As competition grows, written business proposals are getting more and more complicated and become critical to small and mid sized business. However, they don't want to spend on a professional Bid & Proposal Management structure. This document highlights the main Bid & Proposal Management challenges for SMEs, as well as showing how a mature process helps companies winning more bids and more profitable business.

1. JUNE 2013
WIN MORE
BIDS
AND MORE
PROFITABLE
BUSINESS

2. AGENDA
2

3. 1
BID MANAGEMENT & SALES
OPTIMIZATION

4. « DOINGTHE SAME THING OVER AND
OVER AGAIN AND EXPECTING
DIFFERENT RESULTS»
INSANITY:
4

5. On average,
vendors compete on
each RFP in 2011
Vs.3,1in 2007
Sales Managers
spend
of their working time on
presentations and
proposals
60%
costs are spent on writing
and editing
The average stated rate is
around 40%
Statistically the win rate is
around
20% to 25%
5Sources : Lohfeld Consulting Group, APMP, OST, Shipley Associates
4,5
Only15% of average
companies consistently
produce compliant,
responsive, and compelling
proposals
35% never produce
such responses
Of proposal
80%
of average companies
admit to having
inadequate processes
25%

6. WIN MORE
BIDS AND MORE PROFITABLE
BUSINESS
6

7. 7

8. 8
PROPOSAL PHASE
POST
SUBMISSION
PRE-RFP ACTIVITIES
Increase quality of proposals,
reduce proposal costs
≈20%
1%
≈80%
Average costs breakdown of a proposal

9. RFP release
Proposal SubmissionBid Decision
Identification
Qualification
Move toward building a mature Bid
Management Process
9
Pre RFP Proposal Phase
Post
Submission
Choose the
opportunities
you are going
to win and
invest
appropriately.
Drop those you
are unlikely to
win
Make informed
decisions at
the earliest
phase.
Define win
strategy, price
to win,
technical
solution…
(Content Plan)
Define &
communicate clear
roles and
responsibilities .
Start proposal
planning &
development in
anticipation of RFP
release, not after
the RFP is out.
Use templates
Use a sequential
writing process
to avoid rewrites.
Assess the
evaluation criteria
and optimize what
you write to score
highly.
Dedicate time for
editing and peer
review
Obtain a
customer
debrief.
Document
lessons
learned.
Implement
continual
process
improvement
Bid / No bidGo / No go Win/Loss Review
Capture
Management
Pre-Proposal
Preparation
Proposal Development
& Finalisation
Handover &
Close

10. SALES MANAGEMENT:INCREASED RFP BASED REVENUES WITH
LOWER COST OF SALES, INCREASED SALES FORCE PERSONAL EFFICIENCY,
CREATE MORE COMPELLING RESPONSES FASTER…
10
MARKETING: ENFORCED CORPORATE BRAND AND IMAGE,
ACCURATE, WELL-WRITTEN, RELEVANT, AND UP-TO-DATE CONTENT,
ADJUSTED MARKETING STRATEGY…
SENIOR MANAGEMENT: EFFECTIVE SALES PROPOSAL FUNNEL
DECREASED BUSINESS RISKS, GREATER PRODUCTIVITY AND EFFICIENCY
OF REVENUE-GENERATING EMPLOYEES, REFINED BUSINESS STRATEGY
A mature process helps companies
achieving the following benefits:

11. 2
BID MANAGEMENT CONTEXT AND
CHALLENGES
11

12. COMPETITION+++
SATISFACTION ---
12
 Products & services
commoditization
 More standards and
regulations
 Pressure on budgets
and prices
 Cost and non-cost factors
are becoming more equal
 More sophistication and
competiveness
 Compliance
 Customer centricity
 Responsiveness
 Benefits for client
 Price

13. ROLE OF A WRITTEN RESPONSE
+++
13
 Convince the reader
 Ease evaluation
 Highlight your strengths
(features tell/benefits sell)
 Justify solution creativity
 Outdistance your competition

14. EFFICIENCY ---
PROCESS IMMATURITY
14
 Teams
 Bid Process
 Poor utilization of
pre RFP period
 Compliance
 Price strategy
 Scalability
 Documentation
 Decisions and reviews
 Writing skills
 Metrics and performance
measure

15. 15
How good are your own proposals?
Source : 2013 Lohfeld Consulting Group
According to Lohfeld Consulting Group, average companies
Sometimes produce compliant, responsive,
and compelling proposals
Consistently produce compliant, responsive,
and compelling proposals
Don’t know compliance, responsiveness, or compelling
content is important
Never produce compliant, responsive, and compelling
proposals
15%
15%
35%
35%

16. 16
IS EVERY PURSUIT A NEW BET?
To the question « Do you have a winning process, or is every pursuit a
new adventure » ?
 80% of companies interviewed by Lohfeld Consulting Group admit
to having inadequate processes
 <20% of companies interviewed actually do anything about it
Source: Lohfeld Consulting Group, 2011

17. PROFESSIONALIZEBID MANAGEMENT
PROCESS
17

18. 3
APPROACH & SOLUTIONS
18

19. Companies know that they need a Proposal
Management process but don't feel ready to
focus on structure
19
 Limited resources & budget
 Other roles within the company
 Proposal leaders wear too many hats
 Lengthy process is not possible
 Don’t want or need a complicated
process

20. Our APPROACH
START SIMPLE…
20
AND INCREASE
SOPHISTICATION OVER TIME
AND SUCCESS

21.  IDENTIFY INFORMATION
NEEDED TO WIN
 DEFINE ROLES &
RESPONSIBILITIES
 SET EXPECTATIONS
 PLAN AND REVIEW
CONTENT
 DEFINE QUALITY AND HOW
TO OBTAIN IT
 REVIEW AGAINST
COMPLIANCE MATRIX &
PROPOSAL CONTENT PLAN
 TURN WHAT IT TAKES TO
WIN INTO GUIDELINES FOR
WRITTERS & REVIEWERS
21
Basic principles

22. 22
Our services: Bid Management Consulting
 DO YOU NEED OF A COMPETE SOLUTION TO PRODUCE A COMPLIANT & CUSTOMER-FOCUSED
RESPONSE?
 DO YOU NEED TO OPTIMIZE/TUNE UP YOUR CURRENT PROCESS?
 ARE YOU LOOKING FOR WAYS TO SAVE COSTS AND REDUCE RE-WORK?
 ARE YOU BIDDING ON ENOUGH RFPs, OR DO YOU LOOSE MOST OF THE ONES YOU ARE
BIDDING ON?
BID MANAGEMENT CONSULTING
 ASSESSMENT OF THE MATURITY OF YOUR BID PROCESS, POSITIONING RELATIVE TO BEST
PRACTICES, IDENTIFICATION & ASSESSMENT OF PROCESS GAPS…
 DESIGN & IMPLEMENTATION OF A NEW INTEGRATED PROCESS THAT TAKES INTO ACCOUNT
THE COMPANY’S STRUCTURE, CULTURE, MARKETS…
 CONTINUAL PROCESS IMPROVEMENT & TRAINING
CHALLENGE
SERVICES
1
1

23. 23
Our services: Proposal Development Support
 ARE YOU SHORT ON IN-HOUSE SKILLED RESOURCES?
 IS YOUR PROPOSAL LOAD HEAVY?
 ARE YOU LOOKING FOR A COST-EFFECTIVE WAY TO DELIVER A PROPOSAL?
 DO YOU NEED OF SUPPORT & EXPERTISE AT KEY PROPOSAL MILESTONES?
PROPOSAL DEVELOPMENT SUPPORT
 JUST IN TIME SUPPORT TO COST EFFECTIVELY AUGMENT YOUR EXISTING PROPOSAL
RESOURCES
 TURNKEY SOLUTION TO MANAGE YOUR PROPOSAL WITH YOUR INTERNAL RESOURCES
 SUPPORT & GUIDANCE THROUGH CRITICAL PROPOSAL TASKS & MILESTONES
CHALLENGE
SERVICES
2
2

24. 4
WHY DO BIDS FAIL?

25. 80% of bids won or lost on price?
25

26. LACK OF COHERENT
STRATEGY
DYSFUNCTIONAL BID
TEAMS
MISALIGNED GOALS
INFLEXIBLE /
INAPPROPRIATE
PROCESS
NO INNOVATION
LACK OF CUSTOMER
FOCUS
POOR PRICING
STRATEGY
LATE /POOR BID
MOBILIZATION
WEAK COMPETITOR
FOCUS
NON COMPLIANCE &
POOR BID WRITING
SKILLS
According to Grichan Business Winning Services,
there are non-price related criteria for losing a bid
Source: Grichan Business Winning Services (UK) 26

27. Losing due to price often happens as a result of
bad estimates
WRONG SCOPING OF THE
PROJECT
HIGH OVERHEADS
WRONG LABOR MIX
NOT ENOUGH TIME TO
FINALIZE PRICES &
APPROACHES
27

28. 5
BID LESS TO WIN MORE

29. « Let’s bid deals that have the
highest probability of
success »
Account Manager « We can win that deal because this is
our core offering, so don’t worry if we’ve
never met the customer »
Technical Manager
« Let’s bid the deals that don’t cost
very much and rather spend
money on other competing
priorities»
CFO
« Even if the customer don’t know us,
but we can introduce the company
by sending them a proposal. All we
need is one really big win and we
can sell ! »
Entrepreneur
29

30. Should we bid?
Can we win?
30
ASK YOURSELF THE RIGHT QUESTIONS

31. 31
MANAGEMENT
EVERYTHING A COMPANY DOES TO RAISE ITS WIN
PROBABILITY BETWEEN THE TIME IT DECIDES TO BID
AND THE TIME THE RFP IS RELEASED
CAPTURE

32. Capture
Management
General Framework for a Capture
Management process
32
Opportunity
Identification
Opportunity
Qualification
Data Capture
Go/No go
Bid/No bid
External analysis: Opportunity description, customer & competitive analysis…
Internal analysis: Probable solution & pricing, past performance, risks analysis…
Qualification scorecard: Strategic fit, customer knowledge & advocacy, understanding of customer
requirements & objectives, right solution & past performance, competitive positioning, financial
profitability & affordability of proposal costs
Intelligence & data collection
Form capture team, win strategies & themes, solution outline, pricing strategy…
Capture Plan
Call/Contact Plan
Proposal Preparation Plan
RFP release
Proposal SubmissionBid Decision
Identification
Qualification
Pre RFP Proposal Phase
Post
Submission
Bid / No bidGo / No go Win/Loss Review
Capture
Management
Pre-Proposal
Preparation
Proposal Development
& Finalisation
Handover &
Close

33. 6
WHY WE WIN IS AS IMPORTANT
AS WHYWE LOSE

34. CONTENT SKIMMING 2
How evaluators evaluate your proposal?
34
QUICK LOOK
ASSESSMENT
1
DETAILED READING 3
TRENDS:
DESIGNING PROPOSALS FOR SKIMMERS VS. READERS

35. But buyers don’t always make rational
decisions!
RFP as a negotiation
tool against the
incumbent
Influence of
management
relationships with the
incumbent or a
specific competitor
Influence of the
existing relationship
with a specific
competitor
35

36. I’d like to know:
36
 Who was the competition (incumbent, other provider,
internal…)?
 Why did we win?
 What specifically set us apart from the competition?
 Are there any specific areas where the competition
 was stronger than us?
 What was important and unimportant to you in the sales
process?
 When did you make the actual decision?
 How well did our solution align to your needs?
 What can we do differently next time?

37. Avoid repeating the same mistakes and then
expecting different results
37
Define goals & scope
Win/Loss data capture
Analysis/Report
Process improvement
Define Win/Loss objectives
Define & select deal thresholds and outcomes
Capture Win/Loss structured & unstructured data
Develop a specific Win/Loss taxonomy
Conduct the Interviews (internal, with customer)
Analyze and report
Document lessons learned
Populate résumé & past performance databases…
Implement continual processes, tools, documentaion and templates
improvement
RFP release
Proposal SubmissionBid Decision
Identification
Qualification
Pre RFP Proposal Phase
Post
Submission
Bid / No bidGo / No go Win/Loss Review
Capture
Management
Pre-Proposal
Preparation
Proposal Development
& Finalisation
Handover &
Close

38. Stephane LOHSE
Bid & Proposal Management Services Consultant
s.lohse@proposal-mgt.com
CONTACT
LinkedIn
http://fr.linkedin.com/in/stephanelohse
Originally from Paris, France, Stephane has over 20 years in managing projects
and bids within international and complex environments.
Stephane helps mid-size and small businesses creating winning proposals,
improving their Bid & Proposal operations and winning more profitable bids.
He has served as a Bid Manager for one of the world’s foremost providers of
consulting, technology and outsourcing services.
Prior to pursuing proposal management as a career, Stephane has worked in
consulting & audit firms, and created his own Competitive Intelligence business.
38