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How To Network With Older People

I remember it like it was yesterday. I was in my early 20s and my boss expected me to network with senior people working for potential clients. These people were fifteen years older than me. How was I supposed to network with someone in a completely different age group? My kids weren’t entering into college… […]

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Are First Impressions Really That Important?

Are first impressions that important?

It’s an accepted fact, right? First impressions are critical in the business world. They are especially important if you’re trying to sell services. In seven seconds a potential client will determine whether they’ll buy from you or your firm. If your shoes aren’t shined, a hair is out of place, or you stumble on your […]

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How To Move People To Action

How To Move People To Action

Last week, we explored why people make illogical decisions. And I explained the concept of the elephant and rider. Almost immediately, I got this question: “Matt, where are you going with this? What do I do with this information?” Ha. That’s a great question. I certainly want to give people actionable advice. What Action Should […]

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How To Finally Understand Illogical Decisions

Have you ever been frustrated by an illogical decision a client, coworker, or friend has made? You just look at it and ask, “What are they thinking?” They’d have to be insane to make that decision, right? It can make you want to pull your hair out. It can make you want to scream at […]

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Secrets of the Selection Committee

Secrets of the selection committee book

Did you ever wonder what’s going on in the heads of the people evaluating your proposals? Today, you’ll get some insight into what it’s like being on the other side of the equation. What is it really like to serve on selection committees? What secrets do these people hold? What are they not telling us? […]

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How To Review Price Proposals

The idea of marketing people reviewing price proposals is crazy, right? Yet, inevitably, a price proposal will find its way to your desk. Do you just assume it is perfect? Or is there some value you can add to the process? I’m going to explain how you can review cost proposals, even if you don’t […]

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How The Unavoidable Blinders Can Hurt Your Proposals (Or Other Important Efforts)

Let’s say you’ve been doing something, like putting together proposals, or writing, for a long time. How do you know your work is the best it could be? What if you could check the quality of your work without your expertise coming into question? Today, I want to tell you about a tactic that has […]

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Questions You Should Ask Before Agreeing To Be A Sub

Questions You Should Ask Before Agreeing To Be A Sub

It seems like the perfect situation. You get an email from a firm asking you to be on their team for a proposal they are putting together. They will be the “prime” and you will be their “sub.” Teaming arrangements can be great. There are plenty of firms out there that generate most of their […]

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How To Solve Your Biggest Problem

How to solve your biggest problems

We all have something in our life or our job that, let’s face it, despite our best efforts… …just doesn’t seem to be working. Wouldn’t it be great if we could fix that thing? Today, I’m going to open up and share with you how I solved the biggest problem in my life. And I’m […]

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Firm Ignores Page Limits, Wins Contract. Here’s What The Courts Said…

Proposal Page Limit

What happens when you ignore page limits? As Matt DeVries utterly compelling article explains, maybe you win the contract. Then maybe your state’s Supreme Court upholds that award. You should read the article at Best Practices Construction Law, which included this description of the situation: “The Facts. In November 2010, the State issued a request […]

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