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Differing corporate communication practice in successful and unsuccessful companies

                   When we discuss corporate communication we generally assume that effective communication is a good thing. But what do we mean by effective in the reality of today’s turbulent and competitive marketplace? How vital are corporate communication activities? At differing attitudes and approaches in order to distil some critical success factors for managing change, competing and winning and considers the role that external and internal communication plays in relation to winning competitive bids, relationship building and managing change. It also considers the issue of differentiation and the international dimension before drawing out some key differences between attitudes, behaviours and approaches of winners and losers.

                       Many businesses win a significant proportion of major new contracts through some form of bidding process. Competitive markets and falling barriers to entry have strengthened the negotiating position of buyers. As more con- tracts are put out to competitive tender and new entrants to markets are invited to bid, the prospects of a supplier winning a particular opportunity can decline unless performance is improved.

                      As expectations rise, invitations to tender also become more demanding. Proposals get larger and more expensive to prepare. The cost of lost bids has to be recovered out of a squeezed margin on those that are won. Companies that win too few bids find them- selves driven out of business. Corporate survival can depend upon success in competitive bid situations.

                      Much more successful than others at winning business. Studies which have been undertaken cover many sectors, particular sectors (construction, engineering and manufacturing, IT and telecoms and eight professions ranging from lawyers and accountants to engineering and management consultants.

                    According to Kennedy and O’Connor, 1997 A wide gulf exists between winners and losers. The two groups appear distinct species with different personalities. Losers are undisciplined, unimaginative and reactive. They pursue far too many opportunities, and they focus primarily upon their employers’ immediate concerns and sales priorities. Members of loser bid teams respond mechanically to invitations to tender.

                      They are preoccupied with the practicalities of producing proposals and problems such as obtaining cost information and up to date CVs from busy colleagues. They find themselves under pressure to meet submission deadlines. Yet they ignore tools that could speed up their basic activities and free up thinking time.

                       Little effort is put into distinguishing the approaches or solutions they recommend. Specific product related information is communicated. Broader corporate credentials that might suggest opportunities for a wider relationship are not presented. Losers hold back. They only commit significant effort when a prospect is ‘seriously interested’. They describe their roles in terms of submitting bids.

                      Although they may claim to be winning business they devote the majority of their effort to losing potential business as most of the proposals they send in are rejected.

                 In businesses with below average success rates bid team members are left to get on with it. Senior managers may talk of proposal preparation as a ‘boring’ chore and one best avoided. They are rarely involved in individual opportunities.