'Winning Business'
Best Practice Programme

The ‘winning business’ best practice programme is identifying the critical success factors for winning and retaining customers in competitive markets. Over 2,000 companies and professional practices have participated. The business practices of ‘winners’ are being compared with those of ‘losers’ to reveal why some companies are so much more successful than others. The investigating teams are led by Prof. Colin Coulson-Thomas, an experienced chairman of entrepreneurial and award winning companies, and Professor of Direction and Leadership at the University of Lincoln.

Recent outputs include ‘critical success factors’ reports, ‘best practice’ case studies, practical bidding tools and techniques, key business development skills, process and practice reviews, in-house training and consultancy reports, and a benchmarking service which provides companies with bespoke reports highlighting where they most lag behind successful competitors. Published best practice reports that are currently available include: ‘Winning New Business: the Critical Success Factors’ which examines the processes and practices for winning business in competitive situations of over 300 companies. ‘Winning Major Bids, the critical success factors’ a study of bidding practices. ‘Bidding for Business in Construction, IT & Telecoms, Engineering and Manufacturing, etc.,’ best practice resource packs which include reports on critical success factors for winning business in particular sectors. ‘Bidding for Business: the Skills Agenda’ which covers the top 20 skills required. ‘The Contract Bid Manager’s Toolkit’ containing 30 practical tools for winning contracts. ‘Winning New Business in Management Consultancy, Advertising, Accountancy, PR & Marketing Consultancy, Engineering Consultancy, IT Consultancy, Law, etc., the Critical Success Factors’ covering particular professions. ‘Developing Strategic Customers & Key Accounts: the Critical Success Factors’ examines the experiences and key customer relationship practices of 194 companies.

The ‘Close to the Customer’ series of 28 management briefings on particular customer relationship management issues and best practice in different business sectors. ‘Developing a Corporate Learning Strategy’ which examines training and development practices and priorities, and information and knowledge entrepreneurship. ‘Effective Purchasing: the Critical Success Factors’, a European study of issues & trends. ‘Managing Intellectual Capital to Grow Shareholder Value’ an examination of how the better management of intellectual might generate incremental income. ‘Pricing for Profit’ which shows how ‘leader’ companies achieve the benefits of effective pricing.

All these reports and the ‘Close to the Customer’ series of briefings on customer relationship management are published by Policy Publications Ltd. Information about each report, related seminars and benchmarking services, and on special price arrangements can be obtained from Tel: +44 [0]1733 361149; e-mail: colinct@tiscali.co.uk or www.policypublications.com

Further information concerning consultancy support services, winning business health checks, workshops, benchmarking and details of his books ‘Winning Companies: Winning People’ (Kingsham Press, 2007), ‘Individuals and Enterprise, creating entrepreneurs’ and ‘Shaping Things to Come, strategies for creating alternative enterprises’ (both Dublin, Blackhall Publishing) and ‘The Knowledge Entrepreneur’ and ‘Transforming the Company ‘ (both Kogan Page) can be obtained from Prof. Colin Coulson-Thomas by Tel: +44 [0] 1733 361 149; Fax: +44[0] 1733 361 459; www.coulson-thomas.com or Email: colinct@tiscali.co.uk These and his other books can also be ordered from www.ntwkfirm.com/bookshop and www.policypublications.com