Learn to Write Proposals – tendering for business

Learn to Write Proposals

Proposal Structure
Presenting Solution
Persuasive Writing
Effective Groups
Executive Summary

 Specification                             Selection                                  Award

Performance                             Suitability                               Lowest price
Technical                                   Financial Soundness           Most economically
Environmental Input           Technical Capability,          advantageous
                                                       & ability                                    Negotiations
 
Public Tenders     4 – 6 Mths
Private                < 4 Mths

Advantages to submit a proactive proposal

Tenders are time consuming, pulling teams together, and possibly expensive.
Simple to get meeting with them before going out to tenders   -> the sharks are circling
Would you let sales people run the most important projects?
Track record on bids, did you win, loose, what the outcome is.
Tempting to bid on all proposals, bid on the work that you can win.

People go with brands that they are familiar with. Some times proposals are opportunities to get to meet with a client, you time will come after a period of time.

Proposal Evaluation

Who is buying, end users, bid manager, technical?

What button do I need to push with clients to see what type of person they are.

Evaluation Criteria & Selection

Understand what is being evaluated, respond accordingly

Autonomy of a Proposal

Executive Summary   – 2 Pages
Qualifications & Relevant Experience
Our understanding of your requirement    – scope of work required
Our proposed solutions (telling a story)
Project Timeline
Evidence of previous releated work
Timeframe
      Communications
      Costings
      Certificates
 

 Table of compliance

Schedule          – Project Plan,ning key dates
Costs                  – table of costs, assumptions, invoicing schedule, 
                               estimated expenses
Project Team   – Project team structure, team profiles
Our Profile        – company overview, previous experience, project                    
                                 management
Quality assurance.

Bid Management

Proposal Planning
Understanding who does what
Proposal Organisation                                                   Process
Proposal Quality
Production & delivery

Don’t let the process of tendering get in the way of business, let them grow together.

Proposal

Doing research, understand their needs

Proactive Proposal

Shows understanding of the business get their permission to submit their proposal

Business Proposal

Who ever is needed to maximise chance of success, who does it involve.

Planning

Capture Plan
Bid management plan                                                    On going process
Bid / No bid
Qualification Tool

Put effort into proposals that you are certain that have an excellent chance of winning. If this is the first time you see an opportunity on the website, it probably is too late to tender.

High performance people – ask questions, find out about the business

You need to understand the need behind their need, tell a story

Demonstrate     &    Prove               &     Demonstrate           =          Persuasion
Solution                      Credibility              Value                         
                                                                            (Can miss this) 
 Two ways people buy
            Lowest price / cost
            Value

Early in a proposal, graphics draw people to the page. People remember graphics faster than text alone. Effective graphics – a graphic on every page

Remember

Get another team to review – get them to rip them apart, as if they were clients

Proposals – do they need to be hardcopy or via electronic format.

 

In our experience the data gathering & collating is time consuming, and you will need to allocate time, not at the last minute to this. Tenders in their nature suck you into them and you can spend time on them at the cost of your own business, so remember that and allow adequate time.

You may also like...

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.