Laura's Winning Ideas

Someone just asked how long she should wait before following up on a proposal she submitted to a business.

She was afraid she’d be thought of as a stalker if she called too soon and then continued calling. Maybe there is a typical amount of time that one should wait before calling?

Gee, I don’t know. But the prospect knows!

When responding to a commercial RFP, or writing a proposal without an RFP, be sure to deliver the proposal with the query, “When should I follow-up with you about this?”

If you are shipping the document, you will call to confirm delivery, and that’s when you ask, “When should I follow-up with you about this?”

Small firms especially are uncertain about when to do this, and the trick is that only your prospect knows their schedule, competing demands, and urgency for your project.

Be sure to ask!

If you didn’t, just call now and say, “I forgot to ask before, when would be a good time for me to follow up with you on my proposal?”

I just finished shopping for a display banner and found a place that is pretty amazing. I shopped 6 different sites. Several required individual quotes you would email and wait for a response. Sam’s Club had an online service that allows you to design a banner, but after 3 HOURS of trying, I gave up and moved on to my last two sites.

One Day Banner turned out to be my lucky strike.

I’d learned in my research to use vinyl and avoid polyester since I want to re-use this banner. The weight of the vinyl indicates how thick and sturdy it will be, and 1Day had one of the heavier gauges of vinyl.

Their website design was minimal, but gave me plenty of options and more colors than most. The next morning I had an email with a PDF proof, and a fellow called just after sending the proof to alert me in case I wasn’t close to my computer. They’ll tweek it four times without special charges, but I got mine perfect with just one more change. Proof #2 was back in an hour or two, and I responded right away.
Today (3 days after I started shopping) the banner arrived and it’s a beauty.

Finally, the price was half of many the sites, so I was prepared to be disappointed.

Very cool.

I picked up a label, Serial Destroyers from Evan Sturza, who was profiled in the Wall Street Journal this week.

CEOs and senior executives who jump from one failed venture to another = Serial Destroyers.

You’ve probably known of such. Executives who put on a good face, but their track record is undeniable. They take all the credit for good numbers, and blame others for all the problems. But the bottom line eventually catches up with them and their judgement is proven flawed. Chainsaw Al was a famous one, who gutted several large companies before he was stopped (or retired).
Unwitting customers could be offered a ghost story to highlight this proclivity in a competitor. If you have one in your organization, now is a good time to be thinking about how you can deflect a ghost story pointed at one of your own.

If you are new to US Federal Contracting, you’ll want to spend some time on the WIFCON site.

If you are an old dog in Federal Contracting, you’ll want to bookmark their forum and blog. They have solid answers for your questions and post the latest government contract news on the blog.

Plug this in to your toolbox.