Page 226 - Writing Winning Business Proposals

Writing the Fees Slot 217

Your relationship with the economic buyer is singularly important, and so is
that buyer’s organizational level. Since the economic buyer is concerned with
the bottom line and the overall impact on the organization, an economic buyer
higher in the organization will be more likely to consider, and fund, larger proj-
ects, while lower-level buyers will lack the authority to approve such projects. For
lower-level buyers, your strategy could be to break the project into smaller, lower-
cost pieces or phases or to attempt to persuade the economic buyer to elevate the
proposed project to a higher organizational level. You should be aware, however,
that this “elevation” strategy often triggers a new and different economic buyer if
your project’s proposed fees exceed the original buyer’s financial authority.

The Desirability of This Project to You

for Internal or Tactical Reasons

Previously, I mentioned some of the strategic reasons that might increase your
desire to win a project—for example, you might want to work for a specific pros-
pect or on a specific issue. Tactical or internal issues also can influence your
pricing strategy, often resulting in your lowering your fees because of the benefits
that could accrue to you and your firm from performing the proposed project.
(See Figure 13.7.) If you have unassigned staff available, the project provides an
opportunity to use them. You also might view the project as an opportunity to
educate your proposed team members about a key business issue or industry. Or
your staff could have an opportunity to work in a desirable location—where they
reside, for example, instead of Timbuktu.

To what extent will winning this project help meet your firm’s internal
To what extent will winning this project help meet your firm’s internal
objectives, providing you the opportunity to:
objectives, providing you the opportunity to:
‡ use available staff?
‡ use available staff?
‡ train available staff?
‡ train available staff?
‡ meet the individual development needs of members of the assigned project team?
‡ meet the individual development needs of members of the assigned project team?
‡ work in a desirable location?
‡ work in a desirable location?
‡ meet other potential clients?
‡ meet other potential clients?
‡ gain valuable publicity?
‡ gain valuable publicity?

FIGURE 13.7 Pricing strategy related to potential benefits to your firm rm
FI G U R E 13.7 P ricing stra t eg y r ela t ed t o pot ential bene fi ts t o y our fi