Articles

How you are going to conduct your reviews should be planned. The MustWin Process makes it easy. You should not wait until the proposal is written to figure out how to review it.  Instead, you should start with a Validation Plan that specifies how the proposal will be reviewed and provides a basis for measuring quality and progress. A Validation Plan takes the quality criteria based on what it will take to win and allocates them to a series of reviews. Creating the plan

You need enough reviewers to cover your quality criteria. Some reviewers can be specialized. For example, one or more reviewers to focus on whether your proposal is RFP compliant, whether the technical offering is the best your organization can offer, whether you have the right bid strategies, and whether your positioning reflects your company’s strategic plan. They might all be validated by different people. Or combined into one review by a single person with the right background. You can

In the name of efficiency, you want to streamline the number of proposal reviews you have. However, doing so exposes you to a conflict with proposal quality. On top of this, the number of reviews is not even what impacts efficiency the most. Having fewer, but larger reviews that can’t possibly consider everything does not increase efficiency and decreases quality. On the other hand, more reviews and more reviewers can increase the logistical burden. The key question is “What is the fewest number

Creating a Proposal Quality Validation plan  Once you have created your proposal quality criteria, you need to allocate them to reviews. Then the plan itself should be reviewed to ensure it meets standards and expectations In order to complete the plan, you need to: Collect and group items that can be assessed at the same time Allocate criteria to the milestones on your schedule Determine the best method for reviewing each item (individua

A written definition of proposal quality helps to get everyone on the same page The CapturePlanning.com MustWin Process assures quality by first defining it and then validating whether or not it was achieved. The MustWin Process defines proposal quality as: The degree to which a proposal implements all of the things you have determined are necessary in order to win. Using this definition forces you to: Identify what is necessary to win Review

Consistently effective proposal reviews must start long before the document is even written. They should start by developing review criteria that are based on how you define proposal quality and what it will take to win. If you wait until a draft of the proposal has been written and then review it based on “best practices” and “experience,” what you will get is a generic review. The same shallow review that any other proposal would get. But many of those things are specific to the particu

What you should write about? How should you present it? How do you know if it's correct? Before you jump into proposal writing, you need a plan. And you need to validate that plan to prevent rework. Why this goal is important To better understand, see also: Why an outline or even a compliance matrix is not enough to plan a proposal Are you making the colossal mistake of thinking in writing? If you think the best way to figure out what to write about in your proposa

If you think the best way to figure out what to write about in your proposal is to start writing, you may be making a colossal mistake. The mistake is that you’re skipping the part where you “figure it out.” You are thinking by writing about it. Look at how inefficient it is to have a conversation in writing. You think of something to say, and then you write it down. Meanwhile, the other person waits. When they get what you wrote, they read it and you wait. They figure out their response an

The Proposal Content Planning methodology was developed as part of the CapturePlanning.com MustWin Process. While the MustWin Process helps ensure you have all the information needed to support Content Planning, you can create a content plan for a proposal even if you don't follow our process in full. so you can handle complicated RFPs ✔   A way to build consensus regarding what should go into your proposal ✔   A way to deliver instructions, guidance, and information to

Everyone acknowledges the importance of having proposal reviews if you want to win. What most people don’t realize is that reviews are not the most important thing you can do if you want to improve your proposal quality and your win probability. How well you plan the content before you start writing has more to do with whether you win than having proposal reviews. Planning the content of your proposal before you write it is about preventing mistakes in the first place. Reviews are about cat

By using a Proposal Content Plan: You reduce the number of changes after people start writing by providing a means to ensure that instructions are complete and correct. You greatly reduce writing time by reducing how long it takes to figure out what to write. You eliminate the endless cycle of rewrites that occurs when writers and reviewers can’t agree on what should be written. Instead of being something difficult and mysterious, you turn prop

A Business Development manager's job is to find as many qualified leads as possible. If you make Business Development cover lead identification through closing, Business Development will have to stop chasing leads when the proposal starts if they make it their job to win. Your company will see-saw between having leads to chase yesterday but none tomorrow because Business Development got sucked into capture or a proposal. If you want a continuous flow of leads, you need continuous lead identifica

Lead qualification is the process of determining whether an “opportunity” is a valid lead. To be valid, it must be worth the cost of pursuing the lead. This should be calculated in steps with qualification criteria to be reviewed at each step to determine if the lead is still worth continued investment. These steps are often referred to as “gates” that must be passed to gain approval to pursue an opporunity. Most lead qualification criteria look for show-stoppers, or things that would make

All proposals are won or lost based on whether the proposal writers have the right input. All. Of. Them. The right input can’t be somehow made up by proposal writers during the proposal. Either it’s brought to them so they can present it or they build a presentation without substance. And it’s best to bring this input at the very beginning, while there is time to do something about it. And this in turn usually means gathering the right input before the RFP hits the street and the proposal s

Starting the proposal outline The initial proposal outline should be based on the RFP. However, a complex RFP may need a Compliance Matrix to map the requirements to the outline. Ultimately, the outline is just part of what you need in order to be ready to start writing the proposal. The outline needs to reflect the structure that the customer expects and incorporate everything that the customer wants you to address.  If the RFP is complex, th

The purpose of proposal planning is to enable you to get it right the first time and to validate that you have prepared the right proposal. While the Proposal Manager is responsible for proposal planning, it is a good idea for those impacted to also read and understand the parts of the process those plans are based on. Proposal planning forces you to make decisions and think things through before you write, instead of writing and then re-writing until you figure it ou

Your kickoff meeting agenda depends on your goals Some kickoff meetings are held to announce the implementation of existing plans and some are held to announce the start of the planning efforts. The Proposal Manager should make sure that the agenda matches the goals you wish to accomplish at the kickoff meeting. The following items should be considered for the Kickoff Meeting Agenda: Introduce the opportunity Introduce the team members

If you are obsessed with speeding up your proposal writing, the first thing you might want to think about are the things that slow it down. They may not be what you think… To slow down proposal writing: Start proposal writing before you have your basis of estimate (BOE) figured out. One way to look at your proposal is simply as proof of your basis of estimate. It’s kinda hard to prove your BOE if you don’t have one. Without the BOE already figured out, people will tend to write abou

More tips for implementing Content Plans Centralized vs. decentralized models for Content Planning What to put into your Content Plan Content Planning for quick turnaround proposals and task orders Using Content Plans to improve proposal writing quality Using Content Plans with proposal recipes How to incorporate boilerplate/re-use into your Content Plans Checklist for using boilerplate/re-use material

Sometimes you know can guide the authors by telling them what to include and sometimes you just don’t know and need them to figure that out. You get to decide what level of detail and what form the instructions should take, based on your knowledge, the capabilities of your writers, and the circumstances surrounding your proposal. Think of Content Planning as a toolbox with many different techniques that can be used to solve particular problems. Sometimes the instructions will tell the aut