Proposals: As if by magic

SARAH HINCHLIFFE presents the key to effective proposal resourcing to help you produce a compelling document by good management – not by good luck with a sprinkle of pixie dust

Iam always amazed at how little resource some businesses allocate to proposals. It’s as if they believe in the proposal pixie – that lesser-known species that lives under the stairs and magically produces proposals overnight. Proposal pixies are well known to exist on a diet of cold pizza and precious little respect.

Conversely, I know of a small business that has been remarkably successful at winning government business without having to rely on the last minute appearance of the proposal pixie. Every time a key public sector invitation to tender (ITT)1 arrives, the board members block their diaries out to ensure they give the response their undivided attention. That’s how important it is to them.

SETTING THE CONTEXT Everyone would love to win business without having to compete or write a proposal. This is unrealistic, especially in the world of complex solution sales. Proposals have to be developed, but not by magic.

Compelling proposals are the result of solid business practice. Cobbling together bits and pieces of people’s time as and when required is not the answer. If you are now saying to yourself, “That’s OK, we have a proposal team,” ask yourself if the PROPOSAL RESOURCING: TEN TOP TIPS team is fully integrated in your sales process. If not, as illustrated in Figure 1 on page 30, you may have 1 Acknowledge proposal development as an a virtual ‘brick wall’ syndrome. This model is not essential business-winning activity healthy for winning business because there is no 2 Build a proposal development step into your continuity or cohesion. sales process

Companies that integrate the proposal 3 Appoint a board-level champion for the development step into the sales process – as shown process and for each proposal in Figure 2 – stand to gain these advantages: l Your customer sees you are a unified team 4 Choose only the opportunities with a high win probability l Your proposal reflects the win strategies and visions your salespeople have created l You will be less inclined to respond to a “blind” 5 Identify the right resources, not just any resources ITT – one that you were not expecting – as you will 6 Set up a core team representing each accept that a relationship with the customer is a contributing function prerequisite of developing a winning proposal. 7 Identify all contributors – writers, reviewers, approvers and supporting cast SENIOR SPONSORSHIP 8 Have a detailed, published plan so everyone Every process needs board sponsorship, a knows what and when champion to hail the benefits, encourage adoption 9 Set a budget and measure performance and secure funding for people and facilities. 10 Provide appropriate facilities on time and throughout

Research shows that proposal development can cost up to 7% of the value of the contract.2

Companies that accept proposal development as a valuable activity fund the time required. They allow their staff dedicated time to work on their proposal tasks and do not expect them to turn into proposal pixies in the evening and at weekends. As well as sponsoring the process, senior staff need to sponsor the actual proposals to: l Help qualify the opportunity – should we go ahead or not? l Gain top-level buy-in to the win strategy – if there is debate over the solution or the price to win, the sponsor needs to help arbitrate l Gain access to the best resources l Help determine priorities if there is contention over people’s time.

With senior support, the time and effort required to produce a winning proposal becomes visible and important. Without it, the proposal manager must beg, steal and borrow.

THE PROPOSAL TEAM Proposal teams vary in size based on the profile of the task, but there are always specific roles even if the same person wears more than one pixie hat.

“Companies that accept proposal development as a valuable activity fund the time required. They allow their staff dedicated time to work on their proposal tasks”

First, you need a ‘core team’ for continuity: The manager The person who plans and manages the production of a winning proposal – one that complies with the customer’s instructions, is easy to read and evaluate, shows understanding of the customer’s requirements, reflects the win strategy and looks professional. The manager will ideally be a proposal professional but must, at a minimum, have the necessary skills in project management. Solution specialists These are people to lead the solution design, the delivery approach and the commercial deal. Their task is to pick up the vision created by the sales team (unless they have been part of that team) and develop it fully either personally or in conjunction with colleagues. They report to the manager for the duration of the proposal development. In addition, you will need: Contributors People to write and create diagrams. They may be dedicated professionals or subject matter experts giving a few hours of their time.

JOINED-UP THINKING

Territory planning Opportunity identification Opportunity capture

Proposal development

Present, negotiate, close

FIGURE 1: A TYPICAL BROKEN SALES PROCESS Even if the sales process has a structured methodology, it is rarely integrated with the proposal development function, which is seen as remote and disconnected

Territory planning Opportunity identification Opportunity capture

Proposal development

Present, negotiate, close

FIGURE 2: A FULLY INTEGRATED SALES PROCESS The proposal development process is joined up with the sales process, so the proposal reinforces and builds on the sales messages, optimising win probabilities

Reviewers The manager will schedule several reviews to check the proposal is developing according to strategy and plan. A range of reviewers is needed, and the manager will determine who, why, what, when, where and how. Approvers Senior staff who will sign off the different aspects of the proposal.

It is also helpful to have administrative and technical support for proposals. People who understand processes and systems, help order stationery and couriers, format documents, and test and fix equipment and software, can make the proposal development job immeasurably more efficient. I know from bitter experience how things can turn out without them.

HAVE A PLAN The great thing about a plan – the schedule the manager produces at the start of the proposal development process – is that it shows you who is required to do what and when. It reveals that you will not need everyone for the whole exercise.

With a plan you can move away from vague requests such as:

“I’ll need someone over the next four weeks to write some stuff about project management for a proposal.”

Instead, you will be able to say with authority:

“Starting week commencing 2 June, I’ll need a project management expert to join a proposal core team for four weeks. I need the person to develop and document our approach to delivering an ABC solution for company XYZ. I will need about 50% of their time per week.”

This precision allows the whole business to plan more effectively and support the proposal activity – without a pixie in sight.

SET A BUDGET It makes good business sense to record the time spent creating proposals. Just as you have a budget

SARAH HINCHLIFFE is a director of i4 Sales Performance, which focuses on helping small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) achieve bid excellence. i4 is a Shipley Business Partner. See www.i4salesperformance.co. uk or email sarah@ i4salesperformance.co.uk

References: 1 Invitation to tender or ITT is the term used in the article to describe any formal request from a customer for a proposal. 2 Research by APMP Center for Business Development Excellence. and headcount for marketing, sales and every other function, why not for proposal development? Whether you have dedicated staff or you use a percentage of people’s time, it is important to know that the time you spend winning business is proportionate to the profit you will make. With good planning, you can start to understand budget and resource requirements.

It is also worth measuring success rates. With good metrics, you can make better decisions and adjust behaviour and resources to make ongoing improvements in performance.

FACILITIES Finally, don’t forget that resources extend beyond people. One of the manager’s tasks will be to decide whether to physically co-locate the team in a dedicated proposal room or whether a virtual team model will work. Sometimes it will be a mixture of both.

Technology supports almost every stage of the proposal development process. Whether officebased or virtual, the team needs software to plan,

“Just as you have a budget and headcount for marketing, sales and every other function, why not for proposal development?”

write and draw, communications for telephone calls and to transfer and share documents, and production equipment to print and bind. Timely and reliable provision of this technology is an essential ingredient of success.

We must not forget the traditional tools of the trade – flipcharts and pens, folders and dividers, and packing materials. Even with technology to do almost anything, we still rely on these basic tools from time to time.

LESSONS TO LEARN Proposal development is not a necessary evil, but a key step to winning business. To increase your win rates, it’s worth remembering the following six important guidelines: 1) One, hook the pixies up with the rest of the team 2) Choose the best opportunities and allocate your best pixies to the job in daylight hours with your support and blessing 3) Sort out your pixie hats and remember they can wear more than one 4) Forget magic and have a plan 5) Allocate a pixie budget and measure their success – and don’t forget to recognise their good work 6) Create a great working environment – real or virtual, but not under the stairs.

And remember, pixie dust doesn’t exist.