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The key is to plan for the customer or prospect to commit to specific actions at specific stages of the deal. The only measure is action – by getting the customer or prospect to take the actions you need, you generate a groundswell of activity within their organisation which puts you in a much better position to close the deal.

Our six step process ensures that you:

• Direct your activities at the point of greatest return, including quitting early if the chances of winning do not justify continuing the bid
• Create activity within the account by:
  - getting customer commitment at each stage
  - getting the customer to demonstrate their commitment by a series of actions
• Increase the probability of winning the business

The diagram below demonstrates the plan as a complete package, you can click on the steps below to view further details or scroll through the whole process. You will also find a deal plan and review process summary chart after the step by step description.

The six steps in the process are:

Step 1 – Preparing
Step 2 – Capturing the customer’s decision making process
Step 3 – Qualifying the situation
Step 4 – Specifying customer and supplier criteria
Step 5 – Mapping the phases of the sale
Step 6 – Creating the deal or bid plan

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Step 1 – Preparing

Get your own house in order by considering how you are going to:

•  Get them to decide to make a decision
•  Beat the competition
•  Build political backing
•  Win technical recommendation
•  Develop a financial case
•  Identify all the opportunities

It is vital during this first step to be clear about what you know and what you don’t know; what you’ve done and what you’ve not done. The quality of your analysis governs the completeness of your plan.

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Step 2 – Capturing the customer’s decision making process

You cannot expect to maximise the chance of getting the right decision without understanding the people involved and the process itself. So it is essential to:

• Construct a political map:
  - Who are the major influencers?
  - Who is for you?
  - Who is against you?
• Understand how the customer’s decision making process works
• Develop a realistic timetable for decisions

By the end of step 2 you have considered all the factors affecting winning the order, who to influence and how. Now is the time to take a cool hard look at the business case to proceed with the bid.

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Step 3 – Qualifying the situation

Systematically qualify the chances of success, using SCOTSMAN® – our eight point qualification scorecard, which includes questions such as:

• Is your solution fit for purpose?
• How well do you stack up against the competition?
• Is there anything original or unique about your proposition?
• Are you able to do what is needed within the likely timescales?
• Is the size of the business too big, too small – do you have the necessary resources?
• Are you within their budget, is it realistic, can they afford it?
• Have you got the politics right, who makes the decisions, how?
• Are they serious, do they really need the solution, how compelling is the case?

If your chances of winning are not high enough to justify the work and effort required – quit rapidly. Be sure to repeat step 3 throughout the process to reconfirm that there is a good business reason to stay in the game.

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Step 4 – Specifying customer and supplier criteria

Whether you are planning a straightforward deal or a bid against an invitation to tender, you need to know and articulate:

• Supplier criteria – what you need to demonstrate:
  - national coverage, financial stability, total package capability, etc.
• Customer criteria – their rules of engagement:
  - contractual terms, price, service, support, etc.
• Customer benefits:
  - business benefits, such as cost reduction, sales growth, space saving
  - personal benefits, such as better chance of promotion, a performance bonus
    (remember – personal benefits often have more sway than business benefits)
  - where possible, benefits that are unique to you as a supplier

It is always worth paying particular attention to personal buyer benefits and to creating opportunities to play to your organisation’s strengths and uniques, even with an ITT. Move the goal posts if you can, to improve your chances of winning.

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Step 5 – Mapping the phases of the sale

Careful mapping of all the phases of the sale, from where you are to where you want to be, creates a structure within which to build the detailed plan:

• Start by clearly defining the current position
• Then set achievable objectives
• Follow this with a complete list of all the events and meetings that will be required

The first event is usually breaking in (or similar), the last is always closing the business. The quality of what comes between, and how well it is implemented, is key to a successful outcome – either get out early if the deal is not good for your business, or stay in and win it.

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Step 6 – Creating the deal or bid plan

Now is the time to put the detailed plan together:

• Develop agendas for each event, both internal and customer meetings
• Decide who you want to attend each event
• Lay out the timetable – with dates for all events
• Define the commitments you want the customer or prospect to make at the end of each event – what do you want them to do for you
• Allow for capturing how well you perform against your plan in terms of commitments
• Develop a process for adjusting the plan in the light of actual achievements

By the end of step 6 you have a complete plan. You are ready to monitor progress and equipped to adjust the plan, once implemented.

You have created your best chance of winning, but if it’s not to be, you have planned how to manage a quick exit, so that resources can be applied to winning other bids and deals.

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