When you are bidding for work…

I help my clients find good suppliers for their IT needs. Usually that involves asking a range of suppliers to submit a proposal by a deadline so that they can be assessed. Here’s some free advice to anyone submitting proposals to potential clients, based on my own experience.

• Get the proposal submitted by the deadline stated. I find it incredible (literally, I find it unbelievable) the number of times that a submission deadline is missed. Or the electronic version is submitted on time but the paper copy is not. We have set aside time to read and assess your proposal, respecting the work that you have put into it. Missing the deadline does not respect our time – we’re busy too!
• If you use standard proposals or formats, do make sure you have removed all references to other clients. How hard is “Find & Replace”? Clients are insulted if the name of the company is wrong. They can also be offended if you mis-spell it. Or if you use acronyms where they do not – a common mistake, and it particularly upsets clients if they have taken the trouble to send their brand guidelines which explicitly state that they NEVER use the initials of the organisation. It’s even worse if you use the wrong acronym (I’m not kidding – a recent proposal used the wrong three-letter acronym throughout, thereby compounding the felony!).
• It’s a good idea to follow any explicit instructions. If the brief says “please respond to every stated requirement”, it’s not good enough to write an essay on the excellence of your web development or design skills. If we’ve taken the trouble to write down what the client wants, it’s courteous to respond explicitly and say whether or not you can deliver them.

If you ignore these basics, you can expect potential clients to be underwhelmed by your proposal, making it harder for you to be chosen as their supplier!