EP136: The Power of Certifying Your Company—featuring Heather Cox
Are you losing bids because you aren’t certified as a small or diverse business?
Heather Cox is Cofounder and President of Certify My Company, a firm that connects corporations with diverse businesses to create economic value and opportunity.
On this episode of The RFP Success Show, Heather walks us through the five primary demographics for certification, explaining how to know if your business qualifies as small or diverse.
We discuss private sector national versus state government certifications, challenging you to be strategic in the certifications you pursue to grow your business.
Listen in for Heather’s insight on subcontracting opportunities for diverse businesses and learn how Certify My Company can help you win RFPs through certifications!
Key Takeaways
How Heather’s team serves small and diverse businesses as well as corporations
Why you can’t simply raise your hand and say you’re a diverse business
Why it’s advantageous for a small or diverse business to get certified within a state
Opportunities for small and diverse businesses to subcontract with large corporations that win state bids
5 primary demographics for certification—women, minority, LGBT, veteran and disability owned
The private sector national certifications available to small and diverse businesses
How long it takes to get certified through national organizations vs. state governments
How certifications can help grow your existing business and land new contracts
How corporations benefit from robust supplier diversity programs
How to know if your business qualifies for small or diverse business certification
How the lack of a certification can be the reason you lose a state contract
The benefit of getting help from experts like Certify My Company
RFP Success Show EP136 Transcription
(00:00):
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. RFP Success isn't just our brand, it is our standard here at the RFP Success Company, and that is what this podcast is all about. It's where we share strategies, information to help you have more RFP success.
(00:40):
I'm your host, Lisa Rehurek, founder and CEO of the RFP Success Company, and I'm excited to introduce our guest for today, Heather Cox, co-founder and president of Certify My Company. Heather, welcome to the show.
Heather Cox (00:52):
Thank you.
Lisa Rehurek (00:54):
I'm really excited to have Heather on because, A, she's amazingly smart and knowledgeable in all things certification. She's also a lot of fun. I've known her for quite a while now. And she was our third guest ever on this show five years ago. It was actually more than five because it was July of 2018.
Heather Cox (01:13):
I can't even believe that.
Lisa Rehurek (01:15):
Yeah, that's so crazy, so it's really fun to know her, and again, she's a wealth of information around certifications, and that's really what we want to talk about today for any of you who is small businesses, small diverse businesses, we're going to talk about when it's the right time, or what kind of certifications you should get.
(01:33):
So Heather, I know your company helps corporations diversify their supplier base, and I think you also do some other stuff with corporations and helping them understand how to better utilize diverse businesses. So I want to talk a little bit about how you got into this, but then I also want you to talk about why businesses should consider getting certified and what that means. That's a pretty big umbrella.
Heather Cox (01:55):
Yeah. Well, we really have two sides of the business. There's the one that works with the small and or diverse businesses, and then there's the side that works with the corporations, the Fortune 1000. Even some pseudo government entities, especially in the State of California, there's a lot of requirements for hospitals, healthcare associations, utilities, and some of those are pseudo government, so we work on both sides of the coin.
(02:19):
So with the suppliers, it's really our core services are facilitating the right diversity certification for them based on their current clients, target clients, and I would say the hopes and dreams for their certification, and what they want to do with it.
(02:36):
On the corporate side, yes, a lot of the corporations will engage us to facilitate the certification process for their suppliers that have been identified as diverse but are not yet certified.
(02:46):
So many people go like, "Why can't I just say I'm diverse? Like well, I'll raise my hand and say I'm diverse?" Well, unfortunately, it doesn't always work out that way, and some people think it's just because if you own a company, but it's really ownership, operation, control. We can get more into that later. And so, the certification really can prove beyond a shadow of doubt you are who you say you are. And I'll give you a little statistic of the corporate clients that we work with, which is about 70% of our business, actually. Almost 25% of the suppliers, they have said to us that they've identified as diverse and have been counting as diverse, were not eligible for certification. And that is why certification is so important.
Lisa Rehurek (03:28):
Wow. Well, what's interesting is I had just recently referred a friend and said, "You've got to go get certified through WBENC," so Women Business-
Heather Cox (03:37):
Business Enterprise National Council.
Lisa Rehurek (03:40):
... It rolls off in your tongue a lot better than mine. And she got all of the requirements, and she was taken aback by all of the things you have to submit, because she's just a solopreneur, not just, but she's a solopreneur. Yeah, it's because all sorts of people try to gain the system, and I learned this from you, of course, how they all try to gain the system. I feel like the certification entities are getting much more [inaudible 00:04:04]-
Heather Cox (04:04):
More strict.
Lisa Rehurek (04:05):
... Right?
Heather Cox (04:05):
Yeah. Because you know what? It's not always malicious. Some people are like, "Oh, well, my wife owns the business on paper and she don't work there." And if they think it's only women-owned, then they're not really lying, she owns the business on paper. But the whole point of the certification is ownership, operation, and control. It's not just on paper. It's, are you really running the show? Are you making the strategic decisions? That's what really makes you eligible for certification.
Lisa Rehurek (04:35):
Yeah, and we have had people come to us before too and said, "Well, can I just put this in my wife's name even though..." And I'm like, "No, no." [inaudible 00:04:42]
Heather Cox (04:41):
Right. No, no, no.
Lisa Rehurek (04:46):
They are really, really strict on that, which I love to hear.
(04:49):
And so, I guess if we think about State Government Contracting, that's the majority of our audience, why would it be important for an entity to get certified within a State? So not necessarily the MBE-WBE world, which we'll talk [inaudible 00:05:06]. What would be the importance of them getting certified within a State as a diverse, or whatever the certifications can be within the State?
Heather Cox (05:14):
Right. Just slight correction, it is still MBE-WBE, DOBE [inaudible 00:05:19]. It's just that that's like saying, "I need a tissue." That's WB. It's the brand that we're worried about now. So WBENC's a brand, the State of Illinois is a brand, the State of New York is a brand. So, depending, again, who your current clients are, or target clients are. So if you're going after the State of New York, don't get it WBENC certified, they want the State of New York. It really depends. Now the perk of State work is that there are more States than there are Fortune 1000 that have true requirements to work with certified diverse suppliers. State of Illinois, State of Indiana, State of New York. They have requirements and if they don't meet those requirements, there are some kind of fines or ramifications involved.
(06:01):
Nevada has nothing, so not every State cares about it.
(06:05):
California, as I mentioned briefly earlier, has some things where they have the California Public Utilities Commission, all the utilities in California have to report their diversity spend. It goes through the Greenland Institute. I was actually just at the [inaudible 00:06:18] when they were reprimanding and interrogating, whatever word you want to use. They're asking the pointed questions, like, "What are you doing? How are you going to do this better? Where are your goals for next year?" Some of them got slammed from not doing a great job. Some of them got gold stars and accolades, but it really depends on what you're doing with your program.
(06:36):
Now the State of California also has passed AB 962, which has some other ones involved in it, which requires hospital and healthcare associations to report their diversity spend. Now, what certifications are using for that we don't know yet. Same with the insurance one. So it's taking a certification. The State of California doesn't have a certification outside of the California Public Utilities Clearinghouse, and a couple of construction related ones, and emerging small business in various areas. But they don't have it like the State of Illinois, which has this business enterprise, whatever the P stands for, it's BEP certification in Illinois, Indiana.
(07:10):
And then some of the States have a lot of different rules and regulation, but who can get certified? So the State certification definitely has a lot more variables and caveats to it, if you'll, than some of the private sector certifications. But the process is the same.
Lisa Rehurek (07:27):
Yeah, it's interesting. The State of Arizona doesn't have one, it goes to [inaudible 00:07:30] Phoenix and it's very Department of Transportation focused, but the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, they have a really [inaudible 00:07:38] supplier diversity, and they follow up on it. I get calls from them a couple of times a year and they're like, "Are you being used appropriately?" For the contracts that we're certified under somebody else's contract? And they actually track it. It's very impressive.
Heather Cox (07:27):
And they also accept WBENC and NMSDC.
Lisa Rehurek (07:56):
They do. And so their certification is super easy. I send them our WBENC, they-
Heather Cox (07:59):
Exactly.
Lisa Rehurek (08:01):
... But the city of Phoenix was a freaking nightmare. It was-
Heather Cox (08:04):
And they're only small business. Because I know [inaudible 00:08:07] is only a small business. And then all the Department of Transportation certifications are sort of State, sort of Federal because they do follow the uniform application process. And it is through Department of Transportation, which is a Federal, but each State has its own one. So that's more disadvantaged business enterprise though, which requires social and economic disadvantage, which is different than the pure supplier diversity ones.
Lisa Rehurek (08:31):
... Yeah. That's interesting.
(08:34):
I'm curious what your thought is on this, do you find that the States that are really into supplier diversity tend to lean more Democrats, versus the ones that aren't tend to lean more Republican?
Heather Cox (08:45):
I'd have to look at a map to see. So let's see. So Illinois, Indiana have great programs. New York has a program, but-
Lisa Rehurek (08:52):
I'm not well versed enough in politics to know which State leans which.
Heather Cox (08:54):
I don't either, that's why I'm saying, I don't know. I mean, Texas has a great program. They lean pretty right.
Lisa Rehurek (09:01):
Oh, that's true. Okay.
Heather Cox (09:03):
I don't know where Illinois leans, off the top of my head. I mean, Massachusetts has a great program as well. I think they lean left. Again, I'm not well versed enough to know, I just know it supports small and diverse businesses. That's all I want to know.
Lisa Rehurek (09:17):
And it's funny too, one thing that I want to bring up here is it took me a long time to really understand, and clearly I still don't, every time I talk to you, I learn more because you guys are so good at knowing this. But it's not just, I get certified and then I can go do work with the States or a corporation in their supplier diversity, but those States release RFPs that say to these big large corporations that are winning those RFPs, "You have to subcontract out a certain percentage." So Pennsylvania tends to be in the 20% to 30%. I just saw an RFP for DC that was 35% [inaudible 00:09:52], and I thought that was pretty fascinating. So for anybody that's listening, you can go subcontract with somebody, and those corporations that have State Government contracts need you. Right?
Heather Cox (10:05):
Yeah. It depends on the State again, and it depends on what the industry is, et cetera. So Illinois is a great example because they have a very robust supplier diversity program for the State, and any large company there has to report their diversity spend. So we actually have, there's a large insurance company based in Illinois, and their number one transportation provider engaged us because they needed to report their spend back to that large insurance company, because the State required it. So there's those kinds of tiers.
(10:37):
But an example where it mixes and matches is like Caesar's Entertainment. They really like WBENC and NMSDC, the private sector certifications. However, for their properties in Indiana and Illinois, they have to report the Indiana and Illinois certification. So sometimes they'll say, "Look, we have a supplier, she's been certified through WBENC, can we get her now certified through the State of Illinois or Indiana, because that's a different requirement?"
(11:00):
So it's really important, and this is where the relationship with your clients comes in, understanding what they need. We have one client who was doing business with a big company and they were looking for a National, but State contract. She was like, "You tell me the States, I'll get certified in anyone you need me to." Because she already had a relationship and then they could leverage her across the country.
Lisa Rehurek (11:20):
Oh, that's beautiful, that is so great.
(11:23):
Okay, and we're throwing acronyms around-
Heather Cox (11:23):
I know, sorry.
Lisa Rehurek (11:27):
[inaudible 00:11:27] I want to take a step back and just if you can talk through some of these. We already talked about WBENC, but if you could talk a little bit more about what that is. And NSDC.
Heather Cox (11:27):
NMSDC?
Lisa Rehurek (11:35):
I can never remember that one because they changed it. And then even like the DBESDB, all of that. So can you [inaudible 00:11:44] what all those acronyms are and what the purpose of them is?
Heather Cox (11:46):
Okay, so let's talk about the five demographics, the five primary demographics in certification. And those are, as I said, the tissues, they're not the brands.
(11:57):
So there's WBE, which is Women's Business Enterprise.
(12:00):
MBE, Minority Business Enterprise's, ethnic minorities.
(12:04):
LGBTBE means you're part of the LGBTQ community.
(12:04):
Then there's the veteran of VOBE, Veteran-Owned Business Enterprises. That is for veteran and service disabled veterans.
(12:14):
And then there's the disability owned business enterprise, which means you have a disability as defined by the ADA. Now, the only reason I take a couple extra seconds to talk about this one is because the most under known of all the certifications.
Lisa Rehurek (12:26):
You told me this a while back, and I remember this and I remember being a little bit shocked at what some things were on this list.
Heather Cox (12:31):
Yeah. Really, the ADA defines a disability as a diagnosis that requires maintenance or management. So it does not affect your day-to-day life. What do I mean by that? Let's say you have sleep apnea and you sleep with a CPAP machine. Well, if you miss it by one day you're going to feel like garbage, but okay. You miss it two days, three days, now, there's definitely some things happening. A lot of times there's some depression involved, you're lethargic, you can't think, you have brain fog. You can't run your business unless you manage your sleep apnea while using your CPAP machine. That is why sleep apnea is a disability.
(13:04):
If you have a severe thyroid condition and you don't take your medicine, within a couple of days, if you've ever missed it, you know exactly how terrible you feel, and how you get sick, and what else can happen to you.
(13:15):
So there's a lot of those things, like ADHD. If you don't manage your ADHD, as far as it's like, I always talk about how like, "How does it take you five times as long to do what I just did in 10 minutes?" But it's because it takes him that time to get focused and to move forward, unless he is managing the ADHD.
(13:29):
So those are the type of things that you think about. It's not just, can you not see, hear and walk? There's so much more involved in it.
Lisa Rehurek (13:36):
Is that what's called an invisible disability? I just heard that term for the first time maybe a week ago.
Heather Cox (13:42):
Yeah. Invisible disability are all the ones we just talked about.
(13:44):
And even being deaf. Unless you're a 100% deaf and only use ASL, I know people who are deaf in one ear and have hid it for decades.
Lisa Rehurek (13:52):
Yeah.
Heather Cox (13:54):
So that really can even be an invisible disability as well. It just depends on the severity of it. If you are completely deaf and you use ASL, obviously it's not invisible anymore, but a lot of disabilities are invisible and people don't realize exactly what it takes for this person to still run their business.
Lisa Rehurek (14:14):
So this is so good, because unless you're a heterosexual healthy white male, there's likely a category for you in there.
Heather Cox (14:24):
And the thing is, it's really interesting because entrepreneurs, in general, tend to fall into one of those categories, because there's a reason we're working for ourselves. Working for somebody else, may not work for our lifestyle for whatever reason. A lot of times it's women because they need that flexibility. And that's one thing that I'm very proud about, that we've done with our company, we have exclusively female staff. It just worked out that way. And a lot of them are really appreciative of the fact that if their kid has something going on, or a family, "Can I go?" I'm like, "What do you mean, can you go?"
Lisa Rehurek (14:52):
Right. Go.
Heather Cox (14:52):
What?
Lisa Rehurek (14:52):
Go.
Heather Cox (14:58):
Yeah. So that's a really important piece of it.
(15:01):
Also, if you have a disability and needed accommodations, sometimes the corporations, it's not always so easy to work for somebody else, and so they end up working for themselves. So that's why a lot of entrepreneurs do fall into some of those buckets, because that's just the nature of being an entrepreneur.
(15:16):
And what's really funny is people will say, "Oh, I'm not comfortable. It doesn't really affect my life." I'm like, "Because you manage it." But I have so many clients who are like, "Well, I am in a wheelchair, but it doesn't really affect my ability to run my business." I'm like, "It's because you're an entrepreneur, and that is why you're successful." Is because we don't let these things hold us back. We find a way to work with them or use them to the positive and not a detriment.
(15:39):
Those are some of the different ways. Now, some States, back to the State certifications. So those are the five demographics, right? Women, minority, LGBT, veteran and disability owned.
Lisa Rehurek (15:49):
Those are nationally recognized.
Heather Cox (15:50):
No. Well, yeah, so those are the five demographics. The private sector certification organizations are the WBENC, which is the Women's Business Enterprise National Council, the NMSDC, National Minority Supplier Development Council. And we can list all these in the notes if you want, so they can see them. Disability:IN does the disability owned business. NaVOBA and NVBDC certify for the veteran and service disabled veteran. And then there is NGLCC, which is the LGBT certification. Those are private sector national certifications.
Lisa Rehurek (16:23):
Great.
Heather Cox (16:24):
Now States, some do women and minority. Some do women, minority, people with disabilities. Some do women, minority, LGBT and people with disabilities. And then service disabled veterans only.
Lisa Rehurek (16:38):
Got it.
Heather Cox (16:38):
The legislation, each State makes up their own rules. And so it really depends on where you are wanting to get certified and the demographic you have to choose. So there are places, for example, that you won't be able to get certified if you are disability owned because they don't recognize them in that State.
Lisa Rehurek (16:53):
That's so interesting too. And one of the things that we preach to our clients all the time is you've got to narrow down who your market is. Great that you want to work nationally, but you've got to do a whole bunch of things. You've got to understand the procurement landscape. You've got to start building relationships, and you can't do that with States-
Heather Cox (17:09):
Yeah, everybody.
Lisa Rehurek (17:10):
... There's one more other layer. You've got to know what the diversity requirements are within the State, and if that's your thing then focus on the States that are diverse friendly, and blow off those other States. So this is really great information.
(17:26):
So now how long does it generally take somebody to get certified? This is a loaded question, I understand. So if they're going to be going out to some of those national privately held certification companies, versus within a State. Do you have anything to add there about the timing of certifications?
Heather Cox (17:44):
I sure do.
(17:48):
So most of the private sector, those five or six national organizations we mentioned, they tend to process the application within about 90 to 120 days of receiving all the information. Now, if you don't give them everything they need, it will elongate your process, which is why a lot of times people use us as well, because they're like "I just want to get it done the first time." So it's 90 to 120 days from the time they receive your completed application. State certifications vary. Some are 45 days, some like New York or three years.
Lisa Rehurek (18:20):
No. I thought it was bad at Phoenix, because Phoenix took us a while. Maybe close to a year, maybe more like nine months, but three years. Holy moly.
Heather Cox (18:31):
Yeah, it's definitely a process. And so the first thing we always do with any potential client is like, "Tell me who you're currently doing business with." We want to start with a certification that those clients want you to have, because it's great to get new business, but why not grow your existing business as well? You already have master service agreements, you already have relationships. Let's just increase the amount of business we're doing with our current customers. So we start with those.
(18:55):
Then we say, "Okay, who do you want to do business with?" So let's say they're doing business with a couple of Fortune 100 companies, and they're like, "But now I really want to do business with the State of Texas." Okay, great. So let's keep the State of Texas because it's going to take a little bit of time for you to get that relationship going, and we have to have a strategy behind it. So let's get that one.
(19:12):
But I don't know if you want to throw a spaghetti across the wall, unless you're a company like the one I mentioned earlier, where she already had that established relationship and they said, "If you get all of these, that contract will be yours." Because in addition to just making the first process happen, you have to maintain these certifications.
Lisa Rehurek (19:28):
Right.
Heather Cox (19:30):
So while the private sector is oftentimes, it's one year to three years, depending on the organization, the State can be anywhere from three to five years. One, three to five, depending on it. So it really just depends on which one you get.
(19:43):
Now some of them have what's called reciprocity or comparable application verification, where you can leverage one of your private sector certifications, but then you have to update it every year when that certification gets renewed.
(19:55):
So there's a lot of different pieces. I mean, this could be a five-hour conversation, Lisa, about the intricacies of the certification, which is why it's so important that people really get the right certification for them.
Lisa Rehurek (20:06):
I love it. This is such great information, and I'm going to take a quick commercial break here. But when we come back I'm going to ask Heather a little bit about how this works on the corporate side too, because not only do the certifications work if you're doing State government, but if you want corporate clients, supplier diversity is a super, great way to go. So we're going to talk about that in just a minute. So stay tuned.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
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Lisa Rehurek (20:52):
All right, everybody, welcome back. You are listening to the RFP Success Show. I'm your host, Lisa Rehurek, and our guest today is Heather Cox with Certify My Company. We're talking all about certifications.
(21:02):
So Heather, I know obviously I am a certified WBENC WBE, W-B-E, and so I go to these events and I see all of this, "Oh my gosh, if I had done this differently earlier in my business." And also some things that we're looking into doing in the future, that it's really great to have connections with these corporations, and it is a great way to be connected to the corporations is through supplier diversity.
(21:28):
So can you just talk a little bit about what corporations look for when it comes to supplier diversity and certification?
Heather Cox (21:36):
So most corporations, by corporations I mean the Fortune 100, 500, 1000, and even some of their large suppliers that are not yet a Fortune 5000 even, but they still do a lot of work. Maybe they're multimillion or multi couple billion dollars in revenue, whatever it is. So the corporation have understood, and there's study after study between the Hackett Group, McKinsey, they've all done studies, you can find them all over the internet, about what happens with companies that have robust supplier diversity programs. Some of the most famous statistics are that companies with robust programs can boast 133% greater return on their investment into their supply chain. They can say that something like 15% of gross sales can be attributed right back to supplier diversity programs. There's a lot of great statistics. They're not doing it because it's the right thing to do anymore, they're doing it because it makes them money.
Lisa Rehurek (22:28):
I love that because that's at the end of the day, what they're going to pay the most attention to. Right?
Heather Cox (22:33):
Yeah, right. So I mean, you can talk about the Walmart study, that's always a great tangible example of how it makes these companies more money. But there are supplier diversity managers, their entire role is to work with procurement, most of the time, which is the part of the company that buys goods and services, is to find qualified, capable, certified, diverse suppliers to fulfill the needs of the company.
(22:58):
There is no magic wand, it's not going to rain million dollar contracts just because you're certified. You have to be just as good, just as competitively priced. But it's that certification that can get you in the door to have the conversation, and then all those being equal to you and someone else in those final stages. And they're like, "Ugh, they're both so good. How we're going to choose? Oh, they're certified? Tip the scales in their favor now."
(23:17):
That's really what it does. But again, you have to do a sales job just like any other sale you're ever going to do.
Lisa Rehurek (23:25):
Yeah, I'm so glad you brought that up because I feel like it's the same with some of the things like a Federal 8(a) certification, or getting a certification in general, and people sit back and think, or just going after State Government contracts, "Hey, we're going to go after a contract and we're going to bid." Even though they don't know what they're doing, and they bid, and they think magically they're going to get this contract. You still have to work it all. I mean, there's a lot to be said for it, and I feel like it gives you a little bit of a leg up in certain situations, but yeah, you still got to work it in so many ways.
(23:56):
So I love that you brought that up for sure.
Heather Cox (23:59):
So for WOSB, for the Federal ones, there are some set asides that they have. We don't do 8(a) certification, and we do WOSB typically through WBENC, which is one of the third party organizations that can facilitate that certification.
(24:19):
Actually have the funniest story about a WOSB. One of our clients, she creates clothes. You know when you go to Kohl's, for example, and they have their own brand? They made that, they created those clothing, for the in-House brand, or whatever. Then COVID happened and she lost 90% of her customers. They weren't creating things, they weren't creating clothes anymore at the magnitude they were, but she had these contracts with factories and whatnot. So she was like, "What can I do?" So she did what a lot of people did though, is they created PPE products, personal protection equipment. So she started reaching out to different corporations, "This is what we can do for you," et cetera. And one of those companies was Charter Communications. So Charter Communications said they want an RFP, and then they found out, "Wow, you're woman owed, why aren't you certified?" And she was like, "Ugh, because nobody cares."
Lisa Rehurek (25:10):
Oh, interesting.
Heather Cox (25:10):
They were like, "Well, we do, and we'd like you to speak to Certify My Company and get certified."
(25:16):
So she's on the phone and she's got that like, "I'm going to do it, but I'm going to Eeyore it." You know the Eeyore donkey, whatever, "I'm going to Eeyore it through the whole thing."
(25:26):
So we get her WBENC and we do the WOSB certification for her. We're on that 90 to 120-day window, and she's waiting. She happened to have just gotten married and she was watching War Dogs with her new husband. Have you ever seen the movie?
Lisa Rehurek (25:26):
No.
Heather Cox (25:41):
Kids are selling arms to the government. So she's like, "I'm taking my WOSB certification and I'm selling arms to the government." And her husband's like, "You're stupid. [inaudible 00:25:50] They're just joking.
(25:51):
So she goes to work the next day and she tells her COO, "I think we should sell arms to the government because we're now WOSB." And he's like, "I mean, maybe not arms, but what we actually sell. That's not a bad idea." So they go on, I don't know if it was on SAM or one of the websites, and they see that the Marines are looking for practice uniforms. $5 million contract. She's like, "I didn't even want the certification, and I would never even have got the contract if I didn't get it."
Lisa Rehurek (26:16):
Goodness. No way. I love that. And we always preach like, "Don't bid cold if you don't have a relationship." But she got in there and they doing [inaudible 00:26:22]
Heather Cox (26:21):
Yeah, you never know. But it was really because she could do the work. She had all the infrastructure already in place and she was certified as WOSB. So everything that they needed her to have, she had. So if she had only had three of the five, maybe not, but she had everything she needed. It's just a great story, because people just assume that they're just checking the box. But no, there's a reason. There's a method to the madness for all of it.
Lisa Rehurek (26:46):
That is so beautiful. Wow.
(26:48):
And so if people are listening to this, and they're like, "Well, how do I even know? Okay, I'm a woman business owner, but how do I know?" Or, maybe, "I'm minority," whatever that is. How do they know if they can get certified? Are they qualified for certification? What's the best way to find that out?
Heather Cox (27:03):
So I'll tell you the general rule of thumb, and this is across the board for all demographics, all certifications. It's 51% or more owned, operated and controlled by whatever demographic you're certifying. So if it's WBE, regardless if it's WBENC, or State of Illinois, it's 51% or more owned, operated and controlled.
Lisa Rehurek (27:21):
Everybody listen to that owned, not just owned, but operated and controlled.
Heather Cox (27:25):
Controlled, right.
Lisa Rehurek (27:26):
In the system.
Heather Cox (27:27):
You can't get certification unless you're owned, operate and controlled.
(27:30):
Now, some States have an additional requirement of a personal net worth threshold or a business size threshold. The private sector does not have any of that. That's only public sector. And so there's so many options for certification, but what I would say is maybe have a consult with a company like Certify My Company, because then we can help guide you in the right direction.
(27:51):
I literally just told something today, "I don't think you should get certified, actually." So I'm overly transparent with clients. I'll tell them, "Let's just do these two, and let's see in a year if you need any other ones." Because again, I don't just want someone to just throw spaghetti on the wall. We want to be strategic about it, we want to be smart, and we want to make sure that they're going to get an ROI out of it, otherwise they get resentful.
(28:14):
And so in addition to getting the certification, you then have to use it, which can be time and cost intensive. We actually created a program called Diversity Masterminds just for that reason because people are like, "Okay, but now what do I do with it?"
Lisa Rehurek (28:27):
It's so important. Again, and we talked about this a couple of minutes ago, but I know so many people are like, "Well, I want to get certified." And then it's the same thing with a Master Services Agreement. Like, "Oh, I'm going to go win this Master Service Agreement, get my name on this vendor list and sit back and watch all the contracts come in."
(28:41):
It's like it doesn't really work that way, you still have to work it.
Heather Cox (28:44):
Yeah, it's like the gym. That's my best analogy. The gym. People sign up, always January 1st they sign up, and they're like, "I'm getting in shape, I'm going to get a six-pack." And by March 31st, they like, "[inaudible 00:28:54] anyway, nothing happened."
(28:54):
I'm like, "Well, did you go to the gym?"
Lisa Rehurek (28:54):
No.
Heather Cox (28:57):
"No."
(28:58):
"Did you change food?"
(28:59):
"No."
(28:59):
"Are you still at parties every night?"
(29:01):
"Yeah."
(29:01):
"Okay. Well, it's not the gym's fault."
Lisa Rehurek (29:05):
Exactly. That's a great analogy.
(29:06):
So to me, a Women Business Enterprise, it doesn't matter necessarily how big somebody is, or a minority business enterprise, that has no bearing on a small diverse business, which is a different category, correct?
Heather Cox (29:21):
Right. So they're small and there's also diverse. Sometimes it's small and diverse, but all diverse businesses are not small. And not all small businesses are diverse. It's a matter of where they're falling in that. And we've had companies that qualify as small, but that's the only demographic they qualify for. And we've had companies that are billions of dollars in revenue. They're definitely not small.
Lisa Rehurek (29:42):
But they're still certified.
Heather Cox (29:43):
But they're diverse. But they're women owned.
Lisa Rehurek (29:45):
Is there a minimum threshold financially?
Heather Cox (29:47):
Well, for State certifications, you have to be in business for a year, normally. The private sector one, you have to at least have one sale.
Lisa Rehurek (29:57):
Okay, good. Great information.
(29:58):
All right, so here's another question. Can the lack of certification be the reason you lose a State Government contract?
Heather Cox (30:05):
Yes. And I've heard it so many times, I actually have a whole little video called, The Cost of Lost Opportunities, or whatever it is. Because people have called me and they said, "We were in the running and someone else had the certification and we didn't." Again, it could tip the scale in your favor, but could also not tip it in your favor, or whatever, because if you don't have it.
(30:23):
Or, some States, it can have requirements that they have to use, so maybe they're only looking at certified diverse businesses. So yes, 100%.
(30:31):
And let me tell you, if your client says to you, "We'd like you to get certified." Please understand that it's not just a helpful suggestion, okay? What they're trying to say to you is, "Are you my partner or are you a transaction?" I use this analogy all the time, in a marriage, if my husband was like, "Hey babe, this is important to me." And I was like, "That's cool, but I'm not going to do it." That doesn't bode well for the overall relationship. It's the same thing, if your corporate client saying, "Hey babe, this is important to us." And you're like, "That's cool, but I'm not going to do it." You're a transaction. You're not in a relationship.
Lisa Rehurek (31:06):
Ooh, that's a great analogy. A little slap in the face analogy too. I love it.
(31:11):
All right, Heather, any last words of wisdom for our listeners around certification? I mean, again, we could be on here for five hours talking about it, it's true.
(31:19):
What else do they need to know if they're in the beginning phases? Or even not, what words of wisdom do you have?
Heather Cox (31:26):
There's two things that I always tell people. One is, get certified before you need it. Because once you need it, it could be too late, because people oftentimes they call us and they're like, "You know I'm going to wait until I need it." And then six months later they're like, "Can I have it tomorrow?"
(31:36):
I'm like, "Nope, not at all."
(31:38):
So that's one thing. Always be certified before you need it, because once you need it's probably too late.
(31:42):
And then you know what? Understand the value of your own time. I'm a huge advocate for outsourcing, not just because we're a company that gets outsourced too. My time is very, very valuable. I have a team of six people, I have five kids, I have a spouse, I have a lot of responsibilities. I do not need to be doing my tax returns because it's going to take me five times as long, and in the end of the day, was my hourly rate worth a lot more than I just paid that CPA?
(32:06):
Same if you're building a website. People are like, "You just build it yourself." I'm always like, "Well, A, it's going to look like I built it myself, and B, it'll end up costing a million dollars, versus [inaudible 00:32:16], whatever." I'm saying it's going to cost me exponentially more.
(32:18):
So understand what your time is worth. We usually can save our clients about 20 hours of time on the application. So do the math. Multiply your hourly rate by it. So yes, I always say get certified before you need it and outsource to experts whenever possible. Because if you don't have the time or money to do it once, you definitely don't have the time or money to do it twice.
Lisa Rehurek (32:39):
Agreed. And here's what else I'll tell you all about the certification process, is, if you're a sole proprietor, maybe it's a little bit easier, but if you have any board members, anything like that, if there's additional owners of your company, it gets super complex. Call Heather. Call Heather on any of it. We're going to have her information in the show notes. It's going to make your life easier.
(33:03):
And then I would assume also, Heather, when certification renewals come around, or let's say I need to get certified in five States-
Heather Cox (33:09):
And we do all of it.
Lisa Rehurek (33:10):
... Some legwork with you on the front end, but then after that it probably runs pretty smoothly. Right?
Heather Cox (33:16):
Exactly. And then there's also the portal registrations and the re-certifications. All those components of certification are all part of what we do because we understand it's not just getting certified. That's step one, but it's not the last step.
Lisa Rehurek (33:31):
I love it. This is so valuable. Now let our listeners know how to get in touch with you and then also can you share the link to, maybe you can't verbalize this and I'll just have to get it from you for the show notes, but the link that you mentioned for that video.
Heather Cox (33:44):
Oh, The Cost of Opportunity? Yeah, The Opportunity Cost, or whatever I called it. I can give it to you. Yeah, I'll send it to you.
(33:52):
So certifymycompany.com is our website. We're @certifymyco on all the socials. Which is also great because we give a lot of information on there as well, especially on Instagram and TikTok, about the various certifications and what they can be used for. Some of them are funny, some of them are very informational. It's a good range.
(34:07):
You can always email us at heather@certifymycompany.com. That's the best way to really get in there.
(34:12):
And then see us at events. We're in all the events.
Lisa Rehurek (34:16):
She's all over the place at events. I love running into her. And also, if you haven't noticed already, Heather's so passionate about this, and really passionate about helping people get certified, and passionate about knowing everything that there is to know about certification. So definitely look her up if you have any questions about that.
(34:32):
Heather, thank you so much for being here. I so appreciate it.
Heather Cox (34:35):
Always fun chatting with you.
Lisa Rehurek (34:37):
Always fun, but let's maybe not wait five more years.
Heather Cox (34:39):
Yeah. I agree.
Lisa Rehurek (34:42):
All right, everybody, thank you so much for being here and listening. If you haven't already subscribed to the podcast, please do so. You don't want to miss an episode. And on behalf of Heather and myself, I want to thank you for listening to the RFP Success Show.
Outro (34:53):
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 the rfpsuccesscompany.com.