That one… Bids and dealing with them…

That one…Will-do

The assertion that there’s one single will-do attribute that trumps all the others is certainly arguable. After all honestly is pretty darn important as is stability. And who could argue that loyalty isn’t essential to success?

But there is that big one that’s generally the bellwether value that can make or break the selection of that candidate. It’s simply their energy level.

Without that essential attribute the rest of the will-do’s (as well as all the can-do’s) are pretty meaningless. Without that desire to get on with things and persist when others sit down to rest, success is pretty hard to achieve.

The good news? Identifying that essential trait is pretty straightforward. Here’s just one example: Casually ask the candidate to describe a typical Saturday. If the answer is he sleeps in, has a big breakfast, relaxes with a second cup of coffee and watches a ballgame in the afternoon, you have your answer.

Ah, but if he says he rolls out of the sack early, goes for a long walk, cuts the grass, takes on his wife’s honey-do list, coaches his kid’s soccer team, and has friends over for a barbeque, you’ve likely got yourself a winner!

Next up: The secret interviewing ingredient.

Bids and dealing with them

So you got the okay to put your hat in the ring for that large school system bid. Now all you have to do is navigate the forms they sent and interpret the gibberish that it seemingly wants you to submit.

Well the starting point may not be to take out your pencil and start completing it.

Nope. The better option is to get your hands on the last winning bid that earned the incumbent the business. In most states or cities that bid is a public record and that means if you ask to see it, they’re required to hand it over. You may have to pay a fee to cover copying it, but you have the right to see it.

With that in hand you not only get to see what their winning prices were, but also how those seemingly incomprehensible bid instructions are executed! Also it gives you the chance to see the use concentrations they based their offer on, or any special offers they may have proposed.

One last point. Go to the bid opening. More than once a winning bid has been overturned on the spot when the challenger pointed out some detail that wasn’t executed – like no required bond or even the bidder not having signed the form!