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Proposal Development: An Art or a Science?

Uncover the balance of creativity and methodology in proposal development. Explore how artistry and technicality merge to create compelling proposals. Discover the strategies to stand out amidst competition.

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Proposal Development: An Art or a Science?

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  1. Proposal Development: An Art or a Science?

  2. Proposal Development: An Art? a science? Which is it? Only one? Both?

  3. APMP's Mission and Vision Statement APMP promotes the professional growth of its members by advancing the arts, sciences, and technologies of winning business. APMP is the worldwide authority for professionals dedicated to the process of winning business through proposals, bids, tenders, and presentations.

  4. Art, the Creative Aspects of Proposal Development • Art is form and content • Form means— • Elements of art such as form and space • Principles of design • Actual materials used • Content means— • What is meant to be portrayed • What is actually portrayed • How we react to the intended/actual messages

  5. The Notion of Art • Something: • More than just process • More than just “meat and potatoes” • Thinking outside the box to: • Know the break point on “price to win” • Identify the right person to champion for you • Recognize a key failure or success • Leveraging creative media

  6. Art in Achieving a Favored Position Customer Influenced Company Positioned to Bid and Win Customer, Opportunity, and Competitors Researched Opportunity Discovered After M. E. Porter, Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors, The Free Press, 1980, 1988

  7. Competitor Analysis After M. E. Porter, Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors, The Free Press, 1980, 1988

  8. Competitor Analysis

  9. Competitor Analysis

  10. Early Competitive Focus

  11. Exploiting Early Efforts

  12. Visuals Improve Document Comprehension • Two channels of cognition • Visual • Auditory • Reading uses auditory channel • Learning occurs as mind sorts, filters, and integrates • Complementary visuals and text improve learning and command attention

  13. Visuals Make the Point Quickly

  14. Correct Use of Visuals to Sell Minimize text in visuals. Understandable < 10 seconds. Orient visuals vertically. Are relevant, not just decorative. Integrate visuals into the text. Introduce visuals before they appear.

  15. Use Action Captions So Visuals Stand Alone Figure 7. Flexible Security Surveillance System.Operators can select, zoom, and record any image from any video source using our system because diverse camera sources and locations are networked into an integrated command and monitoring center.

  16. Visuals Improve Retention

  17. Style Sheets andFormatting

  18. Persuasive Organization

  19. Why is Proposal Development Art? Requires Creativity • Focuses on the simple yet sublime (the solution)(Chinese art) • Must tell a story (orally or written) that inspires/stimulates the right decision • Uses language/actions symbolically to create a desired result • Relies on the creation of a mosaic to understand the customer, competitors, and self

  20. Science, the Technical Aspects of Proposal Development Science is knowledge attained through • Study or practice • Measurable results through testing and analysis • Based on fact, not opinion or preference • Body of knowledge that can be— • Rationally explained • Reasonably applied

  21. The Notion of Science • Something: • is repeatable • is mechanical • is based on metrics • is pushed forward by process and tools • Companies that understand proposals to be “science” develop processes, tools, techniques, training • Science can be labeled as “meat and potatoes”

  22. Compliance

  23. Compliance Checklist in Three Steps Capture verbatim requirements from RFP with references Simplify, organize, eliminate redundancies, resolve contradictions Separate into single requirements

  24. Capture All Requirements Capture verbatim requirements from RFP with references Separate into single requirements

  25. Separate the Requirements Capture verbatim requirements from RFP with references Separate into single requirements

  26. Simplify and Organize Capture verbatim requirements from RFP with references Separate into single requirements

  27. Outlining: Follow a Structured Process Capture verbatim requirements from RFP with references Separate into single requirements

  28. Build the Outline As Prescribed

  29. Scheduling

  30. Scheduling

  31. The All Important Kickoff Meeting

  32. Use Key Milestones to Manage the Proposal Process

  33. Decision Gates

  34. Customer Focus Indicators Hot button ownership explicit Vision statement Hot buttons prioritized Buyer named before seller Buyer named more often than seller Benefits listed before features Link between vision and this buy Organization announced and followed Summary and next steps Customer-relevant proofs

  35. Use Customer’s Language

  36. Why is Proposal Development Science? • Uses facts and data to win (empirically based) • Exploits axioms of competitive law that work consistently • Leverages key features of linguistics and neuroscience to achieve effective communication • Uses psychology to alter customer behavior • Exercises physics and engineering to prove that features will provide benefits

  37. Proposal Assessment Study

  38. Fast Facts of Study • ~5,700 hours • 12 (Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East, Africa) • Over 100 (B2G, B2B; international, local) • Over 340 • 1999-Present

  39. Proposal Assessment Criteria

  40. Composite Proposal Assessment Rating by Criterion

  41. Summary of Industry-Specific Assessment Averages

  42. Study Leader Observations This analysis confirms that the biggest weaknesses we see in proposals stem from inadequate pre-proposal activity, resulting in sub-standard customer responsiveness and competitive focus.

  43. Why is Proposal Development Both? • Combines subject, color, and perspective to create a winning picture • Relies on illustration to present complex engineering ideas • Elevates thinking through facts, data, and graphics • Taps into archetypes (circles, squares, triangles, lines, icons) to convey symmetry, attractiveness of solution, and avoidance of risk

  44. Proposal Development: An Art? a science? Which is it? Only one? Both?

  45. Regardless, We All Know The Typical Phases of Proposal Development • Unbridled enthusiasm • Guarded optimism • Cool objectivity • Mutual confusion • Partial disengagement • Utter disenchantment • Search for the guilty • Punishment of the Innocent • Awards to the non-participants

  46. APMP's Mission and Vision Statement APMP promotes the professional growth of its members by advancing the arts, sciences, and technologies of winning business. APMP is the worldwide authority for professionals dedicated to the process of winning business through proposals, bids, tenders, and presentations.

  47. Questions What are your questions/comments/examples?

  48. Contact Us APMP PO Box 77272 Washington, DC 20013-7272 Phone: +1 - (202) 450-2549 www.apmp.org Ed Alexander Vice President Shipley Associates 1 - (801) 726-8282 egalexander@shipleywins.com www.shipleywins.com

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