I recently had to opportunity to speak with with Senior Business Development Executive, Robert Hazlett, who explained how he created a comprehensive strategy to win over his team and client after an underwhelming RFP response.
Here is the process in his own words:
Robert C. Hazlett, SENIOR BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT EXECUTIVE
“I identified a transformational business development opportunity through a Request for Proposal (RFP) for IT Services that aligned perfectly with my company’s core competencies. The opportunity was with the local water and power utility in Burbank, our corporate home city, and winning would add a significant monthly recurring revenue stream for our young IT consulting firm, accelerating our growth and profitability. The existing contract was held by a large, national IT services provider based in San Jose, California.
“Despite my enthusiasm and the positive impact that winning the contract would bring, our Executive Management response to my desire to bid was tepid and underwhelming. Our CEO felt that while we were qualified and capable, but because we did not work collaboratively with the utility to construct the RFP, he felt this put our firm at a huge disadvantage to the incumbent. He didn’t believe that we could win and felt that any effort to win would be a wasted effort. Discouraged, but undeterred, I conducted additional research about the competitor and the scope of work and RFP requirements, carefully assessing our chances of winning. I prepared a thorough business case for responding to the RFP and my CEO agreed – we would respond to the RFP and I would lead the effort.
“Realizing that I had just created a ‘careful what you wish for’ scenario, I immediately understood that I needed to work intelligently, secure additional buy-in from internal resources, seek outside assistance and put forth a herculean effort to present a winning RFP response against what appeared to be long odds of winning. I built out an RFP response project plan, identified pertinent staff members required for the proposal, and contacted the Burbank Chamber of Commerce President who I had recently met at a Chamber function. He invited me to come to his office to discuss the RFP, but when we met, strangely, he didn’t ask me anything about the RFP – all of the conversation that day was about me and MY background. We had a great ‘get-to-know-you’ session and at the conclusion of our meeting, he advised he would speak directly with the CEO of the utility on our behalf. By the time I returned to my office, approximately 20 minutes later, I already had an email in my inbox from the Chamber President advising that he had spoken with the Utility CEO and that the CEO was looking forward to reviewing our RFP response.
“Our team worked diligently to prepare a comprehensive RFP response, carefully addressing all of the key deliverables and I submitted the RFP response to the review committee for evaluation. Approximately 3 weeks after submitting the RFP response, I received a call from call from a consultant working with the Utility requesting a meeting at our office and advising me that we had won the RFP and we would be receiving a contract for review and consent. The contract was a 1-year contract with a 2 year option to renew and the initial year contract was targeted at $390,000, or $32,500 per month. The look on our CEO’s face when I told him we won was priceless and I’ll never forget his astonishment that I was able to close this deal when he believed this was a wasted effort. Winning the RFP profoundly changed my stature within the company and while I am no longer with the company, it has maintained that contract for over 13 years.
Vision, passion, perseverance, persuasiveness, and cheerleading were keys to winning this high-impact opportunity for the company.”
Watch full video interview below.
Contact Robert Hazlett via LinkedIn or his Career WebFolio.
Fred Coon, CEO
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