It is not possible to have too much structure in your proposal writing process and even the largest prime federal contractors do not have enough. A structured or systemized proposal writing process results in higher quality, more responsive proposals and in reduced proposal writing costs.

We were recently engaged to help a system integrator prepare a proposal. The integrator was working with a large prime contractor in an effort to win a very lucrative federal contract. Under the terms of the agreement between the parties, the integrator would work as a subcontractor to the prime under the resulting contract. The two parties decided to work together to develop the final proposal. For a variety of reasons, the end product was less than stellar. A major contributing factor to the parties' lack of success in developing a quality proposal was the fact that there was very little structure to the process. For example:

* The integrator did not know (or couldn't research) who was working on the incumbent contract.

* Resumes did not exist for some of the staff members working at the federal customer's site.

* Up-to-date corporate experience summaries were difficult to find and were submitted at the last hour.

* Only the integrator's management attended the proposal development meetings. Management then assigned the proposal writing task to its staff at the last minute and without filling them in on meeting discussions. This, of course, resulted in less than compelling content.

* Although the two players may have had better processes in place in other divisions of their respective companies, the personnel assigned to the project did not have good proposal writing structures in place.

The Proposal Architect, our new proposal writing product, uses a table-driven approach to developing a detailed technical approach outline. It provides a highly-structured framework for defining tasks, subtasks, timelines, staffing requirements, solution concepts and approaches. Customer feedback on our new product has been tremendous.

We find that the Proposal Architect sells more easily to companies that need it the least. Companies with a structured proposal process recognize the need for even more structure and quickly understand the value of the product. Conversely, small businesses accustomed to slapping together responses to public Requests for Proposals are mystified about the value of the product. They are also mystified about why they are losing all of their bids.

A systemized proposal writing process eliminates the need to reinvent the wheel each time a new proposal is written. Implementing such a system saves time and money. More importantly, doing so frees up time to do the critical things that result in a compelling proposal. Such critical tasks include tailoring resumes and corporate experience to the customer's needs, making sure that your background knowledge of the customer and the project is reflected in the proposal and having the time to fine tune the technical approach.

Proposal Architect: http://new.fedmarket.com/products/proposal-writing-software.shtml

Writing and Managing Winning Proposals: http://new.fedmarket.com/seminars/proposal-writing-seminar.shtml

Capture Planning/Advanced Proposal Writing: http://new.fedmarket.com/seminars/advanced-proposal-seminar.shtml

Executive Breakfast Meetings:

Richard White, the author of the Proposal Architect, provides monthly breakfast meetings at which he gives a demonstration of the Proposal Architect. The monthly breakfasts are held in our Bethesda, Maryland headquarters. Mr. White also gives telephone demonstrations of the product for those unable to attend the Executive Breakfasts. Contact Richard at 434.962.9508 to arrange a telephone demonstration.

For more information on the monthly breakfast, please click on the following link: http://new.fedmarket.com/seminars/seminar-events-breakfast.shtml