Most of us think of a blueprint as a technical drawing or detailed plan necessary to help us build something—often according to codes or regulations. Another way of thinking about a blueprint is in the sports world – a game plan, a strategy, an approach to winning based on the competition.So, what is a blueprint to winning in business development?

What single meeting sets the stage for an entire proposal? The kickoff meeting. This meeting is quintessential for proposal managers to give their team the information and tools they need to write a winning proposal. It is also the perfect opportunity to set expectations for the entire proposal development stage...

Customers assume a proposal represents your best effort. If they find errors, they may doubt the accuracy of the rest of the proposal.Proposals go through several iterations and reviews before final submission to the customer. Each iteration ensures your document is clear, concise, and correct. Don’t underestimate the editing process. Build time into your schedule to ensure all reviews can be performed, that proofreading and revising are given enough space to be thorough.

Everyone undergoes some form of training in their career. Most often, people receive training when they first start a new job. At the beginning of your career, you likely had weeks of training to help you learn the ropes. Once this grueling training period is over, you probably breathed a sigh of relief and closed the door on that chapter. But training is not just for beginners.

Most sales and marketing veterans agree that 40-60 percent of the time, customers decide whom they would prefer to buy from before proposals are submitted...

Writing correctly means different things to different people. Some may interpret it as fact checking what you write. Others may see it as using correct grammar. For our purposes in this article, we will narrow this down into specifically choosing correct words.

Your probability of winning (Pwin) has very little to do with fate or chance. Hope is a poor strategy for your must-win opportunities. Instead, develop a plan using proven tactics to help you win. Show the customer you understand their needs and demonstrate that you have a clear solution to their problem.

The global economy encourages international competitive bidding and often a more structured evaluation and decision-making process.Every country has different acquisition systems. International proposals take on many forms and variations. Bidders must be acutely tuned to specific business practices, customs, standards, and laws.Political considerations, socioeconomic arrangements and investments, protectionism, and teaming with local organizations all play larger roles when acquisition rules are not tightly defined.

Making ad hoc or “gut feeling” changes to your capture or proposal process is not the most effective way to improve your win rates. While these measures may occasionally increase performance, the best way to determine where you can improve your framework is found in win/loss analyses.

When you have lost the past few proposals and new opportunities feels chaotic and rushed, you are not losing out of bad luck. You are losing because your business process needs reforming.

Everyone claims that they are customer focused. But there is a difference between words and actions. How do you show the customer you listen and value their needs?

Everyone claims that they are customer focused. But there is a difference between words and actions. How do you show the customer you listen and value their needs?

If your company is looking to win more business, it might make sense to start bidding on every opportunity in your wheelhouse...In the bid and proposal market, one of the best ways to win more business is to know what you can win and what you can’t.

High-level readers of proposals, those either making or influencing the selection decision, often only skim proposals, looking at the graphics that stand out, then reading the captions, headings, highlight statements, and the executive summary. These readers must be able to see why you should be selected without reading any body text. If your proposal graphics are not leading the evaluator to key information, then they are missing the mark.

After so much adjustment due to the COVID-19 pandemic, people have become increasingly aware of the difference between necessary and unnecessary meetings. Clear communication has also become a necessity because of this. While some procedures are better carried out in an email, others thrive in a face-to-face setting.

Our proposals start off chaotic and get worse. When proposal development starts without a plan, the result is chaotic and can lead to underdeveloped proposals. The team will be exhausted before the work actually begins.

Our proposals start off chaotic and get worse. When proposal development starts without a plan, the result is chaotic and can lead to underdeveloped proposals. The team will be exhausted before the work actually begins.

Most of us understand that hope is not a good strategy, but don’t know how to put good practices in place.

Win rates seem like pretty simple statistics—what percentage of your qualified opportunities are you winning?...Learn from past proposals and when to end a pursuit.

All businesses know the realistic price they can offer for services. What can you do when you’ve performed a competitive analysis and discovered you cannot compete with the low prices your competitors are predicted to offer?

Losing a bid is hard. It’s easy to get swept up in disappointment, to see the flaws in your proposal, and to blame others for mistakes. This breaks down the morale of the team and quality can absolutely suffer. Mistakes need to be addressed in a lessons learned review, but don’t dwell on them. There’s usually more to losing than what’s in the proposal...

We may have the perfect solution for our customer’s problem. Another probability is that we have the perfect solution for what we perceive the customer’s problem to be. The customer may not trust you because you missed the mark by explaining your solution more than you listened to their needs...

While the proposal team is separate from the capture or opportunity team, this shouldn’t automatically sever any communication between them...

Proposals require a lot of planning up front. Many companies have done all the work to make sure the message is accurate. But when the submission is rewarded, that company still may not be selected. The issue could be in the details...