Make Your Own Lane: Nuances of Bid Description And High Level Quotes

Here is a live feedback shared for one of the gig sample I received last month.

Gig Title

I Will Help You With Market Research And Competitor Intelligence

Help sounds like charity; You can use Do/ Assist instead.

Market Research and Competitor Intelligence can be two different gigs as the line of research is different for the two themes.

Gig Description

Are you struggling with business plan? Do you have problems understanding the market and your competitors? Then let me help you out.

Your gig description is your pitch and your differentiator.

Is this description enough to instill confidence in a random buyer about your capabilities?

The key components reflect in the image – You may want to add that here.

o   Executive Summary
o   Methodology
o   Key Developments In The Market
o   The Future
o   Market Segmentation
o   Leading Market Players
o   SWOT Analysis
o   Recommendations
o   Conclusions

Image

Images should be relevant and make any sense.Gig image is part of your Gig brand

 

Image Credit: Canva Design

Rate/ Quote

Your rate ideally should not change based on the platforms/ portals

Even if the base price is $5 or $10, you can charge up to $10000 for a project

You obviously do not want buyers who want a plan for $15/ $20 because they are not ready for business yet. They can only get a template for that amount – You are not providing templates.

If others are able to give plans, presentations, research for $10 then that is their target buyers, not yours.

If your intention is to quote this rate till you get the hang of it, then that is your call.

See Custom Offer Sample in booklet to see how to justify your quotes/ rates/ price

When you do customized plans/ presentations – you require roughly 8/9 hours of research to build your conviction or write the first word of your storyboard. Imagine yourself in front of the panel (Investors/ Bank Managers/ Whoever) - Can you read their mind? Can you guess what you buyer (Business) is doing wrong? Can you manage that in the plan/ presentation? Just think real time. Period. All that thinking cannot happen for negligible quote please.  

Revision

Your profile shows several years of experience, so your audience know you are not an intern or college student here to make some pocket money.

You are a professional - Charge for revision

Write to advocating.outcomes@gmail.com for a perspective and evaluation of your service description for more effective sales

Is There Any Scientific Approach to Estimate Working Man Days For a Consulting Project?

While preparing a management-consulting proposal for any client, most consultants estimate working man-days required to execute the project and deliver desired outcome. Each time, they fumble at the exact same point – How to calculate, if not exact, at least close to exact man-days? It is not the ambiguity involved that creates the confusion – it is lack of a scientific approach. However, there is enough room for refining prevailing approach by considering a combination of the following components while estimating working man-days:

Scope of Work: You re look at the scope not just from execution perspective but also from an outcome based standpoint. The methodology you will adopt to frame your recommendations, implement your solution and execute the project should be crystal clear and should not be “Evolve as you Solve” style. You list the series of tasks; estimate time and effort required for each task and quote a fee, even if you are unsure if all components were appropriately included. The list is to let your client know the magnitude of the project.

Methodology: Many consultants often refer earlier projects similar in nature to arrive at the working man-days. A standard set of assumptions can be misleading. If a particular task took X time in a company as the resources involved went out of the way to execute it, how fair it is to assume another company would be able to complete the same task within the same time frame? What discount would you consider for bureaucracy? Time and effort required for key tasks could vary, depending upon the complexity of activity, stakeholders involved, organization culture and other external factors.

Milestones: Clients would me more keen about milestones reached or outcomes achieved than activities involved – You can always keep the man-days for internal reference and add required buffer if you anticipate slips or delay from client’s end while quoting project based fee. In the project charter include roles and responsibilities of both parties with required penalty clauses for delay and options to claim additional fee in case of implementation lapse. A communication calendar with key stakeholders to discuss project progress as per mutually agreed timelines should facilitate meeting targets better and lead to a logical closure of the project.

BECKON Model is used in One to One sessions with Entry-level Consultants, Leaders, Entrepreneurs, Owners of Small and Medium size enterprises.

For more details contact advocating.outcomes@gmail.com