Beyond the terrible human cost, Corona Virus is such a let-down for business and in particular for the construction sector. We were all doing so well, but sadly the game has changed. We’ve all probably given ourselves some time to feel a bit beaten up. Leadership, delivery, commercial, support functions and business developers have all taken a hit trying to move with the situation in the face of confused government actions and advice.
But for leaders and resources applied to growing businesses and winning work – it’s now time to face into the storm and pick a path to safeguard the sustainable future of the business.
Who knows which way things will go, but it would be prudent to assume, following the curve say in China, that we’ve got at least three months across the other continents before we will see the light at the end of the tunnel and business begins to return to a ‘new normal’, certainly before opportunities begin to flow as before.
For the uninitiated, it would be easy to assume that work winning related activities will stand still. But for those who understand their role in steering the sustainable future of their business it won’t. They know they need to create a plan that gives line of sight to the right wins and demonstrate action against it to show a clear path and their true value to their boards. Enlightened market-facing leaders will also understand that now is the time to review pipelines, prioritise your efforts, drive capture plans for key pursuits, be helpful and stay close to clients, and influence the outcome you want and need. This is when those of us who look after clients should earn our corn.
We believe you have around 100 days. “Expect the economy to follow what’s happening in hospitals. It’s going to be grim, but I personally think things will relax as we move into summer. I don’t know it for certain, but I suspect the disease will decline quite steeply towards the end of June. In part that will be because of the measures the government have implemented and encouraged, but also in part it’ll be because of the fact that it’s summer and things will be getting a bit easier.” Dr Paul Hunter, professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia.
Please don’t just wait until RFPs or ITTs hit you in the face in July. More than 60% of procurement decisions are made before the ITT is ever written. If you haven’t influenced the client and the procurement, someone else has. So get ahead of the game now.
We’ve been working hard with our clients to immediately respond with crisis management advice on the client and comms side and to quickly land strategies and plans to position their businesses and teams well for their key pursuits for when the gates open and the street fight begins. Because it will be a street fight. We will be in a global recession. Your competition will have changed, with some not surviving, some in distress (driving poor behaviours) and others having weathered the storm better. Market dynamics will have shifted greatly and prospects and clients will have evolved, with different wants, needs and stresses than when you last saw them. You’ll need to pick your battles carefully.
Leveraging insight from our Artemis Partnership friends in Hong Kong who are a couple of months ahead of us in the UK in the curve – we’ve developed a 100 Day Plan methodology to help with your readiness to win the work you deserve in the new normal. We’ve published a free webinar video on the approach, a blog post and a free C-19 100 Day Work Winning plan template. We’re offering free 1 hour video calls to work through the plan specifically for your organisation and lastly a C-19 work winning audit facility – where we will review your current work winning position, engage with your internal stakeholders, review your plans and pipeline, and build an action plan for your business for the next 100 days for £999.
More information is available here: https://thebidtoolkit.com/100-day-work-winning-plan/
We’re available to talk about your approach to the next 100 days. We know how to help you use them wisely.
Jeremy Brim
Jeremy has a portfolio career as a Non-Exec, Growth Consultant, Capture Specialist and a Global APMP Accredited Proposals Trainer.
He brings 20 years of experience as a work winning and bid management professional across both the public and private sectors. He’s led successful bid functions spanning professional services, outsourcing and construction, where he was Head of Construction Bids at Mace. He has secured an enviable collection of high-profile projects, programmes and frameworks with blue chip clients around the globe.
He now leads Growth Ignition – a consulting, training and enabling tech firm. They’re on a mission to help clients maximise sustainable growth and focus their spend by joining the dots from marketing, through to initiatives in account management, capture and pursuit.
In October 2018 he also picked up the leadership of the bid toolkit – a unique APMP accredited simple step by step online bid process and guide, with integrated learning content and tools to download.