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PM Forum – Leeds
Playing to win - Learning how to score on pitches and tenders
Peter Rush provided a 60 minute presentation which provided the basis for:
- What makes a winning tender
- Why some teams are constantly more successful than others
- What skills are needed to win and how you build on those skills
- How many marketing professionals and fee earners can best support each other
- How to develop winning teams through tendering
- How to build your brand through tendering
Peter kicked off the presentation by grabbing our attention through two attention grabbing statements, one correct and the other not - this was done to demonstrate the importance of grabbing your recipients attention to be able to communicate. The key message being "if you fail to grab attention, you fail to communicate".
Peter's no.1 rule is you must get the attention of the people you are working with and provide clarity about what you are about to do. Peter identified the following as key points to consider when planning your pitch:
- it is important to promote the brand, it is waste of time pitching if you fail to do this
- no matter how complex the content is - it needs to be simplified (he talked about the magic of three, for example communication, community, common). Be clear what the message is to the client
- need to consider how much time and money it is going to cost to pitch
- your exec summary needs to be written in a way which will sell your services before they have had a chance to read anything else, just as;
- the costing page needs to be clear, in that they don't need to read any additional pricing papers.
Peter talked about there being four building blocks to winning a pitch, these are:
- Relationships: have you got a relationship? - this will define the target's perception of you - the relationship needs to be as beautiful as to the business you are pitching for!
- Expertise: How deep is it? - proof and evidence - showcase this
- Mutual benefits: does the business suit your portfolio?
- Value for both parties: only tender if it is profitable, this led Peter on to talking about how professional services are bought based on "4 C's", which are:
- Competence
- Credibility (not what you say about yourself - but what other clients and opinion formers say)
- Cost/value
- Creativity
The following question was asked by a delegate: "often teams pitch where there is a low chance of winning, which is not in line with the organisation's strategy - how do you deal with this"
Peter explained that tenders must connect with the organisation's business development plans, 75% must be on the "must have" list an the rest would fall within the "nice to have" list. There would be a different level of response required dependant on which category the target falls within - for the "must haves" the response would be bespoke and tailored specific to the target. This is
in contrast to the "nice to have" where a ready made "off the shelf" pitch is more appropriate.
Another question was asked; "what was Peter's view of business development people being more involved in the pitch?".
Peter's opinion was that this should happen more and that the business development manager should be viewed as an integral part of the relationship. Another tool which Peter shared with us was taken from New Scientist - Science of Persuasion.
MASK is an acronym which stands for:
- Motivation: Why do you want the target's work? What motivates you? This has to be evident
- Attitude: Reveal your attitude in everything you do: your attitude towards risk your attitude towards the future your attitude towards cost
- Skills: How you demonstrate skills in the pitch
- Knowledge: Your chance to showcase this
Helen Beck
KPMG
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