During the proposal creation process, another of the key documents is the Proposal Plan. The Proposal Plan is written by the Proposal Manager, in conjunction with the Capture Manager, as soon as the proposal effort begins.
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Analyzing the Final Solicitation
The release of a final RFP is the trigger for shifting from the capture (or pre-proposal) phase to the proposal development phase. It may be a time when several concurrent activities are initiated as the team works to quickly assemble resources, finalize plans, notify team members, brief management, and perform other activity for effective transition to this phase. The following focuses on the specific activity related to evaluating the solicitation.
Difficulties in Determining Best Value
In 1961 I was involved in an RFP for a mainframe computer which was a best value RFP, and our agency did not award to IBM. How many readers can make such a claim? Not many, because the agencies then were usually not very experienced in buying IT and were very mesmerized by IBM's marketing prowess. As a result, major agencies such as Justice and the Army found ways to award to IBM, even when the performance did not justify the higher price.
Getting Prepared to Win Large Proposals
During my 25 years in the proposal business, I am always amazed to see how many bidders lose the competition because they haven’t adequately prepared for the bid. “Not being prepared” may take many forms.One of the most common forms of inadequate preparation is to assign personnel who don’t have proposal experience. This is especially true for companies who try to keep valued personnel by assigning them to work on proposals until a more permanent position can be found. For these companies, it doesn't matter if the employee can’t spell “proposal.” It is also quite common for small businesses to refuse to begin work on their proposal until the RFP is released. They believe they can reduce expenses by waiting until the last minute. It's as if they are saying to themselves, "We cannot afford to develop the proposal correctly, but we'll find the money to do it over if we have to."
The Proposal Manager's Tasks
A Proposal Manager Is…
One who must direct 30 to 50 authors, who don’t want to be there, in responding to several thousand requirements that he disagrees with, scattered throughout a several hundred page RFP that screws up the way he wants to write his proposal, and include several dozen win strategies that are of no interest to the customer, from two of more companies who are in violent disagreement, in a painfully page-restricted proposal with an impossible but inviolable due date, so that in only three days 30 to 50 government evaluators, who don’t want to be there, can find the answers to questions someone has hidden somewhere in the RFP, so that the Source Selection Authority can make a decision that is the least risky to his own career, and that he can justify to the losing bidders’ Congressmen!
The Proposal Plan: The Proposal Manager Prepares this Document to Guide the Proposal Creation Activity
During the proposal creation process, another of the key documents is the Proposal Plan. The Proposal Plan is written by the Proposal Manager, in conjunction with the Capture Manager, as soon as the proposal effort begins.
Maintaining Positive Contracting Officer Relationships...A List of Do and Don't Recommendations
As our customers already understand, OCI is a different kind of proposal support service provider. Given the constant evolution of the Government acquisition environment, we realize the importance of performing as "Proposal Knowledge Shop" that shares insight into our industry's important Government relationships as well as providing expert proposal support services.
Unsolvable Problem: Your Proposal Team Argues over Proposal Quality
This article is the first in a series offering solutions to the "unsolvable" problems of proposal development.
The nature of the problem. Everyone has an opinion. And the more that is at stake, the more they stick to their opinion.
Planning Your Solution vs. Planning Your Content
Depending on the type of work and how the RFP defines the requirements, you may need to conceptualize your approach as well as your content. This is typically true of proposals to provide solutions or to perform research.
Five Popular Ways to Write A Losing Proposal
There are lots of ways to write a really great, but losing, proposal. Some companies are better at it than others, but I’d bet that all have found ways to lose that “sure thing” at least once in their history.
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- The Proposal Plan: The Proposal Manager Prepares this Document to Guide the Proposal Creation Activity
- Analyzing the Final Solicitation
- Getting Prepared to Win Large Proposals
- Difficulties in Determining Best Value
- The Proposal Manager's Tasks
- Maintaining Positive Contracting Officer Relationships...A List of Do and Don't Recommendations
- Unsolvable Problem: Your Proposal Team Argues over Proposal Quality
- Planning Your Solution vs. Planning Your Content
- The Proposal Plan: The Proposal Manager Prepares this Document to Guide the Proposal Creation Activity
- Five Popular Ways to Write A Losing Proposal
- Cost of Preparing Proposals
- The Challenge of Preparing Task Order Proposals
- Why Create Your Own Draft RFP?
- Asking Questions on Your Next RFP
- Five Easy Ways to Improve Your Proposals
- Proposal Departments: Whether to Use Permanent Staff or Consultants
- Volume Management: Getting the Best, Quickly, from Your Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)
- The Proposal Plan: The Proposal Manager Prepares this Document to Guide the Proposal Creation Activity
- Tips on Winning Proposals
- Pre-Proposal Goals Help Build Winners
- Storyboards Why Bother?
- The Top 10 Ways to Lose a Proposal
- The Top 10 Ways to Ensure Proposal Success
- The First Five Days
- Decomposing a Solicitation can be Fun
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