I sit down with Josh Miles on the Professional Services Marketing Podcast to talk about strategies to position your firm ahead of the RFP.
Does the Competition Matter?
When you are putting together proposals, how much attention should you give your competitors? Does competition matter? Yes, but maybe not in the way you think it does. I share how you can do competitive analysis in the pre-proposal and proposal phase and provide a template to get you started.
How to Develop a Go/No Go Evaluation Process
I think that go/no go evaluations have a purpose, I just don’t want you to get hung on the process or a form. This article walks through why you need a go/no go evaluation, steps to develop a process and sample evaluation questions.
Three Steps to Find RFPs Before They Advertise
One of the common questions I get from marketing professionals is how to find RFPs (or potential projects) before the RFP is advertised. In this article, I am going to share some ways to find projects before they advertise. Read to the end to get a research template freebie.
Establishing Your Baselines: Sales
Before you can start your business and marketing goal setting, you should have a good understanding of where you are at today–your baselines. This article shares brief examples of sales (BD) baseline metrics to get you started.
Firm Growth Discussion Starters
Beyond the basic business development and pursuit update meetings, is your firm having regular higher-level strategic planning meetings? Meetings that focus not on the day-to-day or next big pursuit, but rather, on the growth of your firm. In this article, I share some questions to spur growth-focused discussions.
The Nuts & Bolts of Win Rates
Just like almost every other statistic, win rates can be an elusive and manipulated number. There are many factors that can be counted into or left out when calculating the win rate, it is very hard to compare your firm’s number with another firm and often one office’s win rate…
Communication Skills to Conquer “Highly Interactive Meetings”
If you’ve spent more than a week in A/E/C marketing, chances are you’ve been involved in a “highly interactive meeting.” You know the type. Eight people around a conference table. A loose agenda. Everyone has an opinion and expresses it loudly. Sidebar conversations taking place. Folks on their smartphones. It’s…
12 “Great” Reasons to Give a GO Decision for an RFP
I have must have sat in hundreds of Go/No-Go decision meetings and reviewed just as many Go/No-Go submission forms over my decade in this industry. While they bring good discussion and heated debates, there has been a theme to the pleas I get from Project Managers, Business Developers and Principals…
DIY Plans Part One: Business Development Plans
Crafting a business development plan for an A/E/C firm doesn’t have to be difficult. This article covers the basic outline and even provides you a template so you can begin today.