Pippa Birch

Pippa owns award-winning Pipster Solutions Ltd and has over 20 years bid writing experience, mainly in highways and civil engineering. She is an active member of the Institute of Asphalt and has won several industry awards. She is APMP Professional certified and mentors other bid professionals, winning Contribution to the Profession in 2022. She also developed #ThursdayThrong and #BidBites – free online meetings for the bidding community to reduce isolation.

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Issue 20 - All I Want for Christmas...

Rocking Around the Christmas Tree…

‘Tis the season to be jolly…

…nearly. This time of the year also sees conferences, exhibitions, and get-togethers. We all feel differently about networking – from crippling social anxiety to full-on hugging everyone. Recently, I’ve seen an appetite for getting back together in-person, as proven at the International Day for Bids and Proposals connections event in September. So how can we get the best out of these occasions?

  • Prepare in advance: Understand why you are going and what you want. Set yourself a target, e.g. I want to connect with five new people, or I want to get at least one lead for my business. Think about interesting conversation starters that avoid boring small talk, e.g. “What do you most enjoy about your role?”

  • Breeeeathe: Even the most confident people find networking hard. I love people and am a proper hugger, but since the pandemic I get anxious about large groups. My coping mechanism for handling this? Use breathing techniques like the Wim Hof method – breathe into the belly before expanding your lungs and then breathe out long and slow through pursed lips. I do this five times, and it settles my heart rate before I head on in.
  • Look for the group with a gap: A great way to join conversations is to look for the group with a gap and insert yourself with a “May I join you?”. It’s not always easy if you are at an event where people know each other, so I’d urge you all to create that gap too – you never know who you might encourage into your conversation.
  • Do the LinkedIn thing: It’s rare that people have physical business cards now, and LinkedIn has a brilliant feature which allows you to connect easily. Click on the search bar then the icon with the 4 squares – this brings up your unique QR code that others can scan and connect immediately.
  • Follow-up with your connections: What’s the point in networking if you speak to fascinating people on the day and never connect with them again? Set yourself a reminder a week later to drop them a message and include a call to action. For example, “It was great speaking with you about your plans for the future, I’d love to hear how you are getting on”.

And a bonus tip, because it’s nearly Christmas: There are many more tips for networking effectively – look after your social battery, actively listen, write everything down, be flexible etc. Find #BidBites on LinkedIn and look for October’s article – it includes masses of great networking advice from your bidding peers. Why not share your tips in the comments too?

And the most important thing? Just throw yourself in – something magical just might happen!

Pippa Birch

Pippa owns award-winning Pipster Solutions Ltd and has over 20 years bid writing experience, mainly in highways and civil engineering. She is an active member of the Institute of Asphalt and has won several industry awards. She is APMP Professional certified and mentors other bid professionals, winning Contribution to the Profession in 2022. She also developed #ThursdayThrong and #BidBites – free online meetings for the bidding community to reduce isolation.

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Issue 20

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