Foundation Certification

Study Group Session 4 - Proposal Development

Subject Areas

• Executive Summary Development

• Storyboard Development

Proposal Development

• Outline Development

• Requirements Identification

• Compliance Checklist Development

• Sample Questions

Requirements IdentificationIdentify and develop requirements collaboratively Analyse customer documentation and identify anomalies and redundancies Identify and communicate clarification questions to the customer and responses to the team Build complex requirement matrices Brief SMEs from requirement matrices Use listening and questioning techniques to gain a thorough understanding Question the customer’s implicit assumptions and practices Communicate complex concepts clearly and simply, verbally and in writing

Executive Summary Development

Always include an Executive Summary Maintain a client-focus throughout Build on your existing sales process and strategy Organise the content to be clear, concise and persuasive Collaborate with senior management to write an early draft of the Executive summary Use a high-level review Use the Executive Summary as a bid/proposal briefing tool internally and externally

Storyboard Development

Develop storyboards as a framework for the proposal Use storyboards to develop and review proposal content Drive the process to complete the storyboards Communicate the win strategy for the storyboards Decide upon the sections of a proposal that require storyboarding Assign storyboards to the proposal team members to develop the content Make storyboard a key management tool

Compliance Checklist Development

Assess the customer evaluation and weighting criteria for the bid Do what the prospect asks when you get to the proposal stage Prepare a compliance checklist for all formal and informally solicited bid requests Construct a response matrix early to help plan and track every response Submit a response matrix with your proposal to make evaluation easy Define strategies and plan alternative courses of action to accommodate non-compliance Monitor compliance of the bid throughout

Outline Development

Develop a customer focussed proposal outline following the RFP guidelines Prepare a top-level, topical outline that follows the prospect’s organisational priority. Mimic the numbering system, naming convention, and order listed in the bid request Assign or allocate all other response requirements within the topical outline, identify boilerplate Use informative headings at section levels below those specified by the prospect Allocate pages according to the relative importance of the topic to the prospect Develop outlines for unsolicited proposals in collaboration with the client Annotate the outline as needed to guide the writers Extend your outline into a Proposal Responsibility matrix to help manage the proposal When you have to deviate from the bid request, always explain your deviation

1. In a complex technical section which of the following eases the evaluation?!A. Summary-Introduction-Detail-Summary!B. Introduction-Detail-Summary!C. Summary-Detail-Conclusion!D. Outline of the problem-discussion-Solution!!2. When planning an outline of an proposal we must chose the number of pages based on?!A. Our capability in that area!B. The amount of boilerplate available!C. The importance of the subject to the customer!D. The expertise of the proposal writer!!3. Recommended ways to how your proposal is organised include what?!A. Compliance Matrix!B. Requirements Matrix!C. List of tables, figures and graphics!D. Theme statements!!4. Which of these documents is not similar to a Compliance Checklist?!A. Requirements Matrix!B. Proposal Responsibility Matrix!C. Invitation To Tender!D. Response Matrix

Sample Questions

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details of the next webinar on Proposal Management.

Thank You. Abhijit Majumdar CP.APMP!

Associate Vice President! Zensar Technologies Ltd. Pune. India.