We Came in 19th Out of 20!

A client of ours submitted a proposal for the “AnyCity” small community library. They weren’t shortlisted, and in fact came in 19th out of 20. A few months later, when the firm retained us, I asked to look at the submission. My conclusion: every “Don’t” they “Did.”

1. They responded to a blind solicitation. They pulled the RFP off of a list serve, decided they “met the qualifications” and submitted. This rarely works. In today’s competitive environment, there are a number of firms that “meet the criteria.” Clients like AnyCity mitigate their risk by selecting firms they know, or have a relationship with. That brings me to the second problem:
2. They had no relationship to AnyCity. That meant that in their proposal they could not define what made them uniquely qualified in their understanding of AnyCity’s library needs or its issues and concerns. Most clients don’t want to take a risk on a firm that they don’t know; let alone on one that doesn’t know them.
3. They didn’t have relevant project experience.Yes, they had done a library project before, but that was a TI of a smaller library, not a new building. Without starting advantages, they couldn’t compete against larger multi-office firms with expansive portfolios bottom feeding for smaller projects. They needed to show a strong correlation to work they had completed. It’s a tough sell, especially if you don’t know the client.
4. The visual quality was abominable. There, I said it. In the age of more work and less time, clients want to be entertained. They want to be swept up into the proposal that you’ve presented for their reviewing pleasure—especially since that viewing pleasure is taking place more and more on their “off time.” Proposals don’t need to be glossy covered books, but their graphic layout and design must engage the reader. Getting your document read is step one. Taking the headers of the solicitation and responding with dense, narrative paragraphs is not a winning approach.

These types of mistakes are costly and avoidable: costly in the sense that to produce the proposal cost about $10K in manpower; avoidable in the sense that the same $10K can and should be invested in pre-selling to clients. That $10K investment in pre-selling would automatically eliminate three of the four mistakes made above!

Karen Compton, CPSM. Karen Compton is principal of A3K Consulting (Glendale, CA), a business development and strategic planning firm specializing in the architecture, engineering and construction industries. Ms. Compton is also the founder of Industry Speaks™, a web-based business-to-business portal that connects AEC firms with experienced consultants, provides peer reviews of consultants, reports on key industry trends, and publishes expert reviews of professional courses and books. Contact her at kcompton@a3kconsulting.com.