Benchmarking "Win Rates"

July 17, 2007 -> DOWNLOAD INSTRUCTIONS

To participate in our Benchmarking study on "win rates" download the EXCEL file by right clicking on Rev-IQ_BenchmarkingWinRates_v7.xls and selecting "Save Target As...", or "Save Link As..." to download the file.

Data entry instructions are in the file. Feel free to call Chris Arlen, Service Performance, with any questions at (206) 780-2963.

June 28, 2007

This month's article isn't an article - it's a request. A request for you to join our benchmarking study on proposal "win rates".

Proposal "win rates" are a window into how well you're selling. And how well your business is doing. Win a lot of bids, and a lot of revenue follows. But you're probably comparing current "win rates" against your past ones.

Why benchmark? Comparing yourself against yourself is like singing in the bath.

You may be good, but how good?

How good is your proposal "win rate"? How do you stack up against others? Can you be better?

If you knew where you stood relative to your peers, would you?

• Ask for a bigger bonus?
• Add more sales & support people?
• Upgrade your proposals & presentations?
• Prospect differently?

Join our benchmarking study and in exchange for data, you'll receive a report where you'll see your company benchmarked to the participants' group. This study is specifically designed for security guard and janitorial contractors.

It's normal for some apprehension about joining a benchmarking study. Let's take a look at why you'd want to participate, and address a few questions you might have.

Regards,

Chris Arlen, President, Service Performance

Why Benchmark Proposal "Win Rates"?

Here are a few important reasons:

1) Improvement Goals

Benchmarking "win rates" shows where you are relative to others. Once you see your position, you'll know whether you want to raise 'em, hold 'em, or fold 'em. I'm talking about goals, compensation, sales people, admin support, and investments.

If you're better than the group, you won't rest on your laurels. You'll work to improve your win rate, or at least maintain it. That's why you're a leader.

If you're the same as, or below the group, here's your wake-up call. It's a great motivator to get sales and production staff focused and energized. And a guide to determine when and how much to invest on improvements.

2) Validate Budgets

Benchmarks are great objective reference points for validating your sales budget to yourself, or higher up. Again, if you're above the norm, you obviously need funding to stay there and improve. If you're at, or below the norm, time for budget steroids.

3) Take Stock & Course Correct

Benchmarking "win rates" forces you to take stock of the target markets your competing in. Comparing your "win rates" to others will make you decide to: a) improve b) quit c) do nothing. It's intentional on your part.

12.5 Questions You May Have & Their Answers

Q1: What data do I provide, and how?

A1: Requesting proposal data for each bid in a particular quarter; data such as new/rebid, RFP/auction, dollar amount, date submitted/awarded, vertical market, etc.

I'll provide an EXCEL file with instructions on data entry, including how to deal with multi-year, multi-service, and multiple location bids, etc. We'd also talk briefly on the phone to walk through the data entry process.

Q2: Will you share my information with competitors?

A2: NO. For the last 11 years I've been consulting exclusively to security and janitorial contractors. I'm not going to jeopardize the ability to pay my mortgage by breaking your trust. Also, we'll sign a Mutual Non-Disclosure Agreement, if we don't already have one in place.

Q3: What will I see in my report?

A3: You will receive an individual report that'll have your company name and your data compared to the group data. Each participant's report will only have their name and data compared to the group. No participant sees anyone else's individual data. Only group data is shared.

Q4: Will competitors see customers I bid on?

A4: NO. See A2 above, and the data you provide will not have any customer names on it. You'll enter anonymous Bid ID numbers into the EXCEL file to identify specific bids, such as A00013, or whatever ID you choose.

Q5: Will data be relevant from a large contractor to a smaller one (or vice versa)?

A5: YES. Size of the contractor isn't relevant if you win the bid. Smaller contractors can, and do win large bids.

Q6: Will data be relevant from security to janitorial contractors?

A6: The report you receive will break out data by type of service; security data to security contractors, janitorial data to janitorial contractors. An "all services" metric may be included dependent on the number of participants.

Q7: How often will I get a report, and how often do I give data?

A7: Quarterly you'll receive the report, if you've contributed data. Quarterly you'll be requested to give data by a target date. To start, I'm requesting data for the first calendar quarter, from 1-1-07 to 3-31-07. Plan on receiving this first report by the end of July. Beginning of August, I'll ask for second quarter data, and then issue that quarter's reports. NOTE: "As of 8-3-07, these dates have changed. Now looking for the first 6 months of 2007 data."

Q8: When do I have to get my data to you?

A8: For this first report, the target date is July 25. NOTE: "8-3-07. OK, we were a little ambitious. Send in data as soon as you can." So if you're late you won't get a report. It's always better the sooner, and the more data in, the better the report.

Q9: What if only a few contractors provide data for the study?

A9: That's what I worry about. No matter how many participate, I'll provide individual reports to those who contributed. And work on increasing the number of participants for next quarter.

Q10: What if I'm the devil and I give you fake numbers, like winning 98% of bids worth more than $200 million each per year?

A10: First answer: This is a community of participants. It's based on the integrity of everyone involved. Garbage in - garbage out. If one fakes it, and thinks they can game the system, they'll realize maybe they're aren't the only ones gaming the system. And then the report doesn't make much sense - even to the gamers.

Second answer: Who the devil are you, and how did you get on this subscription list?

Q11: Why is data collected and reported quarterly, instead of annually?

A11: A quarterly frequency may catch seasonal changes in "win rates". There may be a "drought" season (summer vacations?) and a "fat" season (budget @ year-end?). This is one of the things we're hoping to find out. Also, from a sales management perspective, you'll have a chance to compare your performance earlier instead of at the end of the year.

Q12: How do I join the benchmarking study, or just learn more about the study?

A12: To join the study, email me with your contact information and I'll email you the EXCEL file for data collection. We'll schedule a brief call to go over the file, and answer any questions you have. I'm happy to sign your Non-Disclosure Agreement, or I can email ours. If you want more information, feel free to email me, or call me at 206-780-2963.

Q12.5: Can I provide input to the design of the report?

A12.5: You bet. I'm in the process of designing the report and open to your ideas. There may be some degree of customization for your final report, but no guarantees just yet.

Summary

This benchmarking study is intended to be an on-going practice, and a service to its participants. Increasing the number of participants means better comparisons. Feel free to spread the word to other contractors.

Also, it's hoped data collection won't be too burdensome on you. And that you'll get valuable information in return for your effort. We're looking at online options for data collection, but we're just not there yet.

As with any new initiative, there will be details that need to be addressed as the study progresses. Nothing's perfect, especially at the beginning. With your help we can iron out whatever comes up.

Permission to reprint or distribute: email info@serviceperformance.com

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