Answer the question!

Next time you are watching a politician in a television interview, listen carefully to what questions are being asked and then evaluate whether they answered the question or not.
In many cases you'll find that they completely avoid the question and give an answer that reflects their party's policy.
 I've seen the same thing happen in tender submissions. People are so keen to get "their" message across they don't pay enough attention to what is being asked. Rule number 1 is "always answer the question".
The challenge is to answer it in such a way that the purchaser gets what they want; but that you do it so that it positions your organisation as the one that can meet all the requirements better than anyone else.

Less is more

I've lost count of the number of times I've been asked "how long should I make my submission?"
For an answer, I'll quote David Ogilvy the eminent ad man who was a renowned copywriter. People often asked him about Copy length - should it be 1 page, a few paragraphs, what's the magic number?
In answer, he said that copy length was irrelevant, "use as many words as it takes to get your message across. Not a word more or less!"
It's the same when you are preparing a response to a tender request (or other submission). Evaluators are driven insane when they are confronted with mountains of paper. Even worse if it is "marketing bumpf"! Concentrate first on deciding what message you are trying to convey - what do you think the potential client's ideal supplier looks like? Once you have decided that, then look at each question you are asked and answer it making sure you reinforce your 'message' with every answer.
Too many words will hide the 'value' you are presenting, and too few will mean you haven't provided enough evidence to justify the message.
Tell me what you're offering; what the advantage is for me; and give me some proof of what you say.

Think differently about what you have

I used to teach a services marketing class at university and one day we were discussing Lovelock’s flower analogy where the core service is surrounded by supplementary petals. Someone asked what was more important – the core or supplementary elements of a service?

Of course, the obvious answer is that it’s the whole flower that has the value. Without the petals the core itself is not that attractive. Yes you have to deliver on your core service but it is often the way you arrange the supplementary elements that delivers true value for your customers.

Often when people are putting bids together they spend too much time (and space in the document) focusing on the core and not enough on the added-value they bring to the table (petals). When you are evaluating tender submissions from 50 companies you have a general expectation that most will be able to deliver on the core requirements so you look for people who can do it better, faster, smarter and the best price and minimum overall risk.

It’s not so much what those supplementary elements are, but the different combinations of them that can personalise the brand experience for the purchasing organisation.

Looking for a competitive advantage? Why not experiment with different combinations of petals. You could come up with something new just by thinking differently about what you have.

How to win tenders

I recently chaired the How to Win Tenders Summit in Sydney (organised by Association and Communication Events). The range of speakers was excellent and while most provided welcome reinforcement of key concepts in tendering, there were a few gems that I resolved to pay more attention to in future:

• Toby Travanner (www.tobytravanner.com) reinforced the need to "get clients to sell themselves". If you use your submission to show how different (in ways that add value in the clients' mind) you are, the client will become more engaged and actively look for reasons to work with you rather than looking for reasons not to!
• Virginia Loyola (Business Events Sydney) reminded me of the importance of knowing who will make the decision and how they will do it. This is particularly important when there is a panel involved. Does your submission appeal to the technical expert as well as the financial expert?
• Judy Hurditch (Intermedium) spoke about the importance of "writing in the language of government" when responding to requests from public bodies. She also talked about the 3 Pillars of Procurement that government organisations look at in evaluation: whole of life cost; degree of risk; fit to requirements. Make sure in your next submission you make an honest self assessment of how you stack up against each of them!

Highlighting VALUE in your next submission

When making a submission or responding to a tender, it's easy to answer all the questions but fail to show the real VALUE in your offer.
I was reminded of this when I recently, took a week’s holiday on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. We stayed at some holiday apartments (of reasonable quality) overlooking the beach. On arriving in our apartment, we found there was less than half a roll of toilet paper; enough dishwashing liquid for one wash; and one small soap each. The owners had presumed that everyone who came to the apartments did so on the basis of price (and that was the sole value driver in the relationship); and further more, if we had gone to the property down the road the situation would have been the same. Okay, so they have to be competitive in a very tight market; but they missed an opportunity to make us very satisfied (at no extra cost) and we would have not only used them again, but recommended them to our friends.
So, what could they have done?
On arrival, they could have given us a “welcome” note or card which explained the apartment philosophy (especially how it differs in service level to a hotel/motel) and offered to sell a pack of “emergency rations” to save us having to go to a supermarket and buy (relatively large) packets of washing powder etc.This wouldn’t have cost them anything; and, in fact they could make money on the ration packs at the same time as making us satisfied. If only they had understood that “convenience” was a value driver for us (and I would suspect, for quite a large number of their customers)!
So, back to your submission – have you made it obvious what additional VALUE you are bringing to the table? Does your Executive Summary say why you are different to everyone else? Are you telling a good story?
Give the purchaser more reasons to deal with you rather than your competitors.

Loyalty in tough times

Loyalty for marketers is the Holy Grail. Problem is, how do you make money from it? In an attempt to find a way, I researched and developed a Model that can help drive your strategy.

The Brand Alignment Model came out of an in-depth research project on customer loyalty. In discussing the Model with senior executives in a range of companies, it became very clear that building customer loyalty was a key value driver in all their businesses. And not just loyalty per se - the important thing is to manage the relationship to best meet the needs of the customer and the company.

As one of them said, “it’s 5 years before they are going to make another purchase, which is good and bad. We’ve got 5 years to move them up the pyramid; but we’ve also got plenty of opportunity to stuff it up. That means we have to keep in touch with them and try to keep them satisfied and try to involve them more.”

We have published the results of the study, together with insights gleaned from seasoned marketers, plus an outline of how to work with the Model, in a book entitled Customer Savvy. The book is the first title in our Business Bites series which aims to present mission critical information in a concise actionable format. Copies are available for $19.95 from www.tenderlink.com/notification (click the Workshop button).