Strategic planning for opportunity

When opportunity comes knocking at your door (it does so many times) you will want to be in a position to take full advantage, and the best way to achieve a state of readiness is to be constantly honing up your skills on strategy making. The more you practice, the better prepared you will be to handle any challenge.

When you get the call, some healthy self-talk and your A4 sheet will come in handy. Let's assume you are the owner operator of a small graphics house and out of the blue you are invited to pitch for a sizeable chunk of new business.

There is a comprehensive brief attached to the invitation and it specifies the requirement for a full-scale presentation. There is also an offer from the prospective client of further clarification on any aspect(s) of the brief. Be on the safe side and take them up on that before committing hefty expenditure to this 'wonderful' opportunity.

Enter stage right: your sheet of A4…

On the up side

1. This is a prestigious account.
Winning it will lift us right
up there among the big boys.

2. We must come highly recommended.

3. Adrenaline is running on high
in the studio - best get the
presentation online straightaway.

4. We'll recover the presentation costs
By amortizing them across future work.

5. We stand to make a lot of money.

On the down side

1. Or is it yet another 'cattle call'?
And have you been brought in
just to make up the numbers?

2. Oh really? Check that out.
There are lots of Machiavellian
people out there.

1. Hold up. There's no mention of a
presentation fee in the brief.

2. This is a fee-based account remember. They'll spot recovery of costs a mile away.

3. Look again at the fee base. Will there be irrecoverable costs over and above?

Conclusion

Ø Request an early meeting with the prospective client
Ø Tie up loose ends before committing to presentation

Action

Ø Ask for a complete list of the contenders
Ø Ask why invitation was rendered
Ø Ask did it come by way of recommendation
Ø Ask for a presentation fee
Ø Ask for a complete analysis of the fee based payment structure

Subsequent action

Ø If no presentation fee is forthcoming, decide whether to proceed
Ø If proceeding, trim costs accordingly

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