Page 110 - Writing Winning Business Proposals

Analyzing the Buyers 101

he probably will examine the methodology closely to determine whether it gives
adequate consideration to adding capacity at the current facility.
Metzger is concerned that his operations are already approaching capacity and
that as demand continues to grow, he will be forced to operate uneconomically
(e.g., with excessive overtime, reduced time to maintain equipment, and higher
freight costs). Like others, he agrees that ABC badly needs additional manufac-
turing capacity.
Metzger is looking forward to reviewing the consulting team’s quantification
of ABC’s need for capacity. He is hopeful, however, that the amount of capacity
indicated is such that most, if not all, can be accommodated at the existing site,
particularly if newer manufacturing technology is utilized. As a result, his mana-
gerial responsibilities would increase and he would be able to promote some of
his supervisors who have supported him and performed well in the past. Your
analysis of Metzger’s buying roles and benefits is shown in row five of Figure 6.7.

Examining Your Notes: What’s Missing?

In examining your detailed notes on each buyer, you now know what you know
and, just as important, what you don’t know. For example, none of the buy-
ers, according to your determination, can be considered a coach. This makes
you uneasy, given that the situation is competitive and that at least two of your
competitors have done previous (and, apparently, good) work for ABC. Those
firms could very well have special access to people and intelligence at ABC that
you do not and perhaps will not have. According to Anil Gupta, Paramount
had been recommended to ABC. That’s what he told Gilmore. But as far as you
know, Gilmore didn’t find out who the recommender was. That person could
very well be (or be turned into) a coach. You decide to discuss this matter also
with Gilmore, and you red flag the Coach column on Cell 1 of the Psychologics
Worksheet (as shown Figure 6.7). Just as troubling, none of the five buyers meets
the criteria for a ratifier, who could very well exist at Consolidated and who could
strongly influence Armstrong’s opinion about whom to select. If you had a coach,
you might be able to work with that person to identify the ratifier.
You know that your firm’s win rate is considerably lower when you don’t have
a coach (and, chances are, a competitor does), and you also know that even a
strong relationship with an economic buyer means very little when an unidenti-
fied ratifier refuses to bless the economic buyer’s decision. Accordingly, you also
place a red flag in the Ratifier column of the worksheet.