Tom-Varjan's blog

by Tom "Bald Dog" Varjan, Organisational Provocateur

Summary: Many consulting firms make the mistake of skimping on marketing to save money, and rejoice when they count how much they've saved. But this joy is rather lost-lived when they realise that if they don't market, they have to engage in the ultimate money-wasting activity: Responding to request for proposals and battling it out on price with purchasing and procurement departments and being treated as fungible vendors.

So, this month we discuss how consulting firms can improve their processes of writing and submitting client-centred proposals to real buyers and avoid the dreaded bid-judges of purchasing departments. If you like the idea, then read on and enjoy.

Many consulting firms still live and die by throwing presentations to win engagements. I've just bumped into some good points about what to do and what to avoid at presentations.

Rainmaker advisor, Ford Harding has some advice on what to avoid, entitled 3 x 5 Presentation Don’ts.

And Suzanne Lowe has a great blog entry on Five Biggest Professional Service Presentation Don'ts.