Telling ghost stories about another bidder, or ghosting as it is now more prosaically known, is a method of casting doubt in the minds of the evaluators over the solutions, approaches and track records of competitors, without naming them. Ghosting draws attention to their weaknesses and provides an opportunity for bidders to emphasise their own strengths.
There are opportunities to ghost throughout the proposal lifecycle: in the capture phase, when developing the solution, and at the proposal stage.
When presenting your solution, ghost the solutions of competitors by explaining how these were first considered and then eliminated, explaining the risks and giving the reasons why an alternative solution was considered preferable. If you expect a potential competitor to offer a low-cost solution, draw attention to how the potential risks of their solution significantly outweigh any apparent cost benefits.
Similarly, examine various approaches to the management of the project which your competitors may have proposed, explaining the superiority of your approach and demonstrating improved outcomes for the customer. If you propose teaming, you might emphasise the benefits of the wider pool of expertise; conversely, if you propose an in-house team, emphasise the potential risks associated with teaming.
Where possible, use testimonials in your proposals from independent bodies (or existing clients) to provide impartial validation which supports ghosting – the more credible the source appears to your customer the better. Third-party validation of an outstanding safety record might ghost a competitor who has recently experienced safety issues.
Finally, consider how your competitors might ghost your solution, approach and track record and how you can credibly pre-empt what competitors may say about your perceived weaknesses.
A note of caution. Don’t expect your proposal team to identify shortcomings in their own proposals – they will be too close to the action. Instead, review your competitive strategy periodically with an independent team who know the customer and likely competitors.
Although some may caution against over use, much of the time the influence of ghosting on the proposal evaluators will be subliminal, but the cumulative effect will create a competitive edge that may just make the difference in winning business.
Points to think about:
- How does the customer perceive your competitors?
- How can you exploit weaknesses in their solutions, approaches or track records?
- Can you provide impartial validation to support your claims?
- How does the customer perceive you?
- What will competitors say about your solution, approach or track record?
- Do you have weaknesses that can be exploited by your competitors?
- How can you pre-empt any perceived weaknesses?
Ian Sherwood PPM.APMP Bid & Proposals Director
