During the past 30 years, our company has helped customers prepare thousands of proposals. Based on this experience, we can offer the following guidance to lower the cost of using proposal consultants.

1. Establish a relationship with a source that provides quality proposal consultants at an affordable price. Some proposal consulting companies actually provide better talent at a lower price than the high-price providers.

2. Get to know the proposal consulting company and their proposal consultants as soon as possible – this gives your team and the company time to get to know one another and understand each others process and culture.During this step you can determine if the company is the right fit for you. When the RFP drops and you need immediate assistance, the proposal consulting company knows exactly what you’re looking for. This can save time and money.

3. Consider getting outside talent to perform a Proposal Readiness Assessment. This provides an unbiased view of your deficiencies and an efficient path to fix them. Some agencies provide this service at a high fixed price. To get the service for what you can afford, look for an agency that provides this service under a menu offering — so you can select only the pieces you need.

4. If you really need outside assistance but don’t have much to spend, consider this: Hire the proposal consultant to help complete the proposal plan and cross-reference matrix and then come back to provide periodic reviews of your developing proposal document.

5. If you need help on a proposal that is not large and complex, hire proposal consultants who are “utility players.” This is a multi-talented person who can assist in managing, writing, and producing your proposal.

6. When you need outside help, bring in proposal consultants who are comfortable in making a technology transfer – providing hands-on training in proposal skills to your in-house team members.

7. Work with a proposal consultant company that has a deep talent bench. This is important, because it lets you get proposal consultants who are deep enough in the subject matter to work faster and more efficiently.