Professional Services Marketing
Marketing professional services and writing professional services proposals is very different from product marketing. A professional services proposal usually includes a staffing plan and the resumes of the staff who will be doing the work. Instead of specific line items to include, describe, and price, you often have to develop an approach, describe it, estimate the level of effort to execute it, and then price the labor to do it. This presents a professional services proposal with a different set of challenges than those faced by other businesses.
Hints on Preparing Responsive Resumes During my career, I have evaluated, reviewed, edited, or written over 20,000 resumes, mostly for technology personnel. This experience was obtained in staffing and preparing personnel sections for Government proposals. Although some people would think any involvement with resumes is a dubious distinction, this work always seemed like an exciting challenge to me. The "challenge" is how to invest your limited time and ingenuity in a way that will win maximum evaluation points on the personnel section of the bid.
I will never forget my experience as a young proposal writer working for a small business in Virginia Beach, Virginia. We were an IT services company, so the personnel section was one of the most important parts of our proposals. At the time, my boss was a retired civil servant / general officer named strong opinions on every subject, including proposal resumes. He thought a proposal resume could be prepared in two hours, so I had an interesting challenge in wheedling enough time to get responsive resumes prepared.
I have found that the time required to prepare a proposal resume varies widely. For those personnel who do not have a resume or have one written in crayon on brown paper bag, you can expect to spend eight to ten hours. At the other extreme, I have found that, you can expect to receive a resume that is already close to the RFP specifications maybe one out of 25 times, and these resumes can be edited into place in possibly two hours. For the average resume, you normally need 4 or preferably 6 hours each to produce a document that can maximize evaluation points scored. However, if the personnel section is small, such as 6 or 8 total resumes, you would want to spend at least 8 hours per resume.
The job before the proposal resume writer is to edit or "format" the resume in a way that is highly responsive to the RFP requirements. In many cases, the standard being written to is a formal job description for the position in question. In other cases, however, there is no position description, and it is thus necessary to infer what the position requirements are. If the tech writers do not have the experience to know what the position requirements should be, it will be necessary to have a person from HR or ops at least sketch in the basic requirements.
The uniform format used in proposal resumes helps to standardize the process both of producing and evaluating the resumes. Although some solicitations will specify a resume format, most do not. It is therefore incumbent on each company / proposal group to develop a format suitable for their proposal requirements. Most resumes for technology personnel will have the traditional sections such as summary paragraph, education, and jobs starting with the most recent, as well as sections citing specific Hardware and Software systems experience. However, style of pagination varies widely and can be adapted to suit the personality and needs of each company.
When we agree that the fundamental job of the resume writer is to conclusively demonstrate that the proposed person is well qualified for the position, the question becomes, how is that accomplished? For even the most time-constrained proposal, the writer should completely rewrite the introductory paragraph, focusing on the requirements. He or she should also address the requirements in as much depth as time permits in the individual jobs held by the proposed person.
For argument's sake, let's assume that the position description is limited to four requirements: A, B, C, and D. When recasting the introductory paragraph, the writer throws out most or all of the existing material and focuses on the relationship between the person's career and the four requirements. For example, the writer could say, "Mr. Jones has 20 years of professional experience including 4 years of A, 5 years of B, 7 years of C, and 4 years of D. His experience in A includes . . ." and so on. When time permits, the writer also needs to systematically address A, B, C, and D in every past job the person has held in as far as honestly possible to do so.
In order to ensure that the resume completely addresses the requirements, it may be helpful for the writer to create a matrix. In the matrix, he or she develops a plan of how each requirement in the spec will be folded into every possible paragraph in the proposal.
It is sometimes the case that a lazy tech writer will work on a resume using the genuflection approach rather than being thorough. By genuflection approach, I mean spending a limited amount of time in lightly salting an existing resume with a few details pertinent to the spec. This approach is sometimes necessary when the time has expired. However, no company that wants to win contracts would choose to use this method of formatting a resume.
A key question is that asking, who will write the resume? Will it be the tech writer, the person being proposed, or a combination of the two. From the perspective of the proposal manager, the most cost-effective approach may be to have the owner of the resume prepare the first draft response to the spec and more if possible. This approach costs less in terms of proposal budget. However, it requires lead time and coordination effort to accomplish. Additionally, some personnel cannot or will not prepare written input or do not have the time to do so. At the other extreme, the tech writer can do a quite excellent job of formatting a resume by obtaining the candidate's existing resume and filling in the facts through interviewing. In the final analysis, many groups will use a combination of approaches, with the good writers doing their own resumes and with the tech writers doing most of the work for the halt and the infirm personnel who can't write.
Every writer is confronted with problems caused by proposed personnel who lack some of the required qualifications. For example, the spec may require a B.S. degree, and the candidate may not have a B.S. degree. In cases in which personnel do not posses a credential such as a degree, it is sometimes possible to substitute. For example, federal standards commonly allow personnel to substitute two years of professional experience for one year of education. Therefore, if the candidate lacks two years on his degree but has four extra years of experience, you can write in the education section, "B.S. (equiv.)," meaning the person has the equivalent of a B.S. degree, which he does. Furthermore, some writers will resort to the practice of "weasel wording" when confronted with a qualifications problem. In this case, weasel wording means carefully choosing words to obscure the deficiency, while being careful to not tell a lie.
I will never forget my experience as a young proposal writer working for a small business in Virginia Beach, Virginia. We were an IT services company, so the personnel section was one of the most important parts of our proposals. At the time, my boss was a retired civil servant / general officer named strong opinions on every subject, including proposal resumes. He thought a proposal resume could be prepared in two hours, so I had an interesting challenge in wheedling enough time to get responsive resumes prepared.
I have found that the time required to prepare a proposal resume varies widely. For those personnel who do not have a resume or have one written in crayon on brown paper bag, you can expect to spend eight to ten hours. At the other extreme, I have found that, you can expect to receive a resume that is already close to the RFP specifications maybe one out of 25 times, and these resumes can be edited into place in possibly two hours. For the average resume, you normally need 4 or preferably 6 hours each to produce a document that can maximize evaluation points scored. However, if the personnel section is small, such as 6 or 8 total resumes, you would want to spend at least 8 hours per resume.
The job before the proposal resume writer is to edit or "format" the resume in a way that is highly responsive to the RFP requirements. In many cases, the standard being written to is a formal job description for the position in question. In other cases, however, there is no position description, and it is thus necessary to infer what the position requirements are. If the tech writers do not have the experience to know what the position requirements should be, it will be necessary to have a person from HR or ops at least sketch in the basic requirements.
The uniform format used in proposal resumes helps to standardize the process both of producing and evaluating the resumes. Although some solicitations will specify a resume format, most do not. It is therefore incumbent on each company / proposal group to develop a format suitable for their proposal requirements. Most resumes for technology personnel will have the traditional sections such as summary paragraph, education, and jobs starting with the most recent, as well as sections citing specific Hardware and Software systems experience. However, style of pagination varies widely and can be adapted to suit the personality and needs of each company.
When we agree that the fundamental job of the resume writer is to conclusively demonstrate that the proposed person is well qualified for the position, the question becomes, how is that accomplished? For even the most time-constrained proposal, the writer should completely rewrite the introductory paragraph, focusing on the requirements. He or she should also address the requirements in as much depth as time permits in the individual jobs held by the proposed person.
For argument's sake, let's assume that the position description is limited to four requirements: A, B, C, and D. When recasting the introductory paragraph, the writer throws out most or all of the existing material and focuses on the relationship between the person's career and the four requirements. For example, the writer could say, "Mr. Jones has 20 years of professional experience including 4 years of A, 5 years of B, 7 years of C, and 4 years of D. His experience in A includes . . ." and so on. When time permits, the writer also needs to systematically address A, B, C, and D in every past job the person has held in as far as honestly possible to do so.
In order to ensure that the resume completely addresses the requirements, it may be helpful for the writer to create a matrix. In the matrix, he or she develops a plan of how each requirement in the spec will be folded into every possible paragraph in the proposal.
It is sometimes the case that a lazy tech writer will work on a resume using the genuflection approach rather than being thorough. By genuflection approach, I mean spending a limited amount of time in lightly salting an existing resume with a few details pertinent to the spec. This approach is sometimes necessary when the time has expired. However, no company that wants to win contracts would choose to use this method of formatting a resume.
A key question is that asking, who will write the resume? Will it be the tech writer, the person being proposed, or a combination of the two. From the perspective of the proposal manager, the most cost-effective approach may be to have the owner of the resume prepare the first draft response to the spec and more if possible. This approach costs less in terms of proposal budget. However, it requires lead time and coordination effort to accomplish. Additionally, some personnel cannot or will not prepare written input or do not have the time to do so. At the other extreme, the tech writer can do a quite excellent job of formatting a resume by obtaining the candidate's existing resume and filling in the facts through interviewing. In the final analysis, many groups will use a combination of approaches, with the good writers doing their own resumes and with the tech writers doing most of the work for the halt and the infirm personnel who can't write.
Every writer is confronted with problems caused by proposed personnel who lack some of the required qualifications. For example, the spec may require a B.S. degree, and the candidate may not have a B.S. degree. In cases in which personnel do not posses a credential such as a degree, it is sometimes possible to substitute. For example, federal standards commonly allow personnel to substitute two years of professional experience for one year of education. Therefore, if the candidate lacks two years on his degree but has four extra years of experience, you can write in the education section, "B.S. (equiv.)," meaning the person has the equivalent of a B.S. degree, which he does. Furthermore, some writers will resort to the practice of "weasel wording" when confronted with a qualifications problem. In this case, weasel wording means carefully choosing words to obscure the deficiency, while being careful to not tell a lie.
Questions to answer in your Management Plan Organization
How is your company organized? (provide a chart) How does this project fit into the corporate organization? Who is the lead executive for the project? How is this project organized? (provide a chart) What is the ratio of staff to managers? How many layers of management are there? What are the major features and benefits that will result from this organization? What roles and responsibilities will people have on the project? (provide a table) How will accountability be achieved? Where are the points of contact? Where are the lines of communication? What is the escalation path for unresolved issues? Have you addressed horizontal and vertical integration? Locations
Which portions of the project will be performed on-site and off-site? What existing locations will be involved in the project? What new locations will be established for the project? How will new locations be selected, established, and outfitted? Will any site surveys be conducted? How will different locations interact with each other? How much travel will the project require? How will technology be exploited for geographically dispersed collaboration? How will project related travel be managed and accounted for? How much shipping/transport do you anticipate? How will deliveries be made? Subcontracting Plan
Will there be any subcontractors? Will you outsource any project functions? What are the benefits that each subcontractor brings to the table? What roles and responsibilities will subcontractors have on the project? (provide a table) What level of effort will each subcontractor contribute? What contractual terms are the subcontractors working under? Who are the points of contact for each of the subcontractors? How will you interface/work with other contractors? How will you manage work performed by other companies? How will your quality, risk management, and other plans extend to the portions of the project worked on by subcontractors? Resources and Supplies
What resources and supplies will the contractor provide? What resources and supplies will the customer need to provide? How will resources and supplies be procured? How will they be allocated across the project’s timeline and locations? Do you have any resources that uniquely qualify you for this project? How will the customer benefit from the resources that you will deploy? Customer Involvement
What will the customer’s role and responsibilities be on the project? What decisions will the customer have to make? What reviews will they be required to participate in? What resources will be required from the customer for the project? What commitments are required from the customer? What customer information will you need access to? What customer personnel will be required to participate? What level of effort will the customer be required to provide? How will customer expectations be managed? What will you do to encourage a sense of partnership with your customer? Tools, Methodologies, and Techniques
How will the customer benefit from the tools that you will use? What tools/methodologies will you use for development? What tools/methodologies will you use for computer aided design? What tools/methodologies will you use for workflow? What tools/methodologies will you use for configuration management? What tools/methodologies will you use for process automation/management? What tools/methodologies will you use for program management? What tools/methodologies will you use for collaboration? What tools/methodologies will you use for budgeting? What tools/methodologies will you use for record keeping/time keeping? What tools/methodologies will you use for tracking systems What tools/methodologies will you use for customer relationship management? What tools/methodologies will you use for document/knowledge management?
How is your company organized? (provide a chart) How does this project fit into the corporate organization? Who is the lead executive for the project? How is this project organized? (provide a chart) What is the ratio of staff to managers? How many layers of management are there? What are the major features and benefits that will result from this organization? What roles and responsibilities will people have on the project? (provide a table) How will accountability be achieved? Where are the points of contact? Where are the lines of communication? What is the escalation path for unresolved issues? Have you addressed horizontal and vertical integration? Locations
Which portions of the project will be performed on-site and off-site? What existing locations will be involved in the project? What new locations will be established for the project? How will new locations be selected, established, and outfitted? Will any site surveys be conducted? How will different locations interact with each other? How much travel will the project require? How will technology be exploited for geographically dispersed collaboration? How will project related travel be managed and accounted for? How much shipping/transport do you anticipate? How will deliveries be made? Subcontracting Plan
Will there be any subcontractors? Will you outsource any project functions? What are the benefits that each subcontractor brings to the table? What roles and responsibilities will subcontractors have on the project? (provide a table) What level of effort will each subcontractor contribute? What contractual terms are the subcontractors working under? Who are the points of contact for each of the subcontractors? How will you interface/work with other contractors? How will you manage work performed by other companies? How will your quality, risk management, and other plans extend to the portions of the project worked on by subcontractors? Resources and Supplies
What resources and supplies will the contractor provide? What resources and supplies will the customer need to provide? How will resources and supplies be procured? How will they be allocated across the project’s timeline and locations? Do you have any resources that uniquely qualify you for this project? How will the customer benefit from the resources that you will deploy? Customer Involvement
What will the customer’s role and responsibilities be on the project? What decisions will the customer have to make? What reviews will they be required to participate in? What resources will be required from the customer for the project? What commitments are required from the customer? What customer information will you need access to? What customer personnel will be required to participate? What level of effort will the customer be required to provide? How will customer expectations be managed? What will you do to encourage a sense of partnership with your customer? Tools, Methodologies, and Techniques
How will the customer benefit from the tools that you will use? What tools/methodologies will you use for development? What tools/methodologies will you use for computer aided design? What tools/methodologies will you use for workflow? What tools/methodologies will you use for configuration management? What tools/methodologies will you use for process automation/management? What tools/methodologies will you use for program management? What tools/methodologies will you use for collaboration? What tools/methodologies will you use for budgeting? What tools/methodologies will you use for record keeping/time keeping? What tools/methodologies will you use for tracking systems What tools/methodologies will you use for customer relationship management? What tools/methodologies will you use for document/knowledge management?
Questions to answer in your Staffing Plan What do you need to know in order to staff a project? What does the customer need to know in order to trust that you will be able to staff the project. The following list of questions can inspire you and help you to make sure that you provide the right information. Different companies, different bids, and different circumstances mean that you can simply follow a template or someone else's outline. It may have been written for the wrong context. However, by answering the right questions, you can ensure that you write a staffing plan that meets your particular needs.
How important is staffing to the overall success of the project? What are the position descriptions/qualifications for each role on the project? Who are the key personnel? What level of effort will they contribute? What roles and responsibilities will each position have? (provide a table) What is the background of each key person (provide a biography/summary) How does the staff you have selected distinguish your firm and benefit the customer? What is the resume for each key person How will replacement of staff be handled if necessary? How will you recruit new personnel if needed? How will new project staff be oriented/trained? What on-going training/skills enhancement will be provided to project staff? How will staff be supervised? What is your plan for retaining staff and achieving low turnover? How will staff performance be evaluated? Is your staff financially incentivized in any way? Do you plan to hire any of the customer's staff? Do you plan to hire any of the incumbent contractor's staff? How are skills allocated across the organization? What skills are required for the project? How are skills mapped to project staffing? What depth of staffing is available within your company?
How important is staffing to the overall success of the project? What are the position descriptions/qualifications for each role on the project? Who are the key personnel? What level of effort will they contribute? What roles and responsibilities will each position have? (provide a table) What is the background of each key person (provide a biography/summary) How does the staff you have selected distinguish your firm and benefit the customer? What is the resume for each key person How will replacement of staff be handled if necessary? How will you recruit new personnel if needed? How will new project staff be oriented/trained? What on-going training/skills enhancement will be provided to project staff? How will staff be supervised? What is your plan for retaining staff and achieving low turnover? How will staff performance be evaluated? Is your staff financially incentivized in any way? Do you plan to hire any of the customer's staff? Do you plan to hire any of the incumbent contractor's staff? How are skills allocated across the organization? What skills are required for the project? How are skills mapped to project staffing? What depth of staffing is available within your company?
Recruiting and Selling Key Personnel in Service-Contract Proposals Recruiting and selling key personnel are critical factors in preparing winning proposals. Despite its importance, it is easy for even experienced proposal managers to let key personnel efforts get overshadowed by other issues. And even if your team does stay focused on selecting the right people, effectively selling these key people throughout the proposal often remains a major challenge. As a result, while key personnel should always be one of the contributors to a win, it can cause an otherwise winning proposal to lose.
Who should be named as "key"?
Customers have different opinions of what should be "key" positions. Usually, the number of keys specified in an RFP is a compromise between the customer technical group (user) and the contracting group (buyer). From the bidder's perspective, however, unless your proposal is page-restricted, you should include comprehensive resumes and strong marketing on all individuals you think are essential for accomplishment of the SOW. For those positions not specified as "key" by the RFP, you can designate them as "critical" and accomplish almost the same purpose.
When do I start recruiting and how do I find the right people?
Recruiting key and critical candidates is a task that can consume much more time than anticipated. Since the quality of your proposed personnel is crucial to success, recruiting is too important to delay: Some other bidder may lock up a person who would be a perfect fit with your team, perhaps even one who would make your good team the best team. With this in mind, you should start recruiting early in the proposal process, immediately after you determine what your key positions are. And your recruiting efforts should continue until contract award.
Once you've started the recruiting process, you should always plan on developing more than one candidate for key/critical positions. Even the most qualified and enthusiastic candidates may succumb to the offers of a competitor. Or, worse yet, you may find that your "ideal" candidate is not as qualified as you thought.
The process of recruiting is as important as the people you choose to fill the positions. It is always a good idea to dedicate a senior person to direct the recruiting effort. While it can often be an additional duty imposed on the Proposal Manager, many companies find it cost effective to hire a recruiter or consultant for the task. Recruiting resources include any source that either employs or can provide referrals to qualified individuals. These normally include current/past employees, competitors, professional organizations, and employment services. Regardless of your confidence in any single source, it is wise to use a variety of recruiting.
Knowing when you've found the right candidate
Once you've found candidates, you can determine if they are the right candidates through research. But before conducting reference investigations, thoroughly review the candidate's resume, completed application forms, and other information to ensure the candidate is really worth the effort of the investigation.
What should you request from a prospective candidate? At the very least: 1) a resume and 2) the names and contact information for past supervisors, customers, etc. Candidates should provide references for employment going back at least five years. Once you have determined that a candidate appears to have the qualifications needed to fit the key job description, then initiate your reference checks. Information you should be able to verify includes: employers and employment periods; salary history; capability to perform intended work; strengths and weakness; achievements (technical/management accomplishments, cost reductions, papers, awards, etc.); academic degrees, professional certifications/licenses, etc.; character and personality traits; medical and psychological problems; financial problems; and criminal, security, and other legal problems.
And finally, at least with respect to reference checks, check all key and critical personnel. Why? You should always bet that your customer will check references for your key or critical personnel; if they are not real or provide "other than positive" comments, you may find yourself having to answer some difficult questions during orals. Worse yet, since service contracts are so personnel-dependent, problems such as these could cost you the job.
Selling Key Personnel
There are several places to sell key personnel to the customer. The primary-places that keys are sold are in the proposal. The areas include key person introductions, compliance matrices, and resumes. But your selling opportunities don't stop with the proposal document. Other areas in which the keys are sold to the customer include: 1) information that your customer obtains from reference checking proposed keys, 2) oral presentations, and 3) general reputations of the keys (papers, presentations, general knowledge, etc.).
In the proposal, you begin the sell in the introduction of key and critical candidates. You can describe the overall qualifications of your team and then support your claims with a matrix illustrating all candidates' major strengths against RFP requirements. But the strongest sales vehicle in the proposal is a set of well-crafted, program-specific resumes. Never use candidate-supplied resumes in the proposal; their resumes were written to get a job (almost any job) whereas you want to convince your evaluators that your candidate is the best choice - not just a good choice - for a very specific job. Proposal resumes must present your candidate's specific background, experience, and skills relevant to the specific project you are bidding. And be explicit: Make certain the evaluator understands the relationship of the cited experience to the proposed project. Consider a candidate's experience in the broad scope of requirements for the proposed position, not just technical credentials. Consider technical tasks, management tasks, span of control, commonalty of technical and/or management disciplines, complexity of work, location(s), customer(s), similarity of problems/challenges, earlier program phases, etc.. Also look at characteristics such as responsiveness and flexibility. Again, be specific… make the connection for the evaluator.
All resumes in a proposal should be similar in appearance, but minor format and style modifications can be made to better sell specific candidate capabilities. The best approach is to write them in a format that will best sell the candidates. Unfortunately, you don't always have this luxury since many times the resume form specified in the RFP hinders your ability to sell key candidates. You can overcome this problem in several ways such as including strong in-text key introductions with key person compliance matrices, or by providing additional information (if permitted). Also, slight modifications of the customer's resume form can help you emphasize candidates' strengths.
Finally, unless you are exceptionally fortunate, you will have to make compromises. Some candidates just will not match to RFP requirements perfectly. In these instances - hopefully few - you must craft your sell so that you overcome any candidate deficiencies. You must prove that your candidate can do the work better than other bidders' candidates.
Who should be named as "key"?
Customers have different opinions of what should be "key" positions. Usually, the number of keys specified in an RFP is a compromise between the customer technical group (user) and the contracting group (buyer). From the bidder's perspective, however, unless your proposal is page-restricted, you should include comprehensive resumes and strong marketing on all individuals you think are essential for accomplishment of the SOW. For those positions not specified as "key" by the RFP, you can designate them as "critical" and accomplish almost the same purpose.
When do I start recruiting and how do I find the right people?
Recruiting key and critical candidates is a task that can consume much more time than anticipated. Since the quality of your proposed personnel is crucial to success, recruiting is too important to delay: Some other bidder may lock up a person who would be a perfect fit with your team, perhaps even one who would make your good team the best team. With this in mind, you should start recruiting early in the proposal process, immediately after you determine what your key positions are. And your recruiting efforts should continue until contract award.
Once you've started the recruiting process, you should always plan on developing more than one candidate for key/critical positions. Even the most qualified and enthusiastic candidates may succumb to the offers of a competitor. Or, worse yet, you may find that your "ideal" candidate is not as qualified as you thought.
The process of recruiting is as important as the people you choose to fill the positions. It is always a good idea to dedicate a senior person to direct the recruiting effort. While it can often be an additional duty imposed on the Proposal Manager, many companies find it cost effective to hire a recruiter or consultant for the task. Recruiting resources include any source that either employs or can provide referrals to qualified individuals. These normally include current/past employees, competitors, professional organizations, and employment services. Regardless of your confidence in any single source, it is wise to use a variety of recruiting.
Knowing when you've found the right candidate
Once you've found candidates, you can determine if they are the right candidates through research. But before conducting reference investigations, thoroughly review the candidate's resume, completed application forms, and other information to ensure the candidate is really worth the effort of the investigation.
What should you request from a prospective candidate? At the very least: 1) a resume and 2) the names and contact information for past supervisors, customers, etc. Candidates should provide references for employment going back at least five years. Once you have determined that a candidate appears to have the qualifications needed to fit the key job description, then initiate your reference checks. Information you should be able to verify includes: employers and employment periods; salary history; capability to perform intended work; strengths and weakness; achievements (technical/management accomplishments, cost reductions, papers, awards, etc.); academic degrees, professional certifications/licenses, etc.; character and personality traits; medical and psychological problems; financial problems; and criminal, security, and other legal problems.
And finally, at least with respect to reference checks, check all key and critical personnel. Why? You should always bet that your customer will check references for your key or critical personnel; if they are not real or provide "other than positive" comments, you may find yourself having to answer some difficult questions during orals. Worse yet, since service contracts are so personnel-dependent, problems such as these could cost you the job.
Selling Key Personnel
There are several places to sell key personnel to the customer. The primary-places that keys are sold are in the proposal. The areas include key person introductions, compliance matrices, and resumes. But your selling opportunities don't stop with the proposal document. Other areas in which the keys are sold to the customer include: 1) information that your customer obtains from reference checking proposed keys, 2) oral presentations, and 3) general reputations of the keys (papers, presentations, general knowledge, etc.).
In the proposal, you begin the sell in the introduction of key and critical candidates. You can describe the overall qualifications of your team and then support your claims with a matrix illustrating all candidates' major strengths against RFP requirements. But the strongest sales vehicle in the proposal is a set of well-crafted, program-specific resumes. Never use candidate-supplied resumes in the proposal; their resumes were written to get a job (almost any job) whereas you want to convince your evaluators that your candidate is the best choice - not just a good choice - for a very specific job. Proposal resumes must present your candidate's specific background, experience, and skills relevant to the specific project you are bidding. And be explicit: Make certain the evaluator understands the relationship of the cited experience to the proposed project. Consider a candidate's experience in the broad scope of requirements for the proposed position, not just technical credentials. Consider technical tasks, management tasks, span of control, commonalty of technical and/or management disciplines, complexity of work, location(s), customer(s), similarity of problems/challenges, earlier program phases, etc.. Also look at characteristics such as responsiveness and flexibility. Again, be specific… make the connection for the evaluator.
All resumes in a proposal should be similar in appearance, but minor format and style modifications can be made to better sell specific candidate capabilities. The best approach is to write them in a format that will best sell the candidates. Unfortunately, you don't always have this luxury since many times the resume form specified in the RFP hinders your ability to sell key candidates. You can overcome this problem in several ways such as including strong in-text key introductions with key person compliance matrices, or by providing additional information (if permitted). Also, slight modifications of the customer's resume form can help you emphasize candidates' strengths.
Finally, unless you are exceptionally fortunate, you will have to make compromises. Some candidates just will not match to RFP requirements perfectly. In these instances - hopefully few - you must craft your sell so that you overcome any candidate deficiencies. You must prove that your candidate can do the work better than other bidders' candidates.
Topics to Address When Writing a Transition Plan A transition plan for a proposal must show that you are capable of getting the project started without disruption. To write a better transition plan, put yourself in the place of the customer and consider what questions they would want answered in your transition plan. A good transition plan establishes your credibility for being able to do the work you propose. A bad transition plan will hurt your credibility.
Organization. What will the project organization be on Day 1 of the contract? Will the Project Manager and all of the key staff be in place? If not, one approach is to propose a Transition Team that will get the project started until it can be handed over to the permanent staff. Project Implementation Logistics. Once the contract is signed, what needs to happen for the project to start? Do facilities need to be opened? Do staff need to travel? Do payment terms and billing formats need to be finalized? Staffing. Do you know all of the staff, by name, who will work on the project? Have there been any changes since the proposal was submitted? If staff need to be recruited, then which ones and how long will it take? If you will be proposing a Transition Team, then who will be on it? If possible, you should include names for functions like recruiting, contracts, and accounts payable. Knowledge Transfer. How will project staff get up to speed on the customer’s current state? Will customer documents or interviews be required? Will an incumbent contractor be involved? How will this be scheduled and managed? Will training be required? If so, what form will it take and who will be involved, including both instructors and students? Will one or more site visits be needed? If so, how will this be scheduled and who will be involved? Resources. Will inventory or materials need to be gathered, staged, or prepared for use on the project? Will materials need to be procured? Will facilities need to be identified and leased? How long will it take? Phase-In. Once the project starts, how long will it take to reach full capacity? Will you start slowly and work up to full speed? Will you have any tests, prototypes, samples, or other events prior to full production? When will full production begin? Client Involvement. What support will you need from the customer? This can range from badges and permits to documents, meetings, or even training. For some of the action items in your transition plan, you will need the customer to participate at some level. Disruption. Ideally, there won’t be any. But depending on the type of project, there could be. Disruption can result from construction or it can result from a temporary decrease in productivity while an incumbent contractor leaves and you begin. If there will be any disruption, explain how much and what you will do to minimize it. Risk. Identify all of the sources of risk during the transition period and show what you will do to mitigate them. Schedule. Once you have identified the action items required to start the project, you need to lay them out in sequence and duration. For complicated projects, Gantt charts are usually used. Be sure to include all meetings, interviews, events/milestones, exchanges of documents/information, etc. A well designed Gantt chart can demonstrate that you have more than enough time to complete your Transition Plan, even if something slips.
Organization. What will the project organization be on Day 1 of the contract? Will the Project Manager and all of the key staff be in place? If not, one approach is to propose a Transition Team that will get the project started until it can be handed over to the permanent staff. Project Implementation Logistics. Once the contract is signed, what needs to happen for the project to start? Do facilities need to be opened? Do staff need to travel? Do payment terms and billing formats need to be finalized? Staffing. Do you know all of the staff, by name, who will work on the project? Have there been any changes since the proposal was submitted? If staff need to be recruited, then which ones and how long will it take? If you will be proposing a Transition Team, then who will be on it? If possible, you should include names for functions like recruiting, contracts, and accounts payable. Knowledge Transfer. How will project staff get up to speed on the customer’s current state? Will customer documents or interviews be required? Will an incumbent contractor be involved? How will this be scheduled and managed? Will training be required? If so, what form will it take and who will be involved, including both instructors and students? Will one or more site visits be needed? If so, how will this be scheduled and who will be involved? Resources. Will inventory or materials need to be gathered, staged, or prepared for use on the project? Will materials need to be procured? Will facilities need to be identified and leased? How long will it take? Phase-In. Once the project starts, how long will it take to reach full capacity? Will you start slowly and work up to full speed? Will you have any tests, prototypes, samples, or other events prior to full production? When will full production begin? Client Involvement. What support will you need from the customer? This can range from badges and permits to documents, meetings, or even training. For some of the action items in your transition plan, you will need the customer to participate at some level. Disruption. Ideally, there won’t be any. But depending on the type of project, there could be. Disruption can result from construction or it can result from a temporary decrease in productivity while an incumbent contractor leaves and you begin. If there will be any disruption, explain how much and what you will do to minimize it. Risk. Identify all of the sources of risk during the transition period and show what you will do to mitigate them. Schedule. Once you have identified the action items required to start the project, you need to lay them out in sequence and duration. For complicated projects, Gantt charts are usually used. Be sure to include all meetings, interviews, events/milestones, exchanges of documents/information, etc. A well designed Gantt chart can demonstrate that you have more than enough time to complete your Transition Plan, even if something slips.
Writing a Winning Transition Plan Transition Plans can be an important factor in determining who wins a proposal. If there is an incumbent, then they may not even need a transition period. If there is no incumbent, then if everything else is equal, the vendor with the best transition plan may have an edge. If the RFP is very detailed, then it may be easier to discriminate yourself in the transition plan than in the response to the statement of work.
One way to neutralize the incumbent’s advantage is to also not need a transition period. This requires doing a lot of upfront homework and possibly investment. It involves having already hired everyone you are going to need and being able to name names. You also have to demonstrate that you know all of the procedures and that you can reach full capacity on Day 1. If this is just not possible, then consider cutting the transition period in half. Just do something creative to discriminate yourself from the competition who are likely to comply with the RFP rather than exceed it.
If you are the incumbent, then you can talk about how you don’t need a transition period because you are already in place. But if they have specified that there will be a transition period, another approach would be to say that you will take advantage of the transition period to make improvements. Change can often be even more disruptive than a brand new start. While there are advantages to being an incumbent, it also comes with the disadvantage that the customer thinks they know your limitations. If your competitors are going to compete against you as you are, then you must become something better. It is almost a given that your competitors will be proposing “fresh ideas” and “innovation.” A transition period gives you an opportunity to raise the bar. Documenting the phase-in of your new procedures and improvements will also make them more credible.
It is also important to understand how much the customer wants to be involved during the transition. Some will want to be fully involved, while others will see it as a burden. Getting this wrong can turn the customer negative towards your proposal. Therefore, you need to put researching their preferences in this area high on your priority list before the RFP is issued.
Finally, if there are written evaluation criteria, you need to consider how the Transition Plan is scored. Sometimes the instructions direct you to create a separate Transition Plan, sometimes it is part of the Technical Approach, but most often it is part of the Management Plan. The Transition Plan is often not separately scored. The section with the higher weighting (Technical Approach or Management Plan) should determine where you address these issues. You must put your Transition Plan where the RFP directs you to. But if that place is the Management Plan and it receives far less weight in the evaluation criteria than the issue of risk in the Technical Approach, I would put the schedule and details of the Transition Plan in the Management Plan (as directed) but discuss the issues (staffing, resources, disruption, etc.) in the context of risk within the Technical Approach. Keep in mind that if there are written evaluation criteria and the customer follows a formal evaluation process, then your proposal will not be read, it will be scored.
One way to neutralize the incumbent’s advantage is to also not need a transition period. This requires doing a lot of upfront homework and possibly investment. It involves having already hired everyone you are going to need and being able to name names. You also have to demonstrate that you know all of the procedures and that you can reach full capacity on Day 1. If this is just not possible, then consider cutting the transition period in half. Just do something creative to discriminate yourself from the competition who are likely to comply with the RFP rather than exceed it.
If you are the incumbent, then you can talk about how you don’t need a transition period because you are already in place. But if they have specified that there will be a transition period, another approach would be to say that you will take advantage of the transition period to make improvements. Change can often be even more disruptive than a brand new start. While there are advantages to being an incumbent, it also comes with the disadvantage that the customer thinks they know your limitations. If your competitors are going to compete against you as you are, then you must become something better. It is almost a given that your competitors will be proposing “fresh ideas” and “innovation.” A transition period gives you an opportunity to raise the bar. Documenting the phase-in of your new procedures and improvements will also make them more credible.
It is also important to understand how much the customer wants to be involved during the transition. Some will want to be fully involved, while others will see it as a burden. Getting this wrong can turn the customer negative towards your proposal. Therefore, you need to put researching their preferences in this area high on your priority list before the RFP is issued.
Finally, if there are written evaluation criteria, you need to consider how the Transition Plan is scored. Sometimes the instructions direct you to create a separate Transition Plan, sometimes it is part of the Technical Approach, but most often it is part of the Management Plan. The Transition Plan is often not separately scored. The section with the higher weighting (Technical Approach or Management Plan) should determine where you address these issues. You must put your Transition Plan where the RFP directs you to. But if that place is the Management Plan and it receives far less weight in the evaluation criteria than the issue of risk in the Technical Approach, I would put the schedule and details of the Transition Plan in the Management Plan (as directed) but discuss the issues (staffing, resources, disruption, etc.) in the context of risk within the Technical Approach. Keep in mind that if there are written evaluation criteria and the customer follows a formal evaluation process, then your proposal will not be read, it will be scored.
To win, you must offer a Program Manager with customer recognition During the proposal creation process, there are several key roles. Among these are the Capture Manager (Top Management's representative to the proposal team), the Proposal Manager (has two responsibilities: discover the best case, and do the best job of communicating that case), and the Program Manager-Designate (the individual to lead the program during program execution).
The importance of the Program Manager-Designate (I say "designate", as this individual is not yet in charge of the program, but will be, upon award) cannot be overestimated. Why is that?
First, customers buy not only an organization, but customers also buy people. The single most important "people" the customer has an opportunity to "buy" is the Program Manager. This is the individual with first-line responsibility -- and corresponding authority -- to ensure successful execution of the program. Therefore, if the customer either doesn’t know the Program Manager, or knows and doesn’t like that individual, then the entire organization, and the entire proposal, is "swimming upstream" in that competition.
Second, the proposal team needs a countervailing force to the Capture Manager, and the Marketing Manager. Those two proposal team members' primary concern is winning the competition, and they are typically not nearly so concerned about how to execute the program, and / or how to make money on the program at the offered price. The Program Manager, on the other hand, knows (or should know) the implications the proposal has for program execution. So the Program Manager brings to the proposal team that "steady hand" that prevents over-promising, or under-bidding, in the proposal.
Typical Problems Achieving this in Practice
"We don't have anybody." My experience is that, even in large organizations, the perceived field of talented, skilled program managers is narrow. Limiting the choice of program manager to those with name and face recognition with the customer even further narrows the field. Therefore, the inventory of program managers meeting the criteria is thin or non-existent. OK. Then either find someone, (within the company, or outside) who DOES meet these qualifications, or seriously consider a no-bid. "We have somebody, but he/she is already tied up with another program, and can't be spared." That's another way of saying, "We want to win, but not badly enough to get really qualified people on the proposal effort. OK. Then this is a signal that Top Management is not really committed to winning, and again a no-bid signal. Remember that "commitment" is without meaning, unless that commitment is evidenced by the willingness to spend money to achieve a win. Summary
Placing the right Program Manager-Designate on the proposal team has two benefits: It sends the right message to the customer, and it improves the probability that the proposal, as submitted, can be executed at a profit.
The importance of the Program Manager-Designate (I say "designate", as this individual is not yet in charge of the program, but will be, upon award) cannot be overestimated. Why is that?
First, customers buy not only an organization, but customers also buy people. The single most important "people" the customer has an opportunity to "buy" is the Program Manager. This is the individual with first-line responsibility -- and corresponding authority -- to ensure successful execution of the program. Therefore, if the customer either doesn’t know the Program Manager, or knows and doesn’t like that individual, then the entire organization, and the entire proposal, is "swimming upstream" in that competition.
Second, the proposal team needs a countervailing force to the Capture Manager, and the Marketing Manager. Those two proposal team members' primary concern is winning the competition, and they are typically not nearly so concerned about how to execute the program, and / or how to make money on the program at the offered price. The Program Manager, on the other hand, knows (or should know) the implications the proposal has for program execution. So the Program Manager brings to the proposal team that "steady hand" that prevents over-promising, or under-bidding, in the proposal.
Typical Problems Achieving this in Practice
"We don't have anybody." My experience is that, even in large organizations, the perceived field of talented, skilled program managers is narrow. Limiting the choice of program manager to those with name and face recognition with the customer even further narrows the field. Therefore, the inventory of program managers meeting the criteria is thin or non-existent. OK. Then either find someone, (within the company, or outside) who DOES meet these qualifications, or seriously consider a no-bid. "We have somebody, but he/she is already tied up with another program, and can't be spared." That's another way of saying, "We want to win, but not badly enough to get really qualified people on the proposal effort. OK. Then this is a signal that Top Management is not really committed to winning, and again a no-bid signal. Remember that "commitment" is without meaning, unless that commitment is evidenced by the willingness to spend money to achieve a win. Summary
Placing the right Program Manager-Designate on the proposal team has two benefits: It sends the right message to the customer, and it improves the probability that the proposal, as submitted, can be executed at a profit.
Using Resumes in Proposals Sometimes the customer wants to know who is going to do the work. This is often the case in a non-commodity service proposal. In a product proposal, the customer may not care who is going to be servicing the account. But for a custom software development project that requires domain expertise, they may want to see some resumes to ensure you have people with the required technical and domain experience.
If you have people of such distinction that it discriminates you from any potential competition, then you might want to identify and describe your people even if not asked. In this case, you may (or may not) provide the resume, but will probably provide a biographical summary of their backgrounds. A small company may submit resumes to reinforce the credibility and show that it is fully capable of doing the work.
If the project is a large one, where supplying a sufficient quantity of qualified staff is difficult, you may want to show representative resumes --- a set of resumes of people at your company available to work on projects like this one.
Another approach to showing staffing qualifications is to use tables. You can use a table to show each person and each RFP requirement. In the body of the table you can put check marks, colors (i.e., white: none, yellow: some, red: green), number of staff, years of experience, etc. If you put numeric data in the table you may also be able to use bar charts.
Typically you are trying to show “Depth and Breadth.” Depth implies you have a large enough pool of workers to cover the requirements. Breadth implies that you have staff with qualifications that cover the full range of required capabilities. You can tie depth and breadth to risk mitigation stories.
The Differences Between a Personal Resume and a Proposal Resume
Just because you are using your resume in a proposal does not mean that you should include your personal resume un-edited. Who sets the standard for what should go into a proposal resume? The customer. Ask yourself what the customer wants to see in the resumes provided, and then give it to them.
A personal resume often includes an “objective,” personal references, and other items that are out of context in a proposal. While these may be desirable in the informal, personal evaluation a person gets to be hired, they can make a proposal resume look unprofessional.
While a personal resume is written to show relevance to the position desired, a proposal resume is written to show relevance to the RFP or project requirements. Because of this, the job descriptions in a proposal resume will probably have to be completely re-written. Everything in a proposal resume should reflect the RFP evaluation criteria. I usually include a box of bullets on each resume specifically showing the relevance of the resume to evaluation criteria.
A personal resume may or may not include computer hardware/software expertise, papers, certifications, security clearances, etc. These may or may not be relevant in a proposal resume. If they are not relevant, leave them out. A large part of the difficulty in preparing proposal resumes is often making them all consistent and customized.
Consistency includes formatting as well as content. If your proposal includes multiple resumes, they should all have the same formatting to make it easy to evaluate them. The formatting of a proposal resume does not have to look like a traditional, personal resume. In page-limited proposals, table-formatting is often used to maximize the use of the page while making it easy to find resume elements.
If you have people of such distinction that it discriminates you from any potential competition, then you might want to identify and describe your people even if not asked. In this case, you may (or may not) provide the resume, but will probably provide a biographical summary of their backgrounds. A small company may submit resumes to reinforce the credibility and show that it is fully capable of doing the work.
If the project is a large one, where supplying a sufficient quantity of qualified staff is difficult, you may want to show representative resumes --- a set of resumes of people at your company available to work on projects like this one.
Another approach to showing staffing qualifications is to use tables. You can use a table to show each person and each RFP requirement. In the body of the table you can put check marks, colors (i.e., white: none, yellow: some, red: green), number of staff, years of experience, etc. If you put numeric data in the table you may also be able to use bar charts.
Typically you are trying to show “Depth and Breadth.” Depth implies you have a large enough pool of workers to cover the requirements. Breadth implies that you have staff with qualifications that cover the full range of required capabilities. You can tie depth and breadth to risk mitigation stories.
The Differences Between a Personal Resume and a Proposal Resume
Just because you are using your resume in a proposal does not mean that you should include your personal resume un-edited. Who sets the standard for what should go into a proposal resume? The customer. Ask yourself what the customer wants to see in the resumes provided, and then give it to them.
A personal resume often includes an “objective,” personal references, and other items that are out of context in a proposal. While these may be desirable in the informal, personal evaluation a person gets to be hired, they can make a proposal resume look unprofessional.
While a personal resume is written to show relevance to the position desired, a proposal resume is written to show relevance to the RFP or project requirements. Because of this, the job descriptions in a proposal resume will probably have to be completely re-written. Everything in a proposal resume should reflect the RFP evaluation criteria. I usually include a box of bullets on each resume specifically showing the relevance of the resume to evaluation criteria.
A personal resume may or may not include computer hardware/software expertise, papers, certifications, security clearances, etc. These may or may not be relevant in a proposal resume. If they are not relevant, leave them out. A large part of the difficulty in preparing proposal resumes is often making them all consistent and customized.
Consistency includes formatting as well as content. If your proposal includes multiple resumes, they should all have the same formatting to make it easy to evaluate them. The formatting of a proposal resume does not have to look like a traditional, personal resume. In page-limited proposals, table-formatting is often used to maximize the use of the page while making it easy to find resume elements.
Writing killer proposals for software services A well-written proposal has perhaps the biggest influence on the decision of the customers to award a software project to a particular service provider. A proposal is the culmination of all the efforts that the marketing or the sales team expends – right from creating the interest in the customer thru submitting the bid. A well-written proposal should contain everything that has been discussed with the clients with respect to the service being provided and everything that you feel the customers need to know.
Getting Started
Before starting a proposal, you should be very clear about the purpose of the proposal. It is counterproductive (and costly) to begin writing a proposal until you know your target audience and the precise advantages your product or service can offer them. Having answers to the questions similar to the following is a good way to ensure that you are well prepared.
Who is this proposal addressed to i.e. do you have an idea about the business and profile of your customer What are the exact needs of the customer How do you plan to satisfy that need – technologically What would be the rough shape of the solution How would the management and monitoring of the project be achieved How would you ensure good quality of the work Who are the other people who are providing similar service What is it that differentiates your service from theirs How much time would you take for the entire work How much money would you charge the customers What are your assumptions What are your terms and conditions Components of a killer proposal
A killer proposal should have everything that'll convince the customers that you have not only understood his problem properly, you also have 'the' solution he needs. All the components of a proposal should aim at achieving the faith and confidence of the customer. Your proposal should first define the boundary of your work, then talk about what you are proposing and how you will achieve it technically, then you have to convince him how the entire project would be managed keeping customer focus and satisfaction in view and finally inform him how much you'll charge for your services and how long will it take to complete the whole work. The following components cover all these:
Cover Page Table of contents Executive Summary Scope of work Technical Plan Management Plan Commercial Plan Appendices I hope you all know what a cover page and the table of content means. For those of you who don't, the cover page should contain the name of the service, the name of the company or the organization this proposal is addressed to, the date, and of course the name of your organization. The table of contents should contain all the headers in the proposal and their page numbers.
Following are the details of the rest of the sections of the proposal. Remember that there are no hard and fast rules regarding these sections. You should modify these according to the requirements of the customers. Remember, the important thing is not to have a good proposal, the important thing is to have a proposal that sells.
Executive Summary
Usually the person who has to take a decision is a very busy person. He does not have enough time to go through the entire proposal hence we provide a summary of the entire proposal in the beginning and call it the Executive Summary. Keep the following things in mind while writing an Executive Summary.
Provide a couple of lines about the business and the needs of the customer Provide a couple of lines about the proposed solution Provide a couple of lines about why this is the best solution. Try keeping the language as lucid as possible. Remember the guy who'll read this is perhaps the CEO who does not have any idea about what "Collaborative Computing using the APIs of XSLT XHTML and XLinks" means. Put down couple of lines about the supremacy of your organization in providing similar solutions Finally mention a line about how much you'll charge for this service including the taxes etc and how long will the project last. The entire executive summary should not be longer than one page. You make it longer than this and you have just lost the interest of this CEO and hence this project. Scope of work
The scope of work is where you define in very precise terms both the problem that you are trying to address and the boundaries of your service. This section is perhaps the most important section in the whole proposal because the rest of the proposal is based on the contents of this section. You should keep at least the following things in mind while composing this section
Mention what you have understood about the requirements of the customer Mention in quantifiable terms your service Mention what is included in the scope of work Mention what all you will NOT do, so that there are no ambiguities in the requirements. Remember to keep your Scope of work good and accurate as this is almost equivalent to defining the requirements ib which the entire project is based on. Technical Plan
The Technical plan is where you show your technical prowess and your ability to provide the solution using a technology that is most suitable for the customer. This is one place where you can use all your favorite jargons and TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms ;-) . It is a good idea to break down the entire project into phases. Some of the most common phases are Requirements Study, Project Planning, System Design, Development, Testing, Acceptance, Support etc. Each phase should have clear entry and exit criteria and should have well defined deliverables on the completion on each phase. Also mention about the location of each phase i.e. whether the phase would take place at your development center or at customers premises, and also mention how long will each phase last. Be very clear about the proposed solution while preparing this section because if the customers don't like what you propose, then thats the end of it. Hence, as I always say, be very clear about the needs of the customers and then come up with a solution. Some of the things to be kept in mind while working on this section are as follows.
Although there is no limit to the length of this section, you should ensure that your explanations are relevant and precise Try using numbers, bullets and subheadings to make this section more readable Remember that your technical plan is not your system design. The customers are not interested in knowing the set of APIs or screens or database tables you plan to design, they are more interested in getting an overview. Whenever you have certain phases that'll be executed at the customers site, always mention the number of consultants you'll place there. This'll give them a good idea of the resources that they have to arrange for you. Try keeping your language lucid. Remember, you don't want to confuse your customers, you want to convince him. Provide a list of assumptions that this technical plan is based on. Management Plan
Management Plan is the section where you convince the customers that they'll always be in control of the entire project. This is the section where you tell them how the project monitoring, status reporting, quality assurance etc happens in your organization and how it'll happen during this project. In this section you also specify the team structure and hierarchy and the role and responsibility of each person in the team as well as the contact person of the customers. Some of the things to keep in mind are:
Again there are no limits about how long this section should be but that only makes it more difficult for you. It is a good idea to have diagrammatic representation of the team structure If your consultants have to be placed at customers location, mention clearly about what facilities you expect the customers to provide them e.g. computer with WindowsNT and MS Office and mail and internet access etc... Mention very clearly what you expect from the contact person of the customer. Do you want him to be a person with technical knowledge or functional knowledge or do you want him to be a manager or all the above. Mention the assumptions that you have used to create the management plan. Commercial Plan
This is perhaps the first thing that'll be read by your customers. This section tells about the cost, duration, breakup of the payment and terms and conditions of this proposal and the project. Don't forget to mention any additional costs that the customer might have to bear viz. "the consultants placed at customers site have to be paid a sum of USD 120 per day by the customers" etc.
It is usually a good idea to breakup the entire payment and associate each payment with a deliverable. Be very clear about the terms and conditions and don't forget to mention the duration of the validity of this proposal.
Appendices
Add any supporting document that you think the customers might need to get a better understanding of your solution and service. You might put some sample status report, templates for user communication, a write up on the methodology of your service etc.
Getting Started
Before starting a proposal, you should be very clear about the purpose of the proposal. It is counterproductive (and costly) to begin writing a proposal until you know your target audience and the precise advantages your product or service can offer them. Having answers to the questions similar to the following is a good way to ensure that you are well prepared.
Who is this proposal addressed to i.e. do you have an idea about the business and profile of your customer What are the exact needs of the customer How do you plan to satisfy that need – technologically What would be the rough shape of the solution How would the management and monitoring of the project be achieved How would you ensure good quality of the work Who are the other people who are providing similar service What is it that differentiates your service from theirs How much time would you take for the entire work How much money would you charge the customers What are your assumptions What are your terms and conditions Components of a killer proposal
A killer proposal should have everything that'll convince the customers that you have not only understood his problem properly, you also have 'the' solution he needs. All the components of a proposal should aim at achieving the faith and confidence of the customer. Your proposal should first define the boundary of your work, then talk about what you are proposing and how you will achieve it technically, then you have to convince him how the entire project would be managed keeping customer focus and satisfaction in view and finally inform him how much you'll charge for your services and how long will it take to complete the whole work. The following components cover all these:
Cover Page Table of contents Executive Summary Scope of work Technical Plan Management Plan Commercial Plan Appendices I hope you all know what a cover page and the table of content means. For those of you who don't, the cover page should contain the name of the service, the name of the company or the organization this proposal is addressed to, the date, and of course the name of your organization. The table of contents should contain all the headers in the proposal and their page numbers.
Following are the details of the rest of the sections of the proposal. Remember that there are no hard and fast rules regarding these sections. You should modify these according to the requirements of the customers. Remember, the important thing is not to have a good proposal, the important thing is to have a proposal that sells.
Executive Summary
Usually the person who has to take a decision is a very busy person. He does not have enough time to go through the entire proposal hence we provide a summary of the entire proposal in the beginning and call it the Executive Summary. Keep the following things in mind while writing an Executive Summary.
Provide a couple of lines about the business and the needs of the customer Provide a couple of lines about the proposed solution Provide a couple of lines about why this is the best solution. Try keeping the language as lucid as possible. Remember the guy who'll read this is perhaps the CEO who does not have any idea about what "Collaborative Computing using the APIs of XSLT XHTML and XLinks" means. Put down couple of lines about the supremacy of your organization in providing similar solutions Finally mention a line about how much you'll charge for this service including the taxes etc and how long will the project last. The entire executive summary should not be longer than one page. You make it longer than this and you have just lost the interest of this CEO and hence this project. Scope of work
The scope of work is where you define in very precise terms both the problem that you are trying to address and the boundaries of your service. This section is perhaps the most important section in the whole proposal because the rest of the proposal is based on the contents of this section. You should keep at least the following things in mind while composing this section
Mention what you have understood about the requirements of the customer Mention in quantifiable terms your service Mention what is included in the scope of work Mention what all you will NOT do, so that there are no ambiguities in the requirements. Remember to keep your Scope of work good and accurate as this is almost equivalent to defining the requirements ib which the entire project is based on. Technical Plan
The Technical plan is where you show your technical prowess and your ability to provide the solution using a technology that is most suitable for the customer. This is one place where you can use all your favorite jargons and TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms ;-) . It is a good idea to break down the entire project into phases. Some of the most common phases are Requirements Study, Project Planning, System Design, Development, Testing, Acceptance, Support etc. Each phase should have clear entry and exit criteria and should have well defined deliverables on the completion on each phase. Also mention about the location of each phase i.e. whether the phase would take place at your development center or at customers premises, and also mention how long will each phase last. Be very clear about the proposed solution while preparing this section because if the customers don't like what you propose, then thats the end of it. Hence, as I always say, be very clear about the needs of the customers and then come up with a solution. Some of the things to be kept in mind while working on this section are as follows.
Although there is no limit to the length of this section, you should ensure that your explanations are relevant and precise Try using numbers, bullets and subheadings to make this section more readable Remember that your technical plan is not your system design. The customers are not interested in knowing the set of APIs or screens or database tables you plan to design, they are more interested in getting an overview. Whenever you have certain phases that'll be executed at the customers site, always mention the number of consultants you'll place there. This'll give them a good idea of the resources that they have to arrange for you. Try keeping your language lucid. Remember, you don't want to confuse your customers, you want to convince him. Provide a list of assumptions that this technical plan is based on. Management Plan
Management Plan is the section where you convince the customers that they'll always be in control of the entire project. This is the section where you tell them how the project monitoring, status reporting, quality assurance etc happens in your organization and how it'll happen during this project. In this section you also specify the team structure and hierarchy and the role and responsibility of each person in the team as well as the contact person of the customers. Some of the things to keep in mind are:
Again there are no limits about how long this section should be but that only makes it more difficult for you. It is a good idea to have diagrammatic representation of the team structure If your consultants have to be placed at customers location, mention clearly about what facilities you expect the customers to provide them e.g. computer with WindowsNT and MS Office and mail and internet access etc... Mention very clearly what you expect from the contact person of the customer. Do you want him to be a person with technical knowledge or functional knowledge or do you want him to be a manager or all the above. Mention the assumptions that you have used to create the management plan. Commercial Plan
This is perhaps the first thing that'll be read by your customers. This section tells about the cost, duration, breakup of the payment and terms and conditions of this proposal and the project. Don't forget to mention any additional costs that the customer might have to bear viz. "the consultants placed at customers site have to be paid a sum of USD 120 per day by the customers" etc.
It is usually a good idea to breakup the entire payment and associate each payment with a deliverable. Be very clear about the terms and conditions and don't forget to mention the duration of the validity of this proposal.
Appendices
Add any supporting document that you think the customers might need to get a better understanding of your solution and service. You might put some sample status report, templates for user communication, a write up on the methodology of your service etc.
What Should Your Service Fee Be? You must decide for yourself whether you will charge for your services or not. Should you decide to charge, the next question is "what should my fee be?"
1. Determine What You Need To Make
When setting fees, part of the calculation is how much you need (and want!) to make. If you first decide how much profit you need to make, you can then determine what to charge in order to make that profit. It's necessary to do a personal and family budget first, to determine the minimum you need to bring into your home each month. In addition to that minimum, add the amount you'd want that would give you the lifestyle you want. If you're just starting a business, you may have to make ends meet with other income or savings, but you need to have a goal of the full amount you want to bring home each month when you have a successful business. While income isn't the only measure of success, NOT making enough money in your business will bring frustration and dissatisfaction.
2. Research Your Fee Options
First, examine carefully your skill level. It is common practice in business to charge based on skill. The more skill and experience you have, the more you charge.
You have several choices on how your services will be billed:
per hour per session (regardless of how long a session lasts) per month per project per "program" (you define what the program includes and how long it lasts) Next, find out what others are charging for similar services in your area. You will have a difficult time getting clients if you set your fee at $100 per hour when other providers in your area are only charging $60 per hour unless you can justify the added value clients will get for the additional cost. One interesting note is that you can charge much more in big cities than anywhere else: in the suburbs you might be able to charge $60-$75 a session and in New York City charge $150 a session.
Ask others in your industry what they charge. It is not collaboration or price-fixing to simply inquire as to industry norms. Ask your attorney if you have concerns about this area.
Another consideration is how much your education cost you. As an example, some massage therapists can spend $4,000 to $6,000 to get their certification. These education expenses, as well as other business expenses, need to be figured into the mix when setting fees.
Finally, decide if you will offer discounted fees and how you will apply them. Some people create their fees on a sliding scale, based on what the client can afford. Others offer either full fee or free sessions, with no discounting in-between the two extremes. Some take one or two free clients per month as a way to give back to the community, or volunteer their services with a local non-profit organization.
3. Determine Your Payment Policies
Decide if the client must pay in advance or if they can pay after the session is complete.
Also decide if you will offer a discount for early payment of invoices. This encourages those clients you invoice to pay their bills early, thereby giving you earlier access to your cash.
Finally, if you will be invoicing clients, determine how much time they have to pay. Typical time periods are 15 days or 30 days after the invoice date. You must be willing to be assertive in collecting past-due accounts and be firm with people who don't pay on time. For example, if your policy is that payment must be received in your office by the first day of the month, consider warning, then firing, clients who habitually are late in sending in their payment.
EXERCISE - How Many Sessions Do I Need To Do?
For this exercise, you'll need a piece of paper and a calculator.
Calculate the income you need to bring into your home (after taxes and expenses) so that you'll have a comfortable life. Don't short-change yourself here; be honest with what you really need. Add 30-35% to that number to figure out the gross income you'll need. This covers taxes and expenses. (Adjust the percentage if you will have an unusual number of expenses.) Determine the fee you'll charge for one session (hour/program). Divide your total income by the per-session fee to calculate the number of sessions you need to do in a year. Now divide the yearly sessions by 12 to determine how many you need to do per month. Assuming you'll work an average of 20 days per month, divide the total monthly sessions by 20 to figure out how many you'll need to do per day. For example:
Desired Net Income: $35,000 Plus 30%: 35,000 x 1.30 = $45,500 Per Session Fee: $60 Number of Sessions per Year: 45,500 / 60 = 758.33 Monthly Sessions: 758 / 12 = 63 Average Daily Sessions: 63 / 20 = 3.15 Your Calculations:
Net Income: Plus 30%: Per Session Fee: Number of Sessions per Year: Monthly Sessions: Average Daily Sessions: Now, look closely at that final number. Can you physically and emotionally do that many sessions in a day? For instance, if each session is one hour in length (with 15 minutes of rest time in-between sessions), do you have enough time and energy to do that many sessions?
1. Determine What You Need To Make
When setting fees, part of the calculation is how much you need (and want!) to make. If you first decide how much profit you need to make, you can then determine what to charge in order to make that profit. It's necessary to do a personal and family budget first, to determine the minimum you need to bring into your home each month. In addition to that minimum, add the amount you'd want that would give you the lifestyle you want. If you're just starting a business, you may have to make ends meet with other income or savings, but you need to have a goal of the full amount you want to bring home each month when you have a successful business. While income isn't the only measure of success, NOT making enough money in your business will bring frustration and dissatisfaction.
2. Research Your Fee Options
First, examine carefully your skill level. It is common practice in business to charge based on skill. The more skill and experience you have, the more you charge.
You have several choices on how your services will be billed:
per hour per session (regardless of how long a session lasts) per month per project per "program" (you define what the program includes and how long it lasts) Next, find out what others are charging for similar services in your area. You will have a difficult time getting clients if you set your fee at $100 per hour when other providers in your area are only charging $60 per hour unless you can justify the added value clients will get for the additional cost. One interesting note is that you can charge much more in big cities than anywhere else: in the suburbs you might be able to charge $60-$75 a session and in New York City charge $150 a session.
Ask others in your industry what they charge. It is not collaboration or price-fixing to simply inquire as to industry norms. Ask your attorney if you have concerns about this area.
Another consideration is how much your education cost you. As an example, some massage therapists can spend $4,000 to $6,000 to get their certification. These education expenses, as well as other business expenses, need to be figured into the mix when setting fees.
Finally, decide if you will offer discounted fees and how you will apply them. Some people create their fees on a sliding scale, based on what the client can afford. Others offer either full fee or free sessions, with no discounting in-between the two extremes. Some take one or two free clients per month as a way to give back to the community, or volunteer their services with a local non-profit organization.
3. Determine Your Payment Policies
Decide if the client must pay in advance or if they can pay after the session is complete.
Also decide if you will offer a discount for early payment of invoices. This encourages those clients you invoice to pay their bills early, thereby giving you earlier access to your cash.
Finally, if you will be invoicing clients, determine how much time they have to pay. Typical time periods are 15 days or 30 days after the invoice date. You must be willing to be assertive in collecting past-due accounts and be firm with people who don't pay on time. For example, if your policy is that payment must be received in your office by the first day of the month, consider warning, then firing, clients who habitually are late in sending in their payment.
EXERCISE - How Many Sessions Do I Need To Do?
For this exercise, you'll need a piece of paper and a calculator.
Calculate the income you need to bring into your home (after taxes and expenses) so that you'll have a comfortable life. Don't short-change yourself here; be honest with what you really need. Add 30-35% to that number to figure out the gross income you'll need. This covers taxes and expenses. (Adjust the percentage if you will have an unusual number of expenses.) Determine the fee you'll charge for one session (hour/program). Divide your total income by the per-session fee to calculate the number of sessions you need to do in a year. Now divide the yearly sessions by 12 to determine how many you need to do per month. Assuming you'll work an average of 20 days per month, divide the total monthly sessions by 20 to figure out how many you'll need to do per day. For example:
Desired Net Income: $35,000 Plus 30%: 35,000 x 1.30 = $45,500 Per Session Fee: $60 Number of Sessions per Year: 45,500 / 60 = 758.33 Monthly Sessions: 758 / 12 = 63 Average Daily Sessions: 63 / 20 = 3.15 Your Calculations:
Net Income: Plus 30%: Per Session Fee: Number of Sessions per Year: Monthly Sessions: Average Daily Sessions: Now, look closely at that final number. Can you physically and emotionally do that many sessions in a day? For instance, if each session is one hour in length (with 15 minutes of rest time in-between sessions), do you have enough time and energy to do that many sessions?