The other morning my fourteen-year-old harrumphed into the kitchen as I was making coffee. She sat at the table; her sad face cupped between her hands.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“I’ll tell you what’s wrong: history! That’s what’s wrong!” She erupted, flinging her arms around. “I hate history! Why do we have to know all of this stuff?!”
“Because it’s important,” I said. “People who don’t understand history are doomed to repeat it.”
“Okay. Fine!” She replied, slapping her hands on the table. “How do you use history in your job?”
I was a bit flummoxed. She’d asked a very good question. Sure, having knowledge of naval history is great for understanding more about your navy customer, but it isn’t necessary for success. After a few moments, I found my answer.
“Yes, I do use history; if not every day, then every week.” I said.
She stuck one hand on her hip and gave me this sassy, teenaged look of disbelief. “Sure, Dad, and how is that?” she asked.
“I track the history of my customers and my competitors. I track what they’ve bid on, how they’ve bid, what jobs they’ve won, who is in leadership positions at each organization, and how their jobs are performing. All of this history helps me when I run captures and proposals.”
My daughter looked at me and rolled her eyes. “Dad, you could have just said you don’t use real history and left it at that...”
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History is critically important to run a successful capture. But there’s not just one history, you need to consider multiple histories:
Your Customer’s History
· What is their history of procurement?
· Do they typically always buy the lowest price or do they buy best value?
· Do they only ask for one round of pricing or do they like to ask for Best and Final Offers (BAFOs)?
· Do they strictly follow the RFP guidelines, or will they flex a bit?
Your Competitors’ History
· Have they been successful lately or are they hungry for a win?
· Have they had a change in leadership? Where are those leaders from? What are those leaders’ histories?
· Are they innovative or do they bid “tried and true”?
· What are their historic bidding approaches? Do they bid low and hope to make it up on change orders?
· How are their jobs performing? Are they in good graces with the customer or is there tension between the competitor and the customer? (This is critically important if the competitor is the incumbent.)
Your Own Company’s History
· Have you been successful lately or are you hungry for a win?
· How are your jobs performing?
· What is your relationship to the customer? If it’s not good, why? Is it delivery? Quality? Is your company hard to do business with? Does your customer view your company as “risky”?
· Have your bid approaches been successful? If you are winning, is your company leaving money on the table? If you’re not, how is your price compared to the winning price?
Paying close attention to history can help shape your capture effort, including the sometimes-unpopular no-bidding efforts that would result in spending a significant amount of money only to lose to a well-entrenched incumbent. Understanding history and using it appropriately can be the difference between winning or watching from the sidelines.
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