EP099: Partnerships That Work – with Hannah Johannsen & Anne Tarantino
So, you have nearly all the qualifications necessary to bid on an RFP, but you need to partner with another business to fill in the gaps.
How do you choose the right company as a partner? What makes for a successful partnership in the proposal development process—and beyond?
Anne Tarantino is the VP of Corporate Sales at Velocity Tech Solutions, an IT support company out of Roseville, Minnesota. Hannah Johannsen is the Director of Strategic Business Development at Impact Group, Inc., an IT consulting firm based in Oakdale, Minnesota. Together, Anne and Hannah call their combined teams the Notorious VIG, and they recently partnered to bid on a state government contract.
On this episode of the podcast, Hannah and Anne discuss what makes their partnership successful, describing the importance of complementary services and shared values in the RFP development process.
Hannah and Anne explain why scheduling was the most challenging aspect of working together on a bid and how their teams developed a cadence for communication around the RFP.
Listen in for advice on choosing a partner you can trust and find out how the teams at Velocity and Impact Group built the professional respect to form a partnership that works!
Key Takeaways
The role of complementary services and shared values in creating a successful partnership
Anne’s insight on getting honest about what your company is good at and what’s not in your wheelhouse
The professional respect shared by the teams at Velocity and Impact Group
How Hannah and Anne’s teams developed a cadence for communication around the RFP
Why Hannah and Anne didn’t want to let each other down in the proposal process
How both Velocity and Impact Group navigated COVID to come out stronger in the end
The business applications Hannah and Anne use to stay organized and collaborate with their teams
What made scheduling the most challenging aspect of the Velocity-Impact Group partnership
Why trust and respect are more important in a partner than technical acumen
Hannah ’s insight on how to handle it when your services overlap with that of a partner
Connect with Hannah
Connect with Anne
Resources
RFP Success Show EP99 Transcription
You're listening to the RFP Success Show, with eight-time author, speaker, and CEO of the RFP Success Company, Lisa Rehurek. Tune in each episode to learn what today's capture and RFP teams are doing to increase their win percentages, by up to 20,30 and even 50%. And meet the industry trailblazers that are getting it right. Let's get started.
Lisa Rehurek (00:24):
Hello everybody, and welcome to the RFP Success Show. I am your host, Lisa Rehurek, founder and CEO of the RFP Success Company. So, I'd like to introduce you to our guests for today's episode. Today, we're talking all about partnerships that work, and we've got Anne Tarantino, VP of corporate sales at Velocity Tech Solutions and Hannah Johannsen, director of strategic business development at Impact Group. Welcome, Anne and Hannah.
Anne Tarantino (00:53):
[crosstalk 00:00:53] Thanks so much, Lisa.
Lisa Rehurek (00:54):
It's really exciting to have you here. And the reason that we wanted to have you guys on is because you are a great example of two different companies that have really come together to go after an RFP opportunity. And you seem to really understand each other's secret sauce, so what makes each other tick. But you also are great at understanding your own and your other partner's drawbacks. So, it seems like, not really any egos at play here, you work really well together, and that's what we're going to be talking about today. So again, welcome, we're so excited to have you here. All right, I'm going to jump right into the first question, because I am really excited about this conversation and for all of our listeners, we were having a fun little chat before we even hit the record button. So, I think it's going to be a fun conversation as well. So, just right out of the gate, what are some of the strategies that you've developed to make sure that you have been successful as in this partnership in RFP developments?
Hannah Johannsen (01:52):
So, Anne, you want me to go first? Do you want to go first?
Anne Tarantino (01:54):
Yeah. Why don't you start?
Hannah Johannsen (01:55):
Okay. Well, you're going to say what I'm going to say or I'm going to say what you're going to say, anyways.
Anne Tarantino (01:59):
Yeah, get out of my head.
Hannah Johannsen (02:03):
So, I think a big part of this was the time we put in on the front end, really understanding the alignment in business principles and how we treat our customers, on the quality of products, the way that we really go all above and beyond to ensure that really... My COO just came up with this new term, which I absolutely love, it's called customer obsession. It's my new favorite.
Lisa Rehurek (02:35):
Oh, love that.
Hannah Johannsen (02:36):
And it was very clear that with what Velocity does and what we do, we had very clear alignment on that. We also really found that we had complimentary services. So, Impact Group does IT consulting and we do IT support services and business development consulting. So, when we were brought together, it was very clear that the gap in the service that we provide in trying to procure hardware, we had other providers we had worked with in the past, and they always did a great job. But knew we were going to get something more from Velocity, because of that customer obsession, because out of the gates, they went above and beyond in trying to uncover and find better ways. Our first step, actually was me taking my business development background to Velocity and sitting in a room together and looking at accounts and figuring out how I can help them grow their business. And in turn, they started to ask questions and learn and wonder how they can help Impact Group grow their business. Anne, what else can you say about that?
Anne Tarantino (03:59):
Well, of course, Hannah, as always, you said a lot of what I was going to say. But I think when we first looked... When Velocity, we sat down and looked at the RFP, we really had to get honest with ourselves about what we were good at, what wasn't in our wheelhouse, we had to find somebody that we trusted, that that piece we felt comfortable with was Impact Group. And especially after that meeting, when we were sitting in our really hot conference room.
Hannah Johannsen (04:31):
Really hot.
Anne Tarantino (04:33):
Really hot conference room, we knew for sure that we felt really comfortable partnering with you on it. Because I think our core values are just very, very similar.
Lisa Rehurek (04:45):
Sounds like it. Yeah.
Anne Tarantino (04:47):
I think we both really want to do the right thing, or both companies want to do the right thing for the customer. And also, we want to make sure that we deliver a great product, a great service and compliment each of us. And I think we were all really focused on that. I mean, if I think, and Hannah, I don't want to speak for you. But I know if there was part of it that maybe you dropped off on, or I dropped off, or I forgot something, we'd feel terrible letting each other down as well. So we very, very much, both companies and people have the same core values and that's what made this process incredibly smooth, I think.
Hannah Johannsen (05:24):
Yeah, I agree.
Lisa Rehurek (05:26):
That's so beautiful. And it's interesting because one of my team members said, "What's really cool. Is there just doesn't seem to be egos at play here." There's not an ego saying, "Ooh, I don't want to say that we're not good at that, or I don't want to say we can't do that." Is that just naturally who you guys are or did you have to be more present to that and make sure that that ego wasn't coming in? So, we all have egos to some degree. But kind of the healthy versus the unhealthy ego. Right?
Hannah Johannsen (05:54):
Well, I think it goes back to exactly what we both said, is that we not just as organizations in that identity of customer obsession, and going above and beyond for the people we provide for, it's the people. So, my organization and I know Velocity has the same ways, we're very particular about the culture and the people. And there's a standard, and it's not just, you have the best business acumen or the best book of business or whatever, it's who is going to compliment, enhance and grow within the organization, and in the way we the approach business. And I think that, it was the first time I knew Anne and I had met one of the owners a couple of times, and I know one of the other sales guys I've actually known for 20 years. But it was the first time I had met Ciera.
Hannah Johannsen (06:55):
And from the very first time that she had reached out and brought this up, she had just said, "Hey, this is kind of, what's coming up. I don't want to burden you. I'm not sure if this is something you'd be interested in." But it was just that immediate thoughtfulness, the thing that kind of takes into play of that character, that human piece. And that human component, I think is what really drives both of our organizations as well as the way we hire, which does end up eliminating a lot of that as you called it, the egos being at play.
Anne Tarantino (07:32):
Yeah, I would have to agree. Well, Ciera's amazing. I mean, I've worked with her for, I think about seven years now. I'm not only the oldest, which kind of makes me feel bad, but I've been there the longest. I was the first employee at Velocity, I came with the building. So, working with Ciera over these years, she does bring about this special... I don't know. I think you almost want to be better than you... She makes you want to be better, I think.
Lisa Rehurek (07:57):
Hmm. And now tell me who's Ciera? Now, tell me who she is?
Anne Tarantino (08:03):
She is another salesperson at Velocity, that actually, she was the one who first said, "Hey Anne, should we bring this to Impact?" And I'm like, "Let me look. Yeah. Reach out to Hannah." And so she did, and they, both Hannah and Ciera both kind of started the ball rolling. And I think exactly, the egos were out the door because oftentimes in business, and especially in sales, I'm a little ashamed, but we want everything, right? "Oh yeah. We could do that." We have a promise all the time. We have kind of squirrel brains, and of course we can do that, but we'll figure that out later.
Anne Tarantino (08:44):
It wasn't like that in this case, because we knew Hannah and her team were so good at the pieces that they bring, that we honestly had no clue about. And we knew we were really good at what we did, and I didn't want to step on... I don't think it was even a stepping on toes. I don't even think really, that was a thought, but we just really professionally respected each other's side of technology. There's no way to know everything in technology, it just is so vast. I think back now on our weekly calls and they were always very, they were fun, but they were clear and concise and respectful. And you don't always find that when you bring companies together, especially in IT.
Lisa Rehurek (09:29):
Yeah. We hear that so much with our clients, it's amazing how hard it is to find good partnerships. And so, it's really cool to hear. Now, it sounds like you didn't have to go seek them out, Anne, it sounds like it started in your company, you didn't really have to go seek out a vendor. You had a relationship at least to some degree.
Anne Tarantino (09:50):
Right.
Lisa Rehurek (09:50):
With Impact, right?
Anne Tarantino (09:51):
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Lisa Rehurek (09:51):
So you just said, "Well, let's call them." So, you didn't really reach out to anybody else. They were your first stop, for this opportunity?
Anne Tarantino (09:59):
We had a list of people, but we only reached out to Impact because we knew.
Lisa Rehurek (10:03):
Nice.
Anne Tarantino (10:04):
I'm like, "Don't even... Get away. No list. Let's just go to Hannah."
Lisa Rehurek (10:07):
That's fantastic. Are you going to be looking for future opportunities together? Do you think you're going to looking for more opportunities to work together?
Anne Tarantino (10:19):
Oh, definitely. Definitely.
Hannah Johannsen (10:22):
And we continue to grow. This was an opportunity before we even entered into the RFP, we had a couple of other opportunities that we were working on and already developed and, started relationships for current active clients. And this was an opportunity that they brought to us and it was really exciting. I personally had just gotten done writing three RFPs, and I was still tapped and I asked my boss and I'm like, "I don't want to do this. It's the state, this is going to be such a mess." And he's like, "Yeah, but it's Velocity." I was like, "I know, I know."
Lisa Rehurek (11:10):
Wow. And so now are you glad you did?
Hannah Johannsen (11:14):
Yeah, absolutely. We're still waiting, and of course again with state, they said, "Well, you're going to know by November 1st." Well, I kept adding all of these extensions and new requirements, and they didn't change their decision date. So, I guess I'm not surprised that we haven't heard back yet, but it's still showing impending status. But either way it was an opportunity for us, I think, to continue to learn and understand each other's organizations. And it's something that we're all very hopeful and positive that we'll win the opportunity, we were already reached out to, by the state to ask about any concessions or adjustments to the contract terms. Which, from my experience, you don't typically get if you're not being considered for deeper realms, right?
Hannah Johannsen (12:03):
But I definitely think that it opened a door of new partnership opportunities for us, where we saw the bread and butter of their strengths and our strengths and how well they compliment. But this kind of put a whole new face and really got us thinking about, "Okay, what else are we able to do?" And kind of gave us even a deeper, unique proving ground of the type of success we can have together and opportunities that we can explore that maybe we hadn't thought of before.
Anne Tarantino (12:40):
I agree with that. As I go through my customer base and I'm having conversations, and if they're looking for something that Impact can deliver, it's always like, "Hannah, can you do this? Hannah, I know you can do this. And I need it. I need it in 15 minutes. So make sure it's perfect." So, I always know that I can rely upon Hannah to bail me out or actually to work together. So, I can't just say enough great things about working with Impact Group and I just look forward to more and more projects that we can partner on. Because I think eventually, I think we can make a great name for both companies as we grow and get further along.
Lisa Rehurek (13:26):
Yeah. It's really fun. And we were lucky enough to be able to be part of this as well, coming in to partner with you all as well. And so I know you've already shared some key things that really help, like core values are aligned. You really did some great work up front to make sure that everybody was on the same page. Are there any other key strategies that really helped make this partnership work? Anything else that we haven't already talked about? Let me give you an example, communication. So, communication seems to be one of those things that everybody has their own personal style of communication, companies have their own way of communicating. How did you all make sure that you were going to be communicating with each other timely enough or in a way that worked for both companies?
Hannah Johannsen (14:09):
Well, I think we knew that out of the gates in the way that we had established previous opportunities. So, when you talk about the strategy, I think that fundamental alignment, we know what we do, we know what we're good at. We know what Velocity does and we know what they're good at. And there was a very clear pairing of a need and the complimentary aspect of it. And from the first time that we started engaging and we met with one of the owners and started to develop opportunities, you immediately see and recognize cadence and communication. You understand that when emails are sent and sometimes they don't get responded to as quickly as you'd like, that you could just simply respond to the email. But from the way we all, again, that character, that personal approach, and just saying, "Hey, I know I should have gotten this back to you yesterday. I wanted to make sure I had the right answers. Here's what you're looking for."
Hannah Johannsen (15:18):
Scheduling and putting true availability and priority. So, from a communications, from strategic alignment in filling each other's gaps and going back to just that culture and that personal touch. And I hate to say it, but, and I know Anne's going to chuckle because she's probably thinking it, we're old school business.
Anne Tarantino (15:44):
Yeah.
Hannah Johannsen (15:45):
We believe in old school principles. You do the work, you do the homework, you take care of the clients, you do what's right. And if you do all of these things, because it's the right thing to do, everything else flourishes from there. And so, I think that's also a really big part of it, is that we're kind of old school.
Anne Tarantino (16:07):
Yeah. Well, we definitely are. And from the beginning, when we went through the RFP from the beginning and it's like, "Hannah, you take this, Anne take this, Ciera take this." And we just went down to where our strengths were, and there was no... Gosh, there was no question, there was no arguing, there was no, "Well that's mine." It was nothing like that. It was like, "Okay. Okay." And as you were saying, Hannah, if one of us got tied up with other things, "Hey, I didn't get this done, but this is what I have so far. Take a look at it." And I think we just kind of kept that, because we had that mutual respect company wise, but also person wise, we just have that relationship, where I don't think we wanted to let the other one down. And it was like, "Oh my God, they're expecting this. So, therefore I need to deliver." And I think it's very simple, we really wanted to work together on this. And I think that outweighed everything.
Lisa Rehurek (17:07):
It's so fun to hear all of this because, a lot of times when we're working with two different companies and they're partnering together, it's not them fighting over who's going to write what, it's kind of crickets. Nobody wants to take that question, or nobody wants to take that one. And so sometimes it's like pulling teeth, but it sounds like that was just a pretty easy flow for you all, which is very amazing.
Anne Tarantino (17:29):
Well, there was a handful, there was a handful [crosstalk 00:17:32].
Lisa Rehurek (17:31):
Well, there always is. Right?
Anne Tarantino (17:35):
And then I just said, "Hannah, take it."
Lisa Rehurek (17:39):
Yeah. Yeah. Oh my gosh, I love both of your approach to just working together and also to... I love the client obsession, that is amazing. We might need to borrow that, if you will, on our end as well. So, I love this conversation. We're going to actually shift a little bit into talking a little bit more about kind of things outside of the RFP world, like COVID and business apps. But before we do that, we're going to take a quick commercial break. So, listeners stay tuned will be back in just a few seconds.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
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Lisa Rehurek (18:36):
All right, everybody. Well, welcome back to my conversation with Anne Tarantino of Velocity Tech Solutions, and Hannah Johannsen of Impact Group. And I want to know, of course we're in, I don't even know what month we're in of this crazy COVID stuff. But what is the biggest shift each one of you have had to make, or your companies have had to make with regards to COVID? I know that's a huge question, but what have you seen the shifts that you've had to make?
Anne Tarantino (19:05):
Well, I think first and foremost, working from home. I think that was a big shift, specifically for the Velocity side, our focus is a lot of infrastructure. So we have 20,000 square feet of warehouse where we can play with the toys and pick them up and touch them, the pretty lights come on. Hopefully, they're not red, that kind of thing. So, we need to learn about everything that we were carrying and then we place different solutions on top of that. So that was really, really hard in the beginning. There was such good that came out of it though, as we got more and more involved with COVID and people were kind of... IT guys were actually, or gals as well were trying to, "What am I going to do? And how am I going to set these people up?"
Anne Tarantino (19:52):
You felt this sense that everybody was scared, but everybody wanted to talk about it. So, you had more people that, they were so willing to talk and so willing to share experiences where you got this relationship, like it used to be, as Hannah was saying that we're old school, people just wanted to talk. And once we got through the personal stuff, like, "How are you doing? Oh my God, 10 people are sick, or we've been very lucky, or we haven't been so lucky." And people actually talked about their feelings a little bit more. Then we were able to really hone in on the conversation, of now, how can we solve your problem? You're coming to me because you need some help here, and we're happy to listen and see if we can figure it out or find an alternative. And I think even still COVID what are we now? 18, 19, 20 months, years, maybe decades?
Lisa Rehurek (20:47):
We lost count, right? I think we all stopped counting.
Anne Tarantino (20:51):
Yeah, I think so too. I think that there's a piece that people really realize that, "Oh my gosh, I'm connecting. I have a personal connection now." And I think those relationships have actually flourished since that point in time.
Lisa Rehurek (21:03):
That's so beautiful, Anne. I love that you spun the positivity of it, because I feel like the world in general, sometimes we can get bogged down with everything that was hard about it. But I agree with you, there was a lot of positive that came out of it. So, I love that you [crosstalk 00:21:18] to that.
Anne Tarantino (21:20):
And it ended up, I think, where we almost got more people clients, and then also different partners working together that understood what the problems and issues were and were eager to solve them as well, to help people out. That's just kind of what happens in a crisis.
Lisa Rehurek (21:36):
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Hannah, what about you?
Hannah Johannsen (21:40):
Well, and I think everybody, if we're all honest, March of '19 was scary, right? And businesses shutting down and figuring out how to lift and shift your entire environment to be safe. There's that customer obsession, but there's also employee obsession and making sure everybody is comfortable, everybody is safe. And figuring out how to take what had always been, I mean, we have a huge office in Oakdale, Minnesota, and the floor was vacant. We had 75 people, and we had to go in and remanufacture the way that everybody is set up, fortunate for us as an IT support organization, this is what we do for a lot of clients. And so, the transition was, from that perspective, probably easier for us than most. Unfortunately we had to downsize, we had to lay off a few people, which is never a fun environment.
Hannah Johannsen (22:54):
And again, taking that spin of positivity, we decided to pull back on some of the support and some of the things that were required by clients, knowing the industries and the challenges that they were dealing with. And having the patience and understanding for what their problems were, and coming out of it, we actually had, because of all of those transitions and going hybrid and new things and models that needed to be created, and being supportive and patient with our clients. We came out of COVID having one of the best months that we've had in, I think it was March of '20. So, a year later coming out of it saying, "I can't believe how much we have and how blessed and lucky we are to..." If you honor your clients, you honor your employees, you're patient, and the results just flourish.
Hannah Johannsen (23:58):
And it was a lot of that same stuff. I mean, meeting with Velocity was in March of '21, when we first engaged with the... I brought my owner, Josh, who's another one of the sales guys, brought one of their owners. And just really looking at that in a new, fresh way to grow each other's business, understanding that everybody kind of took some blows. But we're coming out of this, swinging for the fences and trying to figure out how we can actually get everybody, not just our organizations, but our clients to that next level and not just recover, but come out of it stronger like we did.
Lisa Rehurek (24:43):
Yeah. It's interesting, something you said there too, is you use the word patience. And it's interesting, watching what businesses have done, there're some businesses that panicked kind of right out of the gate and, Hannah, I think it was March 2020 when all this started not '19. That's okay. Right. Like-
Hannah Johannsen (25:02):
Tough time, I'm sorry.
Lisa Rehurek (25:04):
It's so hard to keep track of time, right? Yeah. But I think some companies panicked, and then some companies did nothing. And I think the ones that really paid attention, but also were patient and took a little bit of time to just see how all of this was going to unfold and start to make some shifts, but not completely flip everything on its head out right out of the gate. It seems like those are the companies that have really figured out a way out of this. And I think it's been scary for all of us. So, I appreciate that perspective from both of you. And I would say to our listeners, I would say for all of you listening, it's interesting to hear how other companies handle this. And I think we all want to know and we all keep our ears and eyes open for that. So, thank you for that. What is a favorite business app that each of you have that supports your business?
Anne Tarantino (25:56):
Salesforce really helps me, because it's just one pane of glass, basically. Our phones are integrated, quotes and sales order, documentation, emails in and out. So, for me to keep everything in one place is very handy because, I can be off on 17 different tangents. But that is kind of a typical salesperson too, we have the attention span of a three year old. So, I would say for us, we have our analytics, our reports and everything in there. So, I would say Salesforce, definitely.
Lisa Rehurek (26:29):
I love it. I love it. How about you, Hannah?
Hannah Johannsen (26:33):
I actually, I'm a big Microsoft Teams, girl. I really like having... So I have the O365 installed on my phone, which allows me to access. So, I keep track of all of the different client folders and contracts and emails, I can take meetings again, talking to the whole COVID thing, exactly what we're doing right now, which I mean, going old school here, I put a lot of miles on my car. I'm really glad that my vehicle got a break for a couple years. But really, I mean, the functionality and flexibility with Teams, and it's actually the whole O365. Because like Anne was saying, she has the single pane of glass through their Salesforce, that's what we use Teams for. So, we have the SharePoint access, we have contracts, we have client history, emails, content, everything that you need is all categorized in our Teams and SharePoint, which I'm a big fan of.
Anne Tarantino (27:36):
I was teasing Hannah, that's new school. So, she's kind of getting away from the old school stuff.
Hannah Johannsen (27:41):
Microsoft is the originator. Let's just be honest.
Lisa Rehurek (27:49):
You got to sprinkle a little of both in there. Right? You got to have a little bit of sprinkle [crosstalk 00:27:54] to it.
Anne Tarantino (27:56):
Through this whole process, Hannah was always the organized one. I'll have 17 sticky notes in different places, and Hannah came very prepared. So, anytime I need somebody with organization skills, it's always Hannah.
Hannah Johannsen (28:12):
Thanks.
Lisa Rehurek (28:13):
That is amazing. We have Microsoft Teams here and man, we're kind of chugging along with it. But Hannah, you've inspired me to take a look at it again and try to get a little bit more organized with how we use it, because I think it could be a great tool. So, thank you for sharing that.
Hannah Johannsen (28:30):
Well, you let me know. And because of the amazing support your team gave us, I would be more than happy to give you a quick tutorial. I told Ted the same thing, because he's like, "I just don't..." And I'm like, "Okay." But it really is just the way that you organize the file structure. So, anytime you want some free consulting, you let me know and I'll help you.
Lisa Rehurek (28:49):
Wow. Well, I appreciate that, Hannah. That's fantastic. Thank you. Okay. We're going to go back to the partnership conversation here real quick, because I want to know if you're willing to share what maybe didn't work as well as you wish that it would have in this partnership?
Hannah Johannsen (29:05):
I think timing. I think the thing that was the biggest challenge was the timing constraints. So, we all had different schedules and trying to do an RFP while maintaining business opportunities, taking care of your clients, getting your daily responsibilities. And so, I think timing with scheduling and like Anne said, I mean, there are things that I was going to take on and I'm like, "Hey Sarah, can you cover this?" And she would do the best she can. And then I'd have to go back in and kind of tidy it up or come back on the back end. But when we were able to align our timing and our schedules, we got so much accomplished. But it's when we have that in between stuff where our conflicts of availability, that was definitely a big challenge.
Anne Tarantino (30:06):
Yeah. I think that is the biggest thing, was the timing and trying to balance all the clients. We couldn't just say, "Sorry guys, we got this RFP to do that we might get, so can you back off a little bit?" We did cover for each other as best as we could. And there were some things I thought was interesting, there was a part where there was this slight little crossover and kind of on low maintenance side, I think Hannah and you're like, [crosstalk 00:30:34]. Yeah. And it was really cool that I didn't worry about that, there wasn't... I knew whatever we missed, you would cover, if you could, and what you missed, we would cover. So, we just trusted each other through the process. But I think you're right, just the timing, juggling clients and things that we needed to do in our own business at the same time. What is, six weeks maybe we worked on this RFP?
Hannah Johannsen (31:02):
You wish it was six weeks. It was supposed to be six weeks and it ended up being 12.
Anne Tarantino (31:09):
Oh, God.
Lisa Rehurek (31:10):
Which you think you want, but it's worse sometimes
Hannah Johannsen (31:13):
Six weeks out, we're like, "Okay, you've everything we need to." And then they give us an extension, without intention, it's like-
Anne Tarantino (31:21):
That's right.
Hannah Johannsen (31:22):
The first one we were like, "Okay, we could really use this extra week." By the second or the third one, it's like, "Okay now, what doesn't work, state RFPs, when they adjust things and give you more and more homework." It's like, "Come on."
Anne Tarantino (31:38):
Oh, that's right. I forgot about the delays. I don't know how I can forget about that.
Hannah Johannsen (31:42):
Six weeks. Six weeks. Okay, Anne. Six weeks, my left foot.
Anne Tarantino (31:50):
Oh my God. That's right. And then we got granted November 1st and where are we, November 9th?
Hannah Johannsen (31:58):
9th. Yeah.
Anne Tarantino (32:00):
Yeah, right?
Hannah Johannsen (32:00):
Pending-
Anne Tarantino (32:00):
Before I-
Hannah Johannsen (32:02):
Pending.
Anne Tarantino (32:03):
[crosstalk 00:32:03] deadline.
Lisa Rehurek (32:03):
Always, always.
Anne Tarantino (32:05):
Every day, pending.
Lisa Rehurek (32:08):
We're working on an RFP right now, that's due the day after Thanksgiving. And this is the one that we're like, "Could you please give us an extension? Because this is ridiculous."
Hannah Johannsen (32:16):
Oh my God.
Lisa Rehurek (32:17):
And that's the one that probably won't get an extension. And then when you've got it all done and tidied up, then they're like, "Oh extension." Brutal, brutal. I hear you. Oh man. All right. So, for other people or our listeners that are tuning in here and they're thinking about partner, what is the number one piece of advice that you would give them that they need to consider when looking for a partner?
Hannah Johannsen (32:43):
Trust.
Anne Tarantino (32:43):
I think I'll go back to just the core values. Make sure you seek out a company that takes care of their customer and people first. And if your core values align, everything else just falls into place.
Hannah Johannsen (32:58):
Well, and a riff off of that is, that is our core value, that's who we are. Right?
Anne Tarantino (33:03):
Yeah.
Hannah Johannsen (33:04):
But there are a lot of organizations, I've owned multiple businesses, I've worked in a multitude of different company size structure, all of it. It's really just that identification and alignment, like she was saying. But sometimes you may be a cold, hard numbers, it needs to be this way, you're very structured, you hold to performance and projections, and accountabilities. Where people like Anne and I, and Velocity, and Impact Group, we're always going to be flexible and help balance and carry each other. And because we have that, that's our core value. So, I think that that's a really good point and it's just good to identify that, because your core values are different than Impact Group and Velocity, aligning those core values, and also just that trust. Really knowing that how you're aligned, whatever those core principles are, that you can truly trust and respect the other organization as the number one priority.
Lisa Rehurek (34:15):
I would agree. Yeah, and such great advice, because I think what happens with a lot organizations is they're looking for the technical acumen, immediately, "Can they do it, can they do what we are missing?" And they're just simply looking for that technical expertise and not really paying attention to the bigger picture. And then they get in and it gets messy and ugly, and we've seen it all too many times. So again, we've been really impressed with you all and how you work together and how you work with our team. It was a pleasure for our team to work with you, and we're certainly hoping that that can happen again. So, thank you. Thank you for that.
Hannah Johannsen (34:54):
I have to say something say.
Lisa Rehurek (34:55):
Sure.
Hannah Johannsen (34:56):
I have to say one thing about that, everybody has overlap. That is another really big piece that we didn't even address.
Lisa Rehurek (35:03):
Hmm. Yeah.
Hannah Johannsen (35:05):
We have our core services, they have their core services, but there are things that overlap, and it's having that... A lot of the partners that, in my role and what we're developing, there's always going to be overlap. And if you want it all, then you're going to be by yourself. You have to be willing to say, "Okay, you do this better than me, just because I can do this doesn't mean I should." And building that referral relationship and that partnership makes everybody, the rising tide raises all boats. So, that was just one thing that kind of keyed when you started talking Lisa, and I was like, "Oh, that's a really important thing because there is always overlap."
Anne Tarantino (35:51):
Yeah. You definitely have to get honest with yourself and with your company, everybody within that organization. You're right. Because the maintenance piece was that crossover, if you will.
Hannah Johannsen (36:02):
Yep.
Lisa Rehurek (36:02):
Yeah.
Anne Tarantino (36:03):
And in this case, I think it just made more sense. I think we decided that you, Impact Group would handle it. Actually, we have a new name, we call our two companies, The Notorious. VIG.
Lisa Rehurek (36:15):
Love that so much. I love that so much.
Anne Tarantino (36:21):
So, we trust our other side of our notorious VIG. I mean, we had such a good time with that new name, and the folks from your company, Lisa-
Hannah Johannsen (36:31):
They're amazing.
Lisa Rehurek (36:33):
Thank you so much. Yeah, we appreciate that for sure. I think also, we fit in with the core values that you all have. And so, I think it made it so much more fun. And back to what you were saying, Hannah, and again, what came to mind for me was you guys were able to put your egos aside and really, because you've got that relationship and you share core values that that respect was there that you could say, "Okay, let's take a step back here and let the other company take that one." And the fact that you also came up with a name for you jointly, I feel like that just immediately put some good energy and synergy around what you're doing because you're not two separate companies. Right? You're one cohesive unit.
Hannah Johannsen (37:20):
Right. Absolutely.
Anne Tarantino (37:20):
Yeah. That was fun, that was early on actually that the name came up. So when we win this, because all three of our companies did such a great job, and we're all going to go out and celebrate. We're going to have to get some [inaudible 00:37:33] banners, Notorious VIG.
Hannah Johannsen (37:35):
Well, next November, when we finally find out.
Anne Tarantino (37:42):
Right? I think you're right about that, it might be next November. I don't think they gave the year on the RFP, I'm not sure.
Lisa Rehurek (37:50):
There you go. And we laugh now, but we might not be laughing. We've got one client who's been waiting on an RFP for three years now. It's crazy.
Anne Tarantino (37:59):
Oh, God.
Lisa Rehurek (37:59):
Yeah.
Hannah Johannsen (38:03):
Oh, [inaudible 00:38:03] come on, we need to win this one. So we can just hire you guys to start going across all of the different platforms and find us new RFPs, because we definitely trust you guys and really enjoy working with Velocity on this. So, you can't put that three year Juju out there. Come on.
Lisa Rehurek (38:23):
No, not for this one. No three year Juju. You're going to hear within the next [crosstalk 00:38:27] weeks.
Anne Tarantino (38:27):
No three year Juju.
Lisa Rehurek (38:28):
Yeah. You're going to hear about the win in the next one to two weeks. No problem.
Hannah Johannsen (38:33):
There we go.
Lisa Rehurek (38:33):
And we are going to have a great long term working relationship together.
Anne Tarantino (38:37):
Absolutely.
Lisa Rehurek (38:39):
All right, Anne and Hannah, thank you so much. It's been such a pleasure to have you both here, such great insight. All of our listeners, I'm sure, really appreciate this. So, thank you so much for being here.
Anne Tarantino (38:50):
Thanks for having us.
Hannah Johannsen (38:55):
Thank you so much.
Anne Tarantino (38:55):
It has really been a great time.
Hannah Johannsen (38:55):
Yeah. Always and great time with you guys.
Lisa Rehurek (38:56):
Absolutely. Absolutely. All right, everybody. Well, thank you for listening into the RFP Success Show. If you haven't already done so, we appreciate your five star rating. So make sure to go out, give us your rating and certainly share this podcast with other listeners that need to hear it as well. Again, thank you for listening to the RFP Success Show, and we will see you back here on the next one.
Anne Tarantino (39:17):
Thanks again.
Hannah Johannsen (39:19):
Thanks guys.
Speaker 1 (39:20):
This has been another episode of the RFP Success Show with Lisa Rehurek, eight-time author, speaker, and CEO of the RFP Success Company. Thank you for joining us. If you have feedback on today's episode, email us at podcast@rfpsuccess.com. No matter your business size industry, if you have an in-house RFP team or need outside support, the RFP Success Company helps increase RFP win ratios by 10, 20 and even 50%. Learn more, at therfpsuccesscompany.com.