Proposals that Create High Impact

PROPOSALS THAT

CREATE HIGH IMPACT

AMIT KUMAR DAS

Difficult Times for the Organizations!!

Business Landscape is Changing !!

VARIABILIZATION SIMPLIFICATIONSTANDARDIZATION

Process | Applications | Platform | DeliverySTANDARDIZE

VARIABILIZESoftware | Platform | Infrastructure

SIMPLIFYInformation at the Edge | Access Anywhere

Organizations Are Under Lot of Stress

Organizations Need Compelling Solutions

WHYDO

WE NEEDTO

WRITE GOOD PROPOSALS?

Proposals Can Change Buyer’s Last Decision

3 Months 12 Months 3 Months

BusinessIssue

Develop aBudget and

Solution

Express Solution as

Requirements

Seek Proposals

Evaluate Alternatives

Negotiate and

Contract

Capture Phase Proposal Phase

First Decision

Last Decision

“A good proposal can win

us business that others should have won”

Source: Shipley

So…Let’s Define A Good Proposal

Compelling SolutionValue for Money

Business Alignment DifferentiatedClear and Specific Value Propositions

Technically CompetentCompliant

Good Document Design

Vis

ual

ly R

ich

Compelling Solution

Visually RichBusiness Alignment

Value for MoneyCompliantDifferentiated

Clear and Specific Value Propositions

Technically Competent

Technically Competent

Differentiated

Differentiated

Ingredients of A Winning Proposal

Proposals are all about Team Work

“If you wish to persuade me,

you must think my thoughts,

feel my feelings, and speak my words”

Cicero

WHATARE THEPHASES

IN APROPOSAL LIFECYCLE ?

Open the Opportunity

Vendor Briefing

Do I Qualify the Bid ?

Assess the Risks

Seek Clarifications with the Prospect

Discuss Win Strategy

Onboard the Team

Create the Templates and Structure

Hold the Kickoff Meeting

Build the Solution

Track Progress of the Response

Build the Estimates

Review the Response

Submit the Response

Customer Evaluates Your Proposal

Defend Your Proposal

Negotiation and Contract

Win Loss Summary

MYTHSABOUT

PROPOSAL MANAGEMENT

PROCESS

Myth# 1: I Can Handle Any Traffic

Myth# 2: Cloning is Easy and Effective

Myth# 3: More is Better

Myth# 4: Collation of Information is Easy

SO…WHAT

IS THE

REMEDY?

It is Time To Change the Status Quo

Key Process

CategoriesCustomer Focus People Capabilities

Themes Increasing Customer

Value

Improving Performance

and Synergy

Building Competencies

and Teams

Enhancing Systems

and Processes

Levels Key Process Areas (KPAs)

Optimizing Innovation and Transformation

Managed

Defined

Repeatable

Initial

Relationship

Management

Solution

Development

Response Generation

Enterprise Influence

Quantitative Process

Management

Organizational Tactics

Quality Management

Business Development

Administration

Quality Control

High-Performance

Teams

Organizational

Competencies

Development

Individual Skills

Development


System Integration

Infrastructure

Management


Processes

Support Systems

Sales/Capture

Procedures

Work Environment

Ad hoc

Business Development Capability Maturity Model (BD-CMM)

Capability Maturity Model and CMM are registered trademarks of the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute

5

4

3

2

1

BD-CMM is The Answer

BD-CMM- Key Process Areas

Levels Key Process Areas (KPAs)

Optimizing Innovation and Transformation

Managed

Defined

Repeatable

Initial

Relationship Management

Solution Development

Response Generation

Enterprise Influence

Quantitative Process

Management

Organizational Tactics

Quality Management


Administration

Quality Control

High-Performance Teams

Organizational

Competencies

Development

Individual Skills

Development


System Integration

Infrastructure Management


Processes

Support Systems

Sales/Capture Procedures

Work Environment

Ad hoc

5

4

3

2

1

Continuous business development process improvement is enabled by quantitative feedback from the process and from piloting innovative ideas and technology.

Process is characterised as ad hoc and occasionally even chaotic. Few processes are defined. Success depends on individual effort and heroics.

Business Development Capability Maturity Model (BD-CMM)

Capability Maturity Model and CMM are registered trademarks of the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute

Detailed measures of the business development process and results are collected. Both the process and products are quantitatively understood and controlled.

Process for business development activities is documented, standardised, and integrated into the organisation. All activities follow an approved, tailored version of standard processes.

Basic business development management processes are established to track cost, schedule and progress. The necessary process discipline is in place to repeat earlier successes.

Themes Increasing Customer

Value

Improving Performance

and Synergy

Building Competencies

and Teams

Enhancing Systems

and Processes

Key Process

CategoriesCustomer Focus People Capabilities

CURRENT STATEOF

PROPOSAL MANAGEMENT

IN EVERYORGANIZATION

Generate Qualify Propose Shortlist Close

Lead, Suspect Prospect Customer

Bid Manager

BDM/Sales

Stages

Life-Cycle

Responsibilities

Opportunity Management Process

The Blue Sheet: Win Themes & Buyer’s Influence

Template Available upon request

Battle Royale For Qualification


Opportunity Background

Customer

Opportunity

Background

(Describe why the customer has undertaken this project and how we

received the opportunity. E.g. Customer wants to add another vendor

and has floated an RFP to which we have been invited; RFP received

from website and no details on the background, etc.)

Objective

Scope (Describe in a few points what the customer is looking for. E.g. L1

support for xx apps; App maintenance for xx apps; XX resources for yy

years; Set up and run customers’ data center , etc)

Opportunity Size (Sales / Account Manager’s estimates based on indication from client /

incumbent’s price / other sources)

At a later stage, update with actual estimates

Incumbent /

Competition

Bid Team

Solution Owner

Review Team

Submission Date

Leadership Review

Win Strategy (List what in the view of Sales/Account Management the proposal

should address to meet customers’ expectations in order of importance;

E.g. Speed to market, Risk free transition, past experience, price, etc)

Discussions till date: (How many conversations have been had with the customer and what

messages have been communicated prior to receiving this RFI / RFP?)

Staying on Course: Bid Plan and Tracker


Bid Response Template


Presenting the Proposition


Capturing Why Have We Won or Lost ?


WORKING OUT…HOWTO

WIN?

Understand the Customer Issues

Understand the Customer Motivators

Solutions Through Storyboarding

Ingredients For Getting The Right Solution

Ensure Solution Is Being Built As Per Plan

State How Your Solution is Meeting the Needs

Strong Value Proposition

DeliverTangibleResults

Increased Revenues

Faster Time To Market

Decreased Costs

Improved Operational

Efficiency

Increased Market Share

Improved Customer Retention

Levels

Quantify Your Value Proposition

PROPOSALREVIEWPROCESS

FINAL

DOCUMENT

VERIFY

COMPLIANCE

COMPETITOR

STRATEGY

WIN STRATEGY

BUSINESS CASE

LESSONS LEARNT

BLUE TEAM REVIEW

To review capture plan and validate

your win strategy

BLACK TEAM REVIEW

To review competitors

likely strategies and update

your win strategy

FINAL

DOCUMENT

VERIFY

COMPLIANCE

COMPETITOR

STRATEGY

WIN STRATEGY

BUSINESS CASE

LESSONS LEARNT

PINKTEAM REVIEW

To validate the deployment of your strategy

and verify compliance

FINAL

DOCUMENT

VERIFY

COMPLIANCE

COMPETITOR

STRATEGY

WIN STRATEGY

BUSINESS CASE

LESSONS LEARNT

RED TEAM REVIEW

To evaluate for customer focus, completeness

and communication of your solution

FINAL

DOCUMENT

VERIFY

COMPLIANCE

COMPETITOR

STRATEGY

BUSINESS CASE

LESSONS LEARNT

WIN STRATEGY

GOLD TEAM REVIEW

To confirm your acceptable

profits and risks FINAL

DOCUMENT

VERIFY

COMPLIANCE

COMPETITOR

STRATEGY

BUSINESS CASE

LESSONS LEARNT

WIN STRATEGY

WHITE TEAM REVIEW

To determine how your

processes and strategies can be improved

FINAL

DOCUMENT

VERIFY

COMPLIANCE

COMPETITOR

STRATEGY

BUSINESS CASE

LESSONS LEARNT

WIN STRATEGY

Finally…A Word of Caution

Avoid Credibility Killers

Customers Should Not Dig For Information

Don’t Make It Rocket Science For The Reader

ATTRIBUTESOF A

GOODPROPOSAL

1. Compliance: Following Instructions

Have followed our instructions, answered our questions and delivered a compliant proposal that is easy to evaluate

Compliance

Strict adherence to submittal instructions and requirements

Create and submit a compliance matrix

Ideal response is 100% compliant and any non-compliances are clearly

mitigated

Ref Requirement Compliant Y/N

Proposal Ref

Comment / Note

1 The system shall have a diagnostic capability

Yes 5.1.1 The system is the only one to be

offered in the UK with this capability

2 The system shall be capable of powering up in less than 12 sec

Yes 5.1.2 The system powers in less than 8 sec if

required

3 The system shall be protected from electrical surges

No 5.1.3 Whilst not self protecting, an

auxiliary search protector can be

attached, if required

Compliance Matrix : A Sample

Compliance: Rating Factors

Compliance with organizational and

format instructions is obvious and

deliberate

Major section titles and subheadings

are consistent with the names and

numbering in the proposal request

The proposal has a compliance matrix

that is easy to find and is mapped to

the proposal request )even when the

customer did not ask for one)

The proposal is >90% compliant with

requirements, and any non-

compliances are clearly identified and

mitigated

2. Responsiveness: Business Drivers

They understand our business issues and what we are trying to achieve-they are likely to interpret our requirements correctly

Responsiveness

Proposal demonstrates understanding of the customer

vision, operational scenarios and issues

Summaries link solutions to hot buttons and features are tied to

benefits

Each section reflects customer language and tone in the proposal

Responsiveness: Rating Factors

The executive and section summaries

offer a self-contained and discriminated

solution linked to the customer’s hot

buttons and requirements

Major sections open with clear

statements( in an informative title, theme

statement or summary) that the offering

satisfies the customer’s hot buttons and

requirements

Major sections tie product/service

features to customer benefits addressing

hot buttons and requirements

The language in each section reflects the

customer’s language and tone; the

customer is mentioned first and more

often than the supplier

3. Strategic Focus: Why should I choose You?

It is clear why I should select this proposal

Strategic Focus

Reasons for selecting the proposal are clear and obvious

‘Why you’ should jump out of the page; strengths are emphasized,

weaknesses are mitigated

Proposal should do the work for the customer’s evaluators

Strategic Focus: Rating Factors

The proposal emphasizes the strengths

and mitigates the weaknesses of the

proposed solution

Theme statements are specific, factual,

believable, and quantified where possible

Theme statements, action captions, call

outs and informative headings exist, and

are consistent in content, language,

structure and placement

Value added is emphasized, quantified

and substantiated

The proposal builds upon clear and

coherent benefits; any boilerplate is

tailored specifically to the customer

Risk assessments and corresponding risk

management approaches are discussed

4. Competitive Focus: Why Not Someone Else ?

I don’t know why, but I have got some real concerns about those other proposals

CompetitiveFocus

It is obvious why your proposal is better than that of the competitors

The proposal should downplay competitor strengths and exploit

competitor weaknesses

Proposal should ghost the competition

Competitive Focus: Rating Factors

Competitive discriminators are

prominent in themes, captions,

headings, callouts, lists and

summaries

Competitors are ghosted in trade

studies or other discussions that

substantiate the proposed offering

Competitors’ approaches are

discussed; competitors are not named

5. Structured & Succinct Writing: Not Every Word

This is a well structured quality proposal, suggests that these people know what they are doing

Structured andSuccinctWriting

Proposal is written “Top Down”

The proposal should be grammatically correct, and have been

spell-checked

Proposal should use the minimum number of words

Structured & Succinct Writing: Rating Factors

Sections use the “Top-Down, 4-box

writing approach”

Summaries are used at all levels

Section sub-headings and content

reflect section summaries

Paragraphs, sentences and words are

kept short where possible

Jargon an acronyms are appropriate

and not overused; a glossary is

included to explain acronyms

Word use and grammar are accurate

and correct

6. Visualization: Help me Understand Offering

These visuals actually help me to understand the proposal

Visualization

Proposal should make effective use of visuals: pictures, graphics, action captions and informative headings

Clearly communicates the Win strategy and selling points

Understandable in <10 seconds

Visualization: Rating Factors

Graphics are professionally and

consistently formatted

All graphics are appropriate,

contributing significant content

All graphics have action captions

linking benefits to the features shown

All graphics have figure numbers and

informative headings/titles

All graphics and tables are referenced

in prior text

7. Document Design: Easy To Navigate & Evaluate

The proposal is easy to read. All the work was done for me

DocumentDesign

Key information stands out

Page easy to read and comprehend. Balanced use of text and graphics

Consistent and appealing presentation

Use Color Wheel; It impacts Documents

Document Design: Rating Factors

Key information stands out

Pages are easy to read and

comprehend

Text and graphics are balanced and

appropriate for the evaluators

Document, pagination and graphic

standards are applied consistently

Package is appealing, the evaluator

would want to look at it

WRITING EXECUTIVESUMMARIES

Writing A Compelling ‘Executive Summary’

How to Develop an Executive Summary ?

Don’t assume prior knowledge Maintain customer focus

Mock up bySales before

Kick-off

Review with Customer if possible

Complete andRefine by sales/

management

Use for briefingInternal and

external

NOTo Just an introductiono A brochureo Longer than 1000 words

Write for decision makers

Make brief but comprehensive

Make more visual than proposal

The proposal expands upon the Executive Summary

Fundamentals

of

pursuasive writing

Organize Content to Sell

• Articulate customer vision, mission and issues – use Customer words

• Summarize what you believe that your Customer could achieve and which unique capability offered by your organization could enable the Customer to achieve this goal

• Introduce the Key concerns and issues of the Customer and provide a brief description with benefits of the proposed solution to each of concerns/issues

• Provide references to similar solutions already implemented by your organization

• Suggest Next Steps

Executive Summary: Guidelines

UNDERSTANDINGBUSINESSMODELS

Where is the Money ?

Pricing Model Unit of Measure Customer Benefits Provider Benefits

Time & Material • FTE • Resourcing flexibility• Control•No long term commitments

• Revenue certainty for resource deployed

Fixed Price • Project Size • Pricing certainty• Predictable quality / SLAs

• Revenue certainty• Ability to manage margins

through internal efficiencies

Transaction Price • Transaction • Resource flexibility and pricing certainty• Scalability with no

increased capital investments

• Ability to leverage home-grown solution across clients and thereby manage margins

Outcome Based • Business outcome • Alignment between IT spend and business outcome

• Greater pricing power;better margins upon success• Demonstration of true

value; increased stickiness

Benefits: Various Pricing Models

Staffing & Fulfillment

Project Management, Delivery Capability

Program Governance, Process Maturity

Business knowledge, Agility, Domain

Expertise, Solid Risk Management CapabilityBusiness Outcome

Linked

Output Based

Fixed Price

T&M

Risks: Pricing Models

Writing Winning Proposals is a Process..

For more details: [email protected]