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Content Management
Everyone has likely experienced when you are paragraphs into an unsaved document and your computer crashes. If you were born before the 2000s, you probably have had this heart-sinking experience BEFORE auto-save and cloud recovery features were available, so all your hard work was just gone forever, and you had to start over.
Back to Basics
A new year brings greater emphasis on what we need to improve in ourselves. For many in the proposal writing world, you may not need a complete overhaul of your proposal practices to start writing more effectively and winning more business. Often, a simple refresh of the basics will sharpen your edges and improve your overall proposal writing.So, what are the basics of proposal writing? Oddly enough, some of them don’t involve writing at all.
Dear Newbie…
Recently, my brother-in-law, who runs his own company, has been broadening his clientele and dipped his toe into the government sector. I was thrilled to talk with him about his first proposal for a local government opportunity. I went through a few best practices that have been engrained in me for so long I hardly even notice them anymore, and I was shocked by the number of times he murmured “oh, that makes sense” or “that’s really good advice.” It got me thinking about what I would say to someone just entering the world of government proposals.
Ingredients of a Winning Proposal
While the ultimate decision of who wins an opportunity belongs to the customer, are you adding the right ingredients to win?
Problem/Solution—Our potential customers are not turning into actual customers
Much of effective, customer-focused capture involves gathering information on the opportunity and then maintaining it. A capture team has no substitute for good opportunity intelligence...How can you show customer focus without knowing what your customer cares about?
Problem/Solution—We’re making changes to our process but haven’t seen noticeable improvements in our win rates.
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.
Don’t Hold Out for a Hero
Our industry loves heroes. We’ve all noticed them because they always seem to be perpetually in the middle of a crisis, “putting out fires” or “wrestling alligators”. They regularly work late into the night and may even show their superior dedication by sleeping in the office to as not to waste valuable time going home to see their family.
Problem/Solution—Every pursuit is stressful and disorganized, and we are losing most of them
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.
Prepping Proposal Teams for the Winning Shot
A capture manager’s work is a lot like golf. Golfers must consider factors like wind, distance, club selection, and course obstacles as they make their way through a course hole. There are so many swings a golfer must carefully make before they are on the green, lining up the final shot. And then in the procurement world, you essentially hand your putter to a whole new person, trusting them to sink that shot.
What’s the best way to make sure this new person will actually make the final shot on a golf course? Ensuring they are already positioned close enough to that hole. Capture managers do this in a business opportunity by performing vital checks into competitors, customer hot buttons, and other key information. Then, the proposal team has all they need to sink that winning shot.
Problem/Solution—Our Team Members Don't Trust Each Other
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?
Problem/Solution—How do we prove we are customer focused?
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?
Pay the Price of Admission, the Power of Customer Focus in Presentations.
"What's the number one change teams can make to their oral presentation that will help them win?" This is a question I've been asked repeatedly over my 25 years as an orals coach. After coaching more than 200 teams during that time, I'm very clear on the answer.
No Small Parts
Some roles in business may get all the credit, receiving top billing for their performance, and their name in the by line. Because of this, others may feel like their job is small or unimportant. But when it comes to preparing a sales document, there are no small parts. Every role, every task, every person is necessary and important when crafting a winning proposal.
Problem/Solution—Opportunity Qualification
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.
A Picture Is Worth More than a Thousand Words
Proposal writers know that there are many parts that make up a winning proposal. While obviously effective writing makes up most of a successful proposal, employing other best practices—like adherence to the RFP requirements and employing effective graphics—affect the proposal as well.Graphics, in particular, are a significant aspect of winning proposals. Not only must they be visually appealing, but they also must communicate key information so evaluators understand it in seconds. A common saying is “a picture is worth a thousand words.” In a winning proposal, a picture is worth more than a thousand words; an effective graphic can be worth millions of dollars.
Problem/Solution—Shipley Business Winning Tip: Proposal Graphics
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.
Managing Meetings Masterfully
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.
An Agile Approach to Agility
Agility is a fundamental principle of winning business. When it comes to capture and proposal efforts, you must be able to adapt to changes as they come...
Problem/Solution—We’re not meeting our sales or win-rate goals
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.
Managing Expectations to Win More
A recent trend in the past few New Years has been to throw resolutions out the window. People claim they come with too much pressure, and most aren’t met by the year’s end anyway. Starting up a new proposal could prompt similar stress for proposal managers, especially if a recent proposal started with a good kickoff and went downhill from there.
Problem/Solution—Our Proposals Start Off Chaotic
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.
Managing Agile within the Shipley Framework
As workforce and workload management continue to accelerate toward a virtual and flexible approach to achieving outcomes, adhering to a defined and disciplined pursuit management framework has become more important than ever...
