Creating Effective Proposals Proposal Basics,C O N S U L T I N G,The Big Picture,“The obvious is obviousonly after its obvious”,What Makes a Good Proposal?,Is directed to the right audience Offers a low-risk, well-substantiated solution to a real (not always stated) need Is easy to understand Shows (not claims) competence Offers distinct benefits over others Better, faster, cheaper Impresses evaluators Provides tangible value,What Makes a Bad Proposal?,Hard to understand/hard to score Not responsive and non-compliant Fails to demonstrate competence Solves the wrong problem Offers an unproven or risky solution Not differentiated from the competition Claims are not believable Grammatical errors/general sloppiness,Why Are So Many Proposals Bad?,They are produced by committees They are produced under pressure They show an anxiety to win The proposal staff is over-committed and/or poorly prepared The message is unclear or lacking KPMG did not listen to the customer KPMG listened to the wrong people Unsubstantiated claims,Ailments of Proposals,MOTION SICKNESS - jumps too quickly from point to point and is difficult to follow SENILITY - the same old stuff AMNESIA - important points omitted STERILITY - ideas not conceived NARCISSISM - too much horn blowing SCARLET FEVER - excessive use of red GOITER - blown up in the wrong places CONSTIPATION - there may be something here, but it simply refuses to come out,Proposals Answer 9 Basic Questions,Who are we? What are we selling? Why are we selling it? How is it better than the competition? How are we going to execute it? How are we going to manage it? Why are we qualified to do it? How much is our price? Can we do it within cost and on schedule?,Six Basic Proposal Principles,You never get a second chance to make a first impression A good proposal will not always win, but a poor one will almost always lose Bus. Development is doing your homework (studying); proposals are taking the test Proposal Management is where democracy stops Evaluators expect to see quality reflective of the time allotted to prepare the proposal Write to win, or dont begin,Typical Opportunity Scenarios,Request for Proposal (RFP) Opportunity from Partner/BDM/Sr. Manager No RFP No formal requirements statement,Reading an RFP: What to look for?,Is the SOW what we thought? Can we do the job? How many days to prepare the proposal? How many sections are in the proposal? Are there 8a or minority-owned business requirements? What are the staffing/skills/geographic requirements? Are there extensive customer reference requirements? Are there technologies requiring other KPMG practices or outside help (teaming arrangement)? How is evaluation weighted (technical vs. cost)? Are there special production considerations? Existing contract vehicle? What about contract terms and conditions?,What to Do When There is No RFP,Refer to the Opportunity Fact Sheet (OFS) filled out by the KPMG Partner/BDM/Sr. Manager Contains much of the information found in an RFP Serves as the RFP for the proposal Analyze the Business Opportunity outlined in the OFS just as you would an RFP Is there a compelling reason to bid? Rely on the KPMG contacts knowledge about the client, the opportunity, and the competition,Final Analysis: Should We Bid?,Easy to bid, hard not to Some reasons not to bid: Strong incumbent (client looking for a “check bid”) Client budget vs. project scope doesnt match No knowledge of competition No relationships with, or prior knowledge of client/RFP KPMG project staff either not available or unqualified Cant meet minimum solution/geographic requirements KPMG Qualifications not strong/pertinent enough Proposal response time too short to produce a high-quality, competitive document Cost to produce proposal outweighs potential award,Any Questions?,Carl Rosenblatt BDST Manager, Public Services Tysons Tower 703 747-6508,