top 10 proposal management challenges and how to overcome them webinar preview
TRANSCRIPT
OST Global Solutions, Inc. Copyright © 2013www.ostglobalsolutions.com ● Tel. 301-384-3350 ● [email protected]
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Top 10 Proposal Management Challenges
(And How to Overcome Them)
Webinar (Preview)OST Global Solutions, Inc.
…Because There is No SecondPlace in Proposals™
OST Global Solutions, Inc. Copyright © 2013www.ostglobalsolutions.com ● Tel. 301-384-3350 ● [email protected]
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About the Presenter
Won $19 billion for 4 out of the top 5 largest government contractors, dozens of 8(a) businesses, and other companies
President of the Association of Proposal Management Professionals’ (APMP) National Capital Area chapter
Prior to starting OST, won business for Lockheed Martin and Raytheon and wrote for the Financial Times of London
Founder, Bid & Proposal Academy
Author, How to Get Government Contracts: Have a Slice of a $1 Trillion Pie
Olessia Smotrova-Taylor, AF.APMP President & CEOOST Global Solutions, Inc.
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OST Global Solutions, Inc. Copyright © 2013www.ostglobalsolutions.com ● Tel. 301-384-3350 ● [email protected]
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OST Global Solutions, Inc. ProfileMetro Washington DC proposal house
government contractors with end-to-end BD support and training
Thought leader in the BD field, with Bid & Proposal
Academy courses attended by the top Federal
contractors
900+ fully vetted capture and proposal managers, technical writers, graphic
artists, orals coaches, editors, subject matter experts, and other proposal support
Track record supporting 18 out of the top 20 Federal Contractors, winning $19 Billion
since 2005Training
Benchmarking
Process
Improvement
BD Services
Proposal
Support
Capture
andEnd-to-end BD
Services to
Help You Grow
and
OST Global Solutions, Inc. Copyright © 2013www.ostglobalsolutions.com ● Tel. 301-384-3350 ● [email protected]
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Challenges
Tracking proposal management challenges for the past 8 years- Reviewing global survey results- Keeping logs- Reading literature- Attending APMP events
Launched LinkedIn discussions on top 3 proposal management challenges
Results: Challenges largely remain the same, although the order may have changed
Similar in commercial and government markets, across the world
How we resolve them is most important; some of them are harder to resolve than others
With the challenges remaining largely the same for years, the question is how to fix them once and for all
Download the Full Slides Presentation of this Free Webinar at
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OST Global Solutions, Inc. Copyright © 2013www.ostglobalsolutions.com ● Tel. 301-384-3350 ● [email protected]
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Challenge 10, Repeating the Mistakes
Lessons observed are not lessons learned; learning the lessons takes a concerted effort
Wrong type of recycling
Demoralizing for the team
Process is consistently ad-hoc
Solution: - Document your lessons learned twice:
after the proposal and after the debrief
- Use structured approach to collect feedback
- Upload your lessons learned document to a common access area
- Review the file prior to the next proposal
Download the Full Slides Presentation of this Free Webinar at
www.ostglobalsolutions.com/training/webinars
OST Global Solutions, Inc. Copyright © 2013www.ostglobalsolutions.com ● Tel. 301-384-3350 ● [email protected]
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Challenge 9: Indiscriminant Use of Boilerplate, Without Being Responsive or Customer-Focused
Using boilerplate is as OK as using someone else’s toothbrush (Jay Herther)
Read every proposal section to check if the content is rotten
Don’t get stuck on writing quality – look for substance above all
Spot the usual offenders:- Cut-and-paste- Off-topic writing- Bland fillers and lack of substance- Missing “how”- Lack of benefits language, etc.
ID specific gaps: 8Ws, checklist questions, compliance items Devise a recovery strategy
Download the Full Slides Presentation of this Free Webinar at
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OST Global Solutions, Inc. Copyright © 2013www.ostglobalsolutions.com ● Tel. 301-384-3350 ● [email protected]
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Finding an elusive person in no time is hard- 20 years of experience, low
salary- Ph.D., PMP, TS/SCI with
Poly - “If he or she had all of that,
then he or she should not be looking for work”
Challenge 8: Difficulties with Personnel Staffing in Services and Solutions Proposals
Use a staffing expert, with a candidate “factory” in place
Start early, use key personnel matrices
Count on unexpected curveballs to result in all-nighters
Shoot for Plan B, C, and D Download the Full Slides
Presentation of this Free Webinar atwww.ostglobalsolutions.com/training/webinars
OST Global Solutions, Inc. Copyright © 2013www.ostglobalsolutions.com ● Tel. 301-384-3350 ● [email protected]
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Challenge 7: Operating in the Dark While Pricing or Not Joining the New Realities
Some companies still blind to LPTA world realities
Few proposal managers:- Believe cost proposal is their job…- Are trained on cost and know what goes into the cost
proposal- Know how they can help develop better cost volumes- Are familiar with intricacies of various cost strategies
Have hard time pricing while there is no information on headcount, labor categories, etc.
No competitive information
Cost volume disagrees with technical volume
Cost proposal is not treated as a sales document
Those who win focus on the whole offer; one cannot ignore the ultimate deciding factor between winning or losing
$$$ $
Resource: Developing a Winning Cost Volume
Download the Full Slides Presentation of this Free Webinar at
www.ostglobalsolutions.com/training/webinars
OST Global Solutions, Inc. Copyright © 2013www.ostglobalsolutions.com ● Tel. 301-384-3350 ● [email protected]
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Challenge 6: Poor Management Support and Buy-in Non-supportive management leads to:
- Marginalized understanding of proposal professionals’ role- Wrong or insufficient resources assigned to proposals- Poor reviews- “Machine gun” approach with low win rates- 11th hour corrections to proposal- Most of the other proposal challenges
Gain management support through education:- Bid & Proposal Academy courses- How to Get Government Contracts book- APMP
Develop formal presentations citing facts and metrics
Run kickoffs to obtain management buy-in; control the process better
Download the Full Slides Presentation of this Free Webinar at
www.ostglobalsolutions.com/training/webinars
OST Global Solutions, Inc. Copyright © 2013www.ostglobalsolutions.com ● Tel. 301-384-3350 ● [email protected]
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Download the Full Slides Presentation and the Video of this Webinar at
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OST Global Solutions, Inc. Copyright © 2013www.ostglobalsolutions.com ● Tel. 301-384-3350 ● [email protected]
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Contact OST for Your Proposal and Training Needs in Federal Business Development
Julia Pochekueva, MBA, AM.APMP
Marketing, Operations, and Training Services Manager
Main 301.384.3350
Direct 301.769.6603 [email protected]
Alex Brown, AM.APMP
Director of Services
Main 301.384.3350
Direct 301.769.6601
Cell 301.356.2909
Olessia Smotrova-Taylor, AF.APMP
President & CEO
Office 301.384.3350
Cell 240.246.5305
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