Shipley Asia Pacific

Article – Deepen customer focus by examining the worlds they inhabit

Customer focus is central to effective Capture Planning and execution, and subsequent proposal or bid planning and execution. Across the Shipley BD-Lifecycle – adopted by many leading businesses as their Business Development (BD) process framework – many Shipley clients work with us to assess the changing context in which they take key BD steps. For

Tip 114 – Allow time for proposal quality control

Allow time for proposal quality control – schedule backwards from the drop-dead date Late proposals are usually eliminated, but last minute proposals usually contain errors that the team has not had time to fix. Avoid squeezing essential proposal quality checking tasks by developing your proposal schedule backwards from the submission date. Allow time for layout

Article – To get your team to embrace change, emphasise what will remain the same

Is your team: *Trying to bridge the sales to winning bids gap? *Having good sales conversations that are not translating into winning business? It is most likely because of a Business Development process gap between the two. New research recently published in the Academy of Management Journal adds a logical nuance to bringing teams along

Tip 113 – Don’t tell the customer how you feel. Tell them how you can make them feel.

Sales or sales support professionals use clichés to open or close sales documents out of habit and convenience. Many of these clichés are seller-focused – hence the writer thinks they can be applied in any proposal. “Global Corporation is pleased to have the opportunity to present this proposal.” “We recognise the importance to you of

Article – Trust > Competence

In managing customer interactions, it’s critical that you earn trust. It’s less important to demonstrate capability. Think about that next time you’re planning a client meeting. Is what you are saying establishing trust? To read the article by Jenna Goudreau click here

Article – The Power of a Positive No

The famous book on negotiation ‘Getting to Yes’ by Harvard negotiation guru William Ury, has since been replaced by his latest book “The Power of a Positive No.” Why? Because Ury found many misunderstood the point Vamos made in his advice. Being liked and winning are not the same thing. Winning and being respected are

Tip 112 – Could you double your win rate with better bid/no bid decisions?

Improving your bid decision gate discipline is one of the most effective ways to improve win rates. While earlier decisions should ensure that opportunities fit with your strategic direction and capability, use the bid decision to verify you are positioned to win before committing to a proposal. After spending time and money on positioning activities,

Tip 111 – Claim the customer’s trust by using active voice to convey confidence

Proposals written in strong, clear language are more effective. Customers may be put off by a message delivered in passive voice in which responsibilities have not been clearly allocated. (See what I did there?) The active voice construction accepts responsibility, giving the sentence greater clarity, emphasis and credibility. The most important reason to use

Tip 110 – Don’t ignore project risks – analyse and discuss them

When pursuing opportunities, many selling organisations actively avoid discussing risk with their clients because they believe this is a negative conversation. But customers know every offer entails risk; the best practice is to explicitly discuss how the risk in your offer will be managed. Offer an evaluation of and mitigations for proposal risk:

Tip 109 – Develop outlines for unsolicited proposals collaboratively with the customer

When you do not have a formal bid request, identify the customer’s requirements collaboratively in meetings and phone calls. Cross-check against any other available information such as past proposals to the same customer, and intelligence sources. List the requirements as you understand them and confirm your list with the customer before preparing/submitting the proposal.

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