Gary Everett

Make sure you know your customer wants you back.  Sometimes bad results are hidden from management, and this could kill any bid you put in. Your proposal content should:

  1. Take advantage of your knowledge of the customer environment and factors that are not in the RFP and that competitors will not know.
  2. Admit past shortcomings and show how you fixed them so as to not recur. Show how lessons learned became an advantage. Get a subcontractor for weak areas.
  3. Play up your corporate capabilities — advantages and activities that are part of the overhead they pay.
  4. Resolve any incumbent salary creep problems, and bid positions at rates the customer can pay.
  5. Accent the great experience your incumbent staff has, and give specific improvements they have implemented to save client time and money.
  6. Show how you are best to help them successfully meet their five-year plan for new technology. Use experienced personnel on the bench who did this successfully at other customer sites.
  7. Protect your staff from hire by competitors during bid preparation.
  8. Develop tables providing history of major accomplishments, major issues overcome, contract growth, major projects implemented, and extraordinary performance noted by customer awards, emails, and letters.

Finally, don’t get lazy and assume the customer loves you.  You must put complete and convincing proof points in the proposal as if you are writing a challenger proposal and a re-compete