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"Another problem is that the clients are really interested in our specific experience: that means they want to work with me or my partner, not with the company.

by luke_s 14y ago

"Another problem is that the clients are really interested in our specific experience: that means they want to work with me or my partner, not with the company. This bit is hard to crack." You certainly have a lot more business experience than I do - however I've been working recently on preparing a lots of tender responses. I work at a software consulting firm, with about 10 devs and 20 GIS analysts. In our tender responses we include the resumes of the people who will be working on the project as an appendix right at the back. At the front we have a section with our 'relevant experience'. In the 'relevant experience section' we NEVER mention which person worked on a specific project. Its always termed as "XYZ corp developed an app to ... " or "XYZ corp worked with ABC inc to ..." I guess it comes down to a metal shift in always describing things your company has achieved, instead of things you as an individual have done.

jacques_chester 14y ago
Lots of clients require you to say, in your contract, who will be working on a project. They will inquire after individuals.
- luke_s 14y ago
  Which is why our tender responses do include the resumes - just in an appendix at the back. The bit at the front, with screenshots and quotes from happy users just talks about what the company has done. You absolutely have to meet the customer requirements in your response. But its up to you where you place the emphasis :-)
koevet 14y ago
We are to small to even think of compete in one of the bids for a large company or the government. The majority of our engagements result from some kind of personal contact my partner or myself have in in our previous life as freelance consultants. Nevertheless, I see your point. It's just difficult to apply just yet. We also considered removing the "team" page from our site altogether and just discuss generically about the technologies and clients we have been working with. I did my homework and went through some marketing and web-marketing books. My catch is that for professional services companies - especially at the early stage, the "who are those guys" question is the first that springs to mind to a prospect and it would be suicidal to remove a reference to the admittedly impressive experience that we have accumulated along the years.
- luke_s 14y ago
  Hmmmm ... I've actually been going around meeting a lot of digital marketing agencies (I've been doing a bit of Android freelancing in my spare time). They all seem really interested in the bids I have been putting together at my day job, but don't feel they are in a position to be able to tender on projects like that. I wonder what knowledge/skils/experience they need to be able to bid at that level? It seems like something really valuable to be able to train a company in...
- timv 14y ago
  I'm not sure whether it's helpful for your situation but the way I've seen this succeed in the past is to bring more people in while you're already there. Big consulting firms do it, and do it badly, and get a bad reputation for it (but then keep getting hired back anyway), but if you do it well, it can work out fine. My suggestions: 1) When you're on site somewhere keep an eye open for areas where one of your hired-guns could help solve a problem the client has. 2) Don't bring someone on just because it helps your company, only do it if you really believe it is in the client's interests. 3) Only bring in people you really trust, getting this wrong is deadly. 4) Be willing to make little or no money on it at first - this is primarily about marketing, not immediate income. But make it clear to the client that it's a special price and it may go up next time. Generally I find that the best angle is either to say "I think they can really provide value here, give them a trial and I can bring them in at 25% off their normal charge rate" or "Because you've been a great client, I can do a special deal this time, so you can see what else we have to offer". 5) Make sure you represent them as one of your people, not a freelancer. If they're good you want the client to come back to you and ask for them again, and not to think they can go direct.

by luke_s 14y ago

jacques_chester 14y ago

Lots of clients require you to say, in your contract, who will be working on a project. They will inquire after individuals.

luke_s 14y ago
Which is why our tender responses do include the resumes - just in an appendix at the back. The bit at the front, with screenshots and quotes from happy users just talks about what the company has done. You absolutely have to meet the customer requirements in your response. But its up to you where you place the emphasis :-)

koevet 14y ago

We are to small to even think of compete in one of the bids for a large company or the government. The majority of our engagements result from some kind of personal contact my partner or myself have in in our previous life as freelance consultants. Nevertheless, I see your point. It's just difficult to apply just yet. We also considered removing the "team" page from our site altogether and just discuss generically about the technologies and clients we have been working with. I did my homework and went through some marketing and web-marketing books. My catch is that for professional services companies - especially at the early stage, the "who are those guys" question is the first that springs to mind to a prospect and it would be suicidal to remove a reference to the admittedly impressive experience that we have accumulated along the years.

luke_s 14y ago
Hmmmm ... I've actually been going around meeting a lot of digital marketing agencies (I've been doing a bit of Android freelancing in my spare time). They all seem really interested in the bids I have been putting together at my day job, but don't feel they are in a position to be able to tender on projects like that. I wonder what knowledge/skils/experience they need to be able to bid at that level? It seems like something really valuable to be able to train a company in...
timv 14y ago
I'm not sure whether it's helpful for your situation but the way I've seen this succeed in the past is to bring more people in while you're already there. Big consulting firms do it, and do it badly, and get a bad reputation for it (but then keep getting hired back anyway), but if you do it well, it can work out fine. My suggestions: 1) When you're on site somewhere keep an eye open for areas where one of your hired-guns could help solve a problem the client has. 2) Don't bring someone on just because it helps your company, only do it if you really believe it is in the client's interests. 3) Only bring in people you really trust, getting this wrong is deadly. 4) Be willing to make little or no money on it at first - this is primarily about marketing, not immediate income. But make it clear to the client that it's a special price and it may go up next time. Generally I find that the best angle is either to say "I think they can really provide value here, give them a trial and I can bring them in at 25% off their normal charge rate" or "Because you've been a great client, I can do a special deal this time, so you can see what else we have to offer". 5) Make sure you represent them as one of your people, not a freelancer. If they're good you want the client to come back to you and ask for them again, and not to think they can go direct.