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As a proposal services vendor, I have been in a position to see how hundreds of companies select their business development targets over the past 15 years. This has included everything from small disadvantaged business to Fortune 50. It has amazed me to see that many companies, small and large, have pursued contracts with a shotgun rather than a rifle.

[Editor's note: Dave Herndon recently returned from leading an OCI team in preparing a proposal for an air transportation vendor serving the USPS and other customers. Dave's team used a digital camera to provide color illustrations of customer facilities, equipment, and personnel for the proposal.]

Perhaps the most significant new tool available to proposal managers for preparing proposal graphics is the digital camera. The digital camera allows the easy inclusion of a wide range of photographs in proposals.

During the past 15 years, I have assisted not only Fortune companies, but also scores of small businesses in preparing their contract proposals. This work has included both hands-on service and providing other consultants / teams to assist small and small disadvantaged businesses, mostly in the $3 - $30 million size range.

Possibly the most important tool that helps a proposal win the contract is a good Red Team review. With a good process and the right people, the Red Team can turn a loser into a winner. However, the review process can be cumbersome, confusing to writers, and highly ineffective if not handled appropriately for the situation.

Bill,
I wanted to share some comments regarding winning government contracts that I hope will be helpful in your quest to break in to USPS work. It is received wisdom in our business that the proposal is only the end stage in a marketing plan that has transpired long before the RFP was ever released.

Today, it is still easy to understand that a stone age drawing showing a man with a spear and a deer means "hunting for food."The evolution of written language over several hundred thousand years has not diminished the importance of communicating through pictures.

An important part of finishing any proposal is making the final page count. Many government agencies have a policy of returning excess pages to the bidder unread. At least one agency starts their review by counting pages from the front of the proposal. When they get to whatever their magic number is, they remove all the rest and send them back to the bidder unread.