Requests For Bids: Fill & Download for Free

Okay, since this happened over 40 years ago, I’ll tell the story.I owned a burglar alarm company. We received a request to bid from Fort Campbell, Kentucky. The specs had been written by a local alarm company. After looking at the specs I estimated the successful bid would come in just a bit over $10,000. The profit margins would be so thin I felt it wasn’t worth messing with but I read the complete request for bid. Buried in all the fine print was a clause that stated that discounts for payment in less than 30 days would be ignored but discounts for payment net 30 days or more had to be calculated in to determine the lowest bidder.At that time there was a big push in Congress to get government contractors paid more promptly, so I said why not? I submitted a bid for $20,400 with a 50% discount for payment net 30 days. We got the bid, did the work, got the needed signatures approving our work and I submitted the invoice. You can see where we’re going!I figured that if payment was received in 33, 34 days or so I didn’t have much leverage but I waited. Thirty days came and went, 45, 60 days came and went. At about 80 days the check came in but it was only for the net amount so I called. I asked where the rest of the payment was. The poor girl just said, “Oh, some heads are going to roll over this.” I smiled. Next came the call from the colonel. What could we work out? I said Congress thinks prompt payment is very important. If I don’t get a check for the balance within 10 days I will call both of my senators, my congressmen, and the press. He says, “This isn’t fair.” Me, “The IRS imposes very stiff penalties and takes no pity on procrastinators.” The check arrived three days later. I made a far more substantial profit than any other bidder could have made. I felt absolutely no remorse since the IRS was going to tax the profits anyway. But I got paid and, for just one time, turned the tables on the U.S. government.

There are a few ways to keep the business coming for management consultants:Continuation of existing business: Most of the consulting business comes from the existing clients, when they want to extend the current scope for a few more months or years. The relationship and trust has been established already, and the client values the impact delivered.Response to RFPs: Many public firms or government organizations release Requests for Proposals (RFPs), with a specific scope in mind, inviting consultants to bid for the project. Based on the selection criteria, the appropriate firm is selected.Proactive chase: Sometimes, consulting firms by themselves approach prospective clients with solutions to the problems they are either facing or might face in the near future. This can take months or years to materialize.Outreach from client: In a few rare instances, prospective clients directly approach consulting firms with a potential problem, requesting for their help.

In construction and project management (specific to development), you can hear the following:CPI - Cost Performance IndexSPI - Schedule Performance IndexMH- Man hoursROI - Return on InvestmentA/E - Architecture/EngineeringGC - General ContractorSC - SubcontractorPM- Project ManagerCE - Civil EngineerEV - Earned valueRAID - Risks, Assumptions, Issues, DependenciesCO - Change OrderPO - Purchase OrderWBS - Work Breakdown StructureTI - Tenant ImprovementsRFI- Requests for InformationRFB-Requests for BidsRFP-Requests for ProposalsD/B - Design/BuildSWOT - Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, ThreatsCIP - Construction in Progress (accounting term)WIP - Work in Progress (accounting term)JC - Job Cost (accounting term)CPR - Certified PayrollThese are just off the top of my head. I'm sure that there are many more I'm not thinking of.