FAKE RFPs!

I capitalized the subject because yes, I’m fuming mad! Okay…I’ll take a step back. Let me explain.

As a small business, how do you decide how much information to provide to a potential client either in the first exploratory meeting or in responding to a request for proposal (RFP)? This is a question I’ve struggled with for years. While you definitely want to differentiate your company and provide the “edge” that makes you better than your competitors, you also don’t want to give away the shop. It’s a balance but a very important.

A small business has to use every resource and minute wisely. So it’s extremely important to be able to read the potential client - either through the RFP provided or, if you’re lucky enough to have a face to face meeting, by the detail they’re asking you to provide. What I mean by “read” is to determine if the prospect is serious about hiring you/your firm for services or if they’re fishing for free consulting.

Unfortunately, it happens that companies out there use this unscrupulous tactic (and I’ll go as far as saying unprofessional approach) to gaining marketing insight under the guise of an RFP but with no intentions of hiring you or any firm for that matter. This just happened to me and my team. We receive many RFPs and respond to the ones that we feel would be a great win-win relationship if we were awarded the job. We invested hours in the response and were invited in to meet with the company’s team of “professionals.” We spent an hour and a half more than we had scheduled to be there with them, answering questions and having a dialog that we thought would definitely lead to a beneficial and inevitable partnership.

Unfortunately, I have to kick myself one more time as this firm went out of their way to make their attempt for free marketing advice look “legit.” I did see some red flags throughout the process that looking back should have stopped me in my tracks but in this day and age, when you assume you’re dealing with professionals in executive level positions within a well established firm, you can easily justify those flags. So I did only to get a “thanks but no thanks” email.

As a regular part of our process, when we don’t win an award, we follow up with the prospect to learn what we could have done better and what it was that made them decide not to hire us. In this case, the response I got was quite telling that we were taken for a ride. I don’t have proof but when you see it enough, you recognize it.

So here’s my point. As a small business owner who is trying to do everything from manage existing client/customers, grow the business and meet payroll, you really need to be quite cynical when reviewing RFPs. I’m seeing this tactic used more and more and it’s down right “bad business.” You don’t have the time to waste and the example I just shared with you; cost me a lot of money. Be careful. Listen, ask questions, and determine if the prospect’s intentions are genuine. Don’t justify your red flags. Ask more qualifying questions if you have them but don’t give away the shop.

A legitimate prospect should be happy with your track record of success versus having to understand your “process” in order to make a decision to award the contract to you. Your “process” is your edge. Don’t give it away for free.

Has this happened to you? What did you do/would you have done in this case? Would love to hear from you!

Importance of relationships in business but especially in marketing!

Marketing a is a fast paced business and at the height of the economy any schmuck could call themselves a marketer.  Today the economy has tanked and clients want to KNOW what they are getting and more importantly if they can trust you with their hard-earned money.  When they are spending money on a marketer they are investing in you and your skill set.

This goes beyond customer service which is important too; but building a relationship with a client means each of you have agreed to put your faith in each other.  For example, I was just asked the question, how do you (Vision House) measure success as a company. My answer: We measure success by our client’s success. If our clients invest in us and trust in us to spend their marketing money wisely, we are compelled to turn a positive ROI for them. When we do, the bonds of the relationship strengthen.

It takes a skilled marketer to know what to do with a client and that knowledge grows over time.  So get to know your clients, focus on doing more than meeting their expectations—exceed them by demonstrating that you view the relationship as important– business-wise of course– but also because you are a firm of integrity and anything less than quality service to clients you value would be unacceptable.

Clients will know the difference between a firm that provides good customer service and one that builds client relationships.  Think about the companies, or organizations that you come in contact with and I’ll bet you can tick off right away those that work harder to let you know your business matters to them in the long term.  And in this economy that is the key to keeping business.

You’re lucky you have a job!

A relative of mine, who will remain nameless for reasons that will become clear, works for a large company - cubicle land/ corporate America. We all know that company. Similar to “Initech” from the movie, Office Space (if you haven’t seen this movie, it’s a must for “lessons learned in management”). The company with multiple layers of management who mostly were promoted to their own level of incompetence (ref: Peter Principle). They were great programmers so they are promoted to manager. Most of the time, programmers don’t make good managers = Peter Principle. Anyway, back to my relative….

His “leadership,” after cutting bonuses, reducing vacations and benefits and have every employee do the job of two (they laid off the other one) has the mentality that they’re lucky to have jobs therefore their complaints go unacknowledged. Morale is in the toilet and “leadership” is asking these people to follow them…or else. Or else they lose their jobs?

This entry is about leadership. There is nothing more I despise than a weak “leader” - a leader who has been appointed to a position but has not earned it. Company owners, managers of big and small companies alike, listen up! People might follow you under duress but to quote a line from Office Space “they’ll do just enough to not get fired.” Bottom line is, they won’t respect you and a leader leads out of respect and trust that is earned not appointed. The more you have their backs, the more you realize how much they sacrifice for your company, the more you provide a “give and take” atmosphere, the harder they’ll work for you, the more loyal they’ll be, more your people respect you, the more productive they’ll be! It is this that will see your company through these tough economic times.

So managers, business owners, if you’re one of “those” complaining about your subordinates or employees not doing their jobs, take a look in the mirror. YOU are to lead them. That is YOUR job! What kind of a leader are you? Challenge yourself. How can you find the balance between asking your people to do more with less and follow you?  There is another movie I highly recommend which focuses on the qualities of a true leader - The Last Castle with Robert Redford.

Post your stories about your leadership! What are qualities that define a good leader for you?