Carl Dickson

Red Teams are Obsolete! Why, after decades of trying, is no one able to have consistently effective Red Teams? Find out why the color team model is broken and can't be fixed.

3,022 downloads

0 comments

Updated August 3, 2012

Free

Whitepaper: Real World Teaming Tips

This is our 11 page white paper with 65 tips for successful teaming. We've covered the subject from the prime contractor's perspective and the sub contractor's perspective. We've even thrown in small vs. large business considerations. This is powerful stuff. We even had to put warning label on it.

1,929 downloads

0 comments

Updated December 18, 2012

Free

A Better Way to Figure Out What Should Go Into Your Proposal

This book explains why proposals are such a pain and what to do about it. It shows how to get past the fear of a blank page and the best way to accelerate your efforts. It shows you how to get your proposal right on the first draft, without endless review and re-writing cycles. It lays out the sophisticated methodology from the MustWin Process in PropLIBRARY and then shows you how to cheat. It makes it both feasible and realistic to plan your proposal before writing it. It even discusses how the methodology can be tailored to different proposal management styles, corporate environments, and individual circumstances.
It's full of useful information on topics like constructing proposal outlines, how to word your headings, what a "compliance matrix" is and how to create one, and more. It will not only accelerate your efforts, it will show you how to create better proposals.

108 downloads

0 comments

Submitted January 26, 2014

Free

Proposal Startup Information Checklist

When we created the MustWin Process, we showed you how to make the most of the time before RFP release and get into position to be ready to win. But what if you are starting at RFP release and "no bid" is not an option? We've recommended that you combine the pre-RFP questions, goals, and action items into a single list to quickly assess what you know and what you don't.
Now we've done all that work for you by creating a master checklist of proposal startup information. And we've turned it into a new ebook so you can download it and use it separate from the rest of the MustWin Process. You can use it to guide your pre-RFP pursuit, as a bid/no bid tool, as a bid strategy tool, and as a proposal startup accelerator. If you can't implement a formal process, at least you can pull out this handy checklist and improve your chances of winning.

96 downloads

0 comments

Submitted April 15, 2014

Free

How to Write an Executive Summary

This is the electronic version of the tutorial we publish. It addresses:
Writing different types of Executive Summaries
Why an Executive Summary might not actually contain a summary
How to introduce yourself in writing
Multiple strategies for preparing to write an Executive Summary
How to incorporate your win strategies into writing the Executive Summary
Advice for how to format your Executive Summary
How to be persuasive in writing
22 questions that you should answer in your Executive Summary

It also includes and a sample to show how the pieces come together.

265 downloads

0 comments

Updated August 22, 2011

Free

CSS Bid Plan

Chris Payne gave his permission for us to post this Excel based bid planning tool from CSS Consultancy.
He also created a 10 minute video on how to use the spreadsheet. While the use of the bid plan is fairly self-explanatory, you may benefit from running through the video to familiarise yourself with the logic behind the way the spreadsheet was developed. You can view this online at http://www.youtube.com/user/FMInnovate/videos

1,895 downloads

0 comments

Submitted March 12, 2012

Free

PropLIBRARY Solutions Catalog

This is more than just a brochure you can download and share with others. It is a blueprint for how to enhance the business development effectiveness of your entire organization.

2,857 downloads

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Submitted April 12, 2012

Free

Proposal Sight Reading Presentation

Sight reading is something musicians do when they play a song they don't know and haven't practiced with music they've never before seen. It's extremely difficult. If you are asking your proposal reviewers to conduct site reading, your review process is probably flawed and you can't expect the best performance from your reviewers. Nonetheless the vast majority of proposal reviews are conducted this way. Being able to size up a proposal at a first glance is a useful skill to have. Here is the presentation from a webinar we have on August 22nd, 2012 showing some of our techniques and the tricks we've picked up over the years that can help you do a better job of instantly assessing the quality of proposal.

1,439 downloads

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Updated August 24, 2012

Free

Webinar Slides: Getting Ahead of the RFP

On Wednesday, September 12th, 2012, we hosted a webinar to introduce David Lowe of isiFederal, a company that helps companies develop business with the U.S. Government. He addressed the roles, buying motives, and what the customer needs to hear from you so that you can get ahead of the RFP and influence the key decision makers. Here are the slides from his presentation. It's not the same without the audio, but there's still a lot of good information in them.

1,807 downloads

0 comments

Updated September 12, 2012

Free

20 Years of Proposal Re-use Secrets

We hosted this webinar on Thursday, January 17th, 2013. Carl Dickson, founder of CapturePlanning.com and PropLIBRARY, share his tips, tricks, and traps for setting up proposal re-use repositories that he's picked up over the years.

2,118 downloads

0 comments

Submitted January 17, 2013

Free

Federal Market Essentials Report Sample

This is a sample of a Federal Market Essentials Report created by isiFederal. The Federal Marketing Essentials Report is a comprehensive analysis of the federal market as it applies to a company. It breaks down the Federal Government market and shows you how the Feds buy what you sell and who you need to talk to. It is for Government Contractors, either brand new or experienced, who are looking to expand the number of leads they are pursuing. You can request that isiFederal prepare a fully customized report like this to help you expand your Federal business. Click here for more information.

3,184 downloads

sample

0 comments

Updated January 23, 2013

Free

DC Summit for Success Presentation: It's Not About You

Copy of the presentation Carl Dickson of CapturePlanning.com gave at the American Express OPEN DC Summit for Success

273 downloads

0 comments

Submitted August 10, 2014

Free

Pipeline Assessment Webinar Slides

Here on the slides from the Pipeline Assessment webinar we hosted on Wednesday, April 15, 2015.

449 downloads

0 comments

Submitted April 15, 2015

Free

Proposal Content Planning Guide

Our approach to Proposal Content Planning. This material was extracted from the MustWin Workbook to use in a training course we delivered.

240 downloads

0 comments

Submitted October 17, 2011

Free

MustWin Process Workbook

This is the electronic version of the MustWin Process Workbook.

373 downloads

0 comments

Updated August 22, 2011

Free

Introduction to Readiness Reviews

Part of a presentation for the University of Nebraska Business Development Center. It provides an introduction to the Readiness Reviews that are part of the pre-RFP phase of the MustWin Process.

121 downloads

0 comments

Submitted January 8, 2012

Free

Understanding What It Takes to Win

Slides from the Understanding What It Takes to Win course

93 downloads

training

0 comments

Updated December 17, 2013

Free

Proposal Content Planning Cheat Sheet

Use this cheat sheet to help craft better instructions for your proposal writers and provide guidance before they write their proposal sections, instead of trying to fix your proposals after they’ve been written.

1 download

0 comments

Submitted May 22, 2021

Free

How to Write a Management Plan

This guide is organized like a cookbook, providing over 180 items divided into 20 topics. It will help you answer your customer's questions regarding how the work will be done, who will do it, what resources will be required, how to mitigate the risks, and what you will do to ensure quality. It will help you proove to your customer that you can successfully manage the project and deserve to win the contract.

220 downloads

0 comments

Updated August 22, 2011

Free

509 Questions to Answer in Your Proposals

Get some serious inspiration for proposal authors at all levels. It's perfect for figuring out what to write, and for making sure you answer all of your customer's questions. We provide the questions, you supply the answers. While it may not be as sexy as a template that writes the proposal for you, it's actually one of our most useful documents. Highly recommended.

122 downloads

0 comments

Updated October 17, 2011

Free

Business Development for Project Managers

Provides easy to follow approaches to business development for people with technical backgrounds. If you have technical managers with responsibility for growth or sales but don't have the experience or background to feel comfortable with it, the problem solving approaches in this document are just what they need.

142 downloads

0 comments

Submitted October 17, 2011

Free

Proposal Format Guide

The most frequent question we get asked is "what should my proposal look like?" This is closely followed by "can I see a sample of a proposal?" Even though we tell people that winning proposals are built from the ground up to meet the concerns of specific customers and not by following samples, people still crave them.

173 downloads

0 comments

Submitted October 17, 2011

Free

How to Survive Your First Business Proposal

Writing your first business proposal doesn't have to be intimidating. It's amazing how much stress can come from a blank sheet of paper and a deadline. Our guide tells you what you need to know so you can submit your proposal with confidence.

81 downloads

0 comments

Submitted October 17, 2011

Free

Quick and Dirty Guide to Writing a Last Minute Proposal