BETTER THAN A BULL’S EYE
on bids that are more likely to go to contract and can allow us the margins we need to provide the end user with an end result that will meet their expectations. “The difference between a successful bid and non-successful one is looking back and being able to say that you bid the right price and you made money on the job,” Newman says. “Winning a bid to lose money is not a success story.” Sawaya also advises walking away from projects that don’t let you meet your margins. “Integrators should know their breakeven margin (zero profit) with good confidence and work their numbers from there. In lean times, you might want to win projects with minimal or no profit to keep your key people (employees) and cover your over- head. But, you should never, ever go below your breakeven margin. Second, as an integrator, you have to look at your edge in winning a bid such as better pricing, value engineering, and if you don’t have one walk away,” Sawaya suggests. Newman recommends the same approach: emphasize your strengths in the bid. “Integrators should first look at their own com-
pany and develop a list of strengths. This may be limited distribution products, experience in a particular niche market, geographic locations, or anything else that separates you from others. Once you have determined these strengths, focus your attention on projects that play to those strengths.” In addition to ensuring that the bid lets you protect your margins and play to your strengths, Larson advises taking a long look at your odds of winning — and use data to back up your decision. “Honestly pre-qualify the bid and only bid if it is right for your organization and you know you have at least a 50 percent and more likely a 70 percent chance of winning,” Larson says. “Bidding requires a lot of time from high level resources and you may not get the job. “You need to know your organization, know where you are successful and what makes you successful in that sales arena. You need statistics at your fingertips to show you where your sales have come from over the last five years, what has changed over the last two years, what has been hap- pening in the last six months, how things are going now and how sales are projecting for the next 30, 60, 90 days and beyond. “You need data by sales region, office, manager and sales person. Once you have data at your fin- gertips, you and your team can make more efficient and much smarter decisions in terms of the sales to go after. The smartest and best sales people out there
72 October 2010
have many qualities — one of them is knowing what to go after and what to pass on. Time is extremely valuable, and wasting time, effort and company resources on bidding projects you do not have a decent shot at winning is simply not effective.” So you’ve considered your margins, decided the project plays to your strengths and you have a strong chance of winning, and you decide to bid. One final area to target in your bids? The final
“Integrators should know their breakeven margin (zero profit) with good confidence and work their numbers from there.”
presentation of the bids — it counts. No, I’m not just talking about pretty graphs and the right ink color palette. How you put the information on the paper — is it easy to read, what information are you including, how are you organizing the information (charts, graphs, spreadsheets?) — makes it possible for those reviewing your bid to understand, and more importantly, respect your bid.
Larson advises, “The presentation of the project — accurate and complete equipment lists; accurate and complete layout of labor types, hours and rates; a breakout of numbers for each system type; a breakout of warranty and maintenance numbers; a breakout of taxes and additional items such as pay- ment and performance bonds, additional insurance, etc. will be required,” Larson says. “The way you present your company is crucial. “Each breakout and presentation is critical as
they will be used to level each bidder and to negoti- ate the final winner. Strategy in presentation while illustrating that you know the job best and will bring the right team to the project as well as provid- ing ongoing support is critical.” As Rehil describes it, presentation elevates your bid from mere paper. “When you break it down, all you are handing your prospect is just a piece of paper. That is your deliverable,” Rehil says. “If you want to win, your proposal should stand out from the other proposals in the client’s pile. The content and presentation of your proposal should clearly announce that you are the best bid and the best company. It should invoke confidence and demonstrate why the client should pay more for your company.” When you do that, you’ve hit the center of the
bull’s eye. ■
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