Century Planning Associates

Friday, October 7th, 2011 – 10:30 amGreater Washington Procurement Conference

Mid Atlantic Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Washington, DC 20002

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HOW TO PREPARE WINNING COMPETITIVEPROPOSALS, EVERYTIME

WHY AREN’T MY COMPANY PROPOSALS WINNING MORE CONTRACTS?

Excellent Team The Customer

Knows Us RFP Compliant

Response Responsible

Vendor(s) Strong Solution

Features Excellent Past

Performance

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This opportunity was ours to win; what happened?

A WINNING Proposal - Necessary but Insufficient Conditions:

? ??

?????

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?

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MAJOR RFP WRITING DRIVERS

Section C – The Work Requirements – Basis for Solution(s)

Section L – Format and Structure for Proposal Response Document (Volumes)

Section M – Basis for Award

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The drivers for writing are contained in the SOW, Section L and Section M

CRAFTING PROPOSALS THAT WIN

Excellent Team – Why? The Customer Knows Us –

And do we know them? RFP Compliant Response –

Minimal to Level the Playing Field

Responsible Vendor(s) – As demonstrated by?

Strong “Solution” Features – What’s in it for the Customer?

Excellent Past Performance – Relevance

…

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A proposal is a technical document that SELLS, and sells Best Value throughout.

A WINNING Proposal – Meets all the Necessary Conditions and SELLS

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THE BUSINESS OF HORSES AND RACING

How are many horse races decided?

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THE BUSINESS OF HORSES, RACING AND WINNING

Winning by a nose!

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WINNING HORSES VERSUS WINNING PROPOSALS

Horse – One nose; on the face and that’s the one that will cause a WIN in a tight race

Winning Proposal – Many noses, many places, and you never know which one will cause you to WIN

Winning Proposal Strategy – Put in your proposal as many noses as you can

And where do you start with your first nose?

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WHO IS THIS PERSON?CPA-011

?

Reviewers are human: impatient; overloaded; want to make good but quick decisions and are short of time.

A PROPOSAL NOSE (# 1) – THE COVER, YOUR INITIAL IMPRESSION

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A PROPOSAL NOSE (#3) - ACRONYM LIST

Make the acronym definitions clear and easy to find and you’ll also make a friend of your proposal reviewer!

A PROPOSAL NOSE (#4) - PROFESSIONAL COVERED CD

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Sometimes asked for, never ignored.

A PROPOSAL NOSE (# 5) – THE LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL 1-2 pages (short) Initial greeting (hello) Conveys some

highlights of proposal and interest

Whom to contact for questions

Amendment acknowledgement

Period offer is valid Signed by top level

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Say “hello” in a meaningful way that conveys valuable sell information. 11

A PROPOSAL NOSE (# 6) – THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

2-5 pages Main theme Benefits of proposal Major sell themes Always include Follow flow of proposal High impact for

lasting impression Replacement for

introduction When written?

12Grabs the initial reader and convinces the final reader.

A PROPOSAL NOSE (# 7) – “FIRST PAGE” LEAD-IN

Section executive summary

Major theme Graphic and caption Highlights of section Can be multiple pages

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The second trick to writing a skimable proposal is to tell the reader all the selling points at the start versus the end.

A PROPOSAL NOSE (# 8) – DISCRIMINATORS

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What sets you apart such that no one else can say the same of themselves?

A PROPOSAL NOSE (# 9) – MAIN AND MAJOR THEMES

One sentence Boastful Feature-benefit

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Length

Sing le Sentence

Specific ity

Q uantified Data

Benefit (Tied to C lient’sHopes, N eeds, Fears,B iases, Wants . . .)

Feature (Rela ted toCom pany)

Un ique to You

Boastfu l — M akes C la im ,Has Impact and EnticesReader to R ead O n

Can Be Substantiated(In P roposa l by Facts)

Re levant to ProposalEvaluation Crite ria

Them e Checklist

Themes set the tone and expectation for writing that follows.

A PROPOSAL NOSE (# 10) – FEATURES AND BENEFITS

Sprinkled throughout proposal

Feature – what you bring to the government

Benefit – value derived by the government

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Figure ES- 3 The Problem: Return to Duty Time

Deployed in forward f ield hospital and at home at end of rehabilitation cycle

Does not require medical professional to administer; nursing assistant can administer

1,000,000 treatments administered with few adverse events

Long shelf life—ease of logistics, does not need ref rigeration

Proof f rom randomized control trials (award of this contract) will save $$ for DoD—earlier release f rom hospital, rapid return to duty

BTI-008

Portable

Easy to use/non-invasive

Safe

No special storage considerations

Strong in-vitro science, credible real-life clinical data suggest clinical research

Features Benefits

Provant brings significant cost effective benefits to wound medical treatment, and patient pain management and healing.

The features of a proposed solution are without meaning to the recipient unless the benefits are cleared stated.

A PROPOSAL NOSE (# 11) – GRAPHICS AND CAPTIONS

Right brain – left brain integration

Text referenced Text enhancement Simple Caption message

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Figure 2-2 The Provant Therapy System

1. System2. Disposable

Cover

3. TreatmentPad

Three easy to use and understand components comprise the Provant Therapy System.

A relevant picture, enhanced by a relevant caption, enables the busy reviewer to skim your proposal.

A PROPOSAL NOSE (# 12) – A COMPLIANCE MATRIX

All RFP requirements Sections and title Response location in proposal Included with submission Typically follows table of

contents Could be many pages – not

usually part of the page count

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Before all else, be compliant!

A PROPOSAL NOSE (# 13) – MAKING IT EASIER ON THE REVIEWER

Easy to find Readable Right Brain

Stimulation Left Brain Integration Whole Brain

Communication Skimable

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Write to sell by writing to effectively communicate quickly and persuasively.

PROPOSAL NOSE (#14) CREATE REVIEWER EXCITEMENT

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Get reader attention/stimulated

Be innovative “We’ve done it before”;

with examples It will reduce/increase ….

(metrics) Show how

solution/approach reflects industry leadership/commercial best practices

Focus on customers benefits (what’s in it for the customer)

Be bold and back it up with facts.

A PROPOSAL NOSE (# 15) – LESS IS ALMOST ALWAYS BETTER

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Instead of… Use…In the event that If

The manner in which How

Due to the fact that Because

In regard to About

In the near future Soon

Subsequent to After

Are in a position to Can/Will

Whether or not Whether

It is possible that May

It is highly likely that Probably

At that point in time Then

At the present time Now

Currently in progress Going on

Never before in the past Never

The majority of Most

A well written proposal uses less words, more action verbs, short paragraphs and is replete with “show” versus “tell”.

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Century Planning Associates, Inc.

www.centuryplanning.com703-639-0623