I’ve taken a break from writing over the holidays to catch up on projects (and bake lots of pies) – and it’s been restful. The down time has enabled me to start the New Year with fresh ideas and energy. This naturally makes me think of how we manage our time and energy in business development and marketing with the thought that perhaps sometimes taking a break to review, reassess, and re-energize might be a wise investment for many firms.The tendency for many of us in the New Year is to frantically try to catch up from the past year and start the New Year with a frenzy of activity. While sometimes project commitments make this a necessity, spending time in January to determine direction for the coming year would be a wise investment for all of us. And, instead of broad resolutions, we should consider each of the core areas of our business and determine both reasonable and stretch goals for the coming year.
I’d like to propose three specific resolutions to guide our first quarter planning – ones that I’m implementing in-house and recommending to my clients.
Make Better Go/No Go Decisions. As I’ve found in the past couple of months, sometimes not writing is the best choice. This is not only because I’ve enjoyed the self-imposed break from the blog, but also because of three recent projects on which we’ve been asked to consult in which teams worked hard to win projects they probably shouldn’t have pursued in the first place. These firms spent thousands on beautiful proposals that had little impact on the final selection because the firms in question weren’t positioned to either make the short-list or achieve the win.
We’ve all been “sucked in” to the RFP response for projects that sound great on paper and for which we know our firms/teams could succeed. Even though most of us know that the likelihood of selection without relationship and reputation is extremely low, we spend thousands of dollars chasing seductive projects. Quite simply, in this market, firms can’t afford the luxury of expensive proposals – no matter how well written or designed – for projects we have little chance of winning.
Making the No Go decision is extremely difficult in the moment. As a result, now is the time, before the next sexy RFP, to develop a clear, quantifiable Go/No Go metric that requires rigor in the analysis and accountability for the decision. Numerous samples exist in the industry – start with a standard template and adapt/tailor it to your business and client type.
One good question I ask my clients is “If it were your checkbook from which we had to write the check to pay for this pursuit, would you still pursue this project?” In this way, making the Go decision becomes personal – and people start thinking about accountability for their decisions. This doesn’t mean our firms should be scared to make Go decisions, but that we should be more thoughtful in the process, making sure we have done the pre-sell work necessary to increase the likelihood of a win.
Develop a robust QA/QC program. In most of the RFPs I’ve reviewed in the past six months, clients are asking for proof of a QA/QC program. As a result, the leadership of forward-thinking firms will spend some time this quarter developing and documenting a robust program, then implementing it in their organizations. And, the Marketing/BD staffs of these leading firms will spend time developing the collateral materials we’ll need for RFP responses and short-list interviews.
Most firms have a QA/QC program, but I’ve found that few of my clients have well-documented programs that can be shown to a client. While documented programs were once only required of larger firms, even moderate-sized and small firms are now being asked to produce QA/QC plans for client review. Not only is having such a program good business, but our clients are now demanding that we do so and that we be able to talk about these plans in the marketing process.
Over the years, I’ve read a lot of proposal sections and heard numerous presentations on quality. In each, I typically hear about three step programs, usually involving some level of peer review, a dedicated quality committee (usually labeled with a creative acronym), and checkpoints throughout a proposed project schedule. In each, I’ve found little competitive value – and, in fact – I’ve found little evidence that the firms in question have really addressed quality in the way our clients need us to.
It’s time for a different dialog about QA/QC, and it’s time to rethink how we present and train these programs. In the 2012 version of a company’s QA/QC program, I’d like to see clear flow diagrams that illustrate how QA staff are integrated into the design and/or preconstruction process, tasked not with checking work, but with resolving issues before they become problems. For dedicated quality committees made up of experienced principles, we need clarity on what these professionals do and how they are integrated into the team beyond occupying a northern space on the organization chart.
And, because of their clear link to final product quality, there needs to be sections in quality plans devoted to relationship/ communication management in addition to the sections on review process. Project debriefs clearly show that the nature and frequency of team/client communication prevents quality problems, results in increased clarity of expectations, and helps resolve issues. As a result, our quality plans need to address communication in very specific, planned, and measurable ways – including timelines, checklists, agendas, and metrics.
Invest in Strategic Training and Development. In the past several years, the budget item that’s taken the most significant hit for both the public and the private sector is Training. While eliminating waste and cutting non-essential programs are certainly a good idea, cutting all training for staff is fundamentally a bad one. Training is essential not only for staff growth, but essential to staff retention. Well-trained staff members respond to challenges with greater success and feel less work-related stress as they know their company is willing to invest in their future.
Three essential programs that should be brought back across the industry include performance management, customer service, and the suite of communication skills essential to business success (interpersonal communication, writing, presentations).
A firm’s employees are its most important, and most expensive, asset. Having supervisors who understand both their responsibilities and opportunities for effective performance management is essential to any organization. Effective performance management training covers the full gamut of supervisory responsibilities, beyond performance appraisal, to include performance planning, resolving problems, feedback, coaching and mentoring, and the requisite legal issues.
Without customers, firms cease to exist. Unfortunately and paradoxically in this economy, the leadership of many firms forgot the link between employees and customers. Customer service is not just important to firm leadership; rank and file employees have far more day-to-day contact with customers and as a result, need training in how to anticipate, resolve, and manage customer issues across a range of situations.
Finally, across our businesses, we live or die by communication. Effective interpersonal skills drive quality, project management, and client relationships. Having staff with strong writing skills not only improves our firms’ documents, but makes the whole production process much easier, enabling us to spend more time in creative pursuits vs. rewriting and editing. And, I’ll say it again, “Losing in the presentation is the most expensive place to lose.” Training staff in communication skills pays off across the marketing and the management lifecycle and is a wise investment overall.
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