Out of the 500 businesses that have been to my seminars over the last two weeks, I have seen very few that have been preparing themselves to thrive in this new age of austerity. True many want new business but it seems they are almost prepared to go on being what they are at the moment instead of adapting to manage the inevitable change. Some of that may be down to not knowing what to do, what action to take or what strategy to adopt. But now is the time to do something about it!

In the current and upcoming issues of The Achiever newsletter, I am including ideas and tips and great examples in the Achievers In Austerity section. There are plenty of opportunities around if businesses are prepared to explore new channels, new markets and think laterally. Pick up the tips and please send me yours to share with other readers.

Filming at educational furniture maker, Ambic Ltd the other day, I found that they are using the quality of their product to seek new markets such as via the Home Office to equip prison cells. That's good lateral thinking and seizing the opportunity of public procurement contracts.How can you use that approach?

Your customers will be wanting more from you in measurement of yourself and one good way to do it is via a balanced business scorecard. Ours is called biz-pulse and is designed for the small and medium sized supplier. Check it out just to see the type of management indicators you need or e-mail me if you would like a set of compliance kep performance and management indicators

Watch out for more Achievers In Austerity from us here at BizVision in the UK and our worldwide learning academies at SpotLearn.com

This week will likely see another round of rash cost slashing as people and businesses react to the Budget. But the question you need to ask, or consider, is one that hangs over every cost-cutting phase and that is are you cutting enough or even too much? You need to aim for the right level of expenses or overheads. Those expenses should be for only three purposes. If you question your expnses or map them against these 3 purposes then you should be on the "right overhead" track.

In our SpotLearn Business Performance Academy we've been looking carefully at how nthese three purposes can give you a gauge or guide in cost cutting

The three purposes are:
1. Expenses that you have to incur as a result of your companies activities. These include payroll, accounting and so on. Question if those expenses are inflated by comparing them     against your leanest competitor
2. Expenses that increase your effectiveness and efficiency. Draw the line where the improvement in effectiveness doesn't pay for itself
3. Expenses that lay the basis for profitable growth. Question the level of anticipated growth.

So don't just knee-jerk react to cost slashing. Use the "three purposes" as your gauge.

In this "new" age of austerity where all the news is about cut-backs, then it is inevitable that your customers will start to use the situation to demand lower prices from you. Your challenge is to ensure that you get the order at a price that is profitable for you. To do that your customer has got to see value in choosing you rather than your competitor. Yes, you will likely have to sharpen your pencil to get your price looking attractive but there are others things you can do apart from straight and dangerous discounting.

Here is a selection taken from my SpotLearn.com Sales and Marketing Academy.

1. Are you buying better from your own suppliers -savings which you may be able to use to lower your prices?

2. Price for value:  Take a lesson from street sellers who understand better than anyone the principle of value-based pricing. Umbrella prices go up the moment it starts raining. It has nothing to do with the cost of the goods, and everything to do with the value the customer places on the product.

3. Focus on profit, not margin: Many businesses equate “high margin” with pricing success.  Maybe so, but a high margin can also point to opportunities to serve more customers by using discount tactics as well. Profit is your goal, not margin.

There's more tips in The Achiever and price and profit learning videos in the SpotLearn Academies

Ever day we see more news stories about public sector cut-backs and the state of the UK economy. I feel that those that will struggle are the mediocre businesses, the ones that have not invested in finding new markets, new products or services. Actually you meet them most days as you do business with them and then think you won't go back!! The frightening thing is that they likely don't know your feelings.

So now, more than ever, take time to know your customers thoughts about you. If you are in B to B then go and see them as a "listening day" - don't try and sell them. Instead find out their challenges, where they are going to, how they are going to get there. Also ask them which suppliers they admire and why - that will give you a good benchmark for your service levels.

This should all be part of what I call the "2 Win Factor" . It's that extra resolve to win THEIR business instead of just winning any business.

Don't just Express Interest in their contract. Instead express Serious and Enthusiastic interest. What do you think? Do you know a business that has the "2 Win Factor" ???

Buyers are being advised to be on their guard as the economic climate is forcing many suppliers to promise much more than they can deliver. This means that buyers are  not only suspicious of suppliers but are focused on their risk. I have helped firms will £millions of public procurement and supply chain contarcts and have seen many times how suppliers promise quality but let themselves down with capacity and consistency.

So how will it all pan out?

Buyers will be asking for references and then checking them out. They will want to know if you are using any subcontarctors and how reliant you are on them? Are they stable? They will want to know that the people you have promised will be the ones delivering the contract.

Here's the good news idea.

Now that you know this, why not use it to your competitive advantage. Instead of them thinking how can they limit their liability, do it for them by showing how you have identieid and minimised risk. Develop a risk matrix to include in your bid.
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Major sporting events can bring BIG business for you and not just the London 2012 Olympics. Think Commonwealth Games Glasgow 2014, Sochi Winter Olympics 2014, FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014. All these big events bring  a need for a wide range of works, goods and services as well as Sport Tourism. On the 23rd March, I'm (Malcolm Gallagher) presenting a seminar at Newcastle United FC with UKTI on winning sporting contracts. This time my chat is about how to collaborate with experienced sports business suppliers in Australia. If you would like to see some Aussie companies and perhaps collaborate with them to win public procurement and other contracts, then visit the media room on our Bizvision.co.uk website and play the video.

It's all part of our SpotLearn Supply 2 Sport brand with new learning in the SpotLearn Suppliers Academy to improve your skills on the business of sport and how to win valuable contracts.

We are soon to film interviews with Professor Chadwick of Coventry University's Centre for International Business of Sport and that should hekp you see even more cleraly the business opportunity of sport. There's a great worldwide opportunity. For example the FIFA World Cup in Brazil in 2014 where no stadia are yet to FIFA standards so 9 will hav eto be refurbished and 3 total new builds - and the Brazilians regard the British as possibly the best in the world in sports stadiums and infrastructure. Opportunity or not??!

Have you won any sports related business? Are you interested in winning more around the world? Let me know and I'll keep you informed of opportunities.

To-day I'm presenting a short seminar at a UKTI conference on Working With The Australians. I'm calling it "Oz=Opportunity"! That's because, having worked with them ( and many are currently using our SpotLearn Academy modules) I have seen a terrific enthusiasm by them for working with UKL businesses. Have a look at the video I produced which is in the media section of the BizVision or SpotLearen site and you'll see what I mean.

My personal opinion is that I am a Commonwealther, not a European. We have, in our rush to cuddle up to Europeans, forgotten our friend sin the Commonwealth. They want to do business with us, have similar values and have possibly become a forgotten asset of the UK. What do you think? Like to do business withe Aussies? Then let me know and I'll freely introduce you to around 400 companies in Australia who are members of AISES.

I've recently presented some procurement seminars in the Darwin Suite at the Centre for Life in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. So what you say!!! Well my theme wasn't all about the process of public procurement, it was also about what I call the 3rd Dimension in Business - the entry into the contract winning skills of the ability to show best practice in compliance.

Compliance brings a third dimension demand to sit alongside the ability to be able to deliver the highest quality at the lowest cost. Where does Darwin come in? Some say that his Origin of the Species was really about the "survival of the fittest" which lead to the evolution of a new species. My thoughts are that following the recession and its "change point", it will be the new species of business that evolves and survives. The new species will acknowledge this 3rd Dimension and embrace the aspects of compliance in a way that they are embedded and bring a competitive advantage.

In our Biz-Pulse Business Scorecard programme we have recently introduced a Compliance Scorecard template to help organisations who want to be this new species.  The template focuses on management indicators in the four perspectives of Governance, Inclusion, Health & Safety and Environment.

However you manage it, if you don't acknowledge the existence of the 3rd Dimension, you may not be the business species that survives.
A recent survey shows that 44% of businesses think it will all soon be "back to normal". They are kidding themselves - the 3rd Dimension is here to stay!

What do you think about a 3rd Dimension?

In January, UK Government released an initiative which has to be good if you are a small firm wanting to win public sector contracts - but only if you are willing to do some measurement writes Malcolm Gallagher.

From the Spring of 2010, pubic procurement officers will have to show the OGC (Office of Government Commerce) the value of the contracts they have placed with small and medium sized enterprises. But they will also have to monitor and measure how many apprenticeships have been created through public procurement and the absolute number of suppliers who agreed to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions.

In addition, suppliers (vendors) will be asked to sign a new Supplier Charter which places voluntary commitments on both the procurer and supplier side take forward the policy priorities that are in the new Policy Through Procurement Action Plan (PtP).

If all this sounds a bit complicated then can you imagine its implementation!! But the message to all suppliers is clear. If you want your share of the near £200 billion UK Government annual spend on goods and services, you are going to have to embrace the aspects of compliance, including inclusion, health and safety and environmental matters, much more than ever before. within our Biz-Pulse.com programme.

In the SpotLearn.com Suppliers Academy are all the videos that you need to help you be a compliant suppliers and we are soon to launch a new Compliance Scorecard that will help you measure and manage these challenges. E-mail if you want to get early details.

If you want a copy of the Policy Through Procurement Action Plan please e-mail kim@bizvision.co.uk and she'll e-mail you it. Improve your knowledge, embed compliance and sharpen your ability to compete to win has to be key goals for 2010 if you want your share of those lucrative public procurement contracts.

The Magic Bid Triangle© of Winning Tenders

Now is the time to ramp up the competitiveness of your organisation to win public sector contracts and the Magic Bid Triangle can bring you a winning edge writes Malcolm Gallagher of The Suppliers Academy.

If you have attended my procurement workshops you will have heard me say many times, (too many times??!!) that winning is not about “filling the tender form in”. That’s just paperwork which anyone can do. You need to be focused on winning the contract.

So how to get a winning edge. First you need to get “Get Fit to Compete”. That is just the first of what I term as the three stages of winning. The next two stages are “Competing to Win” and “Aiming Higher” and that’s where I want to take you in this blog.

My belief is that the secret of success lies within what I term as the Magic Bid Triangle©. The triangle is three components which are truly embedded in your organisation.

I’ve arrived at this triangle as a result of our continuous work of interviewing and working with over 100 buyers across the UK and studying winning bids. So the Magic Bid Triangle is not all theory!

The three components of the triangle that need to be embedded in your organisation are:

• ·         Innovation
• ·         Added Value
• ·         Continuing Improvement

When all three come together and shine out of your tender then you are truly about winning tenders. Here’s  just a quick indication of what’s behind each three.

Innovative suppliers or providers are sought by the public sector. Whilst they welcome new suppliers they really don’t want more of the same. Show your difference and what that innovation can do to help improve their services to their customers – internal or external. Innovation isn’t about re-inventing the wheel. It doesn’t have to be revolutionary but it does have to show your difference.

Added Value is a recurring theme within my conversation with buyers. There is always opportunity for you to communicate added value and improve the efficiency of their spend. Do remember that added value is not listing what you do – that’s just “so what”!  Added value delivering that important extra. If you are a training organisation then added value may be where you can signpost the customers of your public sector client to further fully-funded training.

Continuous improvement is the third component in the Magic Bid Triangle and one with which so many smaller businesses struggle. The answer is a clear view of your organisation through the four perspectives of Operational Management, Business Management, People and Customers/Markets. Within each perspective you set performance indicators and look to improve in each indicator perhaps using traffic lights measures of red, amber and green.

If you are serious about winning contracts (including private sector) then embedding and measuring  Continuous Improvement should be a vital part of what you are about.

If you do not have a basic set of performance indicators then send me an e-mail to support@spotlearn.com and I’ll forward you a Small Organisation list in a template format for you to use as a starter.

Putting together a tender takes time and you want a result in the form of winning the bid! The Magic Bid Triangle should give you the edge but do also remember that public procurement is evolving and you need to keep gaining new knowledge.

Do you agree? What challenges you on winning contracts?