Transcript Document

Top 10 Reasons Your
Proposals SUCK!
11.21.14
(And what you can do to make them ROCK!)
Olessia Smotrova-Taylor
President/CEO
OST Global Solutions
Bridget Skelly
Design Expert,
Independent Consultant
About the Presenters
Olessia Smotrova-Taylor, CF.APMP Fellow Bridget Skelly
President/CEO, OST Global Solutions, Inc.
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Won $20 billion in new business
Founder of Bid & Proposal Academy
President of NCMA Bethesda/Medical Chapter
Former president of APMP NCA Chapter
19 years of BD experience
Author of How to Get Government Contracts: Have a
Slice of a $1 Trillion Pie
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Visual Communications Expert, Independent
Consultant
• Creative contributions resulting in billions in
revenue for govcon and commercial clients
• Develops and teaches courses on graphics
conceptualization and design
• Served as the 2013 Marketing Chairperson for
the APMP NCA Chapter
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Why So Many Proposals Tend to Suck
Winners leave nothing to chance. They proactively review their proposals to see where
they stack up to the competition, and they assess them for improvement opportunities.
 Few proposal professionals have had formal
proposal training, or worked in the premier
proposal organizations, to know what "good"
looks like.
 Although some small businesses have seen
their larger teammates' proposals, they don't
know if these specific proposals were indeed
that good.
 A winning proposal could've been the "least
bad" proposal, reinforcing poor habits.
 Companies tend to recycle the same mistakes
from pursuit to pursuit (copy and pasting from
an old proposal is the cardinal sin).
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Potholes that Wreck a Proposal
Proposals fail to convey their allure to the evaluators in at least 10 different common
areas.
Top 10 Reasons:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Organization
Content
Persuasiveness
Language/Voice
Visual Appearance (Graphical Elements)
Visual Appearance (Layout/DTP)
Accuracy
Process
Proposal Resources
Continuous Improvement
For example, at OST, we examine proposals through
60 weighted parameters that address these areas.
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1. Poor Organization
Good content, poorly organized, is like snatching defeat out of the jaws of victory.
 Section titles, numbering, and
structure don't track to RFP; it is
hard to find sections.
 Compliance references inside
sections and/or graphics are not
there.
 Compliance within sections is
unclear due to lack of subheadings,
synonymous instead of RFP
language, and fuzzy structure.
 Evaluator-friendly keyword
highlighting and requirements
summaries are lacking.
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Example: No Keyword Highlighting to
Emphasize Strengths and Key Points
Systems integration. The Acme Team has extensive systems integration, sensor, and
command and control (C2) technology expertise, particularly in security system design,
which will enhance our technical oversight of TO 80. While our site security designs will
use the approved suite of PPS equipment, we will exercise our technical capabilities to
assess and validate the designs. We are now, at our own expense, in the process of
integrating several sensors from the approved list of equipment, including the SenstarStellar Repels relocatable electrostatic sensor, the PULNiX Sensors PB_IN_100HF
Photoelectric Beam Sensor, and the Southwest Microwave MIL PAC 385C relocatable
microwave sensor into our electronic sensor test bed. Our test bed is a corporate
resource used to test and evaluate sensors for border surveillance and facility intrusion.
It integrates a variety of Closed Circuit Television (CCTV), Infrared (IR), radar, motion,
heat, and other sensor systems from U.S. and other commercial vendors to determine
their degree of compatibility with industry standard interfaces, and helps us compare
performance under controlled conditions and develop cost benefit evaluations. This test
bed will be available to assist our systems engineers in any troubleshooting needed to
support Customer in this project. Technologies and standards that offer potential to
enhance security at the weapons storage site will be discussed as part of the TO 80
semi-annual Implementation Working Group (IWG) meetings.
Acme's Integrated Project System (IPS) which we use on all our CTS IDIQ TOs (see Section 3.5), will provide the overarching
structure for integrating and executing this project. IPS communicates "the way we do business" to our project team and all
subcontractors, and facilitates success through a defined set of activities and deliverables for each project phase. We have
tailored each step of our IPS project phases to satisfy specific entrance and exit criteria within the host nation environment. Our
jointly drafted Systems Engineering Management Plan (SEMP) for TO 80 documents this approach and integrates the systems
engineering processes of both Acme and Host Nation Integrator. Figure A3-1 illustrates this approach; it depicts specific tasks
and formal reviews to be performed in each phase, and illustrates our melding of the host nation and U.S. processes.
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Text Without Emphasis is Like…
(Boring, monotonous, and… ewe)
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2. Missing Content
 The "What" is there but "How" is not apparent –
there is none or patchy description
of processes, tools, and workflows.
 The description of "who" is going to
do the work doesn't go beyond "we",
the company, or the team.
 "When" and "where" the work is going to be
done or has been done before is unclear from the
text or is not required.
 There is no concept of operations overview
and/or graphic showing at the 1000 ft view level
how the whole work will be performed.
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Example: CONOPS Graphic
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3. Lack of Persuasiveness
 Failure to focus on the customer
throughout text and graphics to
showcase understanding of their
issues and their mission.
 Not including at least three win
themes throughout the proposal
that contain credibility-building
quantified and qualified proof
that you can do the job and how
that benefits the customer.
 Not using stories or employing written and visual
metaphors to engage all of the evaluator's senses and
clearly illustrate offeror's value proposition.
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Can you imagine modern sales and marketing
without visuals to persuade buying decisions?
…Yet we try to win multimillion-dollar proposals (mega-sales) without visuals.
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4. Language/Voice
 Excessive use of adjectives and
adverbs that destroy credibility.
 Use of cold, bureaucratic and
impersonal language; or the
opposite, overly familiar.
 Use of credibility killers such
as "unique", "we understand,"
"world-class"…
 Tentative and soft language like
"we could" "we propose," or "we believe".
 Not written in a single voice and reads like a poorly
synchronized work of multiple authors.
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Don't Ask the Reader to Rely on Faith
Various
Many
Multiple
Numerous
Several
A lot
Approximately
Numerous
Sufficient
Vast
Significant
Numerous
Seasoned
Years of..
Experienced
Believe
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Examples of Poor Language/Voice
Nothing kills credibility faster than fluffy adjectives and unsubstantiated claims.
Our team's seasoned instructional design team will advise the government
regarding the advantages and disadvantages of each option based upon the
stated learning objectives, intended audience, and delivery considerations.
Team Acme will leverage its vast experience to successfully complete this
project on time and within budget.
Many of our proposed team members are recognized thought leaders in a wide
range of relevant topics.
Our approach to recruiting, training, and retaining qualified personnel offers
several advantages to traditional staffing strategies and we intend to fully
implement this process.
We have years of experience with the DHS to ensure successful project
performance.
We believe there are many touch points between training management and
stakeholder engagement.
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5. Visual Appearance (Graphic Elements)
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Ineffective visuals that fail to
portray intended concepts; not
customer-focused; overly
complex or vague.
Lack of titles and action captions
in the customer-focused featurebenefit format.
Amateur or inconsistent visual
appearance.
Difficult to read due to fonts that
are too small (less than 8-point).
Failure to comply with RFP
formatting requirements.
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Visuals Directly Impact Proposal
Persuasion and Win Probability
HUMANS ARE
VISUAL CREATURES
 Significant competitive
Proposal evaluators are human.
advantage.
 Level of professionalism.
90%
10 MILLION
BITS PER SECOND
of information transmitted
The rate in which the
 Increased perception of
to the brain is visual
human retina transmits
data to the brain or the
1/2
value.
speed of an Ethernet
% of brain
connection
dedicated
 More prominent win themes.
to visual function
Approximately
 An easier proposal to
65% of people are
Our brain processes
visual learners
skim-read.
visual information
60,000 times faster
than text
Remember…
 Faster to review and
Most people only remember
comprehend proposal,
20% of what they read
showing respect for
evaluators' time.
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What's Wrong with this Graphic Visually?
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Don't be "that guy"…
What NOT to do…
By resizing a graphic
within a document,
you are resizing the
text, making it
difficult to read and
likely non-compliant
Distorted proportions
Many evaluators don't pick at small flaws in artwork, but they still get the
subliminal message that you are not professional and polished.
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6. Visual Appearance (Layout/Format)
 Not using a document template with styles, and/or failure to
apply styles correctly, consistently, and compliantly throughout
proposal.
 A sea of text with little or no use of visuals (figures, focus boxes,
tables, or any other visual elements).
 Inconsistent or sloppy use of fonts and other visual elements.
 Visual elements that are not within margins and improperly
placed on the page - visual irregularities, improper white space,
or run-away figures.
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7. Accuracy
 The document is full of errors
in spelling and grammar.
 There are consistency errors.
 Acronyms are not spelled
out when used in the text for
the first time.
 Action verbs are not used throughout the text, relying on
nouns disguised as verbs, and verb "to be", provide,
make, get, offer, and a handful of other non-descript
verbs.
 There are major omissions and document imperfections
that could create a negative opinion in an evaluator
about the offeror.
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8. Process
Go back to the drawing board with your processes and defy convention – but in a
smart way, without throwing the baby out with the bath water.
 Better define undefined or general
processes to avoid chaos.
 Simplify "thick" bureaucratic processes.
 "Thin" process + clear workflows and
definitions of roles and responsibilities
do the trick.
 Don't cut out steps in the name of
efficiency.
 Align the proposal process with your
goals.
• If you consistently don't have enough time to
polish maybe you're not sticking to your
deadlines.
• Consider reviewing the writers' work daily.
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9. Proposal Resources
For those in management positions, you set the tone for the proposal. If management
is not engaged, the proposal staff will do a cut-and-paste job.
 Provide management support for
driving proposal quality instead of the
idea that cut and paste will do.
 Focus on winning, not just proposal
completion.
 Line up the right resources and
enough of them to win.
 Invest in continuously training
personnel (courses, conferences,
books).
 Be the driver of your organization's
success instead of being an obstacle.
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10. Continuous Improvement
As past performance and experience accumulates, you need to incorporate lessons
learned into your subsequent business development efforts.
 Conducting lessons learned
sessions is the most
common best practice
not followed.
 This leads to repeated mistakes.
 You should:
• Document your lessons learned after the proposal and after the
debrief.
• Upload your lessons learned document to a common access
area.
• Review the lessons prior to the next proposal.
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Continuous Improvement – Best Practices
Stay connected to the proposal community to keep up on the latest thoughts and
techniques in the profession.
 Proposal plan tailored to the
circumstances
 Compliant, annotated outline or
correctly built work packages
 Comprehensive kick-off
 Daily status meetings
 Just-in-time training for all
proposal participants
 In-process reviews
 "If you haven't seen it, it doesn't
exist"
 Checklists
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Checklists and Templates
Don't leave anything to chance; implement customizable, detailed checklists to
ensure no step are missed from capture to solution brainstorming, day-to-day
management, production, and other vital proposal tasks.
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In a Nutshell…
Proposal quality matters: If you present well, you have a much higher Pwin,
even in an LPTA environment.
 It is true that a lot more than proposal quality goes into winning or
not winning a proposal:
•
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Someone else buying their way in
Competition outdoing you through capture/wiring
Politics
Luck
 Nothing is guaranteed, but your Pwin is
higher if you do a great job on every front.
 Just because your past proposals have won
doesn't mean they are good, or they will keep winning in an
increasingly competitive market.
 Put your best foot forward each time to ensure that you stay
competitive in an asymmetric competitive environment.
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Thank You
Olessia Smotrova-Taylor
President/CEO, OST Global Solutions, Inc.
Office: 301-384-3350 | Cell: 240-246-5305
[email protected]
Bridget Skelly
Visual Communications Expert, Independent Consultant
Cell: 703-431-4423
[email protected]
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