understanding the solicitation and proposal development · provides solutions for issuers, helping...

Understanding the Solicitation

and

Proposal Development 8-5

Mark Little MAOL, CPPO

Dale Colbert BA, CPPB, CPPO

Darrell Sundell MBA, CPCM, CFCM

Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC)

Sponsored by the


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Table of contents

• Solicitation Types

• Initial Solicitation Review

• The Request for Proposal (RFP)

• The Proposal

• Initial RFP Review and Pre-proposal Activities

• Bid – No Bid Decision

• Key Concepts

• Tools for Planning and Development Before Drafting Text

• Proposal Development Activities

• Proposal Mistakes

• Final Proposal Reviews

• Post Award Activities

• Public Entities’ Expectations of Vendors and


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The following are some types of competitive solicitations. They are documented informal and formal processes providing equal and open opportunity to bidders. They result in selections based on criteria published with the solicitation.

RFQ – Request for Quote A request for quotation (RFQ) is a standard, informal business process whose purpose is to invite suppliers to bid on delivering requested products or services. It seeks pricing for something that is well-defined and quantifiable, such as a piece of hardware or a list of items that are generally low dollar amounts. They are not typically sealed.

RFQ – Request for Qualifications A request for qualifications is used to obtain statements of qualifications of consultants such as architects, engineers, landscape architects, construction managers, and professional land surveyors. It is typically used in conjunction with the Qualifications Based Selection process as part of the Brooks Act (Public Law 92-582; see also 40 USC §1101 et. set).

RFQQ – Request for Qualifications and Quote A request for qualifications and quote is used to obtain qualifications and pricing for a particular equipment or service. It is used for technology equipment and consultant services, not associated with the Qualifications Based Selection process or Public Works projects.

IFB or ITB – Invitation for Bid or Invitation to Bid The invitation for bid or invitation to bid is similar to the request for quotation process in that the need is well defined and is awarded to a responsible bidder who submitted the responsive bid with the lowest price. The ITB or IFB is a formal process and are sealed and may be subject to a public opening.


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RFP – Request for Proposal An RFP is customarily used when the requesting organization's requirements are more complex.

RFPs are utilized to solicit written proposals from potential suppliers where cost, non-cost factors, conditions, as well as levels of responsiveness/responsibility are evaluated to achieve best value. Like the ITB and IFB they are part of a formal, sealed solicitation process.

Initial Solicitation Review Will you be able to submit a responsive bid?

Read the solicitation and as–are you certain you will be able to deliver a

responsive bid?

The Washington Purchasing Manual had a good definition for

responsiveness. It defined a Responsive Bid as a bid that conforms in all

material respects to the terms and conditions, the specifications, and other

requirements of a solicitation.

Common mistakes that may result in a nonresponsive determination include:

Bidder fails to provide or submit all information as required;

Bidder does not possess the required credentials, qualifications;

certifications, personnel, equipment, or resources to be eligible for

consideration;

Bidder fails to meet the minimum specification requirements;

Bidder fails to accept the terms, conditions, or requirements of the

solicitation;

Bidder will not accept an award unless the solicitation terms and

conditions are modified or altered;

Bidder indicates that it will only accept an award for all line items

when the solicitation allows award by line item or aggregate grouping

of line items;

An authorized signature page is not signed and there is no satisfactory

evidence submitted prior to due date and time which clearly indicates

the Bidder’s desire to be bound by his/her bid such as a signed cover

letter; and


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The item bid does not meet the stated specifications and the Bidder has

not indicated the item bid is an alternate.

Will you be viewed as a responsible bidder?

Read the solicitation again. Determine if you can comply with all

solicitation requirements, if you can provide a cost effective solution, and if

you have the experience.

Moreover you need to determine if you have the requisite past performance

history and the ability to deliver the results.

Will the public entity look at all of this and determine that you are a

responsible bidder?

Keep in mind that responding to any solicitation involves reading the solicitation

multiple times, understanding the specifications, the requirements. This involves

knowing the “what” is being asked for, the “when” and “where” it is to be

delivered, along with the terms and conditions of the sale and the details of how

to respond to the bid opportunity.

You need to follow the directions and provide the potential customer with the

information they need to make their decision. As Mark Little from the Port of

Tacoma says “ You need to answer the mail.”

In determining whether the bidder is a responsible bidder, the agency must

consider the following elements:

(a) The ability, capacity, and skill of the bidder to perform the contract or

provide the service required;

(b) The character, integrity, reputation, judgment, experience, and efficiency of

the bidder;

(c) Whether the bidder can perform the contract within the time specified;


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(d) The quality of performance of previous contracts or services;

(e) The previous and existing compliance by the bidder with laws relating to the contract or services; and (f) Such other information as may be secured having a bearing on the decision

to award the contract. This could include such issues as bidder’s current work load, work experience, financial capacity, as well as previous violations of law and safety regulations. When federal money is involved, Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) applies. FAR Part 9 Subpart 9.102 requires in order to be determined responsible, a prospective contractor must:

(a) Have adequate financial resources to perform the contract, or the ability to

obtain them;

(b) Be able to comply with the required or proposed delivery or performance

schedule, taking into consideration all existing commercial and

governmental business commitments;

(c) Have a satisfactory performance record. A prospective contractor shall not

be determined responsible or non-responsible solely on the basis of a lack of

relevant performance history;

(d) Have a satisfactory record of integrity and business ethics;


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(e) Have the necessary organization, experience, accounting and operational controls, and technical skills, or the ability to obtain them (including, as appropriate, such elements as production control procedures, property control systems, quality assurance measures, and safety programs applicable to materials to be produced or services to be performed by the prospective contractor and subcontractors); (f) Have the necessary production, construction, and technical equipment and facilities, or the ability to obtain them; and (g) Be otherwise qualified and eligible to receive an award under applicable laws and regulations.

The Request for Proposal (RFP) What is an RFP? It: * Describes the requirements; * Prescribes the proposal format; * Prescribes instructions to offerors; * Describes the evaluation criteria; * Outlines terms and conditions; and * Is often incorporated into final contract An RFP is a formal invitation from an organization (public or private) to the vendor community to submit an offer to provide a solution to a problem or need. It is a procurement process that allows for an organization to consider factors other than price to select a vendor. This is the concept of best value where the evaluation factors in the RFP will detail the considerations and scoring of the vendor responses considering price and non-price factors. Factors other than price may include the vendors past performance, references, management approach, technical approach, quality assurance plan, risk mitigation plan, delivery schedule, etc.


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Why do public entities use RFPs?

The RFP process is used when:

The purchase is not just a product or commodity but is more of a solution to a problem; When the solutions may vary and be difficult to evaluate;

When price is not the only consideration; When the selection of the vendor will be complex;

The RFP process standardizes the procurement process, promoting fair and open competition;

It provides a framework for vendor proposals; and

It states the entity’s needs and requirements

The process provides a legally sound basis for award. It has historically been proven effective, allowing issuers to evaluate cost and other factors. Moreover, it provides solutions for issuers, helping them to understand how proposer intends to do the work.

The Proposal

A proposal is a vendor’s formal response to an RFP. It needs to be a clear, thought out response communicating what the vendor’s solution to the request is, how it will be implemented, and how it meets the requirements of the RFP.. Given the initial set of conditions listed in the RFP, the proposal needs to explain what the vendor will provide, how and when they are going to provide it.

Again, ask; “Have I read, understood and answered the mail clearly?” Don’t use ambiguous, vague or round words; words the really don’t mean anything.


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The proposal has to show that you understand what’s needed and can mitigate the risks involved in providing the solutions.

You need to show the customer that you are an expert.

In summary, the response should describe the proposed solution, identify the pricing offered, and indicate acceptance of stated terms and conditions.

Further Review Continue your review of the RFP at a high level.

Ask the questions

Should we consider bidding on this opportunity?

Is it possible we could win?

What are the important dates and requirements?

Do these dates or requirements conflict with other obligations we already have?

Are we able to perform the requested Scope of Work?

Can we meet all key requirements and qualifications?

Do we have the resources to prepare a quality response within the time requirements?

Are we able to attend any pre-bid conferences offered?

When is the deadline for asking questions?

Can we provide a solution to the agencies problem?

Is our pricing likely to be competitive?

Have we successfully provided this solution or a close variation to other customers and will they speak highly of you?


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What are the risks in providing the solution and what can go wrong?

Do we have a solid risk mitigation strategy?

Can we submit a bid that is responsive to the request?

Will we be perceived as a responsible bidder?

Pre-Proposal Activities

After the initial review, if you have decided to invest more time in evaluating whether you will submit a response to the RFP or not, you need to gather additional information to complete your evaluation of the opportunity.

The pre-proposal activities below will provide information for consideration in your bid /no bid decision. They include:

Understanding your business capabilities Your real core competencies vs exaggerated perceived competencies

Your future planned competencies

Understand your business strengths and weaknesses

Know your primary and secondary target markets

Know your competition

o What are their strengths and weaknesses?

o Is there an incumbent contractor?

o Understand the entity’s mission and objectives

o Investigate the public entity’s past procurement history and

activities

o Be able to differentiate yourself from your competition

Investigate the public entity’s past procurement history and activities

o FOIA Request

o Public Records Request

o See links in the appendix


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Review the RFP and Contract Documents:

Read completely and thoroughly more than once looking at finer

details;

Put together a team to develop the proposal;

Define and assign the roles of each; and

Make working copies for team members.

Bring the team together and be sure everyone:

Understands the Scope of Work and what the public entity wants;

Understands the consequences of the terms and conditions;

Understands the format, process and schedule; and

Understands the Evaluation factors.

With your team, identify:

Questions you can’t answer– ask the RFP POC;

Public Entity’s concerns;

Areas of risk for you and how you would mitigate them;

Develop metrics that will let you know you are on target and being

successful.

If at this point, bidding is not a reasonable next step, abandon the project and move on to the next possible option.

If bidding still seems attractive the next steps proceed with identifying the detail you will need to prepare your bid.

One of the areas of detail needed is to develop an understanding your own cost structure

Which of your costs are direct and which are indirect?

How will they be increased by the project?

How much profit do you need?

How will you avoid negatively impacting your ongoing business?


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Understanding your cost factors

Direct Costs:

Material;

Direct Labor

Direct Subcontractors; and

Travel and expenses directly charged to the project.

Indirect Costs:

Indirect Labor: salary/wages and associated overhead; and

Recruitment, training, conferences, meetings, supplies and services,

equipment, maintenance, utilities, rent and office expenses,

depreciation, equipment rental and all other costs not directly tied to the

project

Another area of detail to consider in preparation is capability: How difficult will the project be?

Will specialty subcontractors be needed?

How much risk will the project present?

How should the risk be addressed in the bid?

o Highest risk - firm fixed price; and

o Lowest risk – labor hours , time and materials or

liquidated damages

Also consider “uncertainty”: Degree of uncertainty completing the project

successfully on time and within budget; Supplier or technological uncertainty; and

Economic uncertainty

These steps will help you determine how much to build in to your bid price to

cover difficulty uncertainty and risk.


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The final pre-proposal step is attending the pre-proposal conference. If you are seriously considering a bid, you should try to attend the pre-bid/ pre-proposal meeting. It:

Allows the vendor community to gain a better understanding of the

public entity’s requirements and clear up any uncertainties or gaps in

the SOW or other contractual requirements;

Provides information to help the vendor to determine if they should

propose and how best to satisfy the requirement given the public

entity’s wants and needs and the vendor’s strength relative to other

competitors;

Allows the vendor the opportunity to identify and resolve concerns

regarding the acquisition approach including the proposed contract

type, the feasibility of the requirement, and other industry concerns and

questions relevant to the acquisition; and

Allows the vendor community to provide feedback to the public entity

which might clarify or improve the published request.

With the information you have gathered; begin to create your own winning strategy around the following questions:

Why us? – You need to create well developed positive differentiators and discriminators in the proposal which help to answer the – “why us” question. Why not them? – Use Ghosting. This is highlighting the negatives about the competition without mentioning them by name. Sell yourself and un-sell the competition. Don’t exaggerate, distort or tell partial

truths. That strategy will fail.

Remember; Customers don’t buy what it is; they buy what it does.


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Customers buy benefits, not features. It is important to establish and provide proof that the benefits are real for the customer….to provide proof and substantiation for all of your major claims. Tell the evaluators how the benefit will be accomplished and provide examples of past successes.

It’s an opportunity to create significant differentiation from your competition. Provide a convincing, detailed answer to the RFP question. Your document should be benefit and proof rich. Possible proofs include:

Facts, figures, published information about your business and its

people, products, and services;

Customer testimonials and references;

Visuals – photos and hard data;

Technical specs, cost figures, quality/performance statistics data

created; proofs – charts, graphs, and

Facts, conclusions, or analyses from independent organizations

Proposals not only must describe and define; they must sell.

The bid exercise will show you the value of establishing and maintaining a proof

data base for your service and product lines.

Your win strategy should also include: the ‘Value Added’ component to your

proposed approach, which rises above and beyond the compliance issues; it

consists of the win themes and discriminators that drive your approach. It should

be infused throughout the proposal.


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How do you create your winning strategy?

Take stock of your intelligence gathering, RFP analysis, and pre-

proposal conference.

Define the public entity’s worries, issues, problems, challenges,

and concerns

Identify your strengths relative to these issues.

Identify weaknesses and if / how you can neutralize.

List public entity’s worries / concerns and mitigate with your approach.

Bid – No Bid Decision At this point you have enough information for your final bid / no bid decision.

Use the data collected from the pre-proposal activities to help you make your

decision….. “Should we be bidding on this contract?”

Many developing businesses lack the experience to know whether they have a

reasonable chance of winning the contract or not, much less whether the contract

would provide a benefit for them.

To determine if you have a chance to win, ask yourself the following questions:

“Do we understand the customer, and have you established enough

credibility that they would consider awarding the contract to us?”

Do we understand the problem and have a solution that would be

attractive to the public entity letting the contract?


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“Do we have a relevant past performance history and references who

will attest that you have done a good job on previous contracts of

similar size and scope?”

“Do we know who the competition is, and do you have a reasonable

belief you can submit a bid that is superior to theirs?”

“Do we know what price the public entity would consider as ‘fair and

reasonable” (or has budgeted) for the procurement?”

“Do we have the needed management experience and the know how to

manage the project?”

“Do we have the needed technical capabilities and approach to provide

and deliver the solution?”

“Do we know your costs and have a “price to win” strategy?”

Going through this process will encourage you to create your own “bid / no bid”

decision making tool.

Building Your Own Tool Areas to examine, and include in your own customized bid /no bid decision tool

are your:

Understanding the problem posed by the solicitation, the customer’s

needs, and having the ability to respond to each requirement, and

deliver a complete and desirable solution;

Knowledge of; and having an appropriate relationship, with the

customer;


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Knowledge of the competition, of the competitive landscape and the

market as a whole;

The quality of your available personnel;

Management experience and plan to manage the project;

Technical capabilities;

Cost and pricing strategy;

Current and relevant past performance history;

Does this project fit within your strategic plan and does the project

have potential strategic advantages;

Do your internal company dynamics, resource availability and facilities

fit the project;

Key Concepts

Features - Separate aspects of the seller’s product or service such as speed, schedule, process, price, training, certification, capacity, weight, size, color.

Advantages How, from the seller’s view, the product or service can help the customer.

Benefits – Advantages that can solve a problem for the customer. Advantages become benefits only if they are linked to the customer’s needs. Some examples of benefits include reduced cost or risk. Help the customer see value in your advantages.

Link your features to advantages and convert advantages into benefits.


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Differentiators – These are features of your offer that differ from the aspects of a

competitor’s offer. They are sometimes called unique selling points (USPs).

Discriminators – These are aspects of your offer that differ from the competitor’s offer and are important to the customer. They are things that are not possible for competitors… that are non-trivial, believable,

defendable, and unique.

Themes – Themes link customer benefits to discriminators. They tell evaluators why they should select you. They are tactics to assist in implementing your strategy. Themes and discriminators answer the question; “why us”.

Themes are substantiated sales messages; points of emphasis;

competitive advantages; unique or superior benefits; supported claims; woven throughout the proposal; address customers concerns; supportable with concrete evidence; ghosting the competition, responsive to the proposal

An RFP may call for several different volumes or parts to be submitted such as a Technical Volume, a Management Volume, a Personnel Volume or a Price Volume.

Technical Theme topics might include; demonstrations of providing reduced risk, of saving the customer money, or time, of providing increased system performance, best value, technical excellence, technology application, innovation, or a fresh look.

Management theme topics might stress; corporate commitment, organizational design, efficiencies, project visibility, or access to top management.


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Personnel theme topics might include; collective qualifications, proposed project manager and key people, individual commitment, retention rates, or attractive benefit programs.

Strategy – A Strategy is the position that you will take and the specific actions planned to achieve the desired position.

Graphics – Create your graphics first then write your text. Graphics have more persuasive impact than text. Graphics have more persuasive impact than text. Graphics can demonstrate your understanding, emphasize your strategy, highlight your discriminators, best support your message Make the graphics understandable, keep them simple, uncluttered

easy to read, with one key idea per graphic Integrate them into the text Include an interpretive ‘action caption’ below every graphic. If you use photographs; convey realism and authenticity. Visualize what your customer wants to see; then select images to support that vision and support your overall strategy. Winning proposals are compliant, easily evaluated, responsive, consistent, credible, readable, and visual.

Action captions These interpret the graphic and suggest the benefit to the

Customer. They catch the reader’s eye and the action caption delivers the persuasive message. Connect a customer benefit to the feature depicted in the graphic. If possible quantify the benefit.


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Key Tools for Preparing the Draft The Outline Establishes the Table of Contents, follows the RFP guidelines, and serves as a

proposal management tool. It helps the writers see how their tasks relate to the

whole proposal.

It uses informational headings under main sections, and allocates pages as

directed or by importance.

It may be annotated to help guide writers, and may be used as a responsibility matrix

The Storyboard The story board is a great tool for developing your proposal package. Using one board for each section helps the team create tight comprehensive components

One board is used for each major proposal section. A storyboard uses words and graphics to provide the framework for telling the proposal story and Includes:

Listing Proposal Information;

Section Outline;

Compliance Checklist;

Section Strategy;

Defines your solution;

Major Issues;

Approaches to Requirements and Issues; and

Solution Features and Benefits.


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Storyboard cont.. And continuing the board process to incorporate the elements covered so far:

Developing your message;

Discriminators;

Risk Management;

Relevant Experience;

Theme Statement;

Creating Key Visuals;

Tables and/or graphics;

Risk Management; and

Action Captions. ( From Shipley Proposal Guide)

Risk Identify and prepare a risk assessment plan for three kinds of risk:

Known and Controllable – Plan to deal with the causes;

Known and Uncontrollable – Plan to deal with the effects; and

Unknown—Anticipate the consequences.

There are things which can be done for managing unknown risks like setting project reserves or budget items on the basis of the measured consequences of unanticipated problems on similar past projects. For the known controllable risks you want to develop plans to prevent their occurrences. For known uncontrollable risks you should consider contingency and recovery plans or employing hedging or insurance strategies. Project risks include misunderstanding or change in the requirements, deliverables, schedule, price, ability to staff, and client reputation.


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Consider potential risks in cost, schedule, quality, execution, market, customer specific, contract type, liquidated damages, requirements, internal and external to your company. These risks can impact your company’s financial position, project profit, reputation, bonding, and other concurrently performed projects. Management of risk involves:

• Prevention: To deal with causes, and

• Recovery: To deal with effects.

Know your company strengths and weaknesses; opportunities and threats as they relate to project risk. Save your Risk Assessment document as part of your development documentation for internal use. Use it as a template on future projects. Note how your assessment was, or was not successful in anticipating risks that were encountered.

Writing Considerations

Adopt a style guide for you proposals. How will you handle abbreviations, acronyms, color, font, page numbering, and document design? Watch the use of active and passive voice Active voice is decisive and accepts responsibility for action. Active voice – an actor doing an action, a verb describing the action, a recipient receiving the action A does something or acts upon B. Passive voice weakens your message by evading responsibility and distancing you from your customer. Passive voice – recipient takes the actor’s place, verb changes form and needs a helping verb, actor is introduced with a ‘by’ phrase or is left out. B is acted upon by A.


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Also, insure that the proposal reads and flows as if written by a single person even if parts are developed by others. Write and present with one voice. Include an Executive Summary – also called management summary, or management overview. These are the most important pages in the proposal. They set the tone for the evaluators and decision makers. Read the solicitation, establish which pages will be read for evaluation. Be sure to place your Executive Summary where it will be read by evaluators. Your Executive Summary should include a summary, introduction, body and review. In the Summary, recognize the customer’s vision, challenges and objectives and introduce your solution. In the Introduction, establish and prioritize customer needs and your considerations in developing the proposal. In the Body – present your solution, emphasize benefits, the results those benefits bring, identify proof of these benefits by detailing their supporting advantages and features. In the Review – state why the customer should select you.


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Proposal Development

Prepare a project plan for developing the proposal package. Locate the due date in the solicitation. Work backwards from the due date, allowing adequate time for each element of the project. Leave some extra room in the timeline for the unexpected. Below is a list of some steps in the process. Add any steps of your own to this list.

• Outline

• Brainstorm, storyboard, mockups

• Writing

• Critique

• Revisions

• Red Team review

• Final edit

• Final production and packaging

• Shipping and receipt by customer

• Due date

You can use Excel or MS Project, Word or any other project management tool to create your proposal development schedule. Here are some formats for building your schedule. Task / week 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th

RFP Analysis-Strategy-go/no go Outline-brainstorm-Storyboards Writing Edit-revise Critique- Final edit Production Delivery Due


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Or……………..

Once you have built a project schedule, next, create a compliance matrix by going through the solicitation and listing each process requirement. Make a matrix checklist that maps each of these the compliance issues. As you prepare the proposal package, check off each as you go. The completed matrix will be your internal proof of compliance. Some RFPs may request that you include a compliance matrix in your response. Complete compliance is the minimum requirement and while it will not win on its own, failure to comply could bring you a loss.


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Gather your proposal team

Project schedule Give your team the project time line and introduce the list of steps.

Define roles and areas of responsibility.

Begin to consider your winning strategy; win themes, discriminators, SOW, requirements, compliance issues and evaluation criteria.

Begin to address each proposal module. Get everyone on the same track and allow ideas to flow. Ensure that your win strategy is infused throughout the draft response.

Storyboard Go over the story board process with your team and describe how you want them to use it in their sections. Use storyboarding as a tool for important RFP sections and include:

• The RFP Section; • The theme of the section; • Major topics of the section (paragraph level); and • Graphics and action captions.

Communicate Strategically • Utilize your best writing skills

• The quality of your proposal will be directly related to:

o Your ability to manage the process and information flow; o Your ability to provide a strategic response to the needs,

problems, issues, worries and concerns of the customer.


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• Build your company skill set. Some contract awards are directly

related to the bidder’s ability to create clear concepts.

• Be sure the decision makers are involved in the process. Your team needs to be able to consider and offer out of the box service to gain an advantage over the competition.

• “We will comply” and “ We meet spec” are not an adequate

responses, the customer wants to know: o Not just that you will comply but, o How you will comply, and o How your approach sets you apart from your competition.

• Your approach needs to offer compliance plus strategy.

Tell the story of the added value and unique benefits you discovered when you did your research, include:

• Your strategy for this proposal is the ‘added value’ of your approach; • Your strategy was ‘discovered’ through analysis of:

o Your strengths and weaknesses; o Intelligence gathering; o RFP and amendments; o Pre-bid meeting; and o Previously identified discriminators and themes.

• Your strategy needs to be infused throughout the proposal.


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Establish a Red Team. This is a team of reviewers that have a fresh eye… who were not writers of the proposal materials.

The Red Team review is undertaken when the proposal is essentially complete. The primary purpose of the Red Team is to validate the proposal's effectiveness from the customer's perspective. Other than by changing strategy - which should have been addressed during an earlier Review; the Red Team's focus is on emulating the customer's evaluation process in order to determine how to improve chances of winning. The Red Team must look at the proposal through the customer's eyes. The following checklist should be used when evaluating the proposal from the perspective of the customer's reviewer:

• The win theme (or themes) is/are clear and evident; • The benefit statements appear in every part of the proposal; • There's no question as to why your proposal should be chosen; • The graphics make sense and fit the text; • The proposal responds to the RFP's requirements and SOW; and • The text is easy to read and understand.

Pick reviewers for competence, knowledge, and honesty. Pick individuals not intimately associated with the effort.

Reviewers should read the RFP and the proposal; think like an evaluator; look for compliance, inconsistencies; win themes and discriminators; provide specific critiques; then summarize why or why they would not select you. Ensure that past performance is recent, relevant, positive, accurate and customer approved.

The Team Leader should then moderate the team discussion and keep the team members focused on the evaluation criteria to be addressed.

The following specific criteria should be addressed: • Is the proposal complete and thorough?

• How persuasive is the writing?

• Is the proposal properly weighted to the evaluation criteria?


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With a focus on individual sections:

• Are the win themes clear and evident? • Are benefit statements present? • How readable is the text?

The proposal manager should consider incorporating the suggestions made during the review. Parts of the proposal are rewritten, as necessary, and the entire proposal should receive a final copy-edit prior to going to production.

Winning proposals are compliant, easily evaluated, responsive, consistent, credible, readable, visual

Post Award Activities After the award is announced; request a debrief; whether you have won or lost.

In the debrief; you may find weaknesses or deficiencies that lowered your score. Document these and establish a lessons learned file for future opportunities.

Rules about what can be revealed vary among agencies. Review as much as you are permitted.

Most Common Mistakes Some common proposal Mistakes are:

Not following the instructions in the RFP,

o Non-compliant responses,

o Not completing or submitting all the required documents,

o Incomplete response – critical sections or requirements missing;

Not providing a clear well thought out response;

o Not performing customer and market research;

o Unproven understanding of the requirements, problems,

priorities;


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Not being consistent within the response,

o Unsubstantiated or unconvincing rationale for proposed

solutions;

Submitting a poorly prepared proposal,

o Not spending the time to submit a professionally prepared

response,

o Poor grammar, spelling, format and appearance, and

o Too Wordy, too long, and/or boilerplate content;

Responding to an RFP that does not match your firm’s capabilities

and/or capacity,

o No formal bid no bid decision making tool;

Not knowing or understanding the customer,

o Not having a strategic response meeting the customer’s needs,

o Too technical,

o In a competitive process you must understand your customer;

Not knowing your competition,

o In a competitive process you must know your competition;

Not pricing to win with fair and reasonable pricing,

o Costs / budgets are unreasonable (too high or low) or incomplete,

o Costs / budgets do not provide any detail or breakdown

information (if required) for line items;

Not considering the RFP evaluation criteria,

o Poor proposal organization – difficult to correlate proposal

content to RFP SOW and evaluation criteria;

Not accurately assessing the risks,

o No risk mitigation and risk management plan;


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Not treating the proposal as a sales document,

o Proposal lacks a story of why you should win,

o No executive summary,

o Story doesn’t appear in focus boxes or action captions, enabling

an evaluator to leaf through the proposal,

o Win themes are slogans and short bold unsubstantiated claims –

which could apply to any of our competitors,

o Features are mistaken for benefits: “Our PM has 20 years of

experience”,

o Graphics are sparse and unimaginative, and

o Proposal writing is akin to a technical paper;

Avoid this mistake by ensuring that you use all four techniques of

persuasion in your proposals,

o Executive Summary,

o Win Themes,

o Graphics, and

o Persuasive Writing;

Not having an established RFP response process,

Insufficient resources to accomplish the tasks,

Having No Process,

Most companies still use ad-hoc proposal processes not adjusted to the

proposals they bid on,

Companies submit boilerplate or don’t bid at all,

Solution is having Key elements,

o Lean process,

o Well-documented steps that leave no room for redundancy,

o Opportunity-specific capture strategies,

o Central repository with task order manual and collateral library,

o Training for the whole team;

Not learning from previous mistakes,

Parroting the RFP - repeating requirements without discussing how

you will provide the solution,

Including marketing materials if not requested, and

Failure to show relevant past experience.


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Mitigating Mistakes

Take time to do advanced research and craft a strategic response that speaks to the needs and requirements set out in the RFP, and you will increase your chances of winning.

Review; The tools for avoiding pitfalls:

• Compliance Checklist; • Proposal Development Schedule; • Proposal development support;

o Research,

o Outlines,

o Storyboards,

o Uncluttered graphics and action captions,

o Brainstorming and collaboration,

o Your proposal library (not boilerplate),

o RFP instructions, questions, pre-bid meeting,

o Discriminators and theme development,

o Infused credibility,

o Clear concise writing and editing,

o Team reviews and final proposal checklists,

The Goal

The goal of this class is to assist you in: • developing processes, and procedures,

• to take action to increase your win rate,

• to deliver successful results to clients,

• to help you increase profits, and provide tools to support the

• growth to your company, and to provide support that enable you to

• exceed your customer’s expectations by delivering quality products,

services and solutions within schedule and budget.


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Expectations

The expectation of public purchasers is ethical behavior. What is ethical

behavior? Doing the right thing, acting with integrity, being trustworthy, being

honest, delivering what has been promised, working diligently, commitment to

agreed upon schedule, quality and price. It is:

• Fair and Reasonable Pricing; • Ethical Behavior; • Management Competency, • Communication,; • Attitude of Service and Excellence; • On Time Performance within Budget; • Quality Products and Services; • Contract Compliance; and • Risk mitigation and management.

Appendix Class References and Credits FOIA Request www.foia.gov Public Records Request http://www.des.wa.gov/about/Media/Pages/PublicRecords.aspx Shipley Proposal Guide – Larry Newman Successful Proposal Strategies for Small Business - Robert S. Frey Powerful Proposals – David Pugh & Terry Bacon Rick Evans – Oregon PTAC Proposal Training Various Webinars, Trainings & Websites www.apmp.org

http://www.foia.gov/

http://www.des.wa.gov/about/Media/Pages/PublicRecords.aspx



http://www.apmp.org/