I’d like to win a million pound contract. I suspect most of us would. But much like winning the lottery, it comes with a lot of consequences – and not all of them good.
Simone Hart Sibbald’s company Perfect Service Solutions won just such a contract last year and it had a huge impact on her business.
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“It gave all of our employees a massive boost,” she told me.
“The kudos of winning such a high profile client has been, and still is, invaluable to morale and motivation in maintaining high standards. Our external reputation was also catapulted. Not only with other clients, which is in itself a sales and marketing advantage, but amongst colleagues, suppliers, peers too. It’s not been easy, as we’re working at a new level, but it has put us in a new league and challenged our processes and procedures. We’ve upped our game and we all feel the achievement.”
She’d rather not say exactly who this large blue chip client is. Her company, which specialises in ductwork cleaning, deep cleaning and provides ventilation solutions to the food and facilities management industry, has scaled hugely off the back of it.
“We’ve been able to invest in new premises, which allowed us to open the first of its kind training school in Scotland and I was also approached by an Australian company who wanted to bring an innovative and very exciting new product to the UK. So, as a result I’ve started two new companies in Scotland,” she said.
What would she say to other companies looking to replicate her success?
“I would recommend taking some professional advice,” she said.
“Having a consultant look at our tendering processes was money well spent. The consultants we used have been excellent and we couldn’t have engaged them at a better time. Each time we thought we’d been asked every question possible a new question popped up which was sometimes baffling. Having a go to consultant helped us confidently and quickly provide a response, often avoiding the reinventing of the wheel. We were given support, good practice, structure and were able to avoid known pitfalls.”
Perfect Service Solutions were also advised by Business Gateway Stirling.
If you have a story of how your company scaled, drop me a line[email protected]
Kim McAllister is a Journalist & Communications Consultant and director of Impact Online
