Readiness review #3: scoring sheet

The following scoring sheet summarizes the questions to be answered, action items to be accomplished, and goals to be achieved for this review. Each one should be assessed to determine if the pursuit is on track to be ready to win at RFP release.

 

Question, Action Item, or Goal	Guidance	Score
Opportunity Intel
Are you sure about the scope/customer requirements?	The scope can change as the customer looks for consensus, feasibility, and budget compatibility. Because of this, even if you think you know the scope, you need to monitor it for changes. In addition, you should be checking with your technical staff for questions about the scope so that they have enough information to build accurate estimates.	❏  Red ❏  Yellow ❏  Green
When is the project schedule (start, end, major milestones)?	If you know the scope and what is driving the customer’s procurement, then you should also know when the customer wants to start. Knowing the completion time and major milestones can tell you something about the level of effort required.	❏  Red ❏  Yellow ❏  Green
Do you have any remaining capability gaps?	You need to know the scope in detail to be sure that you know if there are any areas where your company is weak. Time is running out to fill your capability gaps. Teaming takes time and needs to begin now if you are to have a winning team in place at RFP release.	❏  Red ❏  Yellow ❏  Green
Have you discovered any potential show stoppers?	In addition to capability gaps, you should look for any requirements that might cause your company to lose interest in bidding. Sometimes a show stopper can be corrected, and the sooner you act the better your chances. However, if a show stopper can’t be corrected, then it is better to no-bid early.	❏  Red ❏  Yellow ❏  Green
What are the staffing requirements?	Before you can identify staff to bid and discriminate yourself by the quality of your staffing, you need to know how many people in what labor categories will be required. It’s also a great way to cross check the budget.	❏  Red ❏  Yellow ❏  Green
Has the customer’s acquisition strategy changed?	You need to monitor the acquisition strategy for changes to avoid being surprised by an RFP coming out under a contract vehicle you can’t bid, a change in contract type, on or other unfavorable change.	❏  Red ❏  Yellow ❏  Green
Is the customer’s procurement process on track?	Are they on schedule? What milestones have passed? Which are still to come? Have they received all the approvals that will be required? If they are delayed, is there anything you can do or information you can supply to help?	❏  Red ❏  Yellow ❏  Green
Can you support your estimate of the value of the opportunity?	At this stage, the value needs to be more than just a guess. Show that you’ve done your homework by justifying the value.	❏  Red ❏  Yellow ❏  Green
What past performance/project references should you use?	In professional services, your most important qualification is usually your experience. Which of your company’s projects are the most relevant? You may use them as references. Those that you don’t submit as references may still be useful as citations and examples to reference in the text of the proposal. It will be very helpful to have a list of the projects to reference/cite already prepared.	❏  Red ❏  Yellow ❏  Green
What have you done to influence the procurement? (contract vehicle, budget, terms, requirements, evaluation criteria, etc.)	What have you recommended or done to change or otherwise influence the RFP to your competitive advantage? What else can you do to influence the procurement?	❏  Red ❏  Yellow ❏  Green
What will it take to win?	Assess what you know to determine what you need to do to beat the competition and win the deal with the customer. It’s not sufficient to simply know what it will take; you need to be able to turn that knowledge into action items.	❏  Red ❏  Yellow ❏  Green
Customer Intel
What is the status of your contact plan?	Your contact plan should now be implemented. What is your progress towards fulfilling it?	❏  Red ❏  Yellow ❏  Green
Does the customer have questions or need information you can provide?	The customer may not know the best way to achieve their goals. They may not know what is feasible. You should be as helpful as possible to help them get into position to make a procurement.	❏  Red ❏  Yellow ❏  Green
What do you know about the customer’s preferences?	You need to decide your technical/management approaches and select platforms/standard. You will be faced with making trade-offs. You want you decisions to reflect the customer’s preferences.	❏  Red ❏  Yellow ❏  Green
How does the customer make decisions?	Does the customer have a process for making procurement decisions? Do they require a consensus? Do they have one? At what level are decisions made? What contacts do you have at that level?	❏  Red ❏  Yellow ❏  Green
What is the customer’s procurement process	What steps, events, or milestones must be completed for the customer to release the RFP? What approvals are required? Is there any way you can assist the customer or influence the RFP?	❏  Red ❏  Yellow ❏  Green
What relevant policies, procedures, manuals, rules, and regulations, can you obtain copies of?	It helps to know the customers policies and procedures better than they do themselves? This information is often publicly available. Do you have copies and have you studied them?	❏  Red ❏  Yellow ❏  Green
Competitive Intel
Have you gathered sufficient competitive intelligence to win?	The goal of collecting competitive intelligence is to help you discover how to beat your competition. What have you learned that will give your company a competitive advantage?	❏  Red ❏  Yellow ❏  Green
What have you done to position your company against the competition?	What actions have you taken to ensure that your company is better positioned than the competition?	❏  Red ❏  Yellow ❏  Green
Have the desired companies agreed to team? What have you done to implement your teaming plan?	You can’t always get the companies you want on your team. Building a team is a process. What companies are you pursuing and what is the status of those pursuits? Will the right team be in place at the time of RFP release?	❏  Red ❏  Yellow ❏  Green
What proposal win strategies will drive home your competitive advantages?	Once you have identified your competitive advantages, you need to translate them into strategies and statements that will help you win the proposal. Doing this may identify additional actions items required to win.	❏  Red ❏  Yellow ❏  Green
Business Line Specific
Do you have all the information you need to design and price your offering?	Do you have enough details regarding the scope and requirement specifications to know what to offer and to how to price it?	❏  Red ❏  Yellow ❏  Green
What do you plan to propose that will be better than that of the competition?	It is not enough to have something to offer. What you offer has to beat the competition. How do you plan to achieve that?	❏  Red ❏  Yellow ❏  Green
Self-Awareness and Resources
Has the Capture Manager been assigned and has he/she started yet?	The Capture Manager should start during this review so that he/she can complete part of the preparation for the next review.	❏  Red ❏  Yellow ❏  Green
Has the Proposal Manager been identified yet?	Preparing for the next review will involve proposal preparation. You should identify the Proposal Manager during this review so they can start ramping up before the next review.	❏  Red ❏  Yellow ❏  Green
Other Intel
Describe any additional intelligence collected	Links, attachments, or external references to customer documents or other materials are encouraged.	❏  Red ❏  Yellow ❏  Green
Assessment
Is the pursuit worth further investment?	Is the lead promising enough to make it worth the investment of taking to the next Readiness Review?	❏  Red ❏  Yellow ❏  Green
Is this opportunity on track, for being ready to win at the time of RFP release?	Since this is the first review, there is time to collect more information. Is it off to the right start?	❏  Red ❏  Yellow ❏  Green
Are you on track for developing an information advantage?	You can measure the strength of your customer relationship by how much it provides an information advantage over your competitiors.	❏  Red ❏  Yellow ❏  Green
What issues or challenges need to be overcome?	Do you perceive issues that need to be addressed during future future Readiness Reviews? List or attach them so they can be tracked.	❏  Red ❏  Yellow ❏  Green
What additional questions would you like answered before the RFP is released?	List or attach any questions that you would like added to the list so they can be tracked.	❏  Red ❏  Yellow ❏  Green
What action items do you recommend completing before the next review?	List or attach anything you would like done before the next review so they can be tracked.	❏  Red ❏  Yellow ❏  Green
Do you have any other comments, suggestions, guidance, or direction to offer?	In addition to assessing progress, the purpose of Readiness Reviews is to help ensure that the pursuit is ready to win at RFP release. What can you do to help?	❏  Red ❏  Yellow ❏  Green

 

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