Change the Rules, Win the Game

An RFQ comes in. You are asked to bid on a wide variety of products in a number of different quantities. The client wants pricing to be the same, regardless of the quantity ordered. They want one flat shipping rate. They want preferred delivery. Their list of "demands" and requirements goes on and on. The total spend could easily be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

You are one of five bidders. The others are larger, better equipped, and better set up for this kind of thing. On paper, you don’t stand a chance.

Fast forward a month…

You receive an email from the company that issued the RFQ. Attached is an open PO with the largest dollar amount you've ever seen in your sales life. You won!

But how? You were outgunned, outsized, and outmatched. How did you do it?

The answer is simple: You changed the rules.

Let’s simplify this point. Let’s say you are asked to bid on a single job and are handed the specs, including a quantity of 100,000. Everyone else provides a price on those specs. You, however, quote $2,500, along with an explanation that further investigation uncovered the fact that over half of the previous two orders were thrown out due to obsolescence. Ordering in smaller quantities, while more expensive initially, will allow the requisitioner to make frequent changes, customize for different situations, cut down on the need to store inventory, and have zero waste. This is what your research discovered.

You changed the rules.

In the case of the RFQ, you can do the same thing. A deeper examination of the needs and priorities of the people who requisition the printing (rather than buy it) might uncover information previously unknown to Procurement. You aren't going to win any other way. If you are outgunned, outsized, and outmatch, you must outthink and outmaneuver your competition.

Start coloring outside the lines.

If you needs sales and are willing to put in the work, go to BillFarquharson.com and click on the “Training” link in the header. If you need sales but lack the commitment for that program, buy my 25 Best Print Sales Tips Ever! on Amazon.