The Importance of Why
People Want To Be Inspired
We submitted a tender bid to a large UK Fire & Rescue Service in December 2020. As with most tender submissions, it was hard work. Very hard work, in fact. It was a demanding response both in terms of the amount of detail the buyer required but also the effort to coordinate and manage the response.
The total allowable maximum word count was 25,000. The bidders were under no obligation to write that many words, of course, but we did. We had a lot to say. It will be a critical system for the buyer so they were right to expect detailed information on how their rostering, payroll and competency management problems would be addressed by our solution.
It was a well-constructed tender and one that allowed the bidders to make a fair and balanced case for their solution. It gave ample opportunity to explain how our respective products would address the buyer’s requirements. But, most importantly from our perspective, it also provided an opportunity for us to tell the organisation, ‘why’. In our case, why should they choose Gartan?
They already knew what we do; we deliver time-management solutions. By the time they read our submission, they knew how we would do it i.e. how our solution would address their specific needs. But what about the ‘why’? That speaks about our vision, our reason for getting up in the morning, if you will.
Buyers want to be inspired and knowing what truly motivates the seller can help in that regard. What’s their vision? The most uplifting visionaries, be they in business, politics or sport, for example, have a clear understanding of where they want to go. What they want to achieve and why they want to do it. If people are inspired, the buyer, in this instance, then they are more likely to buy into what you do.
So…why Gartan? Why is it we do what we do?
Putting People First
We do it because we believe in making people’s lives better by making it easier for them to manage their work time. And that can have a positive, knock-on impact on the rest of their lives.
The Covid-19 pandemic has given us cause to re-evaluate our lives to one degree or another. What we thought was important before is maybe not so important now. Most of us still need to work, of course, but we want to help people make the most efficient use of their work time. Leaving them with more time to enjoy the other equally, or more important things, in their life.
But it’s not just about the customers. It’s about our staff, too. We believe in making their lives’ better. We promote an innovative and learning-centric work environment that delivers opportunities for our staff to be the best they can be; the very best in their respective fields.
Our company is built on the principles of equality, integrity and respect. Treat people in accordance with those values and they will pay it forward. Forward to their colleagues, family, friends, neighbours and, of course, to our customers.
That’s why we do what we do. That’s ‘why Gartan’.
Oh, and by the way, we won the tender!