12 keys to landing the big contract - minority-owned firms

Black Enterprise, Nov, 1997 by Roz Ayres-Williams

IT'S REALATIVELY EASY NOT TO WIN CORPORATE BUSINESS.

Just try a few of these tactics: Call a buyer and say right off the bat, "I'm a minority-owned firm, got any work for me?" Attempt to sell your special rug shampooing formula to a company with cement floors. Call the buyer once a week and remind him that you're still here and looking for business. Or try dropping a few names, as in, "I just had lunch with your chairman's wife and she told me to call you."

Don't laugh. Poeple looking to land corporate contracts actually do these things, according to Richard Stouffer, director of minority/women business development at Texas Instruments in Dallas. But perhaps the biggest mistake small business owners make is to say," my product is better than theirs" or "we can save you money." "That's what everybody says," says Stouffer. "What I want to know is what do you offer that will bring maximum value to my company?"

Most U.S. companies judge all prospective suppliers on their competitive performance in seven basic categories: quality, cost, cycle time, delivery, health, safety and environment, technology and service. To help suppliers (also called vendors) upgrade or refresh their capabilities for quality improvement in these categories, '1 Texas Instruments, Xerox, Motorola, Bayer, Kodak, Texaco and Chrysler formed the Consortium for Supplier I raining (CST) in 1993. Originally started for their own suppliers, CST workshops are available today to any company looking to boost performance, particularly small, mid-sized and minority-owned suppliers, and are conducted in Supplier Training Centers (STC), located in local colleges and universities around the country. "STC does a needs analysis for your company upon request to help determine your strengths or weaknesses, then customizes a program for you," explains Brenda Hendrieth, site sponsor of Chrysler's STC center at Oakland Community College in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The average cost per person for one day of training ranges from $75 to $175. For more information about the workshops, call Patti Glenn at 800-882-6638.

Once you've achieved a state of competitive readiness, the next step is getting your message to the right person. Which brings us to axiom No. 1: Corporate America is not going to beat a path to your door, no matter how good you are. You've got to go to the mountain. What you do when you get there will determine how quickly you hit the mother lode.

1. Strategize way inside.

"Frankly, the best way to get inside is to know somebody," says Fred Rasheed, president of Rasheed Associates, a marketing, management and diversity consulting firm in test Orange, New Jersey. His firm has more than 10 corporate clients, including Hardee's, Food Lion Inc., Quaker Oats and Pepsi-Cola. In addition, Rasheed coaches black business owners who come to him for help getting into corporate doors.

As the former director of the NAACP's Economic Development Program, Rasheed has helped to pair up more than 50 black-owned businesses with multinational corporations, including UniWorld and Coors Brewing Co. and Don Coleman Advertising and Chrysler. In each case, the smaller company was ready to do business at the corporate level and simply needed a contact to get inside. Rasheed's reputation, affiliation and endorsement helped to open doors, but "once they got in, they were on their own," he says.

If you don't have friends in the right places, call the company and ask for the person in charge of minority supplier development programs, often located in the company's purchasing department, suggests Donna Long, director of development for the National Minority Supplier Development Council Inc., based in New York. "This person can direct you to the right buyers in the company and walk you through the process," she says. Be sure you make a good impression, because this is often where a supplier gets buried in the "not- good-enough-to-recommend" file.

"You should find where the point of decision is and go straight there," adds Texas Instruments' Stouffer. "Look for the person who can say yes." Texas Instruments, the nation's largest supplier -of digital signal processors, said yes to minority suppliers, not including women, to the tune of $1X9 million last year.

Don't expect much from cold calls to a company or say that you'll be dropping by at a specific time. Your approach should be customized, focused and well researched, designed specifically for that particular company. It's best to concentrate your efforts on a few companies instead of casting a blind net out for hundreds at a time.

2. Persist in your pursuit

Do more than just send a letter and a brochure about your company to the purchasing department. The most common response is a polite form letter accompanied by a minority supplier form which the buyer will promise to "keep on file" after you fill it out and send it back. Do return the form, but understand that this is just the beginning of your attempt to get in.

A friendly check-in call every few months may yield results, especially if your call comes just when the buyer is ready to buy and doesn't feel like combing through the files for prospects. If you spoke to someone by phone, attach a note to your follow-up package that will remind the person of your conversation.