From time-to-time I’m asked to review an organisation’s bid management and business development operation. As the business development divisions differ in size and effectiveness the type of work involved in performing a diagnostic varies.
What are the reasons for the bid management process reviews?
There can by any number of reasons, but they usually fall into any one of the following categories:
1. Loss of a contract
This is the most common. It can be painful for the organisation involved. More often than not they are blindsided and completely gobsmacked by the result. I often arrive in the door to find a team in shock and involved in a heap of navel gazing, recrimination and petty score settling.
2. Losing out on a potential acquisition
Most sales people will be familiar with this one. The company leadership invests a lot of energy and resource into trying to win a strategically-important opportunity. Missing out here can be as bad emotionally as losing a renewal.
3. A Bad Run
The team could be in the middle of a bad run of losses. This happens in a market economy, and no one is immune to it. There’s a reason why the others are called “the competition”.
4. Staying ahead of the game
This is less common, but I’ve had a few. A bit of healthy paranoia goes a long way to future-proofing your team and making sure that you win your share of business.
What are your options if you want to perform a review?
I have three:
1. The Free Health Check
If you don’t have a budget and want to get an idea of where you have issues why not check out this business development health check. You’ll answer 21 questions and receive a simple report with tailored insights into your business development process.
2. The Quick Dip
More often than not it doesn’t take more than a teaspoon to work out if there is too much salt in a bowl of soup. This option takes no more than a day. It involves me visiting you onsite, reviewing – at a high level – a number of your submissions, interviewing a number of the principal members of your business development team and presenting my diagnosis and recommendations at the end of the day. This is enough for most organisations as I’ll be able to identify the real issues there and then.
3. The Deep Dive
This is an in-depth deep dive and is appropriate for organisations who want to run an open and transparent review and where there can be a lot riding politically on the outcome. It involves a detailed review of an adequate number of submissions across range of criteria. This takes time. It also involves detailed interviews with primary members of the business development team as well as notable internal and external stakeholders. The output is a detailed report which documents my findings and recommendations. You can find more detailed information on the process involved in this article.
What now?
If you would like to know more about each option why not read this article about the step-by-step process involved or click on the link below the arrange a chat.
