Articles

Working on proposals as the only proposal specialist is like working without a net. But are you really alone? Sure, you might be the last one to touch the proposal. You might be the only one producing it. But if you have stakeholders, you are not alone. If you need input, you are not really alone. If people depend on your output, you are not really alone. If you are not really alone, you need to coordinate with the others who are involved or impacted. Even if you are truly the only one working o

The first module is about defining the scope of what we're going to create together. Are we enhancing your existing process or building a new one? Are focusing on the pre-RFP phase or the proposal phase? We'll cover both, but how will we apply the material? That's why the first module focuses on discovery and discussion with stakeholders. The material in the first module is designed to be thought-provoking. The topics provide some background and context that will help once the introduction

The first module is about defining the scope of what we're going to create together. Are we enhancing your existing process or building a new one? Are focusing on the pre-RFP phase or the proposal phase? We'll cover both, but how will we apply the material? That's why the first module focuses on discovery and discussion with stakeholders. The material in the first module is designed to be thought-provoking. The topics provide some background and context that will help once the introduction

Definition: Proposal triage is a best practice for when you have too many proposals, get a late start, or have proposals that are broken. Proposal triage is based on prioritizing effort based on the urgency of your needs. It often involves exceptions and doing things in streamlined, accelerated ways that would not be ideal under less adverse circumstances. It may involve focusing on submission instead of winning, or it may involve preserving a lesser chance of winning over a very real risk of no

2019 adds up to some big numbers Since we started in 2001, we have had over 8 million visitors. That's nearly half a million visitors a year, on average. Over 71,000 have requested to join our newsletter. Over 3,500 became PropLIBRARY Subscribers. A lot of people who need to win proposals for their business to succeed give us their attention and we appreciate it so much. I remember when I started down this path and could remember all their names. I still try to respond to nearly all the

Getting ahead of the RFP is critical for relationship marketing and obtaining an information advantage. Getting ahead of the RFP does not have to be hard, but it can take a long time. Those that put the time and effort into it are able to achieve an information advantage as well as a competitive advantage. This is a PDF handout, suitable for printing. It includes a cheat sheet you can print and posts on your wall as a constant reminder. ?

Slow down. Take your time. Get comfortable. Ponder the meaning of it all. These topic hubs lead to hundreds of links with over a thousand pages worth of material. Don't try to consume it all in one sitting. Study them like a book that can change the future of your company and the direction of your career. Or maybe just give you an occasional smile. Before the proposal: business development and capture Relationship marketing Making effective bid/no bid decisions

Obsessing over the deadline and resource pressure that defines most proposal efforts can make you forget about other important things and limit your ability to maximize your win rate — not to mention it can also lead to total burnout. It’s a curious dilemma and a bit counter-intuitive but obsessing over getting your proposal done can help you lose. So take a moment and put away your deadline and resource pressures. Take a moment to think about the purpose of it all. Because the purpose is m

Form for implementing our recommendations from the article, 36 ways to tailor proposal re-use content before using it. Use it to assess proposal re-use material against the current environment to enable you to determine how to best tailor it.

Here's the problem with proposal re-use repositories. Imagine two customers who both want the same system, application, product, service, solution or whatever you offer. The specs are the same. However... One customer is decentralized, another is centralized. One customer has a formal culture, one is informal. One wants innovation, another is risk averse. One wants to manage the staff on the project, another doesn't want to be bothered. One is value conscious, the other is price fixated. One has

A lot of well-meaning people give really bad advice on marketing. Instead of saying "what has worked for me is…" they say things like "the only way to be successful is to…" Marketing rules of thumb aren't. Your goals, circumstances, resources, customer preferences, strategies, positioning, ability to execute, and so much more makes one person's marketing success another person's marketing failure. Everything depends on the nature of what you offer. The “rules” are very different if:

What you need to win a proposal depends on what happened before the RFP was released and the proposal effort kicked off. This means that winning proposals can depend on what you did before the proposal even started. So let’s take a look at what happens before the proposal starts: What the customer does before the RFP is released This is what the customer has to do, starting from RFP release and working backwards: The RFP is released.  But before that: The customer announc

monthly_2025_08/2019-10-2510.58GovConsalesplansandleadgenerationdiscussion.mp4.c2ef580c8b4e2e0537f4d8fd1a07f28d.mp4

Winning government contracts requires knowing how to succeed at every step throughout a ridiculously long sales cycle. Winning government contracts requires attention and doing your homework. The good news is that most companies really aren’t that good at it. Most companies who are registered to do business with the government end up doing little or none. And most established companies merely do well enough. Most government contractors lose more contract bids than they win. They are vulnerable a

Having the best offering is a key part of what it takes to win. Another way to say this is that the most important ingredient in your proposal is what you are going to propose. When it comes to planning the content of your proposal, we advocate planning your offering and planning the writing of your proposal separately. When you do both at the same time, the risk compounds itself, and changes in the writing that result from a change in what you want to offer can cause a cascade effect that

If you are a contractor, I’m willing to bet that not only is your mission statement ignored, it’s probably just plain wrong. Take a look at these mission/vision statements from three of the largest U.S. Government contractors: Lockheed Martin: We solve complex challenges, advance scientific discovery and deliver innovative solutions to help our customers keep people safe. (source) Boeing: Connect, Protect, Explore and Inspire the World through Aerospace Innovation (source)

I learned some important lessons this week about proposals, capture, and business development by talking to some artists and people who know nothing about business. I got dragged to a cocktail party in a quaint little historic district populated by galleries and boutiques. I love the area, but when it unsolicited I usually don’t engage in talks about business with little retail startup businesses, especially boutiques that I believe are mostly doomed to fail. But I do listen. I liste

Most proposal process "best practices" fail in the real world. In the real world, some companies are centralized and some are decentralized. Some companies are authoritarian and some are consensus driven. In some companies the pre-RFP pursuit and the post-RFP pursuit are organized under the same leadership and in some they are not. Successfully implementing a proposal process requires understanding which practices are a match for your company. So how do you design a proposal process to surviv

Getting input from subject matter experts is vital for winning proposals. However, the instincts of the people who do the work are often all wrong. Writing documents for proposals is different from writing project documents. It’s easy to get fooled. RFPs ask for documents related to projects in the proposals. They ask for things like: Quality control plans Risk mitigation plans Staffing plans Project management plans Security plans Safety plans

It’s a pretty common mistake. When you’re under schedule and budget pressure, it seems like starting from a page that already has some words on it should be easier. It seems like such a waste to spend all that time, effort, and money on preparing a proposal for only one use, so it must save money to use it as a starting point for the next proposal. Unfortunately reusing your proposals will end up costing you far more than it might save you. The economics of recycling proposal narratives are not