the submission timeframe.

For most large B2B and B2G organisations, major bids are not one-off or sporadic events. They’re a back-to-back, year-around way of life.

In many cases, developing this early start / moderate sense of urgency approach to submissions helps ensure personnel get to operate in a physically and psychologically sustainable manner.

See the following articles, also in the Bid Management section of Pursuits Academy:

‘The 11 Stages of Competent & Comprehensive Pre-Probity Bid Management’

‘The 13 Stages of Competent & Comprehensive Post-EOI/RFP/RFT-Release Bid Management’

‘Set Priorities & Nail Them One At A Time’

BID COMMANDOS

On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

(Training Program)

BID COMMANDOS is my "blockbuster", comprehensive, 11-module training program.

It's intricately formulated to ensure your team excels at every stage of a formal bidding process . . . from the initial bid/no bid analysis, through research and intelligence-gathering, through the strategy development and documentation process, through strategic and compelling writing and competent editing, and on through the shortlistee presentation stage, right through to optimisation of client de-briefing session/s.

BEATING THE BIG BOYS AT BIDS

(Training Program)

Capitalise on the natural advantages of being a smaller, more agile - and potentially, more aware - operator than your corporate competitors.

(Equally applicable for producing proactive proposals and participating in less formal processes.)

Swap the Dry, 'Academic' Writing Style for An Approach that WORKS

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Tue, 11 Feb 2025 15:32:40 GMT

Many contributors to Expression of Interest (EOI) and Request for Proposal (RFP) responses are still writing in an overly-dry, benefit-burying "academic" style. Or, at the completely opposite end of the scale, doing an outstandingly amateur job of mimicking advertising copywriters.

Or worse still, their writing style is a hybrid of the two.

This is especially true of the civil engineering sector, where many of the contributors to a submission are engineers, or the like, by profession.

They’ve been taught to write in an “academic” style and it’s all they know. So they either stay in that mold when authoring a bid section, or they think it necessary to slip into hard-core sales-speak. They don’t understand the vast space between the two extreme and undesirable ends of the spectrum.

I’ve been pointing this out in my evaluations of client documentation for years, as a priority issue, but often, little changes. Why? Primarily because, as far as corporate bid teams go, as fast as that problem is solved in a team, new un-initiates are rolled into subsequent bids. It’s like sweeping back a mudslide with a hand broom.

What are the keys to taking raw information and turning it into an authoritative, highly readable, conclusive and compelling section response?

First, the basics. (Let’s concern ourselves with “style” after we’ve nailed these):

1. First and foremost – answer the question.

If capitals in website copy didn’t come across as “shouting”, I’d constantly find myself writing “answer the question” in bold, capitals, underscored, with asterisks on either side, across the bid documentation I evaluate.

Seriously.

Getting carried away with a sales spiel or thinking a tender evaluator won’t notice that you’ve smoked over the inability to satisfy the intention of the specific question both lead to the same result: Minimised points for that section. And massive erosion of the overall credibility of the submission.

2. Have and USE A guiding bid strategy document.

Most organisations are still doing it: Expecting their section authors or dedicated bid writers (whether in-house or external) to produce copy without sufficient guidance by way of an overall, underlying strategy.

Many organisations are hiring in facilitators (who are rarely qualified to call themselves anything remotely resembling “strategists”) who produce a plethora of overly-basic, group-think-driven assumptions in key point form on butcher’s paper. The “war room” walls are then papered with these “outputs” and the entrapped-within writers are left to convert this, for themselves, into some form of guiding strategy.

3. Have section authors plan out their content, in order of intended fact roll-out, and submit this to the appropriate party before letting them commence writing.

If you fail to implement this policy, then it’s almost guaranteed that those section authors who are not writers by profession, and/or have had no training in writing skills, will launch into a stream-of-consciousness outflow of directionless sentences and paragraphs.

There will likely be a disconnectedness between paragraphs, and a lack of logical progression to the roll-out of facts.

Think I’m being uncharitable? Produce as many evaluations as I have in the past 18 years and then challenge me on that.

Now . . . having set the parameters and the process for a strategy-guided response, a logical flow, and a document that actually answers the client’s question/s, let’s look at what makes a piece of bid-writing compelling :

4. Go a quantum step further than simply applying the standard "Features vs Benefits" admonition.

The “state the benefit not the feature” admonition has long since become commonplace.

But there’s a special way to apply it in bids . . . because, in a bid, you know the specific reader of the document. It’s not a generic brochure with a multi-target audience.

Two points to be made here, and they both circle right back to diligence and thoroughness in the strategy development phase:

a) The deeper the understanding of the potential client and every facet of its contract/project and overall operating environment, the more immediately relevant these benefits can be made to the bid in question.

b) It’s not the writer’s job to identify these alignments. It’s the strategist’s job. And it’s the strategist’s job to get them into the guiding strategy document . It’s only the writer’s job to articulate them, and to do so in a compelling manner.

5. Now, get clever with your copywriting skills. Here are some of the “principles of the pros”.

First, understand the extent to which the nature of the piece you’re working on and the audience you’re writing to, allows you to write in a conversational tone.

Second, grab the evaluator’s attention by leading with the most compelling component of your section response. The rest of your answer and your facts should hang off that, developing logically from that as your entry point.

Keep your focus firmly on the reader (in this case, the potential client or customer) before turning to your own strengths and offering. In this way, you will have explained how everything you’re about to roll out about you , is relevant to them , their pain points, their sensitivities, their needs and their desires, and the specific boxes they have to tick with this particular procurement.

Weave in the key factors that of differentiation from the competition and make these immediately relevant to the potential client or customer.

Establish your credibility with relevant facts. Substantiate every claim you make, using quantified proof points wherever these are available. Don’t simply expect the evaluator to believe your claims. That’s an arrogant and presumptuous way to write. I call it “brochureware”.

Find a way to quantify the value of your offering. The starting point for this is to identify (through research, not assumption) precisely what constitutes “value” in the eyes of the potential client.

THINK AND WIN BIDS
Winning High-Stakes, High-Value Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Book)

The three fundamental skills of a genuinely sharp, sustainably successful bid professional are the ability to think, listen and ask quality questions .

Furthermore, formulating successful business development and bid strategies is the process of well-directed research and thinking ; not the product of tools and templates.

Available individually or as a six-pack (six books for the price of five).

BID COMMANDOS
On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

(Training Program)

BID COMMANDOS is my "blockbuster", comprehensive, 11-module training program.

Self-Editing Checkpoints for Bid Writers

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Tue, 11 Feb 2025 03:03:07 GMT

Always edit your work before handing it over to the bid manager, regardless of whether or not it will be the subject of further treatment by another writer or an editor.

Here are some questions to ask yourself:

Is my introductory paragraph compelling?

Have I proceeded to the main point/s as quickly as possible?

Have I established credibility on behalf of my company, where this is necessary?

Have I answered the question – directly, and in the required amount of detail?

Have I provided data and any other form of proof point necessary, with regard to any claim I have made?

Have I been clear in terms of the key messages I intended to communicate?

Have I framed the material from the client’s point of interest – in all regards?

Have I adhered closely to the themes, content and instructions of the guiding bid strategy document?

Have I employed these in a manner that helps to differentiate my company and our offering from the competition’s likely proposition?

Have I focused on communicating benefits; not just features?

Are my sentences and paragraphs of a reasonable (and preferably, a varied) length?

Are my sentences complete?

Have I ended paragraphs and started new ones according to a clear progression of logic in my material?

Have I been clear and concise? Can I cut out any unnecessary words?

Have I written to express, rather than to impress? Have I avoided flowery and/or fashionable language?

Are all my facts relevant?

Have I explained any facts and observations that, from the evaluator’s perspective, require it?

Have I checked my copy for spelling and grammatical errors (particularly those I know I commonly make)?

Have I avoided the over-use of industry jargon? Have I explained any jargon, where it won’t be familiar to the evaluator?

Have I avoided the use of my company’s own internal-speak and other terminology that the evaluator may not fully understand, and therefore may have to guess at?

Have I read my copy allowed to a disinterested party, to experience the valuable phenomenon of “hearing it through another’s ears”?

50 ESSENTIAL BID-WRITING TIPS

Must-Know Standards, Methods & Insights for Writing Compelling Bids, Tenders and Proposals

(Book)

Intentional successful bids are guided by a strategy that is well-researched, customer-centric / client-centric, substance-based, savvily-formulated, and documented in detail.

Available individually or as a six-pack (six books for the price of five).

THE BID WRITER'S STYLE & GRAMMAR GUIDE

(Book)

This reference and tuition manual has been written both for the professional bid writer and for those subject matter experts contributing submission content.

While first and foremost a “style and grammar guide”, I have taken the opportunity to also provide tuition on many other aspects of effective bid-writing - including the basic principles of strategy, as the essential foundation of a high-quality proposal.

Exercised diligently, these core principles and practices will see you produce not only grammatically correct and highly readable, but also strategic and compelling , submissions.

How to Help Your Bid Writers Sharpen the Quality of Their Outputs

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Mon, 10 Feb 2025 16:17:14 GMT

To a very large degree, the effectiveness of the bid writer’s output is only ever going to be as good as the quality of the strategist’s product.

The writer’s ability to produce a truly client-focused and compelling final product is contingent upon your having first formulated a solid bid strategy . . . and having produced a comprehensive, solid, written guiding blueprint.

Tip No. 1 – Clarity of Strategy

A clear strategy paves the way for clear articulation.

As in strategy, so in articulation.

Never put pen to paper on an important, high-value submission without first producing a documented blueprint of your substance and intended content.

Tip No. 2 – Benefits vs Features

Think and write in terms of benefits, more so than features.

Be cognisant, therefore, of the distinction between benefits and features i.e. the benefit results from the feature.

Join the dots for the client organisation and its evaluation team members; don’t leave them to extrapolate the benefit from the feature for themselves.

(A rider here: If you’re selling to engineers or other “technical” buyers, don’t omit features – but do make sure you explain their benefits in the context of the project or procurement in question.)

Tip No. 3 – Straight Answers

Answer the question.

Don’t devolve into evasive writing because you don’t know how to answer a question, or because you have insufficient material to address it with substance.

Have the integrity to correct the problem at its source, seeking out the information you need, or going back into the planning room if your content is lacking as a result of an incomplete or incoherent strategy.

Tip No. 4 – Substantiate Your Claims

Don’t let a lack of substantiation erode your credibility.

One of the most common flaws in Expression of Interest (EOI) and Request for Proposal (RFP) responses is the proliferation of “empty” claims – claims made with no attempt to provide specific points of proof or any other form of substantiation.

Being guided by a formal, written strategy is the first step in ensuring against an empty, substance-less submission.

Tip No. 5 – Process, Don’t Parrot

Think for yourself.

You’ve heard the adage, “A consultant is someone who asks for your watch, tells you the time and charges you for it.”

A similar concept underlies the common tendency to either repeat verbatim, or to minimally re-phrase, large tracts of the client’s own EOI or RFP documentation. That demonstrates neither any conduct of your own research, nor employment of your own thought processes.

THINK AND WIN BIDS
Winning High-Stakes, High-Value Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Book)

The three fundamental skills of a genuinely sharp, sustainably successful bid professional are the ability to think, listen and ask quality questions.

Furthermore, formulating successful business development and bid strategies is the process of well-directed research and thinking; not the product of tools and templates.

50 ESSENTIAL BID-WRITING TIPS

Must-Know Standards, Methods & Insights for Writing Compelling Bids, Tenders and Proposals

(Book)

Intentional successful bids are guided by a strategy that is well-researched, customer-centric / client-centric, substance-based, savvily-formulated, and documented in detail.

Do Templates Have ANY Role to Play?

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Mon, 10 Feb 2025 01:26:47 GMT

It is, has always been, and always will be, my firm belief (and my consistently demonstrated experience) that the concept of “strategy” and the concept of a “template” are, at root, in direct conflict with each other.

Strategy is the output of deep, analytical and lateral thinking. By contrast, by their very nature, templates produce shallow (what I call “inch deep”) thinking.

It is not possible for it to be otherwise – regardless of the detail and complexity that may be built into any given template – because strategic thinking is not , by its very nature , linear.

Past a very shallow level, templates cannot effectively or efficiently direct the non-linear, nimble and fluid thinking required to produce an optimal, competitively superior strategy.

There Is An Exception

Templates, however, do have a role to play when a bid team doesn’t have a genuine strategist to lead it in its formulation of strategy.

BUT (critical qualifier follows) . . . the value of templates, even in that scenario, is only as “set sail” guideposts and final check points. Templates have no value as a singular and definitive tool for strategy formulation; they certainly do not represent a replacement for the deeply neural-driven, multi-layered thinking that produces a well-thought-out, detailed, well-knitted-together, comprehensive strategy.

The current trend towards making templates more prescriptive in an attempt to raise the quality of bid strategy outputs is, in fact, counterproductive.

It exacerbates a core problem: That current bid strategy sessions don’t take the investigation and think tank process either sufficiently wide or sufficiently deep ( width often being dictated by the findings of the depth of analysis, and thus not able to be predicted in a template).

At best , injecting further detail requirements into templates risks directing discussions and inputs down an artificial path i.e. a path that may not lead to the optimal end result in terms of strategy.

In my opinion, this is one of the primary factors contributing to the production of supplier-centric (versus genuinely client-focused) submissions and their largely “brochureware” content.

In the absence of the optimum strategy, or at the very least simply a quality strategy, the content of the ultimate submission is left, in large part, to the auspices of the individual section authors. And the result of that can - logically - be nothing more than a patchwork quilt of opinions and assumptions.

BID COMMANDOS
On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

(Training Program)

The ultimate "anti-template" system, and a perfect action step-based accompaniment to my flagship book, Think and Win Bids (see opposite) .

BID COMMANDOS is my "blockbuster", 11-Module course - that provides the option of my facilitated training in real-time, as you prepare for, and participate in, either a formal bid or a proactive pursuit .

THINK AND WIN BIDS
Winning High-Stakes, High-Value Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Book)

The three fundamental skills of a genuinely sharp, sustainably successful bid professional are the ability to think , listen and ask quality questions .

Furthermore, formulating successful business development and bid strategies is the process of well-directed research and thinking ; not the product of tools and templates.

How to Turn Raw Information into Bid-Winning Intelligence

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Sun, 09 Feb 2025 03:10:26 GMT

Whenever I start working with a company, the first thing its client-facing executives invariably tell me is how well they know the organisation they have submitted – or are about to submit – their latest bid to.

But here’s the interesting thing:

When I look at their bid documentation, very little of this supposed knowledge comes through . . . even in key, “qualitative” pieces like the Executive Summary.

Here’s the reality for most bidders:

For all their “confidence” over the quality of research supposedly conducted into, along with their confidence over the quality of the organisation’s relationship with, the prospective client – it doesn’t show up in what they present to those clients.

Why not?

There are three critical steps to making sure what you know about a client and its procurement not only informs your Expression of Interest (EOI) and Request for Proposal (RFP) responses, but that it wins them for you.

Note: Each of these three steps requires your Business Development (BD) and other client-facing executives to work closely with your bid production team and writers to ensure you’re getting key intermediary processes right.

The Concept Is Simple but Executing It Isn’t

These three steps are simple in principle – but executing and bringing them all together is often less than easy.

In summary, the three processes are:

1. Doing the right research and asking the right questions.

There are, in turn, three critical keys to asking the right questions.

They are:

Thorough and intelligent prior research (to enable strategic question planning);

Quick-mindedness (to know where to take the line of questioning from there) and tenacity (to follow that line all the way through), and

Listening skills par excellence (to hear both the content of the client’s answers and the underlying concerns and motivators).

2. Capturing the resultant information effectively and bringing it ‘home’ to the bid team to inform the bid strategy.

Let me say here that I have never yet seen the use of templates and software result in deep and meaningful (or any other definition of effective) information capture.

These generally produce surface-level, “one-sentence per field” or sketchy bullet-pointed information at best. They’re also considered an embuggerance by the BDs and salespeople . . . a post-event ruination of an otherwise enjoyable client interface.

To whatever extent it is possible to take at least keyword written notes during a client interface, this is greatly preferable. These should then be fleshed out at the earliest possible opportunity (in the client’s car park, even), to minimise the erosion of remembered points and detail.

3. Converting that raw information into intelligence.

There is a common misnomer in use in this field: it’s the use of “information” as synonymous with “intelligence”.

Information and intelligence are not the same thing. Information becomes intelligence only when it is taken apart, considered and processed in such a way that it becomes meaningful in the specific context of the pursuit or bid in question.

Unprocessed “information” is nothing more than raw data.

One of the classic approaches to converting “information” into “intelligence” is to take a piece of data and ask, “So What?” i.e. in terms of the pursuit in question.

The problem is, most strategists and their workshop participants don’t dig down deep enough:

The answer to a well-asked “So What?” will, more often than not, lead to another question . . . and that question will most likely be a quality question . In turn, the answer to that question must be found – or at least the best possible assumption made.

Thus, the process of converting information into intelligence has a number of layers, the number of which is not determinable from the outset. And the process of drilling down through those layers is most certainly not usefully guided by any form of “template” (although that’s the standard approach).

While the above is little more than a basic outline of the overall process, conduct these steps thoroughly and competently, and you’re light years ahead of most of the big-ticket bidders out there today.

BID COMMANDOS
On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

(Training Program)

BID COMMANDOS is my "blockbuster", comprehensive, 11-module training program.

THINK AND WIN BIDS
Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Book)

The three fundamental skills of a genuinely sharp, sustainably successful bid professional are the ability to think, listen and ask quality questions .

Furthermore, formulating successful business development and bid strategies is the process of well-directed research and thinking ; not the product of tools and templates.

Ideal to ensure all members of the bid team are, philosophically, on the same page, Think and Win Bids is also offered as a six-pack (six books for the price of five).

Produce Writing Guides If You Have Numerous Authors

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Fri, 07 Feb 2025 16:02:01 GMT

In the case of large and complex bids with numerous contributing subject matter experts, produce writing guides for the major sections of your Expression of Interest (EOI) or Request for Proposal (RFP) response.

Here are the basic steps:

Start each writing guide with an overview of your overarching bid strategy.

Then lift out all the elements of your bid strategy that relate to the section for which you’re producing the writing guide.

Arrange this information in an order that reflects the client’s EOI or RFP structure and questions.

Then provide any elaboration or further logic/tips for the writer/s of that section.

Your aim is to make the task of authoring their sections a paint-by-numbers exercise for your contributing authors.

If you yourself are a competent writer, you may go as far as producing tracts that the writer’s guide user/s can cut and paste into their own section response/s.

50 ESSENTIAL BID-WRITING TIPS
Must-Know Standards, Methods & Insights for Writing Compelling Bids, Tenders & Proposals

(Book)

Intentional successful bids are guided by a strategy that is well-researched, customer-centric / client-centric, substance-based, savvily-formulated, and documented in detail.

Available individually or as a six-pack (6 books for the price of 5).

BID COMMANDOS
On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

(Training Program)

BID COMMANDOS is my "blockbuster", comprehensive, 11-module training program.

Capture Your Conversational Content

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Thu, 06 Feb 2025 06:29:31 GMT

Often under-estimated, is the importance of capturing – in detail – both the content and conclusion of conversations with the prospective client organisation’s representatives.

The more socially-minded, talkative business development and sales operatives often feel it unnecessary to capture all the components and intricacies of discussions. Yet, if it was a well-planned and quality conversation, the majority of its content – if documented – stands to be of considerable value to the bid team subsequently tasked with formulating a bid strategy.

At the least , it will provide the bid team with an insight into the client’s thought processes as these crystalised themselves during the course of the conversation.

And at best , it will reveal the client organisation’s concerns and desires in detail, along with the reasons that organisation’s representatives hold these desires and have these concerns.

These insights offer valuable signposts for a bid team, in that they (a) potentially point to the offerings that will satisfy these desires, and (b) help identify the strengths and strategies that the bidder can table to mitigate any risks the client perceives.

TO BID OR NOT TO BID

(Training Program)

HOW TO INNOVATE IN BIDS

(Training Program)

‘Innovation’ in the context of the big-ticket bidding space takes on a very specific definition.

By Popular Request: More Infuriating Grammar Gaffes

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Thu, 06 Feb 2025 04:08:55 GMT

In ‘ Grammar Gaffes to Avoid In Bids ', I rolled out a list of common grammatical malfunctions I see in bid submissions.

It’s now clear that people at all levels within their respective organisations share my concern about the credibility-denting effect of poor grammar.

What’s also become particularly clear is that there’s a real irritation over the lack of basic grammatical knowledge by a significant proportion of the younger generation . . . you know, those for whom “texting” probably came before any real study of the English language and how to use it correctly.

That said, it’s probably my own generation that has the greater culpability in the matter, given that it’s my generation that should have taught them better. But, to leave the greater blame discussion for another forum, when personnel from the Millennial generation are tasked with contributing to submissions – believe it or not – I’m seeing some truly horrifying examples of poor schooling.

Some examples for you.

Writers who don’t know when to correctly use the word “than” , as opposed to “then” . . . as in:

( WRONG) “Should this occur, than we will implement the following contingency plan.”

( ALSO WRONG) “Our experience demonstrates this course of action is more effective then conventional responses.”

Writers who don’t know the difference between “your” and “you’re” (notwithstanding the fact that the contraction “you’re” has no place in bid writing) as in:

(WRONG) “We have given careful consideration to the issues your currently experiencing as regards consumables recycling.”

(ALSO WRONG) “ You’re systems will be monitored on a weekly basis.”

Writers who seem to think commas have replaced the traditional use of the full stop (and, worse still, that it serves no other function):

(WRONG) “This is a current area of focus for our organisation, we are deeply concerned about the impact upon local waterways.”

Writers who have never heard of the hyphen . . . as in:

( WRONG) ” . . . a 25 year old piece of equipment” . . . ” (as opposed to i.e. CORRECT ) “a 25-year-old piece of equipment”).

( WRONG) “A to be advised date", as opposed to ( CORRECT ) “a to-be-advised date.”

Or, worse still, clumsy, un-hyphenated conglomerations like (WRONG) “ proAustralian “, and (WRONG) “ semidetachable ” versus (CORRECT) “ pro-Australian ” and (CORRECT) “ semi-detachable .”

Writers who see no difference in their application of “ there ”, “ they’re ”, and “ their ”, or “ whose ” and “ who’s “.

The Disappearing Question Mark

My other beef with younger writers is their propensity to see question marks as unnecessary.

Where did this notion come from?

Perhaps they feel that avoiding the use of a question mark (where one is, in fact, necessary) makes their writing read more authoritatively. Who knows?

Whatever their reasoning, such a practice is grammatically incorrect. A question is a question and should be denoted as such with a concluding question mark.

Ironically, it seems just as many of these same young writers employ question marks when it is grammatically incorrect to do so:

(WRONG) “He asked what their labour turnover was? ” This question is indirect and does not require a question mark.

This is not, however, to be confused with the fact that a question mark is used to indicate a reflective question (although these instances occur primarily in spoken English: “You were showing a profit up until then?” )

So . . . let me have it. Am I just a grumpy grammar curmudgeon? Or do you share / continue to share my concern – and have a few of your own personal non-favourites to share with me?

THE BID WRITER'S STYLE & GRAMMAR GUIDE

(Book)

This reference and tuition manual has been written both for the professional bid writer and for those subject matter experts contributing submission content.

THE BID WRITER'S STYLE & GRAMMAR GUIDE

Your organisation’s credibility hangs on the quality of your writing and the standards it reflects.

Available individually or as a 6-pack (6 books for the price of 5).

(Six-Pack)

The Real Skill Set of A Peak-Performing Business Development Operative

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Thu, 06 Feb 2025 03:06:48 GMT

When an organisation’s leadership looks within for bottom-line improvement potential, it should – arguably – look first to its sales and business development teams.

From my observations, something basic is too often missing. That “something” is the alignment of personalities and sales modus operandi with the nature of the product or service to be sold.

In many organisations, there appears scant appreciation of the real skill set of a genuinely peak-performing salesperson or business development (“BD”) operative. With their unrealistic expectation that two generally opposing personality characteristics can be found in one person, most companies in high-value product – and particularly, service – sectors set the scene for a half-performance by a BD right there at the hiring stage.

Recruiters and their clients expect of BDs the personality, street smarts and sociability to “oil the wheels” of a relationship, along with the thick skin to take the rejection that also comes with the territory. At the same time, they expect him or her to possess the sensitivity to read and intuit the client, customer or project owner, along with the tenacity, inquisitiveness, logic, information-ordering, analytical and strategic thinking skills to comprehend that organisation’s bigger picture, and to identify a competitively superior and profitable solution.

Inquisitiveness, Tenacity, Logic & Strategic Thinking Ability

It’s a big ask of an individual. There’s the odd multi-talented superstar, but they’re rare. And in their absence, most companies take the honed social skills offering over the deep thinker.

I can cite the following example in which an established client of mine, acting on some level of recognition of this issue, called me in to perform the tasks they would have assigned to a BD of the latter variety, if they’d had one. It went like this:

One of Australia’s largest construction sector “tier ones” wanted to break into the highly coveted Defence market. It was a sector they’d not only neglected for at least half a decade but also one in which they had turned out a less-than-stellar project result prior to that.

The Australian Defence market was gearing up to enjoy some large and prestigious projects, and my client’s competitors had the majority toe-hold. To say the least, my client was coming from a long-shot and long-rusty position; the immediate priority was to understand the uncompromising world of Defence procurement, along with the characteristics and imperatives of the projects for which the company was qualified and wished to bid.

I investigated the status quo, and formulated a detailed, step-by-step strategy for the company to follow in achieving its desired turnaround image and performance with this audience. I also produced a detailed research piece and strategy for a flagship Defence project due to come to market within a year or two of that time, a project the company went on to win resoundingly.

The moral of the story lies in the asking of the question, “What if my client organisation had given that responsibility to any of the ‘wheel-oiler only’ BD types?”

Dysfunctional Communication Channels

The second issue leaders need to cast their eyes downward and notice is the often missing or dysfunctional communication channels from BDs back into the organisation – whether those links should be with bid team managers and members, subject matter specialists, or contract and procurement people.

Put simply, companies aren’t placing sufficient emphasis on the BD’s performance as a conduit of quality client or customer intelligence.

From my vantage point as a strategist in the pursuit arena, I can see that quality information isn’t being gathered to start with. Even less information of any real value is being conveyed back to the critical points within the organisation, to recipients who could analyse that information and feed it into the strategy formulation process, if one existed. Which it rarely does.

Some organisations, recognising at least the information-gathering and capturing component of the problem, hire in consultants or implement software-based document-and-share systems in an attempt to address the issue. I haven’t seen many work particularly well.

In a non-infrastructure example, one global IT corporation I consulted to (a company that placed exclusive value on wheel-oiling personality values in its BDs) endeavoured to solve this problem with a hideously expensive software program.

The BDs resisted it like the plague. To them, there was nothing more boring than returning from a nice long lunch with a client or prospect and having to fill in a form that required them to remember answers to questions they probably hadn’t asked. Consultants were brought in, to no avail. Desperate to justify the expenditure, management resorted to begging, cajoling and later mandating the system’s use. It remained, at best, an exercise that generated template-value, inch-deep information and little in the way of genuine strategic insights.

A team of BDs out of the analytical, research-oriented and strategic thinking mould would have generated valuable information with or without a software tool.

Do You Know What A ‘Whole-of-Organisation’ Approach Looks Like?

The moral of that particular story is that, try as you might, you can’t make a square-peg operative work effectively in a round-hole environment, even with the use of expensive software or the employment of impressively-credentialed consultants.

If an organisation were in a position where it was forced to choose between hiring a high-energy, sharp-talking socialiser and a deep-thinking, detail-conscious strategic thinker for a BD role, my advice would be – assuming the latter possesses at least a decent and workable personality – to opt for the thinker. We’re living in a new world that calls for new skills, and his or her skill set is among them.

This new world of intense competition and markedly increased customer or client expectation is one that also calls for a genuinely “whole-of-organisation” approach – and a clearer appreciation of what that actually looks like in practice.

To the extent that a sales or business development team resists a culture shift to this more analytical, more strategic, more communicative and unified approach, it prevents the organisation from reaching its full potential. And the leader that allows his or her company to stagnate in this manner in these fast-moving, fast-changing times, does so to the very great peril of that organisation.

BID COMMANDOS

On-Target Strategy For Mission-Critical Bids

(Training Program)

BID COMMANDOS is my "blockbuster", comprehensive, 11-module training program.

THINK AND WIN BIDS

Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Book)

The three fundamental skills of a genuinely sharp, sustainably successful bid professional are the ability to think, listen and ask quality questions.

Furthermore, formulating successful business development and bid strategies is the process of well-directed research and thinking ; not the product of tools and templates.

Ideal to ensure all members of the bid team are, philosophically, on the same page, Think and Win Bids is also offered as a six-pack (six books for the price of five).

Bid Managers, Check that Your Section Authors . . .

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Wed, 05 Feb 2025 15:28:05 GMT

When preparing to send your section authors and subject matter experts off to begin their respective writing tasks, check and ensure the following:

Whether a seasoned bid writer or a newbie, check that each has planned out his or her sections out before embarking on each section.

That each has adhered to the plan you overviewed with him or her for the content of his or her section.

That each has checked his or her “facts”.

That each has substantiated any claim he or she has made.

That each has made his or her first paragraph – as the “introduction” to their piece – strong and punchy, and that this “intro” paragraph provides a compelling entry point to the rest of his or her section.

That each has drawn out the project-specific or contract-specific relevance and meaning of anything they have written. They should be aiming to do as much of the evaluators’ thinking for them, as possible.

That each has communicated the benefits associated with the features of the technology or service ( not just the features).

As you conduct these initial and progressive checks, assemble for yourself a helicopter view as to how consistently and seamlessly the various sections fit together (or not), and whether they are all in the same degree of alignment with the overarching bid strategy guidance document.

50 ESSENTIAL BID-WRITING TIPS
Must-Know Standards, Methods & Insights for Writing Compelling Bids, Tenders and Proposals

(Book)

Available individually or as a six-pack (6 books for the price of 5).

THE BID WRITER'S STYLE & GRAMMAR GUIDE

(Book)

Your organisation’s credibility hangs on the quality of your writing and the standards it reflects.

Available individually or as a six-pack (6 for the price of 5).

How to Use Time-Tested Writing Principles to Improve the Impact of Your Proposals

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Wed, 05 Feb 2025 06:44:22 GMT

Journalism offers many principles and practices that a bid-writer may valuably heed . . . most especially as concerns the crafting of a punchy and enticing opening paragraph or, in journalistic lexicon, a “lead-in” or “intro”.

This peak paragraph should encapsulate the essence of your piece. While you should be as direct and interesting as possible throughout, the “intro” sets the scene for all the content that follows in that piece or section.

With the intro in place and doing its job, the next element of the journalistic formula that a bid writer may wish to make good use of, is the “inverted pyramid” principle.

The inverted pyramid dictates that you organise the key points of your content in descending order of importance – leading in with a summary of the most important point, followed by the next most important point, then the next. This generally relates to the first three paragraphs, after which the rest of the story unfolds as an expansion of the points made in these.

The journalistic rationale is that the average newspaper reader scan-reads most articles. Therefore, he or she needs to get the gist of the story in the headline and the first three paragraphs. While the reader-evaluator will, you would hope, read the full text of your
response / proposal sections, it still behooves you to lead in with your most critical
information and develop your piece in an order that maintains his or her keen interest.

The AIDA Formula

An equally viable format for rolling out your content is the “AIDA” formula used to guide direct marketing pieces.

This is similar to – although not the same as – the journalistic “inverted pyramid” principle.

This acronym stands for Attention, Interest, Desire and Action.

In “bid” terms, this formula translates to:

• Get attention.

• Build interest.

• Unfold the big picture / your observations of the prospect organisation’s project or procurement, its needs, and the quantifiable benefits it seeks.

• Build your case / establish credibility / provide proof points.

• End with a reminder of your key theme and the wisdom of choosing your offering as the answer to the prospect’s problem or need.

50 ESSENTIAL BID-WRITING TIPS
Must-Know Standards, Methods & Insights for Writing Compelling Bids, Tenders & Proposals

(Book)

Available individually or as a 6-pack (6 for the price of 5).

THE BID WRITER'S STYLE & GRAMMAR GUIDE

(Book)

Your organisation’s credibility hangs on the quality of your writing and the standards it reflects.

Available individually or as a 6-pack (6 for the price of 5).

5 Steps to Avoid 'Culture Clash' In A Pursuit

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Wed, 05 Feb 2025 06:24:10 GMT

One of the less tangible, less immediately "visible" reasons for the loss of either a new-business pursuit, or an existing account, is a misalignment between organisational cultures.

I’ve seen this happen on a number of occasions. One that springs colorfully to mind involved an SME client, quite some years ago:

A sizeable print management firm was pursuing an account with the Australian operations of a large consumer goods multinational.

This was a big-ticket opportunity with print requirements that included high-volume direct mail campaign activity. The business development operative (‘BD’) on this account had, for over a year, been aggressively endeavouring to win over the account from a competitor. Each time he’d gotten close to potentially consummating the deal, however, this potential client appeared to back off.

Finally, he’d moved the relationship to the stage where a serious, formal proposal had been requested of him . . . the point at which he contacted me.

When the Client’s Psychology Differs from Yours

Conducting a detailed interview with this BD to understand the client’s psychology, it became clear to me that the BD’s, and the print management firm’s, aggressive and gung ho culture was at complete loggerheads with the far softer, more relationship-respecting modus operandi of the client organisation.

He didn’t see it.

Not only was he oblivious to it, he advised me that – when I’d produced the proposal he was tasking me with – he intended to brandish it forcefully before the client representative with an ultimatum that they make a decision forthwith or . . . well, the rest of the intended statement was quite colorful.

With some considerable persuasive effort, I managed to convince him not to take this stance. I suggested that, instead, he recognise the nature of the corporate culture he was dealing with and take a far more empathetic approach.

Long story short: A little bit of “empathy” and a couple of weeks’ more patience on the BD’s part, and he bagged a new, $20m per annum account for his employer.

The moral of the story is this:

The Client Knows . . . Either Consciously or Subconsciously

When pursuing any type of account, project, implementation, or other form of deal that requires your people to work closely with the client organisation, take culture seriously.

Even if the potential client doesn’t consciously recognise the reason for any resistance on their part, he or she will – at a gut level – detect cultural misalignment.

And even if you do win the deal, a poor cultural match has the potential to be, at best, a constant challenge in the ensuing relationship. At worst, it has the potential to create disaster.

Here are five steps you can take in the event that you sense a potential cultural mismatch:

5 Steps for Averting or Dealing with A Cultural Mismatch

Determine the degree of mismatch.
Determine whether or not this has, or may, cause misalignment in more tangible ways as the relationship progresses.
If, given consideration of these facts, you decide to press ahead, map out a strategy for addressing and – to the greatest extent possible – overcoming the mismatch. Where possible, make the elements of your plan measurable by, for example, formulating strategic Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
Recognise that this will be an issue that needs constant monitoring throughout the life of the project or contract.
Be upfront with the client about your plans and efforts. Again, you’re probably only kidding yourself if you think they’re unaware of the cultural misalignment. Far better that you demonstrate your awareness and your proactive approach to ensuring a successful working relationship.

TO BID OR NOT TO BID

(Training Program)

THE ART OF THE DEBRIEF

(Training Program)

The key to getting the best value from any de-briefing session offered to you is to plan carefully, in order to extract every possible clue from the process.

This two-module training will provide step-by-step, real-time guidance to assist you in maximising the intel and insights available from the de-briefing opportunity.

It will also guide you along as you seek to ensure the permanence of the insights obtained, and the incorporation of their value into future bidding processes.

Strategise Collaboratively; Not In A Vacuum

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Wed, 05 Feb 2025 01:33:12 GMT

‘Strategy is not really a solo sport – even if you’re the CEO.’

- Max McKeown (English researcher and author who writes on innovation, strategy and leadership) from ‘ The Strategy Book’

If, as a leader, your interaction with a potential high-value customer or client organisation leads you to a place where it’s necessary to develop a specific strategy (be that to win its business, or to produce a solution or other form of offering) – don’t do it in a vacuum.

Strategy – if it’s to be solid and well-rounded – requires multiple inputs . . . in terms of experience, information, and perspective. Any of these elements could prove to be the critical one; the difference between victory or defeat – or whatever form of measurement represents success or failure in the context of this relationship.

Central, therefore, to producing a fully considered, comprehensive strategy is having all parties whose input is of value, present (and motivated) during the strategy development phase. If a certain individual or group of people represents the best – or the only – source of essential information, but they’re not involved in the formulation of the intended approach, quite obviously the resultant strategy will be bereft of their essential guidance.

Exclusion (whether intentional, by oversight, or as a result of “non-availability”) isn’t an option for the competent leader and strategist.

A leader must demonstrate both the intelligence to identify the best resources to move his or her organisation towards a critical objective, and the strength to galvanise and optimise those resources in pursuit of that goal.

BID COMMANDOS
On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

(Training Program)

A comprehensive, 11-module course to ensure your team excels at every stage of a formal bidding process - from the initial bid/no bid analysis, right through to the client de-briefing session/s.

BEATING THE BIG BOYS AT BIDS

(Training Program)

Capitalise on the natural advantages of being a smaller, more agile - and potentially, more aware - operator than your corporate competitors.

In this five-module training, I'll guide your team, in real-time, as it prepares for, and participates in, a formal tendering process.

(Equally applicable for producing proactive proposals and participating in less formal processes.)

Anticipating What Could Go Wrong At Critical BD Meetings

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Tue, 04 Feb 2025 23:45:33 GMT

Apparently, before important business meetings, Aristotle Onassis used to stand alone – in the wee small hours of the morning – on the deck of his yacht, going over and over anything that could go wrong during the proceedings.

To take a critical pursuit or bidding perspective on this obviously productive habit, we might think of this as a debrief-in-reverse.

Here’s a checklist to prompt you as you mind-map these out ahead of time.

Get together with any colleagues you’ll be attending the meeting in question with, and ask yourselves:

What if, despite our best efforts, we find we’re not meeting with the optimum representatives of the client or customer organisation?

What if there’s been some recent development that the client assumes we know about, and we don’t?

What if there’s something the client-side considers fundamental that we haven’t picked up on?

What if the client-side representatives have a negative impression of our company, product or service? Worse still, what if they come in from left field with something that’s happened that we don’t know about? What if they’ve had an experience with us or our product of which we haven’t become aware?

What if the client asks something about our product we can’t answer?

What if the procurement timeframe is significantly different than we have been given to believe?

IMPORTANT: Anticipating what could go wrong ahead of time is key to preparing more strategically for the meeting, to greatly reduce the chances of such outcomes. However, it’s always best to expect the unexpected, in addition to thorough preparation.

TO BID OR NOT TO BID

(Training Program)

THE ART OF THE DEBRIEF

(Training Program)

The key to getting the best value from any de-briefing session offered to you is to plan carefully, in order to extract every possible clue from the process.

This two-module course provides step-by-step, real-time guidance to assist you in maximising the intel and insights available from the de-briefing opportunity. It also guides you along as you seek to ensure the permanence of the insights obtained, and the incorporation of their value into future bidding processes.

Are Your Bids Full of It?

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Tue, 04 Feb 2025 23:30:30 GMT

If you’re looking for "high-viz" points of difference when competing with larger competitors, look no further than the avoidance of convoluted bombast and meaningless "mumph" as your first.

Most corporate submissions are full of it. The use of plain, unadulterated English will be a refreshing change for your prospect organisation’s evaluators.

Bid teams cause themselves a huge problem when they insist on using trendy fashion-speak and other frivolous fuzz in their written responses.

Knowing the frustration this causes clients, and the frequency with which it happens, I can only sincerely urge you to take full advantage of the likelihood of any tendency by your competitors towards what is “high-falutin'” verbiage.

There are two key reasons your competitors engage in this rubbishy writing. More often than not, its usage is an attempt to sound sophisticated and “switched on” or “up to the minute”. Other times it’s to smoke over a lack of substance in answers to the bid documentation’s questions.

Often, it’s both.

Bid teams and their writers can also get tangled up in this type of non-English even when there actually is knowledge and potential substance to be conveyed in the content of a proposal or bid. This is particularly unfortunate for their employers (but equally to your advantage), because those documents come across pretty much the same as the substance-less version that uses the same type of guff to disguise a lack of core message.

Here are some examples of this sort of “empty’” writing. These examples are fabricated because quite clearly I can’t refer to confidential bid documents. Nonetheless, they’re typical of some of the writing I see produced by corporate sales and bid teams . . . and many senior executives, too, even more alarmingly.

Example 1:

We employ best-of-breed technology options to implement cutting-edge, proven solutions, ensuring you of a constantly innovative approach and continuous improvement in your IT environment.

Example 2:

Our track record demonstrates our commitment to world best practice and, accordingly, we will engage our focus on innovation throughout the contract.

Example 3:

As your business partner, we will work closely with you to leverage our experience across the project, producing an optimal solution that is robust, scalable and that can be seamlessly integrated with your existing systems.

Do experienced operatives really write this kind of largely meaningless nonsense ?

Yes, they do. And much worse.

The entire content of some of the bids I’m given to provide commentary on is as convoluted and meaningless as the above examples. Tens (sometimes hundreds) of pages of, largely, non-information.

This commonly happens when little or no prior planning takes place and where, as a result, there is no central bid strategy.

Worse still, this strategy-less starting point guarantees a very supplier-centric bid or proposal. And usually one that is not even particularly readable or sensible, let alone compelling.

My recommendations are two-fold:

• Use plain English.

Resist the temptation to dazzle the prospective customer or client organisation and its evaluators with an extensive array of jargon.

I’m always particularly saddened when I see a submission produced by a smaller enterprise, the management of which obviously thinks it’s a demonstration of their ability to foot it against their larger competitors by using the same crazy corporate-speak.

• Place priority emphasis (as early as possible) on conducting intensive, thorough bid strategy planning sessions (preceded by comprehensive client, contract/project and competitor research).

This will help ensure a distinctive win theme and, in turn, solid content - and applies to any size business.

Tell it like it is. Drop the dandy words. You don’t need them, the client/prospect and its evaluators are neither fooled nor impressed by them – and (pending the quality of your offer and the substance of your content) the absence of them will render your documentation a pure and softly-landing snowflake amidst the garbage that is the hard-going reading contained in your corporate competitors’ productions.

THINK AND WIN BIDS
Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Book)

The three fundamental skills of a genuinely sharp, sustainably successful bid professional are the ability to think, listen and ask quality questions .

Furthermore, formulating successful business development and bid strategies is the process of well-directed research and thinking ; not the product of tools and templates.

To ensure all members of the bid team are, philosophically, on the same page, Think and Win Bids is also offered as a six-pack (6 books for the price of 5) .

50 ESSENTIAL BID-WRITING TIPS

Must-Know Standards, Methods & Insights for Writing Compelling Bids, Tenders and Proposals

(Book)

Intentional successful bids are guided by a strategy that is well-researched, customer-centric / client-centric, substance-based, savvily-formulated, and documented in detail.

50 Tips is also offered as a six-pack (six books for the price of five) .

Grammatical Gaffes to Avoid in Bids

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Tue, 04 Feb 2025 23:23:25 GMT

Here are some examples of particularly regrettable grammatical gaffes found in bid documentation:

‘Then’ Instead of ‘Than’

Unbelievably, some writers don’t know when to correctly use the word “than”, as opposed to “then” . . . as in:

“Should this occur, than (i.e. s hould be “then”) we will implement the following contingency plan. Our experience demonstrates this course of action is more effective then (i.e. should be “than”) conventional responses.”

‘Your’ and ‘You’re’

Some writers don’t know the difference between “your” and “you’re” . . . (notwithstanding the fact that the contraction “you’re” has no place in bid writing) as in:

“We have given careful consideration to the issues your (i.e. should be “you’re”) currently experiencing as regards consumables recycling. You’re (i.e. should be “your”) systems will be monitored on a weekly basis.”

Full Stops and Commas

And then there are writers who seem to think commas have replaced the traditional use of the full stop (and, worse still, that it serves no other function) . . . as in:

“This is a current area of focus for our organisation, we are deeply concerned about the impact upon local waterways.”

And there are writers who have never heard of the hyphen . . . as in:

"A 25 year old piece of equipment (which should be) a 25-year-old piece of equipment"

"A to be advised date to-be-advised date (which should be) a to-be-advised date"

Or, worse still, writers who use clumsy and un-hyphenated conglomerations like:

proAustralian (which should be) pro-Australian

semidetachable (which should be) semi-detachable

It looks horrid. It reads horrid. And it makes a horrid impression with Expression of Interest and Request for Proposal evaluators who value correct English and grammar.

THE BID WRITER'S STYLE & GRAMMAR GUIDE

(Book)

I have written this comprehensive reference and tuition manual both for the professional bid writer and for those subject matter experts contributing submission content.

THE BID WRITER'S STYLE & GRAMMAR GUIDE

(Six-Pack)

Exercised diligently across your entire bid team, these core principles and practices will see you produce not only grammatically correct and highly readable, but also strategic and compelling , submissions.

For this purpose, the Guide is also offered as a six-pack (6 books for the price of 5).

De-Commoditising Air Cargo Bids

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Tue, 04 Feb 2025 22:38:11 GMT

In an article I wrote for Asia Pacific Air Cargo , I suggested air freight companies "de-commoditise" their service — or offering — to prospective clients.

The article included a real-life example of the glaring opportunities (and the rewards) for companies willing to think, and act, outside the square when it comes to researching and proposing solutions to clients’ needs.

But how do you ”de-commoditise” your bids and sales proposals ?

The simple answer to that question is . . . by not producing a “commodity” proposal in the first place.

What then is a ‘commodity proposal’?

A commodity proposal is what the vast majority of companies in commoditised industries are producing . . . even though many think they’re not doing anything of the sort. Actually, they are . . . according both to my observations and also to the comments of many experienced tender evaluators I have spoken to.

In short, a commoditised bid is an Expression of Interest (EOI), Request for Proposal (RFP) response or any other form of submission that is:

• Self -centric instead of client -centric.

• Feature -focused instead of benefit -focused.

• Ineffective in meaningfully differentiating its proposed product or service.

• Full of industry / supplier jargon.

• Overly liberal in its use of trendy but essentially meaningless terms.

• Template-based i.e. the core content could have been produced for any number of end recipients.

I’ll focus on the first three points.

Self-centric vs Client-centric

Invariably, when I evaluate a tender or proposal produced internally by an organisation, the first word in the Executive Summary is “We”.

With few exceptions, most of the paragraphs in this all-important opening section also start with “we” and it’s not at all uncommon that most of the sentences within each paragraph in the copy thereafter start with “we” as well.

This is a clear indication, firstly, that the tendering company doesn’t know enough about the organisation it’s proposing to; secondly, that it brings a largely self-focused viewpoint to the table; and thirdly, that the tenderer is probably pushing a pre-formulated, off-the-shelf “solution”, with greater priority placed on its own convenience or profitability than the client’s.

Answering an EOI or RFP — or putting a proactive proposal to a client organisation — is a lot like dating. Even the best-looking proposal can become boorish if it constantly puts its own needs first and shows little genuine interest in the other party. It simply doesn’t augur well for a successful long-term relationship.

If, on the other hand, a company has done its homework and is genuinely concerned to seek out and satisfy the precise needs of the client organisation, its proposal language will be entirely different. It will be focused on its understanding of the client’s problems, priorities and environment, and it will paint a clear picture of how it intends to bring about a superior solution to these issues.

But beware! This does not mean you simply change the word “we” to “you”.

And it does not mean you resort to “consultant speak”, with its annoyingly we-already-know-everything-about-you undertones.

No! It means you genuinely research your prospective client organisation’s issues as they concern your own industry, you determine how you will bring a genuine solution and the best overall value to your prospect, and then you communicate it from their perspective.

Feature-Focused vs Benefit-Focused

Anyone with a sales background will no doubt be thinking: “Sure. Don’t talk about ‘features’, talk about ‘benefits’. That’s basic. That’s Sales 101.”

But it’s easier said than done when you’re constantly looking out at the landscape from your own viewpoint, from within the organisation that produces the product or provides the service you’re selling.

Too often, sales personnel producing proposals rely heavily on “cut-and-pastes” from glossy, company or “brand” focused promotional literature. These often promote features. At best, any benefits they do describe are highly generic.

Clients aren’t interested in features, unless they know as much about your industry as you do and can make the translation for themselves. And stating generic benefits quite often results in missing the mark, too.

What impresses clients are features that demonstrate clearly how they are provide the solution to that client’s specific problem or achieve their specific objective . . . and that provide proof points, case examples, and some form of valuable quantification or measurement.

The key is to identify and articulate precisely how what you’re proposing is going to solve their problem in a manner superior to that of your competitors’ offerings .

Of course, this means you have to know what your competitors are up to at all times — and not just their pricing structures. You have to undertake the same “matchmaking” exercise between your competitors’ likely solutions and the prospect’s needs. Only then can you be even reasonably certain that your point of difference is what you think it is, and that it is a winner with the prospect.

THINK AND WIN BIDS

Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Book)

The three fundamental skills of a genuinely sharp, sustainably successful bid professional are the ability to think, listen and ask quality questions.

Furthermore, formulating successful business development and bid strategies is the process of well-directed research and thinking ; not the product of tools and templates.

THINK AND WIN BIDS

Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Six-Pack)

Ideal to ensure your entire team of writers and contributing subject matter experts are all on the same page, Think and Win Bids is offered as a six-pack (6 books for the price of 5).

Five More Tips to Sharpen Your Bid-Writing

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Tue, 04 Feb 2025 22:28:11 GMT

In ‘5 Tips to Sharpen Your Bid-Writing’ , I wrote about the importance of a having clear and documented bid strategy, focusing on benefits, answering the client’s questions , substantiating your claims , and avoiding consultant-style parroting .

These considerations all, in one way or another, relate back to effectiveness in the strategy planning stage. That is, you can’t expect to execute these tips successfully unless comprehensive research and thinking has taken place beforehand.

My next lot of tips relate to the writing function per se .

Tip No. 6 – Client Focus vs Supplier-centrism

Be client-focused not only in your content (i.e. as above, this relies on a solid bid strategy), but also in your writing .

If and whenever possible, your choice of opening words should let the evaluators know that your answer and information is going to be framed in the context of the client organisation’s interest, its needs, its project / account /contract, its priorities, and its concerns.

Then keep the focus squarely on the client. Don’t revert to an organisationally self-centric tone.

Tip No. 7 – Steer Clear of Hot Air & Hype

Avoid the temptation to slip into sales-speak.

Don’t be tempted to go into marketing copywriter mode. It’s not required. Worse, you’ll come across as an amateur, if copywriting isn’t your day job.

For the most part, write as you would speak. It’s the most readable way to write. If your writing is natural, informal and unstilted, that is in fact what you are doing: You’re speaking to the client. You’re just doing it through the written word.

It’s about getting the basic content correct and complete, then simply making sure it progresses logically and reads sensibly.

Tip No. 8 – Avoid the ‘Cut & Paste’ Trap

Do NOT “cut-and-paste” from your company’s policies and procedures manual or corporate / product marketing materials.

Give the evaluators more credit than to fall for thinking this is original content.

Tip No. 9 – Be Wary of the Template Trap

Similarly to the above, don’t rely on templates and text from previous submissions.

Tip No. 10 – External Impressions

Read your finished piece out loud . . . to someone else.

Read your material aloud to a disinterested party. You’ll avail yourself of the invaluable phenomenon of hearing your writing through that person’s ears.

So much the better that they have no knowledge of the topic; you’ll quickly ascertain whether or not your piece makes sense to the common reader or other non-technical audience.

THINK AND WIN BIDS

Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

The three fundamental skills of a genuinely sharp, sustainably successful bid professional are the ability to think, listen and ask quality questions.

Furthermore, formulating successful business development and bid strategies is the process of well-directed research and thinking ; not the product of tools and templates.

50 ESSENTIAL BID-WRITING TIPS
Must-Know Standards, Methods & Insights for Writing Compelling Bids, Tenders and Proposals

As with all my other books, 50 Tips is available individually or in a six-pack (6 for the price of 5) .

Your Code of Ethics Affects EVERYTHING

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Tue, 04 Feb 2025 01:46:47 GMT

For any leader keen to sharpen up his or her organisation’s policies, practices and performance relating to its Code of Ethics, I can do no better than recount a discussion I had with the International Institute of Business Ethics’ UK-based Research Director, Simon Webley.

To summarise Webley’s key recommendations on the topic:

Understand that every commercial organisation has at least five overarching stakeholder groups – and recognise each as equally important.

These five “umbrella” groups are staff, customers/clients, suppliers/service providers, shareholders and/or other providers of finance, and the broader societal communities in which the organisation operates or upon which it impacts.

Further to the admonition to place equal value on relations with each of these stakeholder groups, actively seek out their inputs (including any negative revelations) through close and multi-faceted monitoring of their views, observations and experiences.

Ask well-thought-out, quality questions . For example, staff and customer feedback mechanisms may sound passe, on the face of it. However, it’s the quality of the questions asked – and the place from which you’re coming when asking them – that determines the degree of value such initiatives generate.

Further again to viewing all stakeholder groups as having equal value to the organisation – pay your suppliers on time and treat them with respect.

In the interests of transparency with shareholders and funders , provide them with honest and comprehensive updates into the organisation’s achievements, challenges and issues – not a sanitised or doctored perspective.

Understand and take a broad and serious view of your responsibilities as they relate to the societies in which your organisation operates . . . whether that be the local communities in which your company is conducting roadworks; the globally-dispersed communities availing themselves of, potentially availing themselves of, or impacted by your banking and other financial services; or the ecosystems affected by your manufacturing discharges.

As a leader of your organisation, prompt yourself and your management or board colleagues, with questions like:

What insights do we need, and therefore what information must we gather, in order to actively demonstrate that we are not simply an organisation bent on maximising financial returns as our singular and uncompromising objective?

How do we show – through our attitude and our actions – that we take into account the views and concerns of our various stakeholder groups ? How do we demonstrate, in the case of each, that they are important to us and that their role in helping us achieve our economic and societal missions is genuinely valued?

What policies, practices and contingencies need to be put in place to ensure that issues or lapses in ethical (including environmental) standards are promptly reported upwards and acted upon , and that all involved parties are communicated with in an honest, professional and timely manner?

To ensure consistency and a sustained effort, make someone at a senior management level responsible (creating a new role, if your organisation is of a size to justify it) to direct and preside over these initiatives, and to report regularly and comprehensively upon them to your board of directors.

TO BID OR NOT TO BID

(Training Program)

THE ART OF THE DEBRIEF

(Training Program)

The key to getting the best value from any de-briefing session offered to you is to plan carefully, in order to extract every possible clue from the process.

This two-module course provides step-by-step, real-time guidance to assist you in maximising the intel and insights available from the de-briefing opportunity.

It also guides you along as you seek to ensure the permanence of the insights obtained, and the incorporation of their value into future bidding processes.

De-Commoditising through Superior Client Knowledge & Bid Documentation

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Tue, 04 Feb 2025 01:29:50 GMT

Of all industries, the freight and transport sector is arguably one of those most at risk of its services being viewed and treated as commodities. It’s a depressing reality for the industry, but there is an answer.

If a company struggles to differentiate its product or service from that of its competition, the first element of any corrective strategy should be to seek to understand its prospects and its clients at a deeply detailed level.

Not all companies do this well. Most don’t – regardless of any conviction to the contrary. Why am I confident to make such a sweeping statement? I see the evidence on a daily basis as a bid strategist and writer, and as an evaluator and bid coach.

When I take on a new client, almost without exception, that organisation’s written proposal materials speak for themselves in this regard: Most companies take a heavily self-centric perspective in responding to tender calls, or in producing any other form of bid or proposal. And those that think they don’t, are always surprised to learn just how much further they could go in taking (what they thought was) a client-centric approach . . . and, in the process, de-commoditising themselves far more effectively.

Symptoms of Self-Centricity

In this post, I’m going to focus on how a self-centric perspective shows up in a bidder’s documentation. In order to give very specific and “graspable” examples, I’m going to focus on just one part of a bid document: the Executive Summary . This front-piece of a bid, tender or proposal is where the bidder’s client-centric – or, alternatively, its self-centric – approach shows up loud and clear.

In the following commentary, I provide just two examples that literally whack a tender evaluator between the eyes with a bidder’s self -centricity. I’m going to highlight the underlying problem , and let you, yourself, go deep-diving for the many Pursuits Academy posts that provide solutions.

Understanding the problem before looking for the solution, however, is critical. Without an understanding of what “wrong” looks like and why it’s wrong, “right” isn’t so easily identifiable nor the logic behind it so obvious.

Example 1: ‘We, Our, Us’

I once evaluated a bid, the Executive Summary of which featured the seller’s name no less than 17 times in a short series of introductory paragraphs.

The propensity for a bidder to communicate in such a way that the world revolves around them i.e. the supplier or service provider, rather than around the prospect / client makes it obvious to the client and its evaluators that the entire working relationship is likely to evolve in this same, very predictable, direction.

This – in the client’s mind – places that bidder in the same self-focused category as the majority of its competition. And this, in turn, relegates it to a largely undifferentiated status.

Example 2: Not Framing Strengths in A Meaningful Manner

Most Executive Summaries focus almost exclusively on getting across the bidder’s strengths, and perhaps the uniqueness of its offering within the competitive space in question. Few, however, investigate and explain the specific relevance of these to the client, and within the current environment in which that client organisation is operating.

Some Executive Summaries do start out in reference to the client, but only as a prelude to a monologue about the bidder’s own capabilities and credentials . . . still not taking the time to fully draw out the client- or contract-specific relevance of these.

This comes across as arrogant. Not a desirable trait in a working relationship. Worse still, it comes across as cloth-eared arrogance, to any prospect that may have had discussions about its issues with a bidder, and that could reasonably expect to see the key points of those conversations reflected in a proposal.

If nothing else, though, it’s a wasted opportunity. Regardless of any information requests made in a client’s tender call documentation, the client’s interest in the service provider centres around the relevance of that information to its own organisation, priorities, issues and potential contract with the bidder.

So let’s come back to de-commoditisation.

The extent to which your company, as the bidder/service provider, can demonstrate (a) a relevant and competitively superior understanding of the client organisation, and (b) how your strengths and the aspects of your offering uniquely position you to solve the client’s problem and/or achieve that organisation’s desires, is the margin by which you’ll be out in front of your competition.

And the extent to which you are out in front of your competition (on elements of your offer other than price) is the extent to which you have successfully differentiated your company and differentiated your service or solution.

In turn, the extent to which you’ve differentiated and de-commoditised, is the extent to which you free yourself from the price trap into which most operators in heavily commoditised industries – like freight and transport – otherwise fall.

BID COMMANDOS

On-Target Strategy for Mission Critical Bids

(Training Program)

A comprehensive, 11-module course to ensure your team excels at every stage of a formal bidding process - from the initial bid/no bid analysis, right through to the client de-briefing session/s.

BEATING THE BIG BOYS AT BIDS

(Training Program)

Capitalise on the natural advantages of being a smaller, more agile - and potentially, more aware - operator than your corporate competitors.

In this five-module training program, I guide your team, in real-time, as it prepares for, and participates in, a formal tendering process.

(Equally applicable for producing proactive proposals and participating in less formal processes.)

The Cloth-Eared Corporation & the Bombastic BD or Salesperson

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Tue, 04 Feb 2025 01:15:31 GMT

A BIG mistake I see corporations and their sales teams making at the point of entering into a bid, is doing so with an unrealistically positive perspective of the way in which their company and its product or service is viewed within the customer organisation.

Sometimes, this positive attitude crosses the line and becomes full-strength arrogance.

Conversely, assuming nothing and entering into both the process and all communications with the open-mindedness that results from humility is a far better way to lay the foundations for success. Couple that with being realistic in every facet of the potential deal.

My objective in this article is to draw your attention to – and show you how to avoid – the primary ways in which sales executives tend to shoot themselves in the foot when they bid for key accounts and contracts.

The Eternally Optimistic Sales Person

To a very large degree, the optimistic, “positive thinking” nature of most sales executives makes them their own worst enemies when it come to the process of developing bid strategy and producing EOI / RFP / RFT responses.

Sales is a tough business. And selling is a tough career. One of the most enduring fears of the human ego is rejection, and a salesperson gets lots of it – usually on a daily basis. A positive personality is a vital survival mechanism . . . which is probably precisely why the profession attracts people with a naturally optimistic outlook.

The problem is that, as a result of this disposition, his or her internal radar usually skips straight over anything negative (which, from this point on, shall be seen as critical clues in developing winning bid strategy) and blips only at signs of how much the customer loves them, their company and their product.

Because the sales force and their other team mates out in the trenches are the only feedback channel the company has in its continual quest to win and keep new customers or win new business from existing customers, a skewed perspective more often than not results.

This is, ultimately, far from helpful.

Arrogance is Thine Enemy

Let’s have a frank discussion about the distinction between “arrogance” and “confidence”.

Many BDs and sales executives dismiss arrogance ( particularly arrogance within their own organisation ) as confidence.

Blurring this distinction can be commercially lethal.

An arrogant attitude or persona on the part of a BD/salesperson, a sales team or (as is often the case) an entire organisation, projects any or all of the following messages to a customer:

"We know what you want / need already."

"We have little need to spend a lot of time listening to you or drilling deeply into your problems or issues."

"We’ve dealt with lots of organisations just like yours."

"It goes without saying that our product / service is the superior option. I’ll certainly be happy to elaborate on all the reasons why – but really . . . you should already know!"

"It is unlikely we will ever have a conversation in which we / I demonstrate humility or disclose the fact that there’s anything we / I don’t already know."

In short, arrogance kills listening skills . And where there is no listening, there is no learning.

Where there is no learning, there is no way to determine the most meaningful way to differentiate your offering for the customer in question (the very heart of “bid strategy”). Without meaningful differentiation, you are a commodity. When you are a commodity, you compete on little else but price.

Becoming genuinely customer centric: “How can we help you achieve your objectives? ” versus “What can we push at you to meet our objectives?”

Out in the field, an overactive corporate ego and tendency to believe one’s own marketing material manifests itself in “telling”-oriented sales processes, as opposed to the far more productive and customer intelligence-based style of (genuine) “solution” selling.

It conveys the unspoken message of “What can we push at you?” , instead of the message you want to be conveying, which should be: “How can we help you?”

Telling isn’t the most effective form of selling

Displays of arrogance in the pre-sales / “discovery” stage are bad enough, but when they make their way into a Request-for-Proposal response, a seller has a REAL problem. And unfortunately, they usually do make their way into the final bid.

Where an arrogant attitude has prevailed during the pre-sales process, very little “discovery” will have taken place, and so very little valuable information will have been gathered for use in the bid production process. So there’s a dearth of good customer-focused material to work with. And that’s why so many bids are full of shallow, seller-centric, promotional fluff.

It’s a vicious cycle.

The biggest problem of all is . . . those that most need to learn from a message like this, are the most likely to think it doesn’t apply to them! They will simply nod along with it . . . Indeed, all sales teams should be as confident in their humility as their own . . .

In this environment, sales and/or bid teams have the odds stacked against them in terms of taking a long, hard critical look at their own potential areas of weakness . . . a critical element when playing bid strategy defence . Guarding your flanks against the competitors is difficult when you believe you have no reason to do so.

A seller organisation starting out with the view that its product or service is naturally superior to anything its competition might offer is positioning itself for an inevitable fall. If not with this bid, then at some time in the (probably near) future.

The Disconnect between the Sales Department and the Marketing Department

The typical disconnect that exists between corporations' marketing departments and sales teams doesn’t help.

What it often does, in fact, is ensure that whatever critical feedback does come back from the sales team doesn’t make it up the line to those steering the ship. So the company’s senior-most decision-makers are then left with nothing other to believe than the organisation's own marketing collateral.

In too many instances, these senior executives - in the perceived absence of anything other than glowing praise of their brand - don’t bat an eyelid when their sales, marketing or bid teams produce an RFP response that demonstrates the blatant belief that their reputation alone is more than sufficient for any prospective customer or client organisation to want to do business with them.

Such arrogance seems ridiculous on paper - but let me assure you it exists, and I hear it all the time in one form or another.

There’s a strong feeling among many salesfolk that because their service or product has a generally good name out there in the marketplace and because their global parent spends millions each year in meticulously-researched “brand awareness” advertising campaigns that, all other factors being equal, their company’s reputation will ultimately win the day. That somehow, when the tender evaluators sit down to their task, their submission will automatically gravitate to the top of the pile.

Not to say that you can’t be proud or your product or service, or your brand, or your reputation.

But the chest-beating approach is well outdated as a method for winning critical accounts.

Consider this scene:

When (X government agency) puts out a tender for (X product), do tender evaluators sift through and pull out (big brand name)’s tender for preferential reading because (other big brand name) and (other big brand name) haven’t had the same ad budget in the last few quarters?

I can promise you that to seasoned bid evaluators, the big corporate chest-beat takes on an almost comical note. Consider how a whole pile of such submissions reads to a panel of tender evaluators.

Bidders tend to grossly underestimate the intelligence and savvy of tender evaluators today; particular Government tender evaluators. Professional evaluators have highly-trained BS-detectors that twitch wildly at the very scent of a tender full of brand bumph and corporate puffery.

So don’t let optimism – or worse still, corporate or brand arrogance – reduce your chances of winning important deals.

THINK AND WIN BIDS
Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Book)

The three fundamental skills of a genuinely sharp, sustainably successful bid professional are the ability to think, listen and ask quality questions.

Furthermore, formulating successful business development and bid strategies is the process of well-directed research and thinking ; not the product of tools and templates

THINK AND WIN BIDS
Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Six-Pack)

Ideal to ensure your entire team of writers and contributing subject matter experts are all on the same page, Think and Win Bids is offered as a six-pack (six books for the price of five).

Don't Do This In Pre-Probity Meetings

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Tue, 04 Feb 2025 01:05:42 GMT

Business Development Managers ("BDs") and other frontline sales operatives often fall into the trap of jumping into premature "advice offering" with prospective clients.

There’s a distinct danger in doing this in pre-probity meetings and other communications in the lead-up to the release of an Expression of Interest (EOI) or Request for Proposal (RFP).

While there’s nothing wrong with endeavouring to bring extra value to meetings with client-side representatives (that is, value that goes beyond e xpounding the virtues of your product or service), it’s a move that calls for discernment over timing - along with extreme caution in general.

Here’s why:

The full suite of information required to produce the bid strategy might not yet have been gathered.

Even if the BD considers that all the information required to go forward with the production of the bid is in hand, that information is still “raw data”. It hasn’t yet been pooled, scrutinised, and converted into the “intelligence” needed to underpin a fully fleshed-out, authoritative, bid strategy . . . running the risk that any earlier-delivered advice could be out of alignment with the themes and content of the EOI or RFP response.

If the client-side has seen fit to issue a formal market call, it’s reasonably safe to assume they feel the full requirements need to be conveyed formally and in a cohesive, written form. Thus, advice offered without the full contingent of facts given in the EOI or RFP, risks being either off-base or viewed as personal opinion.

The only advice being formally asked for is that which is contained within the EOI or RFP questions. Offering advice prior to receiving these formally laid-out requirements in the client’s documentation, might be viewed as unsolicited, unwanted and/or presumptuous.

The BD risks being viewed as simply trying to show off his or her knowledge, and only secondarily as wanting to be helpful.

Pre-probity information-collection opportunities are gold, and optimising them is a fine art.

TO BID OR NOT TO BID

(Training Program)

HOW TO INNOVATE IN BIDS

(Training Program)

"Innovation" in the context of the big-ticket bidding space takes on a very specific definition.

Why You MUST Avoid the ‘Tools & Templates’ Approach of the Average ‘Strategy’ Consultant

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Mon, 03 Feb 2025 06:11:07 GMT

Bidders’ proficiency in strategy formulation is being materially hampered by the ever-expanding plethora of consultants encouraging their clients’ reliance on (often so-called “proprietary”) tools and templates.

It’s an enduring problem that’s getting worse, as more and more consultants pop up in the marketplace, spruiking their latest and greatest “methodologies”.

Here are three core reasons why “tools” and “templates” simply do not produce quality outputs, and absolutely cannot be relied upon as the basis for formulating bid strategy:

These grids, tables and charts, and little generic flip sheet exercises generally encourage you to populate them with what you already know.

Or (and here’s the core problem) what you think you know.

With the pressure to populate the fields with as many bullet points as possible in a tightly-timed little group-think exercise, there’s a lot of assumption going on. And assumption is not a good basis for the formulation of a successful bid strategy.

This problem is exacerbated by the fact that, once it’s in the tool, template, or up on the flipsheet, it’s generally then taken as gospel, with no verification or cross-referencing considered necessary. (Heaven forbid, someone’s feelings should be hurt by the suggestion that this be essential to the production of a rock-solid, authoritative strategy document).

To whatever degree these raw inputs are converted to some form of “strategy”, that “strategy” is frequently based, therefore, on assumption and arrogance. And that’s not a great place from which to produce a compelling offer, solution or submission. As can readily be seen in the vast majority of submission documents. ( NB: To a seasoned and savvy client or bid evaluator, weak content cannot be smoked over by throwing enormous slabs of budget at designers to produce all-singing, all-dancing, multi-media, coffee-table productions).

Such methodologies spawn tactics , not actual strategy.

The next exercise in one of these inch-deep-thinking “workshops” is generally either to:

Have a note-taker write up the contents of the populated charts and flipsheets (usually in a fairly useless “bullet point” form), supposedly constituting some form of “strategy” that will go on to be used as the document that guides the bid’s section authors.

At best, this results in jumping right over the “strategy” stage and into “tactics”, in turn, demonstrating complete ignorance of the fact that tactics are informed by strategy, and are meaningless, or even dangerous, without it.

Worse still, it results in a variety of tactics infiltrating the end submission document, in direct proportion to the variety of section writers contributing to it. OR (worse still):

To paper the walls of the “war room” (the war room being another bad idea) with these excessively raw inputs and leave section authors to work out how to use them.

A submission’s designated section authors are usually either subject matter experts or writers. They are not (generally speaking) strategists.

Being left to their own devices to turn someone else’s / a group’s raw thoughts into strategy as they put fingers to keyboard is not their strength.

At best, as above, as each section author attempts to do this, a multitude of different themes and tactics start showing up in the resulting submission draft.

These methodologies encourage workshop participants to document (and rely only upon) their existing knowledge (or, as above, their assumptions ).

Key to formulating a well-informed, authoritative strategy, is focusing on what is not known . . . and the development of plans to acquire that knowledge.

Too often, “strategy” is developed either in a vacuum, based on the existing or assumed knowledge of the participants that a bid manager has been able to muster into (and keep in) a meeting room for a few hours. (One can only wonder what history’s grand master of strategy, Sun Tzu, would have thought of that.)

In a truly savvy strategy, the emphasis is on new discoveries about the client, project and history, stakeholder mix and history, field of competition and each individual competitor, along with numerous other aspects of the overall environment (and the testing of assumptions) . . . knocking out the competition by way of knowing more – much more – than each competitor knows.

When it comes to strategy inputs, it’s a case of “ more is more ”, “ test, test, test ”, and “what’s the absolute latest and freshest ?”

THINK AND WIN BIDS
Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Book)

The three fundamental skills of a genuinely sharp, sustainably successful bid professional are the ability to think, listen and ask quality questions .

Furthermore, formulating successful business development and bid strategies is the process of well-directed research and thinking ; not the product of tools and templates.

Ideal to ensure all members of the bid team are, philosophically, on the same page, Think and Win Bids is also offered as a six-pack (six books for the price of five).

BID COMMANDOS
On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

(Training Program)

BID COMMANDOS is my "blockbuster", comprehensive, 11-module training program.

Your Bid Team's Grammatical Standards: 3 Good Reasons to Care

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Fri, 31 Jan 2025 06:36:51 GMT

With grammatical standards slipping badly in today’s digital/electronic communications-driven society, there’s been an unfortunate flow-on effect in the quality of written presentation in bids i.e. responses to Expressions of Interest (EOIs), Requests for Tender (RFTs), Requests for Proposal (RFPs), and the like.

Many years ago, when I was a fresh-from-high-school cadet reporter, my subeditor (the unsmiling, could-never-be-pleased 6’4″ ”Mr G”) forged my fledgling news-writing and editorial standards by constantly drumming into me:

“Make your writing understandable to the lowest common denominator within the readership. Make your grammar acceptable to the highest common denominator.”

I write frequently on the first part of the fearsome Mr G’s admonition. However, writing – as I do – for a predominantly mid to senior level audience, I rarely write in regard to the second part of the admonition.

But now, with the rapidly declining standards I’m observing both in everyday corporate communications and in bid-related documentation, it’s time to bring the issue out of the closet.

Before I do, let me make this point:

For every section author or subject matter contributor that considers this degree of concern reflective of “anal retentiveness”, there’s a reader (and possibly a multiple thereof) that considers the correct use of grammar reflective of a basic fifth grade education.

Which of these two opposing viewpoints do you think is most likely to be represented on evaluation and supplier selection committees in the case of high-value bids?

I sincerely hope you answered in favour of the latter (age factors alone would suggest this).

This, then, is your “highest common denominator” reader . . . and his or her opinion of your organisation’s grammatical standards stands to directly flavour the credibility he or she attaches to your submission.

Subconscious Judgements Aplenty

At the most basic and overt level, a bid writer’s incorrect use of grammar might render some aspects of your EOI or RFP response, or your proposal, ambiguous or otherwise unclear to an evaluation team.

At the more subconscious level, it’s possible the evaluators could make an unfavourable judgement about your organisation’s propensity for attention to detail in its service delivery or other aspects of its after-sales performance (including communication).

If so, they could be forming a hard-to-change opinion about the frustration your people are likely to visit upon their people in your organisation’s ongoing relationship with them.

And somewhere towards the centre of the spectrum of concern is the certainty that the evaluation panel will be questioning the overall professionalism of your enterprise in general.

And all for the want of the exercise of leadership in your standards of written communication.

So, is it worth taking a stand against today’s trend towards the relaxation of conventional grammatical standards? Is it worth demonstrating leadership in this regard? And, if so, is it worth making certain these high standards are firmly evidenced by the quality of your bid, tender and proposal documentation?

I vote “YES”. (Mr G may be watching.) How do you vote?

THE BID WRITER'S STYLE & GRAMMAR GUIDE

(Book)

This reference and tuition manual has been written both for the professional bid writer and for those subject matter experts contributing submission content.

Exercised diligently, these core principles and practices will see you produce not only grammatically correct and highly readable, but also strategic and compelling, submissions .

THE BID WRITER'S STYLE & GRAMMAR GUIDE

(Six-Pack)

Your organisation’s credibility hangs on the quality of your writing and the standards it reflects.

Available individually or as a six-pack (6 for the price of 5).

Three Reasons 'Templating' Is A Bad Practice When Developing Bid Strategy

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Fri, 31 Jan 2025 02:54:50 GMT

Adopting an "anti-template" policy is just as important in the development of bid strategy, as it is in the production of the end submission.

Here are three primary reasons to avoid what I call “templated thinking” when formulating strategy:

1) Genericism vs Uniqueness: A Process that Doesn’t Match the Required Mindset

Once the nature of a procurement or project is understood, a bid team should endeavour to identify and place focus on the characteristics of that procurement or project that are unique to that specific project.

The use of pre-formulated, generic outlines is potentially counterproductive.

2) Strategy Development Should be Led By A Strategic Thinker

Running a group through a pre-determined list of questions does not allow conversations to evolve naturally.

Instead, thinking and discussion should be channelled along in a lateral – albeit controlled – fashion, developing all threads of input. This is something a template can’t achieve.

3) A Template-Directed Discussion Will Hit An Early Wall

A template stops the discussion at a generically pre-determined point – possibly (well) short of the best possible strategic decision.

THINK AND WIN BIDS
Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Book)

The three fundamental skills of a genuinely sharp, sustainably successful bid professional are the ability to think, listen and ask quality questions.

Furthermore, formulating successful business development and bid strategies is the process of well-directed research and thinking ; not the product of tools and templates.

THINK AND WIN BIDS
Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Six-Pack)

Ideal to ensure your entire team of writers and contributing subject matter experts are all on the same page, Think and Win Bids is offered as a six-pack (six books for the price of five).

‘Smooth & Natural’ vs ‘Stilted & Indirect’ Proposal Writing

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Fri, 31 Jan 2025 01:12:48 GMT

To an extent, smooth and natural copy is conversational copy.

It sounds like one side of a conversation between two parties familiar with, and trusting of, each other.

That type of copy – if it’s genuine and well-executed (but not overly familiar) – puts the reader at ease, something that’s difficult to achieve with writing that’s stiff and formal.

This is, of course, likely to prompt mixed views. Some professions are particularly wedded to their formal, academic writing style . . . engineers are a perfect example. The problem arises when writing becomes so overly technical or convoluted that it lacks readability.

Consider the following:

“Further, the directors and management of Black Group believe in promoting the internal opportunities that are available to our staff through the marketplace expansion and organic growth of Black Group. As such, Black Group will be providing ongoing training and mentoring programs to all of our employees in order that they may achieve job satisfaction within the Group and also reach their full career potential. This policy is demonstrated by the number of our long-term staff that have enhanced their abilities, their progression within the Group, and their career paths by taking up these opportunities.”

Not the worst example but nonetheless, it makes evident the low readability of an entire bid section written in this stilted style.

If you tend towards this type of writing, one of the ways you can identify it is to read your piece aloud to someone else – and preferably someone who has no knowledge of your topic. You will “hear it through their ears”.

That way you’ll quickly ascertain how understandable (or not) your piece is to the common reader or non-technical audience.

50 ESSENTIAL BID-WRITING TIPS
Must-Know Standards, Methods & Insights for Writing Compelling Bids, Tenders and Proposals

(Book)

Intentional successful bids are guided by a strategy that is well-researched, customer-centric / client-centric, substance-based, savvily-formulated, and documented in detail.

Available individually or as a six-pack (6 books for the price of 5).

THE BID WRITER'S STYLE & GRAMMAR GUIDE

(Book)

Your organisation’s credibility hangs on the quality of your writing and the standards it reflects. It behooves pursuit leaders and bid managers to ensure consistency in standards across all the outputs of your bid writing team.

Available individually or as a six-pack (6 for the price of 5).

When to Press the Emotion Button & When to Press the Logic Button

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Thu, 30 Jan 2025 01:48:42 GMT

It’s commonly assumed by bid teams that emotion has no place in formal Expressions of Interest (EOIs) or Requests for Proposal (RFPs) . . . and that these should be strictly hard core, fact-and-logic based documents.

But this is an assumption – and a debate that needs to be had within the context of the overall pursuit process.

My own observations – over a decade and a half of formulating bid strategy – are that, in the early stages of a procurement process (i.e. years or months before a major capital investment) client-side thinking is predominantly qualitative (versus quantitative), subjective (versus objective), and even emotions-based.

This is the phase during which marketplace and opinion leader influences, along with personal preferences, are shaping the views of those leading a major procurement investment.

This is the "emotions" phase.

This is also the phase during which client-facing business development (BD) operatives / pursuit leaders should be employing their best listening skills: listening for biases towards you or a particular competitor (at either the reputational/organisational or the product/service level), listening for objections, and listening for variance in the ranks of the procurement influencers.

Fast forward to the production of the formal submission:

Assuming your BDs and pursuit leader – as well as any supporting departments within your organisation – have done their level best to steer the prospective client in your direction, there will be a certain mix of emotions with which the client team has arrived at the point of sitting down to formulate its market call documentation.

You need to know precisely what that emotional mix is – or at least the predominant emotion within that mix .

For example, is it your BDs’ best estimation, from their meetings as well as their secondary research, that this prospective client wants as close to total risk-mitigation as it can get?

You’ll have heard the old maxim, “No-one ever got fired for buying IBM.” (If you haven’t, this basically meant that no IT manager ever lost his or her job for making a poor purchase decision, as long as it was an IBM product. This maxim has since been applied to other industries i.e. as long as you choose the biggest, most-established brand name, you’ll have less explaining to do for any risky supplier or service provider selections, or if things go totally pear-shaped.)

What’s the Underlying Fear or Desired Reward?

If this is the case in any procurement process in which you’re a bidder, the underlying emotion is clearly risk-aversion.

Thus, the emotional need is for security – for bullet-proof certainty that the wheels won’t come off during delivery of your project, or that your product won’t fail or be unsuitable for its intended purpose.

This, then, is the emotion that you must address in your bid strategy, and in your written submission.

And, to the bid writers: There will be words that scratch that emotion, and that are perfectly appropriate to use in a formal EOI / RFP response. (An aside, you need to fire bullets from both guns in your copy i.e. emotion and logic . To whatever degree you’re unclear about which gun’s trigger gets pulled first and which second, in any given section of the submission err on the side of eliciting a visceral reaction in the evaluators, and then following through with logic to consolidate their conviction.)

That said, with regard to any emotion-inducing terminology, this should still, of course, be within the realms of acceptable business writing. It also shouldn’t be peppered through your copy erratically and outside of genuine strategy/question-response contextual usage.

And Now, To Logic

So we acknowledge that emotion will have played a role in the decision as to which service providers or product suppliers were invited to tender for a large procurement; that the initial stages of a major purchasing decision are, at the least, influenced (if not driven) by emotion and subjective influences.

Now let’s move to the role of logic – and precisely when to push that button. And that is (outside of the emotion/logic balance demonstrated in the written submission) the shortlistee selection, due diligence, and post-purchase justification phases.

These are primarily driven by logic. (Your prospective client would, of course, claim that these phases – if not the entire procurement cycle – are driven 100 percent by logic. But you know better.)

To recap then, your strategy and your submission needs to press both buttons. And, within the context of any given question/section of the client’s documentation, you will likely want to do it in the order of emotion backed up by logic .

Again, emotion, to stir things up – and logic to reassure the evaluators they’re leaning in the correct direction and to thus move things over the finish line.

But, if there’s any doubt in your mind re the nature of the emotion, or striking the appropriate emotion/logic balance, err on the side of rolling out the logic and hitting that hard. Because, at the most decisive moment in the whole process – the moment when the evaluator’s hand moves towards the boxes where he or she enters your section/criteria scores – he or she knows it’s rational, logic-based facts, figures and other hard data that he or she will be required to put forward to justify to any other parties, the scores you’re about to be awarded.

In short: Identify the driving emotions behind the procurement and use this insight, both in your bid strategy and in your end-submission, to hook the evaluation team at a “gut” level. Then provide all the logic, rationale, facts and stats to demonstrate how that emotion will be satisfied or put to rest through selection of your proposition over and above any competitor’s.

THINK AND WIN BIDS

Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Book)

The three fundamental skills of a genuinely sharp, sustainably successful bid professional are the ability to think , listen and ask quality questions .

Furthermore, formulating successful business development and bid strategies is the process of well-directed research and thinking ; not the product of tools and templates.

BEATING THE BIG BOYS AT BIDS

(Training Program)

I developed this five-module training program to equip mid and lower-tier industry participants with the insights to spot the chinks in their larger, corporate competitors' armour - and to take maximum, strategic advantage of each of them.

Productivity Secrets of Super-Prolific Writers (Part Two)

Wed, 29 Jan 2025 06:28:00 GMT

In Part One o f this article, I shared my knowledge of the habits of writers who achieve "super-human" levels of productivity.

I also shared the modus operandi that enabled me to push out 17 books in three years, while keeping on top of my daily consulting and coaching commitments.

I trust the first three insights I provided in Part One are proving of value to those readers whose professional/business goals stand to be expedited, in part at least, by an increase in their writing proficiency.

Here are a further four tips:

1) Establish A ‘No-Go Zone’ or No-Go Times

In line with the “No. 1 habit” I rolled out in Part One (‘Seek Solitude’) , set in place times during which you represent an “emergency-access-only zone”.

Don’t permit an attitude (in yourself or in others) that “you’re only writing” and therefore can be freely interrupted or pulled sideways.

Place a priority on your writing time and communicate that to whatever parties need to know it.

2) Identify Your Best ‘Focus’ Time

To increase the effectiveness of your “No-Go” time slot strategy, work out the intersection of your biologically most productive window, with that time of the day or night when you normally experience the least number of “urgent” demands on your attention.

3) Straighten Out the Kink and Get ON With It

I read a quote by an author to the effect that, “When something’s troubling you and you can’t get started with your writing, it can block your creativity like a kink in a hose.”

If the kink in your hose is something that can be quickly and easily addressed (like sending a particular email), put your writing project on hold for just long enough to straighten out the knot and then get back into it.

4) Don’t Surrender to ‘Writer’s Block’

To repeat advice I’ve given in other articles on Pursuits Academy:

Start. Just start. Don’t wait for inspiration.

I started out in my professional life as a cadet reporter. When you’re writing for a daily newspaper, one of the most important skills you have to acquire is the ability to craft a great “lead-in” i.e. to grab the reader and draw him in.

No matter how much you hone this particular aspect of the craft though, you can still sit and sweat over your introductory paragraph for ages.

I soon learned that the best way is (after you’ve mapped out your basic structure) to simply start writing the piece . . . The best lead-in usually reveals itself during the course of the exercise. Thus, you can go back and write it / work on it / re-write it later – crafting it to perfection if you will. But you won’t have let it stymie your overall progress.

I recommend you use the same “push on with it regardless” approach in your written pieces.

In the third and final Part of this series of recommendations on super-productivity, I’ll give you a window into how multiple-title non-fiction authors (of which I’m one) maintain a steady flow of published books (often while running some form of business in parallel).

ESSENTIAL BID-WRITING TIPS
Must-Know Standards, Methods & Insights for Writing Compelling Bids, Tenders and Proposals

(Book)

Available individually or as a six-pack (6 for the price of 5) .

BID-WRITING LESSONS FROM THE WORLD'S GREATEST AUTHORS

(Book)

This illuminating (and fun) little read is an assembly of the enduring and pithily expressed wisdom of over 100 authors, strategists, philosophers and other accomplished figures.

Well worth putting one on the desk of everyone in your writing team.

Preparing for A Pre-Probity Meeting - A Checklist

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Wed, 29 Jan 2025 05:00:21 GMT

Every meeting opportunity you get in the lead-up to the release of the client’s formal Expression of Interest or Request for Proposal, is gold .

Ensure you drill out the most valuable insights possible from each such opportunity, with some critical self-analysis of your preparatory thinking, including:

To start with, are we meeting with the right people? Are these the real decision-makers, or as close as we can get to them?

What will the customer / client organisation’s representatives expect that we know about their business and this project or procurement?

In answering the above question as comprehensively as possible, have we broken down the project or the need into a strategically granular number of parts?

Are we gathering as many insights into each of those parts as we possibly can? (Think both primary and secondary research.)

In reviewing the above, is there any critical piece of information we’ve missed – either about our own product, service or company, or about theirs?

What degree of competitive intelligence should we have done? What would a switched-on competitor have done? What might they know about us?

Is this a procurement involving an incumbent? What do we know about the incumbent, the history of the account, and customer satisfaction levels with the status quo?

TO BID OR NOT TO BID

(Training Program)

THE ART OF THE DEBRIEF

(Training Program)

The key to getting the best value from any de-briefing session offered to you is to plan carefully, in order to extract every possible clue from the process.

This two-module training provides step-by-step, real-time guidance to assist you in maximising the intel and insights available from the de-briefing opportunity.

It also guides you along as you seek to ensure the permanence of the insights obtained, and the incorporation of their value into future bidding processes.

In A ‘Too-Tight’ Bid Timeframe, Capitalise on Individuals’ Strengths

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Wed, 29 Jan 2025 02:50:41 GMT

When you’re under the pump with a short submission timeframe, your best default strategy for getting a top-notch bid out the door in good time is to "go with the current" in terms of people’s natural talents.

People can be coached in their areas of weakness to a reasonable degree but rarely will they be great in those particular aspects of bid production: people generally gravitate back to the aspects in which they naturally excel and endeavour to avoid those in which they don’t.

The first step is to accurately identify the priority skills required for each part of the submission and the process, giving careful consideration to which individuals possess these.

Really think about each person and who (rather than what ) they are; “day job” position titles can be misleading in the context of a bid. Often, the strengths and weaknesses you’d assume of an individual in a particular role just don’t import across into a bid team environment in the way you’d expect them to.

BID COMMANDOS

On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

(Training Program)

BID COMMANDOS is my "blockbuster", comprehensive, 11-module training program.

BEATING THE BIG BOYS AT BIDS

(Training Program)

Capitalise on the natural advantages of being a smaller, more agile - and potentially, more aware - operator than your corporate competitors.

(Equally applicable for producing proactive proposals and participating in less formal processes.)

Tardiness & Inconsistency Kill Believability

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Tue, 28 Jan 2025 22:50:21 GMT

Tardiness leaves our credibility and even our honesty open to question.

Conducting a pre-submission review for a client recently, I noted a claim that two delivery team members had “a collective 50 years’ experience” in a particular type of infrastructure.

However, this didn’t tally with the individuals’ Curricula Vitae, so I asked for these figures to be checked.

The amended figure came back: “30 years of collective experience”.

The client notices these inconsistencies , and a figure pulled out of the air doesn’t do our credibility any good. At all.

50 ESSENTIAL BID-WRITING TIPS

Must-Know Standards, Methods & Insights for Writing Compelling Bids, Tenders and Proposals

(Book)

Available individually or as a six-pack (6 for the price of 5).

THE BID WRITER'S STYLE & GRAMMAR GUIDE

(Book)

Your organisation’s credibility hangs on the quality of your writing and the standards it reflects.

Available individually or as a six-pack (6 for the price of 5) .

Your No. 1 Intelligence-Gathering Tool

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Tue, 28 Jan 2025 06:21:14 GMT

When it comes to business development conversations, as counterintuitive as it is, "humble" is a winning strategy.

The importance of being humble in winning high-value bids – and in any aspect of new-business pursuits – has been my hobby horse for the more than two decades I’ve been specialising in this field.

Why is being humble so hard to do, and why is it such a winning philosophy in discussions with prospective customers and clients?

Let me count the ways . . . (I’ve only got room for two, but I could write a whole book on it – and I have .

Firstly, while you’re busy trying to convince the client or customer of the “smarts” of your service or your product, your customer is doing one of two things:

He’s either trying to determine the relevance of those smarts to achieving his goals or the likelihood of them providing the solution he needs / might need . . . or he’s not.

You don’t know which he’s doing unless you’re really listening . Ideally, in fact, you should be helping him make the connection . . . but that takes an even deeper level of listening.

And that’s where humility comes into its own as a pre-bid engagement strategy. To exercise humility is to listen. The old “two ears, one mouth” equation.

If you make it your Golden Rule to listen first, speak second, you’ll be on the path to uncovering critical information / underlying intelligence that will help you deepen the alignment between the customer’s / client’s needs, desires, concerns and priorities, and your product or service.

Cut the listening process short and, in direct proportion, you are cutting short your supply of “inside” information on how your offering is, or can be tailored to be, the best possible solution for your customer or client . . . which is the most direct and cost-effective way to solve his or her organisation’s problem or to realise that organisation’s goals.

Sales 101? Think Again.

This sounds incredibly basic, yes? Sales 101, right?

Then why is it that, when I speak with Business Development operatives to gather information to assist the development of bid strategy, nine times out of ten I come up empty-handed in terms of anything really deep and meaningful . . . any news I can use?

Why do I end up conducting impromptu, delicate, coaching moments with BDs to demonstrate how to get this information? To alert them to the sort of information they should have listened for in the first place, let alone what they should have proactively dug out?

Secondly, there is an enduring belief that “sales” and “business development” are all about “getting our message across”.

Consequently, most business development operatives spend more of their pre-meeting preparation time planning what they are going to say , rather than formulating a strategic questioning outline to obtain the answers they need.

And of the too-small proportion of BDs who do have the foresight to invest (what I would consider) a decent amount of time and forethought into the pre-engagement planning of questions, most stop after obtaining what are often only superficial answers to those questions . . . before succumbing to the temptation to pick up on an element of those answers and dive in with a sales pitch.

What’s the Hurry?

Are they concerned this might be their one and only – or their last – meeting with the client organisation’s representatives before probity kicks in?

Then they should start their market-scanning, prospect research, and pre-bid engagement processes earlier!

Here’s the bottom line:

If you’re providing genuine value in those conversations, you’ll be invited back. And the best way to provide value is to ask well-researched, quality questions , listen carefully to the answers, and then ask further quality questions.

Do that – and do it well – and the client will know they’re in the presence of someone who’s more likely to provide value, than someone who came in and banged on about the brilliance of their company and its product or service.

Asking quality questions, listening carefully to the answers, and knowing what to do next with the resultant information is the No. 1 skill that wins bids.

THINK AND WIN BIDS
Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Book)

The three fundamental skills of a genuinely sharp, sustainably successful bid professional are the ability to think, listen and ask quality questions .

Furthermore, formulating successful business development and bid strategies is the process of well-directed research and thinking; not the product of tools and templates.

Ideal to ensure all members of the bid team are, philosophically, on the same page, Think and Win Bids is also offered as a six-pack (6 books for the price of 5).

BID COMMANDOS
On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

(Training Program)

BID COMMANDOS is my "blockbuster", comprehensive, 11-module training program.

How to Beat Writer's Block

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Tue, 28 Jan 2025 02:58:01 GMT

Start. Just start – anywhere in the piece.

I started out my career as a cadet reporter. When you’re writing for a daily newspaper, one of the most important skills you have to acquire is the ability to craft a great “lead-in” i.e. to grab the reader and draw him in.

No matter how much you hone this particular aspect of the craft though, you can still sit and sweat over your introductory paragraph for ages. Especially if you’re addicted to perfection . . . or if your subeditor is.

I soon learned that the best way is (after you’ve mapped out your basic structure) to simply start writing the piece . . . just let it roll (I stress – after having first sketched out your basic flow of facts).

In my experience, the best lead-in (also known as an “intro”) will reveal itself during the course of the exercise.

You can go back and write it / work on it later – crafting it to perfection if you will. But you won’t have let it stymie your overall progress.

50 ESSENTIAL BID-WRITING TIPS

(Book)

Intentional successful bids are guided by a strategy that is well-researched, customer-centric / client-centric, substance-based, savvily-formulated, and documented in detail.

BID-WRITING LESSONS FROM THE WORLD'S GREATEST AUTHORS

(Book)

History’s literary greats have much to teach the writers of today. No-one, however, could benefit more from becoming a student of these masters of the written word than the commercial bid writer.

Spotting Porkies In A Pre-Probity Meeting

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Tue, 28 Jan 2025 01:41:02 GMT

Your bid strategy is only ever going to be that trap, you stop yourself picking up all the cues being projected in the answering o good as the information you feed into your bid strategy formulation process.

So it goes without saying that you want to make sure the information and insights gathered in by your Business Development operatives – as your frontline, primary research gatherers – are as accurate and as “real” as possible.

On which note, in the same manner as clients will often be cagey or omit key information in tender debriefs, they’ll often be not quite as upfront in pre-probity meetings as you’d like to think or hope.

So it’s incumbent upon your “BDs”, to make sure they make a savvy judgement about the accuracy of the inputs they’re getting from the prospect’s personnel.

Here are some critical cues that your fellow meeting participant isn’t being completely on the level with you.

Evasiveness (a la classic politician-type behaviour)

Typical signs are long responses to a question, but no actual direct answer.

For example, the procuring organisation might not be certain that they’re really going to actually award a contract at the end of the tender process. Maybe they haven’t got their funding secured yet – but don’t want to disclose that, because that would certainly discourage any bidders that don’t wish to waste time or budget bidding for a project or contract that might be an illusion.

A prospect being questioned in this scenario might, for example, go into all manner of sideline issues.

Exclusionary qualifiers

For example, “fundamentally”, “not really”.

These all amount to a desire to give an indirect answer or an indirect denial.

They beg for a follow-up question. And you should ensure you ask one – gently, but savvily, nonetheless. You’re going to be investing major resources if you decide to go for this bid, and you want to be doing it on a foundation of true and accurate information.

Dressing up the lie

“To tell you the truth.” “Frankly.” “Honestly.” “To be honest with you.”

You know them. By the way, sometimes these can be simply habitual for someone . . . maybe you do this yourself.

Be careful with it. The question may well be asked, Aren’t you always telling the truth? Aren’t you always being honest? So why bother with making a special point of it with the particular statement you’re about to make this time?

Offering too much information (especially if some of the information is irrelevant) in answer to a specific question

This can (depending upon the context) be indicative of a desire to smoke over the facts.

It can also be a ploy to manage your perception and convince you of a greater degree of honesty than is actually the case.

This tactic is closely related to the evasiveness tactic.

Attempting to be over-convincing

This is the opposite of evasiveness. It’s basically an attempt to ensure believability.

The skill with this tactic is to work out whether your prospect is over-compensating, or just passionate about the issue you’ve raised . . . which makes it particularly important to have your antenna up throughout the conversation leading up to that point.

They’re ALL Diversionary

In a sense, all of these are diversionary tactics . . . and any combination of them can be employed.

A particularly key point of awareness for a BD in a situation in which they suspect their fellow meeting participants aren’t being straightforward, is to take the prospects’ language literally . For example, “wouldn’t” does NOT equate to “won’t” or “haven’t” or “didn’t”. What these are, are protesting statements without an actual denial.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of listening through the filter of your own emotions or your own logic, or your own ethical standards, and to try to make sense of what you’re being told, from that perspective. And that’s a very easy way to allow yourself to be misled.

Two Massive Red Flags

Two massive red flags that you’re inadvertently threatening to uncover information the prospect doesn’t want uncovered, are:

An aggressive or overly defensive response (i.e. attacking the questioner . . . not a good sign), and

Turning the question back on the asker, in a particularly animated way.

Of course, any of these could be habits in their own right. BUT . . . too many in quick succession, form what is known as a “cluster” . . . a combination of tell-tale signs that definitely spell cause for concern.

Also in the outright dishonesty category is a verbal / non-verbal disconnect. A simplistic example: A prospect nods his head while giving a “No” answer verbally. That’s a cue that the brain is so confused with trying to disguise or protect their disingenuous position, that it can’t keep up.

Closely related to that – in the arena of body language – is a new, sudden physical movement at the point where the body connects with the floor or the seat e.g. bouncing the foot or shifting in the chair. Investigators say this is a big one.

Similarly, sudden grooming gestures, such as fixing a tie, or running the hand across the hair, glancing at a watch, moving the hands to the face. This is a typical, unconscious response when someone flicks into the “fight or flight” mode of the autonomic nervous system.

The Eyes Are Indeed the Windows of the Soul

Still on body language, remember the adage, “the eyes are the windows of the soul”.

Looking up to the right, means they’re visually picturing or constructing something that’s never actually happened.

Looking up to the left, means they’re remembering something.

However, that applies only if they’re right-handed. In the case of a left-handed prospect, the opposite will apply . . . so be careful with that one, especially since you may have no idea whether your prospect is a right or a left-hander.

And still on eyes, shifty eyes usually indicate dishonesty. Here’s the big clue with a shifty-eyed meeting participant: Does he or she look straight back at you after completing a statement? If so, he or she is typically trying to see whether you buy what’s just been said.

Of course, on the phone, you lose the nonverbal cues. But you can, for example, still hear a chair moving or paper shuffling, or a keyboard being tapped, when a question leaves the other party feeling awkward and fiddling unconsciously while trying to think up (what is going to be) an unnatural answer.

Aside from being aware of these cues per se , and the likelihood that they’re being employed more often than you’d like to think, your most critical communication strategy is not to allow your mind to fast-forward to your next intended question or statement. As soon as you fall into that trap, you stop yourself picking up all the cues being projected in the answering of your current question.

A Word of Caution

Mastering this is the field of the expert. It’s easy to learn these general principles and then make the mistake of applying them universally, in an overly simplistic manner.

There’s a wad of variables to take into account:

Is something entirely normal behaviour for the individual you’re conversing with (versus does their communication modus operandi suddenly change . . . especially in mid-conversation)? If you know someone and you’ve got a baseline understanding of them, you know how that individual typically communicates and conducts themselves . . . then any variance on this is a reasonably reliable flag.

Is someone demonstrating “closed” body language (arms crossed, for example) purely because they’re cold? Make an indirect observation that helps you confirm or deny that.

Is someone jiggling their foot simply because they actually are a jiggler? If it appears to be a response to a statement or a question that made them uncomfortable, move on to a more comfortable topic . . . and then move back towards the less comfortable one. Does the jiggling stop and then resume?

When someone is stressed, the body emanates that stress . . . generally.

Compulsive, pathological liars can, of course, be a totally different kettle of fish. They take a whole elevated level of smarts to deal with. Let’s hope we don’t encounter too many of those in the organisations of our prospective clients.

But if you do ever encounter someone you suspect falls into that category, here are three key cues to look for:

Indirect answers

Yes, it’s a typical ploy that some people use to get out of a tight spot. But compulsive liars turn the indirect answer into an art form.

Repeated vagueness in statements

People who lie will typically avoid being detailed; they know there is too much to have to remember in a future conversation.

TO BID OR NOT TO BID

(Training Program)

THE ART OF THE DEBRIEF

(Training Program)

The key to getting the best value from any de-briefing session offered to you is to plan carefully, in order to extract every possible clue from the process.

This two-module course provides step-by-step, real-time guidance to assist you in maximising the intel and insights available from the de-briefing opportunity. It also guides you along as you seek to ensure the permanence of the insights obtained, and the incorporation of their value into future bidding processes.

Shortlistee Presentation Logistics Checklist

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 06:51:18 GMT

Start your shortlistee presentation preparation checklist with the following basics:

Is everybody versed in how to get to the venue, travel times and contingency considerations e.g. traffic issues?

What is the process or expected norm for introductions (a) upon arrival, and (b) preceding the actual presentation?

What equipment is available? Are our presentation tools compatible?

What additional, non-technology, equipment do we need, and who will provide this? If the client will provide this, is what’s in their mind the same thing as what’s in our mind? Check that what we call certain items and tools is the same as they call them.

What’s the policy on hand-outs?

Is the time allocation loose or concrete? Have we timed ourselves?

What’s the Q&A protocol? Do we have everyone on board to attend that might be needed in a Q&A situation?

How will we be expected to wrap up?

THE BID WRITER'S STYLE & GRAMMAR GUIDE

(Book)

This reference and tuition manual has been written especially for the professional bid writer, as well for those subject matter experts who are called upon to author sections for submissions.

I've taken the opportunity to provide tuition on many other basics of effective bid-writing (including on strategy, as the essential foundation of a high-quality proposal document).

50 ESSENTIAL BID-WRITING TIPS

Must-Know Standards, Methods & Insights for Writing Compelling Bids, Tenders & Proposals

(Book)

Successful bid-writing is client-centric, substance-based, and guided by a well-researched, savvily-formulated, documented-in-detail bid strategy.

This book comprises 50 mini-lessons on how to ensure that strategy is articulated clearly, consistently and compellingly throughout every section of the proposal.

The Single Most Important Check Point for Bid Writers

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Thu, 23 Jan 2025 09:23:02 GMT

This point is so important, it’s going to be a checklist all on its own:

Have I framed ALL key points and other content from the prospect organisation’s acute point of self -interest?

Go hunting for any place in your proposal, response or submission where you might have slipped into vendor self-centricity.

While it may sound like a simplistic admonition, it’s only a minority of bidders that actually pass this essential litmus test. For many organisations, there’s a quantum leap to be made to translate principle into practice: that is, when it comes to fully understanding the client’s world and associated challenges, and to then formulating a solution specifically to address those issues and articulating that proposition from the client’s perspective.

A particularly good idea is to read your proposed documentation from the perspective of the client evaluation panel that cares nothing about the bidder . . . other than what that supplier or service provider can do – very specifically – to solve the client organisation’s challenges and help turn to reality any goals and visions it has pertaining to the procurement in question.

THINK AND WIN BIDS
Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Book)

The three fundamental skills of a genuinely sharp, sustainably successful bid/proposal/tender professional are the ability to think , listen and ask quality questions .

Furthermore, formulating successful business development and bid strategies is the process of well-directed research and thinking ; not the product of tools and templates.

50 ESSENTIAL BID-WRITING TIPS
Must-Know Standards, Methods & Insights for Writing Compelling Bids, Tenders and Proposals

(Book)

Intentional successful bids are guided by a strategy that is well-researched, customer-centric / client-centric, substance-based, savvily-formulated, and documented in detail.

It is the bid writer's job to ensure that strategy (the primary – but not exclusive – role of which is to address all known selection criteria) is then articulated clearly, consistently and compellingly throughout every section of the proposal.

THINK & WIN BIDS: Winning When the Stakes Are High

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Thu, 23 Jan 2025 07:01:02 GMT

THINK AND WIN BIDS

Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

The three fundamental skills of a successful bid strategist and bid leader are the ability to think , to listen and to ask quality questions .

' Think and Win Bids ' is more than a catchy title. This is a book with a strong message and a wealth of commanding insights into the fundamentals of winning bids . . . including the need to deeply understand a potential customer or client organisation, the world in which it operates, its intended procurement, and the all-important backdrop against which that procurement is being made.

The capacity and willingness for a bid leader or business development professional to think deeply, logically, strategically and client-centrically is a key differentiator between those who can sustain a high win rate and provide much-needed leadership in new-business pursuits, and those who flounder in such a role.

It’s a skill set that can be taught – so long as the necessary degree of humility and “coachability” exists. And that’s the reason this book was written. Its title is an unashamed play on that of the all-time business classic, Think & Grow Rich , penned in 1937 by leading business thinker of his time, Napoleon Hill.

This highly readable, compact book will teach you:

The importance of understanding your customer or client organisation and its procurement from a holistic (versus a narrow, service- or product-focused) perspective.

How to gain a detailed and bid-winning appreciation of the procurement psyche of your prospective customer or client organisation.

How to determine the most valuable information to acquire about a customer or client organisation’s intended procurement and the bigger picture directing or impacting it.

How to plan for the acquisition of the above points of critical knowledge.

The difference between high-value and low-value conversations and how to plan for the former.

The specific differences between great listeners and average listeners.

What highly effective business development operatives and bid professionals do that average ones don’t.

The many types of information available to help inform your bid strategy, and how to source them.

Little-known sources of competitor information.

The criticality of channelling information back, in a valuable format, from the client or customer coalface to the bid team.

What you need to know when your client organisation has its own (up-the-line) client.

How to take advantage of arrogance on the part of the competition.

The importance of avoiding arrogance in your own organisation.

The value of “sleuthing” the customer’s documentation versus simply “reading” it.

The critical distinction between “features” and “benefits” and how to capitalise on your ability to translate one into the other.

What constitutes bid strategy . . . and what doesn’t.

How to turn raw information into bid-winning intelligence.

Working wide while drilling deep in the strategy formulation phase.

How to develop a winning bid strategy.

Why “thorough” is the best default position when it comes to strategy.

Why talk of “silver bullets” is naive.

How to avoid confusing tactics with strategy.

Why templating is the opposite of thinking.

The importance of documenting your bid blueprint in detail.

How to position your organisation as a trusted advisor.

How to get the most out of a de-brief.

How to hire the most effective professional support.

THINK AND WIN BIDS
Winning High-Stakes, High-Value Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Book)

The three fundamental skills of a genuinely sharp, sustainably successful bid professional are the ability to think, listen and ask quality questions .

Furthermore, formulating successful business development and bid strategies is the process of well-directed research and thinking ; not the product of tools and templates.

THINK AND WIN BIDS
Winning High-Stakes, High-Value Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Six-Pack)

Ideal to ensure your entire team of writers and contributing subject matter experts are all on the same page, Think and Win Bids is offered as a six-pack (6 books for the price of 5) .

Will the Real Innovation Please Stand Up?

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Wed, 22 Jan 2025 20:06:01 GMT

The following is an excerpt from my book, ‘ Cracking the VfM Code: How to Identify & Deliver Genuine Value for Money in Collaborative Contracting ’ .

The commentaries of the experts I interviewed for this chapter are as pertinent to all B2B industries as they are to the infrastructure sector and the collaborative contracting movement. Any pursuit leader and/or bid strategist endeavoring to inject genuine, project-specific innovation into their submissions’ value propositions will benefit from their wisdom.

Public Infrastructure Agency Commentary

“Innovations are hugely important. But they need to put deeper analysis into coming up with more thoughtful innovations. Don’t just ‘come up with something’ you think is creative. This is where we see how much thinking they’ve put into it.”

Several years ago, I conducted a series of very open-topic and broad-ranging interviews with project owner representatives for a conference presentation I was preparing at that time. During these discussions, many of these representatives took the opportunity to point to innovation – or the ability to innovate – as an essential ingredient in collaborative contracting success.

Here’s how one interviewee put it, albeit he was speaking in the context of the bidding process:

“Innovations are most important nowadays. You need to come up with really innovative ideas that make a real impact on a project at grass roots level. And you need to show how much time and thinking you’ve put into it. We want to see deeper analysis; more thoughtful innovation. This is a big sticking point for us as evaluators.

“But you need to really understand the project and its bigger picture before you can see what the best, or at least any superior, way of delivering the project is. It’s of little value to just come up with something ‘creative’ on the fly.

“So do your research first so that you’ve got something solid to offer. Then it’s of the utmost importance that you demonstrate your ability to think innovatively – and to think innovatively for the benefit of our specific project. ”

But what are innovations? What is “innovation” ?

Before launching into specific recipes for “innovating”, it’s important – in an era in which the definition of “innovation” has become amorphous and rubbery, often to the point of meaninglessness – to seek clarity around the concept.

To quote innovation expert, Scott Berkun, from his 2010-released book, ‘ The Myths of Innovation’ :

“Simply saying something is great doesn’t make it so, yet as the success of marketing and advertising demonstrates, this doesn’t stop people from trying. The i-word is thrown around so frequently it no longer means anything.”

And from our own industry’s ‘Practitioners’ Guide to Alliance Contracting’ (Department of Treasury & Finance Victoria):

“Is it really ‘outstanding’ or just ‘BAU’ by another name? The BAU expectation is actually changing year on year through continuous improvement in practices and performance metrics; ‘outstanding’ means a quantum change that informed opinion would judge to be clearly a significant departure from current industry best practice and best practice trends.”

‘Three Levels of Innovation’

Robert Newman is an organisational psychologist with Brisbane-based advisory firm Change Focus. He’s worked for 20 years in the field of organisational psychology and, within those two decades, he’s spent 10 years serving the infrastructure industry. Within that, he’s provided services to the collaborative contracting movement specifically, for eight years.

As part of a broader service set, he facilitates conversations on the topic of “innovation”. Newman has some very distinct, professional theories and views about what constitutes innovation – and what doesn’t.

“When people talk about ‘innovation’, they’re really referring to one of three ‘levels’, ‘types’ or definitions of innovating.”

He explains his “three-type” theory:

“ Type 1 is the most simple form of innovation,” says Newman. “This is the well thought-out logical solution, typically associated with specific professions or disciplines. They are ideas that are an extension of the expert’s own, pre-existing mastery.

“These aren’t, however, ‘innovations’ in the strictest sense of the word.

“ Type 2 is the bringing together of multiple disciplines which then engage with each other to operate from multiple perspectives on the problem to hand. Through a process of integration they build on their own knowledge bases, as well as bouncing off each others’ knowledge bases to produce a new and innovative solution.

“The difference between Levels 1 and 2 is that the solution is not predictable based on any one discipline, background or instance of expertise.

“ Type 3 is true innovation. This type of innovation takes place when the multi-disciplinary nature of the group produces a new paradigm that is not simply a logical extension of multiple disciplines. Rather, it is actually the creation of a new discipline.”

Each of these three types of innovation produces a different form of outcome, Newman says.

Drilling down in his explanation of each, he says “type 1” produces “continuous improvement”:

“You can imagine how that works: a logical professional using their body of knowledge to build on what they already know, rather than creating a real paradigm shift. In other words, someone applies their body of knowledge to a problem and generates a different solution than was previously available to that problem. The reason they generated a new solution was the intensity with which they focused their body of knowledge and mastery on the particular problem.”

Type 2, he says, results in an “integrated solution.

“Multiple perspectives have been brought together to produce a solution that is now elegant, in that it straddles multiple facets of the problem.

In terms of the difference in these outputs, “type 1 produces solutions that fit in a less complex context, while type 2 produces solutions that work better in more complex contexts, where no single discipline has a comprehensive understanding of the problem domain.”

It’s the ‘type 3’ process that produces the genuine “breakthrough solution” , says Newman:

“It produces these because the solution generated is not predictable based on the contributions of the individual disciplines that produce it. In other words, it’s new ground, and there’s no one process that creates this new ground . . . except that it’s the result of a new context, a challenging and bringing together of professionals and their expertise.

“There’s something magical that happens at this level. It now moves into the zone of being no longer just logical. It’s no longer the sum of the parts; it’s now, in fact, something else – and it’s entirely new. For me, it’s the most pure form of innovation . . . where you look at the solution and have no idea how that solution came about by the process that lead up to it.

“So, coming back to the three different types of innovation, the most fundamental question to be asked by a team looking to innovate or problem-solve is: “Can I just use an expert to solve this, or do I need to bring together a group of professionals, a multidisciplinary team? Or do I need to dispense with logic and go into the creative space and break new ground?”

“If you find yourself answering that it’s the latter that you want to do, then you’re after pure innovation, not just continuous improvement or effective teamwork.

“If that is the case, the thing to be totally mindful of is that pure innovation is jolly hard, very rare, and typically doesn’t arise when you are looking for it.”

Why not?

“It’s that ‘unpredictable’ element. It’s not something you can push. It’s like saying run faster, but you can’t. What pure innovation is asking you to do is to find a new level of running.”

Innovation is in Eye of the Beholder

“Again, those first two types or levels of innovation aren’t in that sphere. That’s not to say that the result of those particular processes aren’t valuable . . . even immensely valuable, in some cases. It’s just to say that they’re more the product of logical thinking and hard work: one percent innovation, 99 percent perspiration.

“From the expert’s perspective, in more instances of ‘innovation’ than not, they would not call it that themselves. You could ask them, and they’d say, ‘No! I worked jolly hard at and kept at until I reached that outcome.’ They’ve applied their own expertise over and over again to move up to new levels – but it’s still not ‘pure innovation’ in the sense that is actually incremental improvement, to whatever degree.

“So, of these three levels of innovation, the most common and the easiest to engineer, is the expert progressing his or her expertise. All that’s required is to find a diligent, motivated and tenacious expert and give him or her the problem and the resources to solve it.

“The second level or type of innovation is a little harder to acquire, because it requires some of the foundation work involved in developing teams e.g. clear roles and contributions, a clear understanding of the problem, good communications between disciplines, and an intention and a willingness to collaborate.

“This is typically what we are aiming for in relationship contracting.

“But moving up to that ‘pure’ type of innovation requires more, because it’s not formulaic.

“This – what I call ‘type 3’ – is the ultimate in team-generated innovation,” he explains. “It requires team functionality first and foremost. It also requires a climate that allows trying things out and making ‘mistakes’, a willingness to defer judgment, and a high degree of openness to explore possibilities – which is not typical of many professional experts.

“It’s the nature of experts to believe their discipline’s perspective of the world is the only one that exists. People who become experts are often very happy to be seen as knowing it all about a certain thing. It’s a part of their ego needs; a part of their personal identity.”

Newman says, however, that innovation “types 2 and 3” always underpin, to some degree, the optimisation of value for money.

“But – whatever they choose to call it – an alliance is always hoping to achieve type 3 innovation to really maximise client value and, if possible, increase their margin. This is the hope, the promise and the holy grail of relationship contracting. Sometimes it’s achieved and sometimes it’s not.”

Newman reiterates that there’s no formula for this type of innovation. There are, however, some principles and conditions that make it more likely to transpire.

Principles & Techniques for Creating ‘Pure’ Innovation

“You’ve got to start with a highly functional group, because ‘type 3’ innovation rests on the requirements of ‘type 2’ innovation, in that it requires the injection of multiple perspectives towards a multi-faceted perspective on the problem and its solution.

“There are ways that you can get nonfunctional teams to innovate, but their performance won’t be consistent. The ideal is to create an environment where they want to work together and innovate . . . where experts, for example, in one discipline, start enjoying interacting and gaining the perspectives of experts in other disciplines; where professionals who are secure in their profession realise that there are other ways to look at the world, and are curious about the differences between those perspectives.

“You only need one or two of those in a group to create a climate of curiousity, which can actually drag along those who are less secure or more closed-minded. If you create ground rules that foster curiosity, open-mindedness and a goal focus, then we tend to see this type of team-based innovative thinking emerge.

“So, the basics include creating an environment in which thinking together across multiple disciplines is desirable and enjoyable. This requires the development of the team itself. You have to build the familiarity and comfort level between team members, identifying each individual’s expertise and the common ground between them, building communications skills, getting clear on goals for the problem at hand, and being clear on the method of discussing these.

“When you’re in the ‘brainstorming’ phase of the ‘type 2’ process there are many methods you can employ – for example, the Kepner-Tregoe multi-disciplinary problem-solving method, or any other recognised group process for exploring problems and their solutions in the engineering field.

“And, at any point, you need to be clear on what stage you’re at in the overall discussion – you need to know whether you’re in the phase where you’re generating possible solutions, or the phase where you’re evaluating options against the criteria.

“One of the things that works against different disciplines functioning well together is the lack of a clear methodology; the lack of a structured/staged process for thinking.”

This foundation of high-functionality ‘type 2’ team performance then requires the addition of several more fundamentals, Newman says, in order to cultivate ‘type 3’ innovation.

“The group leader, himself or herself, has to be a role model for curiosity, openmindedness and goal focus. To move up to this higher level, the leader needs to epitomise these character qualities. They also need to create an environment that gives people license to be comprehensive in their exploration of the problem and the possibly prolific range of solutions.

“Next, there has to be a generous amount of time dedicated to the cause; it’s very rare for innovative thinking to emerge without some sort of dedicated focus. People need to be taken offline. They can’t be part of an operational process and have half their mind on that while they’re trying to be involved in this sort of initiative.

“They also need to be allowed to make mistakes. The attitude that needs to reign is: ‘Everything is possible. Mistakes are expected on the way to the final solution.’

A Rider

A rider from Newman:

“In this commentary, I don’t mean to give the impression that any of these ‘types’ of innovation is inferior or superior to any of the others. It’s simply that, more often, people haven’t really thought through the nature of innovation they’re referring to, and in most instances, it’s ‘type 1’ innovation they’re referring to. Although, of course, in the context of collaborative contracting, they’re aiming for – and quite often producing – ‘type 2’.

“Type 3 is just the icing on the cake. It’s unsual, uncommon, unpredictable. And while it’s not always necessary for a highly successful alliance, there is no question that that type of innovation leads to superior value for money outcomes.

“And that’s the type of innovation that defines and underpins true gamebreaking results on project alliances.”

A Strategist’s Perspective on A Psychologist’s Theory

Robert Newman’s commentary, inadvertently, leads naturally into my own philosophies and teachings – as a (bid) strategist – on “thinking”. These are not dissimilar to Newman’s theories on innovating, in that there are various levels, or types, of thinking . . . and there’s a fundamental progression between them.

More often than not, when I’m working for the first time with a new bid team, the initial expectation that team has is that we’re going to get straight down to the business of strategic or creative thinking.

But it doesn’t work that way: There are different types of thinking. One of them is “logical” thinking (which sounds like a natural, “default” output but, typically, it isn’t) and its output is the foundation of all other productive thought processes. If a “strategy” or the output of a creative thinking process should ever proved on target without it, it would be more often than not, a fluke.

Why is this?

That in itself is logical:

If the brief is to think “strategically”, this implies that a solution to a problem is sought, or that a strategy is sought towards the achievement of a specific objective. Thus, that problem or that objective needs first to be broken down, investigated and understood at the level of its component parts. This needs to be followed by further research and thinking through of issues like previously-tried solutions or strategies, sub-problems and sub-strategies, obstacles and fall-back positions, resources and limitations, benefits and trade-offs – and numerous other elements of consideration that may arise only in the midst of the thinking process.

The foundation thinking in all those processes is first and foremost logical. As an added requirement, it should be comprehensive. In other words, the facts need to be methodically collected, and the objectives identified and worked through comprehensively, before anyone turns their mind to strategy formulation – or to becoming “creative”.

In other words, it’s only on the basis of a comprehensive base of research and other facts, and clarified objectives, that useful, directed strategic thinking can take place, since strategic thinking (in my book, at least) involves taking all these elements and then determining the most intelligent, success-likely course of action to take towards a specific qualified and quantified desired outcome.

‘Creative Thinking’

Creative thinking is a step further on from strategic thinking in that a “best strategy” may often require, or at least benefit from, elements of creativity.

A discussion about “creative thinking” or “creativity” takes us squarely back to the domain of Newman’s “three types of innovative thinking” philosophy.

Similarly to innovation (which is, arguably the same thing in this context), there is creativity that results from a “continuous improvement” style of thought process (think Edison and his 10,000 attempts to invent a long-lasting electric light bulb); there is the collectively-based creative thinking that takes place in groups comprising complementary professional skill sets where tenacity prevails until the best “creative” solution is arrived at; and then there is the truly inspired, less explicably arrived at, “it just materialised in our minds” type of output.

In this latter instance, it might be said that the various intellects and creative minds have come together and produced a “1 + 1 + 1 = 10” type of result. But this level of inspiration can’t be reached without a diligent, methodological approach to first conducting the fundamental layers of research and thinking. Again, you’re innovating for a reason and without that reason squarely in front of you or your team to keep you focused on the logic of your solution, you’re at grave risk of going off into the “creative for the sake of it” space, without a solid foundation.

That said, while there should be structure to the levels or types of thinking to be undertaken, it is neither my belief nor my experience that these can be templated (at least, if peak results are to be achieved), as is the endeavour of so many operatives.

As I explain to any new bid teams I work with, template-style “processes”:

“Box” or “mechanise” thinking (they keep you “inside the square”).

Standardise a team’s thinking and its approach.

Occasionally help you go broad, but definitely inhibit depth.

I hold, again, my own modus operandi and daily working experience shows clearly that structured thinking can be achieved without the aid (or interference) of rigid processes. I hold also to my assertion that the optimum value of any form of “thinking” cannot be extracted by reducing it to a template.

To think strategically and creatively in a group (without placing it at risk of “group-think”), I believe the optimal “methodology” to employ is free-flow thinking within a (moveable, expandable) structure – a structure that can only be set on the basis of a comprehensive collection of facts and logical ordering. Formulating the best strategy from those logically-ordered facts then requires room for “thinking” to move and develop sideways, up, down and any which way . . . allowing for an endless number of paths to an undetermined number of possibilities on the way to arriving, ultimately, at the very best option.

I have seen many agendas for bid strategy workshops that feature, for example, a session on “competitive intelligence” between 2pm and 3pm, or a session on “innovation” between 3pm and 4.30pm. It’s a complete nonsense. The brain, let alone a group of brains, can’t work to order as rigidly as that. You have to invest time, and accept the unpredictable timeframe associated with digging and thinking deeply into each area of strategy – or into each area of the problem you’re endeavouring to innovate a solution for.

Conversely and yet, at the same time, similarly I’ve also witnessed some slightly off the wall, but equally time-locked “innovation stimulation” sessions.

I once had the dubious privilege of sitting in on an alliancing coaching/bid team preparation workshop where a group of otherwise sane engineers ran around with rubber balls and timers in an attempt to come up with a list of “silver bullets”. Following that, they were given a little bucket of playdough to help loosen up their cerebral region so that they could mastermind group lists of innovations for a specific Request For Proposal (RFP) to which they were about to respond.

Notwithstanding the obvious value of brain limbering-up exercises, that sort of entertainment (i.e. in my view that’s the nature of that type of activity) is not the way you arrive at well-researched, well thought-through, credible innovations – or strategies of any kind.

Improvements & Innovation; ‘No-Brainers’ & Eureka Moments

Let’s see how theory looks in practice.

At the time he was interviewed for ‘Cracking the VfM Code’ , Leighton Contractors’ Northern Region Operations Manager for Transport Infrastructure, Iain Ward, was fresh off two of Brisbane’s most recent collaborative contracting success stories, the Inner Northern Busway Alliance (Queen Street to Upper Roma Street) and the Eastern Busway Alliance (Buranda to Main Avenue) – both well-known for their “innovative” approaches to various issues. He provided his views on the broad topic of innovation. Ward was Alliance Manager on the Inner Northern Busway (completed in May 2008), and Alliance Manager on the Eastern Busway (completed in August 2011).

“Innovating is critical on projects like these,” says Ward. “You can do anything with money, but in these projects obviously the funding is not endless. If you just keep spending money you’ll get a solution, but we want to reach the best, most flexible, whole-of-life cost-effective solution. These are the issues that are important to the overall, long-term success of these busway projects.

“The key to achieving this type of result is to be prepared to continually challenge your project team. If you do that, and do it right, you’ll develop amazing improvement and/or innovation time and time again,” he says. “You can start out with things that appear to be almost impossible to achieve, but when highly motivated teams start developing ideas based on clear objectives, and you get teams of experts bouncing ideas off each other, it’s amazing how quickly they pump these great concepts out.

“With these projects, we know that when we start, there’s a high-level concept that maps out what we need to achieve. So you have the team, you identify how you’re going to build it, you identify the constraints, then the team develops solutions to eliminate or miminise those constraints, and then you develop an actual solution.

“Depending upon how complex the project is, you might go through that loop a number of times. In fact, you most likely will. On the first pass, you come up with your proposed solution, then as a group you challenge that. That’s like a peer review; you’re challenging the solution and confirming that it’s a good one and that you haven’t oversimplified anything.

“So, each time you come up with an answer, you’re challenging it – most especially for the purposes of ensuring you haven’t missed anything. Also, you might go through that whole challenging and refining process a number of times on any one solution, and then still ultimately leave that one behind and do it all again with another proposed solution.”

Ward says it can happen, on some projects, that “the first idea is the best idea”.

“There are times when the solution is more obvious – even if that’s just because some highly skilled person sees it the first time. Obviously, using highly skilled people increases the likelihood of developing very refined answers easily.

“You need a broad cross-section of disciplines and experience on these teams to come up with these ideas. And you don’t just want senior leaders from each of the alliance participant organisations. Don’t underestimate what the youngest person in the crew can provide, because it’s these newer minds that have the potential for the highest degree of free thought. If you keep going back to the old tried and tested personnel, where you are simply challenging the norm, you inadvertently keep going back to the way they’ve solved things previously.”

Ward agrees with Robert Newman’s philosophy, in that “you can get a group of people together, split them up and send them away with the problem, and they’ll come back with the answer and it will be an incremental improvement. Or the same group of people might come back with a solution or a breakthrough that is really something special.”

Further agreeing with Newman, he says that often the difference between the “incremental improvement” and the “real innovation” is the amount of time and effort people are empowered to invest in its development.

“If you’re restrictive, it’s unlikely you’re going to get a breakthrough answer.”

Sometimes though, he says, the most beneficial propositions aren’t “innovations” at all.

“They’re no brainers. Changing all the light fittings in a tunnel might save enormous whole-of-life costs over the 100-year life of a tunnel, for example. Technology can change quickly, and so, especially in a long project like a tunnel, sometimes you’ll find pearlers that can save the project a huge amount of money.”

However, he says, there certainly are a good many times when a non-formula produced, genuine “breakthrough” idea emerges.

“Once people start feeling and seeing that ‘no problem is too big to solve’, then from that point on, they will see both that the best way is the team approach and that the first answer isn’t usually the best solution, and they’ll go through every aspect of it to push into new areas of improvement.

“What can happen, during these processes, is that someone will put an idea out there that is just so far out of left field – but it is the perfect answer. And it has comes from a deep understanding of what the issue is. Having talked through proposed solutions, suddenly, for whatever reason, an individual or a group of people will come up with that ‘Eureka moment’.

“That’s not a formula. You can’t set up a group of individuals and say, ‘Right. On Friday the 22 ^nd , we will meet here at 9am and develop a Eureka solution.’ You need to set the scene, help people understand where you’re trying to get to, bounce around conventional thought processes, and then – sure enough – one day when you might not be specifically expecting it, you’ll get a Eureka moment. But you need to get there via diligence in those first processes of understanding, communicating, investigating, challenging and refining.”

The other side of this coin, Ward says, is that there can be a relentless drive in a group to keep perfecting existing answers. He cautions that this tendency needs to be kept in check, where the “grand breakthrough” version of innovation isn’t necessary or, at least, isn’t ultimately the most strategic use of time and resources.

“There are plenty of instances where it just doesn’t make sense to let the ‘potentially perfect’ get in the way of the ‘good’,” Ward says. “It’s the old 80/20 rule i.e. the extra investment won’t bring you a dramatic degree of improvement to the end project.”

Ward says there are robust, formal controls that help identify that trigger point and guide a team to the best balance of time and resource investment versus benefit.

“We have processes to support us when we’re working to quantify the benefits of these improvements and innovations. They help us work out whether something is a go or a no-go.

“For example, a team might have developed an extremely innovative concept to table that will provide benefits to the project. However, implementing it might cost, say, $2 million. In such a case, the robustness of our processes will help to ensure we’ll identify the fact that the net benefit to the project as a whole does not offset the extra cost.

“Using a combination of these processes and his or her own savvy judgement, the Alliance Manager needs to quickly recognise the point at which you now have in front of you the optimum solution . . . as opposed to a perfect solution.

“Often, you get to a point where you have an answer – and you need to be brave and skilled enough to know when it’s a good or a great answer, and taking it further is not going to provide a Eureka moment, only a slightly incremental improvement that may take more time or money than that increment of improvement is worth and may, in fact, jeopardise other priorities like budget and timeframes.

“If you can successfully achieve that balance in those particular instances, then you can focus your innovation efforts on other areas where the current solution is not going to get you where you need to be, and where you really can’t move on in the project until you do produce that Eureka moment.”

Ward says another checkpoint mechanism it’s important to have in place for the sake of efficiency, is the ability to record all suggestions.

“You’ve got to be quick to track your ideas and innovations. If someone has an idea that they think has some merit, and if it’s been reviewed and hasn’t got legs, close it out quickly.

“What you’ll find is that the same ideas often come up repeatedly on these sorts of projects. This especially happens where people are particularly passionate about certain ideas. Someone has an idea that they think represents an exceptional piece of innovation and it keeps on coming up. You need to have a process in place so that if these same ideas that have been previously put aside do arise again, it’s a very quick and definitive conversation and then you move on.”

CRACKING THE VfM CODE IN COLLABORATIVE CONTRACTING

How to Identify & Deliver Genuine Value for Money in Collaborative Contracting (Book 1)

HOW TO INNOVATE IN BIDS

(Training Program)

‘Innovation’ in the context of the big-ticket bidding space takes on a very specific definition.

In this program, I guide participants through a variety of detailed processes for innovating in the genuine and bid / project-specific sense.

Value for Money … Understanding It & Articulating Your Ability to Deliver It (Book 2)

CRACKING THE VfM CODE IN COLLABORATIVE CONTRACTING BIDDING

When Losing A Bid Isn’t An Option

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Wed, 22 Jan 2025 02:02:32 GMT

Skimp on the detail in the first three stages of the bidding process and your chances of winning a mission-critical bid are severely compromised from the outset.

On the flip side, do an outstanding job of laying these foundations, and you’ve given yourself a giant head start on any competitors that haven’t (and most don’t).

1. Conduct the most comprehensive, self-critical "bid or no bid" analysis possible.

A competent and comprehensive “bid vs no bid analysis” gets you clear on every component of your motivation for bidding the project or contract in question.

This gives you a head start on solidifying these and making them even more relevant to the client and its likely selection criteria.

Equally, it helps you identify the points of misalignment; the areas in which a better-positioned competitor can undermine you . . . and gives you the earliest possible chance to address these.

2. Select your bid team members strategically.

It’s a sad fact that, often – especially when a bidder has multiple Expression of Interest (EOI) and Request for Proposal (RFP) responses on the go – the bulk of the bid team is simply an assembly of the available, with a couple of relevant subject matter experts thrown in.

There’s also scant attention paid to the probable dynamics within the team – and whether these are likely to result in a streamlined, highly productive process, or a frustrating, unhappy experience and a likely compromised output.

The inputs and outputs of a bid team can only ever be as good as the research, care and strategy that went into the selection of the individuals it comprises. And, also of the way in which those individuals work together to enhance the performance of that collective.

3. Optimise every opportunity in the pre-probity phase.

From the analysis of research requirements (both known and not yet known), to the identification both of primary and secondary sources, to the meticulous planning of the information collection activities, to the verification of resultant inputs, through to the conversion of raw information to high-value intelligence – and every minor stage in between – your bid strategy will fail or fly based on your diligence in this phase.

TO BID OR NOT TO BID

(Training Program)

BID COMMANDOS
On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

(Training Program)

BID COMMANDOS is my "blockbuster", comprehensive, 11-module training program.

10-Second Tip: Strategists, Water Your Brain

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Fri, 17 Jan 2025 05:03:01 GMT

As part of their functioning processes, your brain and nervous system send out electrical signals.

In fact, scientists estimate that your brain gives off about the same amount of electricity as a 60-watt light bulb.

Thus, water is a critical compound for your brain: it helps to ensure the adequate functioning of those electrical processes.

So there’s good reason for those of us working at the sharp end of the bidding process – i.e. bid strategy – to ensure we heed the conventional health maintenance advice to:

"Drink two litres of water a day."

THINK AND WIN BIDS
Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Thinking & Listening Skills

(Book)

The three fundamental skills of a genuinely sharp, sustainably successful bid professional are the ability to think, listen and ask quality questions.

Furthermore, formulating successful business development and bid strategies is the process of well-directed research and thinking ; not the product of tools and templates.

THINK AND WIN BIDS
Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Thinking & Listening Skills

(Six-Pack)

Ideal to ensure your entire team of writers and contributing subject matter experts are all on the same page, Think and Win Bids is also offered as a six-pack (six books for the price of five).

Appoint the Right Individuals to the Right Roles

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Thu, 16 Jan 2025 22:15:45 GMT

One of the most intelligent moves a bidding organisation can make in a high-value, intensely competitive bidding race (assuming the research and planning phase has started far enough in advance of the release of the client’s documentation to the market) is to select its client-facing “information gatherers” strategically.

Many bidders give both inadequate and inactive thought to how important it is to exercise keen listening skills during any communication opportunity with a potential customer or client.

However, a bidder can give itself a natural advantage in this regard by identifying and appointing people to the roles they most comfortably fit.

For example, a highly social, talkative person (often the conventional choice for “business development” roles) is not necessarily always the best-suited operative to send into a meeting in which a depth of questioning and retention of substantial amounts or detail of information is required.

An operative of a quieter, more deep-thinking and detail-observant disposition might be a more strategic appointee to the task.

THINK AND WIN BIDS
Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Book)

The three fundamental skills of a genuinely sharp, sustainably successful bid professional are the ability to think, listen and ask quality questions .

Furthermore, formulating successful business development and bid strategies is the process of well-directed research and thinking ; not the product of tools and templates.

To ensure all members of the bid team are, philosophically, "on the same page", Think and Win Bids is also offered as a six-pack (6 books for the price of 5) .

BID COMMANDOS
On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

(Training Program)

BID COMMANDOS is my "blockbuster", comprehensive, 11-module training program.

It's intricately formulated to ensure your team excels at every stage of a formal bidding process . . . from the initial bid/no bid analysis, through research and intelligence-gathering, through the strategy development and documentation process, through strategic and compelling writing and competent editing, and on through the shortlistee presentation stage, right through to optimisation of client de-briefing session/s.

To Produce Top Quality Bids, Try Uni-Tasking Instead of Multi-Tasking

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Wed, 15 Jan 2025 02:48:31 GMT

They often think you can't tell, which - worse still - is an insult to your intelligence.

If you were sufficiently forward as to protest and the other party sufficiently ignorant as to persist with his or her other activity, he or she would no doubt have given you the “I can multi-task” line. But I’ll wager it was obvious to you that, at best, your “multi-tasking” conversation partner was hearing only sporadic soundbytes of your end of the conversation.

It’s a neurological fact that the brain can focus on only one matter at a time. It might flit between subjects, issues and conversations . . . but it can concentrate properly on only thing in any given moment.

In his best-seller, ‘The Organized Mind’ , neuroscientist Daniel J. Levitin produces evidence to underscore how minimising the attention devoted to any one thing (the natural consequence of trying to spread one’s concentration amongst several things) dramatically decreases the quality of attention both to that and to everything else on that individual’s plate.

Conversely, conceptual and critical thinking, along with insight and ingenuity, Levitin stresses, happen only when we screen out distractions and properly focus.

Already, it’s pretty obvious how the nonsense practice of “multi-tasking” negatively impacts not only the quality of critical submissions, but every process that feeds into their production .

As a bid strategist and coach, here are just two of the key processes that I regularly witness
being adversely affected:

Participants in strategy workshops insisting on reading and responding to emails and text messages . . . switching off to the thread of fast-moving, group conversations and thus forgo-ing their understanding of, and input into, the evolving bid strategy.

Section authors and other writers interrupting their flow of writing inspiration to answer emails and their own incoming phone calls. (If professional authors feel the need to shut themselves away in order to place their full and uninterrupted focus on the piece they’re working on, why would someone who doesn’t write for a living feel they can produce a quality written output while “multi-tasking”?)

Aligning with my cynicism over the concept of “multi-tasking” proficiency, Stanford University researchers have found that “multi-taskers” (a) have difficulty organising their thoughts and filtering out irrelevant information, and ( b) are actually slower at them, with their switching from one task to another (versus those who stay focused on one activity until it is satisfactorily completed).

BEATING THE BIG BOYS AT BIDS

(Training Program)

Capitalise on the natural advantages of being a smaller, more agile - and potentially, more aware - operator than your corporate competitors.

(Equally applicable for producing proactive proposals and participating in less formal processes.)

BID COMMANDOS
On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

(Training Program)

BID COMMANDOS is my "blockbuster", comprehensive, 11-module training program.

De-commoditisation - A Smart Strategy for the Smaller Operator

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Wed, 15 Jan 2025 01:44:13 GMT

"De-commoditisation" is the practice of creating a meaningful competitive difference or positioning in order to avoid (within reason) the need to compete on price.

It represents a critical element of a non-price-driven business (and bid) strategy. And it’s THE answer for the small operator faced with overly-hungry and cost-advantaged competition.

There’s a multitude of available strategies for achieving de-commoditisation, but better still is the fact that – whatever that number may be – it increases exponentially when investigated in the context of any specific industry and geography.

One simple (and reasonably generic) strategy for de-commoditisation is to move to a new, heightened and more client-centric level of service. This is often the secret of the small company that successfully hangs onto contracts in the face of deep price-cutting by larger competitors.

These operators – almost unconsciously – apply a reasonably uncomplicated formula: they understand their clients not only at the higher, “bigger picture” level but also at the “on-the-ground”, operationally-detailed level.

They understand, genuinely care about, and act upon what’s important to the client. And they make themselves indispensable by virtue of their resultant, highly personalised – and thus highly valued – service.

Let’s take, as an example, arguably one of the most commoditised service industries of all: freight.

Applied to our freight sector example:

This type of operator is the freight company that will do whatever it takes to make no deliveries before 4pm . . . if that’s the client’s stipulation, and that checks in regularly with the client to ascertain what is and isn’t working about their service.

And, staying with the freight company example, if they are told – or discover for themselves – that there’s an issue with breakages, they’ll implement new loading and other forms of procedure to prevent these.

Perhaps most importantly of all, this more diligent type of operator takes these measures proactively i.e. before (rather than after) the fact. They do it, not simply because they’ve been instructed to, but because they know and care that that’s what works best for the client.

Building rapport with the client organisation and the people, processes and roles they’re interfacing with has become a natural and central part of their modus operandi.

And still with the freight and logistics example: It’s the operator who continually hones basic practices like punctuality, diligence in paperwork, and top-notch presentation. It’s the company with management that makes sure everything is done or delivered on time, that documentation is detailed and error-free, that its drivers are properly attired, and they’re driving trucks that look brand new because they’re washed after every trip.

It’s the operator whose drivers are friendly, professional and well-presented . . . the operator who will never allow even one instance of denigration of its brand by allowing a blue-singleted driver to load food into the back of a supermarket.

It’s these elements of an SME’s performance that ensure it not only holds its own in terms of marketplace credibility, but can differentiate, cumulatively, “by detail”.

Because the client notices.

BEATING THE BIG BOYS AT BIDS

(Training Program)

Capitalise on the natural advantages of being a smaller, more agile - and potentially, more aware - operator than your corporate competitors.

(Equally applicable for producing proactive proposals and participating in less formal processes.)

THINK AND WIN BIDS

Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Book)

The three fundamental skills of a genuinely sharp, sustainably successful bid professional are the ability to think, listen and ask quality questions.

Furthermore, formulating successful business development and bid strategies is the process of well-directed research and thinking ; not the product of tools and templates.

Ideal to ensure all members of the bid team are, philosophically, on the same page, Think and Win Bids is also offered as a six-pack (six books for the price of five).

Match the Personality to the Objective in Critical Bids

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Wed, 15 Jan 2025 01:35:46 GMT

One of the most intelligent moves a bidder can make in a critical, highly competitive bidding race is to be strategic in its selection of the specific individuals who will perform client-facing, information-gathering roles during the pre-contract phase.

Many organisations automatically opt to put highly social, talkative personnel (often the conventional choice for “business development” positions) into such roles. However, this personality type is not always the best-suited operative to send into a meeting in which a depth of questioning (and a lot of listening and retaining of information) is required.

I recommend appointing a more deep-thinking, detail-observant person to head this aspect of bidding activity – and then ensuring a process for the accurate and comprehensive conveying of their findings back to the broader bid team.

(Book)

The three fundamental skills of a genuinely sharp, sustainably successful bid professional are the ability to think, listen and ask quality questions.

Furthermore, formulating successful business development and bid strategies is the process of well-directed research and thinking ; not the product of tools and templates.

Ideal to ensure all members of the bid team are, philosophically, on the same page, Think and Win Bids is also offered as a six-pack (six books for the price of five) .

BEATING THE BIG BOYS AT BIDS

(Training Program)

Capitalise on the natural advantages of being a smaller, more agile - and potentially, more aware - operator than your corporate competitors.

(Equally applicable for producing proactive proposals and participating in less formal processes.)

THINK AND WIN BIDS

Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

Five More Tips to Sharpen Your Bid-Writing

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Wed, 15 Jan 2025 01:10:26 GMT

In ‘Five Tips to Sharpen Your Bid-Writing’, I wrote about the importance of having clear and documented bid strategy, focusing on benefits, answering the client’s questions, substantiating your claims, and avoiding consultant-style parroting.

These considerations all, in one way or another, relate back to effectiveness in the strategy planning stage. That is, you can’t expect to execute these tips successfully unless Comprehensive research and thinking has taken place beforehand.

My next lot of tips relate to the writing function per se.

Tip No. 6 – Client Focus vs Supplier-centrism

Be client-focused not only in your content (i.e. as above, this relies on a solid bid strategy), but also in your writing .

If and whenever possible, your choice of opening words should let the evaluators know that your answer and information is going to be framed in the context of the client organisation's interest, its needs, its project / account / contract, its priorities, and its concerns.

Then keep the focus squarely on the client - throughout the entire piece. Don’t revert to an organisationally self-centric tone.

Tip No. 7 – Steer Clear of Hot Air & Hype

Avoid the temptation to slip into sales-speak.

Don’t be tempted to go into marketing copywriter mode. It’s not required. Worse, you’ll come across as an amateur, if copywriting isn’t your day job.

It’s about getting the basic content correct and complete, then simply making sure it progresses logically and reads sensibly.

Tip No. 8 – Avoid the ‘Cut & Paste’ Trap

Do NOT “cut-and-paste” from your company’s policies and procedures manual or corporate / product marketing materials.

Give the evaluators more credit than to fall for this practice.

Tip No. 9 – Be Wary of the Template Trap

Similarly to the above, don’t rely on templates and text from previous submissions.

Tip No. 10 – External Impressions

Read your finished piece out loud . . . to someone else .

Read your material aloud to a disinterested party. You’ll avail yourself of the invaluable phenomenon of hearing your writing through that person’s ears.

So much the better that they have no knowledge of the topic; you’ll quickly ascertain whether or not your piece makes sense to the common reader or other non-technical audience.

50 ESSENTIAL BID-WRITING TIPS

Must-Know Standards, Methods & Insights for Writing Compelling Bids Tenders and Proposals

(Book)

This 220-page, high-quality paperback production features 50 mini-lessons to ensure both your professional writers and your contributing subject matter experts produce client-centric, substance-based submission content.

Available individually or as a six-pack (6 for the price of 5).

THE BID WRITER'S STYLE & GRAMMAR GUIDE

(Book)

Your organisation’s credibility hangs on the quality of your writing and the standards it reflects.

Available individually or as a six-pack (6 for the price of 5).

Improving the Quality of Articulation in Bid & Tender Copy

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Tue, 14 Jan 2025 23:33:27 GMT

Whilst the first and most immediately obvious step in improving poor articulation performance in a submission is to subject it to a rigorous editing process, there is almost always a greater issue at play.

That issue is the largely non-client-specific (at least, not convincingly specific) and generally “same, same” (competitively speaking) nature of the content . . . the supplier-focused “brochureware” that results from an unclear, uncertain or absent bid strategy. Or an insufficiently documented one.

In almost every bidding organisation I’ve worked with, its writers have previously had to either rely on a combination of a “strategy document” that amounts to little more than meeting notes, together with the essence of existing generic content, lightly customised OR they're forced to interpret and piece together in their own minds, the intended underpinning strategy/guiding themes resulting from planning workshops OR they're faced with making up the content themselves without any guidance.

It is critical to recognise that producing a client-focused bid document requires more than an emphasis on writing and editing processes (e.g. simplistically flipping sentences around to commence with the client organisation’s name versus the bidder’s, and/or eliminating the number of mentions of the bidder’s name.)

If writers are furnished with a comprehensive and user-friendly guiding document , and along the way their outputs are nurtured by the appointed strategist within the group, their writing should, by default, adequately convey the bid strategy – and should do so in a client-focused manner.

THINK AND WIN BIDS
Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Book)

The three fundamental skills of a genuinely sharp, sustainably successful bid professional are the ability to think, listen and ask quality questions .

Furthermore, formulating successful business development and bid strategies is the process of well-directed research and thinking ; not the product of tools and templates.

Ideal to ensure all members of the bid team are, philosophically, on the same page, Think and Win Bids is also offered as a six-pack (6 books for the price of 5).

50 ESSENTIAL BID-WRITING TIPS
Must-Know Standards, Methods & Insights for Writing Compelling Bids, Tenders and Proposals

(Book)

Intentional successful bids are guided by a strategy that is well-researched, customer-centric / client-centric, substance-based, savvily-formulated, and documented in detail.

Available individually or as a six-pack (6 for the price of 5).

Less is Often More

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Tue, 14 Jan 2025 09:29:25 GMT

More

“Jones Group is committed to incorporating ethnic participation as a core function in all of our contract-specific management processes, and to ensuring that all of our dealings with this specific ethnic group continue to consistently take place in a culturally sensitive manner. Jones Group recognises that an ongoing commitment, and firm leadership, from management is vital to ensure that the developed Ethnic Participation Plan is both successful and effective.”

Less

“Five percent of our apprentices have been sourced through the Government’s SKILLS program, which obtains most of its participants from this demographic.”

BID-WRITING LESSONS FROM THE WORLD'S GREATEST AUTHORS

(Book)

History’s literary greats have much to teach the writers of today. No-one, however, could benefit more from becoming a student of these masters of the written word than the commercial bid writer.

BID-WRITING LESSONS FROM THE WORLD'S GREATEST AUTHORS

(Six-Pack)

This illuminating (and fun) little read is an assembly of the enduring and pithily expressed wisdom of over 100 authors, strategists, philosophers and other accomplished figures.

It features 47 smart little lessons by yours truly, on Research, Thinking & Strategy, on Writing , and on Editing, Re-Writing, Practice & Perfection – reinforcing the timeless advice of these sages.

Well worth putting one on the desk of everyone in your writing team.

Do You Truly Hear Your Clients & Prospects?

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Tue, 14 Jan 2025 06:26:40 GMT

I’m always surprised at how many people think they’re great listeners . . . but aren’t .

Mere surprise gives way to real concern, however, when it comes to poor listening skills on the part of customer-facing operatives (especially business development executives – “BDs”) in any of my client organisations.

The discrepancy between the way poor listeners see themselves (i.e. the many who see themselves, ironically, as good listeners) and the reality of their communications performance, has its roots in a simple distinction: listening versus hearing.

Listening and hearing aren’t always the same thing. Sometimes they are, but often they’re not. It depends on the orientation and attitude of the “listener”.

A BD, for instance, can have many different ways of “listening”. Here are a few:

• Cursory Listening

This is “quick and dirty” listening, often the type of listening extended when the “listener” is “mentally multi-tasking”, or not deeply interested.

• Shallow Listening

Closely related to cursory listening, this is the type of listening that takes place when the BD or other customer-facing operative is of the belief that he or she already knows what the customer/client is about to say, already understands their problem/objective, and/or already knows the solution . . . or at least the solution it suits themselves to propose.

Needless to say, this form of listening is often underpinned by arrogance – an attitude that has no place in the toolkit of a sharp BD.

• Inquisitive Listening

Moving into the more productive forms of listening, “inquisitive listening” is the first step towards real client-centricity, real problem-solving. Unlike the former brands of listening, it’s a mode in which the BD genuinely “hears” the client or customer.

In this more (but not yet peak) strategic form of listening, the BD is able to gather and identify components of information that are critical to the formulation of a solution . That is, of course, if the BD is genuinely driven by the desire to act in the customer’s or client’s best interests, in terms of the solution to be arrived at.

• Strategic Listening

In this optimum form of listening, the business development operative hears the client at a very deep level.

He picks up on his or her key motivating forces – the pain the organisation wants to avoid; the rewards sought both by the organisation, key stakeholders and personnel; the fears; the areas in which they seek clarity and direction over pre-existing confusion and indirection, and other intangibles.

In this form of listening, the BD “listens between the lines” , empowering himself or herself with the ability to ask progressively more insightful questions.

The BD that can perform at this level is also one who understands that information does not, in and of itself, constitute intelligence. He or she knows, however, that the answers to well-considered, quality questions loan themselves to conversion into valuable intelligence .

The business development or other client-facing operative who has the smarts, the humility and the patience to listen at this level is a potential power tool to his or her organisation.

I say “potential” because it’s the manner and comprehensiveness of the information that makes its way back through that operative and onwards to the bid team, that will dictate its next level of value.

And it’s how that bid team then goes on to use it that will dictate its ultimate, bottom-line value.

BID COMMANDOS
On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

(Training Program)

BID COMMANDOS is my "blockbuster", comprehensive, 11-module training program.

THE ART OF THE DEBRIEF

(Training Program)

The key to getting the best value from any de-briefing session offered to you is to plan carefully, in order to extract every possible clue from the process.

This two-module training provides step-by-step, real-time guidance to assist you in maximising the intel and insights available from the de-briefing opportunity.

It also guides you along as you seek to ensure the permanence of the insights obtained, and the incorporation of their value into future bidding processes.

Don’t Be Hard Work for Your Clients

Tue, 14 Jan 2025 06:21:00 GMT

It’s Hard to Win Over A Frustrated Client

Raise your hand if you’ve ever been involved in a conversation in which your objective was to either identify a solution to a problem or obtain a recommendation for the best way to go about something.

In this particular instance, you found the conversation frustrating, because your conversation partner – the party with the solution or the required knowledge – kept cutting you short in your attempts to articulate the problem and/or your associated objectives.

Keep your hand raised if you’ve ever had this type of frustrating experience with a salesperson.

And keep it there if, in the context of your professional role, you’ve had this type of scenario play out with the representative of a product supplier or service provider.

Quite a few hands remain in the air, I’m guessing.

Incredibly frustrating, isn’t it?

They keep interrupting, hurrying you along (because they think they already know where you’re going), or paraphrasing you incorrectly (because they’re thinking about what they want to say, instead of what you’re trying to get said).

No-one Wants to Work That Hard to Be Heard

Depending upon your patience thresh-hold and communication style, you’ll have your own way of ensuring you finally get to complete your explanation or deliver the full brief.

But, chances are, if “being heard” and getting to the end of any necessary explanation each time you communicate with this person remains challenging, you’ll be very open to any approach by a less cloth-eared competitor. It’s a drain having to continually work that hard in a conversation. Besides, it doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in the accuracy of what is likely to end up being proposed / delivered as a result of all the pre-sale time invested.

While you’re nodding furiously (because we have all experienced this, the only thing that will have differed is our associated tolerance levels) , now would be a good time to ask you if there is any slight possibility that any member/s of your own customer/client-facing teams have this unfortunate unwillingness to exercise the required degree of listening skill.

If any names that spring to mind happen to be members of your Business Development team, it’s my bet that the quality and comprehensiveness of information about his or her prospective customer or client organisations is less than it could be.

Here’s where it gets worrisome in the context of high-value bids:

To whatever extent your bid strategies to win those accounts or contracts rely on savvy, insightful intelligence gleaned from pre-bid engagement meetings and phone calls . . . then, Houston, we have a problem.

Your bid teams are likely going to be developing those guiding strategies based on, at best, non-optimised information, or at worst, assumptions based on incomplete data, and the hastily-formed opinions of the frontline personnel in question.

That’s dangerous in its own right. But you risk looking particularly assumptive, ill-informed and bereft of the full picture if your proposal sits on the evaluation table next to that of a competitor with the ability and humility to ask quality questions, and with the strong listening skills to absorb and work strategically with the answers.

What to do? It’s not a simple fix, but an easy, immediate starting point would be to avail yourself of a copy of my book, ‘THINK & WIN BIDS: Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening and Thinking Skills’ .

BEFORE THE CURTAIN FALLS
Optimising Prospect Meetings & Intel-Gathering Prior to Probity

THINK AND WIN BIDS
Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning & Listening Skills

(Book)

The three fundamental skills of a successful bid leader and strategist are the ability to think , to listen and to ask quality questions .

So much the better if all members of a bid team understand the role of those fundamentals in formulating a successful bid.

For this reason, Think and Win Bids is also offered as a six-pack (6 books for the price of 5) .

Sometimes - if not, often - the race is won before it starts.

COMING SOON

Confidence or Arrogance? How Arrogance Shows Up in Your Bid & Why It Erodes its Chances of Success

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Mon, 13 Jan 2025 06:18:21 GMT

Arrogance is undesirable. But when business development (BD), sales and bid team operatives blur the distinction between confidence and arrogance, the result can be commercially lethal.

Here's the unspoken message an arrogant attitude on the part of a BD team or executive, a sales team or salesperson, or bid team members, projects to the prospect, client or customer:

“We know what you want/need already. We have little need to spend a lot of time listening to you or drilling deeply into your problems or issues (and we possibly don’t know how to). We’ve dealt with lots of organisations just like yours. It goes without saying that our product/service is the superior option. I’ll certainly be happy to elaborate on all the reasons why – but really . . . you should already know!

“And further, Mr/Ms Prospect/Client, it is unlikely we will ever have a conversation in which we are/I am willing to demonstrate sufficient humility to disclose the fact that there’s anything we/I don’t already know.”

This is unfortunate - because BDs and other individuals in prospect/client interfacing roles should actually consider themselves, first and foremost, information-gatherers.

Arrogance Kills Bidding Skills

In short, arrogance kills listening skills.

And where there is no listening , there is no learning .

And where there is no learning, there is no means of determining the most meaningful way to differentiate your offering for the client or customer in question. Without meaningful differentiation, you are a commodity. When you are a commodity, you compete on little else but price.

Displays of arrogance in the pre-sales/”discovery” stage are bad enough, but when they make their way into a Request for Proposal response, that bidder or bidding consortium has a real problem. And unfortunately, in a great many instances, they do make their way into the final bid.

It works like this:

Where an arrogant attitude has prevailed during the pre-sales process, very little “discovery” will have taken place, and so very little valuable information will have been gathered for use in the bid production process. So there’s a dearth of good customer or client-focused material to work with. It’s the reason so many bids are full of shallow, seller-centric, promotional fluff. It’s a vicious cycle.

And the biggest problem of all is that those who most need to learn from a message like this, are the most likely to think it doesn’t apply to them.

Do you recognise this problem – not in your own people, of course, but in other organisations . . . ?!

BID COMMANDOS

On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

(Training Program)

BID COMMANDOS is my "blockbuster", comprehensive, 11-module training program.

BEATING THE BIG BOYS AT BIDS

(Training Program)

Capitalise on the natural advantages of being a smaller, more agile - and potentially, more aware - operator than your corporate competitors.

(Equally applicable for producing proactive proposals and participating in less formal processes.)

The 12 Tenets of Effective Bid Management

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Fri, 10 Jan 2025 22:55:53 GMT

Here are the core tenets of good bid management. Bid management, that is, that eliminates to the greatest degree possible, health-compromising stress from the bidding process. (More on that in a future article.)

They include but (arguably) are certainly not limited to:

1) The clear and careful assessment of the advisability of pursuing the business in the first place.

Proceeding with a bid you’re not qualified for, not prepared for – or that you shouldn’t go for, for some other reason – is setting yourself up for huge stress and no pay-off.

I’ve seen numerous companies insist on investing huge resources in a bid they didn’t have a chance of winning. Their pre-sales engagement was inadequate (or non-existent). Their insider knowledge of the prospect organisation was insufficient. They had no idea of the competition’s standing with the prospect. And management couldn’t even truthfully say it believed the company could do the best job for the client in question.

Be realistic.

2) Ensuring an early start. A very early start.

Steal the lead on your competitors. Give yourself ample time – and then some – to explore all avenues of research – both primary and secondary / direct and indirect.

There are some industries in which, if a bidder hasn’t researched the contract/project, the client organisation and the political backdrop in detail at least six months before the release of the Request for Proposal, that bidder is massively behind the eight-ball . . . and should seriously consider the wisdom of proceeding.

Certainly, once the client’s tender documentation is released to market and the probity curtain comes down, a bidder has lost all real opportunity in terms of any information still to be gleaned from the client or associated parties. That is, unless that bidder is happy for its potential strategy to be flagged to competitors when its questions are published on the relevant pages of the client’s website for all to read – along with the client’s answers. (Not that that’s the forum for asking anything deep and meaningful, anyway.)

3) Undertaking a comprehensive recap of the debrief associated with the bidder’s most similar, recent EOI / RFP / RFT responses – along with any that may have been submitted to the client in question at any point.

Learning from your mistakes is one of the best ways to ensure against a repeat performance.

4) Adequate time devoted to pre-bid strategy sessions.

Bidders that whip through these sessions, with silly little 45-minute segments for critical investigations such as competitor analysis, are either naïve, arrogant or both. Probably both. (It’s a great way to give your competitors the advantage, though.)

5) Careful advance consideration of the broad topic areas requiring coverage in strategy workshops, and placement of the right people in the room (and all of the right people).

If you don’t have the right knowledge sources at your bid strategy planning sessions, you’ll either end up with an uninformed (or worse, a misinformed) strategy, or you’ll have to run additional sessions.

And there goes your production schedule, right there.

6) The running of a tight ship at planning sessions.

If a bid leader or bid manager caves into the insistence that bid team members can’t survive an eight-hour workshop without their mobiles and their laptops, they deserve the lack of attention that is absolutely 100 percent guaranteed to result.

Similarly, if they allow people to wander in and out of the room at will and cruise back from breaks as they please. At least consider those members of the team who are treating the exercise seriously and respect their commitment by ensuring that others don’t compromise the quantity and quality of the session’s outputs.

Insufficient and poor quality outputs = poor quality strategy = poor quality content = bid manager running around like a headless chook at the end of the production schedule trying to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.

7) Adherence to schedule in the writing phase through reliance upon a well-researched, well-considered, comprehensive strategy blueprint.

Similarly to the above point, one of the primary reasons for the stressed condition of those responsible for chiseling the final production into shape, is that they are faced with a strategy-less and waffly piece of “brochureware”, in place of (what should have been) well-thought-out, well-guided, co-ordinated, comprehensively and accurately answered written response sections.

8) Putting the right people onto the right job.

In Think & Win Bids , I write about the four “MOs” (Modus Operandi) or operating style categories that I observe bid team members falling into.

There are some “MOs” you simply wouldn’t assign with a certain task if you want the job done with any deal of competence and enthusiasm, and there are others who will relish the very same assignment.

There are others who will fall down the rabbit hole and forget how to get back up it, and others who know how to shoot a straight arrow at the same target. And yet others who will do a great job if you need something fast and you’re OK with “shallow” as a trade-off, and others who’ll excel at hard, deep research – but you can forget “fast”.

A sharp bid manager will identify and capitalise on the natural strengths of his or her people to ensure the bid stays on schedule, and that a quality output is evolving.

9) Shunning the ‘war room’ concept.

If you’ve been following my work, my teachings, and my writings for any real length of time, you’ll know I take every opportunity to get this point across.

No apologies for the stuck groove here:

If focus is the bedrock of productivity, why would you expect anyone (particularly anyone who’s not a writer for a living) to maintain the degree of concentration required to produce quality copy, whilst sitting in the cross-flow of a variety of different conversations, mobile phone calls, and constant miscellaneous interruptions?

If all seasoned writers / authors (certainly all that I know or have studied) can work only in solitude, why on earth would the requirement be any different for someone who doesn’t even write for a living?

10) Ensuring the developing bid documentation is regularly reviewed by the individuals who have had peak responsibility for the production, and the signing off, of the guiding bid strategy.

11) The allocation in the production schedule of plenty of time for editing and re-writing.

Similarly to Point 7, if the work of seasoned writers and famous authors is given public airing only after numerous re-writes and multiple rounds of editing, why would a lesser degree of review be required for non-professional writers?

12) Thoughtful and comprehensive debrief preparation.

Learn everything you can from your just-concluded bid process and your just-submitted bid documentation, in order to identify all the areas in which you can improve both in the next bid.

THINK AND WIN BIDS

Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Book)

The capacity and willingness for a bid leader to think deeply, logically, strategically and client-centrically is a key differentiator between those who can sustain a high win rate and provide much-needed leadership in new-business pursuits, and those who flounder in such a role.

THE BID WRITER'S STYLE & GRAMMAR GUIDE

(Book)

Bid writing requires the highest degree of grammatical diligence, and a consistent style.

To a large extent, your organisation’s credibility hangs on the quality of your writing and the standards it reflects.

The Bid Writer’s Style & Grammar Guide

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Wed, 08 Jan 2025 07:04:19 GMT

Your organisation’s credibility is either enhanced or eroded by the quality of your writing and the standards it reflects.

' The Bid Writer’s Style & Grammar Guide ' is far more than just a reference manual on all things grammar. It also provides tuition on many other basics of effective bid-writing, including on strategy, as the essential foundation of a high-quality proposal document.

Exercised diligently, these core principles and practices will see you produce not only grammatically correct, but highly readable and compelling, submissions.

Readers will benefit substantially from a wide range of topics – from writing with style and clarity, avoiding “fashion-speak”, and achieving believability through substance and substantiation, to ensuring your writing is client-focused rather than supplier-centric, benefit- as opposed to feature-oriented, and smooth and natural rather than stilted and indirect.

Also featured are sections on common grammar traps, commonly mis-spelled words, commonly confused words and terms, and sexist versus non-sexist language and terminology.

THE BID WRITER'S STYLE & GRAMMAR GUIDE

(Book)

This reference and tuition manual has been written both for the professional bid writer and for those subject matter experts contributing submission content.

Exercised diligently, these core principles and practices will see you produce not only grammatically correct and highly readable, but also strategic and compelling, submissions.

50 ESSENTIAL BID-WRITING TIPS
Must-Know Standards, Methods & Insights for Writing Compelling Bids, Tenders & Proposals

(Book)

Intentional successful bids are guided by a strategy that is well-researched, customer-centric / client-centric, substance-based, savvily-formulated, and documented in detail.

It is the bid writer's job to ensure that strategy ( the primary – but not exclusive – role of which is to address all known selection criteria) is then articulated clearly, consistently and compellingly throughout every section of the proposal.

‘Give Us NEW Thinking, Not Our Own Recycled Back to Us’, Says PPP Client-side

Tue, 07 Jan 2025 03:10:00 GMT

"What we’re trying to buy is new and innovative thinking – not our own thinking recycled back to us from the other side of the table."

That was the strong message from Treasury New Zealand’s Head of PPP Program Fiona Mules, as she departed the position for a new phase as an independent, advising infrastructure and services delivery agencies on key procurements in the country’s PPP pipeline.

Mules says the sector at large is yet to truly grasp Treasury’s mindset and the full intent of its non-prescriptive model.

“It’s totally outcome-focused,” she says. “I know they’ll say they understand that, but they don’t really ‘get’ all the implications for their role in it.

“It’s about taking our desired outcomes, truly understanding where we’re coming from with them, and interpreting them forward into an insightful, seamless and comprehensive solution.

‘They Struggle with a Blank Sheet of Paper’

“The fact is, they struggle with having to start with a blank sheet of paper. We give very little guidance, and they struggle with someone not simply telling them what it is that we want.”

She says that while the consortia who successfully bid the Hobsonville Schools and Wiri Prison projects finally “got it” by the time they reached the end of the bidding phase, it would have been a sharper and more productive process if they’d grasped the thrust of Treasury’s approach “from Day One”.

“They kept asking us questions and we kept saying ‘No – you go and figure this out. We’re not going to spoon-feed you.'

"But they kept coming back to the table to get answers as to how to do it. And we’re reluctant to give them any ‘how to’ answers . . . because what we’re trying to buy is new and innovative thinking – not our own thinking recycled back to us from the other side of the table.”

‘Formulate and Ask the Right Questions’

Mules says she appreciates that bidders may feel they’re simply trying to identify the point at which they are balancing innovation with “going too far”.

In answer to this, she provides the reassurance that Treasury and the delivery agencies will readily point out this juncture if and when it is reached – if bidders take the responsibility to formulate and ask the right questions .

“They need to move themselves along their own lines of investigation to get to those ‘right’ questions. It’s not as simple as asking something bald like, ‘What is innovation and where should we spend our time?’

“In the Schools project, for example, innovation did cross that line. And it crossed that line because the right questions weren’t asked of us. Bidders came to the table with recommendations for actual teaching styles; they went past what we saw as the brief.

“The right question would have been, ‘Do you want innovation in terms of teaching styles or just in terms of how the asset and the service provision will facilitate and enable the teaching style?’ That was the critical question – and they didn’t ask it.

“You have to be carefully planned with your questions, so that you can pinpoint exactly where we value innovations and where we don’t. That, in turn, allows us to provide a meaningful answer.”

Mules points to the Wiri Prison project as one in which innovation was wanted and valued by Treasury and the procuring agency in every single aspect.

“On Wiri, there was no component where innovation wasn’t being valued. Wiri bidders could have brought anything to the table. Anything went, there was no need to take people away from any avenue of investigation they were going down.

“From that perspective, the two projects were quite different. That’s why you can’t take the same approach in every case.

‘Do the Thinking First and Then We’ll Engage’

“The bottom line is this: Bidders need to do the thinking first and then we will engage with them. We’re not prepared to engage with them if they won’t do the research. They can’t just ask us basic questions, too soon, with the objective of narrowing down their research brief and giving themselves an easier time.

“They still need to focus on the whole picture. Then from that point, we’ll help them narrow down the brief so they can refine their focus. And we will do that – we will tell them if they’re going too wide, because we don’t want them wasting their time. But only where we see them genuinely doing their own thinking, not trying to use us to do it for them.

“The key message is, don’t be lazy. Do your own thinking. Do your homework. Don’t come to the table and expect that that will be all you have to do to get the information you need, because we’re not going to engage on that basis.”

Striking A Careful Balance Between Probity and Protection

In November 2012, NZCID staged a “Path Finder” forum for all parties – from both the public and private sectors – that had been involved in the bid phase of these first two New Zealand PPP projects.

The purpose of the forum was to identify, on the one hand, what went well and, on the other, what could be improved in subsequent projects.

While the overarching view was that both bidding phases had “gone well”, several key “opportunities for improvement” were identified. High on the list of priorities was reviewing the substantial degree of probity featured in the interactive tendering processes.

Says CEO Stephen Selwood:

“It was felt that, towards the objective of fostering lateral thinking, there was room to examine this for future projects. It was agreed there was a way of achieving more meaningful communication with the client, without jeopardising competing consortia’s developing propositions.”

Selwood says the aim of any review should be to strike a careful and productive balance whereby each bidder can test concepts with the client in a truly interactive manner, but with strong Chinese walls in place within the client organisation, to guard against cross-pollination of ideas between consortia.

“On the projects to date there were a lot of confidentiality agreements . . . which wasn’t that conducive to an effective interaction process.

“While strict and effective probity is critical to protect bidders, it’s equally important to provide for open and detailed discussions with the client so that each consortium can properly test the avenues it’s going down.”

Those representing the industry at the forum sent the firm message to Treasury and to client organisations that they were prepared to trust the public sector to respect the confidentiality of their ideas, he said. Meantime, client-side representatives at the forum indicated their appreciation of the private sector’s desire for more interactive processes and its willingness to be more open in those environments.

“Prior to this, the public sector had been perhaps a little overly sensitive to what it perceived as the risk of being accused of cross-pollination between competing bid teams. That had showed up in the degree of feedback it had given to each consortium during the bid phase.”

Probity Policies Require Review Going Forward

For the most part, PPP lawyer, Russell McVeagh Partner David Holden agrees with Selwood.

“The probity process on the two Pathfinder projects reflected the fact that they were exactly that: Pathfinder projects. The public sector parties were acutely aware of the degree to which those projects would be subject to scrutiny as the precedent-setting PPPs for New Zealand,” says Holden.

“The political sensitivity of the Wiri Prison project intensified that probity-consciousness. While the Department of Corrections was very aware of the need to balance its obligation to conduct a fair and transparent process, it was also extremely sensitive to the need to protect the integrity of the competitive process, in order to maintain the confidentiality of each tenderer’s submission.

“However, policies now need to be reviewed in the context of a growing and developing procurement methodology, to ensure against bogging down in legal and probity detail to the extent that this restricts innovation or the ability for the private sector to properly prepare and mobilise for projects.

“Parties interested in potentially upcoming PPP projects have, for example, been required to sign confidentiality agreements that have prohibited discussions with third parties. This extreme level of caution is of limited value or benefit to the public sector. In fact, if complied with, it would prevent sponsors from actually building consortia or appointing advisors in respect of those projects – which runs completely contrary to the benefits of holding market sounding and briefing sessions.”

Holden points out that a similar principle is at play with regard to sharing underlying client rationale for the risk allocation proposed within the draft project agreement.

“A tendering process in which the public sector addresses queries regarding commercial intent with a flat ‘Look at the project agreement; that’s what we want,’ response, may well be successful in making sure the private sector does its thinking – but it may also prevent the sector from properly understanding the rationale behind the provisions in the project agreement.

“Logically speaking, the private sector can’t propose insightful, better VfM innovations that reflect the Government’s rationale, if that rationale remains unknown to bidders.”

BEFORE THE CURTAIN FALLS
Optimis ing Prospect Meetings & Intel-Gathering Prior to Probity

Sometimes the race is won before it starts.

HOW TO INNOVATE IN BIDS

(Training Program)

"Innovation" in the context of the big-ticket bidding space takes on a very specific definition.

COMING SOON

What's the Connection Between Listening, Quality Questions and Winning Bids?

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Tue, 07 Jan 2025 01:19:25 GMT

Listening is learning.

We’ve all heard the adage that we have two ears and one mouth. And we know it refers to the wisdom inherent in listening twice as much as we speak.

This admonition takes on a whole new definition when it’s applied in the business development and bidding context.

Listening is a highly profitable skill. But there are various different types of listening .

For example, there’s surface listening, pretend listening and, worse still, self -listening (where you listen only for the opportunities to break in with your own story).

It is, however, deep, selfless, customer-focused listening that is the modus operandi resulting in the production of winning bid strategy.

This type of listening is characterised by hearing both what is said and what isn’t said, and by seeking clarification. It’s hearing the emotion behind the words, and “walking a mile in the customer’s shoes”.

This brand of listening lets you hear things the competitors don’t hear. It gives you insights you won’t get elsewhere. It provides you with new opportunities to customise or tweak your technology to meet the nuances within user groups’ needs. And it endears you to the customer . . . for whom being attentively and genuinely listened to , is likely a rare compliment.

Listening Precedes and Informs the Quality Question

Effective, customer-centric listening fosters the ability to ask quality questions – one of the most powerful tools in your bid strategist’s kit.

In an overarching sense, there are two categories of “quality question”.

One is the planned question , and the other is the question you ask on your feet . . . and both require first-class listening skills.

A planned question is, of course, pre-determined, while the “think on your feet” category of question forms in your mind as you listen intently to the speaker.

To formulate a savvy planned question outline with which to guide a specific customer interaction, first reflect back upon all your past conversations with the client and any other form of interchange that reaped valuable information and insights.

Identify the precise point at which you currently sit in terms of your overall information-gathering activities. This will help you identify the nature of the data you need to complete the picture you’re endeavouring to put together. From that point you can determine the actual questions you need to ask, and how to ask them.

Now to the type of question you ask as the conversation evolves.

Again, the key to asking the highest-value questions is to listen carefully to your conversation partners , being present both to the information they’re imparting and to the emotion behind it.

If you’re “people-smart”, you’ll be able to determine when you should be deepening your understanding by prompting the other party with a question designed to bring forth a fact-based answer – and when you should be aiming to have your customer impart more of his sentiments on the topic in question.

If you can master this distinction, you’ll get inside both the customer’s head and his/her heart .

This will help you appeal to both his/her logic and his/her emotions. And that’s a powerful place to sell from. Why? Because – as individuals, as consumers – we make buying decisions based on logic, and we justify our decisions based on emotion.

And to come full circle back to the importance of listening . . . it’s only when you list with both your head and your heart, that you pick up not only the face-value and logical data you need, but also the all-telling underlying emotion/s.

THINK AND WIN BIDS
Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Book)

The three fundamental skills of a genuinely sharp, sustainably successful bid/proposal/tender professional are the ability to think, listen and ask quality questions.

Furthermore, formulating successful business development and bid strategies is the process of well-directed research and thinking ; not the product of tools and templates.

(Six-Pack)

Ideal to ensure your entire team of writers and contributing subject matter experts are all on the same page, Think and Win Bids is also offered as a six-pack (six books for the price of five).

THINK AND WIN BIDS
Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

The Disappearing Question Mark

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Mon, 06 Jan 2025 15:43:12 GMT

I have a beef with younger writers: Their propensity to see question marks as unnecessary.

Perhaps they feel that avoiding the use of a question mark (where one is, in fact, necessary) makes their writing read more authoritatively.

Whatever their reasoning, such a practice is grammatically incorrect. A question is a question, and it should be denoted as such with a concluding question mark.

Ironically, it seems just as many of these young writers employ question marks when it is grammatically incorrect to do so:

“He asked what their labour turnover was?”

This question is indirect and does not require a question mark.

Perhaps I’m just a grumpy grammar curmudgeon. But I firmly contend that bids, tenders, proposals and any other formal submissions are the place to show high standards and all-round diligence. There is no more glaring way to demonstrate the opposite than with sloppy grammar.

THE BID WRITER'S STYLE & GRAMMAR GUIDE

(Book)

Your organisation’s credibility hangs on the quality of your writing and the standards it reflects.

Available individually or as a six-pack (6 for the price of 5) .

50 ESSENTIAL BID-WRITING TIPS
Must-Know Standards, Methods & Insights for Writing Compelling Bids, Tenders and Proposals

(Book)

Available individually or as a 6-pack (6 for the price of 5).

To Win Next Time, Discover Why You Lost This Time

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Mon, 06 Jan 2025 01:00:01 GMT

You’ve just lost a bid.

It might be the ultimate "pain for gain" exercise, but now is the ideal time to lay the foundations for a stellar performance next time, by finding out what went wrong this time.

In a highly competitive bidding arena, tomorrow’s success is often directly proportionate to how well you learn (or are prepared to learn) from today’s loss.

To make the most of the valuable learning opportunity a loss represents, you need to ask the hard questions . . . of your own people, of the prospect, and of anyone else who will give you “no holds barred” feedback.

It can be downright stomach-churning to request and receive the type of detailed “give it to us straight” information you need . . . but it can also be truly empowering.

The deeper you drill down into the reasons you lost, the quicker you become adept at not making the same mistakes again (or at improving in the areas in which the competition did sufficiently better than you to take the prize).

THE ART OF THE DEBRIEF

(Training Program)

The key to getting the best value from any de-briefing session offered to you is to plan carefully, in order to extract every possible clue from the process.

This two-Module course provides step-by-step, real-time guidance to assist you in maximising the intel and insights available from the de-briefing opportunity.

It also guides you along as you seek to ensure the permanence of the insights obtained, and the incorporation of their value into future bidding processes.

HOW TO INNOVATE IN BIDS

(Training Program)

"Innovation" in the context of the big-ticket bidding space takes on a very specific definition.

How to Avoid Monotony in Metre

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Mon, 06 Jan 2025 00:42:56 GMT

‘Metre’ is the rhythmic structure of a piece.

Although generally applied to poetry and similar prose, the brain nonetheless follows the metre of various other styles of writing.

The reason – in my view – that metre is a technique applicable in copy other than poetry, is that you should aim for consistency of “sound-flow” within paragraphs. This helps the brain experience “harmony”.

But . . . when it comes to copy other than poetry, there’s a trick to it: While you want that nice rhythm to your words, you don’t want to lull your reader to sleep. After all, most RFP response sections are a fair bit longer than your average poem.

The key is to strike a balance between rhythm and variety .

One of the ways to achieve this is to vary the number of sentences in your paragraphs. The other is to vary the length of your paragraphs.

You should do both. This is actually a well-established principle of journalistic feature writing: the writer might, for example, have two standard paragraphs, then one fairly long and fact-chunky paragraph and follow that up with a paragraph consisting simply of one short and punchy sentence.

Check Your Metre with this Technique

Here’s a simple technique you can use to check for, and avoid, monotony in the metre of your proposal-writing:

Hold your copy in your hand and stretch your arm out to its full length. Examine the size of each paragraph by viewing them as a block of type. Don’t read them and don’t take note of the words. Just look at the amount of space each takes up and compare it to the amount of space occupied by the paragraphs around it.

If you see five big, unbroken blocks of type in a row, you can be reasonably sure your writing is monotonous.

On the other hand, if you see half a dozen paragraphs in a row that run little more than the length of a sentence, you might reasonably suspect your writing will sound very “staccato” to the brain – not a pleasant “metre” for long copy.

One final tip:

Many “non-day-job” writers tend towards copy that errs on the lengthy and monotonous side.

An effective way to consolidate an important point explained across several lengthy (or even standard) paragraphs, is to consolidate the explanation with a short, sharp and shiny subsequent paragraph.

This will help inject “punch” into your copy.

50 ESSENTIAL BID-WRITING TIPS
Must-Know Standards, Methods & Insights for Writing Compelling Bids, Tenders and Proposals

(Book)

Intentional successful bids are guided by a strategy that is well-researched, customer-centric / client-centric, substance-based, savvily-formulated, and documented in detail.

50 ESSENTIAL BID-WRITING TIPS
Must-Know Standards, Methods & Insights for Writing Compelling Bids, Tenders and Proposals

(Six-Pack)

Available individually or as a six-pack (6 for the price of 5).

The Bid Writer’s Checklist (Part Two)

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Fri, 03 Jan 2025 15:58:20 GMT

The checkpoints in Part One of this list focused primarily on ensuring substance and strategy in the written submission.

The points in this – Part Two – checklist relate directly to the quality of writing and editing.

Bid writers and contributing subject matter experts should ask themselves:

Are my sentences and paragraphs of a reasonable (and preferably, a varied) length?

Are my sentences complete?

Have I ended paragraphs and started new ones according to a clear progression of logic in my material?

Have I been clear and concise? Can I cut out any unnecessary words?

Have I written to express, rather than to impress? Have I avoided flowery and/or fashionable language?

Are all my facts relevant?

Have I explained any facts and observations that, from the evaluator’s perspective, require it?

Have I checked my copy for spelling and grammatical errors (particularly those I know I commonly make)?

Have I avoided the over-use of industry jargon? Have I explained any jargon, where it won’t be familiar to the evaluator?

Have I avoided the use of my company’s own internal-speak and other terminology that the evaluator may not fully understand, and therefore may have to guess at?

Have I read my copy allowed to a disinterested party, to experience the valuable phenomenon of “hearing it through another’s ears”?

50 ESSENTIAL BID-WRITING TIPS
Must-Know Standards, Methods & Insights for Writing Compelling Bids, Tenders and Proposals

(Book)

Available individually or as a six-pack (6 for the price of 5).

THE BID WRITER'S STYLE & GRAMMAR GUIDE

(Book)

This reference and tuition manual has been written both for the professional bid writer and for those subject matter experts contributing submission content.

Available individually or as a six-pack
(6 for the price of 5).

Tips for Making Your Bid-Writing WORK

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Mon, 30 Dec 2024 00:47:51 GMT

Here’s a random grab of quick thought-nuggets from my book, ’ 50 Essential Bid-Writing Tips ‘:

A clear strategy paves the way for clear articulation.

As in strategy, so in articulation.

Never put pen to paper on an important, high-value submission without first producing a documented bid strategy as a blueprint. And make sure that strategy document is user-friendly.

Think and write in terms of benefits, more so than features.

Be cognisant of the distinction between benefits and features i.e. the benefit results from the feature.

Join the dots for the client organisation and its evaluation team members; don’t leave them to extrapolate the benefit from the feature for themselves.

Important: This involves thinking deeply about the client’s contract and associated needs.

Answer the question.

Don’t devolve into evasive writing because you don’t know how to answer a question, or because you have insufficient material to address it with substance.

Have the integrity to correct the problem at its source, seeking out the information you need, or going back into the planning room if your content is lacking as a result of an incomplete or incoherent strategy.

Don’t let a lack of substantiation erode your credibility.

One of the most common flaws in Expression of Interest (EOI) and Request for Proposal (RFP) responses and, indeed, any other form of bid is the proliferation of “empty” claims – claims made with no attempt to provide specific points of proof or any other form of substantiation.

Largely unintentionally – but very effectively, all the same – these convey an arrogant, salesy tone that screams: “Look, just trust what I’m saying, OK?”

Frequently, bids peppered with these come across as just the reverse: Untrustworthy.

Process, don’t parrot.

You’ve heard the old adage, “A consultant is someone who asks for your watch, tells you the time and charges you for it.”

A similar concept underlies the common tendency to either repeat verbatim, or to minimally re-phrase, large tracts of the client’s own EOI or RFP documentation. That demonstrates neither any conduct of your own research, nor employment of your own thought processes.

Be client-focused in both your content and in your writing.

Be client-focused from the beginning. If and whenever possible, use your choice of opening words to let the client know that your answer and information is going to be framed in the context of his interest, his needs, his contract, his priorities, and his concerns.

Avoid the temptation to slip into sales-speak.

Don’t be tempted to go into marketing copywriter mode. It’s not required.

Worse, you’ll come across as an amateur, if copywriting isn’t your day job.

50 ESSENTIAL BID-WRITING TIPS
Must-Know Standards, Methods & Insights for Writing Compelling Bids, Tenders and Proposals

(Book)

Intentional successful bids are guided by a strategy that is well-researched, customer-centric / client-centric, substance-based, savvily-formulated, and documented in detail.

50 ESSENTIAL BID-WRITING TIPS
Must-Know Standards, Methods & Insights for Writing Compelling Bids, Tenders and Proposals

(Six-Pack)

Available individually or as a six-pack (6 for the price of 5).

Bid-Writing Lessons from the World’s Greatest Authors

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Thu, 26 Dec 2024 07:07:47 GMT

The greats of literary history have much to teach the writers of today. No-one, however, could benefit more from becoming a student of these masters of the written word than the commercial bid writer.

This fun - yet highly insightful - little read is an assembly of the enduring and pithily expressed wisdom of over 100 authors, strategists, philosophers and other accomplished figures. It features 47 smart little lessons from yours truly, on Research, Thinking & Strategy , on Writing , and on Editing, Re-Writing, Practice & Perfection – reinforcing the timeless advice of these sages.

‘ Bid-Writing Lessons from the World’s Greatest Authors ’ contains gems like:

What an ancient Chinese military general (and author) can teach you about strategy, and how to use those learnings to outsmart and outmanoeuvre your competition.

The criticality of understanding the difference between strategy and tactics (a distinction your competitors probably don’t understand, and one you can capitalise on).

What the Bible says about the need for ensuring you have a wide range of sources contributing to your bid strategy.

Two world champion boxers offer the self-same admonition: Understand the importance of a consistent, yet fluid , strategy.

Hemingway said most people never listen; Shakespeare also stresses the wisdom of listening over speaking.

Peter Drucker says the most important thing in communication is to hear what isn’t being said (it’s also the way to develop the most client-centric strategy possible).

Henry Ford and Richard Nixon agree: Very few people truly think .

Einstein admonishes: Never stop thinking.

Twain and Pascal comment on avoiding self-centricity (which is rampant in a lmost every bid, tender and proposal ).

What Shakespeare and Emerson say about a bidder or tenderer not being blinded its own light.

What Shakespeare, Thoreau and F. Scott Fitzgerald have to say on the topic of knowing your reader . . . and the foolhardiness of writing about something you don’t understand.

Substance and substantiation: Why the greats say writing comes more easily if you have something to say.

Kipling’s famous, timeless quote on how to ensure you identify and include all the relevant facts in everything you write.

Famous French poet and essayist Charles Peguy says one writer tears his words from his guts, while another pulls them lightly from his overcoat pocket. Which is best, and which type of writer are you?

Chandler equates a certain speed with quality of output. Fast or slow, and why?

W. Somerset Maugham speaks of style . . . and why you shouldn’t try to adopt one.

Stephen King on the use of long words instead of short ones . . . as relevant to bid writers as to great novelists. Hear it direct from the master of suspense.

1000 words buys you the Lord’s Prayer, the 23rd Psalm, the Hippocratic Oath, a sonnet by Shakespeare, Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and several more pieces of iconic literature. Why do so many submission section contributors ramble?

More opinion in the short copy versus long copy debate.

A classic quote from Mark Twain that highlights the need for planning word count-restricted response sections even more carefully than non-limited sections.

Samuel Johnson makes a point about the transparency of writers who plagiarise and imitate.

Shakespeare on writing with purpose – one of the primary keys to a strong and compelling submission.

Whoever said, “Being a good writer is 3% talent; 97% not being distracted by the internet” chose to remain anonymous. That’s a shame, because they have a great message for bid teams.

What Hemingway, Michener, A. Bronson Alcott and Mark Twain all have to say about first drafts.

The magic of editing: All the greats agree on this one above all else.

BID-WRITING LESSONS FROM THE WORLD'S GREATEST AUTHORS

(Book)

Shakespeare, Twain, Pope, von Goethe, Emerson, Yeats, Thoreau, Kipling, Ruskin, Hemingway, RL Stevenson . . .

The philosophies of these literary greats are enduring, and the principles that guided their work are as relevant to twenty-first century proposal professionals as they must have been to the disciples of their living years.

50 ESSENTIAL BID-WRITING TIPS
Must-Know Standards, Methods & Insights for Writing Compelling Bids, Tenders and Proposals

(Book)

Intentional successful bids are guided by a strategy that is well-researched, customer-centric / client-centric, substance-based, savvily-formulated, and documented in detail.

People versus Things

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Wed, 25 Dec 2024 09:26:10 GMT

Many bid and other categories of business writer make the mistake of linking an action with a company e.g. Bardwell Controls will install the new security system.

This is both grammatically incorrect and, in the context of a bid, unproductively impersonal.

Who a t Bardwell Controls will install the new security system?

Remembering the fact that people ( not companies) perform actions, and that people prefer to deal with other people rather than faceless corporations, is always a good move when you’re writing proposals.

50 ESSENTIAL BID-WRITING TIPS
Must-Know Standards, Methods & Insights for Writing Compelling Bids, Tenders and Proposals

(Book)

Available individually or as a 6-pack (6 for the price of 5).

THE BID WRITER'S STYLE & GRAMMAR GUIDE

(Book)

This reference and tuition manual has been written both for the professional bid writer and for those subject matter experts contributing submission content.

Exercised diligently, these core principles and practices will see your section authors produce not only grammatically correct and highly readable, but also strategic and compelling , submissions.

The Most Common Mistakes I Observe When Evaluating Bids

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Tue, 24 Dec 2024 01:56:05 GMT

In the almost two decades I’ve been conducting pursuit leadership, bid strategy and bid writing consulting work, there are some basic issues that continue to show up across all industries’ submissions.

The following are some of the most common observations / recommendations I make when furnished with a cross-section of a new client’s (historic) submissions to provide commentary on:

A bid is not a brochure.

Ironically, (what I call) “brochureware” copy is just as likely to flow from the keyboards of technical and other subject matter experts, as it is from marketing personnel.

Marketing and sales support personnel are prone to producing this type of “empty, generic and salesy” copy when they don’t have a solid, detailed and user-friendly bid strategy blueprint to inform and guide their content.

However, technical staff and subject specialists (engineers, for example) just as readily fall into the same trap – albeit they do it for a completely different reason: they’re under the impression that they are expected to produce marketing-style copy. (They’d do better to simply articulate their content in their normal fashion, even if this were more of a dry and academic style. At least there would be more chance of some real substance appearing in their written contributions.

Each new bid is a process in its own right.

A bidder must view the preparation and production of each bid as having nothing to do with the last.

Each bid must be based upon its own unique strategy which, in turn, is formulated from dedicated research into the background of the project or contract being bid for and the prospective client. That makes templating and importing concepts and content from previous bids a nonsense.

Start earlier to (a) go beyond face value, and (b) get a jump on the competition.

Becoming adept at satisfying the many unwritten and unspoken needs (including information/reassurance needs) of a prospective client necessitates the identification of those needs in the first place.

This listening between the lines, and deeper level of research, is rarely achieved when the bid strategy process isn’t commenced until the client’s Expression of Interest (EOI) or Request for Proposal (RFP) document is released.

An Executive Summary is neither a covering letter nor a sales front-piece.

The Executive Summary is exactly that: a summary . . . a summary of the key themes of the overall submission, and a summary of the proposition itself.

With rare exception (or any), has any Executive Summary I’ve ever seen been both directly connected with and into the core content, and yet also functioned adequately as a stand-alone summary.

More often than not, they are a “We are pleased to submit our proposal for ETC / It is our pleasure to respond to ETC” unnecessary second covering letter, or an inappropriately self-promotional piece.

( Fully ) Customise Staff Profiles

Properly and diligently customise staff profiles and Curricula Vitae.

This is rarely done – or rarely done thoroughly.

Further, beware of superlatives and highly subjective language. All claims should be specific and measurable, and consistent with claims in the main body of your EOI or RFP response. (One submission I received wrote of two project delivery team members’ “50 years’ combined experience”.

When I reviewed their CVs and did the math, it turned out the true figure was little more than half of that.)

Write – or at least edit – case studies to reflect their specific relevance to the procurement in question.

Leaving the evaluators to determine all points of relevance between your submitted case studies, and the product or service being sought by the prospective client, is a lazy approach – and it comes across that way, too.

Case studies can be a powerful supplement to a submission, and if you’re allowed their inclusion, you should maximise their impact by drawing every point of relevance with the client’s / customer’s project or procurement, and associated needs / concerns / priorities.

Don’t undermine your submission with poor grammar, poor editing and typographical errors.

It would seem logical that, if a bidder is submitting a response for a project or a contract worth in the tens or hundreds of millions, the least investment they’d make would be the services of a good editor.

Yet, either they haven’t availed themselves of an editor, or that editor wasn’t particularly “good”.

50 ESSENTIAL BID-WRITING TIPS
Must-Know Standards, Methods & Insights for Writing Compelling Bids, Tenders and Proposals

(Book)

Available individually or as a six-pack ( 6 for the price of 5) .

THE BID WRITER'S STYLE & GRAMMAR GUIDE

(Book)

Your organisation’s credibility hangs on the quality of your writing and the standards it reflects.

Available individually or as a six-pack (6 for the price of 5).

He Who Makes A Quick Dash to the Close Misses the Finish Line

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Thu, 19 Dec 2024 21:01:44 GMT

Yesterday, after careful deliberation over a new skill I’d like to acquire, I made a call to a consultant who provides training on the topic.

I began by giving him a potted summary of my “bigger picture” objectives. I was acting on the (ill-conceived, as it turned out) assumption that he’d pick up on my deeper and broader intent, and work with me to identify the precise type of training I would need, in order to achieve my desired outcomes.

In my mind, there were some key questions he should want to ask, as a result of the desires and goals I’d just communicated.

A Quick Dash to the Close

His response? “So, you want to do the masterclass?”

That was it. Literally. He hadn't any interest in the hoped-for outcome I'd just articulated - nor anything else about my goals related to the reason I had actually picked up the phone to him.

His only interest - at most - in furthering the conversation lay in either reciting the subject matter content or in closing the sale with my booking for his "master class".

The problem with this quick dash to the close (or a recital of the course content) is that I hadn’t called up to buy a ticket to a masterclass. I’d called up with, in my mind, a technicolour picture of what I’d like my world to look like once I’d acquired this new skill.

I wanted him, at the very least (given the significant investment I’d be making), to engage in a conversation with me to help determine whether what he had to offer was going to help make that picture my resultant reality. And perhaps (given my only very elementary understanding of the subject matter), I’d have also been grateful for him taking a moment to, in fact, step me back and determine, objectively and selflessly, whether I was about to lean my ladder against the right wall . . . so to speak.

But no. His interest in me went no further than, “ So, you want to do the masterclass?”

It’s All About Me

So what’s the relevance to bids, tenders and proposals?

The relevance is this – and it’s far more direct than it might at first appear: The fundamental sin this consultant committed is the same one that a very great number of bidders commit i.e. making a cursory overture to the prospective client at the beginning of the submission, before launching into a bald and/or a self-centric pitch for the service or product. No real “conversation” with the client – nor any great demonstration of prior engagement with, or a well-developed understanding of, that organisation. Just “us and our wonderful product / service”.

It’s about as uninterested and self-centric as it gets . . . and it’s more common than not.

What’s in the mind of the client organisation and/or its evaluation team when they read a submission of this nature?

Here’s How It Translates for the Evaluator

A host of unfavorable observations / perceptions / reactions, including but most certainly not limited to:

The well-founded concern that a self-centric submission reflects the likelihood of a supplier-centric relationship throughout the contract – with all the attendant frustrations of such a dynamic.

Nervousness over the risks associated with entering into a long-term, high-value or otherwise significant deal with a service provider who likely doesn’t understand the intricacies of the project or procurement.

Uncertainty over whether the superior virtues the supplier or service provider is espousing support that client’s specific objectives in all the ways in which they will be required to.

And all for the want of the investment of time and the exercise of a genuine interest in the prospect.

THINK AND WIN BIDS

Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Book)

The three fundamental skills of a genuinely sharp, sustainably successful bid professional are the ability to think , listen and ask quality questions.

Furthermore, formulating successful business development and bid strategies is the process of well-directed research and thinking ; not the product of tools and templates.

THINK AND WIN BIDS

(Six-Pack)

Ideal to ensure your entire team of writers and contributing subject matter experts are all on the same page, Think and Win Bids is offered as a six-pack (6 books for the price of 5).

The Three Most Common Tautologies Found in Bids

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Thu, 19 Dec 2024 15:47:49 GMT

"A phrase or expression in which the same thing is said twice in different words."

That’s the dictionary definition of “tautology”.

Tautologies are reflective of clumsy and unskilled writing . . . and you should hotly avoid their appearance in your submissions.

Three of the most common tautologies I see in Expression of Interest (EOI) and Request for Proposal (RFP) responses are:

1. Past Track Record / Past Experience

“Track record” is one of those trendy terms that, in a formal document, is best avoided.

However, if you insist on using it (or if it’s a section heading in the procuring organisation’s own market call documentation), then – at the very least – make sure you don’t fall into the trap of referring to your “past track record”.

“Past” is exactly what a “track record” is. Have you ever heard of a future track record or been asked to outline yours?

The same principle applies in the case of “past experience”. Combining these two words produces a nonsensical term. All experiences are past.

2. Joint Collaboration

A collaboration is, by its very nature, a joint effort.

“Joint”, therefore, is redundant.

3. New Innovation

An innovation is new. Have you ever heard of an old or existing innovation?

Here are a few more tautologies often seen in business writing:

Unite together
Future plans
Complete monopoly
Mutual co-operation
Present incumbent
Still continues
True facts
Ultimate outcome
Basic principles
Personal opinion
Past history

50 ESSENTIAL BID-WRITING TIPS
Must-Know Standards, Methods & Insights for Writing Compelling Bids, Tenders and Proposals

(Book)

Intentional successful bids are guided by a strategy that is well-researched , customer-centric / client-centric , substance-based, savvily-formulated , and documented in detail .

THE BID WRITER'S STYLE & GRAMMAR GUIDE

(Book)

Your organisation’s credibility hangs on the quality of your writing and the standards it reflects.

Available individually or as a six-pack (6 for the price of 5).

How to Help the Evaluators Justify Their Selection (i.e. YOU)

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Thu, 19 Dec 2024 05:07:11 GMT

As tenderers, we’re acutely aware of the first half of the evaluators’ role: to identify the best match for the target client’s needs (and to do so within reasonable budgetary parameters).

However, because we’re so engrossed in producing a bid which will convince them that we are that “best match”, we often overlook the second half o f the eval uators’ job: to justify their selection. It’s actually two different processes . . . at the very least at the level of the subconscious.

This is where the savvy bid team goes further than its competitors . . . by providing ready-made ammunition for the evaluators when they are asked to support their recommendations.

Whether they are consultancies who must answer to their clients, or engineers and technicians who must answer to senior executives, or senior executives who must answer to their boards, or politicians who must answer to their constituencies, all selectors – at some point – will have to present a case for their decision.

It behooves you and your bid to help them.

The Principle in Action

Let’s take the following as a quick case study:

One of my clients – early in my specialisation in this field – embarked on a “must-win” bid for the telecommunications infrastructure subsidiary of one of Australasia’s major construction and engineering companies.

Although part of a huge group, the subsidiary itself was a relatively small, stand-alone operation. Its competition (widely viewed as the front-runner for the project) was a publicly-owned telecommunications behemoth.

My client won the contract – the largest win in the history of that small but highly progressive organisation.

Now . . . here’s the fascinating part: The media release announcing the decision told us everything we needed to know about why we’d been selected . . . and largely in our own words!

How had that happy result eventuated?

It eventuated not only because of the extensive (secondary and primary) research we conducted into the target client’s environment and the compelling strategy we formulated . . . but also because the way we articulated that strategy had resulted in highly credible, authoritative content.

This quality of content had instilled the selectors with the confidence not only to rely upon our information in making their decision, but also to communicate it onwards to their own key audiences.

Six Key Component Processes

Here we see the value of six prior processes, if conducted well:

1) Thorough and careful research at the secondary-source (i.e. indirect) level , in order to identify the big picture framework and parameters within which the procurement in question, sits.

2) Carefully planned and executed primary (i.e. client-facing) research , to identify the client’s greatest priorities, concerns and other “hot buttons” – both those openly voiced, and those held at a deeper, lesser articulated level.

3) Unadulterated pull-through and documentation of the findings of these research exercises and activities.

4) Formal documentation of the bid strategy – the bid’s “blueprint ”, if you will. (This is immeasurably superior to the standard practice of throwing up bullet points on flip sheets, papering the workshop room walls with these, and then trusting that the “strategy” will shake itself out of the resulting mosaic . . . and ultimately leaving it to the writing team to figure it all out.)

5) Production of a writer’s guide, or writers' guides for each Section/Schedule of the Response, to (a) ensure the next level of “pull-through” i.e. from the strategy to the submission document, (b) to guide the required answers to each of the client’s questions, and (c) to provide key phrases and concepts for appropriate and strategic appearance within the context of each answer/Schedule.

6) Editing, check-back and executive approval of each Schedule, at each level of editing/approval (including senior executive) with direct reference back to both the Strategy blueprint and the relevant writer’s guide.

These six “macro-level” steps give you the very best chance of a client’s evaluation team reading your submission and feeling like they recognise themselves and their own inputs in your proposed offering or solution.

It is the degree to which you achieve this, that is the degree to which you feed them the fodder they need to support their selection . . . of you .

BID COMMANDOS
On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

(Training Program)

BID COMMANDOS is my "blockbuster", comprehensive, 11-module training program.

BEATING THE BIG BOYS AT BIDS

(Training Program)

Capitalise on the natural advantages of being a smaller, more agile - and potentially, more aware - operator than your corporate competitors.

(Equally applicable for producing proactive proposals and participating in less formal processes.)

Have You Made Your Client Your Mission?

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Wed, 18 Dec 2024 20:58:10 GMT

‘Sir. I am a U.S. Marine. YOU are my mission.’

As a writer who also happens to be a movie buff, I’ve savoured thousands of good scenes and lines. But this one – from the award-winning ‘World Trade Center’ (released way back in 2006) – is one of the most powerful movie lines I’ve ever heard . . . at least, in the context of the scene during which it is delivered.

A U.S. Marine, having volunteered for the harrowing task of searching for survivors in the rubble of Ground Zero, hears the desperate and muffled cries of two deeply buried New York City Port Authority policemen.

He lacks the necessary equipment to move the rubble and communicates to the buried officers his intention to call for gear. One officer weakly calls back his concern that – given the dangers (i.e. to the Marine and his colleagues) associated with the rescue – he may be better advised to abort in favour of more achievable missions.

That sparked the actor-Marine’s powerfully delivered and spine-tinglingly memorable line: “Sir. I am a U.S. Marine. I will not leave you. YOU are my mission.”

What on Earth Does This Have to Do with Bids or Business Development?

When that line was delivered, there was no doubt in the trapped officer’s mind that he was the concerted, dedicated focus of that Marine. The actor-officer’s confidence in the Marine was palpable, and his mental surrender to his situation – with the Marine in control – was total, without reserve.

Oddly enough, there’s a distinct relevance to the discipline of business development and bidding. How would it be if you and your business development and bid teams could take a nervous, risk-averse client and give him or her that same feeling of justified surrender? The willingness to put his or her total trust and confidence in your knowledge, your dedication, your skills . . . and thus, your recommendations (read: your proposal)?

Would that not be a powerful position to enjoy?

Well . . . such a privileged position must be genuinely earned . And earning it requires exactly that – knowledge (i.e. deep, intelligent research), dedication (i.e. a selfless commitment to fully identify and then put the client’s needs first), and an appropriate and top-notch skill set (i.e. the ability to deliver the optimum product, service or solution to achieve the client’s objectives).

Have You Made the Client Your Selfless & Unwavering ‘Mission’?

Yet, how many business development operatives approach an opportunity or a client meeting with the mindset that they have much to “get across to” the client? And how many bids and proposals are written from exactly the same perspective?

Of course, what they have to “get across to” the client, is a mountain of information about the supplier or service provider , and their wonderful product, service or solution.

In other words, the focus is placed largely on the supplier and/or the service / product rather than where it should be placed i.e. on the client . (To hark back to the context of the Marine and his mission, this equates to said Marine – in the trapped officer’s moment of greatest vulnerability and dependence – breaking his intense concentration on that officer and bringing his fists up to pound his chest while expounding the virtues of his training and abilities.)

Conversely, shifting the emphasis from the service provider and placing it on the client, requires a total surrender of self-interest and self-promotion (at least, initially), an open mind and a genuine hunger for knowledge about the client, all combined with a shared drive to see his or her organisation’s objective/s achieved.

When your people genuinely – and I do mean genuinely – come from this place, your clients not only sense it; it screams at them (in the most comforting, confidence-engendering way).

This is the very definition of “client-centricity” . . . and it speaks louder than any words or any marketing materials. Furthermore, it carries over into your bid documentation – provided that bid documentation has been directly informed and influenced by those who have sincerely made the client their “mission” .

BID COMMANDOS

On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

(Training Program)

An 11-module training program formulated to ensure your team remains firmly client-centric in its principles and practices throughout every stage of a formal bidding process - from the initial bid/no bid analysis, right through to the client de-briefing session/s.

BEATING THE BIG BOYS AT BIDS

(Training Program)

Capitalise on the greater scope for client-centricity that comes with being a smaller, more agile - and potentially, more aware - operator.

A five-module program that I'll guide your team through in real-time, as it prepares for, and participates in, a formal tendering process.

(Equally applicable for producing proactive proposals and participating in less formal processes.)

The Active vs the Passive Voice

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Wed, 18 Dec 2024 02:42:05 GMT

An effective way to avoid stilted, indirect or overly formal writing is to learn to write in the active voice, rather than the passive voice.

Very simplistically, this is the difference between:

Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall (active) , and

The wall was sat on by Humpty Dumpty (passive) .

It’s the passive voice that conveys the formality.

Further examples:

Active

“Identifying one instance of the species would allow the environmental team to confirm it does, in fact, exist within the project footprint.”

Passive

“The identification of the species by environmental management personnel would allow confirmation of its existence within the area allocated for the construction of the buildings and infrastructure.”

Active

“It may be advisable for us to employ a dedicated stakeholder manager to ensure we liaise effectively with the community.”

Passive

“The employment of a dedicated stakeholder manager may be advisable, in order to ensure effective liaison between the consortium and community groups.”

The passive voice is indirect, where the active voice is direct. The passive voice suggests and implies, it doesn’t command. It’s not authoritative and compelling, as is the active voice.

50 ESSENTIAL BID-WRITING TIPS

Must-Know Standards, Methods & Insights for Writing Compelling Bids, Tenders and Proposals

(Book)

Intentional successful bids are guided by a strategy that is well-researched, customer-centric / client-centric, substance-based, savvily-formulated, and documented in detail.

THE BID WRITER'S STYLE & GRAMMAR GUIDE

(Book)

This reference and tuition manual has been written both for the professional bid writer and for those subject matter experts contributing submission content.

Exercised diligently, these core principles and practices will see you produce not only grammatically correct and highly readable, but also strategic and compelling , submissions.

Words Ending in ‘ible’, ‘able’and ‘uble’

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Wed, 18 Dec 2024 01:38:20 GMT

Among the most common word groups that fool bid writers (or any writers) is the "ible", "able" and "uble" group.

Here’s a list of them to watch out for. It’s a good idea to memorise those you find yourself using regularly in your Expression of Interest (EOI) and Request for Proposal (RFP) responses and sales proposals:

Abominable

Absorbable

Acceptable

Accessible

Accountable

Achievable

Actionable

Adaptable

Adducible

Adjustable

Administrable

Admissible

Adorable

Advisable

Affable

Agreeable

Allowable

Alterable

Amenable

Amiable

Amicable

Answerable

Applicable

Appreciable

Apprehensible

Approachable

Arable

Arguable

Ascertainable

Assessable

Assignable

Associable

Assumable

Attachable

Attainable

Attemptable

Attributable

Audible

Available

Avertable

Avoidable

Bankable

Bearable

Beatable

Believable

Biddable

Blamable

Bookable

Breakable

Bridgeable

Calculable

Certifiable

Challengeable

Changeable

Chargeable

Charitable

Citable

Climbable

Coercible

Collapsible

Collectable

Combinable

Combustible

Comfortable

Commendable

Commensurable

Communicable

Commutable

Companionable

Comparable

Compatible

Compensable

Comprehensible

Compressible

Comprisable

Conceivable

Condemnable

Condensable

Conductible

Conformable

Congestible

Connectible

Conquerable

Considerable

Consumable

Containable

Contemptible

Contestable

Contractible

Controllable

Conversable

Convertible

Convincible

Corrigible

Corrodible

Corruptible

Countable

Credible

Creditable

Crucible

Culpable

Cultivable

Curable

Damnable

Datable

Deceivable

Decidable

Decipherable

Deductible

Defensible

Definable

Delectable

Deliverable

Demonstrable

Deniable

Dependable

Deplorable

Depressible

Descendible

Describable

Desirable

Despicable

Destructible

Detectable

Determinable

Diffusible

Digestible

Dirigible

Discernible

Discoverable

Dismissible

Dispensable

Dispersible

Disreputable

Dissolvable

Distensible

Distinguishable

Divertible

Divisible

Drinkable

Durable

Dutiable

Eatable

Edible

Educable

Effectible

Eligible

Enforceable

Enviable

Equable

Equitable

Erasable

Erodible

Estimable

Evadable

Evaporable

Evincible

Exchangeable

Excisable

Excusable

Execrable

Exhaustible

Expansible

Expendable

Explicable

Explodable

Explorable

Expressible

Extensible

Extinguishable

Extractable

Fallible

Fashionable

Feasible

Fermentable

Filterable

Finable

Fissionable

Flammable

Flexible

Floatable

Forcible

Fordable

Forgeable

Forgivable

Formidable

Frangible

Friable

Fungible

Fusible

Governable

Gullible

Habitable

Heritable

Horrible

Hospitable

Identifiable

Illegible

Illimitable

Imitable

Immeasurable

Immersible

Immovable

Immutable

Impartible

Impassable (impossible to pass)

Impassible
(incapable of experiencing pain)

Impeachable

Impeccable

Impenetrable

Imperishable

Impermeable

Imperturbable

Implacable

Imponderable

Impregnable

Impressible

Impressionable

Improvable

Inalienable

Inconceivable

Inconsolable

Inconsumable

Incontrovertible

Incorrigible

Incredible

Indefatigable

Indefeasible

Indefectible

Indelible

Indeterminable

Indictable

Indispensable

Indisputable

Indivisible

Indomitable

Indubitable

Ineffable

Ineluctable

Inerrable

Inescapable

Inevitable

Inexorable

Inexpiable

Inflammable

Inflatable

Inimitable

Innumerable

Insatiable

Insensible

Inseparable

Insufferable

Insuperable

Insurable

Insurmountable

Intelligible

Interminable

Investigable

Invincible

Inviolable

Irascible

Irreconcilable

Irredeemable

Irrefragable

Irrefutable

Irremediable

Irreparable

Irreplaceable

Irreproachable

Irresistible

Irretrievable

Irrevocable

Irrigable

Irritable

Justifiable

Knowledgeable

lamentable

Laudable

Laughable

Legible

Liable

Likable

Livable

Lovable

Maintainable

Malleable

Manageable

Mandible

Marketable

Marriageable

Measurable

Memorable

Mendable

Miscible

Miserable

Modifiable

Movable

Namable

Navigable

Negligible

Negotiable

Notable

Noticeable

Notifiable

Objectionable

Obtainable

Omissible

Operable

Oppressible

Paintable

Palatable

Palpable

Parable

Pardonable

Passable

Payable

Peaceable

penetrable

Pensionable

Perceptible

Perfectible

Perishable

Permissible

Personable

Persuadable

Pitiable

Plausible

Pliable

Possible

Practicable

Presentable

Presumable

Preventable

Printable

Probable

Procurable

Producible

Profitable

Pronounceable

Provable

Quantifiable

Quenchable

Quotable

Ratable

Reachable

Readable

Realisable

Recoverable

Rectifiable

Redeemable

Reducible

Referable

Refutable

Regrettable

Reliable

Relievable

Remissible

Renewable

reparable

Repeatable

Replaceable

Reprehensible

Repressible

Resistible

Resoluble

Respectable

Responsible

Retractable

Reversible

Revertible

Risible

Rotatable

Salable

Salvable

Scalable

Searchable

Seasonable

Seducible

Sensible

separable

Serviceable

Sinkable

Sizeable

Sociable

Soluble

Solvable

Specifiable

Spreadable

Submersible

Sufferable

Suggestible

Suitable

Supportable

Supposable

Suppressible

Surpassable

Susceptible

Suspensible

Sustainable

Takable

Tamable

Tangible

Tarnishable

Taxable

Teachable

Tenable

Terrible

Thinkable

Tillable

Tolerable

Traceable

Tractable

Trainable

Translatable

Transmissible

Transportable

Understandable

Unmistakable

Useable

Utilisable

Valuable

Variable

Vendible

Verifiable

Veritable

Viable

Visible

Vocable

Voluble

Vulnerable

Washable

Wearable

Workable

THE BID WRITER'S STYLE & GRAMMAR GUIDE

(Book)

This reference and tuition manual has been written both for the professional bid writer and for those subject matter experts contributing submission content.

Exercised diligently, these core principles and practices will see you produce not only grammatically correct and highly readable, but also strategic and compelling , submissions.

THE BID WRITER'S STYLE & GRAMMAR GUIDE

(Six-Pack)

Available individually or as a 6-pack (6 for the price of 5) .

Don’t Make Understanding Your Bid An 'Inside Job'

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Wed, 18 Dec 2024 00:37:03 GMT

When you insist on using your own in-house jargon with a customer and in proposal documentation, you demonstrate clearly to the customer your inward, internal, self-focused thinking.

You give him or her the clear message that you are either unable or unwilling to think or communicate from any perspective other than your own/your company’s. And you indicate to them that they’ll have to constantly make the effort to interpret you and your position, rather than vice versa, as it should in fact be.

Examples abound when dealing with B2C (business to consumer) organisations, especially the very large institutions.

An example springs readily to mind:

When my car experienced a flat battery, I called my home state’s automobile association for urgent road service.

The young call centre operator made reference to something like “standard service” and something like “ultra”. I indicated that I needed her to explain the key differences between those two options.

She seemed extremely surprised at my request and went on to do little more than repeat the same internal jargon – somehow expecting that to make things clearer at my end.

After three attempts at getting her to understand that she was using “company speak” that wasn’t meaningful to me, she responded – still unhelpfully – by stating that I would have read about the different options when I took out my membership.

So, here I am, stuck and stressed with a flat battery at rush hour, and somehow I am meant to recall the specific features of two levels of service I made a decision between several years ago.

The point is, when someone displays an inability to speak in anything other than his or her employer’s internal jargon (and expects the listener to know exactly what he or she means by any given term) it flags a certain lack of communication maturity – and, arguably, a certain lack of intelligence.

The same impression is conveyed to evaluators when an organisation’s bid writers demonstrate this same flaw.

Further, it plants concerns as to the degree of frustration that might be experienced in communicating with the bidder’s delivery team or other client/customer-facing personnel, along with the associated scope for error – particularly if the service or product in question is of a highly technical nature, and non-technical staff will be involved in communications with the vendor or service provider.

BID-WRITING LESSONS FROM THE WORLD'S GREATEST AUTHORS

(Book)

History’s literary greats have much to teach the writers of today. No-one, however, could benefit more from becoming a student of these masters of the written word than the commercial bid writer.

Available individually or as a six-pack (6 books for the price of 5).

BEATING THE BIG BOYS AT BIDS

(Training Program)

Capitalise on the natural advantages of being a smaller, more agile - and potentially, more aware - operator than your corporate competitors.

(Equally applicable for producing proactive proposals and participating in less formal processes.)

How to Lay Solid Foundations for RFP Success

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Tue, 17 Dec 2024 00:39:54 GMT

Skimp on the detail in the first three stages of the bidding process and your chances of winning a mission-critical bid are severely compromised from the outset.

On the flip side, do an outstanding job of laying these foundations, and you’ve given yourself a giant head start on any competitors that haven’t (and most don’t).

Conduct the most comprehensive, self-critical "bid or no bid" analysis possible.
Select your bid team members strategically.
Optimise every opportunity in the pre-probity phase.

BID COMMANDOS
On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

(Training Program)

BID COMMANDOS is my "blockbuster", comprehensive, 11-module training program.

BEATING THE BIG BOYS AT BIDS

(Training Program)

Capitalise on the natural advantages of being a smaller, more agile - and potentially, more aware - operator than your corporate competitors.

(Equally applicable for producing proactive proposals and participating in less formal processes.)

VfM: Most Bidders Miss the Central Point

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Mon, 16 Dec 2024 20:05:30 GMT

The following is an excerpt from my 320-page book, ‘Cracking the VfM Code: How to Identify & Deliver Genuine Value for Money in Collaborative Contracting’ , published in 2013 (but with genuinely timeless insights on the whole ‘Value for Money’ conundrum).

Infrastructure bidders struggle mightily with the concept of “Value for Money”. In some instances, I’ve seen it extrapolated into some convoluted Einstein-ish mathematical formula; in others, I’ve seen it seen as synonymous with that questionable “value added” buzz phrase and seen as a prompter to roll out every guesswork-based bell and whistle a bid team can think of with which to sweeten the deal.

Both extremes miss the critical point:

“VfM” is whatever the client deems it to be. Your job is to get inside the client’s world and into his head, in order get to the bottom of his unique and project-specific take on “value for money”.

Everybody’s Got A Viewpoint: A Concept Looking for a Definition

In terms of the search for * the * definition of “value for money” in alliancing and other forms of collaborative contracting, the seemingly endless “VfM” debate rages on. Many proponents have put forward their own personal take on VfM as representing that singular, much-sought definition.

Yet with all the definitions mooted and all the eminent spokespersons on the topic making perfect sense in their own individual right, still the industry continues to seek out some hallowed definition that will lead it to salvation on this issue. (Arguably, the best answer arrived at thus far is that “VfM is project-specific”. Yet that’s nothing but a principle, albeit now a widely-agreed one.)

The truth is, every one of the theories put forward has held a part of the answer. VfM, as it turns out, is a multi-layered, multi-component formula to which multiple parties hold the key. Critical to the success of the formula, however, is getting its components in order, to ensure (a) recognition by each contributor that each part of the formula is exactly that i.e. a part of the formula, and (b) that each successive component is influenced by the correct preceding component.

In other words: What needs sought out is not one exact and specific “definition” of value for money, but rather the starting point for, and successive order of, the many layers of the VfM cascade .

If we agree, then, that there’s room for everybody’s perspective of VfM, and that these ultimately make up one collective “value for money” picture, what’s required is for the lens to be pulled back to a macro focus to see where all the individual takes on VfM fit in. Once we’ve grasped the whole picture, then the role and relative priorities of the various “micro” components of that overall picture, fall logically into place. These become what we might see as a series of layers.

VfM Is A Many-Layered Thing

The first, the foundation and, arguably, the most critical component of the formula lies within the “big picture” requirements of the project funder which, for the purposes of this book and its readership we will deem to be Treasuries – either at a State, or the Federal, level.

This logic recognises the “whole of Government” imperatives of the project, as dictated by the investor.

Next would come the immediate project owner’s (usually the infrastructure delivery agency) objectives, including those dictated by the components of the supporting business case on the basis of which funding was granted.

It is critical to note that it is only after the acknowledgement and consideration of these – essentially societal – goals, and in the context of them, that any conversation on VfM can be lead by the design or construction sector.

Continuing on with the “layers” logic, next comes a layer of VfM specific to the type of project.

For example, if we’re talking a water project, then there might be certain quarters of the industry that do that with greater specialist skill than others. If we’re talking a roading project, there might be certain quarters of the industry kitted out for greater efficiency than others. And if we’re talking airport infrastructure, there might be those who have broader knowledge bases or greater experience than others, possibly leading to a high degree of project-level VfM.

From there, the VfM equation enters into the domain of the alliance or collaborative contract team itself. It’s down to the cost planning, the value engineering, the design (and any innovation therein), the construction, and all matters related to implementation (including efficient use of overhead staff, good governance, proper project controls and sound project management practices), actual functionality of the end output itself, and ongoing operational, maintenance and “future proof” value.

These layers form a logical cascade, each guided by the objectives of the preceding layer.

(Incidentally, this is why – as a bid strategist and business development operative – I constantly reinforce the danger of a bid team’s placing insufficient emphasis on researching and understanding the “big picture”. Almost without fail, I find engineers getting lost in the “micro”, without anything even nearing sufficient knowledge of the “macro”. In other words, in focusing on the “how”, it is critical never to forget the “why” behind a project.

The “why” comes first, last, and should never be forgotten in any part of the middle, either. This is the reason I also constantly reinforce the great importance of structured, well-planned research into a project being bid for, along with asking quality questions of the client and having a system to collate the findings and the answers. And doing all this well ahead of time.)

Let’s take it from the top.

To summarise thus far, VfM (as there is now little debate within the industry) must be defined at a project-specific level. But that’s only the “micro” perspective that’s created out of direct reference to the macro level provided by the investment priorities and criteria applied to the project’s approval at State or Federal level.

In other words – in a sense – the customer is always right. In this case, of course, the customer is the State or the Federal Government, and is represented by the Treasury department in question, which plays the role of investor.

There certainly wouldn’t be any argument from the Treasuries over this logic. And since they’re the only ones with the “whole of Government” perspective and drivers, this reasoning – theirs and mine – does pass the test of applied logic.

It is then the owner agency’s responsibility to guide and/or work with its non-owner alliance (or other form of contractual) partners, in the “best value” execution of the project, program or service, in direct accordance with the rationale, priorities and other essential elements of its (the owner’s) business case.

Here though, must be recognised the call from many industry participants to be given the opportunity to contribute the benefits of their expertise at earlier stages in the whole process. This is a point of passionate and worthy debate catalysed by the October 2009-released ‘In Pursuit of Additional Value – A Benchmarking Study into Alliancing in the Australian Public Sector’ (produced by industry consultants Evans & Peck and the University of Melbourne for the Treasury sector.) It should be noted that the design and construction sector at large saw ‘In Pursuit’ as endeavouring to push non-owner participants further back in the VfM identification and discussion process.

We’ll investigate that debate in detail in a later chapter. But now, let’s hear the rationale of the different parties, look at whether or not the logic always applies, and what other facets of the discussion come into play in and around this logic.

VfM – Through the Eyes of Treasury

It was the Victorian Department of Treasury & Finance which both heated up and took a lead role in the VfM debate, with its lead sponsorship of the ‘In Pursuit of Additional Value’ publication.

(As an aside at this stage, this report recommended price-competition based alliance selection be adopted as the default position for those projects delivered as alliances, although there is provision in the guidelines still for partial price-competition and non-price competition in alliance selection). The preference for this “dual Target Outcome Cost (TOC)” version was reinforced in with ‘ Guidance Note No. 4 – Reporting VfM Outcomes in Alliance Contracting’ – a stance echoed, in short order, by other states’ Treasury departments.)

With the release of this publication, this particular state Treasury department put its stake in the ground and declared that what represented value for money to treasuries – as guardians of the public purse – was the default definition for VfM . . . or perhaps, more correctly, was the peak definition from which all other elements of the VfM picture should emanate.

One of the more mutually agreed findings to come out of the review was that agencies owed it to Treasury, to themselves, and to the Non-Owner Participants in their alliances to ensure the production of clear, timely, detailed and robust business cases. (A business case has been simplistically described, in this context, as an analysis of the costs and risks versus the service delivery benefits to the community.) The business case, it indicated, should form the basis for an additional, “VfM Proposition” document – which would directly guide the alliance as to the agency’s value for money requirements of the project.

Let’s get really clear on what a “business case” and a “VfM Proposition” are. The Victorian Treasury’s ‘Practitioners’ Guide to Alliance Contracting’ , provides the following definitions for these in its glossary:

‘Business Case

‘The vehicle that is used by the owner to obtain approval and funding to undertake the project, as required by that owner’s jurisdiction.

‘Owner’s VfM Statement

‘The owner’s VfM Statement sets out the project deliverables to be achieved by the alliance and the success criteria by which the alliance will be ultimately judged. It is designed to be specifically relevant to, and applied by, the alliance. The development of the owner’s VfM Statement should use the approved Business Case as the starting point (etc).’

Unfortunately, one of the findings of ‘In Pursuit of Additional Value’ was that ‘business cases often did not clearly define the project VfM proposition to the rigour required for investment decision-making, and noted that ‘the average increase from base case cost estimate to AOC was of the order of 45 to 55 percent’. (It should, however, be noted that the research sample size and diversity represented a sizeable bone of contention with the non-owner participant sector.)

Further on in this report is the recognition that, “The challenge of defining VfM has been subject to much review and has driven the development of several methods of project performance assessment. A key element of any such model is the development of a robust and comprehensive business case on which to benchmark project success as well as inform the investment decision.”

Distilled down to one core imperative: Treasuries and agencies must exercise their respective responsibilities for ensuring the effective application of “whole-of-Government” perspectives and priorities at project level.

Nick Tamburro, Director of the Victorian Department of Treasury & Finance’s Commercial Division, has had a decade’s experience in the full gamut of public-private partnership projects, and across a wide variety of infrastructure sectors (before which he had managed traditional public construction projects and been involved in policy development). In 2008, he was made responsible for alliancing policy and guidelines.

Tamburro believes it would behove NOPs to broaden their perspectives on projects, such that they fully appreciate that the granting of funding for any specific project represents but one element in a much larger statewide (or nationwide, if it’s a Federally-funded project) picture.

He points out that in the process of obtaining project approval, the specific Government infrastructure agency that will own that project, has had to compete with (literally) hundreds of other proposed projects for its funding. And in that process, the agency has had to argue its case primarily on the basis of value for money.

In considering the proposal, or business case, put forward by the agency, Treasury – acting on behalf of Government – has had to apply “whole of State” priorities. Its granting the funding for the project essentially deems the agency’s VfM Statement a core agreement between it, as project owner, and Government.

The Treasury’s singular objective, going forward, is to hold the agency accountable for delivering on the VfM Statement for a price which is equal to – but preferably less than – the project budget approved in the business case.

Tamburro is quick to emphasise that nowhere in this process has there been any requirement for the agency, its business case or its VfM Statement to employ the “cheapest” version of anything. The obligation is, rather, to ensure that – having identified the value elements to be achieved – these are then delivered for the lowest total cost (i.e. quality standards required for best-in-market price) . . . and certainly within the approved budget.

On this note, he points out that an alliance team should not take it upon itself to invent new VfM criteria, “outside the business case parameters”.

If they do feel the need to propose a new criterion, he says, it should be approved in its own right by the agency/project owner, and if sufficiently major, then by the relevant treasury.

A power point diagram furnished by Tamburro depicts a hypothetical VfM proposition for an imaginary motorway interchange.

Depicting his point graphically, he uses a set of scales – one side weighing the call on public resources (or costs and risks) and the other side weighing the service benefits of a hypothetical proposal for an equally hypothetical “Big M” motorway interchange.

Excerpting from Victorian Treasury’s March 2011-released ‘Guidance Note 4: Reporting Value for Money Outcomes in Alliance Contracting’ , let’s look at the type of crossroads an alliance might typically find itself faced with, and how its decision has the potential to throw the VfM of an agency’s broader portfolio out of balance:

‘Scenario: What’s the Best for the Community?

“The alliance for ‘Route 66’ is well advanced in its planning and has taken the initiative to hold a ‘community legacy workshop’. Exciting initiatives have been identified that are supported by the alliance and that will improve community amenity for many years to come. These initiatives are outside the business case, and will cost approximately $5m. The alliance workshop was facilitated on a ‘best for project’ basis.

“However, when considering whether to fund the initiatives, the owner decided that a greater public good for the State’s community could be achieved if $5m funding was instead applied to one of the high accident road intersections or railway crossings located across the state. That is, the owner’s decision to take a ‘best for state’ approach in relation to the legacy issue took precedence over the alliance’s ‘best for project’ decision-making.”

Tamburro comments:

“The whole thrust of the debate from the Treasury perspective is that we need to make investment decisions based on researched, robust and rational thinking. We’re in the business of rationing resources, so we need to consider all the fundamentals e.g.:

‘How can I maximise the benefits of the outputs against the scale of the inputs i.e. the costs?’

‘What is the value to me of the outcomes in relation to the costs that I face for the inputs?’

‘How can I maximise what I get for the cost?’

‘Is there something I value more for the input costs?’

“An issue that is often forgotten in relation to VfM is opportunity cost. VfM assessment is a way of helping us determine where to channel our resources.

“At a Government level, the opportunity cost of any portion of capital must be viewed both across the range of sectors as well as across projects.

“The Government has finite public resources and needs to balance these against community service needs and also against election promises.

“In fact, we’re juggling three balls in any given decision:

How many dollars we have to spend.
Community service needs.
Election promises, and the prioritisation of these.

(This, says Tamburro, is a straightforward although detailed process whereby, literally, in the lead-up to an election, different coloured election promise implementation books are compiled – one for the party currently in power, and one each for the other parties competing for Government. After the election, “we destroy the documents of the losing parties, then we present to the winning party, now the Government, the book relating to their promises. This book now contains, for their consideration, a strategy and a budget for delivering on their many and varied election promises.”)

“Something that the construction industry by and large doesn’t truly appreciate is this:

“At a whole-of-Government level, where our peak investment decisions concern, for example, health, law and order, education, public and private transport, we have several layers of decision to make. If our current priority were improving public transport, then the next layer of decision becomes which mode of transport best meets community needs e.g. should we spend more money on buses, or rail? That needs to be followed by a geographic decision. Then comes the question of exactly which services to improve.

“The other thing that’s not often appreciated is that investment in a capital project is essentially a last resort. Infrastructure costs a lot of money not only to build but also to maintain, and so investment in capital assets should be made only when it’s essential to improve community services that are high priority.

“Therefore, assumptions should not be made about capital investment; some of the services that Governments talk about might not require lots of capital or infrastructure works. For example, it might be a priority to improve health outcomes for seniors. But it might be that the best away to do that is not to build something, but to employ more nurses to improve home visits.

It’s About ‘Outcomes’

“Or we might find that the best way to improve educational outcomes is to invest in more teachers in primary schools, versus building more classrooms onto schools. An assessment of the school sector, for example, might have shown up that more effective communications aids, rather than smaller classrooms, is the best way to improve educational outcomes.

“If you look at improving health care outcomes, you might investigate improving IT systems, or providing better management and utilisation of existing capital resources, rather than investing in new capital resources. While the cheapest thing about the health industry is the buildings, if you opt for that route you are also then faced with the associated cost of the doctors, nurses and the medical equipment – ongoingly. You also have to maintain the building itself.

“We use the term, ‘enabling assets’ in Victorian Government,” says Tamburro. “It essentially means that we don’t build a bridge because it’s an object of beauty, we build it to serve a community need. The message there is that it’s not just about building things, the message is that you can improve community services in ways that don’t necessarily mean you have to build something.”

He explained that many Governments around the world own an asset base that they struggle to maintain and service. After the UK’s Thatcher years, he says, the British school system was reportedly in an advanced state of disrepair due to lack of maintenance funding.

“Maintaining capital assets comes at a huge cost, and can become a huge burden on the public purse.

“Treasuries need to be careful about the long-term implications of our investment decisions. And for the contractors and designers that participate in alliances or other joint delivery forms with agencies, there needs to be an understanding that investments in capital assets is not a win/win. In fact, investment in capital assets needs to be thought out very, very carefully in the context of the associated long-term budgetary demands.”

Tamburro says that, as a rule of thumb, only one in 12 business cases submitted to Treasury for funding is approved.

Once the funding is approved, the decision has thus been made with regard to which sector – e.g. law and order, health, education – the public funds will be invested into.

The next level is the sector-specific world of the infrastructure delivery agency.

“What the agencies do is to say, ‘We understand what the Government is interested in, we understand their election promises, and we’re interested in addressing our sector’s involvement in that agenda.’

“So, for example, the Government wants to reduce travel time between points A and B. The agency’s business case will detail the community services they intend to target and draw a link to the relevant election promises associated with these objectives. Election promises are taken seriously today, and all political parties produce a very clear agenda of undertakings for the forthcoming term in office.

“So the business case is all about the best way of providing these upgraded community services. Let’s assume I’m a road authority. The best way might be to turn a particular four-lane highway into a six-lane highway, or it might be to build a new road, or it could be to put part of the existing road underground. The critical role of the business case in this scenario is to identify the best way of making this travel time saving between A and B. (Incidentally, an agency will table multiple proposals outlining the different ways things can be achieved and the different levels of solution for the different levels of budget).

“The next thing the agency will articulate in the business case is the cost.

“So the agency has now said, ‘If you give us this much money we can achieve these travel time savings between points A and B.’ At this point, Treasury will be considering the proposal or proposals from that road agency, against other proposals for other projects from the same agency.

“The Victorian Government outlays in the order of $40 billion a year across all sectors; that’s our total State budget for all Government activities. So we get a lot of funding proposals.

“Let’s say that Government approves this business case i.e. $100m of funding to reduce travel time between points A and B.

“So the agency has a $100 million project. This kicks off the detailed planning and construction phase and, with that, a whole new level of VfM. This is the nuts and bolts level where engineers get to employ their smarts and creativity.

“The problem is, that many Non-Owner Participants don’t see anything else but that level. That’s all they comprehend, in terms of the whole value for money picture.”

More on Prioritising & Apportioning the Taxpayer Dollar

Also interviewed for this book was Richard Mann, Executive Director of Strategic Projects for Western Australia’s Department of Treasury & Finance, who gave his own take on the investor-level perspective.

“VfM, in its broader sense, is achieving the best possible balance in ‘triple bottom line’ outcomes for the particular project/program/operation in question.

“That blend of what’s more important in the triple bottom line will obviously vary from project to project. From the Government perspective, the blend is decided at the time the Government takes the investment decision, and is an integral part of it.

“Government effectively decides that, for a specified funding allocation, it is going to receive a series of defined outcomes and benefits.

“If we are following good asset management practice, these should be articulated in a business case, which culminates in a recommendation of the best investment option for Government. What we want to see is the basis for that investment decision translated into project procurement .

"This is where we have traditionally not performed as well as we might: If we don’t communicate to the private sector the basis behind Government decision-making and the outcomes that we’re seeking to achieve through the project, then we run the risk of inconsistency in the understanding between the parties with regard to what VfM represents.

“Let’s illustrate that:

“Assume we have a significant building project: a hospital.

“In justifying the need for investment in a new hospital, Government will typically identify the scope of clinical and non-clinical services it needs to provide – the volume of those services and the quality standards to which they must be delivered.

“Obviously, associated with that will be an estimated cost.

“Then there’s a whole range of related benefits and objectives out of the project: sustainability requirements, environmental targets, other social benefits. These will vary from project to project but will combine to provide a set of outcomes that are to be achieved within the allocated funding.

“Then we move through to delivery. We might, for example, through the procurement process, deliver a significantly higher level of service within the original budget. But that does not necessarily represent value for money, because we might not need that higher level of service.

“Or say, for example, that we’re building a secondary hospital and, while we require a designated level of clinical capability, we end up providing a higher level. That is not necessarily a better solution than the required original level of capability at a lower cost.

“It works in reverse as well. Reducing scope to save dollars does not necessarily represent VfM, if that results in a lower level of service than was assumed when Government decided to fund the project.

“In summary, what I’m saying is that right through the planning and delivery of any project, we need to continually keep revisiting the original basis for doing it.”

What does that continual re-visitation look like in practice?

“It applies not only to the NOPs but also to the Owner Participants, who also often lose sight of the whole-of-Government business perspective, and instead of looking outwards from the project, they look within and they only think about the internal project environment. So they lose the focus on that over-arching triple bottom line VfM justification that the business case is based on in the first place.

“There are responsibilities in both camps for continual review. To enable that review, the agency must make sure they have a robust business case upfront. Then those business case objectives need to be clearly communicated to whoever is responsible for project delivery.”

VfM . . . An Agency Perspective

Graeme Newton, Queensland’s Co-ordinator General, says that to effectively translate whole-of-government objectives at project level “takes the right people on the team; people who can see and interpret the big picture goals and then translate them into actual project specifications.”

However, in his interview for ‘Cracking the VfM Code’ , he stresses that he speaks more from the perspective of an owner participant in project alliances than from the perspective of his Co-ordinator General role.

“Two members could be sitting side by side, with the same backgrounds, the same qualifications and even the same experience, and yet one might have that very special talent and ability, while the other is stuck at the purely technical level and doesn’t have the ability to think at that elevated, helicopter-view level at all.

“Having alliance experience is helpful, but possessing a commercial mindedness rather than being purely a technician is integral to milking out the full VfM potential of a project.

“The real skill set or talent of value on an alliancing team is the member who sees past the technical issues and understands, for example, which aspect of a project needs the gold plating, and which aspect requires a more moderate approach based on issues that, from the client’s perspective, go far beyond the actual specifications and immediate delivery-related conversations.

“It’s about being able to see past what’s presented in the scope; understanding the nuances and the intent of the specification rather than just what’s specified; identifying what the agency is really endeavouring to achieve through its specifications. Collaborative contracting allows you great flexibility, so you want to extract the full value out of that flexibility by having people who can see the wood for the trees.”

Common Understanding Central to VfM

In his interview for ‘Cracking the VfM Code’ , John King, Queensland Rail’s General Manager – Capital Delivery Program, said a common understanding between the parties is a fundamental plank of actually achieving value for money.

“ An area not done well in alliances to date is to ensure a common, working understanding of VfM.

“From the client’s perspective, he determines the outcome he wants to achieve in a project as part of his business case . . . basically, his reason for doing it. That should then form a framework of what value he wants to receive out of the project.

“But as clients, we’re not used to articulating that to the contractors. We’re just used to translating it into technical specifications. So they know we want to build a railway from A to B, but we don’t tell them why we want to build it.

“There will be a number of reasons why we want to build that piece of infrastructure – and the value we want out of it is directly related to those reasons. Therefore, if we don’t clearly articulate that reasoning, contractors will tend to see value for money as ‘how can we provide extra stuff’. Because that’s their world.

“In my experience, I see contractors saying, ‘The community needs a bike path. We’ve got some builders here, so let’s build one.’ But it’s spending Government’s money and Government’s got a framework from which to decide whether that represents value for us or not.

“So the client should be spelling out what the business objectives of the project are, and the value is then dictated by how well – i.e. how cost effectively – the alliance achieves those objectives.

“And if they can achieve the objectives at a lower cost, that’s adding value. But it’s not necessarily adding value to simply go and add scope that may or may not be enhancing the Government’s core objectives for that project.”

Community Value vs Team Value: Potential Divergences

Gary Liddle, Chief Executive of the Victorian state road authority, VicRoads, also has concerns over potential divergence between what the alliance team considers value and what represents true value to the community.

“These aren’t necessarily the bigger items or considerations that Treasury involves itself in. Some examples of this sort of debatable item would be ‘skills transfer’ and ‘independent branding’ of an alliance team.

“The project team might see the potential for increased knowledge or skills transfer (up-skilling of agency personnel by NOP experts). But the team might rate this far more highly than the community would. In fact, I think there has often been too much emphasis placed on this supposed alliance benefit.

“The value might be there philosophically, but it’s very hard to demonstrate it in a tangible way. It’s very hard for an agency to prove that this increased knowledge is of direct benefit to the community it’s doing the project for.”

Liddle also says he doesn’t accept the importance of independent branding of the alliance team.

“It’s certainly hard to demonstrate the VfM of that to the community. Logos and new clothing all cost money and, from an agency’s perspective, that money could have represented a reduction in the price of the project.

“There needs to be other intrinsic value that project members can see themselves getting out of the project; like knowing they’ve been part of an organisation (be it Thiess, Abigroup or VicRoads, or whoever) that has contributed to and had a connection with an important public infrastructure project. That’s a mindset that can be achieved without going to the expense of creating a new visual identity and all the furniture that goes with it.”

Liddle clearly sees a further dimension to VfM: the “value of demonstrating value” for the project’s community.

“Too often the focus is on the project team’s insular thoughts about VfM.

“Let’s take one of our own alliances as an example. On the Springvale Road Rail Separation Alliance, the project team supported the local community to do an art display. While the immediate-vicinity community was delighted because it received tangible benefits, those benefits didn’t necessarily translate into anything for the broader community. From its perspective, that was simply money that could have been spent on providing another set of pedestrian signals.

“So it’s weighing up the cost of providing those broader legacy items on a specific project versus what other things that money could have been invested in. I think that maybe there should be a limit on the funds put into that sort of ancillary item.”

VfM & the NOP

As a bid strategist, I have seen alliancing bid teams really struggle with the concept of VfM.

Reading all the preceding, the bidding NOPs might well ask why Request For Proposal (RFP) documentation has so often asked them to demonstrate the “value for money” they will deliver on the project in question i.e. since they’re not in possession of the business case, and rarely in possession of anything that represents a complete and authoritative VfM Proposition/Statement.

Until they’re privy to the detail of the business case and fully fleshed out, authoritative VfM requirements from the agency, then past whatever their research has revealed and whatever clues they find in the RFP, the best they can do is parrot the agency’s own words or engage in guesswork.

One could argue that they should have had ample discussions with agencies in the lead-up to the project hitting the market – and indeed this is the very minimum business development activity they should have been engaging in. But until an agency’s thinking is clear – and clearly articulated – they are still, to a degree, mind-reading and taking punts at saying the right thing.

A bidding team in this territory resorts to all manner of definitions of value for money. I’ve seen everything from the most imaginative and largely irrelevant bell and whistle thrown in as the bidder’s own “value proposition”, to a basic assumption that “certainty of delivery” somehow constitutes “added value”. Which begs the question, if it didn’t deliver this “added value”, would the project “certainly” be delivered?

The ground for achieving real VfM is created by the NOP understanding the project as well as the client does – and applying its specific strengths to the achievement of actual hard dollar value in aspects where it knows something strategic that the agency does not.

A classic example was an Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) bid I worked on:

This bid was for a major Queensland roading project. The drivers for this project (which included unacceptable accident statistics) rendered its (successful) delivery particularly urgent. The characteristics and unpredictable elements associated with the project, however, were such that speed of delivery would, for most contractors, be either difficult to achieve, or difficult to achieve economically.

In putting together a detailed picture of the competitive landscape for the bid, we drilled deep into the advantages of the specific characteristics, and operating and commercial policies surrounding my client organisation’s plant and equipment. We identified the critical enabling factors provided by these aspects of the equipment, aligning each with the specific challenges of the project, which we invested the time, resources and effort to quantify and qualify in considerable detail. (In this light, it could be seen that these elements would be the lynchpin factor in its success or failure.)

In conducting this research for the bid strategy, we pulled in more “on the ground”, delivery-associated personnel than would typically be involved in a bid. This also enabled us to anticipate the essence of each competitor’s likely response, and in many instances also the detail each competitor would likely put forward in its bid. This, in turn, gave us the further opportunity to provide an informed and insightful range of alternative scenario-based calculations, for the benefit of the client.

If our research, (tested) assumptions and calculations were indeed correct, our efforts thus far knocked out all but one other competitor. We continued on, identifying and quantifying risks and benefits at a yet more detailed, albeit cumulative, level.

Again, taking the project owner’s perspective, we then performed and documented our actual calculations with regard to each competitive advantage our solution offered, and highlighted each risk arguably associated with the type of alternative that would be offered by the competition (we did this in a manner that did not refer to the competition or any elements of its solution specifically).

We took every opportunity to provide the client with insights directly relevant to the on-the-ground delivery of such a project, which they might well not have previously possessed. This made crystal clear the connection between our solution and the client’s specific project challenges, and provided an accompanying level of clarity around our solution’s time, budgetary and other distinct advantages when stacked up against the competition.

Having undertaken and provided, in detail, these deep insights “from the coalface”, detailed background explanations, multiple scenario-based calculations, and very specific, comparative risk and benefit analyses, the project owner was immediately able to see from the macro perspective, and from the numerous micro perspectives, the many ways in which my client organisation’s solution offered very real value for money.

The moral of the story is:

The bidding NOP applied its researched understanding of the agency’s needs and challenges to identify the path of greatest client value at a technical level. It then lined up its own corresponding competitive advantages and explained these (complete with detailed calculations) to the project owner in the bid.

So, supplementing an agency’s business case and VfM proposition with its own research – both at the project and the “bigger picture” level – can help a switched-on contractor/design team or other form of NOP be incredibly effective in achieving value for money for a project owner.

Once on the project, though, the Treasury departments have a strong message for NOPs: As the project investor, Government retains full right of sanction throughout.

Says Victorian Treasury’s Nick Tamburro:

“If you’re part of an already in-action alliance, and you have a great ‘VfM’ idea (e.g. something of substantial social, economic or environmental value), first analyse its costs, risks and benefits. Then you must – before implementation – seek approval from the owner, who must in turn seek approval for it from the Government.”

The message is clear to all: Seek to understand, and then never lose sight of, the big picture. And always remember whose money it is.

CRACKING THE VfM CODE

How to Identify & Deliver Genuine Value for Money in Collaborative Contracting

(Book)

Book 1 in the 'Cracking the VfM Code' duo provides those involved or interested in collaborative contracting with an in-depth, behind-the-scenes appreciation of the pivotal movement that formed, shifted and re-formed to deliver many of Australasia’s highest-value and most important and/or challenging public infrastructure projects.

CRACKING THE VfM CODE IN COLLABORATIVE CONTRACT BIDDING

Value for Money . . . Understanding It & Articulating Your Ability to Deliver It

(Book)

Book 2 in the 'Code' duo offers insightful and authoritative mentorship and intelligence on winning high-value, collaborative contracting bids.

Copywriting Models in EOI & RFP Responses

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Mon, 16 Dec 2024 00:45:19 GMT

Journalism offers many principles and practices that a bid writer may valuably heed . . . most especially as concerns the crafting of a punchy and enticing opening paragraph or, in journalistic lexicon, a “lead-in” or “intro”.

This peak paragraph should encapsulate the essence of your piece. While you should be as direct and interesting as possible throughout, the “intro” sets the scene for all the content that follows in that piece or section.

The ‘Inverted Pyramid’ Principle

With the intro in place and doing its job, the next element of the journalistic formula a bid writer may wish to make good use of is the “inverted pyramid” principle.

This generally relates to the first three paragraphs, after which the rest of the story unfolds as an expansion of the points made in these. The journalistic rationale is that the average newspaper reader scan-reads most articles. Therefore, he or she needs to get the gist of the story in the headline and the first three paragraphs.

While the reader-evaluator will, you would hope, read the full text of your response / proposal sections, it still behooves you to lead in with your most critical information and develop your piece in an order that maintains his or her keen interest.

The AIDA Formula

An equally viable format for rolling out your content is the “AIDA” formula used to guide direct marketing pieces.

It’s similar to – although not the same as – the journalistic “inverted pyramid” principle.

This acronym stands for Attention, Interest, Desire and Action .

In “bid” terms, this formula translates to:

• Get attention.

• Build interest.

• Unfold the big picture / your observations of the prospect organisation’s project or procurement, its needs, and the quantifiable benefits it seeks.

• Build your case / establish credibility / provide proof points.

• End with a reminder of your key theme and the wisdom of choosing your offering as the answer to the prospect’s problem or need.

(Book)

Available individually or as a six-pack (6 for the price of 5) .

THE BID WRITER'S STYLE & GRAMMAR GUIDE

(Book)

Your organisation’s credibility hangs on the quality of your writing and the standards it reflects.

Available individually or as a six-pack (6 for the price of 5).

50 ESSENTIAL BID-WRITING TIPS

Must-Know Standards, Methods & Insights for Writing Compelling Bids, Tenders and Proposals

Prove Your Points (or They’re Worth Nothing)

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Wed, 11 Dec 2024 06:32:43 GMT

One of the most fundamental mistakes bidders make when answering a call for Expressions of Interest or Requests for Proposal, is submitting a response that’s full of unsubstantiated claims.

Too often, a statement is made in an EOI or RFP response that offers no substantiation, no demonstration of its accuracy.

It appears the evaluation committee is simply expected to accept the claim at face value. Yet the evaluators would not be doing their job if they do . . . and you, as bidder, haven’t done your job if you expect them to.

Further, how can an evaluator award you selection criteria-related points when you answer a question with an empty, unproven claim?

Respondents and their writers should ask these questions as they plan and write their answers:

What is the proof that this is true / fact?

Offer adequate and genuine substantiation – whether of a “third party” nature or by providing some form of provable quantification.

Table a statistic, for example, and state the source (which should be a reputable body recognised either by your industry, their industry, or the business sector at large).

What is the credibility of this information?

Many bidders include lightly edited, thinly-disguised versions of the same material they include in their marketing material or on their websites.

The credibility of this information is generally nil, since it is based on opinion-based claims the bidder is making about its own service or product.

To be authoritative, you must be able to show that any opinion is, in some form, supported by a credible third party e.g. by accreditation.

Why is it relevant / critical to the client / customer organisation?

Don’t just state facts or table data and leave it to the evaluation committee to determine their relevance.

Explain why, in the context of this bid, you consider that fact or datum important.

In that way, you strengthen the support those inclusions loan to your proposition. If, on the other hand, you neglect to do this, you will have potentially wasted that opportunity. Worse still, the evaluator may misinterpret the connection you intended him or her to make.

With regard to the answer generated by the above question, what is the proof point of this high-relevance criticality?

A savvy bidder will offer a double layer of substantiation. First, it will offer proof of a claim, and/or demonstrate that the claim is proven or provable.

In summary, table proof that your claim is true (not just your opinion); provide some authoritative indicator of third-party concurrence ; make it relevant to the client and, in turn, prove this relevance . Finally, if possible, quantify the benefits to be gained by taking the action the claim suggests should be taken.

BID COMMANDOS
On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

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BID COMMANDOS is my "blockbuster", comprehensive, 11-module training program.

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(Equally applicable for producing proactive proposals and participating in less formal processes.)

How to Be A More Productive Writer

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Tue, 10 Dec 2024 02:44:48 GMT

Whether you’re a well-seasoned author or a newbie bid writer, at either end of the spectrum, you can improving your writing output by:

Exercising Discipline & Avoiding Distractions

Professional writers don’t waste time waiting for “inspiration” to take them over.

They exercise discipline: They close down their email programs and internet browsers, and (when they’ve done their research and planning), they simply get on with the job.

Reading Voraciously

One way to shortcut the “1000-hour rule” often associated with achieving mastery in any given field is, in the case of writing, to make a regular study of the works of highly competent and readable writers.

THINK AND WIN BIDS
Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Book)

The three fundamental skills of a genuinely sharp, sustainably successful bid professional are the ability to think, listen and ask quality questions.

Furthermore, formulating successful business development and bid strategies is the process of well-directed research and thinking ; not the product of tools and templates.

Ideal to ensure all members of the bid team are, philosophically, on the same page, Think and Win Bids is also offered as a six-pack (six books for the price of five).

50 ESSENTIAL BID-WRITING TIPS
Must-Know Standards, Methods & Insights for Writing Compelling Bids, Tenders and Proposals

(Book)

Available individually or as a 6-pack (6 for the price of 5).

How To Be A Better Writer: Two Key Ways

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Tue, 03 Dec 2024 15:39:48 GMT

Two of the best ways to fast-track your writing skills are to:

Exercise Discipline & Avoid Distractions

Professional writers don’t waste time waiting for “inspiration” to take them over. They exercise discipline over their time.

And they FOCUS . They close down their email programs and internet browsers, and (when they’ve done their research and planning) they simply get on with the job.

Read Voraciously

Reading well-written works of literature, and/or the outputs of writers whose style appeals to you, is a way of learning “by osmosis”. And, depending upon the amount of time and attention you devote, it’s also a very effective way of putting the further development of your skills on the fast track .

BID-WRITING LESSONS FROM THE WORLD'S GREATEST AUTHORS

(Book)

History’s literary greats have much to teach the writers of today. No-one, however, could benefit more from becoming a student of these masters of the written word than the commercial bid writer.

BID-WRITING LESSONS FROM THE WORLD'S GREATEST AUTHORS

(Six-Pack)

This illuminating (and fun) little read is an assembly of the enduring and pithily expressed wisdom of over 100 authors, strategists, philosophers and other accomplished figures.

It features 47 smart little lessons yours truly, on Research , Thinking & Strategy , on Writing , and on Editing, Re-Writing, Practice & Perfection – reinforcing the timeless advice of these sages.

Well worth putting one on the desk of everyone in your writing team.

Grammatical Gaffes to Avoid in Bids

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Tue, 03 Dec 2024 03:00:35 GMT

Here are some examples of particularly regrettable grammatical gaffes found in bid documentation:

‘Then’ Instead of ‘Than’

Unbelievably, some writers don’t know when to correctly use the word “than”, as opposed to “then” . . . as in:

“Should this occur, than (i.e. should be “then”) we will implement the following contingency plan. Our experience demonstrates this course of action is more effective then (i.e. should be “than”) conventional responses.”

‘Your’ and ‘You’re’

Some writers don’t know the difference between “your” and “you’re” . . . (notwithstanding the fact that the contraction “you’re” has no place in bid writing) as in:

Full Stops and Commas

And there are writers who have never heard of the hyphen . . . as in:

"A 25 year old piece of equipment" (which should be) "a 25-year-old piece of equipment", and "a to be advised date" (which should be) "a to-be-advised date".

Or, worse still, writers who use clumsy and un-hyphenated conglomerations like "proAustralian" (which should be) "pro-Australian" and "semidetachable" (which should be) "semi-detachable".

It looks horrid. It reads horrid. And it makes a horrid impression with Expression of Interest and Request for Proposal evaluators who value correct English and grammar.

THE BID WRITER'S STYLE & GRAMMAR GUIDE

(Book)

Your organisation’s credibility hangs on the quality of your writing and the standards it reflects.

Available individually or as a 6-pack (6 books for the price of 5).

50 ESSENTIAL BID-WRITING TIPS
Must-Know Standards, Methods & Insights for Writing Compelling Bids, Tenders and Proposals

(Book)

Available individually or as a 6-pack
(6 for the price of 5).

The Bid Writer’s Checklist (Part One)

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Mon, 02 Dec 2024 15:54:39 GMT

If you’re a bid writer or subject matter expert contributing to a submission, always edit your work before handing it over to the bid manager, regardless of whether or not it will be the subject of further treatment by another writer or an editor.

The following is Part One of a checklist you’ll want to apply to your work before handing it up the line:

Is my introductory paragraph compelling?

Have I proceeded to the main point/s as quickly as possible?

Have I established credibility on behalf of my company, where this is necessary?

Have I answered the question – directly, and in the required amount of detail?

Have I provided data and any other form of proof point necessary, with regard to any claim I have made?

Have I been clear in terms of the key messages I intended to communicate?

Have I rolled these out and/or developed my case in a logical order?

Have I framed the material from the client’s point of interest – in all regards?

Have I adhered closely to the themes, content and instructions of the guiding bid strategy document? Have I employed these in a manner that helps to differentiate my company and our offering from the competition’s likely proposition?

Have I focused on communicating benefits; not just features?

Go to Part Two here .

BID-WRITING LESSONS FROM THE WORLD'S GREATEST AUTHORS

(Book)

History's literary greats have much to teach the writers of today. No-one, however, could benefit more from becoming a student of these masters of the written word than the commercial bid writer.

BID-WRITING LESSONS FROM THE WORLD'S GREATEST AUTHORS

(Six-Pack)

This fast and fun little read features 47 smart little lessons on Research , Thinking & Strategy , on Writing , and on Editing, Re-Writing, Practice & Perfection – reinforcing the timeless advice of these sages.

Put your writers all on the same page by supplying each with their own copy.

Available individually or as a six-pack (6 books for the price of 5).

How 'Meaningless Mumph' Does A Bidder Harm

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Mon, 02 Dec 2024 15:36:41 GMT

Bidders cause themselves a huge problem when they insist on using trendy fashion-speak and other frivolous fuzz in their written responses.

There are two key reasons they do this; neither of them good.

More often than not, the use of this gobbledygook is an attempt to sound sophisticated and “switched on” . . . “up to the minute”.

Other times it’s to smoke over a lack of substance in answers to the bid documentation’s questions.

Often, it’s both.

Bid teams and their writers can also get tangled up in this type of non-English even when there actually is knowledge and potential substance to be conveyed.

Here are some (fabricated) examples of this “empty” writing.

Example 1

We employ best-of-breed technology options to implement cutting-edge, proven solutions, ensuring you of a constantly innovative approach and continuous improvement in your IT environment.

Example 2

Our track record demonstrates our commitment to world best practice and, accordingly, we will engage our focus on innovation throughout the contract.

Example 3

As your business partner, we will work closely with you to leverage our experience across the project, producing an optimal solution that is robust, scalable and that can be seamlessly integrated with your existing systems.

This convoluted, non-information is what results when little or no prior planning takes place and where, as a result, there is no central bid strategy . Worse still, this strategy-less starting point guarantees a very supplier-centric bid or proposal. And usually one that is not even particularly readable or sensible, let alone compelling.

My recommendations are two-fold:

Use plain English . Resist the temptation to dazzle the prospective customer or client organisation and its evaluators with an extensive array of corporate or industry jargon.
Place priority emphasis (as early as possible) on conducting intensive, thorough bid strategy planning sessions (preceded by comprehensive client, contract/project and competitor research). This will help ensure a distinctive win theme and, in turn, solid content.

THINK AND WIN BIDS
Winning High-Stakes, High-Value Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Book)

The three fundamental skills of a genuinely sharp, sustainably successful bid/proposal/tender professional are the ability to think, listen and ask quality questions .

Furthermore, formulating successful business development and bid strategies is the process of well-directed research and thinking ; not the product of tools and templates.

50 ESSENTIAL BID-WRITING TIPS
Must-Know Standards, Methods & Insights for Writing Compelling Bids, Tenders and Proposals

(Book)

Available individually or as a six-pack (6 for the price of 5).

Bidding PPPs: Co-Locating for Effective & Timely Design Collaboration

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Mon, 25 Nov 2024 22:41:25 GMT

In this article, James Mitchell, a seasoned Melbourne-based Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) bid manager, discusses one of the most essential elements of an organised and efficient PPP bidding process: the co-location of all major consortium participants into one office.

With a background in the construction and investment banking industries, Mitchell has been a PPP bid consortium leader, project director and asset manager since 1996.

His bidding track record features five PPP wins: Melbourne’s Royal Women’s Hospital, Perth’s CBD Law Courts, the Victorian Correctional Facilities in Melbourne, Sydney’s Royal North Shore Hospital and Melbourne’s Etihad Stadium.

He has acted both as a sponsor representative, and as an independent project manager.

In this commentary, Mitchell stresses that experienced PPP practitioners recognise the co-location of all key consortium participants as essential to the success of a bid. He says these operatives know how critical it is to ensure all parties have timely and ongoing input into the design in its early, formative stages:

“A PPP will never be awarded to a design that won’t work for the client,” Mitchell says. “If the agency isn’t convinced the design provides a brief-compliant and functional solution, they’re not going to choose you. So you better make sure your consortium – and everyone in it – is dealing with today’s design, not that of two days ago.

“If you co-locate – and co-locate successfully – you’re in a good position to lead the design team, rather than be led by it.”

PPPs are all about teamwork, he says, and there are many parties that form both a consortium and its bid team.

“PPPs are also a fast-moving animal: To the outside world, the six-month PPP bid process might seem painstakingly slow. But, behind the scenes, the action is happening at lightning speed.

“In the first two months, that action is driven by the design – which moves rapidly. There’s a rule of thumb in a PPP bid: 2, 2 and 2. Two months for the master plan design, two months for detailed design, and two months for pricing, fine-tuning the various bid components, and submission production.

Months 1 & 2: The Big Design Decisions Are Made

“The first two months in the equation are the most critical. This is when the big design decisions are made: get these wrong and your bid is doomed to failure.

“It’s the moment of ‘speak now or forever hold your peace’ on the master planning front; these are the decisions that will underpin your consortium’s functional design going forward. They’re all the unchangeables: the departmental adjacencies, transportation and movement flows, floor area functions, and the logistics associated with moving people and goods around between these.

“The decisions made in this phase lock in the size and configuration of the floor area spaces from which the detailed design proceeds.” (The next two months are about detail design, he says. Months five and six are about writing it all up, drawing up the plans, and preparing all the production material that goes in with the bid.)

“Suffice to say, if you’re not operating with a tight, well-oiled and collaborative machine in this initial two-month period, you’ll feel the pain of a disjointed bid as it evolves in months three through six.

“It all comes down to providing direction to the design team at this, the most critical stage.

“If the design is racing off ahead of your various consortium members’ ability to provide the guidance that’s essential to the success of their inputs, you can expect things to come off the rails not too far down the track. In short, if the consortium doesn’t lead the design, the design will lead the consortium – and the bid.”

Drive Design, or Be Driven by Design

Mitchell advises that, in a functional and strategically co-located office:

The consortium’s operators (or operational advisers, if the facility is to be operated by the State) are right there, as the design develops, to ensure against what, from their perspective, represents an inefficient design that will result in operating inefficiencies.

The equity and debt providers are there to ensure the design is financially functional, and that its construction cost and timing implications meet with its own fiduciary capacities.

The construction partner (the primary manager of the design team) is full-time accessible to provide the necessary guidance on construction price, program, complexity and risk, as the design progresses. Your constructor is key (and typically manages the design process). If your design is going off the rails it’s their problem first and foremost. Sometimes the construction company’s own design management personnel will pull a wayward design back into line, to ensure target construction costs and program can be met.

Those leading the development of your ancillary design propositions are able to develop their ideas in close concert with the core elements of the evolving design. The way in which the base design is moving dictates the space they have to work with.

The facilities management partner is integrally involved in the developing design. The input of your FM experts is your compass in terms of evaluating the whole-of-life operating viability of your proposal.

The legal and commercial experts are across the different construction risk profiles of the different design options as these are assessed. Their timely guidance is critical, for example, in instances where your design team may be inadvertently producing a design risk that gives your financiers or your construction team cause for concern. You need to know, well ahead of time, what has to be reflected in the construction contract and the project agreement between the consortium and the State.

Channeling Client Communications

Channeling communication back from the client is equally critical, he says.

“When people are within verbal communication range of each other in the one office, it opens up communication between all the parties. Information and updates are being delivered live and through minimal filters. It eliminates the many hours team members would otherwise spend writing emails to each other, to keep everyone up with the state of play.

“When four, five, six or more companies – that have never worked together before – are suddenly thrown into one team, the only way to get the necessary channels of communication in place is to do it fast, and to do it full-spectrum. You don’t have the luxury of time for any other approach.”

Where Should the Bid Office Be?

The answer, he says, is:

“Where the client is, if it’s at all practical. You’ll have multiple interactions with the client, sometimes on a weekly basis. If you’re close to the client, you’re reducing travel time and costs markedly.

“However, it’s not always possible to locate within a stone’s throw of the client – although the closer you can be, the more ideal your logistics.

“Sometimes the client has key operations in more than one location. For example, your client might have its head office in a capital city and a regional facility elsewhere. Let’s say it’s been determined that all of the face-to-face meetings will happen in the regional locations because there’s a user group there that can’t travel to the city on a regular basis; they can’t leave their jobs.

“In that case, you then go to the second decision-making factor i.e. where are most of your consortium’s own people located, and where are the resources they need to function? Where will the various groups have the most ready, direct access to the experts and other personnel they, in turn, need to interact with on a daily basis?”

The Practical Issues

When the question of where you’ll establish your co-located office is resolved, Mitchell says, a PPP team has a raft of practical considerations to satisfy, including:

Availability of suitable space on a temporary lease (with extension options to allow for an extended bid period and/or deal-closing activity).

Floor space and configuration (Is it easily adaptable to create the right balance between open space and separated-off meeting rooms?).

Telecommunications (Do the facilities offer sufficient bandwidth to handle large file transfers and global video conferencing, and can adequate internal wireless capacity be organised?).

24/7 security-controlled access.

Air conditioning (including after hours, weekends and public holidays).

He says the primary goal of the bid manager must be to have the bid office and associated infrastructure available immediately his or her consortium is announced as a short-listed bidder i.e. upon the announcement of the Expression of Interest outcome.

“The Request for Proposal bid documentation is, in most cases, released at the same time or shortly after this announcement, and scurrying around for premises and/or debating the location thereof, once you’re in the countdown to submission deadline, simply isn’t an option.”

HOW TO INNOVATE IN BIDS

(Training Program)

A short but intensive training for bidders who want a deeper understanding of “innovation” . . . along with a highly effective means of identifying, producing and proposing one in a client-centric manner.

While I draw heavily on the high-value insights provided by my work on, and knowledge of, major and mega-project civil infrastructure bids (and share the comments and experiences of industry leaders), this training is of equal applicability and value to any B2B or B2G sector.

CRACKING THE VfM CODE

How to Identify & Deliver Genuine Value for Money in Collaborative Contracting

(Book)

This weighty 350-page, high-quality paperback production offers an unprecedented degree of insight into what it takes to produce a consistent record of value-for-money results in major public infrastructure projects.

Protecting Intellectual Property in the Collaborative Bidding Process

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Thu, 21 Nov 2024 20:11:49 GMT

One aspect of collaborative contracting processes that poses a potential threat to bid participants is the security of their Intellectual Property (and, in the case of price-competitive collaborative bidding processes, the quarantining of the project-specific innovations they develop).

Quite clearly, losing control of competitively valuable Intellectual Property (IP) (or having its investment in developing competitively superior innovations negated), doesn’t represent value for money for the Non-Owner Participant (NOP) . . . in terms of the resources it deploys towards winning a bidding race.

How far a service provider should go when it comes to disclosing proprietary information and tabling competitively sensitive strategies or suggestions is an enduring bone of contention in most industries and in many forms of proposal.

However, the issue of Intellectual Property rears its head in the context of collaborative contracting bids arguably more often than in any other type of bid . . . and most especially in the case of “dual TOC” (i.e. owner and non-owner out-turn comparative costing) bidding processes.

With “innovation” the catch cry of collaborative contracting, tier one law firm Clayton Utz’s Marko Misko says an infrastructure project owner must disclose upfront, in its procurement documentation, the extent to which it wishes to use for its own benefit, the ideas or any “smarts” included in the proposals of the various bidders.

Agencies Have An Ethical Obligation to Bidders

Misko says an agency’s first obligation is to obtain a clear form of consent from bidders, and to seek to identify and communicate with certainty the types of innovation being sought. It should also consider whether payment should be made, if significant effort is required of bidders e.g. in the case of a design competition.

He says “an agency has to also be commercially realistic in assessing whether it will extract any meaningful innovation during the early procurement stages, or whether it is more likely to get generic statements and a few broad-brush ideas.”

On that specific note, he puts forward, for the consideration of delivery agencies, a potentially different approach to the norm, with regard to seeking innovative suggestions from bid teams:

“An alternative is to conduct a market sounding ahead of the procurement process – not only to gauge levels of industry interest/capacity, but also to invite any preliminary suggestions for innovation.”

He advises that the Australian Department of Defence (for which he has been involved in numerous projects) has, in recent times, conducted this type of exercise on a regular basis on its larger projects. He also advises it is an approach being considered by State and Territory Governments on their Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects to invite innovation strategies of a very basic nature. In these specific instances it is seen, he says, as a means to gauge industry enthusiasm and capacity, without needing to commence a full-blown competitive procurement process where the project owner might not have otherwise progressed to this.

“This sort of market sounding is conducted on the clear basis that the respondents retain no IP in their submissions, and this is typically because only reasonably generic responses are being sought at this preliminary stage,” Misko points out.

“This can be a relatively straightforward way of gleaning industry smarts in a manner that doesn’t threaten or alienate the contractors. Because it’s generic and preliminary, it’s not realising industry concerns about the disclosure of organisation-specific competitive advantage.

'The Project Owner is Asking the Market for Its Opinion'

“It’s an interesting option to consider in the context of bidding costs; that’s why it’s being looked at increasingly in the case of PPPs, with the very high cost of competing for these contracts. In essence, the project owner is simply asking the market for its opinion.

“For the private sector, their input might be accommodated in a two-page letter,” he says. “And it’s not competitive, so people don’t feel like they have to go into full song-and-dance mode to win the job. They’re simply saying, in a very neutral fashion, ‘These are my ideas.’

“The contractors are very happy to participate in this type of market-sounding process because it gives them a chance to potentially shape the delivery method structure. At the same time their participation is not heavily competitive and does not require significant investment.”

Policing Probity & IP in the Price-Competitive Alliance

With the arguable exception of Public Private Partnership projects, there are few other tendering processes to rival the price-competitive / dual TOC when it comes to risking transmission of innovations between competing bidders. That statement isn’t in any way, shape or form intended to infer that every effort isn’t made nor every protocol exercised to prevent this from happening; but the process, regardless, does render this a risk for participants.

Jim Millar (speaking from his previous perspective of Commercial Manager with the contractor then known as Abigroup) comments on the issue of Intellectual Property and innovation input in the dual TOC context:

“The difficulty in that environment is that, for an alliance to be successful, you have to have owners’ personnel in the team,” he points out. “During the development of the two TOCs, the owner has to split his team so that he can put some into Team 1 and some into Team 2.

“The concern – and the challenge – is that ideas thought up by Team 1 have got to be protected from being given to Team 2, because Team 1 might come up with great ideas, and it would be unfair for those ideas to be given to Team 2.

“So the owner’s people have to be prevented from cross-fertilising ideas between the two competing teams.”

The Project Owners' Perspective

VicRoads’ Gary Liddle injects both a note of reality and of respect:

“Protecting IP in price-competitive alliances is a very difficult thing to do, in reality,” he says. “But we certainly do need to be careful, in the competitive TOC environment, about the need to protect the IP of the NOPs.

“It’s important to respect the innovations and the proprietary thinking of the individual NOP teams – although preferably it would be done without introducing the expense of having two separate project owner teams.

“Realistically, I don’t think it’s possible to afford proper protection without having two quarantined client teams. I know of one price-competitive alliance where they are using the same client team and introducing signed declarations that that information will not be shared between the NOPs. I think it’s almost impossible to achieve that, though, with the same client team. So I guess we are looking at the possibility of introducing a significant new cost into alliancing.”

But, for the moment at least, certainly many agencies consider that option (i.e. two client teams) impractical.

CRACKING THE VfM CODE

How to Identify & Deliver Genuine Value for Money in Collaborative Contracting

(Book)

Book 1 in the Cracking the VfM Code duo, ' Code Green ' features within its 350 insightful pages, interviews with project owner representatives who have run price-competitive/dual TOC processes.

CRACKING THE VfM CODE IN COLLABORATIVE CONTRACT BIDDING

Value for Money . . . Understanding It & Articulating Your Ability to Deliver It

(Book)

Together with 'Code Green', 'Code Gold' completes a duo that provides powerful insights that, in turn, result in a strong competitive advantage for any organisation wanting to demonstrate a superior working understanding of VfM - and what the concept means to any specific client and any specific project .

Are You Focused on the Caller? A Word to Work-from-Homers

Thu, 21 Nov 2024 06:47:00 GMT

In recent years, I’ve noticed a decreasing standard of professionalism in the world of work-from-homers. The decline really picked up pace in the "Covid" era, during which it seems a new and very low standard of professional expectation was set.

Not so long ago, it was primarily freelance writers, website developers and graphic designers from whom you could expect no landline numbers, rampant toddlers in the same room, barking dogs or televisions in the background, and conversations with spouses taking priority over the client on the end of the phone.

However, this shabby and disrespectful attitude seems to be pervading a higher level of professional nowadays. It’s disappointing. If you’re a work-from-homer, it’s worth ensuring your standards remain high in terms of your phone manner and the focus you place on a client.

The same applies to executives who have “work from home” days.

Arguably, it applies even more so: You have the reputation of your company to uphold at the highest level.

Remember, it’s both your choice and your privilege to work from home – and it’s worth remembering that your / your employer’s clients are paying for your time and your attention. Your choice should not result in their pain. If you choose to operate from a home office or have work-at-home days, you have the moral obligation to ensure a professional and functional backdrop against which to conduct client communications.

Another reason to do so is this:

If you or your employer provide services on a time-billed basis, your clients are more than justified in harbouring concern over the focus you are attributing to their work, and thus the value they are receiving, when they have to compete with your toddler, radio, or dishwasher for your attention.

Tuning Up Your Organisation’s ‘Ethics’ Policies, Practices & Performance

Wed, 20 Nov 2024 22:28:00 GMT

For any leader keen to sharpen up his or her organisation’s policies, practices and performance relating to its Code of Ethics, I can do no better than recount my discussion with the International Institute of Business Ethics’ UK-based Research Director, Simon Webley.

Here’s a summary of Webley’s key recommendations:

Understand that every commercial organisation has at least five overarching stakeholder groups – and recognise each as equally important.

These five “umbrella” groups are staff, customers/clients, suppliers/service providers, shareholders and/or other providers of finance, and the broader societal communities in which the organisation operates or upon which it impacts.

As well as placing equal value on relations with each of these stakeholder groups, actively seek out their inputs (including any negative revelations) through close and multi-faceted monitoring of their views, observations and experiences.

Ask well-thought-out, quality questions .

For example, staff and customer feedback mechanisms may sound passe , on the face of it. However, it’s the quality of the questions asked – and the place from which you’re coming when asking them – that determines the degree of value generated by these feedback initiatives.

Further again to viewing all stakeholder groups as having equal value to the organisation – pay your suppliers on time and treat them with respect .

In the interests of transparency with shareholders and funders, provide them with honest and comprehensive updates into the organisation’s achievements, challenges and issues – not a sanitised or doctored perspective.

Understand and take a broad and serious view of your responsibilities as they relate to the societies in which your organisation operates . . . whether that be the local communities in which your company is conducting roadworks; the globally-dispersed communities availing themselves of, potentially availing themselves of, or impacted by, your banking and other financial services; or the ecosystems affected by your manufacturing discharges.

As a leader of your organisation, prompt yourself and your management or board colleagues, with questions like:

What insights do we need, and therefore what information must we gather, in order to actively demonstrate that we are not simply an organisation bent on maximising financial returns as our singular and uncompromising objective?

How do we show – through our attitude and our actions – that we take into account the views and concerns of our various stakeholder groups? How do we demonstrate, in the case of each, that they are important to us and that their role in helping us achieve our economic and societal missions is genuinely valued?

What policies, practices and contingencies need to be put in place to ensure that issues or lapses in ethical (including environmental) standards are promptly reported upwards and acted upon, and that all involved parties are communicated with in an honest, professional and timely manner?

COMING SOON

(Training Program)

Sometimes - if not, often - the race is won before it starts.

TO BID OR NOT TO BID

(Training Program)

The real value of a thorough and well thought-out bid/no bid decision analysis – whether highly structured or less so – results from asking the right questions and seeking out well-researched answers .

It's a deep-thinking process during which a valuable perspective of the client and the opportunity is built. When that is followed by a realistic self-analysis , the framework is in place for making a genuinely strategic, properly informed decision.

BEFORE THE CURTAIN FALLS
Optimising Prospect Meetings & Intel-Gathering Prior to Probity

Pitching PPPs: Creativity or Cost?

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Thu, 07 Nov 2024 22:44:37 GMT

Lowest price or value for money (‘VfM’)?

It’s an age-old dilemma in big-ticket public sector procurement.

It’s also a particularly topical one on the still-embryonic New Zealand Public Private Partnership scene.

New Zealand Treasury has gone to great pains to convince the marketplace that its PPP model is different to its Australian counterparts: it’s going for best bang for the buck. Leave the pared-down price approach to the Aussies, say the Kiwi budgetary bureaucrats.

The NZ Treasury’s communicated view is that the objectives of any specific PPP are bigger than the venture itself. In PPPs involving services and construction, such as the two transactions that have reached financial close to date – Wiri Prison and the Hobsonville Schools – they’re a catalyst for challenging traditional forms of delivering “State” services.

Fair to say that, to date, those heading Treasury’s Public Private Partnership Program have indeed looked towards the big picture goal of instilling industry with an integral understanding of their intention that New Zealand’s PPPs be first and foremost outcome-based and full-term oriented. This approach, their Treasury people say, is the foundation upon which the success of Kiwi PPPs will rest for both the public and the private sector.

The Treasury has also communicated its intent that the initial procurement processes surrounding a PPP will be used as an exercise to bring about an appreciation by the public sector of the true cost of providing assets and delivering associated services. The end game is firstly to bring about better capital asset management and improved performance in terms of service provision, and secondly to improve agencies’ understanding of whole-of-life asset costs and how to best manage the trade-off between capital and operational expenditure.

It’s a whole new focus for a public sector that has traditionally, in its procurement processes, placed its emphasis on design and construction cost.

But in all of this there’s a slew of dilemmas for consortia entering into the high-stakes arena of bidding a Public Private Partnership project.

‘Adding Value’ or ‘Lowest Cost’? It’s Not As Clear-Cut As It Used to Be

The difference between adding value within a project budget envelope and meeting the brief at the lowest cost isn’t the clear-cut equation it might at first appear to be.

Here’s how the New Zealand PPP model works in theory, and how it differs in practice to other PPP-friendly jurisdictions:

Similarly to the Victorian model (Victoria being the pace-setter), a “Public Sector Comparator (PSC)” figure is disclosed to shortlistee bidders at issue of the Request for Proposal. This is the cost that, according to the relevant Government agency’s research, the public sector can deliver the same project and services package for.

In a Kiwi PPP, a bidder’s success will depend upon how much value it delivers within this designated affordability threshold, with the detail of its proposition left to its own value-adding creativity. By contrast, in the UK, Canada and most states of Australia, bidders are favored for their ability to beat the “PSC” by as wide a margin as possible, and tender to a heavily-prescribed brief.

While bidders in a “lowest price wins” competition have their challenges, consortia conforming to the New Zealand PPP procurement model are faced with some curly questions to which there is not always an answer.

Among these is the fact that, in many instances, the PSC given to bidders isn’t always an authoritative indicator of the total project budget at all. Often only the raw construction cost, hard facilities management and service provision costs are disclosed, representing only a component of the total picture. The more comprehensive assessment – known by the Government side but not released to bidders – includes all project-specific risks, transferred and retained risks, and an allowance for the advantage the State might have (e.g. rates and taxes) over the private sector.

Savvy & Early Strategy Formulation Is the Best Solution

Savvy and early strategy formulation is the best solution to this particular problem. Developing a close understanding of the likely overall budget envelope should be first on the list of priorities for a consortium – and endeavours towards this end should begin long before the Government’s issue of the Expression of Interest documentation. Understanding this is critical to the bid strategy from the outset ; it stands as a signpost for the most strategic selection of consortium partners.

Another dilemma faced by bidders is the degree and type of creativity and innovation the Government wants.

The whole idea, from Treasury and the procuring agency’s perspective, is to avoid a lot of hand-holding. Bidders are given the latitude to bring anything to the table for consideration. This, of course, also equates to being given ample rope with which to hang themselves if they haven’t done their homework and they put forward something inappropriate, irrelevant or without value. Indeed, feedback from Treasury after the closure of the first two New Zealand PPPs was that bidders expected the public sector representatives to do much of their thinking for them.

Know the Client, Know the Client, Know the Client

Here again, the best advice for bidders is to know the client, its issues and its project objectives . Backwards. And upon that foundation, to do a great deal of market research, options assessment, lateral thinking and (non-probity-compromising and educated) opinion testing.

On a related note, PPP novices need to understand the nuances of the PPP model itself, especially in terms of the dynamics and apportionment of responsibilities between the various partners in a consortium. The best bid is likely to be tabled by the consortium that not only does comprehensive research both of the client and of the possible solutions, but the members of which work tightly together to produce the best-bundled solution, ensuring a genuine seamlessness of asset and ongoing operation and service.

Needless to say, this assurance needs to go beyond simply the carefully crafted words of a consortium’s bid. Government needs to be assured of a well co-ordinated, seamless approach to project management once the facility comes on-stream and throughout its typically 25-year concession.

Underlying all of this is a potential trap for bidders: Is the Government’s message about best value versus lowest cost actually to be trusted? And even if it can be relied upon now, what about on into the future?

Too Early to Take the ‘Best VfM’ Message At Face Value

A close colleague of mine, James Mitchell, is a veteran of the Australian PPP scene – and he’s notched up a serious number of both bidding and project roll-out successes. He cautions Kiwi bidders against getting too comfortable with Treasury’s “best bang for the budget” message. A few more miles yet need to be put on the Kiwi model before anyone can hang their hat on a consistent trend, he reckons.

Politicians, Treasury departmental heads, project owner executives, and the individual and collective priorities of each change, Mitchell counsels from the benefit of his 14 years’ experience. There’s also the reality that it’s the procurement agencies that ultimately award the contracts, and it’s always possible the Treasury position might meet with a conflicting agency viewpoint.

He further points to the fact that there have been a good number of lowest price bids that turned out laudable service improvement outcomes for the Australian public sector – some by default and some by intention. The Perth CBD Law Courts and its conversion (by the lowest cost bidder) from a risk-ridden low or no-tech environment to a well-oiled high-tech machine is but one example. New Zealand decision-makers could make note of such lowest-cost and best-value project outcomes and, at any point, decide to have their cake and eat it too.

Creativity or Cost?

In the meantime, it’s critical to know which way to pitch: creativity or cost?

Again, the admonition is to know your client, know your client, know your client.

That’s obviously the objective of any bid strategy. But putting together a clear and present picture of the client’s world in the context of an intended PPP procurement requires the application of strategy fundamentals across a vaster, multi-faceted and multi-organisational canvas.

The scale of the average PPP makes bidding a PPP a highly complex endeavour. Understanding the project means the novice local bidder is going to have to dig a lot deeper than it’s used to digging to understand client priorities, motivations and parameters. Meantime – to the extent that the Governmental messages are to be trusted – the seasoned Aussie contingent would be well-advised to remember the current brief: It really is about VfM; not dropping your pants on price.

CRACKING THE VfM CODE

How to Identify & Deliver Genuine Value for Money in Collaborative Contracting

Available individually or as a six-pack (6 for the price of 5).

CRACKING THE VfM CODE IN COLLABORATIVE CONTRACT BIDDING

Understanding It & Articulating Your Ability to Deliver It

Completing the 'Code' duo, Book 2 offers insightful and authoritative mentorship and intelligence on winning high-value, collaborative contracting bids.

NB: Each book is a fully self-contained, stand-alone production in its own right.

Available individually or as a six-pack
(6 for the price of 5).

Writer's Block? I Have A Cure.

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Tue, 05 Nov 2024 09:10:22 GMT

START.

Just start – anywhere in the piece.

I soon learned that the best way is (after you’ve mapped out your basic structure) to simply start writing the piece . . . just let it roll (I stress – after having first sketched out your basic flow of facts).

In my experience, the best lead-in (also known as an “intro”) will reveal itself during the course of the exercise. Thus, you can go back and write it / work on it later – crafting it to perfection if you will. But you won’t have let it stymie your overall progress.

50 ESSENTIAL BID-WRITING TIPS
Must-Know Standards, Methods & Insights for Writing Compelling Bids, Tenders and Proposals

(Book)

Intentional successful bids are guided by a strategy that is well-researched, customer-centric / client-centric, substance-based, savvily-formulated, and documented in detail.

THE BID WRITER'S STYLE & GRAMMAR GUIDE

(Book)

This reference and tuition manual has been written both for the professional bid writer and for those subject matter experts contributing submission content.

Exercised diligently, these core principles and practices will see you produce not only grammatically correct and highly readable, but also strategic and compelling, submissions .

‘The Trusted Advisor’ by David Meister- Review of A Business Classic

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Tue, 05 Nov 2024 00:54:54 GMT

Over the past couple of decades, the term "trusted advisor" has gradually worked its way to buzz phrase status.

Such lightweight bandying around is a great pity because, unlike other corporate mumph, "trusted advisor" is a genuinely meaningful concept.

Here’s something I can literally guarantee (an undertaking never to be applied loosely):

The company, sales team or executive treating the concept as a verb rather than some fashionable noun, will find that – over time – the practice pays significant dividends both when pursuing new business and when endeavouring to satisfy existing customers and clients.

‘The Consultant’s Consultant’

Did you know the origins of “trusted advisor”, and the tenets of the practice?

The term was coined by former Harvard Business School professor, American writer and expert on business management practices, David Maister, in his (co-authored) runaway best-selling business book of the same name – published back in the year 2000.

Before he retired, Maister was known as “the consultant’s consultant”. He commanded some of the highest fees paid to any business consultant anywhere, for his work with professional services firms.

His advice holds so much relevance and potential power for bid teams, that I sought his written permission to excerpt and/or distil certain of his key points and include them in my book, ‘ Think and Win Bids: Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills‘ .

Distilling his advice, in all its detail and richness, was a challenge. I read and re-read many times over, his words of wisdom, before I attempted the exercise. After all my deliberation, here are what I considered the six most important of the tenets comprising his “trusted advisor” philosophy – and how they underpin successful bidding practices:

1) Ask the client to talk about what’s behind the issue.

Too many business development operatives think they understand the client deeply just because they’ve spoken about the central issue driving a procurement exercise.

Rarely do they dig deeply enough . . . down, down, down into the political, historical and/or emotive picture beneath the surface of that issue.

2) Focus on defining the problem; not on guessing the solution.

A logical follow-on to the above point, too many bidders are quick to rush in with their wonderful “ solutions “, without genuinely and deeply understanding the problem .

3) Let the client or customer fill in the empty spaces.

“He who speaks least, listens loudest.”

I’m pretty sure I just made that up (if not, it’s a quote that’s lodged in my head from some sage somewhere).

4) Use reflective listening to ensure you’ve heard and understood.

No space for a lesson on this very valuable and very specific type of listening skill here, but if you have an interest in progressing your knowledge of it, it’s covered in an unglamorous (but top-notch, content-wise) textbook I wrote some years ago for the independent business college sector, ‘ How to Build Winning Customer & Client Relationships ‘ .

If you want a copy, contact me.

5) Tell the client’s story before writing your own.

This is in line with my frequent admonition that the only interest the client has in you , is what’s immediately relevant and of value to them and their need.

Thus, everything you tell them about you , needs to be in the (prior-created) context of them .

6) Listen to EVERYTHING.

And here I’ll quote the wise old saying: You’ve got two ears and one mouth. (Nature had her reasons. They were good ones.)

The piece of the picture you missed because you were distracted, were planning your next statement, or were thinking about how your intended proposition can be made to fit their need, may well have been the most critical component of all in your much-needed understanding of their “big picture”.

If nothing else, it will frustrate the client tremendously if they’ve taken the time to explain their issues to you and, in your bid documentation, you demonstrate gaps in your understanding – gaps that, in their mind, have no right to exist, given the time they spent with you.

THINK AND WIN BIDS
Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Book)

The three fundamental skills of a genuinely sharp, sustainably successful bid professional are the ability to think, listen and ask quality questions.

Furthermore, formulating successful business development and bid strategies is the process of well-directed research and thinking ; not the product of tools and templates .

THINK AND WIN BIDS
Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Six-Pack)

Ideal to ensure your entire team of writers and contributing subject matter experts are all on the same page, Think and Win Bids is offered as a six-pack (6 books for the price of 5) .

‘Key Personnel’ CVs Increasingly the No. 1 Differentiating Factor

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Wed, 16 Oct 2024 23:38:40 GMT

With more and more non-price-based tender formats hitting the civil engineering marketplace (as when the Australian government sector’s Market-Led Proposals / "MLPs" format was released), the pressure is on to ensure delivery team members’ Curricula Vitae garner maximum points on the evaluators’ score sheet.

So why are the vast majority of organisations insistent on placing such low priority on this critical bid-supporting mechanism? Why are they relying on woefully generic, multi-purposed CVs . . . when a superior performance in this central component of their submission stands to catapult them streets ahead of the competition?

The Issues

Let’s look at some of the problems and then some of the potential solutions, and let’s take – as a case study – one of the toughest industries in which to create differentiation between key personnel.

In civil engineering’s major projects sector, players fish in the same (often international) pool of talent for their key personnel. They compete fiercely with each other for the “best” people for a project.

Below are some of the problems that sector faces as they pertain to the production of bid-supporting Curricula Vitae.

Being Forced to Hire Without Certainty

In a high-profile Government-funded major infrastructure project that relies on the strategic selection and offering up of key personnel, industry players are forced to seek out expertise (both at the hands-on project management level and also at more the academic, oversight level) that relates as closely as possible to the key characteristics of the contract in question.

That expertise doesn’t come cheap. And it certainly doesn’t come cheap when there’s a pre-bid bidding war for the same talent.

If a company manages to secure the crème de la crème, specific talent they want to arm themselves with to bolster the smarts in their project delivery teams, they then have a real pressure to win the bid.

No savvy construction or design company wants someone earning that sort of salary sitting around idle. (It’s also demoralising for the talent they hired in, who would have been looking forward to adding the prestige of that particular project to his or her personal CV.)

It All Happens Too Late

One of the issues closely related to this scenario is that, ironically, the competitive run on the targeted talent happens late in the bid process . . . meaning that CVs are often the last components off the submission production line.

And we all know how much time is left for the last components off the submission production line.

That’s one of the primary reasons the opportunity to highlight the intensely advantageous, highly relevant strengths of such key personnel is let go to waste.

Here are some of the other reasons:

Multi-Purposing of Curricula Vitae Creates Generic Blah

The CV owners (i.e. the key personnel themselves) are asked to furnish their existing CVs, which will then be given a bit of an edit – or a “massage into shape” – by a generic “bid writer” or someone playing the role of editor.

No-one actually interviews these key assets . . . or if they do, they don’t drill down deeply enough to flush out the most project-specific strengths of this particular asset, and why those strengths matter so much to the project’s success.

Together with the above scenario, this is the No. 1 reason for the half-baked, non-compelling, unconvincing examples of thinly-veiled multi-purposed, generic boredom-in-print currently submitted in most organisations’ bid documentation.

Every item below has its roots in the above.

Poor Bid Strategy Processes Result in A Lack of Guidance

The bid’s strategy development processes have either failed to fully identify, or capture and communicate, the client’s and the project’s most immediately pressing pain points, fears, desires, limitations, sensitivities and so on . . . such that the most relevant skills and strengths (other than simply the technical) of the CV owner can be compellingly presented.

The Whole Has Not Been Presented As ‘Greater than the Sum of its Parts’

In yet a further wasted opportunity, the CVs of the individual personnel aren’t taken as a “whole”.

Where personnel have been asked to largely author their own CVs, it goes without saying that these will have been produced in a vacuum.

The “1 + 1 + 1 = 7” opportunity otherwise afforded by producing the CVs as a whole, and the team and its collective strengths and skills as a holistic solution, has been completely wasted.

Lack of Interest by (Some, Not All) CV Owners

(Sometimes being the case and sometimes not) CV owners are more focused on getting on with the project and doing what engineers and construction project managers do . . . which, by preference, would not include writing CVs and other bid-related activities. These are neither their strong suit nor their interest.

Consequently, even when a professional writer is involved in the production of a CV, the time and focus that is nonetheless a required contribution to a successful output, is just not there on the part of the individual in question.

(Again, please note that this final point doesn’t apply to all CV holders; only some. But when you’re relying on milking every last point out of the evaluation team for the collective of your CVs, one lukewarm CV is one too many.)

If you want to make a quantum leap in the quality of this vital component of your submissions, avail your team of my course, ‘Operation CV: Formulating On-Target, Bid-Specific Curricula Vitae’ - coming soon.

It’s for bid strategists, bid managers, bid writers and editors, and subject matter experts and other specialists within the delivery team . . . along with anyone else who wants to acquire mission-critical insights and skills like:

How to identify the skills and strengths the prospective client organisation will value most highly.

How to closely align the CV owner’s experience and strengths with the prospect organisation’s / procurement agency’s hot buttons.

How to formulate CVs (both individually and as a consistently themed, content co-ordinated collective) to mitigate the client’s fears / perceived risks / concerns.

What activities to conduct, in order to ensure the production of solid, detailed and purpose-specific CVs.

How the bid manager can inspire the enthusiastic and diligent input of CV owners.

How to demonstrate the logic behind each CV owner’s inclusion in the delivery team.

How to edit to ensure strategic value and maximum point-scoring potential in the face of tight word count constraints.

And a whole lot more.

OPERATION CV
Formulating On-Target, Bid-Specific Curricula Vitae

(Training Program)

OPERATION CV will instill in your people the ability to produce project/contract/bid-specific Curricula Vitae that flush out and compellingly align your team's individual and collective strengths with the client's needs and challenges . . . optimising your submission's potential in this critical point-scoring category.

BID COMMANDOS
On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

(Training Program)

BID COMMANDOS is my "blockbuster", comprehensive, 11-module training program.

COMING SOON

Tips for Producing A Clear & Compelling VfM Report

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Wed, 16 Oct 2024 20:04:29 GMT

"VfM (Value for Money) Reports" are now an expected norm following the delivery of any major civil infrastructure project through any form of collaborative contracting methodology – and, increasingly, also in hard dollar contracting.

The following are my recommendations for producing a highly readable VfM Report.

Keep in mind that these suggestions are offered by an information professional, not an engineer – and are therefore based on general principles. That said, if you are an engineer, don’t be tempted to disregard their value. Like any other document you invest time in producing, you no doubt desire to have a certain impact on your readership. Clear and savvy articulation will assist you in achieving this.

‘War and Peace’-Style Detail or A ‘Very Vanilla’ Template?

Get clear – before you start assembling your content and putting pen to paper – whether your intention is to produce the engineer’s version of ‘War and Peace’ , the Very Vanilla Version of a VfM Report, something in between those two extremes, or an industry-standard template.

To some extent, you’ll obviously allow yourself to be guided by the number of interim reports you’ve produced thus far in your project. Also, logic would suggest that the more progressed your project, the more you will have to measure and report.

The Devil May Be In the Detail . . . But Don’t Lose Sight of the ‘Big Picture’ Messages

To ensure you don’t bury your main messages, provide an Executive Summary. This should be a prioritised distillation of the peak conclusions from each of the Report’s major sections.

Choose your language and terminology in this particular section with great care, in light of the fact that some of your readership will be “non-engineers” and will rely on a plain English summary to provide them with the “guts” of the story.

Provide Value for Money in your VfM Report.

Don’t bother with the “consultant speak”.

In other words, don’t waste space and reader attention span by indulging in lengthy and detailed descriptions of the project itself. All parties should well understand the actual project they’re working on. Get straight to the point i.e. value for money.

Explain the process you’ve used for your VfM analysis . . . but briefly . That bears repeating: Briefly!

One of the VfM Reports I recently witnessed devoted half its pages to discussing the project per se , and a great deal of the rest of them to discussing the methodology for assessing VfM. Don’t produce a textbook. Stay attuned to the reason for the exercise: To report on the degree to which VfM has or hasn’t been achieved against the business case and associated client and project objectives, and in the various component areas.

Cater for the Non-Engineers

Where highly detailed, technical explanations on any one subtopic have run to more than a few pages each, precede these with a summary that is understandable to any non-engineers within your readership.

Motherhood statements and vague statements like “proactive stakeholder engagement” have no place in a VfM Report . . . if, indeed, they have any value anywhere.

Refrain from showing off in a VfM Report e.g. the development of new and overly complex VfM assessment methodologies requiring the help of a statistician to decipher. If you must show off, the context for it is in the substance and impressive results reflected by your content.

Keep it meaningful. Keep it factual. And where a comprehensive, clear and meaningful business case and VfM Statement were tabled for the project, keep it closely tied to the key components of these.

Constantly Re-Visit the Business Case & VfM Statement

Continually align your VfM Report’s content with the priorities articulated in the project’s supporting business case and VfM Statement.

That’s the default benchmark in every element. Use language and terminology which is consistent with these documents to make the alignment of content clear for your readers.

Quantify the ‘Soft’ Wherever Possible

Determine a way to put a tangible form of measurement to the “soft” benefits being generated by the project team.

Find a credible way to value non-monetary KRA and KPI performance, innovations and any special Intellectual Property that has resulted from the project team’s efforts. Again though, don’t get clever and complex to the point of the ridiculous.

Don’t Save the Best for Last

A message specifically for Non-Owner Participants in collaborative contracting teams:

The VfM Report is an ideal vehicle for defusing cynicism over collaborative contracting’s “value for money” performance. Be sure, therefore, to maximise the opportunities it presents for understandable communication and explanation, especially where a project has demonstrated variance from budget.

Where interim progress can be reported against project objectives, take the opportunity. Don’t save up the commentary for a final blockbuster VfM Report. Demonstrate actively that you are well aware where you’re on course and where you need to re-strategise or correct. It’s a critical part of demonstrating awareness, control, good governance, and the readiness to strive for enhanced value.

CRACKING THE VfM CODE

How to Identify & Deliver Genuine Value for Money in Collaborative Contracting

(Book)

This weighty, 350-page production - the result of two years’ solid research, and investigation, complemented by numerous interviews with industry leaders - provides an unprecedented degree of insight into what it takes to produce a consistent record of value-for-money results in major public infrastructure projects.

CRACKING THE VfM CODE IN COLLABORATIVE CONTRACT BIDDING

Value for Money . . . Understanding It & Articulating Your Ability to Deliver It

(Book)

Together, the ' Cracking the VfM Code' books form a duo. Both books are focused on the singularly most contentious and enduring topic of debate the industry has seen since its inception: Value for Money . . . or “VfM”.

Productivity Tip: Set Priorities & Nail Them One At A Time

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Mon, 07 Oct 2024 00:34:04 GMT

Notwithstanding that bid management is a juggling act . . . a game where you have to keep all your plates spinning (as well as everybody else’s) at all times, the key to success is to apply your focus – at any given time – to only one or two tasks.

At first blush that advice appears counterintuitive. But the trick is, whatever you choose to focus on, make that focus laser-like .

If you do this, each task or sub-task will be completed more quickly, with greater ease, and to a higher standard, than if you’re chasing around in a variety of different directions and working with a raft of competing priorities.

If you spread your energy across too many activities and your mind across too many thought processes at the same time, your productivity will drop dramatically and you’ll feel constantly frazzled.

You might find these Bid Management section articles useful:

‘The 11 Stages of Competent & Comprehensive Pre-Probity Bid Management’

‘The 13 Stages of Competent & Comprehensive Post-EOI/RFP/RFT-Release Bid Management’

THINK AND WIN BIDS
Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Book)

The three fundamental skills of a genuinely sharp, sustainably successful bid professional are the ability to think, listen and ask quality questions .

Furthermore, formulating successful business development and bid strategies is the process of well-directed research and thinking ; not the product of tools and templates.

THINK AND WIN BIDS
Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Six-Pack)

To ensure your entire team of writers and contributing subject matter experts are all on the same page, Think and Win Bids is also offered as a six-pack (6 books for the price of 5).

Bid Victories: Price or Value?

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Tue, 01 Oct 2024 01:03:25 GMT

Within the public infrastructure space, I’m known for my specialisation in collaborative contract bidding – in which non-price-based "project alliancing" is the premium delivery format.

When responding to Requests for Proposal for this type of contract, price – literally – cannot be used to win the deal . . . because price is formulated in collaboration with the client only after award of the project.

In that type of bidding environment, you sink or swim based on your ability to develop a bid strategy with no reliance on price – but with total reliance on value delivered .

With “value” the focus of every element of the research and strategy formulation effort, the quest becomes firmly focused on exactly what it is that constitutes “value” and “value for money” in the context of the project being bid for, and in the context of the client’s world.

How is that relevant to tendering for a logistics or transport contract?

The key point of relevance is this – and it’s consistent with the core message of all my columns to date: If you can determine, with precision, what it is that’s most important to the client, above and beyond all else (and sometimes, the answer to that lies buried deep in the collective subconscious of the client organisation) , nine times out of ten, you’ll have the foundation for your strategy.

And nine times out of 10, it will be “ non-price-based ”.

If you come in with the keenest price, but somehow manage to trash the client’s reputation within its marketplace, of what benefit is your low price? If you cause grief and aggravation through unreliable delivery times or poor materials handling, what is the true cost of your
“service” to the client?

These are clearly extremely basic and obvious examples of “cost” versus “value”.

However, if you drill down into all the ways a low price might be irrelevant in the face of poor performance on any particular contract, you’ll find a vast list of potential pain points that company will want to avoid. And faced with the prospect, its decision-makers will usually readily concede these aren’t worth putting up with for the sake of a low-ball price.

On the same hand, a bid team that does its background research, and that also finds a way and takes the time to drill deeply into the psyche of the client, is generally rewarded with the insights into exactly what it is that constitutes “value” to that organisation. And, again, nine times out of 10, the primary point of value will be non-price-based.

There are too many bidders out there – in all industries – whose automatic response to a loss is to attribute it to “being beaten on price”.

Some years ago, a survey of UK construction company executives was conducted. These executives were asked why they though they lost bids – and why they thought they won them. In almost every instance, these seasoned industry representatives believed their tendering victories were due to the outstanding job they had done when it came to understanding the client and the specific requirements of the project. But these same respondents believed the only reason they ever lost a bid was because they came in too high on price!

This flawed logic stems from a reluctance by bidders to admit that maybe they lost to a competitor not on price, but because that competitor had done its homework more thoroughly.

It’s a very simple equation:

The more thoroughly you’ve gotten to know the client organisation, and its working environment relevant to the contract in question, the more chance you have of lining up your strengths with the (often intangible) requirements of that client and that contract.

And it’s there that you’ll find your core value proposition .

THINK AND WIN BIDS

Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Book)

The three fundamental skills of a genuinely sharp, sustainably successful bid professional are the ability to think, listen and ask quality questions.

Furthermore, formulating successful business development and bid strategies is the process of well-directed research and thinking; not the product of tools and templates.

THINK AND WIN BIDS

Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Six-Pack)

Ideal to ensure your entire team of writers and contributing subject matter experts are all on the same page, Think and Win Bids is also offered as a six-pack (6 books for the price of 5).

'Win Themes', Silver Bullets & Other Corporate Claptrap

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Mon, 16 Sep 2024 00:26:21 GMT

Many operatives in the bidding and tendering space bang on about "win themes" and "silver bullets".

Let’s get clear on something important, over which there has long been confusion:

A “win theme” is not something a bid team sits around, chews the fat over, and “comes up with” (which isn’t to say that that’s not what many think it is).

What it is , is a core, success-critical competitive strength or advantage that is identified through careful and thorough research (including that which is conducted long before the tender call documentation is released).

If a proponent’s research is sufficiently thorough, the true win theme (or themes) will be uncovered naturally in the course of that research (and the associated competitive analysis) process.

A real “win theme” will, in a sense, “identify itself”.

By way of example, I refuse to work with the outputs of external facilitators who produce a bundle of flip-chart sheets containing skeletal “mind maps”, barely-connected bullet points, flow charts, and other squiggles encircling the latest trendy terminology, complementing this with a few pages of captured conversation and passing off the result as a “bid strategy”.

Yet, believing the contents of this form of “workshop” will magically produce winning submissions, this is close to the standard procedure for many bidders. That is, they look outside of their own walls to some consultant’s generic template, as opposed to looking within and conducting their own genuine, deep-thinking processes – thinking processes which could, done right, win bids reliably and consistently.

Others simply leap into the writing part of the exercise without any form of strategy.

It’s no wonder 99 percent of organisations produce 99 percent sheer “brochureware” (as I call it) in response to an Expression of Interest (EOI), Request for Proposal (RFP) or Request for Tender (RFT).

One Piece of Flawed Thinking that Crops Up Almost Every Time

One of the many symptoms of this flawed process is the resultant confusion between strategy and tactics .

More specifically, it’s the result of coming up with great “ideas” without the benefit of thorough research and a well-formulated underlying competitive strategy.

“Strategy” and “tactics” are not interchangeable terms. And they’re certainly not interchangeable concepts:

Strategy informs tactics. Two different things. Two different functions. Two different processes.

A basic, high-level definition of "strategy" might be: A way to get from a current "state" to a specific desired end-state. Between this current state and the desired state may be any degree of gap; it doesn’t matter.

"Tactics" , then, are the components of the plan designed to achieve the overarching strategy.

Taking this singular example highlights the folly in sitting around trying to “come up with” “good ideas” for “what we can say” in a submission.

BID COMMANDOS
On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

(Training Program)

BID COMMANDOS is my "blockbuster", comprehensive, 11-module training program.

THINK AND WIN BIDS

Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Book)

The three fundamental skills of a genuinely sharp, sustainably successful bid professional are the ability to think, listen and ask quality questions .

Furthermore, formulating successful business development and bid strategies is the process of well-directed research and thinking; not the product of tools and templates.

Ideal to ensure all members of the bid team are, philosophically, on the same page, Think and Win Bids is also offered as a six-pack (6 books for the price of 5).

Insights for Female Executives: ‘The Silent Language of Leaders’ by Carole Kinsey Gorman

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Wed, 12 Jun 2024 23:48:14 GMT

If you’re a female executive – and most especially if you participate in critical presentations and negotiations – you might want to think about the following male/female communication differences.

In her book, ‘The Silent Language of Leaders’ , Carole Kinsey Goman lays out 13 distinctions between the way the two genders communicate nonverbally.

These include:

1) Women prefer to stand face-on when communicating in person. Men, conversely, find this confrontational, preferring to stand at a more angular position to each other.

2) If a man is nodding, he agrees. When a woman nods, she may be agreeing, or she may be simply empathising and/or encouraging the speaker along.

3) For a woman, eye contact is a key element of effective listening. A man, however, can listen with considerably less eye contact or physical feedback.

4) Men not yet acquainted with each other keep a greater physical distance than do unacquainted female conversation partners.

5) Women use touch to indicate their agreement, empathy or general connection, while men use touch as a power gesture.

6) Men take up space. Women contract the amount of physical space they require.

7) Women use a greater variety of intonation in their speech, allowing their emotions readier vocal demonstration. Men’s speech has lesser tonal variety, its deeper quality sounding more controlled and confident.

8) Most men minimise facial expression. This makes a woman uneasy: she needs to “read” her conversation partner’s face.

9) Women smile more often than men . . . but it’s often used as a cover-up for nervousness, or to detract from something negative imparted in speech.

10) Men more naturally express anger nonverbally, through a quick release of energy like slapping a table.

11) Women cross their legs. Men adopt a quite opposite seating posture.

12) Men use body language to express their confidence. They also feel freer to send signals of indifference or disagreement. Women are quick to demonstrate enthusiasm, and display hurt more openly.

13) Women with tension or breathiness in their voices tend to be seen as less credible in the corporate setting. Men with a throaty tension to their voices enjoy enhanced credibility.

While executives of both genders would do well to be mindful of these body language distinctions, the possession of these insights provides considerable advantage for females wanting to enjoy a level playing field – particularly in the context of an important pursuit.

HOW TO INNOVATE IN BIDS

(Training Program)

"Innovation" in the context of the big-ticket bidding space takes on a very specific definition.

THE ART OF THE DEBRIEF

(Training Program)

The key to getting the best value from any de-briefing session offered to you is to plan carefully, in order to extract every possible clue from the process.

This two-module course provides step-by-step, real-time guidance to assist you in maximising the intel and insights available from the de-briefing opportunity. It also guides you along as you seek to ensure the permanence of the insights obtained, and the incorporation of their value into future bidding processes.

How to Avoid Your Sales Proposals Reading Like Your Website

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Wed, 12 Jun 2024 23:41:55 GMT

"Superior", "State of the Art", "Best of Breed", "Best Practice" . . . REALLY? Then PROVE it.

For the purposes of this discussion, let’s focus on "superior" . . . albeit these other jargony Executive Summary-fillers can be viewed similarly.

“Superior” . . . what’s wrong with it:

It’s almost always a completely subjective self-opinion . . . unless substantiated by sufficient, detailed, context-specific proof points.

If you think your product, service or proposed solution is “superior”, at least some of your competitors will be making the same claim about theirs. “Superior” = superior to all . So only one bidder can be correct.

If you are going to claim superiority, here’s what you need to do:

(To pull this off, you need near-absolute certainty over each competitor’s offering or proposed solution. This highlights the need for carrying out thorough competitive intelligence.)

Step 1:

Determine the definition of “superiority” in the specific context of the prospective client’s / customer’s intended deployment of your product or need for your service.

Step 2:

Break that client-context definition down into its component parts.

Example (the short version):

A civil infrastructure delivery agency needs a project completed within a challenging timeframe, with a challenging volume of earthworks and in an environment with multiple categories of challenge.

Break each one of these challenges down until they can’t be broken down any further, pairing up each challenge with the relevant element of your proposed solution.

Step 3:

Create a table in which you outline a “theoretical” scenario of all possible alternatives (which will be those you know your various competitors to be proposing).

Highlight the elements of your proposed solution in a manner that allows for ease of comparison.

Step 4:

Populate the table with the requisite hard-core, fact-based comparative measures, the accuracy of which you feel (at least near 100%) confident of. You have a slight margin for error from the perspective that you’re not openly naming your competitors . . . but it’s best not to need that margin.

(Again, this is just the short version of this process.)

The purpose of the exercise is to lay out – incontrovertibly and demonstrably – all the specific ways in which your product, service or solution is competitively superior . . . in terms of its ability to achieve the client’s objectives.

THINK AND WIN BIDS
Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Book)

The three fundamental skills of a genuinely sharp, sustainably successful bid professional are the ability to think, listen and ask quality questions .

Furthermore, formulating successful business development and bid strategies is the process of well-directed research and thinking ; not the product of tools and templates.

BID COMMANDOS
On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

(Training Program)

BID COMMANDOS is my "blockbuster", comprehensive, 11-module training program.

Do Your People Truly HEAR the Client? The 4 Levels of Listening.

editor@consumeraffairswriter.com (Jordan Kelly) — Mon, 08 Apr 2024 14:35:40 GMT

As a leader, one of the most success-critical qualities you can model for your customer-facing teams (especially business development (BD) and sales operatives) is active, strategic listenin g.

I’m always surprised at how many people think they’re great listeners . . . but aren’t. Unfortunately, that often includes revenue-generating, frontline personnel.

The discrepancy between the way poor listeners see themselves (i.e. the many who see themselves, ironically, as good listeners) and the reality of their communications performance, has its roots in a simple distinction: listening versus hearing .

Listening and hearing aren’t always the same thing. Sometimes they are, but often they’re not. It depends on the orientation and attitude of the “listener”.

A BD, for instance, can have many different ways of “listening”.

Here are a few:

Cursory Listening

This is “quick and dirty” listening, often the type of listening extended when the “listener” is “mentally multi-tasking”, or not deeply interested.

Shallow Listening

Closely related to cursory listening, this is the type of listening that takes place when the BD or other customer-facing operative is of the belief that he or she already knows what the customer/client is about to say, already understands their problem/objective, and/or already knows the solution . . . or, at least, the solution it suits themselves to propose.

Needless to say, this form of listening is often underpinned by arrogance.

Inquisitive Listening

Moving into the more productive forms of listening, “inquisitive listening” is the first step towards real client-centricity, real problem-solving.

Unlike the above brands of listening, it’s a mode in which the operative genuinely “hears” the client or customer.

In this more (but not yet peak) strategic form of listening, the client-facing operative is able to gather and identify components of information that are critical to the formulation of a solution. That is, of course, if that operative is genuinely driven by the desire to act in the customer’s or client’s best interests, in terms of the solution to be arrived at.

Strategic Listening

In this optimum form of listening , the operative hears the client at a very deep level.

The operative picks up on his or her key motivating forces – the pain the client organisation wants to avoid; the rewards sought both by that organisation, its personnel and its key stakeholders; the fears; the areas in which they seek clarity and direction over pre-existing confusion and indirection, and other intangibles.

In this form of listening, the operative “listens between the lines”, empowering himself or herself with the ability to ask progressively more insightful questions.

The client-facing executive who can perform at this level is also one who understands that information does not , in and of itself, constitute intelligence . He or she knows, however, that the answers to well-considered, quality questions loan themselves to conversion into valuable intelligence.

The communicator who has the smarts, the humility and the patience to listen at this level is a potential power tool for his or her enterprise.

THINK AND WIN BIDS
Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Book)

The three fundamental skills of a genuinely sharp, sustainably successful bid professional are the ability to think, listen and ask quality questions .

Furthermore, formulating successful business development and bid strategies is the process of well-directed research and thinking ; not the product of tools and templates.

THE ART OF THE DEBRIEF

(Training Program)

Available as a two-module learning experience your team can guide itself through, in real-time, as it prepares for a debriefing session OR as a course I can customise and facilitate personally for your enterprise.

PPPs: ‘Mind Maps’ Do NOT Constitute A ‘Bid Strategy’

Wed, 20 Oct 2021 03:02:00 GMT

When I wrote Think and Win Bids , my target reader was anyone involved in bidding high-value B2G or B2B projects or contracts.

Since its publication, I’ve deepened my involvement in the Public Private Partnerships sector and, looking back over the book’s content, it would be difficult to think of a project type to which the advice I’ve offered holds greater relevance.

What IS Bid Strategy?

As I point out in Chapter 6 of the book, there are so many misinformed “takes” on the concept of “bid strategy” that it’s valuable to first get clear on what bid strategy isn’t.

Bid strategy could truly be the birthplace of the classic “garbage in = garbage out” truism . . . or perhaps, contextualised more closely, “garbage process = garbage result”.

Check Your War Room Walls

For too many bidders, “bid strategy” is viewed as something akin to a “win theme” or a series of “silver bullets”.

The evidence of this overly simplistic approach can usually be found in the form of sketchy texta-on-butcher’s paper bullet points, adorning the walls of the “war rooms” or hotel function rooms where the superficial (“once-around-the-block-in-quick-time”) conversations that inspired them, took place.

This collection of minimally thought-out, skeletally documented “mind maps” hardly qualifies for a serious strategy. Bid strategy – real, comprehensive, well researched and tested strategy – cannot possibly result from these outputs.

That leads me to what bid strategy is:

Strategy is a noun . Not just a concept. And in the context of a bid, it’s a tangible, formal written blueprint that guides every aspect of the bid. All-encompassing, investigated in depth, and articulated in detail, it informs the context , and directs the content , of a bid.

So, now to formulating the underlying, guiding strategy for a Public Private Partnership bid .

Firstly, my observations and experience with this sector would indicate that not only do all my admonitions for developing strategy for any other type of bid hold true (an early pre-EOI start, proper intelligence-generating activities, comprehensive risk analysis) . . . there are many additional considerations for peak bidding performance on a PPP.

A Three-Stage Process

Among these is the fact that bid strategy formulation should be a three-stage process (it’s a two-stage process in a traditional bid):

A bid sponsor would, ideally, select its consortium partners based on the guidance of a . . . you guessed it, formal (albeit preliminary) bid strategy. That’s because, once the members of your partnership have been put in place, it’s too late to address issues arising from the realisation that your partners don’t have the skills or track record to support the specifics of a latterly-developed strategy.

Let’s take a hypothetical instance in which all the required project, client and competitor research was , in fact, undertaken upfront – and a preliminary bid strategy was formulated before a consortium was finalised. In such an instance, the second phase of your strategy development would focus on aligning the now-in-place strengths of your consortium, with the knowledge of the project and client that you drilled out and collated in the first phase of your strategy. It’s the quality of that blueprint that gets you over the line (or not) in the EOI phase.

Now comes the third and ultimate phase in the development of your bid strategy – that which will take you from shortlistee to winner. Keep a watch out here in the Industry-Specific section of Pursuits Academy, and I’ll bring this to you soon.

THINK AND WIN BIDS
Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Training Program)

BID COMMANDOS is my "blockbuster", comprehensive, 11-module training program.

BID COMMANDOS
On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

(Book)

The three fundamental skills of a genuinely sharp, sustainably successful bid professional are the ability to think, listen and ask quality questions .

Furthermore, formulating successful business development and bid strategies is the process of well-directed research and thinking ; not the product of tools and templates.

Available both individually and as a six-pack (6 books for the price of 5) , Think and Win Bids is ideal to ensure everyone is "on the same page".

The 10 Most Meaningless Claims Found in Bids

Tue, 19 Oct 2021 07:47:00 GMT

Want a way to immediately raise the bar in your bids, and have your claims seen as (considerably) more credible and reliable than those of the competition?

In the nearly 25 years that I’ve specialised in the field of high-value bids, I have seen almost no decrease in the use of meaningless, non-measurable, non-provable, low-credibility claims like those I’ve listed below.

This observation – consistent across all industries – would dictate that your simplest and most readily available avenue for making a competitively meaningful improvement in your bids, is to avoid these words and phrases (and any others like them):

‘State-of-the-Art’: Subjective at best, and usually completely without any form of credible proof point (unless you consider suppliers’ brochures and website copy an authoritative source)
‘Leading Edge’: For this to be measurable, you’d have to provide a qualified definition of “edge” and authoritative quantification of your proximity to it – which would have to be closer than any other manufacturer of the same product / technology or provider of the same service.
‘World Class’: How many (fill in the blank) are in the class? By whose estimation are the members of this class superior to other products, services and/or product producers or service providers? And in what specific regards are they superior?
‘Best-of-Breed’: I’ve yet to find a satisfactory, universally-agreed definition or measure for this term (a term born in the IT sector, but now – in the viral manner of trendy terminology – permeating many other industries).
‘Superior’: To what, and by whose measure?
‘Advanced’: Compared to what?
‘High / Highest Quality’: Spare me.
‘Unrivalled / Unsurpassed’: How much time and research would you have to put into proving that?
‘Proven’: By whom? And in the context of what, that is specifically meaningful to your prospective customer or client organisation?
‘Innovative’: I’ll have every single one of my civil infrastructure / construction / engineering clientele jumping on me over this one. Suffice to say, this word has become so over-used that, in most instances, it no longer has any meaning. It’s a highly subjective claim, at best.

Exactly how do you replace these terms?

With what do you replace them?

Actually, you don’t replace them with anything . What you do, is you formulate a better quality bid strategy to guide your bid writers in their production of your documentation, such that neither you nor they have to resort to this type of (what I call) “brochureware” language.

My flagship book, ‘ Think and Win Bids ’ , provides example-rich coaching for bid leaders on how to ensure your strategy is solid and meaningful, such that your writers don’t resort to this silly-speak. Or, if you want to go all the way with detailed, step-by-step, comprehensive training for your team, you’ll want to participate in my 11-module ‘ BID COMMANDOS: On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids ’ program.

Meantime, ‘ The Bid Writer’s Style & Grammar Guide’ provides guidance for bid writers on how to say what you mean, rather than employing these meaningless, non-measurable words.

THINK AND WIN BIDS
Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Book)

The three fundamental skills of a successful bid leader and strategist are the ability to think , to listen and to ask quality questions .

So much the better if all members of a bid team understand the role of those fundamentals in formulating a successful bid.

Available both individually and as a six-pack (6 books for the price of 5) , Think and Win Bids is ideal to ensure everyone is "on the same page".

BID COMMANDOS

On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

(Training Program)

BID COMMANDOS is my "blockbuster", comprehensive, 11-module training program.

The 12 Tenets of Effective Bid Management

Tue, 19 Oct 2021 07:39:00 GMT

Now that I’ve drawn readers’ attention to the very real (immediate and longer term) health risks of poor bidding practices and weak bid management, let’s get to an overview of the solution: effective bid management.

Here are the core tenets of good bid management.

Bid management, that is, that eliminates to the greatest degree possible, health-compromising stress from the bidding process.

They include but (arguably) are certainly not limited to:

1) The clear and careful assessment of the advisability of pursuing the business in the first place.

Proceeding with a bid you’re not qualified for, not prepared for – or that you shouldn’t go for, for some other reason – is setting yourself up for huge stress and no pay-off.

Be realistic.

2) Ensuring an early start. A very early start.

Steal the lead on your competitors. Give yourself ample time – and then some – to explore all avenues of research – both primary and secondary / direct and indirect.

There are some industries in which, if a bidder hasn’t researched the contract/project, the client organisation, and the political backdrop, in detail at least six months before the release of the Request for Proposal, that bidder is massively behind the eight-ball . . . and should seriously consider the wisdom of proceeding.

That is, unless that bidder is happy for its potential strategy to be flagged to competitors when its questions are published on the relevant pages of the client’s website for all to read – along with the client’s answers. (Not that that’s the forum for asking anything deep and meaningful, anyway.)

Learning from your mistakes is one of the best ways to ensure against a repeat performance.

4) Adequate time devoted to pre-bid strategy sessions.

Bidders that whip through these sessions, with silly little 45-minute segments for critical investigations such as competitor analysis, are either naïve, arrogant or both. Probably both.

(It’s a great way to give your competitors the advantage, though.)

5) Careful advance consideration of the broad topic areas requiring coverage in strategy workshops, and placement of the right people in the room (and all of the right people).

And there goes your production schedule, right there.

6) The running of a tight ship at planning sessions.

Similarly, if they allow people to wander in and out of the room at will and cruise back from breaks as they please. At least consider those members of the team who are treating the exercise seriously - and respect their commitment by ensuring that others don’t compromise the quantity and quality of the session’s outputs.

7) Adherence to schedule in the writing phase through reliance upon a well-researched, well-considered, comprehensive strategy blueprint.

Similarly to the above point, one of the primary reasons for the stressed condition of those responsible for chiselling the final production into shape, is that they are faced with a strategy-less and waffly piece of “brochureware”, in place of (what should have been) well-thought-out, well-guided, co-ordinated, comprehensively and accurately answered written response sections.

8) Putting the right people onto the right job.

In ' Think & Win Bids ' I write about the four “MOs” (Modus Operandi) or operating style categories that I observe bid team members falling into.

A sharp bid manager will identify and capitalise on the natural strengths of his or her people to ensure the bid stays on schedule, and that a quality output is evolving.

9) Shunning the ‘war room’ concept.

If you’ve been following my work, my teachings, and my writings for any real length of time, you’ll know I take every opportunity to get this point across.

No apologies for the stuck groove here:

If focus is the bedrock of productivity, why would you expect anyone (particularly anyone who’s not a writer for a living) to maintain the degree of concentration required to produce quality copy, whilst sitting in the cross-flow of a variety of different conversations, mobile phone calls, and constant miscellaneous interruptions?

10) Ensuring the developing bid documentation is regularly reviewed by the individuals who have had peak responsibility for the production, and the signing off, of the guiding bid strategy.

11) The allocation in the production schedule of plenty of time for editing and re-writing.

12) Thoughtful and comprehensive debrief preparation.

Learn everything you can from your just-concluded bid process and your just-submitted bid documentation, in order to identify all the areas in which you can improve both in the next bid.

THINK AND WIN BIDS
Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Book)

Available individually or as a six-pack (6 books for the price of 5) .

TO BID OR NOT TO BID

(Training Program)

BEFORE THE CURTAIN FALLS
Optimising Prospect Meetings & Intel-Gathering Prior to Probity

Sometimes - if not, often - the race is won before it starts.

THE ART OF THE DEBRIEF

(Training Program)

COMING SOON

BID COMMANDOS
On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

(Training Program)

BID COMMANDOS is my "blockbuster", comprehensive, 11-module training program.

BEATING THE BIG BOYS AT BIDS

(Training Program)

Capitalise on the natural advantages of being a smaller, more agile - and potentially, more aware - operator than your corporate competitors.

(Equally applicable for producing proactive proposals and participating in less formal processes.)

Why CEOs Reach the Top (& Others Don’t)

Tue, 19 Oct 2021 07:37:00 GMT

Clearly, the rise of any CEO to the top of his or her organisation has required the application of a multi-factorial formula on his or her part.

Over the years, however, I’ve made this constant observation:

The majority of those who have worked their way to the helm of a major corporation or other substantial enterprise, who have stayed there for a long time, and who have received the (sustained) respect of all stakeholder groups, have demonstrated three crucial character traits.

These character traits are (1) humility (and, based on that humility, an open-mindedness), (2) exceptional listening skills , and (3) integrity .

The constancy of this equation was hammered home to me recently, when I returned to Australia and took time to re-new old contacts and make a few new ones.

Interestingly, in my first month or so of activity, I was invited to three meetings with the heads of three very large organisations – two of them publicly-listed, household names and the other a family-owned but substantial global interest.

I was also invited to another three meetings – these ones with mid-level executives / personnel. Two of these invitees worked for similarly large companies as those the above-mentioned CEOs headed, and the third worked for a vibrant mid-tier organisation.

I’d like to compare for you my experiences with each of these two groups . . . and let you make your own judgements as to why the group that made it to the top, did so.

Integrity

Each of the three appointments with the CEOs (each of whom were known to me, to one degree or another) ran similarly: I was shown into either their office or the boardroom at the precise moment of the meeting’s scheduled commencement time. I was offered a refreshment. Their desk/table was cleared of all paperwork.

Their total focus was on me, and mine on them. (And not a mobile phone in sight.)

I’d like to also note that there had been no re-scheduling of these appointments before they took place; the meeting dates were set and honoured without change – despite the fact that these executives each have hectic schedules, presiding over broad geographic territories and traveling frequently.

Listening & Humility Are the Same Thing

During these meetings, we engaged in a discussion during which the spoken word count between each party was – over the course of the meeting – largely in balance. One spoke, the other listened . . . intently. The other . . . having deeply considered what the first had just said . . . then spoke, with direct reference to what the first speaker had shared.

Now, in a new-business meeting (whether with an established contact or someone new), I’m always mentally prepared with an end goal for the knowledge I want to come away with, so that – no matter what twists and turns the conversation takes – I’ll always achieve, as a minimum, the basic understanding I sought to achieve. This generally means I’m intending to do a lot less speaking than the person I’m meeting with.

Ironically, the fact that I’m sitting across the table from a great listener, with a humble attitude and an open mind, who’s prepared to discuss what he sees as his organisation’s opportunities / potential for improvement (as was the case in each of these three meetings), will pull us both into a conversation where that spoken word count is similar. And we can both afford for it to be so.

In summary, those discussions were mutually productive and worth both parties’ time.

Now, let’s compare the above meetings with CEOs to the meetings / luncheons to which I was invited by the three mid-level operatives, below .

Invitee No. 1:

A colleague I’d worked with at his previous organisation called me in to meet with himself and his two new colleagues. When I arrived for that meeting he wasn’t there, so I met with his colleagues.

For 55 minutes of the allotted one-hour timeframe, I sat and listened to one of these two operatives boast about the quality of his bid team and its infallible, no-room-for-improvement outputs.

I used the last five minutes to try to determine exactly why I’d been called in to meet with them. That reason remains unclear.

( NB: When I hear this type of “no-room-for-improvement” wind-bagging, it immediately flags to me the fabulous opportunity that person’s industry competitors have in terms of competitive advantage – should those competing enterprises choose to avail themselves of it. In this particular meeting, this chap had provided a glowing self-assessment of his organisation’s superior abilities over each of its competitors. Since he arrogantly perceived that he had absolutely nothing to learn from me, I was more than happy to bank the intel I was scooping up from his bragging, in the event that any of his competitors sought out my services in the future.)

Invitee No. 2:

This chap suggested we partake of a lunch meeting. He re-scheduled twice. On the third attempt he didn’t bother to reschedule. He just didn’t turn up.

When I called him from the restaurant to which he’d directed me to go, he said he’d left a message at my office an hour beforehand, as he didn’t have my mobile phone number.

Invitee No. 3:

This individual operated in exactly the same manner.

Like Invitee No. 2, she had also suggested an out-of-office pseudo-social environment - and had sent me directions as to where to meet her.

She didn’t turn up, either. I returned to my office that afternoon to find a lame email from her. She never even bothered to phone to apologise nor, as it turned out, had she made any real attempt to cut short my fruitless and embarrassing 20-minute wait for her at the venue she’d directed me to.

The Moral of the Story

Taken at surface value, this may appear to have little or nothing to do with bids or business development. Yet, at a deeper level, it has everything to do with them.

Here’s why:

Stop to consider for a moment, the difference to an organisation’s new-business and bidding performance if those three CEOs had been working in those functions within their respective organisations. Think of the integrity, reliability and ease with which their bid teams would have functioned, the results that would have been demanded of them . . . and more than likely, achieved .

But that doesn’t happen, see. Those higher integrity individuals are programmed differently, so they don’t stay at those levels. They rise like cream through the ranks – and leave too many people wondering how they did it.

Well, by my observation, that is how they did it – or, at the least, it was a primary part of their in-built formula.

Let me, therefore, come back to bidding and leave you with this assertion: If the qualities of these CEOs and their ilk could be deeply instilled in more of their own personnel, their organisations’ performance levels in the new-business acquisition arena would take a sharp turn in a northerly direction.

TO BID OR NOT TO BID

(Training Program)

It's a customised, deep-thinking process during which a valuable perspective of the client and the opportunity is built. When that is followed by a realistic self-analysis, the framework is in place for making a genuinely strategic, properly informed decision .

THE ART OF THE DEBRIEF

(Training Program)

A two-module learning experience that can be delivered in real-time, as your team prepares for their participation in any especially important debriefing session.

10-Second Tip: The Most Effective Way to Proofread Your Copy

Tue, 19 Oct 2021 07:24:00 GMT

Proofread your piece backwards.

That way, your brain can’t read what it expects to see.

NOTE: You’ll still have to read your piece forwards in the normal manner – i.e. from start to finish – to ensure “macro-level” correctness.

THE BID WRITER'S STYLE & GRAMMAR GUIDE

(Book)

This reference and tuition manual has been written both for the professional bid writer and for those subject matter experts contributing submission content.

THE BID WRITER'S STYLE & GRAMMAR GUIDE

(Six-Pack)

Your organisation’s credibility hangs on the quality of your writing and the standards it reflects.

Available individually or as a six-pack (5 books for the price of 6).

Writer’s Block? I Have A Cure.

Tue, 19 Oct 2021 07:23:00 GMT

START.

Just start – anywhere in the piece.

THINK AND WIN BIDS
Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Book)

The three fundamental skills of a genuinely sharp, sustainably successful bid professional are the ability to think, listen and ask quality questions .

Furthermore, formulating successful business development and bid strategies is the process of well-directed research and thinking ; not the product of tools and templates.

50 ESSENTIAL BID-WRITING TIPS
Must-Know Standards, Methods & Insights for Writing Compelling Bids, Tenders and Proposals

(Book)

Intentional successful bids are guided by a strategy that is well-researched, customer-centric / client-centric, substance-based, savvily-formulated, and documented in detail.

Your No. 1 Intelligence-Gathering Tool

Tue, 19 Oct 2021 07:11:00 GMT

When it comes to business development conversations, as counter-intuitive as it is, "humble" is a winning strategy.

The importance of being humble in winning high-value bids – and in any aspect of new-business pursuits – has been my hobby horse for the nearly two decades I’ve been specialising in this field.

Why is being humble so hard to do, and why is it such a winning philosophy in discussions with prospective customers and clients?

Let me count the ways . . . (I’ve only got room for two, but I could write a whole book on it – and I have ).

Firstly, while you’re busy trying to convince the client or customer of the “smarts” of your service or your product, your customer is doing one of two things:

He’s either trying to determine the relevance of those smarts to achieving his goals or the likelihood of them providing the solution he needs / might need . . . or he’s not.

You don’t know which he’s doing unless you’re really listening . Ideally, in fact, you should be helping him make the connection . . . but that takes an even deeper level of listening.

And that’s where humility comes into its own as a pre-bid engagement strategy. To exercise humility is to listen.

The old “two ears, one mouth” equation.

If you make it your Golden Rule to listen first, speak second , you’ll be on the path to uncovering critical information / underlying intelligence that will help you deepen the alignment between the customer’s/client’s needs, desires, concerns and priorities, and your product or service.

Sales 101? Think Again.

This sounds incredibly basic, yes? Sales 101, right?

Why do I end up conducting impromptu, delicate, coaching moments with BDs to demonstrate how to get this information? To alert them to the sort of information they should have listened for in the first place, let alone what they should have proactively dug out?

Secondly, there is an enduring belief that “sales” and “business development” are all about “getting our message across”.

What’s the Hurry?

Are they concerned this might be their one and only – or their last – meeting with the client organisation’s representatives before probity kicks in?

Then they should start their market-scanning, prospect research, and pre-bid engagement processes earlier!

Here’s the bottom line:

Asking quality questions, listening carefully to the answers, and knowing what to do next with the resultant information is the No. 1 skill that wins bids.

THINK AND WIN BIDS

Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Book)

The three fundamental skills of a successful bid leader and strategist are the ability to think , to listen and to ask quality questions .

So much the better if all members of a bid team understand the role of those fundamentals in formulating a successful bid.

Available both individually and as a six-pack (6 books for the price of 5) , Think and Win Bids is ideal to ensure everyone is "on the same page".

BID COMMANDOS
On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

(Training Program)

BID COMMANDOS is my "blockbuster", comprehensive, 11-module training program.

5 Steps to Avoid ‘Culture Clash’ In A Pursuit

Tue, 19 Oct 2021 06:50:00 GMT

One of the less tangible, less immediately "visible" reasons for the loss of either a new-business pursuit, or an existing account, is a misalignment between organisational cultures.

I’ve seen this happen on a number of occasions. One that springs colorfully to mind involved an SME client, quite some years ago:

A sizeable print management firm was pursuing an account with the Australian operations of a large consumer goods multinational.

This was a big-ticket opportunity with print requirements that included high-volume direct mail campaign activity. The business development operative (BD) on this account had, for over a year, been aggressively endeavouring to win over the account from a competitor. Each time he’d gotten close to potentially consummating the deal, however, this potential client appeared to back off.

Finally, he’d moved the relationship to the stage where a serious, formal proposal had been requested of him . . . the point at which he contacted me.

When the Client’s Psychology Differs from Yours

Conducting a detailed interview with this BD to understand his client organisation's psychology, it became clear to me that the BD’s, and the print management firm’s, aggressive and gung ho culture was at complete loggerheads with the far softer, more relationship-centred modus operandi of the client organisation.

He didn’t see it.

Long story short: A little bit of “empathy” and a couple of weeks’ more patience on the BD’s part, and he bagged a new, $20m per annum account for his employer.

The moral of the story is this:

The Client Knows . . . Either Consciously Or Subconsciously

When pursuing any type of account, project, implementation, or other form of deal that requires your people to work closely with the client organisation, take culture seriously. Even if the potential client doesn’t consciously recognise the reason for any resistance on their part, he or she will – at a gut level – detect cultural misalignment.

And even if you do win the deal, a poor cultural match has the potential to be, at best, a constant challenge in the ensuing relationship. At worst, it has the potential to create disaster.

Here are five steps you can take in the event that you sense a potential cultural mismatch:

5 Steps for Averting or Dealing with A Cultural Mis-match

Determine the degree of mis-match.
Determine whether or not this has, or may, cause mis-alignment in more tangible ways as the relationship progresses.
If, given consideration of these facts, you decide to press ahead, map out a strategy for addressing and – to the greatest extent possible – overcoming the mis-match. Where possible, make the elements of your plan measurable by, for example, formulating strategic Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
Recognise that this will be an issue that needs constant monitoring throughout the life of the project or contract.
Be upfront with the client about your plans and efforts. Again, you’re probably only kidding yourself if you think they’re unaware of the cultural mis-alignment. Far better that you demonstrate your awareness and your proactive approach to ensuring a successful working relationship.

BEATING THE BIG BOYS AT BIDS

(Training Program)

Capitalise on the natural advantages of being a smaller, more agile - and potentially, more aware - operator than your corporate competitors.

(Equally applicable for producing proactive proposals and participating in less formal processes.)

TO BID OR NOT TO BID

(Training Program)

It's a customised, deep-thinking process during which a valuable perspective of the client and the opportunity is built. When that is followed by a realistic self-analysis , the framework is in place for making a genuinely strategic, properly informed decision.

The ROI of Listening: Patience & Selflessness Pay Off

Tue, 19 Oct 2021 06:45:00 GMT

If you want to be smarter, sharper, and enjoy stronger client relationships, simply listen more – and listen more intently .

According to David Mezzapelle, author of ‘Contagious Optimism’ :

“When you listen, you open up your ability to take in more knowledge versus blocking the world with your words or your distracting thoughts.

“You are also demonstrating confidence, and respect for others.”

Yet, in his modern-day business classic, ‘The Trusted Advisor’ , master consultant David Maister observes that, on average, “business people can pay attention for no more than 30 to 60 seconds without being distracted by an unrelated thought.”

Why don’t we listen more?

In his book, ‘Why Don’t People Listen?’ (later re-titled ‘The Good Listener’ ) Australian psychologist and social researcher, Hugh Mackay, writes:

“Impatience is one of the great barriers to listening. If we are going to listen to other people, then we are going to have to develop reserves of patience which will allow us to hear them out, and even to discuss with them what they have said, rather than rushing in with statements of our own.

“When it comes to listening, patience is the cardinal virtue."

BEFORE THE CURTAIN FALLS
Optimising Prospect Meetings & Intel-Gathering Prior to Probity

Sometimes - if not, often - the race is won before it starts.

THE ART OF THE DEBRIEF

(Training Program)

A two-module learning experience that can be delivered in real-time, as your team prepares for their participation in any especially important debriefing session.

COMING SOON

Critical Bid? Don’t Blow the Colour Scheme

Tue, 19 Oct 2021 06:43:00 GMT

Bid strategists and bid managers: It pays to know your colour associations.

North American brand-building expert, Debbie Allen, recommends everyone responsible for producing any type of marketing piece (which, in its broadest sense, would include bid submissions) acquaint themselves with the psychological associations of various colours:

Black – authority, power, seriousness.

Grey – authority, professionalism, genuineness, practicality.

Brown – nature, earthiness, simplicity, richness, depth.

Blue – security, authority, success, professionalism, trustworthiness.

Red – energy, excitement, passion, action, aggressiveness.

White – purity, hygiene, sincerity, simplicity.

Orange – celebration, fun, youth, affordability.

Green – health, freedom, freshness, nature.

50 ESSENTIAL BID-WRITING TIPS

Must-Know Standards, Methods & Insights for Writing Compelling Bids, Tenders and Proposals

(Book)

Available individually or as a six-pack (6 for the price of 5).

THE BID WRITER'S STYLE & GRAMMAR GUIDE

(Book)

Your organisation’s credibility hangs on the quality of your writing and the standards it reflects.

Available individually or as a six-pack (6 for the price of 5).

Why Engineers Have It Over Sales & Marketing ‘Pros’

Tue, 19 Oct 2021 06:40:00 GMT

Some time ago, I wrote an article about the fact that, as I saw it, engineers have been done a grave disservice by consultants who intimate they "can’t sell".

That article has been published in numerous different professional journals and other publications, and continues to prompt feedback . . . and I’ve yet to receive any that disagrees with my assertion – which is as follows:

More frequently than not, when consultants are called in to instill engineers with bid-writing and business development skills, these “experts” have a pre-conceived position that engineers and their ilk aren’t particularly good “salespeople”.

Unfortunately, this is a mindset that many engineers themselves are far too quick to agree with. You’ll commonly hear these otherwise competent technical professionals say of themselves, “We need to learn to sell ourselves better.”

I wholeheartedly disagree. This notion emanates from a flawed understanding of the real mechanics of “selling” – and also of the nature of high-stakes, high-value (and particularly, infrastructure) bids.

The Qualities of A Great Salesperson (and Why Most Engineers Do Have These But Don’t Know It)

Most engineers, by nature and by training, have the very skill set that it takes to “sell” in a highly evolved manner (critical in the big-ticket infrastructure environment) – although many don’t see this.

By my observation, most engineers are information-seeking, fact-based, analytical and deep-thinking operatives, who conduct conversations with project owners for the primary purpose of obtaining a deeper understanding of what is to be achieved, and in what circumstances.

Ironically, when they’re pushed out of this very productive comfort zone, they do a 180-degree flip straight into what they imagine is the modus operandi of a “great salesperson”. This is invariably based on a misguided notion that they must deliver a “pitch”: some artificially passionate, one-way delivery of their company’s (usually generic) strengths and (usually un-researched) competitive advantages . . . what they “can do” for the client.

It’s an arrogant, outmoded and generally unproductive approach.

Selling by Listening, the Critical Process that Precedes It . . . and Why Many Engineers Are ‘Naturals’

You may be familiar with the modern marketing admonition that one should sell by listening , as opposed to (the very outdated) “selling by telling”.

If we agree that “selling by listening” is effective, we need to consider what comes before listening: Quality questions.

Quality questions ensure that what we are listening to has embedded within it, the valuable information we need to make the sale . . . or to win the bid.

So what makes for a “quality” questioning process?

Two things:

Prior research and an informed position . This, in turn, ensures that each question propels the asker to the required next level of understanding, and
A genuinely enquiring mind. This ensures that questions are crafted, not simply to confirm assumptions, but to dig deep for the information and insights needed to assemble the bigger picture behind the project and the procurement.

Whose Message . . . Yours or the Client’s?

Now . . . correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t that exactly what you’d expect of a switched-on engineer?

Why then, do consultants persist in drumming it into these technical professionals that they have to “get their message across”?

Listen out for the mentality underpinning that: “It’s all about me.” It takes the process squarely back to “selling by telling”.

How sad is that . . . when a competent engineer already exercises the professional inquisitiveness and listening skills to operate in a more evolved “selling by listening” manner?

De-Program All the Engineers

The irony continues.

Not only are most engineers neither comfortable with, nor good at, a “salesy” modus operandi in general, they’re equally out of their comfort zone with (and poor at) the corresponding style of writing.

This is the root cause of the supplier-centric bid documentation that still prevails in this industry . . . the salesy “brochureware” that’s long on hypey linguistics; short on client-centric substance.

In short, there’s a considerable amount of de-programming to be done for engineers to see and appreciate the strengths that attach naturally to their profession. Specifically, they need to see the substantial natural advantage these strengths provide when applied to business development, bid strategy and bid writing . . . or any form of what might be broadly deemed “selling”.

CRACKING THE VfM CODE (DUO)

Book 1

How to Identify Genuine Value for Money in Collaborative Contracting ('Code Green')

Book 2

Value for Money . . . Understanding It & Articulating Your Ability to Deliver It

('Code Gold')

BID COMMANDOS
On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

(Training Program)

BID COMMANDOS is my "blockbuster", comprehensive, 11-module training program.

How to Turn A Tender Evaluator Stone Cold: ‘Pitch’ Them

Tue, 19 Oct 2021 06:03:00 GMT

"Pitch" – a buzzword borrowed from the advertising industry – is a term some of the “cooler types” in other industries like to throw around.

It’s also close to my most despised term.

Why?

Ask any customer, client or professional tender evaluator if they like to be “pitched” to . . . and you’ll be treated to a range of impassioned responses with a clear central theme: Just like you, clients and procurement professionals don’t like to be “sold” (what they do like, is to think they are making balanced, well-informed procurement decisions).

They certainly don’t relish being forced to listen to a salesy, supplier-centric, “push” monologue (or to read the written equivalent).

And that, of course, is exactly what a “pitch” is.

The Pitchfest Litmus Test

Here it is:

What will ring the client’s bell most vigorously is not your “win theme”, “silver bullet”, “value proposition” or anything else you “come up with” to say. What will really capture them is your demonstration of a deep and detailed understanding of their world, their organisation and the circumstances surrounding their intended procurement . . . followed by your identification of their r elated challenges and priorities, and then the alignment of a success-critical competitive strength on your part.

A long way from a “pitch”, isn’t it?

A Mind Picture to Help You Avoid Temptation

Let me implant a vision in your mind that should help you – as an individual of dignity – develop a healthy degree of “cringe factor” for the whole notion of a “pitch”.

I once witnessed an advertising agency giving its pitch for a potential new account. (Admittedly, this was quite some years ago, before the proliferation of easy-to-use digital media technologies.)

Three women in suits stood side by side in front of a small group of senior executives and marketing personnel from the prospective client organisation.

And then came the truly unthinkable: They started singing.

That should embarrass you, just reading it.

Keep that picture in mind next time you suspect you may be entering into “pitch” territory – in your bid strategy workshops or even in your language or in your thinking.

THINK AND WIN BIDS
Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Book)

The three fundamental skills of a genuinely sharp, sustainably successful bid professional are the ability to think , to listen and to ask quality questions .

Furthermore, formulating successful business development and bid strategies is the process of well-directed research and thinking ; not the product of tools and templates.

THINK AND WIN BIDS
Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Six-Pack)

So much the better if all members of a bid team understand the role of the strategy-related fundamentals in formulating a successful bid.

That's why I've made Think and Win Bids also available as a
six-pack (6 books for the price of 5): to ensure everyone is "on the same page" in this core pillar of bid production.

When Losing A Bid Isn’t An Option

Tue, 19 Oct 2021 03:08:00 GMT

Skimp on the detail in the first three stages of the bidding process and your chances of winning a mission-critical bid are severely compromised from the outset.

On the flip side, do an outstanding job of laying these foundations, and you’ve given yourself a giant head start on any competitors that haven’t (and most don’t).

1. Conduct the most comprehensive, self-critical 'bid or no bid' analysis possible.

A competent and comprehensive “bid vs no bid analysis” gets you clear on every component of your motivation for bidding the project or contract in question.

But that’s not all it achieves. It also lays the groundwork for the later formulation of your bid strategy, by identifying each individual point of alignment between the client’s objectives, challenges and concerns, and your enterprise’s capabilities. This gives you a head start on solidifying these and making them even more relevant to the client and its likely selection criteria.

Equally, it helps you identify the points of misalignment; the areas in which a better-positioned competitor can undermine you . . . and gives you the earliest possible chance to address these.

2. Select your bid team members strategically.

There’s also scant attention paid to the likely dynamics within the team – and whether these are likely to result in a streamlined, highly productive process, or a frustrating, unhappy experience and a likely compromised output.

The inputs and outputs of a bid team can only ever be as good as the research, care and strategy that went into the selection of the individuals it comprises. And, also of the way in which those individuals work together to enhance the performance of that collective.

3. Optimise every opportunity in the pre-probity phase.

TO BID OR NOT TO BID

(Training Program)

The real value of a thorough and well thought-out bid/no bid decision analysis – whether highly structured or less so – results from asking the right questions and seeking out well-researched answers .

Sometimes - if not, often - the race is won before it starts.

COMING SOON

BEFORE THE CURTAIN FALLS

Optimising Prospect Meetings & Intel-Gathering Prior to Probity

Your Code of Ethics Affects EVERYTHING

Mon, 18 Oct 2021 06:04:00 GMT

To summarise Webley’s key recommendations on the topic:

Understand that every commercial organisation has at least five overarching stakeholder groups – and recognise each as equally important.

These five “umbrella” groups are staff, customers / clients, suppliers / service providers, shareholders and/or other providers of finance, and the broader societal communities in which the organisation operates or upon which it impacts.

Further to the admonition to place equal value on relations with each of these stakeholder groups, actively seek out their inputs (including any negative revelations) through close and multi-faceted monitoring of their views, observations and experiences.

Ask well-thought-out, quality questions.

For example, staff and customer feedback mechanisms may sound passe , on the face of it. However, it’s the quality of the questions asked – and the place from which you’re coming when asking them – that determines the degree of value such initiatives generate.

Further again to viewing all stakeholder groups as having equal value to the organisation – pay your suppliers on time and treat them with respect.

In the interests of transparency with shareholders and funders , provide them with honest and comprehensive updates into the organisation’s achievements, challenges and issues – not a sanitised or doctored perspective.

Understand and take a broad and serious view of your responsibilities as they relate to the societies in which your organisation operates . . . whether that be the local communities in which your company is conducting roadworks; the globally-dispersed communities availing themselves of, potentially availing themselves of, or impacted by your banking and other financial services; or the ecosystems affected by your manufacturing discharges.

As a leader of your organisation, prompt yourself and your management or board colleagues, with questions like:

What insights do we need, and therefore what information must we gather, in order to actively demonstrate that we are not simply an organisation bent on maximising financial returns as our singular and uncompromising objective?

How do we show – through our attitude and our actions – that we take into account the views and concerns of our various stakeholder groups ? How do we demonstrate, in the case of each, that they are important to us and that their role in helping us achieve our economic and societal missions is genuinely valued?

What policies, practices and contingencies need to be put in place to ensure that issues or lapses in ethical (including environmental) standards are promptly reported upwards and acted upon , and that all involved parties are communicated with in an honest, professional and timely manner?

To ensure consistency and a sustained effort, make someone at a senior management level responsible (creating a new role, if your organisation is of a size to justify it) to direct and preside over these initiatives, and to report regularly and comprehensively upon them to your board of directors.

THINK AND WIN BIDS

Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Book)

The three fundamental skills of a genuinely sharp, sustainably successful bid professional are the ability to think, listen and ask quality questions.

THINK AND WIN BIDS

Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

(Six-Pack)

Ideal to ensure your entire team of writers and contributing subject matter experts are all on the same page, Think and Win Bids is offered as a six-pack (6 books for the price of 5).

TO BID OR NOT TO BID

(Training Program)

BEFORE THE CURTAIN FALLS

Optimising Prospect Meetings & Intel-Gathering Prior to Probity

(Training Program)

Sometimes - if not, often - the race is won before it starts.

COMING SOON

Pursuits Academy

How to Turn A Tender Evaluator Stone Cold: 'Pitch' Them

TO BID OR NOT TO BID

THE ART OF THE DEBRIEF

Four Key ‘Don’ts’ When Giving Shortlistee Presentations

Optimising Prospect Meetings & Intel-Gathering Prior to Probity

THE ART OF THE DEBRIEF ﻿

Aligning Bidding Priorities with Corporate Growth

COMING SOON

TO BID OR NOT TO BID

BEFORE THE CURTAIN FALLS

Optimising Prospect Meetings & Intel-Gathering Prior to Probity

9 Ways to Slash the Cost of Bidding

THINK AND WIN BIDS

Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

TO BID OR NOT TO BID

BEFORE THE CURTAIN FALLS Optimising Prospect Meetings & Intel-Gathering Prior to Probity

THE ART OF THE DEBRIEF

COMING SOON

BID COMMANDOS

On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

BEATING THE BIG BOYS AT BIDS

The Anatomy of Bid Strategy

THINK AND WIN BIDS Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

BID COMMANDOS On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

Improving the Written Articulation of Your Submissions

BID COMMANDOS

On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

THINK AND WIN BIDS

Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

Why You Should Take Cultural Alignment – and Misalignment – Seriously

THINK AND WIN BIDS:

Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

BEATING THE BIG BOYS AT BIDS

To Produce Top Quality Bids, Try Uni-Tasking Instead of Multi-Tasking

BID-WRITING LESSONS FROM THE WORLD'S GREATEST AUTHORS ﻿

THE BID WRITER'S STYLE & GRAMMAR GUIDE ﻿

In A ‘Too-Tight’ Timeframe, Use Individuals’ Strengths to Your Advantage

BEATING THE BIG BOYS AT BIDS

CRACKING THE VfM CODE IN COLLABORATIVE CONTRACT BIDDING

Value for Money . . . Understanding It & Articulating Your Ability to Deliver It

(Book)

Written specifically for the civil infrastructure sector and for contract types such as project alliancing, this book is relevant to any bidder seeking to demonstrate superior holistic value in their proposals.

The 13 Stages of Competent, Comprehensive Post-RFP-Release Bid Management

THINK AND WIN BIDS

Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

BID COMMANDOS

On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

How to Succeed with Export Bids

THINK AND WIN BIDS

Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

TO BID OR NOT TO BID

Thinking from the Client's Head: The Starting Point of Meaningful Differentiation

THINK AND WIN BIDS

Winning High-Stakes, High-Value Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

BEATING THE BIG BOYS AT BIDS

Are You A (Genuine) Solution Provider . . . Or A Software Spruiker?

TO BID OR NOT TO BID

BID COMMANDOS

On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

Facilities Management in the Mining Sector

CRACKING THE VfM CODE

How to Identify & Deliver Genuine Value for Money in Collaborative Contracting

CRACKING THE VfM CODE IN COLLABORATIVE CONTRACT BIDDING Value for Money . . . Understanding It & Articulating Your Ability to Deliver It

Big Reforms to NZ Public Works Act to 'Unleash Infrastructure Boom'

CRACKING THE VfM CODE

How to Identify & Deliver Genuine Value for Money in Collaborative Contracting

CRACKING THE VfM CODE IN COLLABORATIVE CONTRACT BIDDING

How to Convert Features Into Project-Relevant Benefits

HOW TO INNOVATE IN BIDS

CRACKING THE VfM CODE IN COLLABORATIVE CONTRACT BIDDING

VfM . . . Understanding It & Articulating Your Ability to Deliver It

Why You Should Take Cultural Alignment Seriously

BEATING THE BIG BOYS AT BIDS

TO BID OR NOT TO BID

Are You Ready for Your Section Authors to Start Writing?

BID COMMANDOS

On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

50 ESSENTIAL BID-WRITING TIPS

Must-Know Standards, Methods & Insights for Writing Compelling Bids, Tenders and Proposals

THE ART OF THE DEBRIEF

BEFORE THE CURTAIN FALLS
Optimising Prospect Meetings & Intel-Gathering Prior to Probity

THINK AND WIN BIDS
Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

BID COMMANDOS
On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

BID-WRITING LESSONS FROM THE WORLD'S GREATEST AUTHORS

THE BID WRITER'S STYLE & GRAMMAR GUIDE

CRACKING THE VfM CODE IN COLLABORATIVE CONTRACT BIDDING
Value for Money . . . Understanding It & Articulating Your Ability to Deliver It

50 ESSENTIAL BID-WRITING TIPS
Must-Know Standards, Methods & Insights for Writing Compelling Bids, Tenders and Proposals

CRACKING THE VfM CODE IN COLLABORATIVE CONTRACTING & BIDDING

THINK AND WIN BIDS
Winning High-Stakes, High-Value Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

BID COMMANDOS
On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

THINK AND WIN BIDS
Winning High-Value, High-Stakes Bids through Superior Questioning, Listening & Thinking Skills

BID COMMANDOS
On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

BID COMMANDOS
On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

BID-WRITING LESSONS FROM THE WORLD'S GREATEST AUTHORS

BID COMMANDOS
On-Target Strategy for Mission-Critical Bids

50 ESSENTIAL BID-WRITING TIPS
Must-Know Standards, Methods & Insights for Writing Compelling Bids, Tenders and Proposals

BID-WRITING LESSONS FROM THE WORLD'S GREATEST AUTHORS

TO BID OR NOT TO BID