By Nhlanhla Nkomo, Head of Sales at Southern Power Maintenance
Unpaid project work can begin with a reasonable request for more information before a supplier is appointed. The Sales team wants to keep the opportunity moving, so the technical team reviews the available information or joins a site visit. What appears to be ordinary support can gradually become a technical assessment, a detailed work method or the first stage of project planning.
The supplier may be asked to identify the likely cause of a problem, recommend an approach, estimate the resources required and help the client refine the scope. Each request may appear reasonable on its own. Together, they can result in the supplier developing much of the solution before any contract has been awarded. The company is still competing for the opportunity, although part of the work has already been completed.
This boundary is difficult to manage because a credible technical proposal requires preparation. Clients need enough information to assess whether a supplier understands the work and can deliver it responsibly. Suppliers also need to understand the equipment, site conditions and operational risks before committing to a price or timeline. Pre-sales support is therefore a necessary part of reaching an informed commercial decision.
The position changes when the information being requested has value beyond the buying decision. A detailed assessment may help the client finalise its budget, rewrite its scope or instruct another contractor. A proposed method may become the basis of the eventual project plan, even if the supplier that developed it is not appointed. The supplier can lose the opportunity while its thinking remains part of the project.
The cost of this work is often hidden because it is spread across several departments. Sales coordinates meetings and revises the proposal, technical specialists assess information and possible solutions, and Operations considers people, equipment and scheduling. Individually, these contributions may appear manageable. Collectively, they can consume significant resources that are no longer available for contracted work or stronger commercial opportunities.
Sales must manage this boundary because it is responsible for the active commercial engagement. It decides what information the company will provide, when internal specialists should become involved and how much work is justified by the quality of the opportunity. Bringing technical or operational colleagues into the process should strengthen the company’s decision-making. It should not give an unconfirmed opportunity unrestricted access to specialist resources.
The answer is not to withhold all meaningful information until a contract is signed. Industrial clients may need to examine a supplier’s proposed approach closely, particularly when the work involves high-voltage equipment, restricted outage windows or substantial operational risk. Formal tenders may also require methodologies, programmes and resource plans so that competing suppliers can be evaluated fairly. The amount of detail provided should depend on what the client needs to make its decision and what it can use to execute the work.
A useful distinction is whether the requested information helps the client choose a supplier or gives the client part of the solution. Information about capability, experience, assumptions and the broad approach supports supplier selection. An asset-specific diagnosis, detailed work method or implementation plan may already be a project deliverable. If the client can use the output independently or pass it to another contractor, the request has probably moved beyond normal pre-sales support.
Clear boundaries do not require Sales to become unhelpful. The company can explain what will be included in the proposal and identify where a separate technical assessment is required. A paid site assessment or diagnostic scope allows the supplier to investigate properly and gives the client a defined, useful deliverable. It also prevents preliminary observations from being mistaken for final technical advice.
Sales teams may hesitate to draw the line because they fear losing the opportunity to a competitor willing to provide more. Continuing to give away specialist work does not guarantee that the client will award the contract. It can instead teach the market that the company’s expertise is available before any commercial commitment is made. Expertise is part of what an industrial maintenance company sells, and Sales must recognise when demonstrating that expertise has become delivering it.