Erika Dickson

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 out. See also: Proposal start-up and logistics Plan before you write. Your plans should include: A Compliance Matrix Content Plan Assignments Schedule Teaming Plan Production Plan Write to the plan. Validate what you wrote against the plan. You should be prepared in advance so that you can complete these plans within days of RFP release.

See also: Proposal start-up and logistics This invitation is provided to expedite your preparations. You do not have to use it if something else will serve your needs better. We are planning to hold a kickoff meeting for the [Name] proposal at [Date and Time]. The meeting will be held at [Location]. Everyone who may be impacted by the proposal effort is invited to attend. We have been preparing for the release of this RFP for some time. The purpose of this meeting will be to bring everyone up to date on the status of our preparations and to set expectations regarding what help we are going to need and what processes we are going to follow to complete the proposal. If you will be unable to attend or need directions, please call [Contact].

You should anticipate what you need to have, distribute, or present at the meeting so you will be ready. Things to do before the meeting: See also: Proposal start-up and logistics Create proposal directories/workspaces Initialize the directories with templates and/or other files Distribute the RFP Prepare any training materials or other handouts Invite attendees Things to bring to the meeting: Extra copies of the RFP Draft proposal plans including: Schedule Assignments Compliance matrix/outline Budget/charge numbers Production Plan Quality Validation Plan Templates Section Past Performance Resumes Instructions File access Procedures Configuration Management

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: See also: Proposal start-up and logistics Introduce the opportunity Introduce the team members Review the draft schedule Coordinate contracts/pricing efforts Request project references from team members Identify project staffing Request resumes Request data (staffing, SOW coverage, etc.) Identify core authors Identify outline reviewers Identify reviewers Identify writing assignments Request RFP related questions Update resource requirements Update proposal contact list Request corporate background information from each team member Request logos from each team member

Kickoff meetings can help get everyone on the same page, with the same set of expectations The Proposal Manager should determine the schedule, agenda, and goals for the kickoff meeting. The Proposal Manager should coordinate with the Capture Manager, Executive Sponsor, and other key stakeholders prior to the meeting, and then lead the meeting when it is time. See also: Proposal start-up and logistics Kickoff meetings are held to announce the start of the proposal. At the kickoff meeting you may: Announce that you are starting to prepare your plans. Present your plans if they are complete. The best approach is often to bring draft plans to review and finalize at the kickoff meeting. All stakeholders, including subcontractors, should be present. It is a good idea to get everyone involved in the proposal together face to face at least once. The following pages provide guidance so that your kickoff meeting can be as productive as possible. Make sure that there is value to the attendees in making time for and coming to the meeting. If you are going to have one, at least make it worthwhile. Attendance should be mandatory.

Be prepared to act quickly when an amendment is released You should check in with the customer frequently so that you anticipate any amendments and aren’t surprised by them. The Proposal Manager should lead the effort to assess the impact of the Amendment and make any changes necessary to accommodate it. See also: Proposal start-up and logistics Have you distributed the Amendment to the same people you originally distributed the RFP to, plus any new stakeholders? Is there an extension? Are there answers to questions? Did your questions get answered? Are there replacement pages for the RFP? Did you do a document comparison to identify all changes to the RFP Did any of the changes or answers provoke new questions that should be submitted? Should any of the changes or answers cause you to reconsider your decision to bid? How do the answers to the questions impact the proposal? Did the outline or cross-reference matrix change? Do any of your approaches or bid strategies need to change? How should assignments and the schedule be modified to incorporate the changes? Do not forget to include a statement in your proposal (typically in the transmittal letter or business volume, depending on the instructions in Section L) acknowledging your receipt of the Amendment.

Your questions should be carefully prepared to ensure there is no misunderstanding The Proposal Manager should collect questions, edit their wording to improve the chances of getting a precise answer, and review the list with the Capture Manager to determine which ones to submit to the customer. Check the RFP to see if there is a deadline for when questions must be submitted by. Submit Questions Via: Email Telephone Fax Letter Submit Questions To (Name, Contact Information): Date Questions Are Due: Submission Assigned To: Questions:

You can’t make a final Bid/No Bid decision before you see what is in the RFP. You can “no bid” with certainty at any time, but you can’t make a final decision in favor of bidding until you see what is in the RFP. The investment required to pursue will go way up once the proposal effort starts, so you should reexamine whether the pursuit is worth it. The clock is ticking… the time spent deciding takes time away from preparing to win. See also: Bid/no bid decisions After the RFP is released it is time to reconsider whether to bid (again). Prior to the RFP you may have tentatively decided to bid, but once you see what’s in the RFP you may need to reconsider. In any event, it’s a good idea to take a minute before starting the expensive proposal effort to consider whether it is worth it to continue. It is important to be decisive. If the bid decisions at your company are made by committee, then convene it early and make sure the decision is stated clearly. Often when there are problems with a bid, instead of taking the bold decision to either bid or not bid, companies will deliberate. And deliberate. And deliberate. Sometimes the bid will even start without a clear decision to bid. Or not to bid. Rather than take off like a runner at the starting blocks, this type of proposal limps along. Immediately upon RFP release, you should provide a set number of days to read the RFP and reach a firm decision. You can always no bid later. But you can’t wait to get started. What do you need to change or do to finalize your proposal plans?

Here is a list of things to consider and actions to take as soon as the RFP is released: See also: Proposal start-up and logistics ❏ What is the method for submitting questions, and when are they due? ❏ When is the proposal due, when is award anticipated, when is the project start anticipated? ❏ What has changed since the release of the draft RFP (if any)? ❏ Did the customer act on your suggested changes? ❏ Is there anything in the RFP that might prevent you from bidding? ❏ Does the RFP provide all of the information you need to bid? ❏ Do you have questions about any of the RFP requirements? ❏ Are there any RFP requirements that you would like to see changed? ❏ Does anything in the RFP require you to change your teaming plans? ❏ Is there anything you can still do to influence the scope of work, performance specifications, evaluation criteria, or other aspects of the RFP? ❏ Is an updated bidders list available? ❏ Have you distributed the RFP to all proposal stakeholders? ❏ When will you have a formal bid/no-bid review? ❏ When will you hold the kickoff meeting? ❏ What do you need to change or do to finalize your proposal plans?

The Proposal Manager should finalize this list before the RFP is released so that he or she can immediately distribute the RFP as soon as it is available and not overlook anyone. See also: Proposal start-up and logistics Capture Manager: Executive Sponsor: Proposal Manager: Project Manager: Contracts Manager: Subcontracts Manager: Pricing Manager: Staffing/Recruiting Manager: Proposal Writers Technical: Management Plan: Past Performance: Resumes: Others:

Anticipating key dates for this pursuit: The Business Development Manager should complete the table to provide a quick reference and facilitate planning for future events. Event/Milestone Date/Time Site Visit/Bidders Conference: Sources Sought Release: Sources Sought Response Due: Draft RFP Release: Draft RFP Response Due: Anticipated RFP Release: RFP Questions Due: Past Performance Survey Due: Proposal Due: Evaluation Notices/BAFO Anticipated: Anticipated Award: Contract Start Date

Readiness Reviews are where the measuring of progress takes place. Without them, progress is uncertain, and you will probably find yourself unprepared at RFP release. The Executive Sponsor is responsible for performing the Readiness Reviews. The goal of the Readiness Reviews is to track progress towards being ready for RFP release. In performing the reviews, you should do more than simply assess any deficiencies. Wherever possible, you should identify the action items needed to improve, provide guidance, and help people get to green (and therefore in a better position to win). See also: Pre-rfp readiness reviews Intelligence gathering is as much an art as it is a science. While you can never collect enough intelligence, and usually will not have as much as you would like to have, you still need to measure progress in order to ensure that you are prepared when the RFP is released. The Executive Sponsor conducting the review makes a subjective determination whether the progress at each review is sufficient. For each goal during the review, the Executive Sponsor assesses each item using a “Red, Yellow, Green” scale (with Red meaning “insufficient to win” and Green meaning “sufficient to win”) at that point in time. A review of the intelligence gathered at the first review might be green since very little time has passed, but if more intelligence is not collected by the next review it could slip to yellow or even red. Compare the current review status to previous reviews to identify any trends and help keep the pursuit on track. What is “sufficient” at a given point in time is subjective. The Executive Sponsor should base the determination on whether the pursuit is on track towards accomplishing everything necessary to be prepared for RFP release and to ultimately win the bid. If the pursuit is behind where it should be, the Executive Sponsor should downgrade the score accordingly to identify where to target for improvement before the next review.

The MustWin Process defines specific goals to be achieved prior to RFP release, so that when the proposal starts you will already have a competitive advantage. The Business Development Manager prepares for the Readiness Reviews by collecting intelligence. The Executive Sponsor will be expected to review the intelligence collected and determine whether it is sufficient. You must have specific goals that you seek to accomplish before the RFP is released. Otherwise, the time will likely be wasted. Here is a list of goals recommended by the MustWin Process: See also: Pre-rfp pursuit Collect intelligence about the customer, opportunity, and competition so that you will know what it will take to win Track measurable progress towards collecting that intelligence throughout the pursuit of the opportunity Grow the customer relationship Develop your win strategies and position your company to win Lay the foundation for any teaming with other companies that may be necessary to win the opportunity Identify all of the internal resources that may be able to contribute to the proposal effort Prepare for an accelerated start to the proposal Prepare people to fulfill their roles in supporting the proposal Begin to set expectations for all stakeholders The Readiness Review process provides an approach for ensuring that your goals are accomplished.

Keep in mind: We define roles functionally. A person can play more than one role. Since the roles cover functional needs, they all must be covered. While this chart gives you a simple to understand goal for each role, it does not cover everything required from each role. A chart like this may be the start of expectation management, but it's far from the end. Expectation management is key. Role Description Executive Sponsor Sets standards regarding quality and process integrity and provides the resources needed to win. Typically has profit/loss responsibility and budget authority over the pursuit. Plays a key role in the validation of the proposal. Business Development Manager Identifies and qualifies leads and collects intelligence. May pursue multiple leads simultaneously. Directly interacts with the customer and is responsible for establishing and maintaining the customer relationship. Responsible for collecting the intelligence necessary to qualify and win the lead. Hands the pursuit off to a Capture Manager once one is assigned. Capture Manager Responsible for winning the pursuit. Makes the decisions and obtains the resources necessary to win. Dedicated to winning a specific opportunity (whereas the Business Development Manager is responsible for identifying all possible opportunities). Directly interacts with the customer. Makes decisions on behalf of the business unit regarding bid strategies, technical approaches, teaming, pricing, and staffing. Partners with the Proposal Manager who is responsible for developing the proposal document. Also responsible for identifying resources required for the proposal. Proposal Manager Leads the creation of the proposal document. Responsible for tasking and coordinating assignments related to developing the proposal. Works with the Capture Manager for input regarding what is to be proposed and resources to contribute to the proposal. Defines and implements the proposal process. Process Administrator Prepares process related documentation and coordinates activity. Enables the Capture Manager and Proposal Manager to focus on developing the message while ensuring that the process is properly executed. Production Manager Provides a single point of contact and oversight for document production and assembly. Writers Create finished proposal text. Responsible for incorporating the proposed approaches, complying with all RFP requirements, implementing win strategies, and incorporating intelligence regarding the customer, opportunity, and competitive environment. Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) Provide the knowledge needed for an effective proposal. While not usually responsible for finished copy, SMEs are responsible for providing the specialized knowledge required to describe the proposed solution and provide compliant responses to all RFP requirements. At the Proposal Manager’s direction, may participate via interview instead of written content. Graphics/Illustrator Provides the skills needed to render graphics. Generally not responsible for conceiving of graphics, although may provide some assistance. Contracts/Legal Provides review and assistance with the contractual elements of the proposal and teaming relationships. Pricing Provides assistance with developing the pricing and preparing the pricing proposal. Reviewers Review elements of the proposal per the Validation Plan. Production Staff Provides specialized expertise to enhance the proposal document. Responsible for presentation, formatting, and production. Also responsible for tracking and process administration.

The number of people who get involved in preparing a proposal, even a small proposal, adds up quickly. While a large number of people will touch the proposal, fewer people will have significant assignments related to the proposal. Proposal efforts are often divided into a “Core Team” of primary staff at the heart of the effort, who are supported by all the others. Start with one Business Development Manager and one Capture Manager You need a Business Development Manager to qualify the lead, collect intelligence, and manage the customer relationship. Once the opportunity has been qualified and you know that a proposal is going to be requested, you need a Capture Manager to lead the effort to win the bid. The Business Development Manager could dual-hat as the Capture Manager, but this would mean he or she is not chasing other new leads. This is why a Business Development Manager typically hands off to someone else as the Capture Manager. The Capture Manager is often staffed with the Project Manager “to be,” often with mixed results, since they often do not have enough experience in business development. A good Capture Manager needs experience in both Business Development and Project Management. They need to understand sales and they need to be able to make accurate estimates regarding the technical solution. See also: Capture management Add a Proposal Manager and a Process Administrator The Proposal Manager leads the proposal process and the effort to produce the proposal document. However, you want the Proposal Manager’s attention to be on the content of the proposal and not on document production or maintaining process documentation. Therefore, all MustWin efforts should also have a Process Administrator assigned to them to assist the Proposal Manager in maintaining the process documentation. Add a Production Manager and Production Support Staff One person needs to be in charge of preparing the finished copies of the proposal, and it should not be the Proposal Manager. The number of Production Support Staff depends on the size of the document to be produced. Expect to need one Production Support staff for every 75 pages of finished proposal. As it is a MustWin effort and you want it to communicate effectively, at least one of these should be a graphics designer/illustrator. And if you want to give editorial accuracy more than just lip service, you will need an editor in addition to the production staff. The Production Manager and Support Staff may have good editorial skills, but they will be too focused on document assembly to be able to read every word. The solution is an editor who can check the document as they produce it. Add Writers and Subject Matter Experts as Needed You’ll need people to define the solution/approach, write it down, and respond to each requirement of the RFP. For this, you will need subject matter experts who understand the scope of the work and writers who can capture it on paper. The number that you need depends on breadth and depth of the scope of work and the amount of information required by the RFP. For some proposals, writing the technical and management approaches will require multiple authors and subject matter experts. For small proposals, they may have a single author. It depends on the RFP. A subject matter expert may contribute a small write-up or an entire section, depending on their skills and availability. For some proposals, sections like past performance and resumes will require a dedicated author. Once the RFP is received, it should be analyzed to determine how many subject matter experts will be needed to address the topics required, and then how many authors will be needed to provide sufficient capacity. Add Reviewers as Needed The number of reviewers required will be defined in the Validation Plan for the proposal. Similar to writers, it will depend on the depth and breadth of subject matter to be reviewed, as well as the size of the proposal, and the number of items to be validated. Reviewers will typically participate on a part-time basis or full-time during the review activity. Add Corporate Support This generally includes a Contract Specialist, Pricing Specialists, and sometimes Human Resources and Facilities support. Having a Contract Specialist available is vital in government procurement. Typically only one is needed. Likewise only one Pricing Specialist is needed, unless the pricing is very complex or the number of line items is very large. These resources are generally only needed on a part-time basis. Proposals come in many shapes and sizes, so your mileage may vary. You actual staffing need will be driven by the RFP, and may not be known until its release. However, you should not wait until RFP release to identify candidates to fill the various roles.

It is important to assign staff to designated roles in order to define expectations. You may assign a person to more than one role. If you have been asked to perform a role, it is your job to object if you cannot fulfill all of the expectations. Do not accept assignments lightly. Record which people have been assigned which roles using the following table. Role Assignments Role Name(s) Contact Information Executive Sponsor Business Development Manager Capture Manager Proposal Manager Production Manager Production Support Staff Graphics Designer/ Illustrator Writers/SMEs Reviewers Contracts Specialist Pricing Specialist

Description Strategic plans are vital. But they can’t be the kind of strategic plans that sit on a shelf. Instead, they should set your staff up with what they need to know to successfully identify leads, pursue them, and grow your business. Your strategic plan should be a tool that tells your staff: What kind of capabilities and offerings to develop Who their target customers are Where to target marketing and build relationships When, where, and how teaming relationships should be part of the mix What areas they should research to select targets for prospecting What numbers they need to hit What strategic outcomes they should strive for How to embrace trends and changes When a lead is considered identified, what is required to qualify leads, and what the criteria are for bidding them How bid/no bid decisions should be made What their pursuit budgets are and how they should be allocated What differentiates your company and how it should be positioned How overhead should be managed, how internal budgets should be allocated, and the company should invest in itself How methods, approaches, tools, and procedures have strategic impact and how they should flow down What needs to be done to track progress and verify implementation of the strategic plan Most strategic plans are written annually, and often updated quarterly. If people are not using and referring to the strategic plan throughout the year, it’s a sign that the plan is not perceived as vital for them to do their jobs. It means the next one you create should be done differently so that it provides answers that people need and adds value to what they do. If you have to force people to follow the strategic plan, it’s also a sign that something’s wrong. Either there are incentives (financial or otherwise) in the environment that are pulling them in another direction, or else they have conflicting goals. People should want to follow the strategic plan because it makes them all part of the same team, because they share the same compelling vision, and because it’s in their interests. If people are doing things differently from what it says in the strategic plan, one of them is wrong. Either the strategic plan needs to be updated to reflect reality, or the decision process needs to be updated to incorporate referring to the strategic plan. The strategic plan should make it easier to get the right kind of business to build the foundation your business needs for the future. It’s not just about driving executive level mandates down to the workers. It’s about giving the workers something that will help them fulfill the executive vision. To be perceived as an asset, it needs to be useful. If you achieve that, your strategic plan won’t just sit on a shelf. Like a map or trusted guide book, people will use and refer to it constantly.

Customers clearly think that price matters. They are also concerned about risk. If the price is too low, the risk goes up. What they want are the features, but what they need is compliance with the specifications and anything they are required to comply with. Your best clue as to which of these matter the most is the evaluation criteria in the RFP. Look at how they evaluate each item and how much weight they give it. Then make sure that your offering and the points of emphasis in your proposal reflect their priorities. Risk is about trust, your approach to risk mitigation, and your past performance. Trust is developed through relationship marketing, demonstrated understanding and expertise, and transparency. Trust is important because people buy from people they trust. But trust is difficult to specify or quantify in an RFP. This is the main reason why relationship marketing is so effective. So a risk averse customer will look at your approach to mitigating the risks (how well you understand what the risks are, as well as what you will do about them). They will also look at your past performance, since that is the easiest way to assess trustworthiness in an RFP. Keep in mind, when writing about risk mitigation or past performance, that the real underlying concern is trust. What your offering is, will provide, or will do matters to the customer. They’ll study your list of features because that can be itemized, but what they really want is the performance, results and benefits that result from those features. They also need compliance, both with the specifications they have written into the RFP and with any other things (laws, regulations, internal directives, etc.) that they have to comply with. When the customer assesses value, they look at the results or benefits of accepting your proposal, compared against the price. They also consider the likelihood of getting it at the price you proposed and whether you can/will deliver the benefits as described. In short, they consider whether they can trust your proposal. And they do all of this in comparison to any alternatives they may have (which can include doing nothing).

Transparency is the idea that the customer can see the status of all project components and all project data. When you operate transparently, the customer knows about problems as soon as you do, and knows everything you do about them. When you operate transparently, the customer can tell if you have kept all your promises. Transparency is about not giving yourself anywhere to hide, and making sure the customer knows it. Transparency requires that you actually do things the way you promised in the proposal. ApproachesTransparency works best on transaction based projects. It works especially well in environments where you can track metrics. Transparency requires that you give customers access to your tracking systems. While you can give customers access to paper-based tracking systems, it’s easier when you have a web portal. It also works best when tracking is in real time. It is normal to submit monthly reports to the customer that track issues. It is exceptional when you provide real-time access to the system where issues are reported, tracked, and resolved. Being exceptional is how you win. Instead of preparing reports by hand-collating the data and selectively classifying and editing the data, a transparent solution enables the customer to see the data as it comes in with no room for someone in the middle to selectively choose what and how to report. The cheap and easy way to be able to claim transparency is to give your customers access to unfiltered data. But this is sometimes just a way of hiding in plain sight and can increase the burden on the customer to oversee your performance. With a little more effort, you can quantify, classify, and label things so that you can provide data summaries and roll-ups in a quick and easy to understand online dashboard format. Think about what the customer needs to see to verify your performance and make that the first thing they see, preferably with a graphic display. Then enable them to drill down to the underlying data if they want. If you have an online system like this for managing and reporting project data, consider adding analytics features to it, not only for your use but for the customer’s as well. With analytics you can discover interesting correlations, like the ratio of problems to successes, the amount of effort consumed by problems vs. successes, the ROI for prevention efforts, the impact of adding staff on turnaround time, etc. When done right, this will give you plenty of facts to cite in future recompetes, and may also help justify contract modifications or changes to future RFPs. Sample Transparency ThemesWhen you operate transparently, you can make statements like these: You will be able to see issues as soon as we do and you will see what we are doing to resolve them as soon as we do it. It’s more difficult to operate this transparently, because it gives us no place to hide. But we think the results make it worth it. At any point that you have a question about the status, you will be able to get an immediate answer from the same source we would consult ourselves. Unlike our competitors, we will have to meet every specification and keep every promise because you will be able to see any deviations. Operating this transparently lowers the oversight burden, because you have any information you wish to look at, when you wish to look at it, and can pick and choose where to focus your attention.

Ingredients What types of training will you offer? Who are the target audiences for the training? What is the training medium: instructor-led sessions, computer-based training, exercises, or simulations, or something else? Where will training be provided? What materials/courseware will be used? How will you develop the curriculum? What certification(s) will students receive? What accreditation does your organization and/or instructors have? ApproachesDifferent goals can drive the need for training on a project. Training may be necessary for the use and adoption of specific tools, techniques, or solutions, or for more general, ongoing skills enhancement . Audiences can vary as well — training may be required for client staff, project staff, or others. When training is addressed in the Technical Approach, it is usually in the context of the particular aspect of the solution being discussed. When training is addressed in the Management Plan, the emphasis is generally on scheduling and administration of training, and training roles and responsibilities. StrategiesIf the RFP does not require training, providing it anyway can be a competitive advantage. Training is often included as an after-thought, without much detail. Even when training is required, you can add value by providing it to more audiences, in more ways, and at more locations.

Ingredients What security policies/procedures will be followed? Who is responsible for security oversight? What any physical access controls will be used and how facilities will be secured? What electronic access controls at the hardware, networking, operating system, and application levels? What levels of access are to be provided to project staff, users, and others? What Internet usage policies that you will have, and how will you enforce your usage policies? What types of vulnerabilities and attacks you anticipate? How breaches or suspicious incidents will be handled? What will you do to minimize the damage caused by a security breach? What security-related training to be provided? What security-related tools that you will use? How you will ensure compliance with security plans, policies, and procedures? How you will integrate your security plans with any that the customer may already have? How you will coordinate your security plans with any external organizations or third parties? How often security will be reviewed and plans updated? ApproachesWhen security is addressed in the Technical Approach, it is usually in the context of the particular aspect of the solution being discussed. When security is addressed in the Management Plan, the emphasis is generally on contingency plans and security roles and responsibilities. Physical security and information security are sometimes treated as completely separate disciplines, and sometimes they’re addressed together. Which approach to take, and whether to emphasize one or the other, will depend on the nature of the project and the priorities of the client. StrategiesWhat’s the cost of not having adequate security? It can be calculated…

Ingredients What safety precautions may be required on this project? Who will be responsible for ensuring safety? What is your record for ensuring safety? How you will recognize safety hazards and respond to any incidents? What safety standards or procedures will you comply with? Do you have any safety related certifications, awards, or credentials? What is the process for reporting an accident? What safety training that you will provide? What safety records will you keep? How will the customer benefit from your approach to managing safety issues? ApproachesWhen safety is addressed in the Technical Approach, it is usually in the context of the particular aspect of the solution being discussed. When safety is addressed in the Management Plan, the emphasis is generally on contingency plans and safety roles and responsibilities.

Ingredients What is your plan for quality control and quality assurance? Who is responsible for quality oversight? What standard operating procedures will you put into place? What standards you will use to assess and improve quality? What is the role quality planning in each phase of the project? How will the customer benefit from your approach to quality? How will you perform inspection, sampling, and review? What quality records will you keep? How will you solicit and collect feedback? What surveys will you conduct? How will you use feedback to improve quality? How will you collect and document lessons learned? How will you measure success? How will you define, measure, and address defects? What indicators of quality problems will you look for and how you will monitor them? How will your quality approach reduce the cost of rework, scrap, and failure and lower operational, support inventory, and material handling costs? How will your quality approach improve response times and other performance metrics? How will you achieve continuous improvement? Approaches When it is not a separate section of the proposal, it is often included under its own heading in the Management Plan. You can incorporate formal methodologies for Quality Assurance into your response. If you do not have any expertise with methodologies such as ISO 9000, Six Sigma, or the Capability Maturity Model, you should focus on inspection and validation of performance. For example, deliverables should comply with a set of specifications, and be inspected to ensure compliance. Your proposal should identify the standards and methods for performing inspections. Sampling may be used instead of inspecting every single item, but there should be some form of oversight of quality efforts. The proposal should also address how the inspections themselves will be verified and monitored. A Quality Control Plan should, at a minimum, address: Who will inspect what? How inspections will be conducted The frequency of inspections Who will oversee quality efforts? What quality records will be kept? A typical quality plan might include self-inspections using a checklist, inspections performed by an on-site manager using a similar checklist, and periodic inspection of a random sample of completed checklists by someone outside the project to ensure compliance. Quality Plans often include their own organization charts and roles/responsibilities tables. Quality Plans also often include tables of performance standards, inspection types and frequency, and quality record keeping. Another common element of quality programs is to ensure that processes are documented and that this documentation is maintained. If possible, you should include your process documentation (or at least a summary) in your proposal, to show the customer exactly what you will do, how and when you will measure and assess it, and how you will provide quality control. If you do not have the process documentation to include in the proposal, then you should describe how you will prepare it, what it will address, which processes will be included, when it will be completed, and how it will be maintained. Version control and configuration management are also important elements of quality assurance, especially with regards to your quality program documentation. StrategiesIn service proposals, customers want to know that they can trust you to perform as promised. In product proposals, they want to know that there won’t be any defects. Everybody promises quality in their proposals. Your quality plan should make your promises believable. When the RFP does not require a quality plan, providing one anyway can be a competitive advantage.

PositioningPositioning yourself is about making a comparison that establishes why you are better than either a specific alternative or all alternatives. Customers always have alternatives. What makes yours better? It depends on the customer, what you have to offer, the circumstances, and any number of additional things. To figure out how to position yourself, it helps to have an infinite sense of perspective. There are many, many ways to turn things around and different directions to look at them from. For starters, how you position “yourself” depends on what you mean. Are you positioning your: Company Team Offering Staff Self Or some other point of contact between you and the customer? The list below will help you find inspiration for different ways to position yourself. One important consideration is that before you can position yourself as better, you may need to position yourself as different. Positioning yourself as the same, only a little better, is a weak strategy. To help inspire you to find the differences that make you better, we’ve also provided a list of opposites. One way to use this list is to find a word that relates to your competition, and then be the opposite. Another way to use it is to take words from the second list and use them to modify the words from the positioning list. The goal of lists like these is not to contain every possible attribute, but to focus on the attributes that are related to your proposals. Customization to reflect the nature of your business is highly recommended. Things to position your company, self, and offering against: Competition Trends Events Capability Capacity Qualifications Performance Preferences Culture Habits Style Size Speed Efficiency Responsiveness Price Quality Experience Risk Transition Incumbency Compliance Value Scalability Sustainability ROI Methodologies Partnership Location Technology Plans Missions Goals Security Safety Assessments Readiness Training Issues Environment Deadlines Modifiers and Opposites: Past/ future High/ low Innovative/ low risk Fast/ slow Responsive/ deliberate Small/ large Specialized/ generalized Singular/ combination Best/ worst Physical/ virtual New/ established JIT/ continuous Collaborative/ independent Same/different Objective/ subjective Change/ stability Predictable/ unpredictable Traditional/ exciting Included/ excluded Formal/ informal Difficult/ easy Sufficient/ insufficient Complete/ incomplete Now/ later Clear/ complicated Flexible/ rigid Strong/ weak Strategic/ tactical Minimum/ maximum Isolated/ accessible Consensus driven/ authoritarian

Quality is an abstract concept and what matters to customers about it can vary greatly. In a proposal, quality is really about trust. The customer has to trust that you will deliver as promised. And like trust, claiming to be of top quality or being committed to it is not enough. Customers look at quality in different ways: Sometimes it’s just a check box. Do you have a Quality Control Plan? Are you ISO 9001:2000 certified? Are you CMM Level 5? When this is the case, the customer may have learned that what companies say about quality often does not matter and instead look for third-party validation through a certification process. Sometimes they want to know what you are going to do about it. What procedures do you follow? What kind of inspections do you conduct? Who is responsible for quality? Customers with this focus are really concerned about credibility of results. Sometimes they want you to quantify it. How will you measure quality? What performance specifications will you meet? In this case they are attempting to move past abstract notions of quality and get to something concrete. Sometimes they want you to tell them what your approach to it is. They leave it up to you to define it and explain what you do about it. You may have no idea what they think is important, and they probably will not be able to compare apples to apples. This is by far the most difficult circumstance to deal with. You may have to guess at what matters about quality to the customer. What you write about quality in a proposal for each of these is very different. Being certified itself does not tell a customer what you actually do to achieve quality. But following the same procedures does not make you certified, either. In general, the more detail you share regarding what you will do in your proposal and how well you quantify it is better. If you receive proposals from two firms with the same quality certifications, but one says what they will do and one doesn’t (even though their certification requires them to do the same things), the one that explains it will appear to offer more. But it’s not the mechanics of quality control or the validation of quality assurance that ultimately matters, it’s about trust. What the customer gets out of you discussing quality is confidence in whether they can trust that you will deliver as promised. When you present the mechanics of your approach to quality, you should make sure that they reinforce the customer’s need for trust. Terminology There are many different quality methodologies and standards. In proposal writing, you have to be prepared to respond to any methodologies required by the RFP. Formal quality methodologies use specific terminology (ISO, CMM, PIRP, QC/QA, etc.) that can sound like a foreign language. The customer may speak that language, or they may not. In general, it is better to use the terms, but explain things functionally in plain language. But it really depends on what quality language the customer speaks. For example, should you use Issue Resolution Process (IRP), Problem Identification and Resolution Process (PIRP), Problem Identification and Resolution (PI&R), any of the dozens of other variations we’ve seen (like the ones with the extra “P” for “Preventing” problems), or just refer functionally to preventing, identifying, and resolving problems? The answer should not be based on your preference or preferred quality methodology, but on the language that the customer uses. When in doubt, we usually use functional language and avoid jargon. We make it about what needs to be accomplished and not about the terminology. Techniques You don’t have to be certified to use a quality methodology to use the terminology and incorporate the methods into your proposed approaches. Quality methodologies provide a great way to increase the sophistication of the services that you offer. Some of the techniques to be found in various quality methodologies include: Escalation. Usually depicted as a table, with events/triggers for when an issue is taken to the next level and receives more attention and resources. Sampling and inspection. When every item can’t be checked, a certain sample can be inspected and catch when defects are increasing. Procedural verification. You can build things into your procedures that prevent, detect, and resolve defects. They don’t have to be costly or time consuming. Think in terms of checklists, approvals, and reviews. Auditing. How do you know that a company is following its quality procedures? Bring in an outside auditor to verify that your procedures are being followed. Audit trail. An audit trail is like a chain of custody for your processes. It consists of the records that demonstrate who did what and how. With an audit trail, you can know, after the fact, where a defect occurred. Even if you don’t have auditors, there is value in having an audit trail. Repeatability. Ensuring that processes are repeatable, and not just made up as you go along, is a key attribute of many quality methodologies. Quantification. Being able to measure things is critical for being able to manage them. Categorizing, classifying, and quantifying all go together. Statistical analysis may or may not be part of it. Tracking and Monitoring. Tracking on its own is nearly meaningless. But combine it with quantification and escalation, just as examples, and you get a monitoring system that is capable of preventing issues from reaching the customer’s attention. Surveys. Typically used for assessing customer satisfaction. Continuous improvement. Often claimed, rarely substantiated. However, for certain projects, especially repetitive ones, being able to credibly reduce defects, raise efficiencies, etc. over time can enable the customer to select you for your current value and realize a greater ROI over time. If you are already doing any of these things and you just haven’t put it in writing, it gives you an opportunity to add value to your proposal without adding cost. The language used by quality methodologies can help you recognize what you are already doing and explain why it matters. If you learn to use quality language to describe it, you can end up with a much more meaningful proposal, without adding anything to the cost.