As per previous articles here, you will hear us say time and again that sponsorship of an approach where you look to position for opportunities far before they come out to tender is the single biggest determining factor in winning bids and proposals. There is nothing worse for a senior exec than sitting in a bid / no-bid or kick off meeting where everyone is clearly guessing what the client wants. You’re just going to waste a load of money bidding an opportunity you’ll likely never win. 

A key aspect of positioning is to research an opportunity thoroughly - understanding as much as possible about the prospect, the opportunity, and the environment surrounding it is vital to successful engagement.

Benefits of research

Researching is a skill in itself that is well worth developing in your business. It benefits us by:

• Supporting an informed bid decision – supporting win rate improvement through selectively bidding opportunities you could and should win

• Providing a basis for empathy with the client and their stakeholders – to aid our strategy and messaging, ensuring proposals meet or exceed the clients requirements and smooth any fears or concerns they may have

• Helping us understand what makes them tick and what’s important – helping  to demonstrate that you will be able to work well together

• Helping us to shape our communications and documents for the specific buyers and stakeholders – so the readers receive the right balance of weight of information, depth of detail, and level of visuals in your responses to suit their personal preferences.

Our top tips

1. try to understand the clients overall business drivers and the outcomes they desire from the service or product they are looking to procure

2. gain an understanding of their definition of what a good supplier or partner looks like

3. undertake some research on their key team members involved in the procurement and if they are an economic, emotional, or technical buyer

4. research any influencers over the client including any consultants and if there is a procurement function involved

5. gain an understanding of each key stakeholders levels of knowledge, capability and capacity, the key challenges or priorities they have in their role and for the opportunity

6. understand what their hot buttons are, concerns they may have and what their view is of added value is

7. get an idea of their perception of your organisation.

We are trying to build a picture of what is important to each of the people involved in the procurement and how they feel about your organisation. This information will be essential during the strategy phase should you continue to pursue the opportunity. Recent research suggests that there are now an average of seven people involved in making procurement decisions. It’s important that we understand as many of them as possible to deliver proposals that resonate. 

Internal Sources

We find that every organisation has a wealth of knowledge and insight that may remain untapped. Examples of internal sources of information can include

• people who work in your organisation who know or have worked for the client or your competitors, including your sales lead, delivery people and the wider leadership team beyond your sponsor

• any client account planning or capture documentation you have

• any previous documents or feedback on bids you have submitted to them in the past

External Sources

You may also wish to meet with external people who may be able to provide insight on the client. This may include:

• previous or similar clients

• relevant connected consultants

• supply chain members who work with the client

• and any publicly available information such as annual reports, articles or credit reports.

Jeremy Brim

Jeremy has a portfolio career as a Non-Exec, Growth Consultant, Capture Specialist and a Global APMP Accredited Proposals Trainer.

He brings 20 years of experience as a work winning and bid management professional across both the public and private sectors. He’s led successful bid functions spanning professional services, outsourcing and construction, where he was Head of Construction Bids at Mace. He has secured an enviable collection of high-profile projects, programmes and frameworks with blue chip clients around the globe.

He now leads Growth Ignition – a consulting, training and enabling tech firm. They’re on a mission to help clients maximise sustainable growth and focus their spend by joining the dots from marketing, through to initiatives in account management, capture and pursuit.

In October 2018 he also picked up the leadership of the bid toolkit – a unique APMP accredited simple step by step online bid process and guide, with integrated learning content and tools to download.

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