Co-opetition: if you can’t beat them, should you join them?
Co-opetition or ‘competitive collaborations’ are alliances formed between direct and sometimes indirect competitors. The term co-opetition is used by management academics and economists to describe the phenomenon of ‘competing without having to kill the opposition and co-operating without having to ignore self-interest’. You can think of co-opetition as a sort of ‘if you can’t beat […]
Continue ReadingHow to interview subject matter experts (SMEs) at tender time
SMEs – that’s ‘subject matter experts’ (rather than ‘small-to-medium enterprises’) – can be great to work with (as can small-to-medium enterprises!) on a tender. However, sometimes in the heat of a deadline SME input to a tender can become lost in translation (or worse left out). We’ve talked before about how specifics sell, and that’s […]
Continue ReadingBreaking up with a client
Breaking up is hard to do. Especially when you’re considering a break up with a client in the professional services context. Many professionals spend so much time winning or delivering client work that they don’t take time to think about the quality of their service relationships. The arrangement may work for the client, but does […]
Continue ReadingLeveraging a tender, bid or proposal win – get (more than) your fair share
Because so many corporate and government clients appoint multiple firms to provide their professional services, winning a place on a formal panel is only a preliminary to getting the client work you really want. And when multi-provider appointments are informal, it’s even more important to drive workflow in your direction. Steps to getting more than […]
Continue ReadingWhy will a client accept your tender, bid or proposal? More key selling arguments
When it comes to key selling arguments for your professional services tenders, bids and proposals it can be hard to distil down precisely the benefits you bring and the value you offer. Here some questions and tips to help you strategically work through what it is exactly you are offering clients in your tenders, bids […]
Continue ReadingUnderstanding buyer perspectives in professional services
While each consumer of expert professional services has a unique set of preferences driving their buying behaviour, various groups or “clusters” of consumers share common characteristics. To forecast likely buying behaviour (and tailor your tender, bid or proposal pitch accordingly) consider these factors. Organisation type and size Public sector, large corporates, private companies, small business, […]
Continue Reading14 tender trends impacting tenders, bids & proposals and the trends that are here to stay
JMA has prepared a guide to the top 14 professional services tender, bid and proposal trends we have observed emerging in the last couple of years. Some trends are positive, others more challenging and for the most part, for better or worse, these 14 tender, bid & proposal trends are now firmly here to stay. […]
Continue ReadingFour (more) simple tender writing tips for success
Following on from our popular blog on Three simple tender writing tips for success here are four more to keep in mind: #1 Don’t be indecisive Make early, clear-cut decisions on the scope of your bid – this may include choosing areas or categories you will bid for, as well as nominating team members. Late […]
Continue ReadingSame-same, but different – Best practice for recycling boilerplate tender, bid & proposal content
I once had a client say he wanted to do ‘fresh writing’ for the entirety of content in every single tender, bid and proposal response. That’s right…every time…every bid…100% written from scratch. Unsurprisingly the ‘fresh writing’ diktat put considerable extra pressure on his already frazzled team and didn’t help his firm’s win rate. When it […]
Continue ReadingLost proposals…was your price really too high?
For many prospective clients, the fastest and easiest way to tell you that they’re not proceeding with your proposal, tender or bid is to say “sorry – the price is too high”. Sometimes this is the entire story. Other times, it is simply a quick way to avoid saying what’s really the problem – […]
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Feature article
Tender readability – tips to improve your tender presentation and some tender presentation no-nos
Tender readability remains a problem for some in the 21st century. I still see submission documents that cling to a handful of really old hat tender presentation and formatting techniques. I suspect this is because some of these ‘rules’ are viewed as being more appropriate to a ‘formal’ style of document such as a tender. […]
