01.
PRE-BID
Each contract is different, but large contract customers will start to shape their requirements well in advance of releasing the RFI, sometimes up to 18 months out. A coherent pre-bid strategy means you can shape those requirements in your favour, widen your network of influence, as well as uncover alternative opportunity.
There is a window of opportunity to influence the requirements legitimately:
Akin to our ABM strategies, pre-bid activity should be orientated towards providing the account management community with the opportunity to communicate directly with their target audience, and sustain a dialogue.
CASE STUDY
AREA SIX: TARGETED COMMS
For Softcat we created a bespoke sales tool that hosts best-in-class marketing content that can be shared directly with customers based om their known needs and deliver personalised usage data…allowing them to target specific messages to specific people and know the impact.
Outside of the bid constraints, pre-bid enables wider communication strategies. Typical activities include:
DEDICATED COMMS CHANNELS
The creation of bespoke, two-way channels between yourself and the target account, enabling bespoke communications and analytics.
PRE-EMPTIVE BIDS
Unlikely to prevent the contract from going to formal bid (because of regulation), pre-emptive bids, however, can directly influence the RFP requirements.
PASSIVE INFLUENCE
Through IP targeted media, the use of intent data and social selling techniques, specific messages can be seeded with the target audience in advance of any formal RFP.
CASE STUDY
CLOSER COMMUNICATIONS
We created a bespoke communications portal between our customer and their target account to deliver thought leadership that was shaped against the known bid requirements. Critically, the analytics enabled us to know who was consuming, when, and for how long, allowing us to target individuals with additional engagement offers.
CASE STUDY
ENGAGING ENGAGEMENT
We assisted our customer in the creation of the structure and content for a series of interactive workshops, delivered to their existing Public Sector customer for whom they provide global connectivity solutions for. The aim was to demonstrate how new technologies could be implemented to accelerate the benefits sought by contract renewal, before the new contract was placed.
This approach contributed to our customer securing an early contract extension, and then the full renewal.
CASE STUDY
EXECUTIVE INFLUENCE
During an extended pre-bid phase, we assisted our customer with a number of different influencing tactics including social interaction influencing, one-to-one presentations and private and public executive engagement opportunities.
It worked…with our customer securing a strategic partner position with their customer.
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