Are proposals the key to winning business?

Monday, March 7, 2011 by Pete Pizzutillo
Based on your experience, does winning an opportunity in the DoD come down to how well the proposal is written? Or, are there other contributors like the content of the proposal?  The type of analysis described in the proposal?  The estimation methodology?  How well the cost realism is justified? Any insight you have would be great.

Comments for Are proposals the key to winning business?

Tuesday, March 8, 2011 by Andy Langridge:
My rule is if you did not influence what's in the proposal you don't win the business. We can help our clients influence their prospects before the proposal gets generated enabling early day estimation when project data is scarce.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011 by Quentin Redman:
My experience is:
• Best Value to the customer.
• Realistic proposed cost with a believable Life Cycle cost.
• A believable schedule with attainable milestones within the cost constraints
• A well documented Affordability plan with well defined and achievable milestones.
• Traceability to WBS Structure with definitive trace back to customer requirements
• Respond to what the customer requires - not what you "think" they need.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011 by Pete Pizzutillo:
Great quote from article on capturing business
“When we examine why companies win or lose new business in the government market, the reasons are amazingly similar. Companies win more often when they focus on understanding customer requirements and objectives. They predictably lose more often when they don’t. Similarly, qualifying new business opportunities early in the business development life cycle results in better win rates, while late qualification results in fewer wins and cost increases in business development.”

http://washingtontechnology.com/articles/2010/05/03/insights-lohfeld.aspx
Friday, March 11, 2011 by John Long:
I agree with all that Quentin said. The key is the first one – best value. Sometimes a contract will be let for purely political reasons or to sustain the industrial base. In these cases, the quality of the proposal is irrelevant.

Leave a comment





Captcha