Lecture 10: Develop Winning Proposals

Question 1

Are Proposals just something for Consultants?

Answer 1

• Project based organization are becoming more common
• Large Organizations are split into separate companies
• Selling and winning is just one part, understanding the
• scope the other, even more important

Question 2

Definition of Proposal

Answer 2

Legally binding, formal and comprehensive offer to a client to solve a business problem by defining an appropriately tailored project to do so

NOT in this context: „an offer of marriage“

Question 3

For „normal“ IT projects, a wide variety of project types exists

Answer 3

• Strategic work (IT strategy)
• Conceptual work
• Design and Implementation
• Project/Program management

Question 4

General structure of proposals

Answer 4

• Understanding the client‘s problem (status quo, problem description, goals)
• Describing the solution to the problem
• Work plan (tasks, time, budget and personnel) to solve the client‘s problem
• Prerequisites for the client (client time, client personnel involvement, project equipment etc.)
• Pricing
• Legal issues (warranty, AGB‘s etc.)

Question 5

Legal issues are an important part of an proposal

Answer 5

• At the end, the proposal is a legally binding offer /contract
• Highly important questions need to be answered (Werkvertrag vs. Dienstvertrag), warranty etc.
• Involve a lawyer as you can only loose if you do not
• Not covered here in detail

Question 6

At the end, the issue of pricing is always the final step

Answer 6

• Historically, most projects were priced at „time&materials“ with a prearranged and negotiated area (between x and y) and the price for an hour/day was key
• More options exist now and are becoming more common and important:
  
  • Fixed Price for fixed scope („all included“)
  • Bonus for ahead of time delivery
  • Value based billing

Question 7

Sample

Answer 7

• Goal
• Approach and Results
• Provisioning of Infrastructure for the Project and Participation Obligations
• Project Organization
• Milestones and Cost
• Additional Agreements

Question 8

Homework has to be done before the proposal can be started

Answer 8

• Software Engineering usually does not cover this project phase, but structured approach is necessary
• Some clients/markets dictate the proposal process: Public tenders
• Developing Proposals is expensive, it is important to focus on the important ones
• Step 1 und 2 are necessary to define if you want to proceed, the rest of the process is used to deliver and win!

Question 9

Step 1:
Do you want to work for this client at all?

Answer 9

• Select/Preferred Client (new client, existing client)
• History of client towards working with external
• contractors
• Own history with the client
• Win-WinSituation?

Question 10

Step 2:
Do you want to bid for this project?

Answer 10

• What is the competition?
• What are your strengths and weaknesses important
• for this project?
• What is the estimated effort for developing the proposal?
• Does the project fit into your goals and strategy (move to new area, reference)?
• Evaluate cost/risk proposition

Question 11

While all proposals are different, five key elements influence a proposal’s chance of success - when consistently applied.

Answer 11

• Relationship
  
  • Professional rust and empathy
  • Measurable strength of relationship
• Issue
  
  • Scope and context of what should be addressed
  • Making issues and setting direction
• Team
  
  • Those who prepare the proposals and meet with the clients
  • Collaboration, leadership, “on the ground

capability”

• Interaction
  
  • Enables understanding of issues
  • Quantity and quality of contacts between Client and proposal team as proposal is being developed
  • Client access and company knowledge
• Message
  
  • Response on how to address the issue

Question 12

Interaction

Answer 12

Interaction is the means to pursue collaborative problem solving and to demonstrate commitment to the client.

Critical Elements

Why we should do this

• Embark on Discovery Process
  
  • Understand buyer values and demonstrate empathy for the client’s situation
• Make Problem Solving Collaborative
  
  • Develop buy-in for capabilities, expertise, and client chemistry
• Demonstrate Disproportionate Commitment vs. Expectations
  
  • Show commitment and thereby gain client’s trust
• Consistently Collect Feedback
  
  • Focus on the real issues of the client
• Consider Abandoning Bids where
  
  • Invest resources wisely

Question 13

Issue

Answer 13

Framing an issue offers an up-front opportunity to demonstrate insight, creativity and depth of experience.

• Define Problem Accurately
  
  • Address vital client issues
• Frame Issues Insightfully
  • Demonstrate competence, insight,
    creativity, depth and value
• Position Issues Within Solution Boundaries
  
  • Ensure proposed solution is actionable

Question 14

Team

Answer 14

Effective teaming is critical since it leverages team resources and mirrors the scope of the issue addressed.

• Appoint and Empower a Proposal Leader
  
  • Centralize effort and ensure expertise, leadership and commitment
• Assemble Appropriate Team Early
  
  • Target team resources to each element of client problem (skills, expertise and chemistry)
• Dedicate Significant Time
  
  • Demonstrate leadership, commitment and experience

Question 15

Message

Answer 15

Message delivery allows to articulate competitive advantage and demonstrate subtle differentiation vs. competitors.

• Be Concise
  
  • Focus on key issues;; avoid superfluous material
• Add Value Immediately
  
  • Articulate value proposition;; propose solution hypotheses
• Emphasize Integrated Strategy
  
  • Highlight competitive advantage
• Demonstrate Similar Successes
  
  • Foster trust and increase a client’s comfort level with change

Question 16

Relationship

Answer 16

Relationships are also the foundation for future projects and follow-on opportunities.

• Build Trust
  
  • Foster confidence and commitment
• Nurture and Maintain Personal Relationships
  
  • Build basis of trust and commitment
• Understand Power Dynamics within the client
  
  • Identify relationship boundaries and barriers
• Understand State of Mind
  
  • Better position ideas and messages

Question 17

The focused pursuit of recurring relationships benefits both parties because it enables to understand client issues better and to ultimately add more value.

Answer 17

• Keep client’s needs in the forefront
• Build peripheral vision of client issues while executing current engagement
• Reduce proposal efforts through better understanding of client issues (smaller images)
• Strengthen the five elements (darker images)
• These factors all lead to more value added to the client (upward sloping images)

Question 18

What makes a winning proposal?

Answer 18

Understand your client‘s intention and have him/her understand you.

„People do not buy companies and even not ideas, they buy people“

Question 19

Understand your client‘s needs and boundaries.

Answer 19

• Assess decision parameters of the client thoroughly
• A perfect ‚full size‘ solution will not be pursued if it is way off the client‘s budget or the client just intentionally wants to fix a part of the problem

Question 20

Build the ‘right’ relationships

Answer 20

• Assess the buyer situation with a ‚power map‘ of the client
• Who is the ‚real‘ buyer e.g. who decides about the proposal, what is his/her motivation for the project

Question 21

Powermap: Example

Answer 21

you know it

Question 22

Make sure that your team has the right skill-mix and be flexible to adjust.

Answer 22

• The content of a proposal is the basic key to winning the project – therefore you need an expert team to deliver quality content, relationships, legal structure, etc.
• If through constant interaction with the client you should find out that the focus of the proposal shifts to another functional area than originally planned - make sure to include the necessary skills in your team

Question 23

Learn from every proposal – including failures.

Answer 23

• Assess reasons for failure and extract lessons learned
• Share your knowledge and actively seek support from others and their experience
• Identify advantages from competitors

Question 24

Be careful with the language of your proposal!

Answer 24

Avoid

Best (practice, solution, …)

Full / Fully (functional, compliant, …)

Optimum / optimal (solution) State-of-the-art technology

Use

Good (practice, solution, …)

As agreed / Complying with

Highest (quality, standard) Agreed standards, our standards

Appropriate (solution)

Current proven technology at the time of signature of the agreement

Question 25

Do not forget: The proposal is only the first step of the project

Answer 25

• Promise only what you can deliver!
• You have to deliver what you promised initially, otherwise it will be your last win.
• It is much harder to win trust than to loose it again!

Question 26

Which are phases of the proposal process?

Select one or more:

a. Analyze the client’s needs & situation
b. Test-run the proposal presentation
c. Build client relationships
d. Design the solution

Answer 26

a,b,c

Question 27

When would you not bid for a proposal?

Select one or more:

a. You already have a lot of business with this client
b. Similar proposals you made to this client were all rejected in the past
c. You currently do not have the required skills or capacity
d. A lot of interaction with the client is required to create the proposal

Answer 27

b,c

Question 28

Define “Value based billing”

Select one or more:

a. The payment is proportional to the resulting financial benefits for the client
b. The price depends on the time of the delivery of the solution
c. The client pays the costs actually incurred to deliver the solution
d. The price for the solution is negotiated upfront

Answer 28

a

Question 29

What makes a winning proposal?

Select one or more:

a. Focus the proposal on the Procurement Department
b. Gain the trust of the client
c. Promise the client to deliver the best possible solution
d. Offer a good price

Answer 29

b,d