2 min read

In tendering, dealing with time poor SME’s is not uncommon. Working on the tender may be my full-time job, but the tender is often a secondary commitment to the SMEs primary job (or third, or fourth!). As a tender writer, I always work to the clients preferred communication style and availability to accommodate their full plate. On the rare occasion however, you come across a SME that is time poor AND unresponsive. So, how do you get the best out of a SME that is not providing anything tangible?

• Be as proactive as possible. If you have already figured out you are dealing with someone who is time poor and unresponsive, do not wait around for them to deliver. It is likely they will not fully provide what is required and then you will be dealing with a last-minute scramble. Take initiative and be part of the solution, recognising that your proactive actions can influence the actions of the SME to participate.

• Treat every minute of their time as precious. If you do manage to pin them down, come prepared with smart questions (sorry, but in this instance, there is such thing as a bad question). The goal of the meeting is to extract as much information as possible, so try to preempt future questions and bumps in the road. And most importantly, ask open questions! Open questions demonstrate empathy, generate discussion, and create space to elicit more information.

• Practice active listening. Active listening helps to draw out details that might not otherwise be shared. Try to avoid interrupting and summarise and repeat back what you heard to encourage further information sharing.

Despite all of your efforts in implementing the above strategies, at the end of the day you might find you have given more than you got. If you are still not getting tangible results, recognise that you have likely done everything you can, and maybe it is time to escalate the issue. An empty returnable schedule leads to a non-compliant tender, so the best outcome for the bid is to get some support. You can recommend an additional resource for the SME, or perhaps, a change of hands to someone who is better placed to deliver. At the end of the day we all want to submit a winning bid.