APMP Foundation Accrediation Workshops and Examinations

APMP Foundation Accrediation Workshops and Examinations

Pass the Foundation Examination and Become Accredited All courses will be run by Peter Lobl or Andy Haigh.  If you wish to know who will be leading any particular event, please contact us. The Association of Proposal Management Professionals (APMP) is the professional association for people working in any sales environment where formal bidding and…

Silver Foundation Workshop and Examination

Silver Foundation Workshop and Examination

£545 PER CANDIDATE (EXC VAT) A full day training event to prepare for and then take the APMP Foundation examination. It will be led by a highly experienced proposal professional. We will introduce you to all the best practice principles that you will need both to get you through the exam and to enhance your…

APMP Practitioner Accreditation Workshops and (optional) Examinations

APMP Practitioner Accreditation Workshops and (optional) Examinations

Pass the Practitioner Examination and Become Accredited All courses will be run by Peter Lobl or Andy Haigh.  If you wish to know who will be leading any particular event, please contact us. The Association of Proposal Management Professionals (APMP) is the professional association for people working in any sales environment where formal bidding and…

Workshops & Courses

Workshops & Courses

Sixfold has developed an enviable reputation over several years of helping strategic clients win their bids. We have distilled this experience into a wide range of training workshops and courses, all designed to help our clients gain a competitive edge and become more successful in their public sector bidding activities.

Consultative Selling

Using the right questioning techniques you can demonstrate to any member of your customer’s team that you understand and support their agenda, and how your offering will best help them achieve their goals and address their challenges. This workshop will develop the business focus required to best influence your customer; – Develop abilities to use…

Company Wide Sales Skills

Company Wide Sales Skills

The sales activity of a business should not just be limited to those people with the word ‘sales’ attached to their role or title. Yet all client facing staff have a sales role to play which is very rarely recognised or acknowledged. This course encourages client facing staff to keep a look out for additional revenue opportunities and gives them the skills to qualify and develop them to a sensible degree.

Free 1½ hour score maximisation session for the bid team, to be incorporated into the bid Kick-Off meeting*

Free 1½ hour score maximisation session for the bid team, to be incorporated into the bid Kick-Off meeting*

Public Sector Bidding and Tendering is different! In our experience the biggest reason that bid teams fail to win public sector contracts, is that the bid team does not respond to the nuances of the unique bidding process as well as it might.

Free briefing session for sales team on the differences between commercial and Public Sector tendering approaches*

Free briefing session for sales team on the differences between commercial and Public Sector tendering approaches*

Public Sector Bidding and Tendering is different! In our experience there is one common reason that bid teams lose contracts they should have won.  It is that the bid team does not understand the opportunities that this difference creates. There are numerous ways that the formal, transparent process can be finessed, but many of these…

Politics of Bidding in Public Sector and Influencing the Influencers

Politics of Bidding in Public Sector and Influencing the Influencers

Harnessing the politics and relationships to make a difference.

The Public Sector procurement processes go to extraordinary lengths to prevent relationships and direct contact with the decision makers influencing the outcome of a procurement competition. The outcome is that the process can get in the way of our ability to communicate those things which would allow the competition to get the best result.

Mastering Public Sector Sales

Mastering Public Sector Sales

The one-day course briefly covers the processes for engaging the Public Sector in contract competitions. It then goes on to deal with how you can work the processes and the bidding environment to get a competitive advantage, even if you are new to this type of bidding. The tools and techniques covered will surprise and delight the experienced bid and sales team, whilst explaining why those “certain to win” go on to lose. Then it will show you how not to get caught in the same traps.

Master Class in Advanced Communication and Presentation Skills

Master Class in Advanced Communication and Presentation Skills

Many companies see the public sector market as one fraught with difficulties. The procurement processes can seem complex, cumbersome and difficult to understand. The sales cycle sometimes seems to be much longer than most business can tolerate. The language is different and the business risk of getting involved seems very high. No wonder many sales teams keep pressing on with the increasingly difficult traditional markets rather than changing focus to this lucrative business area.

Developing an Executive Summary

Developing an Executive Summary

The executive summary sets the tone for the entire bid. Often it is the only section that is read by some key influencers. It will certainly be seen by all evaluators. Yet often it is written in a rush at the end of the bid process rather than used to set the key messages for all contributors. This workshop shows those involved in bid writing how to craft a winning Executive Summary

Setting the Bid Strategy

Setting the Bid Strategy

Choosing the right strategy requires teams to consider their position with the customer and the likely strategies of the competition together with a host of other factors. Determining the winning strategy is an art that does not come easily to everyone and often requires experience to get it right. This workshop aims to give bid teams the fundamentals to bridge the experience gap so that they can confidently utilise strategies to increase their win chance

Responding to the Selection Questionnaire

Responding to the Selection Questionnaire

How do you ensure you get to the next round? We’ll show you how to raise your success rate

The response to the Pre Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) is very often a knee jerk response to the questionnaire arriving on the desk. However, if the opportunity is not eventually bid for and won, any effort expended against the PQQ is wasted. On the other hand, if the PQQ is not completed, you cannot bid for the contract – even though you are the best organisation on the planet to supply what is wanted!

APMP UK Workshop: Exploiting the Public Sector rules for Competitive Gain

APMP UK Workshop: Exploiting the Public Sector rules for Competitive Gain

Virgin’s success at overturning the government decision to award the West Coast mainline franchise to FirstGroup demonstrated something Sixfold has long been preaching: the best bidders in the public sector use the government’s own rules to give themselves competitive advantage.

Exploiting The Public Sector Rules For Commercial Gain

Exploiting The Public Sector Rules For Commercial Gain

To many; the Public Sector procurement processes appear very daunting. However, some companies get in­ credible results by knowing how to leverage the processes to best advantage, even though they may not have the best products or solution. Now, once again the rules are changing and those organisations that can respond most effectively will win the prizes. If you really are best in class, you cannot afford to be knocked out by inferior suppliers who play the game better.

A Potential Hazard: The New Competitive Procedure with Negotiation

A Potential Hazard: The New Competitive Procedure with Negotiation

If you think that the procedure chosen by your client will not affect your win chance, think again! It is vital you understand the possible impact.

The Competitive Dialogue has been around for some time and we have seen many instances of its use (and misuse) to date. We are now getting some practical understanding of the Competitive Procedure with Negotiation and this note outlines how this experience is giving us more insight and warns of the impact this could have on your win chance.

Transparency Hits You!

Transparency Hits You!

Like it or not, the new Public Contracts Regulations 2015 are going to make a big difference to how you bid for Public Sector contracts. Sixfold is all about how to finesse the Public Sector procurement to create a competitive edge. We have often focused on how the fundamental principles – equal treatment, proportionality and transparency – can be used as a tool to your advantage.

Rescuing A Major Bid

Rescuing A Major Bid

Sixfold has been called in to help a large company resolve a strange issue with the evaluation of its multi-million pound tender. The company had been told that it had come second and, in accordance with the procurement requirements, it was sent the scores both it and the winning bidder had been allocated.

Beating Your Competition Through Differentiation

Beating Your Competition Through Differentiation

The Public Sector bidding processes appear to force you to bid exactly the same proposal as everyone else. This process is set up to allow the evaluators to be able to compare one bid against another as easily as they can. The processes seem to stifle any ability to differentiate your offering and slaps down any attempt at innovation! However, we all know that we must stand out from the other bidders if we are to win the bid.

Going the Extra Mile

Going the Extra Mile

As a Bid Director I have been interested for a long time in what it is that motivates bid team members to work extended hours (sometimes 24 hours and longer without a break). Despite being under high pressure they perform willingly, enthusiastically and, usually, for no financial reward above their normal salary. This does not occur in every case.

I don’t have to worry – We are the “incumbent”!

I don’t have to worry – We are the “incumbent”!

You are the incumbent supplier in a Public Sector contract and it has come around for a rebid. You and your team have been doing a fantastic job for years. You know you have the client’s staff on your side because they tell you that your team is doing a good job and you have rescued the client’s business from several, indeed many, disasters of their making in recent months.