4 person-hours. I had to think about that. Tried to be politically correct, huh? lol I appreciate that. I still grew up with “man-hours” so don’t worry about staunch femminism here.

Thank you so much for reading my blog and engaging in the conversation – I hope to see you back and commenting in the future!

Have a great day (and go catch some more small fish!)!

We have outstanding political connections in the Caribbean, but not really in North America. So, the energy that we’d spend chasing RFPs here may not be as productive as I’d hope. Hmmm . . .

I’m impressed, I don’t often encounter people who force me to have to think. Thanks!

For me, I actually steer completely clear of government bids and any public sector opportunities. It’s all a “who you know” game anyway, and I know that I’m not a member of the good old boys network. I’m good, but I’m not old and I’m not a boy. So two strikes – how much of a chance do *I* stand? YOU might be in a different position, though. But it’s really all in who you know and how well you leverage your political connections.

You said “Yeah, I could walk away but that gets me absolutely nothing.” I’ve felt that way… but, when I thought about how I’ve used the time that I COULD have spent on those RFPs that probably wouldn’t have resulted in anything anyway, and how I used it instead to focus on proactive business development, I know I’ve come out on top.

Does this make sense?

Public sector bids are entirely different. Much as I’d love to change their game, we’re powerless to do so. The only influence we have is pre-RFP, but this is increasingly coming under scrutiny. I agree with you that it makes no sense for anyone involved to use this approach. But, as I said earlier, if I don’t play by their rules I have no chance to win the business. Yeah, I could walk away but that gets me absolutely nothing. Any thoughts here?

If you don’t submit a proposal, you don’t get the chance. True. But you could very well spend hours and hours on a proposal only to be unaware of what points to stress and again – not be able to change the conversation and help educate the customer. What good is it if you don’t know their deciding factors (tho sometimes they’re included in the RFP, but not often)? You could emphasize price when they really want to see testimonials more than anything else.

Additionally, I believe you have to be willing to walk away from some business in order to get the best clients. Answer me this, Mickey – WHY would you like their business if they won’t meet with you and you don’t even know who they are? Just because there’s money at the end of it?

I believe in the dual interview process, not the one-sided. Meaning – they’re interviewing me, and I’m interviewing them too. You end up with a better working relationship this way, actually.

I wonder if perhaps the reason you’ve had trouble getting issuers to meet with you was because of your approach, not because of what you wanted to do. Could that be a possibility? I’m asking – not suggesting. I know that my approach was WAY off about 5 years ago and I never got people to meet with me. Now I do. It’s all in how I ask that made the difference.

Some advice I frequently give out: “the one that holds all the power in the relationship is the one that’s not afraid to walk away.” I think it applies here (at least for me).

What do you think?

So, what do we do? I’d like their business and if I don’t play by their rules I have no chance to win it.

I agree with the second part, but regarding the first part, I have experienced instances where they’re not using SOLELY using price as the baseline – sometimes they want to see how well someone knows how to follow instructions, and how much razzle dazzle they can pack into a written document. But price is often a big comparative point. Unfairly – again, because you can’t compare apples to apples!!

Regarding the second part – I can’t agree more – and it applies all over the place!! Never let your expertise become a commodity! Well said Jenn!

Another key point is that I feel that submitting a proposal based on a RFP, they are just competing on price which is something my business never does. Never let your business expertise become a commodity.

Just my 2 cents!

~ Jenn