We all know that RFPs are tightly scripted, highly-detailed documents. Yet, not everything you need to know can be gleaned from reading the RFP. Talking to the potential customer – well before the RFP is released – is essential before investing large resources in developing a proposal. Continue reading
Tag Archives: proposal management
The Value of Debriefings – When You Lose
The Contracting Officer has just sent you the bad news – you were not selected for award. You get your team together to give them this news and you still try to give them the feeling they have done a great job. But, they start to ask, ”what did we miss?” “what segment/section was not compelling enough?”, “we couldn’t have been vague, we went through the Red Team and recovery process exhaustively”, “how could the government have scored the competition higher than us?”, “was our price too high?” These are questions that require specific answers. You turn your mind to trying to give open, honest answers, but you know you need more information. Continue reading
Your Proposal Has Been Submitted – Now What?
Your Proposal Has Been Submitted – Now What?
For the last month or more you put 110% of yourself and your team into preparing your proposal, pushing off other work and life activities in order to meet the submission deadline. Now that it has been submitted, what should you do next? Continue reading
Bridging the Gap: The Value of Hiring Consultants to Grow Your Business
Bridging the Gap: The Value of Hiring Consultants to Grow Your Business
Striving small business owners are often skeptical about the benefits of hiring consultants, “Isn’t outsourcing something that only top earning companies can afford to do? Why pay a consultant for services that my business can do for itself?” Even the savviest of small Government contractors can get caught in the trap of neglecting customer-focused core competencies to attend to the necessary day-to-day operation of their company. Continue reading
Preparing for RFPs – Don’t Wait Until It’s Too Late
Preparing for RFPs – Don’t Wait Until It’s Too Late
“Better three hours too soon than a minute too late” – William Shakespeare
Who among us didn’t pull an all-nighter to write a college term paper? While most of us have improved our time management skills considerably since those days, juggling pressing business demands with the extensive work required to prepare for an upcoming RFP creates a familiar conflict shared by our clients. So often we hear business leaders state that there is plenty of time to prepare for an upcoming procurement – even when the RFP is due out in a matter of weeks. Continue reading
A Proposal Manager’s Scarcest Resource
A Proposal Manager’s Scarcest Resource
Managing multiple and conflicting job requirements are the daily normal for a business striving to stand out above its competition and consistently win. The hunger to succeed becomes the driving force to do more and more and more. We are now in the Government’s fiscal year fourth quarter – the most intense for publishing requirements and thus the busiest for contractor’s preparing proposals. Continue reading