Credibility with the Customer & Expanding the Scope

To protect the confidentiality of our client and their customer, we have not detailed names.

Profile

How do you make your proposal stand out from the crowd? It is increasingly difficult to differentiate your proposal from the rest where products are becoming commodities and the customer thinks that cheapest is best. Even when replying to a standard RFP, you must view this as an opportunity to make your proposal look better than the competition.

Background

The CIO had issued an RFP and had received six responses from equally capable suppliers. However, it was clear to the CIO that he had created a problem for himself. How was he going to find out which proposal was most valuable when the suppliers had all structured their technical solution and costs in slightly differing ways in an attempt to differentiate themselves?

Enter the service provider salesman with Shark in his toolkit. The CIO knew he had to provide his Board with a suitable business case and Shark would help him do it. "You mean I can choose my own benefits and how they apply to my business?", He asked the salesman. The salesman was immediately elevated from a "me too" supplier to trusted advisor on the viability of the project as a whole. Together the CIO and the salesman worked out the benefits of the solution and found that they were so great that another project involving VOIP could be justified under the same banner. This would solve many more problems than the CIO initially envisioned.

Result

What was originally an $1,160,000 possibility with a very low margin became an opportunity to bid for over $3,625,000. The other five responses to the RFP were immediately dismissed since the CIO knew he wouldn't receive a justified business case from those suppliers. He announced, "I've saved myself 6 weeks work!" Both sides were delighted with the outcome.

Deal Details

DEAL DYNAMICS	Initial Cost	$1,160,000
	Total Contract Value	$1,740,000
	Benefits total	$46,400 per month
BENEFIT	1) Reduce Network access charges	$13,050 per month
	2) Outage reduction	$8,700 per month
	3) Reduce IT support costs	$5,800 per month
ROI MEASURES	Payback	16 months
	IRR	56%
	NPV	+ $105,850

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