Technical proposal writing vs. solutions architecting

Solutioning is figuring out what to offer the customer to solve their problem or address their need. However, in practice, it really involves incorporating subject matter expertise to figure out what to propose. While the term implies creating the solution for proposals that address customer problems, it is similar to systems architecting or offering design. We’re using the term solutioning to cover all of them just to keep it simple.

Solutioning may not be needed in every proposal. Sometimes the customer tells you exactly what you should propose. Some RFPs specifically ask for solutions to problems. Others ask for approaches to achieve the customer’s goals. The more complex, technical, or uncertain things get, the more likely you’ll need help from a specialist who can solve what to offer.

How to tell when you need solutioning

Here are some signs that you need solutioning prior to proposal writing. Does the RFP tell you:

• How many people to bid?
• What the level of effort will be?
• Everything that your staff should do?
• Desired quality standards, but not how to achieve them?
• About problems the customer has with an expectation that you will propose how to solve them?

Or does the RFP tell you what to accomplish but not:

• What approaches to take?
• How much effort will be required?
• How trade-offs should be made?

If the RFP does not give you the answers, then the customer expects you to provide a solution that does.

The more technically challenging the requirement, the more subject matter expert (SME) participation you’ll need. 

Another consideration is that the SMEs are often the ones who will be performing the work and are stakeholders in ensuring that what gets proposed is feasible. Even if you think you know what should be offered, it might be a good idea to involve the stakeholders. 

Solutioning and technical proposal writing are not the same

While there are some SMEs who can do proposal writing, no one should do solutioning by writing about it. Figuring out your solution or what you plan to offer by writing about it is not only bad engineering, it’s a recipe for proposal disaster. If you don’t figure out what to offer and validate it before you start writing, you condemn yourself to re-write after re-write based on every change to your offering in search of something that will win. It never comes because you run out of time. Solutioning by writing about it can ruin a perfectly winnable proposal.

Solutioning should be completed and validated before you start writing your technical approaches. This means that once you think you have a solution, you should have it reviewed to make sure it's what the company thinks will win and is what it wants to propose. You should do this before you invest in writing about it.

Figuring out what to offer can be thought of as an engineering process. Or it can be thought of as a business process improvement effort. Or a design effort. Or an implementation planning effort. It depends on the nature of what your company does and what the RFP requires. The level and type of documentation required will also vary. 

When should you start writing about your solution?

Proposal writing can start when you know enough about the components of your offering to describe them and you have validated that you have the right solution components. It usually does not require the same level of detail as pricing. It may simply require a few answers to questions or details that aren’t obvious.

Having enough detail to illustrate your offering can help with both getting ready to write and with validating the solution. Working out at least a conceptual graphic is a great way to get started because it can show the components, what they accomplish, how they relate to the customer's needs, how they play out over time, and what the customer will get out of it all. A big part of death spiral — where each change to the solution initiates another rewriting cycle that concludes with another attempt to improve the solution and produces another rewriting cycle. This can continue without end until you run out of time and submit what you have instead of the proposal you wanted to have. Trying to figure out what to propose while solutioning by writing paragraphs about it is a primary cause of the proposal death spiral.