Today’s edition of Whale Hunters Wisdom, our biweekly newsletter, features an article on how to win a new contract when you are the incumbent. There are advantages to incumbency but also particular risks. The sales and business development process to re-bid for a current client needs special attention in your company. Because you are an […]
Whale Hunters know that big sales require teamwork, whether these are RFP responses or face-to-face sales presentations or statements of work. But do your capture teams know how to work fast, efficiently, and effectively–that is, to WIN most of the time? The latest issue of Whale Hunters Wisdom identifies and explains the seven skills that […]
I have been working with a client team going after a big RFP project for the federal government. They are an incumbent provider already doing much of the work that is being bid out. We found that incumbency, while it offers huge advantages, also poses risks for the incumbent when it comes to the win […]
One of the toughest ways to make a sale is through a written response to a Request for Proposals (RFP). But it’s a skill your team should acquire if you don’t already have it. Federal stimulus money is becoming available for every kind of service and some products, and most of it will be awarded […]
Famous quote from British author E. M. Forster — “only connect . . . the prose and the passion . . .” It speaks volumes for RFP writing and is a key component in RFP training–how to make your written proposal more powerful by forging the link between what the prospective customer wants (the prose) and what […]
For those of you who sell sometimes, often, or always through the RFP writing process, I’ve written a new eBook, available for download through our website www.thewhalehunters.com. It was my intent to focus on corporate RFP writing, which is typically accomplished by a team of contributors. The book will guide you in how to manage […]
Andrew Grove’s book Only the Paranoid Survive, published in 1999 while he was CEO of Intel, taught me a lot that keeps coming back to me in the midst of today’s economic woes. Grove was not about you and me or even him being paranoid–rather he urged that companies cultivate a paranoid world view alongside their more optimistic […]
In the last few weeks, I’ve consulted with clients on about a dozen RFP and RFI proposals. The art of business proposal writing is becoming more important even as it becomes more elusive to entrepreneurs and sales teams. I will write a series of blogs and newsletters on this topic in the coming weeks. Today’s […]
I wrote a newsletter today about a feature of the RFP (Request for Proposals) process: it’s on the topic of the Open Meeting won’t repeat it here–you can check it out online if it’s a keen topic for you. Do you have sometimes have to sell by submitting an RFP? And if so, do you have a corporate […]