Introducing the MustWin Performance Support Tool
We've found a way to turn our process into an online tool
Honestly, it's an approach I just stumbled upon. I wasn't really looking for it. If I say that it has the potential to radically change how people go about winning proposals, that might sound a bit grandiose. But that is exactly what I think it can do. Just not in a way that anyone expects. Imagine combining what you see below with all of our process guidance, online training, proposal recipes, etc., into a single integrated environment. If you do complex proposals with multiple people involved, imagine having all that support to get everyone on the same page and making it as simple as clicking on things.
We're not trying to change how you write. Just enable you to write better. And faster.
The MustWin Performance Support Tool enables you to figure out what it will take to win and build a proposal around that. It's not about document assembly. We're not trying to recycle document parts written for a different customer, opportunity, and competitive environment. We want to make it easy to beat people who do that.
The MustWin Performance Support Tool assists you with proposal writing by putting instructions next to where almost all of you do your writing, in Microsoft Word. You can display it on a second monitor or in another window. As you write, it will be there to remind you of everything you are supposed to address and how. It brings all the iterations of Proposal Content Planning online.
Accelerating Proposal Content Planning
The number one excuse for not properly planning a proposal before writing is that you "don't have time." So we've made it faster. Much faster. And it's online. Another way to think of it is a way to have real online storyboards. Within each topic, you add instructions, define quality criteria, make suggestions, and more, all with a simple click. Here is how simple it is to add to your content plan...
Providing guidance to your proposal writers that helps shape the proposal
What kind of proposal do you want? What points should it make? How should it make them? If you know, you can instruct your proposal writers and their job can become proving them. If you don't, you can instructions for people to figure them out and then prove them.
Inspiration as fast as you can click
As you know if you've followed the articles I've published, I'm not a big fan of reusing past proposals. But I do see the value in providing acceleration and inspiration in the form of proposal recipes. Now we've made it easy to drop recipes into a Proposal Content Plan with the click of a button. We currently have 228 recipes for you to draw on. Not only that, but if you notice that little bookmark symbol in the portion that's grayed out... with the click of another button you can save an instruction you've written for use in other sections or proposals. If there are instructions you want to put in every proposal, all you have to do is pick them from a list like this.
Tracking Progress
Instead of asking a writer "how it's going?" we've enabled authors to self report their completion of each instruction with a simple click. This rolls up into section- and proposal-wide status views like this one:
Real quality validation instead of just subjective reviews
Reviewers can click the traffic light icon next to each proposal quality criterion in each section to "grade" it. It helps that the MustWin Performance Support Tool also makes it easy to define quality criteria.
Reviewers can expand each criterion if they want to add more detail or an explanation. Writers can also ask reviewers for clarification. And the team can discuss issues.
Release schedule
Ready. Now. Take a look at the menu above. Want to see it in action, try the video.
If you are already a PropLIBRARY Subscriber, we'll let you know when it's time to play. If you are not, you should become one so you can be part of it all. If your subscription expired, then go here to reactivate it. If you are a PropLIBRARY Subscriber when the MustWin Performance Support Tool goes live, you'll get a $1,000 discount toward a Corporate Subscription. That's a credit worth TWICE what it cost to subscribe as a single user. You can try PropLIBRARY and the new MustWin Performance Support Tool, and if you think the others at your company should be on it, you can upgrade to the Corporate Subscription for $1,000 less.
As a reward for being an early adopter, if you become a Corporate Subscriber before the end of January, we'll also give you 8 hours of consulting using the tool. We'll help you craft your content plans. We'll show you how to get the most out of it.
To get ready, subscribe now. Invitations to try it out will only be going out to subscribers, and will be going out soon.
Access to premium content items is limited to PropLIBRARY Subscribers
A subscription to PropLIBRARY unlocks hundreds of premium content items including recipes, forms, checklists, and more to make it easy to turn our recommendations into winning proposals. Subscribers can also use MustWin Now, our online proposal content planning tool.
Carl Dickson
Carl is the Founder and President of CapturePlanning.com and PropLIBRARY
Carl is an expert at winning in writing, with more than 30 year's experience. He's written multiple books and published over a thousand articles that have helped millions of people develop business and write better proposals. Carl is also a frequent speaker, trainer, and consultant and can be reached at carl.dickson@captureplanning.com. To find out more about him, you can also connect with Carl on LinkedIn.
