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How to Increase Your Company’s Win Rate in 7 Proven Steps

How to Increase Your Company’s Win Rate in 7 Proven Steps . Webinar Presented to APMP Sydney Chapter December 6, 2011 Bob Lohfeld, Lohfeld Consulting Group www.LohfeldConsulting.com. Focus on 7 Proven Steps to—. Win More Business. PROPOSAL. Write Better Proposals. Advance in Your Career.

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How to Increase Your Company’s Win Rate in 7 Proven Steps

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  1. How to Increase Your Company’s Win Rate in 7 Proven Steps Webinar Presented to APMP Sydney Chapter December 6, 2011 Bob Lohfeld, Lohfeld Consulting Group www.LohfeldConsulting.com

  2. Focus on 7 Proven Steps to— Win More Business PROPOSAL Write Better Proposals • Advance in Your Career

  3. 7 Keys to Winning in Team Sports (and Government Procurements) Every Good Coach will Tell You: Recruit Great Athletes Get the Right People on the Team Use the Right Tools 1 Enhance Your Level of Play with the Right Tools Have a Solid Game Plan Use the Right Techniques 3 2

  4. 7 Keys to Winning in Team Sports (and Government Procurements) Every Good Coach will Tell You: 6 Focus on Coaching 4 Call the Right Plays Avoid Steals Focus on Your Strategy • Every Proposal is Compliant, Responsive, and Compelling Build a Winning Solution 7 5 Enjoy the Game Have Fun at What You Do

  5. Step 1: Get the Right People 1 Like an NFL team, you start by drafting the right athletes • Aptitude: excellent organizational and writing skills • Domain expertise • Experience • Avoid unapplied labor (slugs) Build Your Core Team Augment Core Teamwith Special Players • Consultants used for surge and special skills • Major companies use a 70/30 rule

  6. Step 1: Get the Right People (Cont.) 1 What to Look for in Consultants • Professional expertise: real consultants vs. migratory labor • Recognized accomplishment: more than a business card, peer recognition as among the best • Commitment to the profession:APMP certifications What to Avoid • “Accidental Proposal Consultant” who will do “anything for money” (AFM) between full-time jobs

  7. Step 1: Get the Right People (Cont.) 1 • Professional Development Training: raise their level of understanding and competitiveness (do you have a training program/plan with courses identified?) • Skills training:train like you play/fight/fly; train using your process and tools Train Your Team Do You Have a Team That Can Win? • Proposals are an intellectual competition. Look at your market (SB, mid, large) and ask, “Are we smarter, better trained, and more agile than our competition?” • Look for the best and brightest who can work under tight deadlines (reliable); can handle long hours under stressful situations (durable); and are smart, creative and driven to be successful (talented) • The objective is not to produce a proposal, it is to create the winning proposal

  8. Step 2: Use the Right Process • Business Development • Capture Management • Pre-proposal Preparation • Proposal Development • Post-submittal 2 Establish a Business Acquisition Framework That Covers 5 Stages:

  9. Step 2: Use the Right Process (Cont.) 2 • Defined: written and available process (framework) and instructional materials (procedures) • Repeatable:the process has survived multiple acquisitions • Managed: use the process to manage the pursuits and don’t manage around the process • Measured:track not only your wins and losses, but also how well you carried out the process • Optimized:based on results and statistical analysis, work to continually improve processes Work Toward Building a Mature Business Acquisition Process (for Major Competitions and Task Order Responses)

  10. Step 2: Use the Right Process (Cont.) 2 A Mature Process Will— • Increase efficiency (everyone knows what to do and how to do it) • Reduce costs (reuse artifacts) • Increase win probability Do You Have a Winning Process, or is Every Pursuit a New Adventure? (Reminds Me of the Movie 50 First Dates) 80% <20% • Percentage of companies we interview who admit to having inadequate processes • Percentage of companies that actually do anything about it

  11. Step 3: Use the Right Tools 3 • BD pipeline management tools include: • Excel spreadsheet • Deltek CRM (server or cloud) • SalesForce.com (cloud) • Microsoft Dynamic CRM (server or cloud) • Capture Management tools: • Capture Command Center (Lohfeld’s SharePoint-based framework for managing capture and proposal activities) • Deltek GovWin(task order management) Define Your Overall Business Acquisition (BA) Lifecycle and Then Select and Use the Best Tools for Each Phase of the BA Lifecycle (Not The Other Way Around)

  12. Step 3: Use the Right Tools (Cont.) 3 Proposal Management Tools • SharePoint (Microsoft) • Privia (SpringCM) • Virtual Proposal Center (Intravation) • SalesEdge (Sant) • Custom development Establishan Enterprise Repository with Appropriate Levels of Security to Archive Artifacts and Get Them off Your PC • SharePoint (server or cloud) • Oracle • Siebel • SAP

  13. Step 3: Use the Right Tools (Cont.) 3 Establish 5 Special-purpose Capture and Proposal Productivity Tools • Résumé database • Past performance database (not the same as a contracts file) • Reusable graphics library • Pre-written proposal content • On-line archive of past proposals Personal Proposal Productivity Tools (Microsoft-centric) • Office 2010 and Windows 7, but keep other versions available for government electronic submissions • SharePoint 2010 • Adobe Creative Suite • Adobe Acrobat Pro • See Beth Wingate’s list of tools on our website

  14. Make the Right Management Decisions Step 4: Call the Right Plays 4 • Choose the battles you are going to win and invest appropriately • Stand down on those you are unlikely to win Make the Pursuit and Bid/No-bid Decisions • Use a scorecard to evaluate bid opportunities • Use a “portfolio approach” to include some lower investment, higher payoff, lower win probability bids to maximize your likelihood of achieving your revenue goals • Build your “A list” of programs that you plan to bid and a “B list” of backup programs to bid if an “A list” program is delayed (always have a backup plan to make your revenue number) • Measure Your Pursuit Progress and Don’t be Afraid to Shut Down a Pursuit if You are Not Making Real Progress (See Color Mosaic on Next Slide) • Get a Running Start on Your Proposal • Start proposal planning & development in anticipation of RFP release, not after the RFP is out • Manage Your Workload to Avoid Burnout

  15. Step 4: Call the Right Plays (Cont.) 4 Pursuit Decision Scorecard Color code: Blue(excellent), Green(good, but could be better), Yellow(poor and needs much work), and Red(we don’t know how to begin)

  16. Step 5: Emphasize Creating a Winning Solution 5 Winning Bids will Always be “Feature Rich” with Many Strengths, No or Few Weaknesses, and Offer Low Risk • Winning solutions are created (engineered), they don’t “just happen” • Address all requirements of the RFP (explicitly or implicitly) • Link your solution to the goals and objectives of your customer • Build features that will be evaluated as proposal strengths (features and benefits) and— • Demonstrate high likelihood of mission success • Exceed contract requirements whenever practical in a way that is meaningful to the customer • “Best Informed Wins.” If you understand the requirement better than your competition, you should be able to offer the best solution

  17. Step 5: Emphasize Creating a Winning Solution (Cont.) • Capture Management • Pre-proposal Preparation 5 Do you have a win laboratory or victory lab as part of your process? Build Solution Development into Your Capture and Proposal Processes Solution Sessions Agree on Your Solution Never start writing your technical or managementproposal until you’ve agreed on the solutions and features that you will showcase Focus on Creativity Creativity may be your only real competitive advantage since today’s breakthroughs are tomorrow’s obsolete technology

  18. Step 6: Build a Compliant, Responsive, Compelling Proposal 6 • Make no mistakes in the proposal that cause you to lose points • Make it easy to evaluate (score) • The battle should be won by having the best solution—assume your competitors’ proposals will be well-written! Professional Proposals are Expected to be Compliant, Responsive, and Compelling and Convey Your Solution in the Most Favorable Way to Receive the Highest Evaluation Score Compliant Compelling Responsive

  19. Step 7: Have Fun! 7 • Always follow these rules: • Never criticize the person, only critique the solution or proposal to make it better • Encourage innovation, experimentation, and creativity within the framework of your business acquisition process • Recognize and appreciate the contributions to success and don’t chastise those who tried hard but didn’t win • A happy team builds a culture around winning and your team can become invincible in your competitive market People Who Have Fun at What They do are More Engaged, Creative, Productive, and Motivated to Win

  20. How Well Do You Stack Up? PEOPLE The Graphic Gives You a Clear Indication of Where You Need to Focus Your Energy On a Scale of 1 to 4, Rate Your Company in Each of the 7 Factors 4 QUALITY OF LIFE 3 PROCESS 4 4 2 3 3 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 3 3 TOOLS PROPOSAL 4 4 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 DECISION SOLUTION

  21. APMP Survey shows higher 7-factor scores result in higher win rates • Survey shows on average, a 20% increase in 7-factor scores produces a 20% increase in win rate! US Government contractors had 17% higher 7-factor scores and 28% higher win rates than US companies in the commercial market.

  22. Conclusion • Presentation slides and 7-Factor Assessment Scorecard are on our website at www.LohfeldConsulting.com • http://www.lohfeldconsulting.com/news-knowledge/page/4/ • More information about productivity tools can be found in Beth Wingate’s presentation: • http://www.lohfeldconsulting.com/news-knowledge/2011/06/appmaven%E2%80%99s-secret-arsenal-tools-and-apps-to-achieve-victory-apmp-2011-6-3-11/ • Please think of us for capture and proposal support, process development/ implementation, and training. • Upcoming training classes (http://www.lohfeldconsulting.com/about/events) • December 9, APMP Foundation-level Accreditation, Springfield, VA • January 12, APMP Foundation-level Accreditation, Columbia, MD

  23. About Lohfeld Consulting Group www.lohfeldconsulting.com Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/Lohfeld Lohfeld Consulting Group specializes in helping companies create winning proposals.As the premier proposal services consulting firm focused exclusively on government markets, we provide expert assistance to government contractors in Capture Planning and Strategy, Proposal Management and Development, Capture and Proposal Process and Infrastructure, and Training. Contact Bob Lohfeld CEO of Lohfeld Consulting Group Email: RLohfeld@LohfeldConsulting.com Tel: (410) 336-6264 www.lohfeldconsulting.com

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