When the evaluators have finished your proposal, you want them to turn to each other and say: they’re brilliant, we should go with them – and to have a clear, consistent view of “why” that is. And then on to the pitch…

Jon quotes the CEO he’s worked with many times, who always comments: I want to walk into the presentation first of three, not one of three.”

Obliviously the proposal and presentation need to align. Jon shared a story of a pitch from his days in procurement many years ago, where there was no mention of the key part from the proposal. At the end of the presentation, he asked the first question: “Thank you. That was great. I just wondered how you were going to achieve the commitment in the last line of your executive summary.”

And the bidding team looked panicked, as they turned to the relevant page and saw:“We guarantee that, if you choose us, you will achieve your 30% reduction in total cost of ownership target”.So preparation and rehearsal are key. As Jon says: “I’m at my most spontaneous when I’m at most prepared.”

And this is even more important in the middle of a pandemic, when presentations are online. Jon quoted one of his good friends, a brilliant proposal professional called Nigel Hudson, who observed recently that it’s now more a case that:

“People buy from people they know, like… and have never met.” How important is it to have a no bid policy and qualifying out?Rob shared a story where, out of the blue, he received an RFP for a large company they wanted to secure. But they had no relationship.

They took the tough decision to no bid when access to economic buyers was denied. After he and his team had explaining the rationale, they opened up access and within a few weeks won the contract. When you no bid it can create panic in the buyers!

Jon entirely agrees. It’s important not to chase deals where you have no realistic chance of success. But a flaw in most “bid / no bid” processes is that they never really think through how a “no bid” could be done well – to enhance your credibility with the customer.Final insight on renewal proposals, in the current market:

It’s worth asking yourself whether buyers really want to go through the painful tender and change process at the moment. Gathering the stakeholders together remotely to agree requirements, evaluate proposals. Implementing new solutions in the middle of a pandemic if it’s not strictly necessary to do so.

So Jon argues that where you’re the incumbent, with a contract that’s due to expire (say) this time next year, you need to paint a picture for the client of what it will look like if we continue to stay friends – and thus avoid them going to competitive tender? The most successful bid teams are spending more and more effort on renewal proposals, not waiting for RFPs to land.

Key takeaways:

· The need to know whether this is business you actual want? Qualify, qualify, qualify.· The need for a compelling story: frame it first so you are people they want to go with.· Take the Spice Girls approach to proposals – give the customer what they want, what they really, really want!

If you have found this podcast valuable, please review, re-share and pass onto a work colleague or someone within your network whom it could help at this stage of their career.

To discover exclusive content for our community, go to https://www.enterprisesalesclub.com.