Qualifying for the Olympics

When I’m working with buyers, I often emphasise that suppliers have a choice as to whether to bid for an opportunity or not. Many purchasers are instinctively dismissive: “If I’ve honoured them with my RFP, they’ll surely respond?”

Now, it’s true that many salespeople do believe that there’s a pot of gold at the end of every rainbow. But the fact that good sales organisations qualify opportunities (often fairly ruthlessly) is news to many on the buying side. A recent anecdote in The Observer provided a useful anecdote on the perils for customers in this area:

“One construction industry source said that the Olympic Development Authority, which is building the infrastructure needed for the [London] Games, was in a weak position over the stadium because most major building firms did not tender for the contract”.

Purchasers need to understand that, while they hold many of the cards, under-estimating the strength of their hand can be potentially disastrous for their negotiating position. They need to sell the opportunity to potential bidders, just as those of us on the sales side need to sell our capabilities to them.

This article was written by Jon on 14 December, 2006 and filed under Purchasing insights. If you found it useful, you can with others. To receive automatic updates, subscribe to The Proposal Guys via RSS or Email.

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