I have been working with a client for 12 months now who wanted to move into the commercial sector to gain more business. Peter owns Tree & Lawn Company Limited and has mainly dealt with private customers.
But getting a business to the stage to be able to go for a commercial tender is not as simple as giving a price and expecting the new clients to go by your word that you ‘can do it’. Commercial clients want that assurance you can do it. This is delivered by having the correct processes, procedures and structure in place. This is not to say that Peter did not have things in place already, but they would not meet the expectations required for most commercial works.
So…. where to start?
I spent time with Peter explaining tender processes, Quality Management Systems (QMS), Pricing, health and safety, RAMS, policies and procedures. This all sounded daunting and a lot to take in, but I reassured Peter that I am here to put these things in place for him. The most important part of this is that it should be easy for Peter to use and manage himself. There is no point in me being the only person who knows how this works.
I wrote a QMS that is bespoke to his individual business, but will tick all of the boxes expected to complete a tender. There is now more emphasis placed on structure, systems and procedures than ever before and it is not looking likely to slow down. So if you want to get into the commercial sector, it is something that you need to have.
We reviewed what Peter had in place already and I looked for the areas that were missing or needed improving. We discussed my findings and set the timescale this would take. As always there are the quick easy wins but there are also the areas that need more time to research and develop to make sure they work for the business.
I can fully understand why business owners never find the time to dedicate to this area. After all, administration does not make you money. Getting out there and working does. But to gain more lucrative long term contracts it is essential. Once things are in place it is much easier to manage and the administration time will naturally reduce.
The QMS
A QMS is the structure of the business. It is where all policies, procedures, guides, forms and records are stored. Everything that you use within your company and everything that you need to have in place to win the work. It is where clients see that you have invested the time in your business. You are professional and more to the point build the confidence in your clients that you can do what you say you can.
Is this time consuming? Yes of course but it is worth it once it is in place. The QMS is something that can be created as we work on the other areas of the business. It also means that you will save time later when you apply for more tenders, get added to procurement lists or gain accreditations.
The all important accreditations
Most commercial clients today will require you to have a relevant accreditation of some sort. Not every commercial client uses the same. There is CHAS, Safe Contractor, Trust Mark and more. They may expect you to have more than one. Having the QMS in place again makes it easier to apply for the accreditations.
Peter needed Safe Contractor. Similar to the tender requirements, there was a lot to be put in place to make sure he could gain the accreditation. This was something I was going to get Peter through.
I worked in the background allowing Peter to concentrate on running his business and started building his QMS. We spoke often and had meeting to discuss his requirements and for me to roll the new policies and procedures out to Peter and his teams. All the time the focus was for Peter’s business to grow and work more efficiently. Again, there is no point in me being the only person who knew how the systems work. The whole business needed to know and follow it.
How to manage the work more efficiently
Having spent time with Peter and his teams I learnt the way they managed their quotes, jobs and invoices and I offered a solution that would be much easier for them to use and manage their growing workload. This was to use service management software. I researched the best solutions and presented them to Peter and his Office Manager. We discussed how this would help and how much time they would save. Peter agreed to trial the software. I set this up on their system and helped them to learn and understand how it worked and provided hands on support in the first few weeks until they were confident to use it. The system was a success! This too would help them to win tenders and gain more commercial work, as a lot of commercial clients expect you to have dedicated software to manage your jobs to ensure that they are all monitored and managed properly.
Applying for the Accreditation
Once I was confident that Peter now had everything in place we applied to get the Safe Contractor accreditation. We got it! First time! Without having to provide any further information or documentation.
This was a massive boost to the business and reassured Peter that he was ready to go for his first larger commercial tender. Not going small he opted for a tender relating to the M.O.D.
Going for the tender
I spent time analysing the tender requirements and we discussed the resources Peter had available to meet the challenges and workload that would come from winning the work. We were both confident that it was possible to deliver a great service, so we applied.
I completed the all-important questions relating to the structure and professionalism of the business, uploaded all of the relevant certificates, policies, procedures and documents required. We had several conversations with the potential clients to fully understand their requirements to ensure that we could provide the service they needed. We met with the potential client so we could demonstrate how the business worked and explained the company structure. They were impressed.
Then we waited.
Finally the call came. Peter was advised that he had won the tender! Peter was excited and could not believe how far he had come. Especially as this was his first large commercial client.
Since then, Peter has won more tenders. He has more clients, more staff and more contracts. His business continues to grow. It proves that although administration is time consuming and does not make you immediate money, the rewards from doing it right make the business profitable. The systems are all in place now and this makes it easier to apply for more tenders and build the
commercial client base.
Summary
Obviously this is just an overview of how the tender was won and some areas have been left out, but if you are thinking of moving into the commercial sector, want to be added to procurement lists or need to get that all important accreditation, then these are the measures you need to take.
I can help you to achieve this. Contact me through my webpage www.cggconsulting.co.uk so we can have a chat about what you want to do or the challenges you are facing. I am more than happy to give you some advice and offer you the support you may need to achieve your goals. With the right support and guidance you can do it too.
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