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what matters to the customer.

Often preparing the pricing is that last thing people do when working on a proposal. This is especially true with proposals for services where people have to figure out what their offering is going to be before they can price it. However, a good argument can be made that proposal pricing should be done first. In between those two sits the basis of estimate (BOE).  A BOE is a combination of the data and formulas you’ll use to calculate an estimate, such as the price for doing something. A

Information gathered pre-RFP must be assessed and become part of proposal content planning for it to reliable find its way into the proposal document. Creating the items described in this exercise can help you streamline and integrate these efforts.

In between collecting proposal input and the outline/compliance matrix is the kickoff meeting. The kickoff meeting is an opportunity to integrate efforts and get everyone on the same page.

Proposal development should not be treated as an expense to be minimized. It is an investment as part of the cost of sales. When you compare what an increase in win rate does to your revenue, you find that the investment generates a positive return. Decreasing the investment leads to a lower win rate, and what that does to your revenue is create a death spiral. The trick is to lower proposal development costs without lowering your win rate. A winning proposal is one that is based on what yo

The customer?s key concerns are often unspoken. While the RFP will ask you to describe your qualifications, it often won?t say that they are asking for your qualifications so they can determine whether they should trust you. When you realize this, you can write about your qualifications in the context of proving that you are trustworthy. Talking directly to the customer?s concerns gives the customer more of what they are really looking for and raises the apparent value of your proposal.

This is an example of a solution that we prepared for someone else. The solution that we prepare for you will be based on your particular needs. However, it’s a good way for you to get an idea of how we work and a great way to start a conversation about how your needs are similar or different. The Customer’s Circumstances. A company with international offices contacted us about proposal training for 500-600 people. They weren’t sure what to do because it just wasn’t economical to send an in

This is an example of a solution that we prepared for someone else. The solution that we prepare for you will be based on your particular needs. However, it’s a good way for you to get an idea of how we work and a great way to start a conversation about how your needs are similar or different. The Customer’s Circumstances. A company wanted training in proposal writing provided at their site. They were potentially interested in other services, but wanted to start off with the training.

This is an example of a solution that we prepared for someone else. The solution that we prepare for you will be based on your particular needs. However, it’s a good way for you to get an idea of how we work and a great way to start a conversation about how your needs are similar or different. The Customer’s Circumstances. A company with multiple business lines (B2B and B2G) wanted to improve the quality of their proposal writing and accelerate their proposals. Their initial plan was to imp

This is an example of a solution that we prepared for someone else. The solution that we prepare for you will be based on your particular needs. However, it’s a good way for you to get an idea of how we work and a great way to start a conversation about how your needs are similar or different. The Customer’s Circumstances. There were two customers. One was a government contractor that wanted to see how their proposals stacked up against our standards. The other was a small mom and pop finan

One of the most common questions we get is, "What should my proposal look like?" So when a company we’ve teamed with many times in the past started talking about producing some templates to help people format their proposals, we told them we have a few thousand friends who might be interested. As a result of that conversation, we now have a bunch of proposal formats available. Only these aren’t just any proposal formats. These are designed by the 24 Hour Company. If you don’t know them, the

Winning proposals is about information. But that knowing that fact alone is not enough to produce a competitive advantage. Gathering a bunch of information does not magically lead to winning. Winning is not even based on who gathers the most information. Here are five steps to gain an information advantage and turn it into a competitive advantage. Figure out what information you need and get it. The secret here is that you need to develop the right relationships and ask the right questio

One of our customers had asked us to provide them with training so they could do a better job of preparing for an upcoming proposal. Naturally, before the training could get started they received notice that a customer was about to release an RFP, and had released a draft. So we incorporated the draft into the training. But the approach we took surprised me with how effectively it opened their eyes, how well it reached beyond just the proposal specialists, and how it contributed to real organiza

We have a lot of content. And our users have different needs. This can make for a deep and rich experience. It can also be overwhelming at first. This page provides information on how to find the content we have published that best meets your needs. The easy way to use our site Simply follow your interests by clicking links and spend countless hours reading, learning, and gaining inspiration. Becoming a power user There are methods behind our madness and once you learn them you can

Frequently asked questions about the Score program How does someone increase their Score? Take training through PropLIBRARY. Complete exercises. Become a subscriber. Participate in webinars and activities. Read articles. And more. Score activities are labelled so you'll know. What kinds of special awards and recognition do participants get? In addition to your percentile ranking, if your Score makes it into the 90th percentile by the end of the year,

Carl Dickson, Founder of CapturePlanning.com and PropLIBRARY sat down for an interview with Ashley Kayes and Baskar Sundaram of the Scribble Talk Podcast. He shared some insights into the nature of proposals as well as some details about himself that have never been published before.   90    

The normal way to work with a consultant is to agree on a scope, budget, and schedule for what needs to be done. This requires discussion, getting to know each other, some back-and-forth, and some risk. We can spend a lot of time talking about it and then face the risks in performance, or we can get right to work on something relevant but small that mitigates those risks. The projects described below can jumpstart the process, with four ways we can work together for under $5,000. They cover

When we think of partnerships we think of something far more strategic than referrals. We like partnerships that force us both to revise our business plans. In our experience, partnerships that don't require investment by both parties have a low probability of success. We have occasionally taken on sponsors when companies wanted to get in front of our audience but lacked a capacity for cross-promotion. When we have complementary offerings, we're open to bundling and other forms of cros

The traditional way to define roles for a proposal usually includes: A Capture Manager to define the offering A Proposal Manager to implement the process Proposal Writers to follow the process and create the proposal narrative Under this model, the Proposal Manager seeks to bring together the solution and the writers to get it all on paper. The Proposal Manager brings together the Capture Manager and Proposal Writers so that bid strategies can be articulated and used to