Every company must keep a record of their sales closing rates. However, it's one thing to track closing rates on everyday sales opportunities, but it's something else entirely when companies must track their success rates on large proposals. In this case, a bid management book is required, one that tracks the bid process from the initial customer request, through the various labor assessments, all the way to the final proposal. In some cases, these bids can take anywhere from three to eighteen months or more. Each portion of the bid is managed according to the customer's final requirements, and it is commonplace for these requirements to change several times before a final agreement is reached. These bid books are ultimately managed by bid managers, product and project managers. Their purpose is to retain all necessary data on the customer's initial requirements and the company's final proposal.
Large Projects and Installations
One industry that uses this aforementioned bid management process is the construction industry, an industry that is highly regulated and highly engineered. However, there are other industries where a bid management book is required. The satellite communications industry has several enterprises that design, build and install multiple remote location terrestrial earth stations. In essence, any industry that requires customization should require a bid management process. Therefore, what are some of the benefits of using this aforementioned process?
- Retain Historical Data: Companies must retain all the data used within their bid processes. This is largely due to the customization and size of proposals required by customers. Due to the size of these proposals, companies must keep track of what was requested, what was proposed and ultimately, what was accepted and purchased. Keeping historical data allows companies to revisit their quotations should customers return for updated bids.
- Track Labor and Material Costs: Due to the size of these proposals, companies must also track their labor, raw materials and finished goods costs. Since these proposals focus on customized options, companies must keep historical records of how their proposals are structured. In addition, a number of these proposals become the official contract once the customer places the order. As such, companies need to track all the information from their internal departments and from their external vendors and creditors.
- Track Closing Rates on Bids: Ultimately, it's about knowing which contracts the company wins and which ones it loses. Tracking closing rates on bids allows the company to track its success rates via different business cycles. Also, tracking these bids provides invaluable insight into emerging market trends and new customer requirements across the entire industry.
- Track Competitive Bids: Again, tracking these bids is essential when looking to define a company's success rate in closing proposals. In this case, it amounts to understanding why some bids were won and why others were lost. When a company loses out on a bid, they should track why the business was lost, and if possible, at what price that bid was lost at.
Companies that provide customized installations must track the entire proposal from beginning to end. This requires the bid manager, or project manager, keep a record of all the input from various internal departments, vendors and creditors. Ultimately, it means retaining the most important information and using that information on future proposals.
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Writing tenders against deadlines is stressful and not always successful. The Bid Manager offers experienced tender writing consultancy and bid management training. Contact us at http://www.TenderWriting.com or http://www.BidTraining.com The book "FastTrack Bid Management" is available on these sites for those that wish to learn bid management for themselves.
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