Newsletter - Public or Private?
I'm writing this newsletter just before doing a talk on tendering to a group of IBC members near Derby, and as I was preparing the talk it occurred to me that we sometimes draw too strong a distinction between public tenders and the buying process that goes on in the private sector. My experience has been that some large private companies run almost as complex and bureaucratic a process as major government departments. Equally, quite a lot of the public opportunities we publish are actually very small and involved little more than a letter and a short proposal.
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Newsletter - Things are looking up
The response to our fee survey this year has been fantastic, so thanks to all of you who participated or passed the survey on to your contacts. As well as our own database, the survey was sent out by a number of our partners, reaching well over 40,000 consultants and freelancers in total, making this the most comprehensive survey we've done.
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Newsletter - Reading between the lines
Having moaned about consultants use of jargon last week, this week I've been having the same trouble with clients. We keep encountering tenders where the title is either impenetrable or completely misleading - my favourite from this week is one for 'Fizzbook Spin'.
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Time for self-help?
As it's the start of a New Year and the end of the 'phony war' in UK politics, I was going to talk about the impending election this week - but the weather and all the stories surrounding it have made me think that we should regard politics & economic ups and downs as just another form of weather. In snowy weather it pays to clear your own path and in difficult economic conditions I think our best tactic is to go out and help ourselves, and if possible do something to help the other businesses we're in contact with.
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Planning Ahead for 2010
In the middle of the run up to Christmas it sometimes feels as though nothing will happen until we've reached the 'other side' of the holidays. In particular, if clients haven't decided to start a new project now, they probably won't pick up the phone until 1st working day of January.
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