Kable: Events | Kable

Politics of Bidding in Public Sector and Influencing the Influencers

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 16:05:00 GMT

Event date: Tuesday 15 June 2010

Harnessing the politics and relationships to make a difference

The Public Sector procurement processes go to extraordinary lengths to prevent relationships and direct contact with the decision makers influencing the outcome of a procurement competition. The outcome is that the process can get in the way of our ability to communicate those things which would allow the competition to get the best result.

The procurement processes, by their nature, set up the public sector procurement team as the experts when, of course, they cannot have as much knowledge and experience as those organisations who make their living with this expertise. So is it any wonder then that the ITT requirements are tilted towards solutions which are sub optimum?

About the masterclass

The Sixfold team has 20 years of tackling these problems and presents a masterclass which will lead you through some simple strategies to improve your ability to get the decisions made on the best information. It will look at all the routes to communicate with the decision making team, how to get the messages through despite the procurement restrictions and what someone in the Public Sector can do to "legitimately" skew the results.

This masterclass will explore the most common political and communication problems in the bidding environment and you will use your own real examples to develop a pragmatic approach dealing with them.

Key elements the masterclass will focus on:
• When politics helps
• The place for gifts and inducements
• An introduction to Political Analysis based upon:
- Knowing what you want them to understand
- Knowing who needs to understand it
- Knowing how to the messages across
• Coping with bias in the decision making team
• Leveraging politics in the competitor's business

Objectives

This half day will show you:
• How to use the political structure to improve win chances
• Understanding of the ways in which the public sector decision can be manipulated
• How to watch out for bias and then deal with it effectively
• Challenging the process if it is being used unfairly

Why attend

What you will learn on the day:
• The ways in which the competition outcome can be influenced
• A simple tool to map the political power structure and how to use it
• Clever things you can do to improve your win chances

About the session leader

Andy Haigh is a former Royal Air Force engineering officer, specialising in telecommunications, who moved into the private sector in 1987 and has compiled a highly impressive portfolio of successes in bid management. Andy's clients include the Home Office, Unisys and Royal Mail, with whom he has worked to improve their sales performance and win bid rates.
Andy has achieved the highest level "Professional" of APMP (Association of Proposal Management Professionals) qualification to practitioner level. There are very few such highly qualified people in the UK.

Essential event information

Date: Tuesday 15 June 2010
Location: SmartGov Live 2010, ExCeL Centre

Event fees:
Non-subscribers £249 + VAT
Subscribers £199 + VAT

Booking information

If you are a KableDIRECT subscriber please either email customerservices@kable.co.uk or call 020 3353 4890 for further information.

If you are a non-subscriber please either call 0845 463 1465 or use the button below to be directed to the booking form on our partner, Sixfold's, website:

How to win more public sector ICT business

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 09:10:00 GMT

Event date: Tuesday 20 April 2010

While the private sector is cutting back on investment, the public sector is maintaining, and in some areas even increasing its spend. How well are you positioned to take advantage of this? The art of public procurement is a time consuming and costly experience – but it doesn't have to be painful. With the help of this unique session you can learn how to get a bigger piece of the action. This is your opportunity to learn from specialists who will show you how to prepare winning bids whilst avoiding the many hidden traps.

Why attend?

• Do you want to win more public sector business?
• Have you found that offering the best value does not always lead to a contract?
• Do you need to hone your public sector procurement skills?
• Do you have team members that are relatively new to the whys and wherefores of public sector procurement?
• Do you find it's hard to know what the public sector buyer is really after?
• Do you want to increase your win rate?

If any of the above apply to you then this event will provide you with the skills and advice to ensure your company avoids coming second when the bids are decided. The intricate procurement procedures imposed on government users and their suppliers mean even the best sales people don't automatically succeed in the public sector. They need a rich understanding of the tools at their disposal and how to exploit them.

Who should attend?

Anyone involved or who will become involved in attempting to win public sector business, including:
• Bid Managers
• Marketers
• Sales Managers
• Business Development Managers
• Account Managers

Objectives

This one-day event will:

• Exploit the process: Give you the tools and techniques to influence the final decision in spite of the bidding process
• Improve your bid efficiency: Outline strategies to ensure you only bid when you can win and therefore avoid resource wastage
• Maximise your win chance: Show how to gain competitive advantage and maximise evaluation scores despite the 'level playing field'
• Change your organisation: Take away a frame work of success for all future government bidding in your business

Note: This event is intended for people with moderate to intermediate experience in this area. A master class for Public Sector bidding is planned for a future date; alternatively contact us if you are interested in bespoke masterclasses.

Key benefits

By the end of the day you will be able to:
• Win more contracts
• Reduce the cost of bidding for public sector business
• Be crucial steps ahead of your competitors
• Understand the UK procurement process, the European Journal, and other international bid regulations
• Get on the long list - discover how to be invited to bid for business. Get on the short list - know what makes the difference for successful bids
• Understand and allow for political factors
• Use professional techniques to make your bids interesting and compelling to read
• Understand what is really happening in presentations and negotiation meetings and what you can do to influence the decision
• Discover how you can still win, even after you have been told that you have lost

About the session leader

Andy has achieved the highest level "Professional" of APMP (Association of Proposal Management Professionals) qualification to practitioner level. There are very few such highly qualified people in the UK.

Essential event information

Date: Tuesday 20 April 2010
Location: Scott Room, Guardian News & Media, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London, N1 9GU

Event fees:
Non-subscribers £750 + VAT
Subscribers £375 + VAT

Early bird for non-subscribers: £650 if booked before 26 February 2010

Booking information

If you are a KableDIRECT subscriber please either email customerservices@kable.co.uk or call 020 3353 4890 for further information.
If you are a non-subscriber please either call 0845 463 1465 or use the button below to be directed to the booking form on our partner, Sixfold's, website:

Client testimonials

"It has saved a great deal of time by helping us to focus on the bids we can win. Besides sales staff, I consider the course is also entirely appropriate for bid managers and authors"
Sales Manager, PDMS Limited

"Excellent course, fully tailored and relevant to our area. Excellent delivery with interesting experience to share."
Sarah Knight, Royal Mail

"Thank you for the professionalism and insight you brought to the training sessions last week. Through direct action as a result of your training, we secured a $700K project today!"
Frank Hickman Principal, Unisys

Responding to the PQQ

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 08:36:00 GMT

Event date: Wednesday 17 February 2010

How do you ensure you get to the next round?
The response to the Pre Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) is very often a knee jerk response to the questionnaire arriving on the desk. However, if the opportunity is not eventually bid for and won, any effort expended against the PQQ is wasted. On the other hand, if the PQQ is not completed, you cannot bid for the contract – even though you are the best organisation on the planet to supply what is wanted!

So how do you, with your limited resources, get the balance right? After all, you are now in a process which seeks any reason to "legitimately" reject your submission. This is your opportunity to learn from specialists who will show you how to prepare your response in the way that is most likely take you through to the next stage.

The "Responding to the PQQ" masterclass will explore the most common PQQ problems and we will use your own real examples to develop a pragmatic approach dealing with them. Together we will cover such strategies as:

• Making Senior Management part of the team
• Qualifying the opportunity
• Nailing the compliancy issues

• Harnessing the Market Intelligence
• Priming your references
• Articulation of the benefits
• Storing all the reusable information

By the end of the session you will have a solid understanding of the issues most likely to be encountered and methods to deal with them. You will understand how to leverage the evaluation system to your best advantage and what to do when you cannot fully answer the questions.

Why attend?

• Do you want to win more public sector business?
• Have you found that having the market leading offering does not always lead to the opportunity to demonstrate this?
• Do you have team members that are relatively new to the whys and wherefores of public sector decision making?
• Do you find it's hard to know what the public sector buyer is really after?
• Do you want to increase your PQQ conversion rate?
If you answer "yes" to any of these, then this will give you what you need.

Who should attend?

Anyone involved or who will become involved in attempting to win public sector business, including:
• Those responsible for managing the client relationship or who have direct control over the bidding process
• Senior sales staff and marketeers
• Senior executive project sponsors
• Internal experts who have responsibility for compiling the PQQ response

Note: You should only attend the masterclass if you are willing to participate fully and wish to sharpen your skills in order to enhance your future performance.

Objectives

This half day event will let you:

• Exploit the process: Give you the tools and techniques to influence get through to the next round, despite the attempts by the evaluators to reduce their workload by rejecting your application
• Improve your response efficiency: Outline strategies to ensure you only respond when you can win and therefore avoid resource wastage
• Maximise your win chance: Show how to gain competitive advantage and maximise evaluation scores despite the 'level playing field'
• Change your organisation: Take away a frame work of success for engaging the first stage of government bidding in your business

Note: This event is intended for people with some previous experience in this area.

Key benefits

By the end of the day you will be able to:
• Win more opportunities to submit a full proposal
• Get on the long list - discover how to be invited to bid for business. Get on the short list - know how to set up successful bids
• Reduce the cost of bidding for public sector business
• Understand the key elements of the UK procurement process and the applicable bid regulations
• Use professional techniques to make your bids interesting and compelling to read
• Discover how you may be able to get through, even after you have been told that you have lost

About the session leader

Essential event information

Date: Wednesday 17 February 2010
Location: Guardian Professional, 3-7 Herbal Hill, London, EC1R 5EJ

Event fees:
Non-subscriber £249 + VAT
Subscriber £199 + VAT

Booking information

If you are a KableDIRECT subscriber please either email customerservices@kable.co.uk or call 020 3353 4890 for further information.

If you are a non-subscriber please either call 0845 463 1465 or use the button below to be directed to the booking form on our partner, Sixfold's, website: