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Developing Effective

Proposal Processes and


Winning Jobs

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permission from 123RF Limited."

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Agenda
Defining Proposals
Effective Proposal Processes
Setting Expectations & Measuring Performance
Optimizing Our Proposals
Design for Modularity
Build and Leverage Templates
Using Themes To Our Advantage
Why Proposal Appearance Matters
Give Clients A Reason To Pick Our Company

Show Dont Tell

Reducing Proposal Risks


QA/QC-Essential Checklist Elements

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Agenda
Defining Proposals
Effective Proposal Processes
Setting Expectations & Measuring Performance
Optimizing Our Proposals
Design for Modularity
Build and Leverage Templates
Using Themes To Our Advantage
Why Proposal Appearance Matters
Give Clients A Reason To Pick Our Company

Show Dont Tell

Reducing Proposal Risks


QA/QC-Essential Checklist Elements

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Generic Proposal Definition:


An offer to do a specific scope of work for a particular price
or rate within a defined timeline.

Is a Verbal and a Handshake Enough?


Are Expectations The Same?
How Do You Know?
Did They Hear What You Meant
Or What You Said?
Did You Hear What They
Meant or What They Said?

What If You or Your Contact Leaves


Tomorrow? Is the Agreement Void?

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What About an Email?


Existing Relationship?
Size of Job?
Type of Work?

General T&Cs in Place?

Generally Inadequate Detail Around Scope, Schedule


And Other Contractual Elements.

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Do I Have to Write a Novel?


Always Include The Basics:
Scope
Responsibilities
of All Parties
Schedule
Pricing &
Payment Terms
Assumptions &
Clarifications
Why Us?

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Agenda
Defining Proposals
Effective Proposal Processes
Setting Expectations & Measuring Performance
Optimizing Our Proposals
Design for Modularity
Build and Leverage Templates
Using Themes To Our Advantage
Why Proposal Appearance Matters
Give Clients A Reason To Pick Our Company

Show Dont Tell

Reducing Proposal Risks


QA/QC-Essential Checklist Elements

2014 DANR Consulting All Rights Reserved

Is This A Sufficient Process?


Bob Writes A
Proposal

Bob & Susie


Assemble The
Proposal

Issue Proposal to
Client

Receive Client
RFP
Susie Develops an
Estimate

Who Qualified the Opportunity?


What If Bob or Susies Out Sick?
Who Reviewed the Proposal for Consistency?
Who Approved the Pricing?

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Another Process?
Go-No-Go Review

Go-No-Go
Approved?

Send Decline to
Bid

No
Receive Client
RFP
Issue Intent to Bid

Yes

LOA
Review &
Approval?

Develop Estimate

Yes

Issue Proposal To
Client
Assign Proposal
Tasks

Develop Proposal
Response

Assemble
Proposal

Gather Supporting
Docs (Resumes,
Case Studies, etc.)

Complete
Proposal Checklist

No

Revise

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Does One Size Fit All?


Proposal A
$10,000

Proposal B
Same
Proposal
Process?

Competitive Bid

Sole Source

Long-Term Client

$750,000

Consider
Short & Long
Form

New Client

Fixed Bid

T&M

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Proposal Process Phases

PreProposal

Capturing and Tracking Sales Opportunity


MSA, T&Cs, Insurance, Client Payment History
Go-No-Go Evaluation

Proposal
Execution
PostProposal

Clarity of Who Does What & Who Approves What


Estimate, Scope, Schedule & T&Cs
Supporting Collateral

Tracking Through Won-Lost Decision


Lessons Learned (Whether Won or Lost)
Closeout of Proposal/Transition to Operations

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Before the Proposal

PreProposal

Capturing and Tracking Sales Opportunity


MSA, T&Cs, Insurance, Client Payment History
Go-No-Go Evaluation

Sales Opportunity Tracking Allows for Planning


Are There Show Stoppers or Things That Put Us At
A Disadvantage
Intelligence Gathering-Who Is the Competition? Do
We Want to Bid?

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Go-No-Go Questions
Qualify:
Is the Job Well Defined? (Do We know What they
Want?)

Is the Scope What We Do or Want to Do?


Is the Schedule Realistic?
Are There Any Commercial Concerns?

Do We Have Available Resources to Execute?


What Are the Risks and Can We Accept Them?
Can We Win or Otherwise Gain?
Make a Conscious Go-No-Go Decision
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Executing Proposals

Proposal
Execution

Clarity of Who Does What & Who Approves What


Estimate, Scope, Schedule & T&Cs
Supporting Collateral

Do People Know Who Is Responsible for What?


Is There A Consistent Process For Developing
Estimates, Scopes and Schedules?
Are We Providing Supporting Collateral That Will
Resonate?

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After the Proposal

PostProposal

Tracking Through Won-Lost Decision


Lessons Learned (Whether Won or Lost)
Closeout of Proposal/Transition to Operations

Sales Opportunity Tracking Through Client Decision


Do We Know Why We Won or Lost?
Relationship is a Valid Answer but Its Often
Overused
How Well Do We Transition from Proposals to Projects?

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Organizational Approaches
Dedicated Proposal Mgr. & Estimators

Technical Staff Generate Proposal Content &


Estimates, Others Provide Admin. Support
Sales/Marketing Develops Proposal Content &
Technical Resources Provide Estimates

Project Mgrs. Run Proposals As A Project


Larger Organizations May Use Multi-Team Approaches
with Gated Review Processes
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Agenda
Defining Proposals
Effective Proposal Processes
Setting Expectations & Measuring Performance
Optimizing Our Proposals
Design for Modularity
Build and Leverage Templates
Using Themes To Our Advantage
Why Proposal Appearance Matters
Give Clients A Reason To Pick Our Company

Show Dont Tell

Reducing Proposal Risks


QA/QC-Essential Checklist Elements

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Expectations & Performance Metrics


Should We Expect to Win Every Time?
Whats A Reasonable Win Percentage? A/E/C=30%

Less Effective Measurements:


% of Proposals Won Versus Proposals Issued
% of Proposal Value Won Versus Proposal

Value Issued

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An Alternate Approach To Metrics


How Much Should A Proposal Cost To Develop?
Consider Size/Scalability Factor
Less About %, More About ROI
What Can We Do To Increase Our Win Probability
and Reduce Our Costs?

2014 DANR Consulting All Rights Reserved

Agenda
Defining Proposals
Effective Proposal Processes
Setting Expectations & Measuring Performance
Optimizing Our Proposals
Design for Modularity
Build and Leverage Templates
Using Themes To Our Advantage
Why Proposal Appearance Matters
Give Clients A Reason To Pick Our Company

Show Dont Tell

Reducing Proposal Risks


QA/QC-Essential Checklist Elements

2014 DANR Consulting All Rights Reserved

Design for Maximum Modularity


Some Things Are Unique To
Specific Jobs, Others Arent
Proposal Costs
Re-use Rather Than Re-invent
Libraries Proposal Managers Can
Pull From

Like Going From Custom Coding


to Function Block Programming

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$ $

Benefit From Templates


Have Pre-Formatted Proposal Documents
All-inclusive Table of Contents
Major Section Headers
Attachments List

Multiple Templates (Often Based on


Size)
Small <$25K
Medium $25K-$250K
Large >$250K

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Consistency in
Look & Feel
Builds Brand

Dont Start
From Scratch

What is Your Theme?


Theme=A Key Message to
Reiterate Throughout the Proposal
Should Address Customer Pain

Points
Or

Highlight Strengths/Differentiation

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Differentiators to Highlight
Operability &
Maintainability

Process
Knowledge

Risk Reduction

System
Experience

Integration of
3rd Party
Systems

Plant/Facility
Familiarity

Optimized
Technical
Solution

Agility/
Responsiveness

Cutover
Methodology

Lowest TIC

Regulatory
Expertise

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Converting Message to Theme


Finding New Ways to Solve Problems

Relevant Cover Photo

Use Headlines & Key Phrases

Repeat Message Throughout Proposal

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Proposal Appearance Matters


Think Like A Marketer, Not An Engineer
Professional Appearance Implies

USE HEADLINES THAT COMPEL


THEM TO READ MORE

Credibility
Use Graphics And Color To Your
Advantage
Make It Easy To Find The Highlights

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A Fresh Look
Proposal 01234A
XYZ Chemicals
Provox to PCS7 Migration
Experienced
Modernization

ABC Integration
January 25, 2015

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Give Clients A Reason To Say Yes


Have We Addressed Customer
Customer Challenges

Pain Points?
Have We Highlighted Our

Our Solution

Differentiators?
Is Our Message Compelling

Benefits of Choosing Us

Enough?
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Show Dont Tell

Showing-Example 2
ABC Chemicals
North End Control Room
Migration

Telling
We have completed numerous
control room migration projects with
a very high client satisfaction rating.

TIC: $6M
Integration Scope: $1.2M

Showing-Example 1

We Focus on Client Satisfaction

Your timely, incident free completion of


our North End Control Room Migration,
was outstanding. We look forward to
working with you on future projects.
Technical Manager ABC Chemicals

Performance:
8,000 I/O Honeywell to
DeltaV Migration
300 Operating Graphics
Startup 2 Weeks Ahead of
Schedule
3% Under Budget
Zero Safety Incidents
Sole Source Follow-on
Project in South End

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Leverage The Work Weve Done

Examples (i.e. Reports)

Customer Quotes

Case Studies

Project List

Experience Summaries

Tailored Resumes

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may not be copied or downloaded without permission from 123RF Limited.

2014 DANR Consulting All Rights Reserved

Reporting Example
$100,000
$90,000
$80,000
$70,000
$60,000
$50,000
$40,000
$30,000
$20,000
$10,000
$0

Monthly Budget
(BCWS)
Actual Monthly
Spending
Monthly Earned Value

$450,000
$400,000
$350,000
$300,000
$250,000
$200,000
$150,000

Cumulative
Budget
Cumulative
Earned Value

$100,000
$50,000
$0

Daniel Roessler, Control System Migrations: A Practical Project Management Handbook (New York: Momentum Press, Sept. 2013), 133.

2014 DANR Consulting All Rights Reserved

Agenda
Defining Proposals
Effective Proposal Processes
Setting Expectations & Measuring Performance
Optimizing Our Proposals
Design for Modularity
Build and Leverage Templates
Using Themes To Our Advantage
Why Proposal Appearance Matters
Give Clients A Reason To Pick Our Company

Show Dont Tell

Reducing Proposal Risks


QA/QC-Essential Checklist Elements

2014 DANR Consulting All Rights Reserved

4 Common Proposal Risks

Incomplete or Deficient
RFPs

RFP Misunderstanding (By


Bidder)

Misinterpretation of
Proposal (By Client)

Lack of Proposal Detail

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Reducing Proposal Risks

Q&A With Client

Including Technical Options In Proposal

Assumptions & Clarifications*

Quantify When Possible

Define Complexity When Appropriate

*Always Necessary
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Examples of Assumption
One Client Review Cycle for Graphics and
Documentation, With Response < 2 Weeks

Standard Work Week, M-F 8am-5pm

All Documentation to Be Provided Electronically

1-Hr Weekly Project Meetings via Conf. Call


What Is Your Bid Basis and Will Cost, Schedule or Scope
Change If Its Not Understood?
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Presenting Clarifications
Item #

Category

Clarification/Assumption

Commercial

T&L Expenses Not Included and Will Be


Billed at Cost+5%

Procurement

Warranty of Purchased Items Are Per


Manufacturer and ABC Integration
Provides No Additional Warranty

Project
Management

Standard ABC Integration PM Reports


Will Be Used

Project
Management

PM Hours Based on 28-Week Schedule

Technical

We Assume Power Infrastructure Is


Sufficient for New DCS Equipment

Clear, Concise, Easy to Identify

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Agenda
Defining Proposals
Effective Proposal Processes
Setting Expectations & Measuring Performance
Optimizing Our Proposals
Design for Modularity
Build and Leverage Templates
Using Themes To Our Advantage
Why Proposal Appearance Matters
Give Clients A Reason To Pick Our Company

Show Dont Tell

Reducing Proposal Risks


QA/QC-Essential Checklist Elements

2014 DANR Consulting All Rights Reserved

The 4 Cs of Big Picture Review


Compliant

Complete

Compelling

Consistent

Does Our Proposal Meet RFP Requirements?

Does Our Proposal Address All Major Areas?

Does Our Proposal Motivate The Client To Choose Us?

Is Our Proposal Consistent? (e.g. Fonts, Headings, Numbers)

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Checklist Questions 1-7


Q # Check Point Description
1

All forms included in RFP have been used

All places needing signatures have been identified and signed


by appropriate person(s)

All information requested in RFP has been provided

4
5

A consistent color palette is used throughout the proposal


Fonts and headings are consistently used throughout the
proposal

Numbers, especially financials, have been double-checked


and are consistent throughout the proposal

Exhibits, Attachments, Appendices, etc. have been properly


labeled, numbered and referenced

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Yes No Comment

Checklist Questions 8-14


Q # Check Point Description
8

Page transitions are clean of improper breaks

Number list and bullet list are consistently handled

10

The proposal has been edited for grammar

11

Table of Contents is up to date and accurate

12

Header/Footer and Pagination are consistent

13

Graphics are appropriately used and clearly convey a


message

14

Tables and graphs are readable and accurate

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Yes No Comment

Checklist Questions 15-21


Q # Check Point Description
Yes No Comment
Graphics, tables, and graphs have appropriate and consistent
15 captions

17

Are major points clear in the Executive Summary and


throughout the proposal
Are "features and benefits" clearly outlined and easily
identifiable

18

Are any known customer perceived weaknesses addressed

19

Is proof provided to backup assertions and key messaging

20

Is the proposal professionally binded or electronically


assembled for ease of reading

21

Does the proposal include fundamental items such as scope


of work, pricing, schedule, and contractual expectations as
necessary

16

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Summary
Make a Conscious Decision To Bid
Effective Proposal Processes Cover Pre and Post Phases
Track Proposal Costs & Consider ROI As An Alternative Metric
Reduce Proposal Costs & Make Proposals Stand Out With:
Modularity & Templates

Attention to Marketing

Themes

The Show Dont Tell

A Professional Look

Principle

Clarity and Detail Reduce Proposal Risks


Are Your Proposals Compliant, Complete, Compelling and
Consistent?

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Contact Information:

Thank You For


Your Time!

Website: DANRConsulting.com
Email: Info@danrconsulting.com
Phone: 512-524-7202

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