Roessler - Developing Effective Proposal Processes and Winning Jobs

Developing Effective Proposal Processes and

Winning Jobs

“All images and/or photos in this presentation unless otherwise noted are the copyrighted property of 123RF Limited, their Contributors or Licensed Partners and are being used with permission under license. These images and/or photos may not be copied or downloaded without permission from 123RF Limited."

©2014 DANR Consulting All Rights Reserved

Agenda•Defining Proposals

•Effective Proposal Processes

•Setting Expectations & Measuring Performance

•Optimizing Our Proposals

Design for Modularity

Build and Leverage Templates

Using Themes To Our Advantage

Why Proposal Appearance Matters

Give Clients A Reason To Pick Our Company

Show Don’t Tell

•Reducing Proposal Risks

•QA/QC-Essential Checklist Elements











Show Don’t Tell




Generic Proposal Definition:An offer to do a specific scope of work for a particular price or rate within a defined timeline.

Is a Verbal and a Handshake Enough?


•Are Expectations The Same?

How Do You Know?

Did They Hear What You Meant

Or What You Said?

Did You Hear What They

Meant or What They Said?

•What If You or Your Contact Leaves

Tomorrow? Is the Agreement Void?

What About an Email?


•Existing Relationship?

•Size of Job?

•Type of Work?

•General T&C’s in Place?

Generally Inadequate Detail Around Scope, Schedule And Other Contractual Elements.

Do I Have to Write a Novel?


Always Include The Basics:

Scope

Responsibilities of All Parties

Schedule

Pricing & Payment Terms

Assumptions & Clarifications

Why Us?










Show Don’t Tell




Is This A Sufficient Process?


Receive Client RFP

Bob Writes A

ProposalIssue Proposal to

Client

Bob & Susie

Assemble The

Proposal

Susie Develops an

Estimate

•Who Qualified the Opportunity?

•What If Bob or Susie’s Out Sick?

•Who Reviewed the Proposal for Consistency?

•Who Approved the Pricing?

Another Process?


Receive Client RFP

Go-No-Go ReviewGo-No-Go

Approved?

Issue Intent to BidYes

No

Send Decline to

Bid

Assign Proposal

Tasks

Develop Estimate

Develop Proposal

Response

Gather Supporting

Docs (Resumes,

Case Studies, etc.)

Assemble

Proposal

Revise

LOA

Review &

Approval?

No

Yes

Issue Proposal To

Client

Complete

Proposal Checklist

Does One Size Fit All?

$10,000


Sole Source

Long-Term Client

T&M

$750,000

Competitive Bid

New Client

Fixed Bid

Proposal A Proposal B

Same Proposal Process?

Consider Short & Long

Form

Proposal Process Phases


• Capturing and Tracking Sales Opportunity• MSA, T&Cs, Insurance, Client Payment History• Go-No-Go Evaluation

Pre-Proposal

• Clarity of Who Does What & Who Approves What• Estimate, Scope, Schedule & T&Cs• Supporting Collateral

Proposal Execution

• Tracking Through Won-Lost Decision• Lessons Learned (Whether Won or Lost)• Closeout of Proposal/Transition to Operations

Post-Proposal

Before the Proposal


• Capturing and Tracking Sales Opportunity• MSA, T&Cs, Insurance, Client Payment History• Go-No-Go Evaluation

Pre-Proposal

•Sales Opportunity Tracking Allows for Planning

•Are There Show Stoppers or Things That Put Us At

A Disadvantage

•Intelligence Gathering-Who Is the Competition? Do

We Want to Bid?

Go-No-Go Questions


•Qualify:

Is the Job Well Defined? (Do We know What they

Want?)

Is the Scope What We Do or Want to Do?

Is the Schedule Realistic?

Are There Any Commercial Concerns?

Do We Have Available Resources to Execute?

What Are the Risks and Can We Accept Them?

Can We Win or Otherwise Gain?

Make a Conscious Go-No-Go Decision

Executing Proposals


• Clarity of Who Does What & Who Approves What• Estimate, Scope, Schedule & T&Cs• Supporting Collateral

Proposal Execution

•Do People Know Who Is Responsible for What?

•Is There A Consistent Process For Developing

Estimates, Scopes and Schedules?

•Are We Providing Supporting Collateral That Will

Resonate?

After the Proposal


• Tracking Through Won-Lost Decision• Lessons Learned (Whether Won or Lost)• Closeout of Proposal/Transition to Operations

Post-Proposal

•Sales Opportunity Tracking Through Client Decision

•Do We Know Why We Won or Lost?

Relationship is a Valid Answer but It’s Often

Overused

•How Well Do We Transition from Proposals to Projects?


Organizational Approaches

Dedicated Proposal Mgr. & Estimators

Technical Staff Generate Proposal Content & Estimates, Others Provide Admin. Support

Sales/Marketing Develops Proposal Content & Technical Resources Provide Estimates

Project Mgrs. Run Proposals As A Project

Larger Organizations May Use Multi-Team Approaches with Gated Review Processes










Show Don’t Tell




Expectations & Performance Metrics


•Should We Expect to Win Every Time?

•What’s A Reasonable Win Percentage? A/E/C=30%

•Less Effective Measurements:

% of Proposals Won Versus Proposals Issued

% of Proposal Value Won Versus Proposal

Value Issued

An Alternate Approach To Metrics


•How Much Should A Proposal Cost To Develop?

Consider Size/Scalability Factor

•Less About %, More About ROI

•What Can We Do To Increase Our Win Probability

and Reduce Our Costs?










Show Don’t Tell




Design for Maximum Modularity


• Some Things Are Unique To Specific Jobs, Others Aren’t

• Re-use Rather Than Re-invent

• Libraries Proposal Managers Can Pull From

• Like Going From Custom Coding to Function Block Programming

$ $

Proposal Costs

Benefit From Templates


• Have Pre-Formatted Proposal Documents All-inclusive Table of Contents

Major Section Headers

Attachments List

• Multiple Templates (Often Based on Size) Small <$25K

Medium $25K-$250K

Large >$250K

Consistency in Look & Feel Builds Brand

Don’t Start From Scratch

What is Your Theme?


•Theme=A Key Message to

Reiterate Throughout the Proposal

•Should Address Customer Pain

Points

Or

•Highlight Strengths/Differentiation

Differentiators to Highlight


Cutover Methodology

Agility/ Responsiveness

Process Knowledge

Plant/Facility Familiarity

System Experience

Integration of 3rd Party Systems

Operability & Maintainability

Risk Reduction

Lowest TIC

Regulatory Expertise

Optimized Technical Solution

Converting Message to Theme


Finding New Ways to Solve Problems

Repeat Message Throughout Proposal

Relevant Cover Photo

Use Headlines & Key Phrases

Proposal Appearance Matters


•Think Like A Marketer, Not An Engineer

•Professional Appearance Implies

Credibility

•Use Graphics And Color To Your

Advantage

•Make It Easy To Find The Highlights

USE HEADLINES THAT COMPELTHEM TO READ MORE

A Fresh Look


Proposal 01234AXYZ Chemicals

Provox to PCS7 Migration

ABC IntegrationJanuary 25, 2015

ExperiencedModernization

Give Clients A Reason To Say Yes


•Have We Addressed Customer

Pain Points?

•Have We Highlighted Our

Differentiators?

•Is Our Message Compelling

Enough?

Customer Challenges

Our Solution

Benefits of Choosing Us

Show Don’t Tell

We have completed numerous control room migration projects with a very high client satisfaction rating.


Telling

Showing-Example 1

We Focus on Client Satisfaction“Your timely, incident free completion of our North End Control Room Migration,was outstanding. We look forward to working with you on future projects.”Technical Manager– ABC Chemicals

ABC ChemicalsNorth End Control Room

Migration

TIC: $6M

Integration Scope: $1.2M

Performance:• 8,000 I/O Honeywell to

DeltaV Migration• 300 Operating Graphics• Startup 2 Weeks Ahead of

Schedule• 3% Under Budget• Zero Safety Incidents• Sole Source Follow-on

Project in South End

Showing-Example 2

Leverage The Work We’ve Done

Examples (i.e. Reports)

Customer Quotes

Case Studies

Project List

Experience Summaries

Tailored Resumes

Copyrighted property of 123RF Limited used with licensing permission. This image may not be copied or downloaded without permission from 123RF Limited.


Reporting Example


Daniel Roessler, Control System Migrations: A Practical Project Management Handbook (New York: Momentum Press, Sept. 2013), 133.

$0

$10,000

$20,000

$30,000

$40,000

$50,000

$60,000

$70,000

$80,000

$90,000

$100,000

Monthly Budget(BCWS)

Actual MonthlySpending

Monthly Earned Value

$0

$50,000

$100,000

$150,000

$200,000

$250,000

$300,000

$350,000

$400,000

$450,000

CumulativeBudget

CumulativeEarned Value










Show Don’t Tell




4 Common Proposal Risks

Incomplete or Deficient RFPs

RFP Misunderstanding (By Bidder)

Misinterpretation of Proposal (By Client)

Lack of Proposal Detail


Reducing Proposal Risks


Q&A With Client

Including Technical Options In Proposal

Assumptions & Clarifications*

Quantify When Possible

Define Complexity When Appropriate

*Always Necessary


Examples of Assumption

One Client Review Cycle for Graphics and Documentation, With Response < 2 Weeks

Standard Work Week, M-F 8am-5pm

All Documentation to Be Provided Electronically

1-Hr Weekly Project Meetings via Conf. Call

What Is Your Bid Basis and Will Cost, Schedule or Scope Change If It’s Not Understood?

Presenting Clarifications


Item # Category Clarification/Assumption

1 Commercial T&L Expenses Not Included and Will Be Billed at Cost+5%

2 Procurement Warranty of Purchased Items Are Per Manufacturer and ABC Integration Provides No Additional Warranty

3 Project Management

Standard ABC Integration PM Reports Will Be Used

4 Project Management

PM Hours Based on 28-Week Schedule

5 Technical We Assume Power Infrastructure Is Sufficient for New DCS Equipment

Clear, Concise, Easy to Identify










Show Don’t Tell




The 4 C’s of Big Picture Review


CompliantDoes Our Proposal Meet RFP Requirements?

CompleteDoes Our Proposal Address All Major Areas?

CompellingDoes Our Proposal Motivate The Client To Choose Us?

ConsistentIs Our Proposal Consistent? (e.g. Fonts, Headings, Numbers)

Checklist Questions 1-7


Q # Check Point Description Yes No Comment

1 All forms included in RFP have been used

2All places needing signatures have been identified and signed by appropriate person(s)

3 All information requested in RFP has been provided

4 A consistent color palette is used throughout the proposal

5Fonts and headings are consistently used throughout the proposal

6Numbers, especially financials, have been double-checked and are consistent throughout the proposal

7Exhibits, Attachments, Appendices, etc. have been properly labeled, numbered and referenced




8 Page transitions are clean of improper breaks

9 Number list and bullet list are consistently handled

10 The proposal has been edited for grammar

11 Table of Contents is up to date and accurate

12 Header/Footer and Pagination are consistent

13Graphics are appropriately used and clearly convey a message

14 Tables and graphs are readable and accurate




15Graphics, tables, and graphs have appropriate and consistent captions

16Are major points clear in the Executive Summary and throughout the proposal

17Are "features and benefits" clearly outlined and easily identifiable

18 Are any known customer perceived weaknesses addressed

19 Is proof provided to backup assertions and key messaging

20Is the proposal professionally binded or electronically assembled for ease of reading

21

Does the proposal include fundamental items such as scope of work, pricing, schedule, and contractual expectations as necessary

Summary


•Make a Conscious Decision To Bid

•Effective Proposal Processes Cover Pre and Post Phases

•Track Proposal Costs & Consider ROI As An Alternative Metric

•Reduce Proposal Costs & Make Proposals Stand Out With:

•Clarity and Detail Reduce Proposal Risks

•Are Your Proposals Compliant, Complete, Compelling and

Consistent?

Modularity & Templates

Themes

A Professional Look

Attention to Marketing

The “Show Don’t Tell”

Principle

Contact Information:

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Website: DANRConsulting.com

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 512-524-7202

Thank You For Your Time!

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Roessler - Developing Effective Proposal Processes and Winning Jobs

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