1. Century Planning Associates Friday, October 7 th, 2011 – 10:30 am Greater Washington Procurement Conference Mid Atlantic Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Washington, DC 20002 1

2.  Excellent Team  The Customer Knows Us  RFP Compliant Response  Responsible Vendor(s)  Strong Solution Features  Excellent Past Performance 2 This opportunity was ours to win; what happened? A WINNING Proposal - Necessary but Insufficient Conditions: ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

3.  Section C  Section C – The Work Requirements – Basis for Solution(s)  Section L  Section L – Format and Structure for Proposal Response Document (Volumes)  Section M  Section M – Basis for Award 3 The drivers for writing are contained in the SOW, Section L and Section M

4.  Excellent Team – Why?  The Customer Knows Us – And do we know them?  RFP Compliant Response – Minimal to Level the Playing Field  Responsible Vendor(s) – As demonstrated by?  Strong “Solution” Features – What’s in it for the Customer?  Excellent Past Performance – Relevance  … 4 A proposal is a technical document that SELLS, and sells Best Value throughout. A WINNING Proposal – Meets all the Necessary Conditions and SELLS

5. 5 How are many horse races decided?

6. 6 Winning by a nose!

7. 7  Horse – One nose; on the face and that’s the one that will cause a WIN in a tight race  Winning Proposal – Many noses, many places, and you never know which one will cause you to WIN  Winning Proposal Strategy – Put in your proposal as many noses as you can  And where do you start with your first nose?

8. 8 Reviewers are human: impatient; overloaded; want to make good but quick decisions and are short of time.

9. 9 Make the acronym definitions clear and easy to find and you’ll also make a friend of your proposal reviewer!

10. 10 Sometimes asked for, never ignored.

11.  1-2 pages (short)  Initial greeting (hello)  Conveys some highlights of proposal and interest  Whom to contact for questions  Amendment acknowledgement  Period offer is valid  Signed by top level person 11 Say “hello” in a meaningful way that conveys valuable sell information. 11

12.  2-5 pages  Main theme  Benefits of proposal  Major sell themes  Always include  Follow flow of proposal  High impact for lasting impression  Replacement for introduction  When written? 12 Grabs the initial reader and convinces the final reader.

13.  Section executive summary  Major theme  Graphic and caption  Highlights of section  Can be multiple pages 13 The second trick to writing a skimable proposal is to tell the reader all the selling points at the start versus the end.

14. 14 What sets you apart such that no one else can say the same of themselves?

15.  One sentence  Boastful  Feature-benefit 15 Themes set the tone and expectation for writing that follows.

16.  Sprinkled throughout proposal  Feature – what you bring to the government  Benefit – value derived by the government 16 The features of a proposed solution are without meaning to the recipient unless the benefits are cleared stated.

17.  Right brain – left brain integration  Text referenced  Text enhancement  Simple  Caption message 17 A relevant picture, enhanced by a relevant caption, enables the busy reviewer to skim your proposal.

18.  All RFP requirements  Sections and title  Response location in proposal  Included with submission  Typically follows table of contents  Could be many pages – not usually part of the page count 18 Before all else, be compliant!

19.  Easy to find  Readable  Right Brain Stimulation  Left Brain Integration  Whole Brain Communication  Skimable 19 Write to sell by writing to effectively communicate quickly and persuasively.

20. 20  Get reader attention/stimulated  Be innovative  “We’ve done it before”; with examples  It will reduce/increase …. (metrics)  Show how solution/approach reflects industry leadership/commercial best practices  Focus on customers benefits (what’s in it for the customer) Be bold and back it up with facts.

21. 21 Instead of…Use… In the event that If The manner in whichHow Due to the fact thatBecause In regard toAbout In the near futureSoon Subsequent toAfter Are in a position toCan/Will Whether or notWhether It is possible thatMay It is highly likely thatProbably At that point in timeThen At the present timeNow Currently in progressGoing on Never before in the pastNever The majority ofMost A well written proposal uses less words, more action verbs, short paragraphs and is replete with “show” versus “tell”.

22. 22 Century Planning Associates, Inc. www.centuryplanning.com 703-639-0623