Pitches, tenders and proposals – Efficiency (systems)

May 23, 2024|Accountants, Kim's Blog, Lawyers, Marketing, Selling|

At a PM Forum – PM Forum training workshop earlier in the month we welcomed an even number of law and accountancy firm delegates with a healthy number of consultancies also represented. Challenges were explored as we discussed topics including: pitch processes and plans, selling and writing techniques and presenting and learning philosophies. By coincidence, I had met recently with John Depit Forte who wrote the first book on pitches, proposals and beauty parades in professional services in 1993. How things have changed since then! An underlying theme of the session was the need to achieve a balance between a) process, automation and systems to make pitch production fast and efficient and b) research, deep thinking about the needs of the client and differentiating your value proposition to ensure the pitch was effective. This post supplements the learning resources from the workshop. Pitches, tenders and proposals – Efficiency (systems) vs Effectiveness (selling).

Delegate challenges and questions

At the outset, delegates outlined some of their key aims on pitching:

Learn how to break the tendering process down
Know what to tackle first
Improve pitch processes
Gain a seat at pitch strategy sessions with fee-earners
Make bids stand out
Learn how to write in a compelling way Persuasive writing checklist (kimtasso.com)
Make introductions and presentations memorable
Discover which pitch technology people use in other firms
Manage fee-earner engagement and time
Increase pitch conversion rates

More involvement for MBD professionals needed

There was general agreement that MBD professionals need more involvement in: client research, scoping meetings, relationship development, sales strategy, value proposition development and fee-earner sales coaching. Many currently spent most of their time producing documents, content and presentation materials.

Efficiency and pitch systems

Some firms were blessed with having excellent credentials systems from which it was easy to extract the relevant material, case studies, sector stories and biographies to tailor. Although keeping the content up to date still presented issues for some. Maintaining consistency with multiple contributors could be challenging.

Others had good systems to project manage and track progress on live pitches. Some firms have marketing operations professionals to focus on ensuring that the data, processes and systems support efficient pitch production.

For some, the expectation was that they would produce a solid first draft for fee-earners to modify. But for MBD professionals to excel in this area, they need early involvement in strategic pitch discussions.

Throughout the session, we explored case studies on pitching processes for Baker McKenzie, Bishop Fleming, KPMG, Kreston Global, Savills, Walker Morris and Wrigleys.

We reviewed the list of pitch systems that were used by professional services marketers and delegates added the following suggestions:

Building better documents faster in Microsoft 365 | UpSlide – UpSlide
Home | Easy PQQ AI-Powered Software for Bids, Proposals, RFPs and Tenders
Public and Private Sector Tender Opportunities & Intelligence – Tracker (trackerintelligence.com) Helps with competitor analysis and price benchmarking
Contracts Advance | Find & Win Public Sector Contracts
AI Pitches and Proposals for Professional Services | QorusDocs
Home – Pitch Systems
Legal Pitching and Proposal Software | BigHand
Boosting Productivity in Professional Services (pitchly.com)

Other systems are listed in previous posts (see, for example: Pitch points from a pitching and tendering training workshop (kimtasso.com))

The following articles were considered insightful:

Adopting pitch technology (1) Post | LinkedIn mediasterling Pitch Technology – what’s it good at? (October 2023)
Bidding & listening strategies for winning work and retaining key accounts (pmint.co.uk) March 2024 Francesca Ayers (promised, priorities, prove)
Leverage proposal management solutions to improve pitches | Intapp November 2022
Best Strategies for Winning New Business in Professional Services (pitchly.com) August 2022

Selling skills and pitch effectiveness

Perfect processes, project management and full automation mean that a pitch document can be produced very quickly. However, the risk is that insufficient time is spent on: developing the client relationship, scoping meetings with clients, research to ensure that client needs are centre stage and that the firm is positioned with a strong proposition against competitors that both differentiates and adds value to the client.

In essence, the pitching process should ensure that the firm meets all the client’s requirements, ticks all the boxes on the expected points of similarity and sets out its case for its valuable points of difference. Influence and persuasion require that rational, credibility and emotional factors are addressed. Influence and persuasion skills with Aristotle and Knights and Dinosaurs (kimtasso.com)

These things rely on early involvement of fee-earners and MBD professionals and excellent selling skills and strategy. It became apparent that sometimes sales strategy is overlooked when MBD professionals are expected to produce a first draft for fee-earners to tailor. Of course, some firms use the time saved with efficient production processes to invest in more client and sales-oriented activities.

We explored various approaches here including:

learn more about sales and selling skills
use research techniques and sources
adhere to the go/no go process to ensure resources were focused on the best opportunities
provide checklists, guidance, training and sales coaching for fee-earners
manage situations where clients place a high weighting on price
ensure presentations are oriented towards interaction and dialogue
leverage senior support to guide headstrong partners

Key takeaways from delegates

Process

Work on a go/no go strategy before starting pitch process
Gain early fee-earner engagement in the pitch process
Review bid processes (as a team) in terms of client focus (values, aims, needs, language etc)
Expand the BD role for pitches
Be more involved in debriefs

Content

Review our approach to value proposition development
Review wording of our existing text to make sure it is more about the client and less about us
Use ChatGPT paid subscription so data sharing is turned off
Use the clients’ language in pitches (a new idea to try)

Other

Read resources on business relationships and selling skills

Delegate poll results

Delegates find it useful to compare and benchmark their responses with their peers.

How much of your time is spent on pitches and tenders?

44% Less than 25%
33% 25-50%
0% 50-75%
22% Over 75%

How much experience do you have on pitching/bidding/tendering?


1	11%
2
3	11%
4	33%
5
6	11%
7	11%
8	22%
9
10

Is your role primarily:

0% Part of the sales team (client facing)
22% Strategic support
33% Content development
44% Process support
0% Information/administrative support
0% Something else

Which pitch/tender metrics do you use?

67% Volume of pitches received/submitted/won
56% Value of pitches received/submitted/won
44% Conversion rate
44% Existing client vs new/target client
44% Analysis by department/service/sector/territory
44% Profitability of pitches won
11% Client rankings of pitch submission
11% Fee-earner and M&BD time on pitches

Do you have a policy/system for agreeing which pitches to accept?

50% Yes
13% No
38% Sort of – but it’s rarely observed in practice

How much research do YOU do to support a pitch?

0% None
44% An hour or so (mostly internal systems)
44% Between two to four hours (including external research)
0% Over five hours
11% Other

How often do you conduct a structured competitor analysis when preparing a pitch? Pitching, differentiation and competitor analysis (kimtasso.com)

10% Always
40% Sometimes
50% Never

Which do you think is the MOST important factor when writing a pitch document?

30% Focus on the reader’s interest
20% Proposition and benefits
20% Accurate information
20% Plain English/avoid jargon
10% Differentiation
0% Correct spelling and grammar
0% Brevity and clarity
0% Brand and voice

How much time do you spend planning pitch presentations? Perfect pitches – Five key points (Video) Kim Tasso

25% Up to an hour
38% One to three hours
38% We spend more time refining the presentation once its produced

How often do you help with rehearsals?

0% Always – every time
33% On the largest/most important pitches
22% Only when requested
11% Rarely
33% Never

Do you make post-pitch debrief calls to clients?

11% Yes – Always
11% Yes – sometimes
0% Rarely
78% Someone else does it

Delegate challenges and questions

More involvement for MBD professionals needed

Efficiency and pitch systems

Selling skills and pitch effectiveness

Key takeaways from delegates

Delegate poll results

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Pitches, tenders and proposals – Efficiency (systems) vs Effectiveness (selling)

Delegate challenges and questions

More involvement for MBD professionals needed

Efficiency and pitch systems

Selling skills and pitch effectiveness

Key takeaways from delegates

Delegate poll results

Related Posts

Tags

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