Ten Ways to Win More Bids, Part 5: Matching and mirroring

Neil Southwell, Strategic Bid Director at Vision, has given UK Construction Media readers an exclusive insight into the best ways for companies to win more bids. 

After last week’s piece on using plain English, Neil is now halfway through his ten points. Today, he discusses how matching a client’s language can be crucial and show that you understand them. 

Sometimes it’s hard to connect with your client’s procurement team that you’ve probably never met when your only means is through what you write. I’ve heard many people talk about using the same technical words in their bids that their clients use so that they are considered to be in the know – and to some extent they are right. But you have to go that bit further if you want to really stand out.

Great communication is all about connection and engagement with others and winning is about delivering your message in the way that your client wants to hear. So, how do you find this out? If you’ve read my previous articles then you’ll already have heard about the 3Ps Process^TM that we use to take our clients on a journey of discovery so they really understand the benefits of using you. (Check it out at http://ift.tt/1JvULgG)

The best place to turn to is the bid document – after all, your client has taken the time to consider how best to communicate with you by thinking about the way they present their problem to you. The language, wording and order in which they have described the problem makes sense to them and they hope it will make sense to you so they get responses that are easy for them to understand.

It is crucial that your client feels that you understand them and their issues so match your language, wording and response to the bid documents and the order of importance your client has placed on the issues that they’ve explained to you. And, if you change the meaning of words or the order to suit yourself, you risk confusing them and showing that you’re not aligned to their way of thinking.

Here’s a good example:

In a recent bid, Kimberley Homes was asked to describe how they would engage with the local partnerships to deliver the Council’s regeneration aspirations through the new housing framework. When the technical writer responded, he changed ‘partnerships’ into ‘partners’ and included Kimberley Homes’ suppliers and subcontractors. Now, whilst they may well be part of the process in achieving the objectives, they are not the appointed partnerships that the Council was referring to.

These partnerships were local agencies backed by Government and with an approved budget to meet specific aspects of improving local communities. It was crucial that these agencies were fully engaged so that their work could continue through the new framework and meet their delivery obligations. But the technical writer missed this completely!

So, it’s important to remember that if you change the format or order or style of your bid response to a different one then you risk alienating your client and they may fail to understand your messages.

You can avoid this by matching and mirroring what they’ve said and how they’ve said it. By taking this approach and using the language and style and order that your client uses you can turn your bid from a credibility killer to being a real winner.

It’s also important to think about your audience and their personalities and how they might speak and what they might want to hear and how they might want to hear those things said. This is where you can introduce your personality so your client gets to hear the real you and not an automaton that is trying to hard at selling.

There are many myths about the style you should use in a bid document, proposal or even a presentation. But in my experience they only serve to hamstring the individual when writing or presenting and force them into using a style that they are not comfortable with.

So, if you find this is happening to you then now is the time to STOP.

I’ve found that the most successful people in business (and in life) are those who have the greatest flexibility in the way they communicate and who have the ability to adapt to suit those listening to them.

When you use a style that feels uncomfortable to you, you’re likely to lose your natural rhythm and it will be so much harder to tell your story in a way that is comfortable for your audience with the risk that you’ll not be heard properly – or even at all! Worse still, you can come cross as lacking in confidence and this will be conveyed subconsciously in the way that you write and can result in you appearing to be untrustworthy or lacking credibility.

Next time you decide to respond to a bid, be sure to understand the language that your client has used, the order of importance they’ve placed on their problems and the technical language they’re used to using. Then have some fun and use a style that also suits you to tell your story in a way that engages and excites them so that they are left with no decision but to choose you.

Top Tip

Check out your last bid and see if you mirrored your client’s language, style and importantly the order in which they asked their questions. I suggest you use a highlighter pen to identify any divergences so you can get a feel for how successful your style and communication was.

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St William mixed-use Battersea project approved

First project from St William joint venture to see approval resolved.

A new mixed-use project by St William has seen its planning permission resolved.

Based in Battersea, the project will regenerate an industrial site by providing 839 new homes.

This “exciting step” is a significant one for St William, which is a new and exciting joint venture comprising of The Berkeley Group and the National Grid.

Set up towards the end of last year, this resolution makes the Battersea project the first St William development to secure such planning permission.

Creating a “fantastic new place” in the London Borough of Wandsworth, the five-acre development will include even more than the 839 homes. Educational floor space, a nursery, food retail unit, cafe and public realm improvements will also be on this former gasworks site.

In addition, the project will see almost a quarter of homes set aside for affordable living and it will provide a huge boost to employment in the area, with 370 jobs available throughout construction and once that is completed, the mixed-use nature of this Battersea site means that more than 100 permanent employment opportunities will be available.

Crucially, the scheme will see a massive £367M of investment benefit the site – and this is something the joint venture of St William is striving to do throughout eight boroughs across Greater London over a 14-year period.

With the potential to provide more than 7,000 homes in these areas, St William will combine the best of both worlds, by harnessing the vast experience of Berkeley with the National Grid’s portfolio of redundant brownfield sites, using these as locations to build great new places for residential dwellings.

Overall, there will be 12 buildings on the site that will range in size from two- to 26-storeys, complemented by a new public square.

The project, located between Battersea Power Station and Battersea Park, is well on schedule to become the first development to start on site – some time next year – in the drive to remediate 83 acres of land which will then become key parts of their own communities.

Alison Dowsett is the Managing Director of St William, and she explained how this planning resolution will provide a positive impact.

She said: “We are delighted to secure a resolution to grant for the first St William site. This will open a former industrial site up for the first time in over 150 years and create a fantastic new place for the borough.”

The first home will be occupied in 2019 and Phil Edwards, Director of St William, added: “This consent is another exciting step forward in the regeneration of Nine Elms on the South Bank and we look forward to starting work to deliver the first St William development.”

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Government set to unveil groundbreaking Housing Bill

Construction industry will benefit from plans to increase housebuilding. 

The Government is set to unveil plans for its Housing Bill which will be included in the first Queen’s Speech tomorrow. 

It will set out many of the legislative plans that the Government plans to drive in the next Parliament. 

The wide-ranging speech has already been touched upon in the past few weeks, and a number of topics close to the heart of the construction industry have already been touched upon or outlined. 

Recent weeks have seen plans unveiled about the Enterprise Bill and City Devolution Bill, both of which will be important drivers in the construction industry throughout the country. 

Housing falls into this bracket and it was a topic of much discussion in the run-up to the General Election, featuring prominently in the campaigns of all the major political parties. 

The focus of the Housing Bill is expected to centre on an extension of Right to Buy and reaffirming the promise to increase housebuilding. 

According to official figures, Government-backed schemes have helped more than 200,000 households buy a home since 2010, but there is a commitment to further action. 

The Housing Bill will expand on plans to increase national housing supply and create new affordable homes. 

The Conservatives’ Election manifesto announced plans to deliver 200,000 more starter homes by 2020, available at a discounted rate of 20% to first-time buyers. 

What the Housing Bill will do is see that this process is quicker, while it is hoped that the Government’s plans to provide a new register of brownfield land will make construction of new homes a much faster process on sites that are near existing communities. 

A commitment to this level of homes should, in theory, give the construction industry much more work in the way of housebuilding. 

Communities Secretary, Greg Clark, explained the advantages of the Housing Bill. 

“Our Housing Bill will offer over a million people a helping hand onto the housing ladder,” he said.

“That is what a government for working people is about – making sure people have the security they need to build a brighter future for them and their families.”

Brandon Lewis, Housing Minister, added to this by reiterating the commitment to building new homes. 

He said: “With housing starts at their highest since 2007, we’ll take steps that will get workers on sites and keep the country building.”

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Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon announce preferred bidder

Laing O’Rourke will construct turbine house and sluice structure block.

Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon has taken a ‘major step forward’ by announcing a preferred contractor for part of the development. 

The entire project, which will be a huge boost to the construction industry, is worth a total of £1Bn. 

This harbour-type structure will close off the tidal sea area and incorporate hydro turbines that the sea moves through to generate electricity. 

This week’s announcement is significant in this process, as Laing O’Rourke will be tasked with constructing the turbine house and sluice structure block. 

Costing approximately £200M, this will provide a 410-metre turbine house and it will swell employment in the area, because it is expected that during peak construction, 500 people will be needed to undertake the project. 

The upshot of this is the boost it will provide not just to employment, but specifically, to local employment. Those who work on the site will come from the south Wales area, and any materials for the build will be provided locally. 

Once completed, the project will harness low carbon electricity that is sustainable for generations. 

The lagoon – the first man-made of its kind – will be able to generate renewable power for more than 155,000 homes for 120 years. 

Other power stations will be closed down in the next few years but this large-scale tidal power at the lagoon will be connected to the National Grid by 2018, and as well as providing coastal flood protection, the development is important in the fight to become more energy efficient. Indeed, the plan is to save upwards of 236,000 tonnes of CO2 each year. 

Jonathan Adams is the Project Lead at Laing O’Rourke and is “thrilled” to be part of such a significant development. 

He said: “From London 2012 to St Pancras International Station to Heathrow Terminal 5, we’ve been involved in the delivery of some of the UK’s most celebrated infrastructure projects. 

“Today,  the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon is the talk of the international construction industry and we are thrilled to be playing a part in its delivery.”

Tidal Lagoon Power Ltd is playing a prominent role in developing infrastructure as a way to harness natural power from the rise and fall of tides. 

Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon is its first project and is seen as the blueprint for future tidal lagoons in the UK. 

As well as meeting electricity demands, Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon can play an important part in showing the way forward in the future with the various social, environmental and economic advantages it can display. 

Moving forward, a contract for the main build should be signed towards the end of the year, while tenders are being run for the marine works and public realm ancillary works. 

The summer will see tenders announced for the lagoon’s public realm and buildings work. 

Andrew McNaughton, Director of Engineering & Construction at Tidal Lagoon Power, added: “Announcing that Laing O’Rourke is joining the team is a major step forward for the project. 

“As preferred bidder, their contribution over the next few months alongside General Electric and Andritz Hydro will be invaluable in preparing for delivery on site in 2016.”

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BIM Show Live Review, Part 2

BIM Show Live ran on the 8th and 9th April and was a huge success in its fifth year. The two days are filled with more than 60 speakers, exhibitors showcasing different technologies and provide an environment for the best discussions on BIM and guidance to achieving targets. 

In part one, we discussed the opening addresses and the general setup of the event. Today, UK Construction Media concludes its review by discussing some of the highlights of those two days. 

Following Josh Valman’s keynote speech was a panel discussion focusing on the overall strapline of proving it and getting a return on investment. Chaired by David Philp, it involved a Q&A with James Pellatt of Great Portland Estates who himself gave a presentation beforehand.

From there is where the day became really tricky. As mentioned in the first part of our review, tough decisions have to be made and this observer chose to attend a session about BIM for SMEs that included a panel of numerous speakers, all who came down to the floor, splitting the audience into groups of five before initiating discussions that would result in interesting questions for the panel.

It resulted in, amongst many things, conversations about providing better dialogue with clients, and how important it is for companies to take BIM processes on board to ensure that work is not lost and that the full lifecycle of a contract can be managed.

NBS presented their new BIM toolkit and digital plan of work on the first afternoon with the launch of the beta version – described as a “key day” by David Philp. This user accessible toolkit stores project information in one place, increasing efficiency and all information can be exported to the likes of Excel and PDFs.

Other highlights included a presentation from Populous that talked about the Manchester City stadium expansion and how BIM tools are able to maximise the efficiency in producing the stadium seating bowl.

When discussing highlights, it must be said that these are just those that we managed to see. Undoubtedly, there were a host of engaging presentations that physically could not be attended because of the range of those available to see at any given time.

As well as the four different stages, BIM Show Live hosted a Tech Stage in the largest room which housed the exhibitors. This was a place for short, sharp presentations of 15-20 minutes, where in many cases, exhibitors could showcase their products and the innovative ways in which they use BIM.

The hive of activity doesn’t end with the presentations though. At the end of the first day, the exhibition had half an hour of networking and exhibition time and after that, there was the BIM Show Party –  a two-hours where people get to know each other, their businesses, differing ideas and hopes for their own BIM journeys.

Looking from the outside looking in, this may seem like as just a time to unwind with the selection of free food and drink, added to with air hockey and table tennis to keep the hundreds of people entertained.

But, as reported on the pages of UK Construction Media previously, the success that the BIM Show Party enjoyed last year made it an integral part of this year’s event.

The feedback from last year described it as a highlight through the networking opportunities with peers and colleagues, attended by almost every delegate.

To see the room and how easy it was to mingle and integrate with others showed the value of those two hours. Undoubtedly, people will have left that first day richer for the experience of that time and the extra ideas and debates that would have been generated through speaking to others.

The two-day itinerary was rounded off with the Bimmy Awards which saw the first award for best classroom session presented to Leon van Berlo for a talk about collaborative design and engineering with IFC in the Netherlands.

Numerous exhibitors filled up the space on the main floor at the venue and all voted for which stand they thought was the best. Steljes Business won this particular accolade. Meanwhile, Bentley Systems won an award for their presentation on the Tech Stage, which covered using Smart 3D Capture to help with advancing reality modelling.

The most innovative BIM solution Bimmy Award went to NBS for their new BIM toolkit which was launched in a session on the first day.

From a personal perspective, it was great to see how many new and innovative ideas could be found, altering a person’s thinking and perspective with each and every session.

The ease with which contacts could be made was clear to see, something which happened in our personal experience in those two days. If that is the case for a media outlet, just imagine how many contacts would be made by the numerous like-minded delegates.

It is integration like this that ensures BIM Show Live was as big a success as it was, and undoubtedly, it will have benefited the BIM journey of each and every person and organisation who attended.

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£5.5Bn of contracts awarded in April according to Barbour ABI

This is more than April 2014 and the industry outlook is positive.

Barbour ABI has released figures that show the value of projects awarded in the construction industry last month was £5.5Bn. 

These figures are from Barbour ABI’s Economic & Construction Market Review which is put together to provide an insight into the construction industry throughout the UK. 

Data is compiled by by using records that Barbour ABI have of every planning application in the UK, while information on new construction orders from the Office for National Statistics is also used. 

The £5.5Bn in awarded contracts in April is the biggest figure found from the research, though this is a drop of almost 10% from those awarded last month. 

In addition, commercial and retail construction projects awarded were down by 12.9% while health and education projects contributed to the fall. 

Despite these figures though, there is much cause for optimism. For a start, the figure of £5.5Bn figure is much higher than this time last year, with an 11% rise. 

Secondly, private housing has continued to perform and accounts for 67% of new contracts awarded. 

While the health and education projects have not helped the figures, the industry can be safe in the knowledge that projects will be awarded in these areas and will provide potentially huge growths because of the National Infrastructure Plan which has committed to investment in these areas. 

Significantly the monthly decrease in April coincides with a period of uncertainty caused by the fact that it is the end of the financial year, and because it was so close to the General Election, which was expected to be one of the most closely contested elections for generations.

Michael Dall, lead economist at Barbour ABI, said these are reasons for the decrease but he also believes that the industry and look forward to “sunny days on the horizon.”

He said: “The decline observed in April this year is arguably symptomatic of the perfect storm that pre-election uncertainty, financial year end and typical monthly volatility have created. 

“Despite this apparent cloud over construction, demand within housing coupled with scheduled works across the public sector suggest there are in fact many sunny days on the horizon. 

“Improved confidence and accurate forecast spend as a result of the newly formed Government and pending July Budget should help reinvigorate the construction sector for a stronger performance later in the year provided these pending peaks are prepared for and harnessed.”

Breaking down the contracts awarded, the majority were in London (21%), with the south east and Scotland the next best performing areas. 

There is a lot to be encouraged about when the size of some projects awarded are taken into account. These include a phase of a residential development in Wandsworth in the Riverside quarter, costing £69M, while the Isle of Sheppey Distribution Centre for Aldi is a £90M project. 

Marischal Square in Aberdeen accounts for £107M of contracts awarded, while the Hawley Wharf project in Camden costs £115M. 

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Bridge completed on Mersey Gateway Crossing

The Mersey Gateway Crossing development has reached a significant milestone with the completion of a bridge over the River Mersey. 

It is the first bridge over the River Mersey for 54 years and will allow the Merseylink construction consortium – who is putting the new structure together for Halton Borough Council – to work from the temporary structure when working on the Mersey Gateway crossing. 

This “important milestone” is another step in the development of a project that will bring much needed traffic relief on the Silver Jubilee Bridge, which is wholly necessary because the bridge is used by more than 80,000 vehicles each day – ten times over the capacity it was designed for. 

The Silver Jubilee Bridge was the last bridge built when it was opened in 1961, and the Mersey Gateway Crossing will alleviate the added traffic pressures that are putting severe pressure on the existing bridge. 

The Mersey Gateway project is one of the largest infrastructure initiatives seen in the UK in recent years and will see a number of features including a 1,000m-long cable stay bridge, six lanes of traffic added – three in either direction – and a curved approach at each end of the bridge to maximise the visual impact and emphasise just how unique this design is. 

Construction of the temporary bridge was finalised yesterday after a period of ten months that connects both sides. This trestle bridge is not available to the public because of its role as being something that can be used for heavy construction vehicles and will provide access so that construction can continue on the crossing. 

Merseylink Project Director Richard Walker, outlined the significance of the development.

He said: “Completion of the trestle bridge marks another important milestone for the Mersey Gateway project. It will provide us with full access to the river, enabling work to start on the central cofferdam. 

“This is a great achievement for the project and I’d like to thank everyone involved for their hard work.”

The structure in place will be added to by the installation of a lifting section and once the Mersey Gateway Bridge is in place, the trestle bridge will be removed. 

This exciting scheme will open in 2017 providing important transport, social and economic benefits to the area in the form of almost 500 permanent full-time equivalent jobs throughout construction, more than 4,500 direct and indirect jobs, and the bridge is estimated to provide nearly £62M in Gross Value Added from new jobs by 2030. 

Leader of Halton Borough Council and Chair of the Mersey Gateway Crossing Board, Councillor Rob Polhill, added: “This is fantastic news and a sure sign that the project is moving forward well. It is very exciting to see all the work taking place in the river and I’m sure that many people, including me, are now looking forward to seeing the main bridge take shape.”

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