Understanding your customers problems

nicoledunbar0
Dec 28, 2024
2 min read

Let’s talk about tender response strategy.

The first action on my tender response strategy hit list is the need to clearly understand the customers issues and needs.

If a response clearly demonstrates a well-developed understanding of the customers pain points (going deeper beyond what is outlined in the RFT docs) AND then presents a solution which directly addresses these issues you are already ahead of the game.

But where do we start? Analysis of the tender documents and research!

For practical examples let’s apply these elements to both the technology and facilities management sectors - I’ve kept this at a really high level for the purposes of this blog.

First – research and understand the customers broader operational environment to uncover any hidden challenges. What do we know in relation to customer information and industry trends?

Technology example:

Review public reports or media releases for cybersecurity concerns or compliance issues (ACSC). Analyse government initiatives such as Cyber Security Strategy 2023-2030 for trends affecting government or private organisations.
Investigate common pain points such as underinvestment in cybersecurity among SMEs or a shortage of skilled professionals. Look for news about government-mandated technology updates (e.g. changes in the Privacy Act or the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme)

Facilities management example:

Review sustainability goals, especially around Australia's Net Zero 2050 commitments, to identify pressures related to energy efficiency or emissions reduction. Look at any state-specific WHS compliance requirements.
Research state-based and national facility management challenges, such as rising labour costs, supply chain disruptions, or a growing demand for integrated service providers.

Second – supplement our insights. This is where AI tools can also be of great value. We want to examine and expand upon what we know and have discovered and apply further analysis of:

Sentiment – across the broader industry and general public. Is there a general feeling for industry specific pain points?
Keyword – are there specific key terms being used across the tender documents and customer media releases?
Competitors – what are our competitors doing in this space to address issues? Are there specific innovations being developed or implemented (e.g. energy-efficient systems or hybrid workplace solutions)
Trends – what are the local industry trends? (e.g. growing use of smart building technologies or AI threat detection tools)

Thirdly – apply our knowledge to develop hypotheses. Based on the research and knowledge gathered, propose plausible pain points and test them against the tender documents.

Technology example:

Hypothesis: “The customer likely struggles with meeting incident response timeframes due to fragmented security tools and increased security standard requirements.”

Facilities management example: