cw900-write winning proposals
DESCRIPTION
ProposalsTRANSCRIPT
Write Winning Proposals and Presentations:
Responding to Competitive Bids
1. Business Development (BD) Goals2. Best Practice BD Lifecycle3. BD Pipeline [Strategic]
4. Service Catalog [Strategic]
5. Proposal Knowledge Management [Strategic]
6. Proposal Best Practices [Tactical]
7. Next Steps
Introduction
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In this demanding economy it is essential that Community Rehabilitation Programs (CRPs) focus on:
• New Opportunities ─ Increase the number of employment opportunities for people with severe disabilities
• Growth ─ Enhance and understand the capabilities of your organization
• Wins ─ Improve your win rate
• Customers ─ Understand their requirements and mission
Introduction
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Business Development Practices
Effective organizations:• Manage and maintain existing contracts• Offer value and quality to customers• Investigate new lines of business • Stay competitive• Practice flexibility:
– Prime and Subcontract• Leverage strengths• Minimize risk
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Reframing BD Activities …
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Proposals as a Form of Art
• Request for proposals (RFPs), Requests for Information (RFIs), Sources Sought responses and briefings are an opportunity to position your organization
• Proposals are not a single event• Integral part of the Business Development
(BD) lifecycle
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Business Development Lifecycle
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http://sbdl.shipleywins.com/
Business Development Lifecycle
Shipley BD Lifecycle:• Depicts the evolution of an opportunity from
planning to post submittal activities• Provides standardized model for BD activities• Presented as 96 sequential steps• Identifies stakeholders, phases, milestones, and
activities throughout the lifecycle• Shows involvement of personnel at each phase
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Shipley 96-Steps
PHASE LIFECYCLE PHASE ACTIVITIES STEPS
0 Market Segmentation Strategic Planning 1- 6
1 Long-Term Positioning
Market Campaign decisions/Interest Decision 7- 12
2 Opportunity Assessment Pursuit Decision 13-20
3 Capture Planning Blue Team/Black Hat Reviews/Bid-No Bid 21-35
4 Proposal Planning Kick Off/Bid Decision Validation 36 - 66
5 Proposal Development
Proposal Solution Freeze/Pink Team/Red Team/Proposal Submittal 67 - 84
6 Post-Submittal Activities
Organize & Maintain Proposal Materials/Final Pricing/Contract Award 85 - 96
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BD Challenges
• Your organization may have multiple lines of business with different levels of maturity
• Need to manage multiple BD activities concurrently: – Contracts expire and updated proposals required– Industries mature with less demand – New Lines of Business and opportunities emerge– Sources sought responses required in order to
participate in procurements– Down-selects leading prior to Award– Capability Statements requested
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Parallel BD Activities
The BD Lifecycle applies to each contract:
Contract Phase Description Action
Contract 1 6 Janitorial – current Contract Negotiation 2014
Contract 2 6 Janitorial – current Contract Negotiation 2016
Contract 3 6 Janitorial – current Contract Negotiation 2013
Contract 4 6 Document Destruction Contract Negotiation 2015
Contract 5 6 Administration Contract Negotiation
Contract 6 0 Contact Center Support Market SegmentationContract 7 1 Total Facility Management Market Positioning
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Your Business Development Process
• What is your proposal development capability?• How mature is your proposal process?• What Best Practice systems are in place?
– Manage and track opportunities– Plan for contract renewal– Allocate of resources for BD – Time– Staffing– Training
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Tool Developed by Kate Rosengreen
Proposal Process Maturity Self-Assessment
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Focus Area 1:Tracks potential opportunities &
upcoming proposal activities
Business Development Pipeline
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Sample BD Pipeline Format
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Is it documented and up-to-date?
What does your BD pipeline look like?
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BD Pipeline
Feature BenefitCentral control of BD activity Predicts revenues and gapsFacilitates Better control of business Anticipate expenses & BD LOETracks your performance Feedback on BD ActivitiesSchedules proposal activity Anticipate proposal workloadHistorical record of Activity Learn from your mistakesMonitor & Track RFP/RFI releases Make timely decisions Bid/No-BidKnowledge of Industry Trends Get ahead of competition
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Focus Area 2:List of services you offer
by Line of Business (LOB)
Develop a Service Catalog
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Service Catalog
Identifying the services your organization provides makes you stronger and more competitive:
Feature BenefitClearly defined service offerings by Line of Business
Promotes consensus within your organizationUseful tool for Bid/No-Bid decisions
Provides framework for Proposal Knowledge Library
Faster retrieval of proposal reuse materials
Allows you to baseline servicedescriptions across marketing materials, web site etc.
Consistent branding and messaging
Defines Corporate Capabilities Customers clearly understand your capabilities
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By Line of Business
Exercise – What Services do you offer?
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Catalog of Services
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Service Catalog
ContactCenter
Admin Services
Document Destruction
LOB 4 LOB 5 LOB 6
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Focus Area 3:Know What You Know
& where it is located
Proposal Knowledge Library
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Knowledge Library Content
• Proposals and sources sought responses are expensive to develop
• Typical content in a proposal Knowledge Library:– Proposals submitted by year– Technical narratives by line of business– Management by line of business– Corporate Plans– Executive Summaries– Tools and templates
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Proposal Knowledge Library
A Knowledge Management Library provides:
Features BenefitsEffective management of proposal content allows for reuse of materials (e.g., text, graphics, plans).
Build higher quality proposal responses faster at less cost.
Electronic copy of proposal content Quickly retrieve materials Repository of previously developed materials
Efficient use of financial and personnel resources
Central storage with shared access Knowledge shared within organization promotes consistent branding and
Continued access to your proposal “body of work”
Reduces long-term cost of proposal development
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Focus Area 4Repeatable systems
Proposal Best Practices
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Successful Proposals Demonstrate
• Proposal development is complex system of repetitive processes – Understanding what the customer wants– Winning team with experience – Compliance with requirements– Why you are the organization to select– Strong management capabilities– High quality presentation– Your ability to execute – Solution with minimized/mitigated risks
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Proposal Team Organization
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Your Team’s - Roles & Responsibilities
Leadership:– Capture Manager– Proposal Manager– Cost Volume Manager– Orals Coach
Specialists:– Proposal Coordinator– Subject Matter Expert– Technical Writer– Technical Editor– Desktop Publisher– Graphic Artist
Proposal best practices require clear responsibilities and clearly defined roles to ensure management of expectations and a coordinated high quality product.
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Proposal Workflow
DetermineSolution
IdentifyTeam
Develop ProposalResponse
Price
Execute
TechnicalManagement StaffingPast PerformanceCost
Price to win
Gap Analysis
Understand requirements
Deliver & Manage
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Follow an Agreed Proposal Process
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Focus Area Compliance
“What does the RFP Say?”
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Winning the Bid
• Proposal are evaluated against predetermined criteria– What are they? (See Section M)– Make sure you can match or exceed criteria
• Develop the outline based on Section L, M and C.– Answer “the mail” – Do not add in extra information
• Do not go over page count• Use a template and start formatting the document early• Fonts- only use ones specified• If any doubts about instructions – Ask the government a
Question
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Checklist for your Technical Proposal
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Tools for Your Success
• Clearly-defined BD, marketing and proposal responsibilities – assigned within CRP staff
• Marketing materials that promote your capabilities in a consistent, professional style
• Repeatable proposal development process
• Knowledge-base of reusable material and tools
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Proposal Templates
• Proposal Outline – To manage the proposal assignments.• Proposal Response Template – Word template with preformatted
styles.• Compliance Matrix – Master checklist of proposal requirements.• Storyboard Template – To conceptualize the sub-sections of the
proposal and capture key messages.• Features & Benefits – Depicts your solution and advantages for
customer. • Executive Summary – Worksheet to document the major sections
of your proposal.• Risk Template – Identifies risks and shows how you address and
mitigate them• Key Personnel – Format to present a combination – functional and
chronological personnel resume.• Past Performance –Your past experience in the proposal area your
organization is bidding.
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Next Steps
To optimize BD opportunities:• Conduct a review of your organization’s BD
culture • Develop leadership buy-in and commitment to
BD process• Identify internal stakeholders and prepare them
for change• Review the quality of your proposal products• Assess your Corporate Capabilities and
(re)package them (as needed)
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Next Steps
• Develop Service Catalog• Identify tools and structures that need to be in
place• Launch Proposal Knowledge Library
– Access the NISH proposal templates• Develop and socialize standardized proposal
processes
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Your New BD organization
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?
Questions
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Contact Information
Kate Rosengreen, PhDPresidentProposal Resource Group, Inc.www.proposalresourcegroup.comkate@proposalresourcegroup.com703-850-6150
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Support Materials
• Shipley Associates Best Practices:– Shipley Proposal Guide 4th Edition– Shipley Capture Guide 3rd Edition– Shipley Business Development Lifecycle(http://sbdl.shipleywins.com)
• Style Guide for editing: – The Chicago Manual of Style (version 16)(http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/home.html)
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