Aparna Bapu Consulting: David and Goliath
Client Details
Name: Aparna Bapu Consulting
Location: Headquartered in Illinois
Size: A firm of one
Ownership: Owner-run, women’s business enterprise national council (WBENC)
Services: Project management in the built industry
Client Industries: Cultural, higher education, aviation, and sports & entertainment markets
Markets: U.S.A.
Introduction
In 2021, FortisOBM was contracted by a mid-size owner’s project management firm to lead a large museum proposal where Aparna served as the leading subject matter expert. During that time, FortisOBM worked closely with Aparna on the proposal and interview material.
Two years later, Aparna pursued the role of owner’s project manager for a different museum project, her firm’s largest to date, competing against eleven large firms. After a failed attempt to work with a different agency on her proposal, Aparna hired FortisOBM to develop the proposal for the project. She was shortlisted for the role and ultimately won the project, beating out all her larger competitors.
Challenge 1: Positioning a Firm-of-One as a Superior Solution
Aparna needed a marketing agency that understood how to effectively brand her one-person firm within an industry that often assumes bigger firms mean better service. The firm Aparna originally hired struggled to develop Aparna’s messaging, branding, and proposal template.
Solution: Based on their successful work together two years prior, Aparna reached out to FortisOBM to support her proposal development. Aparna was already familiar with FortisOBM’s industry expertise and ability to strategize and push barriers for the win, but she was impressed to learn about FortisOBM’s win rate of 74% in 2022.
Once hired, FortisOBM helped Aparna establish a positioning strategy to differentiate her firm from the competition, highlighting the benefits of having a single point of communication who knows every detail of the project, a dedicated representative with the nimbleness to respond and flex as needed, and a manager with depth of experience in museums and other cultural projects (and specialized museum budget and timeline templates as a result)—all at a lower fee due to lower overhead costs than big firms.
With this new messaging established, FortisOBM created brand materials to highlight Aparna’s value and display the compelling portfolio of her previous museum work.
Outcome: Relying on deep knowledge of the industry, FortisOBM helped ABC LLC craft a message that resonated with project leaders, winning Aparna’s firm the project. With strategic positioning and newly branded materials developed by FortisOBM, Aparna rose to the top against 11 big firms with in-house marketing teams. This project represents the largest win of her firm to date.
Challenge 2: Managing Proposals, Client Work, and Business Operations
Before this proposal, Aparna handled all proposal responses in addition to managing client work and running a company. Spread too thin, Aparna found herself overwhelmed by the time needed to maintain strong marketing and proposal efforts. While this win gives Aparna the confidence to go after more large projects like this, her time for marketing and proposals is limited.
Solution: After their successful work together on the proposal resulting in a huge win, Aparna will continue to use FortisOBM to manage proposals. She has also contracted FortisOBM to conduct a website audit and support her social media and other marketing efforts.
Outcome: Aparna will continue to rely on FortisOBM to help her submit proposals and manage her marketing while Aparna enjoys the freedom to focus on delivering the exceptional service her firm is quickly becoming known for.
How FortisOBM Supports Aparna Bapu Consulting
FortisOBM assists in the preparation of RFP/proposal responses and qualifications in collaboration with Aparna, resulting in new clients and project engagements.
Brand Positioning and Messaging
Strategic Planning
Proposal Strategy
Branding, Proposal Design, and Development
How Could FortisOBM Help You?
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Client Testimonials
“FortisOBM was the partner I needed to push my marketing materials to completion. Being a one-person firm, it is difficult to focus on marketing. A proposal response was the catalyst to get things done. They help they provided from graphics to editing content was critical to get a high-quality proposal that I am confident can compete with larger, more established firms. It was an effort on my end to get the content together but once FortisOBM had it, the proposal came together well. I hope I can add to their win-rate!” – Aparna Bapu Consulting, President
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