How to deal with a clarification question from the client after bid submission
Blissful Ignorance
It was late on a dreary Friday afternoon, the sort that makes one contemplate the meaning of existence, we were snug in the Head of Sales’ office. It had been a hard week. There we were, nursing cups of machine coffee that bore an uncanny resemblance to over-steeped tea, nattering about tenders and jealously feigning enthusiasm for his imminent skiing holiday.
We were interrupted by a rap on the door. Without waiting, a junior member of the sales team came in. He was brandishing an email printout as if it was burning his fingers. “Did you see this, Boss?” he said and handed over an email printout. The Head of Sales skim-read the email. “Just give this one to Eileen. She is the sales lead and tell her to get the response in before she goes home,” he instructed. “Tell her I trust her to reread the bid and make up any bits she does not know.” With that, we carried on chatting until leaving time, oblivious to what was coming.
A few days after that, we got the letter from the client telling us we had come second!
Of course, this client question would have to be related to that strategically important, must-win bid that we had submitted a couple of weeks before. Everyone was relying upon this opportunity being won. After all, all the vibes we had had from the client until this point were that we should be clear winners. We knew we had an excellent solution and a very competitive price. How could it have got away from us?
Realisation
What we had overlooked was that a clarification email is giving you a final chance to come top.
We had not heard the alarm bells ringing underneath this simple clarification email. Eileen had done what she had been asked. She had simply pinched a few lines from the bid, spruced them up a bit, and dispatched the email – job done!
I learned a serious lesson from this. What we should have realised is that a clarification question at this stage signifies that the evaluators are unable to choose a winner. They cannot be sure of what the right score is for an element of our proposal. However, we can be certain that we are in the very top echelon of contenders. They will not send out a clarification question unless we have a real chance of winning. What we respond with will genuinely alter our evaluation score, possibly sufficiently for us to take the prize. Crucially, it’s our last shot to dazzle them and climb the scoreboard.
If we underplay the response to the client’s email it will probably cost us everything we have invested in this bid to this point. If we cannot use this opportunity to push our score up, our adversaries have a serious chance to eclipse us. And just like that, we’d be relegated to “runners up”. Exactly what had happened that Friday.
A Better Way
So, when that fateful clarification email lands in your lap, it should be all hands on deck. Summon the troops for an emergency meeting. I would look to include all the following people (no excuses):
- Top brass
- The sales lead
- The solutions guru
- The most innovative pricing staff
- The original bid authors for the areas covered
- Any other bright people who can contribute
Next, I would draft a battle plan together:
- Dissect the client’s query like a forensic scientist. Brainstorm every possible reason behind the client’s question.
- Reassess our initial response for any murky patches.
- Reflect on our submitted proposal and find opportunities to add a sprinkle of extra magic.
- Compose a response that’s so compelling, it deserves a standing ovation.
- Critically score our planned response against the client’s scoring system. Then see where we can improve it even more. Don’t miss this point in the plan!
- Look to offer something more to the client. We have another chance to communicate with the client about anything in our bid – make best use of it.
- Review, refine, and add the proverbial icing on the cake.
- Send the reply exactly following the client’s instructions.
Bear in mind, this is our moment in the spotlight. Include all the tantalising benefits, impacts, and highlight a snippet of our solution’s genius. Add in some testimonials and graphics that hit the mark. And don’t forget to clarify any other parts of the bid where we might notch up a few extra points.
Key Takeaways
- It’s easy to lose the bid at this juncture.
- Unearth the subtext beneath the client’s clarification question.
- Rally your finest minds and treat this with the utmost urgency – it’s a number one business priority.
- Make sure your reply lets the evaluators shower you with bonus points (use the scoring system).
- Don’t stifle your creativity by trying to reduce word count (unless the client specifies otherwise).
And there we have it: a tale of missed signals, unconsidered responses and a bid that slipped through our fingers. Let’s not repeat history, shall we? I hope that these few words will help you achieve this.
