Customer involvement
Proposals are about fulfilling the customer’s expectations. But what do you expect of them?
Ingredients
- Where, when, and how will they need to participate in the project?
- What will be the customer’s role and responsibilities on the project?
- What decisions will the customer have to make?
- Will the customer be required to participate in any reviews?
- What resources or commitments will be required from the customer for the project?
- Will you need access to any customer information, systems, facilities, or people?
- How will you manage customer expectations?
- What you will do to encourage a sense of partnership with your customer?
Approaches
Customer involvement is usually not a separate section. You may choose to call it out under its own subheading if your approach is an advantage. Or you might simply address it within the narrative everywhere that it is relevant.
Strategies
Some customers want to be involved in every aspect of a project; some want no involvement. Some want to outsource an entire function, others want to outsource only certain activities.
This makes addressing customer involvement tricky. You can maximize their involvement, or minimize it, but the only way to know the best approach is to know you customer. If you don’t, it may be best to take a flexible approach that balances the two.
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