Perfect proposals

The key to successful proposal writing

Companies who supply FM services cannot survive without winning new business through writing proposals and completing tender exercises.  So often I see poorly articulated proposals.  What’s that you say? You run out of time? Not enough resources?

Buyers use the proposal to find out who the best is out there.  Less than ‘first class’ proposals can mean reputational damage, being taken off vendor lists or poor business motivation, let alone not winning the work you have spent time, effort and money trying to win.

Here are my 5 tips for ensuring your proposals leaves the client asking… when can you start?

1.       Pick the right battles

Why chase tenders that you are not going to win? Good qualification is key to ensuring you get off to a good start.  Only chase opportunities that are real, you can deliver and you want to win.

2.       Know your customer

Being prepared for a tender is essential.  The key to this is to establish relationships with the customer so you can understand what they really really want and they have a good idea of your capabilities and competitive advantages

When buyers receive proposals they don’t like those that don’t address their specific needs – who wants to read stuff their not interested in? No one – so write about stuff your customer will be interested in – how your going to address their needs.

3.       Build your solution to get to the winning price

A lot of people say that it always comes down to price and the proposal is secondary.  I don’t believe this is the case.  The key is to build a solution that drives the right price – for both you and the customer.

4.       ATFQ (Answer The Full Question)

Answers need to answer the full question. It has to be customised and specific to the needs of the customer. Make sure it is easy to understand and has a simple clear layout.  Evidence and examples of where you have done it before are a must and build credibility.  Avoid waffle, incomplete answers, generic standard offers, and talking about yourself.  If every paragraph/sentence starts with your company name, we, us or our – you are talking about yourself not the customer.

5.       Present your proposal in a fitting way

So you spend hundreds of thousands preparing a tender which is worth millions to you.  You have to win the job.  So why do you print it on poor quality paper, bind it in a plastic comb or in an off the shelf lever arch file? Your printed bid is your shop window, give it justice and dress it the best it can be.

Zero Hour Contracts in FM.

Zero Hours contracts have risen to public prominence over the last couple of weeks.  They are widely used in Facilities Management, especially in the security industry.  I have used Zero Hour contracts and as an employer.  They are useful, however we should not loose sight of the employee, their wellbeing and the potential uncertainty they can create.  Here are 5 top tips on using Zero Hour contracts:

1.       They should only compliment and support full time contracts

You will always need a core compliment of staff to provide a service.  This core compliment should be staffed by contracted hours staff.  It saves on back office administration and provides a stable workforce for your customers.  A common use of use zero hour contracts is for holiday, sick cover and surges in demand.  You can calculate how many staff you will need for holiday cover.  Managed well you can smooth the demand throughout the year. This allows zero hours contract staff to have a steady stream of work.  I have worked based on less than 10% of your workforce are on zero hour contracts.

2.       You need to give ample notice of when staff will be needed

Giving 1 hours notice does not help you or help the staff. It puts unnecessary pressure on both parties.  You should give a forward plan of work to staff so you can plan your business and the staff can plan their lives.  Zero hours staff providing holiday cover does this, sickness is harder but it always will be regardless if you have zero hours staff or not.

3.       Give staff first refusal on new opportunities and new vacancies

Zero Hour staff are members of your workforce and they should be given first refusal on any contracted hours posts in the workforce.    This incentivises staff to stay in the organisation and help you because turnover of staff in Facilities Management is usually quite high and opportunities will naturally arise.

4.       Provide employee benefits

A common issue raised with zero hour contracts in that there is no employee benefits.  No sick, no holiday, no pension etc.  Why not?  You can pay all of these things to staff retrospectively based on the actual hours worked in the previous month.  This provides some security for the staff when there may not be guaranteed income and doesn’t cost the business any more than employing contracted hour staff.

5.       Communicate, communicate, communicate

Above all it is important to maintain regular communication with staff.  Be clear on what is happening and if there is likely to be work in the future or not.  Be clear what flexibility, benefits and issues there are and be clear that they are every part of the workforce as staff who have guaranteed contracted hours.