Selling to housing societies, offices and institutions: how committee decisions work

A committee does not decide in one meeting, and it does not decide because of one pitch. It decides in stages. Follow a single job through them and you can see each one. Below is one illustrative case: a garden and landscape maintenance contractor in Satara trying to win the grounds of a 120-flat housing society. The names and figures are invented, but a society, office park or institution may well pass through the same stages.

Stage 1: the enquiry reaches the secretary, not the committee

The contractor's first contact is the society secretary, a volunteer who gives a few hours each evening. The committee has told the secretary to "get quotes for the garden". Nobody has said what the garden should look like, what the budget is or who approves.

The contractor's first job is not to sell. It is to ask three questions: who else will see the quote, when does the committee next meet, and is there a limit above which the general body must vote? The answers are the whole map. Here the managing committee meets on the first Sunday of a month, and spending above a set sum goes to the residents' general body.

Skip this stage and you may pitch to one person while five others decide.

Stage 2: the secretary collects three quotes

The society's own bye-laws, or just habit, call for three quotations. This is the committee protecting itself: members answer to residents for every rupee. Treat the rule as a fact about the buyer, not an obstacle.

The contractor does not argue for fewer quotes. The contractor asks what the other two vendors were asked to price, so that the scope matches. If the others priced "weekly mowing and watering" and this quote covers a full seasonal plan, the committee will compare numbers that do not line up and may pick the lower one.

Stage 3: the comparison is built, by someone

Somebody puts three quotes side by side before the meeting. If you do not offer that person a ready comparison, they will make one from memory, and your strengths will be whatever they remember.

So the contractor sends the secretary a single page. It lists scope in plain lines, the total with what is extra, the named supervisor and the number of gardeners on site, two references the secretary can telephone, and the date the price lapses. No rival is named. Where the price is higher, one sentence says what the difference buys.

The page is laid out so the secretary can forward it as it is, with a covering line to paste: "Attached is the one-page comparison for the garden maintenance work. It lists scope, staffing, payment stages and two local references. Please say if the committee wants anything clarified before the meeting."

Stage 4: the references get called

A reference helps when it can be checked and when it resembles the society. The contractor offers two: a society two roads away and a school campus, and rings both contacts first so that nobody is surprised.

If you have no local reference, say so. Offer a smaller first scope for a trial period instead of inventing one. A committee forgives a new vendor more readily than a false claim.

Stage 5: the meeting you are not in

At the meeting the treasurer asks about payment terms, a member asks why this firm costs more than the one the next society uses, and the president asks whether anyone has actually seen the work. The secretary answers from the page. In this case the secretary answers two of the three, and the question about a neighbouring society's price is "deferred" to the next meeting.

A deferral is not necessarily a loss. It signals that one question lacked an answer. The contractor asks the secretary which question it was and answers it in writing: the other society's vendor was pricing a smaller lawn with no tree care. The contractor does not lobby members one by one, which can look like manoeuvring.

Stage 6: the decision and the reasons

Win or lose, ask for the outcome and the reasons. In this case the general body approves the contract a month later, but only for the lawns and hedges; tree care is dropped to keep the sum under the limit, and the first payment comes ninety days after the first bill. The contractor takes it, because the account is local and steady, but has to carry that wait.

Payment is a stage too, and it comes before you quote, not after. Ask how bills are approved and paid. If the route is long and unclear, price for the wait or decline. A small firm can be hurt as badly by a slow payer as by a lost bid.

What carries over to other buyers

Offices and institutions follow similar stages with different faces. In an office it may be an admin head, a finance manager and a facilities lead. In a school it may be a principal, a trustee and an accounts officer. The questions in stage 1 stay the same.

Be honest about when to stop. If the buyer cannot say who decides or when, and every message gets "we will let you know", limit yourself to two follow-ups and then check in occasionally. Some institutions also ask for registration papers, tax documents, insurance and staff details; keep these in one folder. Requirements differ by state and by the body concerned, so confirm what your buyer needs and ask your own adviser when unsure.

For how a presentation to several people is built, see how to build a sales presentation for a buying committee, and for the quote layout see how a contractor writes a quotation clients can compare fairly.

Equip the secretary

Pick one open quote and mark which of the six stages it is in. Whichever stage has no document from you, supply one; the comparison page in stage 3 is the first to write, and proposal development is the related service. Niche trades are covered under specialist and other industries. If you are preparing for a committee, tell us what you need.