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SOQ's and Proposals Are Table Stakes

3/9/2023

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Submitting a statement of qualifications (SOQ) for a project is table stakes. It is easy to believe what we write and present in an SOQ is what wins the project. It is not! The SOQ/proposal is the minimum entry requirement for the right to compete for the project. So where exactly does an SOQ/proposal fit into the sales process? How much weight does it really have in the final selection of a firm?

Here are the most important factors that determine a project win.
  1. Do we have a relationship with the client and is that relationship current? By current, I mean have you spoken with the client in the past 1-3 months?
  2. Did we know about the project before the RFQ? If yes, the odds of winning go up dramatically. If no, the odds of winning go down . . . DRAMATICALLY!
  3. Do we have past projects with the client that were successful?

Notice that the three most important factors to winning a project have little to do with the SOQ/proposal. By the time the client is reading our submission, they should know who we are and trust us. The SOQ/proposal is the final step (besides a shortlist and interview) that should seal the deal. The data we provide in an SOQ/proposal should be justification for the client selection committee to select us.

What an SOQ is NOT! An SOQ is not . . .
  1.  a sales pitch,
  2. a way to introduce your firm,
  3. marketing collateral to get a client to notice you,
  4. a business obligation because you received an RFQ/RFP,
  5. an excuse to make up for poor business development or client nurturing.
So, the next time you receive an RFQ/RFP by surprise from a client you do not know, think seriously before pursuing it. Let’s put our best efforts into proposals where we know the client, have a good relationship and have a high probability of winning!
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Five Reasons I Can't Say, "No!"

1/31/2023

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You are on your way to a conference to enjoy a few days of networking and training. You are excited to be away from the office for a few days to soak in new ideas and find inspiration to keep doing your job. You get checked into the hotel and start making some new friends.

Your cell phone buzzes. You ignore it.

It dings and buzzes again. You keep trying to ignore it.

Finally, you take a moment to check your phone and discover an email notification of an RFP your boss wants you to look at. You see a text from your boss asking if you got her email. As you open the email you get a phone call. It's your boss wondering why you haven't answered your email or text.

You explain that you were just reading the email when she called. She frantically explains the proposal is due in 5 days. We have to respond to this. Can you work on it at your conference?

You are deflated. You realize every spare moment you have will be spent putting together a rushed proposal. No networking. No extra time discussing marketing issues with colleagues. No downtime to just enjoy being out of the office.

Why can't I say, "No?"
Many A/E/C marketers ask themselves this question regularly. We get unreasonable requests that ignore who we are and what we were hired to do. So why can't we say "No" when it would be perfectly appropriate to say "No?"

There are several reasons why most A/E/C marketers cannot say, "No."
  1. We are a people-pleasers. By nature, most marketing professionals have a people-pleasing personality. We want people to like us. We want our supervisors and colleagues to think we are all-stars and can magically perform whenever called upon. While this level of performance is possible, it is not sustainable.
  2. We think we are on the bottom rung of authority. In this industry, the billable employees are the top rung, and the overhead employees are the bottom rung. This will remain true unless you challenge it.
  3. We are afraid of losing our job. Face it! You still make decisions based in fear. Fear of losing your job keeps you from developing into a real leader. You are partially right. Some supervisors will fire you if you are not a "yes sir" kind of employee. So, you have to ask yourself, "Do I want to work for a company that undervalues me and will not allow me to exercise marketing leadership?"
  4. We don't value how marketing can improve the company's bottom line and growth trajectory. We allow ourselves to be pigeonholed into nothing more than a proposal coordinator. Meanwhile all our great marketing ideas stay hidden and untapped because we do not value the whole picture of marketing.
  5. We do not think of ourselves as leaders. Leadership requires risk and vulnerability. Leadership means sticking your neck out for what you believe in. Leaders are confident they can make a positive difference and keep their focus on what can be instead of what is. Stop making excuses, and be a leader!
You can say, "No!" You have permission as a marketing leader to say, "No" to the tasks and business practices that are getting your company nowhere. Your role is to educate your leaders on what good marketing looks like. You can try and people please for so long until you burn out frustrated and stressed.

Back to the opening scenario. The boss says you have 5 days to respond to the urgent RFP. Rather than shriveling up into a ball of nerves and anger, resentfully saying, "yes," you can do the following.
  • Ask when we received the RFP? Were we expecting this RFP now? What makes this proposal "urgent?"
  • Have we asked our Go No Go questions to see if this is a valid, high-win opportunity?
  • Do we have a good relationship with the client? If so, can we inform them we cannot respond to this RFP within the deadline because our marketing team is away at a training conference?
  • If we do not have a good relationship with the client, then why is this proposal so "urgent?"
​These questions will reveal whether good marketing principles are being followed. Maybe the RFP has been sitting on someone's desk for two weeks and they forgot to send it to marketing. Maybe the client has already pre-selected their consultant. So, issuing an unreasonable deadline is a way to weed out competitors. Maybe your supervisor has not been properly educated on why Go No Go processes save time and money on no-win opportunities.

Learn how to say, "No!" Saying "No" effectively means a lot of groundwork has been laid before having to say, "No." At the end of the day, it is your responsibility, A/E/C marketer, to lead your company in marketing excellence.
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Your Ears Are Your Strongest Resolution and Negotiation Weapons

12/15/2022

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Most content that centers around communication and conflict resolution has to do with assessing your feelings, your body language, your decision-making process, your attitudes, and your behaviors. Not that these are bad recommendations, but they fall short of what makes the biggest impact when resolving conflict and negotiating. Where most advice falls short is that the advice focuses on YOU, YOUR feelings, YOUR body language, YOUR decision-making, YOUR attitude, YOUR behaviors.

Many of you have heard the saying, “God gave you one mouth and two ears. He intended for you to listen twice as much as you speak.” Ears are the gateways to receiving critical information about your environment. Ears collect sound waves. During conflict or negotiation, ears are data gathering reservoirs collecting what is coming out of the other person’s mouth. Ears are your strongest weapons in resolving conflict and negotiating a solution.

To be fair, your ears are only the front end of a process that leads to great conflict resolution and negotiation. But if you cannot get the front end of that process right, nothing else in that process will work. Therefore, ears are where you begin.
When you focus on opening your ears, closing your mouth, and focusing on the other person, several key dynamics are put in motion.
  1. The other person has an end goal in mind. They have an expected outcome. What is it? You will never know if you don’t open your ears and listen.
  2. Once your ears are open, listen. You may hear noises coming from the other person’s mouth, but you must listen to decipher and understand what they mean.
  3. Listening takes intentional focus and sustained effort. LISTENING IS NOT marshaling your arguments or assuming conclusions. LISTENING IS focusing on the other person’s message, seeking to understand that message, then syncing that message to the broader context.
  4. Once your ears are open, your mouth is closed, and you are intently listening, only then will the other person truly feel you are partnering with them, interested in helping them achieve their end goal.
"​Use your ears to negotiate a resolution!"
​Let us consider a real-world example.

You are in discussion with a material vendor who is angry with the contractor on your job. The vendor says in a very agitated tone, “The contractor is impossible!” Your ears have informed you the vendor is in conflict with the contractor and is angry. So you say, “What do you mean when you say the contractor is impossible?”
PAUSE – To make your ears work better, you sometimes need to ask CLARIFYING questions. You want the vendor to clarify what he means by the term, “impossible.”

The vendor responds, “He rejected some of our material and it’s going to cost us more money than is budgeted for the job. We are going to lose money.”

Now you understand impossible means the contractor’s decision to reject the vendor’s material is costing them money. So you ask the vendor, “Tell me what happened. Walk me through the story step by step.” Again, you are only opening your mouth to request more DETAIL for your ears to receive.

The vendor proceeds to explain, in detail, that they delivered the ordered materials to the job site only to have the contractor stop them from unloading and reject the materials. The contractor claims the materials do not meet the specifications of the design. The vendor showed the order slip signed by the contractor’s foreman, but to no avail. The contractor begins yelling and cussing demanding the material be loaded and returned.

Without belaboring the example, we now have DETAILS AND CONTEXT from which to work toward resolution and negotiation. The same process is required once you speak with the contractor. You do not assume, but give the contractor the benefit of telling his story with his details. It is only at this point you may be able to proceed with negotiating a solution to this conflict.

Opening your ears means;
  1. Being curious and only asking questions that help to clarify, define, and explain.
  2. Focusing your attention on the other person, their thoughts, and emotions.
  3. Partnering with others to team up and resolve a problem together.

​Use your ears to negotiate a resolution!

This blog was originally published at The Engineering Management Institute
Your Ears Are Your Strongest Resolution and Negotiation Weapons (engineeringmanagementinstitute.org)
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    Author

    Gabe Lett, FSMPS, CPSM, LPC

    Fellow of the Society for Marketing Professional Services

    Certified Professional Services Marketer

    ​Licensed Professional Counselor

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