Re-posted on popular demand "How to get Sales Leads from the Internet"

Hi Friends-

Sorry for the long wait. We will discuss about “Sales-leads from the internet today”. A lot of people have the opinion that sales leads from the internet are worthless because everybody has access to them”.That is bullshit with a capital “B”. 

Yes, if you want to be spoon fed, then I agree. But, spoon feeding has become obsolete today. If you are selling high value capital equipment and want some leads and if you are willing to use your head a little, the net is a goldmine for “SALES LEADS”.

Let me illustrate. Let’s say that you are selling Stainless Steel Fittings all as per API. Now, when you are selling high value equipment, you get only one chance i.e. when the new plant/project comes up. Because you haven’t the chance to make repeat sales within a month like someone selling welding electrodes, the cycle is get in first-convince customer and get your order. People coming in last usually don’t get the orders. It's the early bird which catches the worm (though personally, I don't much like worms)

Get two orders and maybe you are on the way to a comfortable bonus. So-what do you do. Make sure you get these two orders by targeting 8 customers. If getting in first at 8 customers dosen't  result in two orders, may be you are not thinking hard enough, or maybe you disagree with this blog. Its'a free world-ladies and gentlemen-you do have the right to disagree with me. The catch is that you won't get your orders that way. You can't sell a product on which you do not have the confidence. So, just how are you going to get your leads without that confidence in me. So, don't waste your time here (in fact all those who disagree leaving will make those people who agree all the more likely to succeed).

But where are these 8 leads going to come from-not just sales leads but authentic requirement based sales leads. (By selecting 8 potential customers, you are also in line with the 75:25 law This is a modified form of the Pareto Principle)...From a site called processregister.com (that’s one way).Process register.com is a free info site for people like us that is those that are selling high value capital equipment.

A screen shot of the site is below.

Study the site until next time friends, when we will study how this site can help generate our sales-leads i.e 8 nos potential sales leads. This site can make you rich forever!. So study it friends till the next part and,

Until then,

its love from

BILBO

PUBIC SECTOR OPEN TENDERS : How to win 'em

First of all, I want to tell my readers that the sales methods I have outlined here will work in the  Indian sub-continent without a hitch. But the US or Europe..I'm not sure ..You will need to compensate for culture differences. If you can do that , the work's yours. Why I say this is because I saw a visitor to this blog from google, him or her getting the link by searching google for" How to sell to Public Sector in the US". So, I''m really sorry but you won't have success 100% through this blog. You'll know important things which will help you in your career. If you are really interested, send me a mail and I'll revert as soon as I get the time

Some rules in a Public Sector Press Tender, worth mentioning i.e. The Weak Links where the defense can be breached, have been roughly given below as A few weak links in the tendering process. Before we do that, let me share some specific properties of press tenders with you.

A Press Tender usually is a two-part type. Part I (the Techno-commercial Bid ) and Part II (the price part), being the two parts. This is done to save time.

For system tenders, one technical bid can run to 100 or more pages. Generally, there are some pre-qualification norms, which you have to satisfy. The proof of these should be enclosed in the Techno-Commercial Bid. Say, for a job of fabrication and laying of a cross country pipeline where the estimated cost is $500 million, you need to have executed at least two similar projects of $200 million or more, in the past two years. You need to have certain equipment and machinery-if you do not own them, at least you should have access to. You need to have financial solvency so that client is assured of your capability to meet the operating/running expenses.

Let us consider a hypothetical party of five parties tendering for a job. The pre-qualification criteria which also includes the EMD criteria are checked first and if you do not satisfy them, out you go. Next comes the say of the technical indenter who will read over the remaining tenders. Let us assume, he finds two are okay and another, dicey. He scraps it.

Next come the contract commercial and special conditions. Everything is examined. Have you accepted the customer’s payment terms. What is your validity? What is your price basis? Have you considered taxes etc. If yes, at what rates? Etc., etc. Now this is not boring at all. In fact, it is very interesting and if you are feeling bored, the composition-al talents of the undersigned or their lack, is to blame and not the facts themselves.

Finally the two parties who qualified are called and told that the price-bids will be opened on such and such date and time. (The Price bids of the others are returned unopened). The price bids are opened and generally, the lowest gets the order. That is the gamut of the Public Sector Press Tender. Finally, what about time? The period from the date of the press ad to the date of order placement will take not be less than six to eight months. Tough if you are in a hurry but sorry pal, you have to wait.

 

Now that I have told you briefly, the entire tendering process, I will elaborate on those weak links and perfectly legal ways to gain an advantage over the other parties, by using these weak points of access, in my next post.

                                             So for now, its

                                             Adios  Amigos!

                                             Hasta la Vista,

                                             Bilbo

Selling to the Public Sector: LIMITED AND OPEN TENDERS

Before I proceed, I want to say that I do not advocate winning tenders by paying bribes. In in my career, I have indeed gifted bottles of scotch and a book on one occasion (a copy of Pirsig's “Zen and …. Maintenance”), but not as a bribe. Any person can win an order by paying a bribe. The challenge lies in getting the order and keeping the process within ethical boundaries. This blog does not condone or advocate bribery or canvassing in any form.With that out of the way, let us now come back to our subject. If you want to do business with the Public Sector, the  first thing you should know that is the chain from the requirement identification stage to the tender stage and then the Purchase Order stage.

P

ublic Sector Tenders are of two types-Open or Limited. What are these? Open is the tender as we know it. Limited tenders are actually quotation requests. They are  sent to specific OEM’s/Traders who are registered with the Materials Department and are asked to quote for items within a particular date. There is no earnest money involved, as the Materials Department knows you are in earnest. A limited tender may be sent to your competitor and not to you.   There are two main differences between Limited and Open Tenders.

1.   1.      You are not allowed to be present when the offers are opened, and ...

2.  The tenders may not be opened at a particular date specified, but postponed by a day, 2-3 days even a week (depending upon the convenience of the officers who are required to be present).

 Once everything is alright, the offers are opened and the prices, commercial terms are listed, and the file is sent to the indentor. The indentor goes through the offers, rejects offers which he does not have technical confidence in and returns it back to Materials, who then sends it to Finance for clearance. Finance checks out the proposal and vetts it and sends it back to Materials. The Materials head then signs the file and deputes his assistant to release the PO, who gets it made, checks and signs it, gets it countersigned and releases the PO.

Why are some tenders limited and some public? It depends on the value (landed) of the offer.  Limited tenders can be floated only when the total cost estimate does not exceed a fixed sum which may differ from organization to organization.



Although the process looks complex, it is actually simple. Read it again and you will get the drift of sense coming out of that allegedly complex mumbo-jumbo.

Till next time then? 

Ja?

Auf Widersehen

Bilbo