a:26:{s:9:"weblog_id";s:1:"5";s:8:"entry_id";s:0:"";s:6:"sticky";s:0:"";s:14:"allow_comments";s:1:"n";s:16:"allow_trackbacks";s:1:"n";s:10:"entry_date";s:19:"2010-02-09 12:23 PM";s:15:"expiration_date";s:0:"";s:23:"comment_expiration_date";s:0:"";s:8:"category";a:2:{i:0;s:2:"12";i:1;s:2:"85";}s:9:"author_id";s:1:"4";s:6:"status";s:4:"open";s:14:"trackback_urls";s:0:"";s:18:"versioning_enabled";s:1:"y";s:5:"title";s:24:"Bid Shopping, uuuuuugh! ";s:9:"url_title";s:21:"bid_shopping_uuuuuugh";s:6:"submit";s:6:"Submit";s:11:"field_id_20";s:24:"Bid Shopping, uuuuuugh! ";s:11:"field_ft_20";s:4:"none";s:11:"field_id_25";s:1:"7";s:11:"field_id_45";s:216:"Yes, the dreaded practice of bid shopping! Everyone complains about it: General Contractors, Engineers, Architects, Subcontractors, and Vendors. It is running rampant. Everyone is subjected to it. Well, not everyone.";s:11:"field_ft_45";s:4:"none";s:11:"field_id_22";s:22:"Woodcock, bid shopping";s:11:"field_ft_22";s:4:"none";s:11:"field_id_23";s:1239:"<p>Yes, the dreaded practice of bid shopping! Everyone complains about it: General Contractors, Engineers, Architects, Subcontractors, and Vendors. It is running rampant. Everyone is subjected to it. Well, not everyone.</p>
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<p>I help many of my clients beat this game, but we\'re far from 100 percent successful. Selling is about percentages and tipping the scales through developing rapport with the clients. I have little patience for those that give simple lip service to their sales responsibilities. If all you\'re doing is pricing and estimating while hoping to come up with the best number, you deserve your five percent close rate. Selling is work and there is no magic wand to beat bid shopping. Sorry, I\'m good but not that good!</p>
<p>Get out with your clients. Find out what drives them. Discover their buying hot buttons and hit them. If this is all new to you, you\'d better get started. Get the help needed to set a sales strategy. Choose your targets well and interview your current clients. Find out what they do and do not like about you. Adjust accordingly. There is more business out there than you may think, even in this economy. Or are you going to give up to the evil bid shoppers?</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>";s:10:"category_0";s:2:"12";s:10:"category_1";s:2:"85";}