We bidding professionals tend to easily spiral towards the negative and feel the world is against us, with SMEs letting us down and clients asking too much of us in too little time. I’m trying my best of late to be positive, so let’s see if we can look for solutions in what comes next.
It’s not unusual for me to end up in some tussles on LinkedIn with others in our discipline or those on the other side in procurement. I feel it important to stand up for our discipline, and particularly our early careers people. One in particular this year really irked me.
I had an interaction with a procurement lawyer whose post stated they specifically guide their public sector clients to give as little feedback on tenders as possible. As a taxpayer, I was appalled. They also later guided their clients to group together procurement notices under the new Procurement Act rather than breaking them out per opportunity. Just poor.
Most of us in the work winning game actually really care about delivering outcomes for clients and their communities. We can see the tremendous value our organisations can deliver if given the right environment. We need to continually improve to drive greater value for stakeholders – with feedback on bids being a key building block.
In my response to the lawyer’s post, I mentioned that I guide my clients to deselect contracting authorities who do not provide decent feedback. If they can’t be bothered to help us improve – what are they going to be like to work with?
Around 80% of a company’s margins come from just 20% of their clients. These tend to be clients who engage early, collaborate constructively and provide an environment where maximum value can be delivered. We are simply asking for a share of that value in return. Contracts awarded solely on price in a cold competitive tender with standoff-ish clients can result in less favourable outcomes for both sides. Client behaviours and maturity in engagement and procurement are a key factor in overall success.
So, what can we do? We can conduct market research to understand where the opportunities will be and profile the clients in those spaces who provide the best journey to delivering value. We can look at our client portfolio and identify where we get the best returns and the best experience for our people. We can review previous procurements to assess who we should be targeting to deliver at our best and where we can create the best environment for our people. Then we can get ahead of key opportunities with capture to guide clients on how to approach good procurement for the best outcomes for all.
Top comments (0)