EPILOGUE
Once upon a time, I worked with an ambitious, hard-nosed corporate finance partner called Laura. She was a tough operator, both with her clients and internally, but she won every tender she went for.
One day we were chatting about a bid and she came out with something that shocked me:
“You know, Scott, this may surprise you, but the key to winning tenders is showing your clients love.”
My face must have been a picture because she laughed, then explained:
“I know, it sounds a bit New Agey, doesn’t it? Don’t get me wrong. Price, method, approach, all the techie stuff has to be right, but the more deeply you care about your client, their business and their success, the more they’ll love you back.
“Also, it’s a funny thing, but the deeper you care, the more of yourself and your creativity you invest in the bid. When that happens, you’ll find that innovative solutions to their problems just come to you, almost without trying.
“But when your heart’s not in it and you just go through the motions, you produce a response that’s functional and lifeless – and the client reacts accordingly. It’s like anything else in life: you get out what you put in.”
She paused briefly, as if summoning her vast experience.
“Of course, you can do all that… and you still might not win. It’s a buyer’s market; there are no guarantees. But if you have a genuine desire to communicate with the client and truly help them, you’ll shorten the odds big-time.”
When I consider the range of knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to be good at bids…
When I consider the skill needed to blend project management with internal consulting…
When I consider the persistence, patience and perceptiveness needed to take a bid to the next level…
When I consider what it takes to get the client to choose you above all other bidders…
When I consider how hard it can be to sit up all night with your bid colleagues and still smile in the morning…
When I recall how wonderful it is to hear that the client has awarded you the contract…
When I consider all this – whether you’re a novice bid executive, a midcareer bid manager or a seasoned bid director – wherever you are in the world, I salute you.
To close, I’m moved to recall the words of Vince Lombardi, the flamboyant, perfectionist Head Coach and General Manager of the Green Bay Packers American football team in the 1960s, who had the Super Bowl trophy named after him when he died:
“WINNING
ISN’T EVERYTHING.
IT’S THE
ONLY THING!”