One of the most frequent discussions I encounter when talking with contractors is, how many references should I include in my proposal? The real question I have is, should they be included at all in the proposal? Let me give you my point of view.
I did not include any references in my proposals unless they were a requirement in a request for proposal. Here is my thought process.
As I presented my proposal in person I would do "name dropping" of current clients that I had. For example, When discussing our customer call center I would make a reference something like, "ABC company has found this to be a tremendous benefit in our relationship" or "DEF company was skeptical of our systematic training program until they attended one of our classes and found that we really do what we say we will do". I would make 5 or 6 references like this in my presentation and almost always the prospect never asked for a reference list. I should mention, however, that I was never adverse to providing references if they still wanted them after the presentation and here is how I handled their request.
My response was always, "I will be happy to provide references, how many would you like? I will be happy to bring them by at your convenience. How about 10 AM tomorrow morning"? The usual response was for me to just fax or e-mail them over to which I would reply, "I am sure you can understand the confidential nature of this information so I would like to personally bring it to you". Now why did I proceed in this manner?
By bringing them by I had another chance to close the sale. It gave me the opportunity to ask if there were any additional questions that the prospect had or did they need any additional information. It was also an additional day the current contractor had to screw up. Quite often they would tell me to just drop the references off at the front desk. When I brought them back to leave at the front desk I would always ask if the prospect was in and could I see them to hand deliver the information they had requested. More often then not I was able to see them and again attempt to close the business. It worked quite often, certainly worth the effort of doing it this way.
By the way, I always put the references on a sheet that had the words "CONFIDENTIAL" embedded in the stationery. That added an element of importance to the entire process. Incidentally, I used the same type of stationery for our maintenance service agreements.
Another reason for not including references in your original proposal is that it keeps you from providing a prospect list for a competitor if the prospect is just shopping and is a close friend of the incumbent contractor. I know, because I had customers who did that for me many times and, I might add, I never asked a customer to do that for me but some of them felt an obligation to do it and who was I to turn down the list when they gave it to me?
I always had the attitude that if I was doing the job for my customer it didn't matter if my competitor had my reference list because you should be putting on your list only those customers that you know will give you a positive reference and are not a threat to leave. By the way, I remember securing a very large account several years ago where we were required to provide three references with the proposal. My prospect told me later that I was awarded the contract, even though I was a higher price, because my competitor has listed 3 customers who all were in the process of terminating his services. Talk about a dumb move by a contractor that was out of touch with his customers. What are the odds of listing 3 references, all of which are ready to terminate your services? This contractor is no longer in business.
Let me add one more thing. If you are insistent on providing references with your proposal, let me suggest you include only 3 maybe 4. I have seen proposals where contractors have included a full page, sometimes 2 pages of references. You don't need that many to prove you have satisfied customers. Furthermore, by listing so many you run the risk of having at least one off that long list being mad at you the day your prospect calls. Just a thought.
I hope you watched or listened to our tripodcast this week as we interviewed the new BSCAI president, Kevin Rohan of Cavalier Services in Fairfax, VA. If you haven't watched, you can see it by going to www.tripodcast.com where you can also sign up to receive an e-mail each time we post one of these FREE tripodcasts. Kevin will be an excellent president for the association.
Till next time.
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