captureperson to the rescue · your superpower for success! capture management 5 if sun tsu was a...

SPAC 2012 Sponsored by Georgia, Florida, and Carolinas APMP Chapters

Your SUPERPOWER for Success!

CaptureManagement

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Captureperson to the Rescue- Before the Proposal!

Southern Proposal Accents Conference

David Murphy, PPM.APMPSr. Proposal Manager, DynCorp International

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Capture Management: YourSUPERPOWER for Success!



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• Capture Management – SUPERPOWER!

• SUPERPOWER - Intelligence

• SUPERPOWER - Communication

• SUPERPOWER – Capture Plan

• Summary

Introduction – Capture is a SUPERPOWERSUPERPOWER



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• Show of Hands

• Capture Managers?

• Proposal Managers?

• Cost/Price People?

• Technical/SMEs?

• Why do I ask?

Pop Quiz



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Capture Management - SUPERPOWERSUPERPOWER!

“Capture Planning is the process of identifying opportunities, assessing theenvironment, and implementing winning strategies to capture a specificbusiness opportunity by influencing the customer to prefer yourorganization and solution.”

• Preface to the Shipley Capture Guide, Third Edition,

© Shipley Associates 2011 .

“Capture management is everything a company does to raise its winprobability between the time it decides to pursue an expectedgovernment contract and the time the RFP is released.”

• Bob Lohfeld, Lohfeld Consulting Group, Inc.



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If Sun Tsu was a Capture Manager…• If you know the Customer, the Competition

and yourself, you need not fear the result ofCompetition (Proposals)

• If you know yourself but not the Customer orthe Competition, for every Win you will alsosuffer a Loss

• If you know neither the Customer, theCompetition nor yourself, you will have aWin Rate approaching Zero.

The Art of Capture Management?

Sun TsuAncient Superhero

ST



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APMP describes the "Capture ManagementLifecycle" as a process in three stages:

1. Pre-bid phase

2. Bid phase

3. Post-bid phase

4. Is There AnotherPhase?

Capture Management Lifecycle

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_development

Pre –Bid

Bid

PostBid

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Lifecycle



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The Recompete Capture

• Begin after the win

• Use Captureperson?

• Use Project Manager?

• What is Best Practice?

YES! The Execution Phase

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Lifecycle



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• Customer perceptions and expectations

• Competitors

• Incumbent vs. challenger

• Strengths and weaknesses

• Pricing strategies

Key - Competitive Environment



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• It’s up to Capture to sell the Bid/No Bid

• Understand when an opportunity is strategic

• Not every proposal is a “must win”

• Know when to team and/or subcontract

Capture Helps Management

“Know when to hold ‘em,Know when to fold ‘em.

Know when to walk away,Know when to run!”

- Kenny Rogers, The Gambler



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1. Understand the REAL needs of the Customer

-- Requirements, Needs, Desires, and Wants

2. Pre-sell your solution through discussions withthe Customer

3. Ascertain Customer perceptions of You and theCompetition

4. Write Win Themes that resonate with theSource Selection Authority and Evaluators

5. Have discriminators that say “Pick Me!”

SUPERPOWERSUPERPOWER - Intelligence



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• Customers vary

• They have their own

• Peculiarities

• Perceptions

• Capture must define the audience

• Selection authority or decision maker

• Contract office

• User

Customer Audience



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• Your Competition is everywhere

• Their Capture people are trying tounderstand or determine your bid

• Good INTEL is most important

• Mis-Information is both your allyand enemy

BE CAREFUL!

Competitor Audience



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• The Proposal Team mustconvey the message &themes throughout theproposal

• A coherent theme shouldflow in every volume/section:Technical, Management, and Cost

Proposal Team Audience



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• Proposals are all Talking

• Capture is some Talking - mostly Listening

• Capture’s job is to know the audience

• Customers

• Competition

• Proposal Team (Teammates and Subs)

SUPERPOWERSUPERPOWER - Communication

She wanted you to be a Captureperson!



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• Many faces of the Customer

• Requirements vs. Wants vs. Needs

• Hot Buttons / Issues

• Budget and Schedule

• Decision maker /Selection board

• Perception of the competition

• Perception of you and your solution

Understanding the Customer



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• Position in the eyes of the Customer

• Incumbent or challenger

• “Favorite son” or not

• Potential solutions

• Strength and weaknesses

• Probable pricing strategies

Understanding the Competition

Can we beat them?



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• Do we have a solution the Customer wants?

• Does the Customer know our management?

• Any delivery / performance issues?

• What’s our risk?

• Do we need to invest?

• Can we be competitive – really win?

• Have we priced so low we can’t deliver?

Questions to Understand Your Position

Be objective - No “bathwater”



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• Opportunity Description

• Customer information

• Competitive analysis

• Capture schedule

• Contact/Call plan

• Win strategies

• Win themes

• Capture team members

SUPERPOWERSUPERPOWER – Capture Plan



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• Solution outline

• Risks

• Budget

• Capture activities

• Intel gathering

• Blue Team and Black Hat reviews

• Initial Position-to-Win or Price-to-Win

• Pricing strategy

SUPERPOWERSUPERPOWER – Capture Plan (cont.)



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Capture Plan Feeds Proposal Plan

Capture Strategy Proposal Strategy

Budget / Schedule Proposal Budget / Schedule

Capture Team Members Proposal Team Members

Capture Win Themes Proposal Win Themes

Solution Concept Tech, Management, & Cost Solution

Issues / Hot Buttons Features/Benefits/Discriminators

Competitor Weakness Ghosting

Capture Plan Contents Proposal Plan Contents

A Capture Plan is NOT wasted effort!



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• Oral Presentations

• Questions/Evaluation Notices (EN)

• Update the Capture Plan

• Create a Capture Knowledgebase

• Build/update the Knowledgebase with each opportunity

• Learn from both wins and losses

• Get that debrief – win or lose!

• Capture ends with award (or does it?)

It’s Not Over Until It’s Over



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• Blindly respond to some type of notice or request

• Either written or verbal

• Little or no Customer interaction

• Little or no knowledge of the Competition

Bottom-Line – You may write a proposalmeeting the Customer’s requirements butdoes it REALLY meet their needs?

No Capture – No SUPERPOWERSUPERPOWER



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• Involve Capture Management from beginningto end

• Have a Capture Plan and follow it

• Use the Capture Plan to guide the Proposal toVictory

• Winning isn’t everything ---but it sure beats losing!

Summary -- Capture is a SUPERPOWERSUPERPOWER



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David D. Murphy, PPM.APMP- Senior Proposal Manager

3190 Fairview Park DriveFalls Church, VA [email protected]: 571-722-0226Cell: 703-776-0765

Enjoy Your SUPERPOWERSUPERPOWER

Questions?

captureperson to the rescue · your superpower for success! capture management 5 if sun tsu was a...

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