JULY/AUGUST | FEATURE
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the tender terrain are offered by
Morgan. “I think you have to take it
on face value that going for tenders
is a calculated risk - they try and
be as fair as possible but given
that you are up against sometimes
more than 10 other agencies,
means that the process can quite
easily be seen as unfair in terms of
competition. Having said this, you
have to accept the parameters and
that the bigger the organisation,
the more people there are to sign
something off, the more evidence
they need to do so.
“I would also say that it is
important to never go for anything
that is worth more than 25% of
your turnover and make sure that
the actual margin is understood
before going forward with a
proposal.”
Seeking opportunities to
tangibly demonstrate what
you do is advocated by all our
commenters. Cochrane says:
“Potential customers come to
see our work at the RHS Chelsea
Flower Show, Farnborough
International Air Show, The Gatsby
Club at Wimbledon and so many
more global premier events.
“This tangible demonstration
of what we can do is the most
powerful method of convincing
potential customers to choose
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1: LBD’s Cochrane
2: The Fair’s Morgan
3: Gallowglass’ Grecian
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LDB. Conferences and exhibitions
will always have a place in our sales
and marketing strategy – we just
need to select the most appropriate
show.”
There can still be flaws, Grecian
adds, even with a great strategy
in place. “To win, you need to
identify and get inside the mind
of the ultimate decision maker.
And they may very well not be
the person who issued the tender
and may not even agree with the
stipulations in the document. We
see so many tender invitations
that are obviously cut-and-paste
jobs, prepared by a junior executive
who cribbed the content from
a previous, often unrelated,
purchasing exercise.”
“The lack of honesty drives me
mad. Tenders would be vastly
improved by total transparency;
we’re informed that the decision
will be based on a series of
criteria – including sustainability
credentials and certification in
international standards, and that
cost will be a minor factor in the
decision-making process.
“But because our own company’s
credentials in terms of standards
and regulatory requirements are
pretty impeccable, we know that
when we haven’t won a tender, the
only area we could have lost out on
would be cost.”
Morgan adds that, despite the
frustrations, creativity needn’t
be totally stifled by tender box
ticking. “Really, because of the
amount of time and effort that
goes into creative, the tender
process should allow for more give
and take with a stage to present
initial ideas and re-develop creative
direction. This helps both parties,
we as agencies want to get it right
for our clients and the tender
process needs to be more of a two
way street in this respect.”
Tendering, which is also a key
theme in this issues cover feature
(p30) is a topic that will run and
run.
For now, however, the festival
and event industry is very much
at the mercy of the dreaded tender
document.
Grecian, Cochrane and Morgan’s
full commentary on tenders will be
available on accessaa.co.uk shortly
after this issue’s publication.