How to Manage Winning Proposals

The biggest enemy of any proposal effort is time. You never have enough of it. This course-targeted to marketing professionals whose responsibilities including managing proposal efforts-concentrates on how to manage the many activities required to meet the technical requirements of preparing a proposal.

Act as an internal consultant to the technical team.

It's critical to establish yourself as a valuable resource during the proposal process, an indispensable part of the team. You will learn techniques for applying your problem solving abilities to the proposal development process.

Help technical staff conduct pre-solicitation client contact.

Proposals are often won long before the client releases the solicitation. You will learn how to guide the technical staff through an early client contact process.

Help staff define their project approach.

Too often, however, technical staff become so bound up in the solution they cannot judge objectively whether it is really meeting the client's needs. You will learn how to facilitate the project approach sessions to bring an objective viewpoint to the process.

Facilitate Win Strategy sessions to help teams drive out proposal themes.

The same holds true for developing themes. You will learn how to guide the technical team through a step-by-step process that results in themes that zero in on the client's needs.

Schedule activities and assign appropriate team members.

Proposals are often written by a team of people, and managing this team can quickly turn to chaos. You will be able to manage the proposal team to make sure that each member is performing a clearly defined set of duties during the proposal preparation process.

Help the write technical sections.

Technical experts often struggle with their assigned proposal sections. You will learn how to develop "templates" the technical staff can use to write their sections and how to incorporate "proposalese" after the sections have been written.

Manage the graphics development process.

Graphics are important to the proposal process, but they, too, take time and can drive up proposal costs. You will learn methods for identifying appropriate graphics early in the process, scheduling their completion, and monitoring their development.

Set up and manage reviews.

Proposal reviews are critical; they allow the team to step back and view the proposal from a distance. You will learn how to schedule and conduct effective proposal reviews, including identifying and briefing key outside reviewers.