APMP Foundation Study Guide V4 PDF

Acknowledgments ACKNOWLEDGMENTS APMP Body of Knowledge List of Contributors and Reviewers http://bok.apmp.org/about-the-bok/ APMP Glossary of Terms Editors Betsy Blakney, CPP, APMP Fellow Charlie Divine, CPP, APMP Fellow APMP Standard Training Deck for ATOs Participating ATOs Lohfeld Consulting Outperform Shipley Associates Shipley Ltd. Page ii | Acknowledgments APMP Foundation Study Guide | Copyright 2024 APMP. All Rights Reserved. Contents CONTENTS Preface iv Review Guidelines v Understand Business Development 1 Introduction to the Business Development Lifecycle 1 Focus on the Customer 9 Compliance and Responsiveness 9 Customer Analysis and Competitive Intelligence 12 Executive Summaries 17 Strategy and Win Themes 23 Value Propositions 26 Proposal Theme Statements 33 Features, Benefits, and Discriminators 36 Proof Points 40 Persuasion 47 Price-to-Win 50 Teaming 56 Create Deliverables 62 Compliance Matrix 62 Proposal Organization 67 Persuasive Writing 71 Writing Clearly 78 Headings 87 Graphics and Action Captions 91 Page and Document Design 102 Cost and Pricing Data 109 Proactive Proposals 112 Manage Processes 116 End-to-End Process 116 Gate Decisions 127 Kickoff Meeting Management 139 Daily Team Management 145 Review Management 150 Production Management 160 Virtual Team Management 166 Lessons Learned Analysis and Management 174 Use Tools and Systems 179 Opportunity Plans 179 Proposal Management Plans 184 Content Plans 189 Knowledge Management 203 Scheduling 215 Understand Business Development Contents || Page Page iii APMP Foundation Study Guide | Copyright 2024 APMP. All Rights Reserved. Preface PREFACE The APMP Foundation Study Guide summarizes the information necessary to successfully prepare for the APMP Foundation Certification Exam. It is based on the APMP Body of Knowledge, which documents the best practices for proposal development and related business development topics. This Foundation Study Guide (APMP BOK Edition) replaces the earlier APMP Study Guide based on the Shipley Proposal Guide, 3rd Edition. APMP used the Shipley Proposal Guide as the reference for its original certification program. In 2014, APMP updated the APMP Certification program. The goals of this undertaking were twofold: Examine certification competencies and update them to reflect new trends. Three new competencies were added: Persuasive Writing, Graphics and Action Captions, and Virtual Team Management. Create a more universal language that reflects the diversity of our profession. The new APMP Glossary defines key terms as well as industry- or region-specific variants. This new, standard terminology makes APMP more accessible to practitioners worldwide. The Foundation Certification is based on 23 entry-level and early career competencies that proposal and bid managers should know and understand. The exam tests the knowledge and understanding of these 23 competencies. To prepare for the exam, you should also closely study the APMP Glossary of Terms. Be sure you understand the precise definition of Glossary terms. Answer questions based on these definitions, not on your own organization’s use of particular terms. This guide can be used as a standalone study guide or as reference material for online or face-to-face courses offered by APMP Approved Training Organizations (ATOs). Page iv | Preface APMP Foundation Study Guide | Copyright 2024 APMP. All Rights Reserved. Review Guidelines REVIEW GUIDELINES If you are using the Study Guide on your own, you may find the following guidelines on relative emphasis of Study Guide topics useful. Competencies are grouped based on how frequently they appear on the exam; within groups, they are listed in alphabetical order. STRONG EMPHASIS Compliance and Responsiveness Content Plans Executive Summaries Gate Decisions Graphics and Action Captions Kickoff Meeting Management Page and Document Design Review Management Scheduling MEDIUM EMPHASIS Compliance Matrix Daily Team Management End-to-End Process Features, Benefits, and Discriminators Headings Lessons Learned Analysis and Management Opportunity Plans Persuasion Persuasive Writing Price-to-Win Proposal Management Plans Proposal Organization Proposal Theme Statements Strategy and Win Themes Teaming Value Propositions Writing Clearly MODERATE EMPHASIS Cost and Pricing Data Customer Analysis and Competitive Intelligence Introduction to the Business Development Lifecycle Knowledge Management Proactive Proposals Production Management Proof Points Virtual Team Management Review Guidelines | Page v APMP Foundation Study Guide | Copyright 2024 APMP. All Rights Reserved. APMP Foundation Study Guide | Copyright 2024 APMP. All Rights Reserved. Understand Business Development Introduction to the Business Development Lifecycle INTRODUCTION TO THE BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT LIFECYCLE ► The business development lifecycle is about winning business. A clear business development process based on best practices can help organizations identify opportunities and win bids in a repeatable, sustainable way. Introduction Successful organizations of all sizes and in all markets manage with discipline and proven leadership principles. Few organizations succeed on luck alone. At the core of most organizations’ success is business development—the ability to generate revenue that sustains the business or organization. A key goal of any business development team is to advance a business opportunity and move toward being in a favored position from the customer’s perspective, as shown in Figure 1. Figure 1 Increasing the Probability of Winning By positioning products or services early and building strong customer relationships, organizations improve their probability of winning a contract. Advancing an opportunity through sales stages helps move an organization from an unknown position in the market to a known position. Through effective marketing, opportunity, and sales activity, organizations attempt to advance to an improved position with the customer and ultimately be the solution of choice in a favored position. Unknown position. Early in the business development lifecycle, many companies are in unknown positions with potential customers. Through effective marketing and long-term positioning, companies achieve known positions. Known position. Using their brand, market messaging, and early sales strategies, companies develop known positions in relation to potential customers. Improved position. Effective relationship-building strategies and selling skills can advance companies into improved positions with potential customers. Favored position. In many market segments, organizations collaborate with customers to develop a business case based on customer needs, issues, and hot buttons. This collaboration builds trust and helps put companies into a favored position with customers. A disciplined approach to business development requires that organizations follow the processes that work for their own unique environments. A foundational process and proven core tools and best practices are a good starting point. But organizations will be most successful if they tailor business development lifecycles to fit their own strategic plans. Organizations should modify methods, tools, personnel, and infrastructure to fit their markets and internal working environments. Understand Business Development | Page 1 APMP Foundation Study Guide | Copyright 2024 APMP. All Rights Reserved. Understand Business Development Introduction to the Business Development Lifecycle Market shifts and internal organizational changes (i.e., mergers, acquisitions, and succession plans) require a flexible, nimble business development lifecycle. Organizations must adapt quickly if market conditions change. For example, if a product moves from being specialized to being a commodity, a company’s approach to positioning, marketing, and competing for business must shift—perhaps toward more of a services model to support its products. Linking the business development lifecycle to the overall organizational strategic plan is critical. Companies must also consider business development and proposal organizations’ activities, no matter how mature, during strategic planning activities at all levels. The common approach to strategic planning includes a careful internal and external analysis of SWOT—strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. And SWOT analysis must include the business development organization. Regardless of their maturity levels, organizations must invest in strategic planning to facilitate business development. They must consider their positioning and their competitors’ positioning as they develop strategic plans and business development lifecycles to meet future objectives. Phases in the Business Development Lifecycle APMP best practices suggest that the business development lifecycle consists of eight basic phases. However, each phase and its associated decision gates, steps, and reviews should be tailored to an individual organization and market environment. No one phase is more important than the other; they must all work together to identify and advance the best opportunities. The business development lifecycle includes activities and phases that focus on planning and performing (executing). The End-to-End Process section further details the best practices associated with the process. Figure 2 shows how the phases and activities of the business development lifecycle work together to win business. Each element is dependent on the others—all requiring input and ongoing updates. The eight phases of the business development lifecycle are: 1. Market Identification Organizations must make clear decisions about the markets they intend to pursue and penetrate. The market risk assessment is a valuable tool for organizations as they assess Figure 2 their risk and investment tolerance for selling The Business Development Lifecycle to new or existing markets with new or existing Discipline at each of these phases improves win rates products or services. Market risk is highest for and leads to sustainable processes that fuel ongoing opportunities with new customers and new success. products; market risk is lowest for opportunities with existing customers and existing products. Figure 3 shows how market identification factors Page 2 | Understand Business Development APMP Foundation Study Guide | Copyright 2024 APMP. All Rights Reserved. Understand Business Development Introduction to the Business Development Lifecycle and likelihood of winning change as market decisions are made. For example, the organization experiences the highest level of market risk, the lowest probability of winning, and likely the greatest investment required in Quadrant 4, where new products or services are being positioned and sold into new markets. The market identification stage helps organizations ensure that they spend marketing budgets and resources on the most likely targets for profitable business opportunities. Organizations must constantly assess and reevaluate their markets, identifying new market segments and validating current markets. Whether to enter a specific market is a key decision gate at this phase of the business development lifecycle. Figure 3 Market and Customer Match Matrix This tool can help organizations understand the effort it may take to succeed in a chosen marketplace. 2. Accounting Planning and Positioning An account can be a prospective customer, an existing customer, an entire organization, or a single buying unit within a large company. Account planning involves long-term positioning with a potential customer and is an ongoing activity across the business development lifecycle. Account plans must be adjusted as opportunities progress through the sales pipeline or as new opportunities arise. This phase includes marketing activities that position an organization in the market and with specific target customers. Account planning requires an unbiased assessment of current account activity and future potential business opportunities. Typically, an account plan consists of historical account information, buying history, key customer personnel and decisionmakers, and strategies for penetrating or growing an account. An account plan often feeds into an opportunity plan when specific opportunities are qualified. An account plan drives long-term positioning strategies with target customers with strong future sales opportunities. Many successful organizations store account planning data in a customer relationship management (CRM) system and keep data up to date. Understand Business Development | Page 3 APMP Foundation Study Guide | Copyright 2024 APMP. All Rights Reserved. Understand Business Development Introduction to the Business Development Lifecycle 3. Opportunity Assessment (Identification and Qualification) A key decision gate at the opportunity assessment phase of the business development lifecycle is a preliminary bid/no-bid decision on a specific opportunity. Organizations can identify sales opportunities through many channels, including marketing campaigns, traditional prospecting, social media efforts, and lobbying strategies. Generally, a marketing team works in collaboration with a sales or opportunity team to identify and qualify potential opportunities. Decisions made earlier in the business development lifecycle significantly affect this phase. Strategic planning and market positioning/segmentation can often dictate how opportunities are identified and put into the sales pipeline. Many successful organizations use third-party sales opportunity tracking programs (subscriptions) to track and monitor future bidding opportunities, especially in regional and national markets. These programs can help identify upcoming opportunities based on specific filters used during opportunity searches. Qualifying opportunities is a key step to improving overall win rates. Companies that do not adequately qualify opportunities often overspend marketing and sales budgets and pursue too many opportunities that they have a low probability of winning. As a result, these companies divert resources from more winnable deals and from delivery of projects that could lead to renewals. A few questions to consider at the opportunity assessment phase of the lifecycle include (but are not limited to): Is there an incumbent on this opportunity? What is the incumbent’s performance? Who are known competitors? Are there possible unknown competitors? Can we win? Can we deliver profitably? Do we need to team with another organization? What will it cost us to bid? Will bidding this opportunity better position us for future opportunities? Does this opportunity fit within our strategic plan and vision? Careful competitive assessment and evaluation are also key at this phase of the lifecycle. Knowing competitors’ strengths and weaknesses as they relate to the opportunity is critical. 4. Opportunity Planning Opportunity planning starts early in the lifecycle and continues through proposal submission. This planning involves customer interaction and effective sales to understand customer needs and issues. Critical aspects of opportunity planning include knowledge of portfolio management and the 4Cs: Customer. Organizations need a basic understanding of the customer’s situation, needs, hot buttons, issues, and biases. This understanding will deepen as the opportunity advances. Competition. Opportunity planning involves careful and thorough analysis of the competition. Organizations should identify whether there is an incumbent, known competitors, or potential unknown competitors. They should also determine whether they have a competitive advantage Page 4 | Understand Business Development APMP Foundation Study Guide | Copyright 2024 APMP. All Rights Reserved. Understand Business Development Introduction to the Business Development Lifecycle or disadvantage in pursuing the opportunity. Other potential “competitors” might be the customer deciding to do nothing, spend money on other things, or do the work in-house. Cost. Is there a history of pricing on this opportunity? A price-to-win analysis, at some level, should be part of opportunity planning. As the opportunity advances and more information becomes available, this price target should be adjusted. Company and solution. Opportunity planning requires that an organization assess, from a customer perspective, its own solution, past performance, reputation, and risk. Portfolio management. Weigh opportunities against each other and view resources to develop and pursue opportunities as an investment. Only pursue opportunities with an ROI versus probability of win that supports the overall portfolio. Keep in mind that this process does not always go in this order; the qualification decision may need to be revisited as you learn more about the customer and the opportunity. Figure 4 shows how the pursuit decision leads to the opportunity planning phase of the business development lifecycle. A thorough opportunity plan should evolve from this phase of the cycle. Regardless of the size or complexity of an opportunity, a Sales or Opportunity Manager should take time to plan. The plan’s level of detail will depend on the opportunity, including complexity and dollar value. Figure 4 Opportunity Planning Opportunity planning activities are critical to repeat success in business development. Understand Business Development | Page 5 APMP Foundation Study Guide | Copyright 2024 APMP. All Rights Reserved. Understand Business Development Introduction to the Business Development Lifecycle 5. Proposal Planning If done effectively, planning a proposal will save time, resources, and money. Before the bid request arrives, organizations should assemble a core proposal team to prepare a proposal management plan focused on the five proposal planning activities. These activities are essential to transferring customer issues and needs identified during opportunity planning into proposal strategies, solutions, a price-to-win, and mitigations. Focus on these five key proposal planning activities: Migrating data from the opportunity plan to a proposal plan or to proposal planning tools Extending the opportunity strategy into the proposal strategy. A proposal strategy consists of statements of an organization’s position and how it plans to make each point in its proposal. Organizations can capture this transfer by preparing a draft executive summary. Refining the solution and price-to-win Engaging the right staff for the proposal team and securing the right executive support Holding a proposal kickoff meeting to share planning activities with the proposal team In completing these activities, an organization should conduct a review to validate and suggest improvements to its proposal strategy. The opportunity plan review team reviews the technical, management, and pricing solution against the customer’s needs and requirements, alignment with the opportunity strategy, and competitive focus. Adjustments made at this time, especially before the bid request comes out, help to maintain the alignment between pre-proposal activities and solutions and the proposal’s description of these solutions. Often, organizations use mockups and content plans as proposal planning tools that make proposal development and writing more customer focused. 6. Proposal Development As the opportunity matures and a formal bid request is released, proposal development kicks into high gear. If the opportunity is still viable, then the planning documents prepared in the previous phase now become working proposal development documents. At this stage, bid planning activities, including changes to the solution, strategy, teaming partners, proposal organization, proposal schedule, and workshare, should stop. Ongoing changes result in wasted time and resources and can lead to a mediocre proposal that is frustrating to prepare. Organizations should use compliance tracking tools, such as compliance checklists, response matrices, and writers’ assignments, to ensure that they are meeting the requirements of the bid request. They should also use communication tools to validate progress, troubleshoot proposal content, and address concerns. Finally, they should conduct short check-ins to monitor progress and status to ensure that deliverables and schedules are met. When Proposal Managers are satisfied with section drafts, they should submit them for final review. A team should review a complete draft proposal beginning with the executive summary, all volumes (including cost), and other items required at submittal. A final document review team evaluates the draft proposal from the customer’s perspective. The review team makes recommendations for improvement. After completing changes and receiving final approval, the proposal is submitted to the customer. Organizations vary in how they execute the proposal development process based on the nature of their business and the complexity of bid they submit. Page 6 | Understand Business Development APMP Foundation Study Guide | Copyright 2024 APMP. All Rights Reserved. Understand Business Development Introduction to the Business Development Lifecycle 7. Negotiation and Post-Submittal Activity Submittal of a proposal does not signal the end of the business development lifecycle. On the contrary, this is the phase where business decisions become intense and real. Many customers request clarifications or have discussions with bidders before making a final decision. These may lead to proposal modifications. An organization’s strategy during this phase should be to respond fully to customer questions and concerns and to reinforce the customer’s trust in its solution and organization. Companies should prepare the appropriate materials for final revisions, presentations, or any submissions the customer requires to complete the selection process. While interacting with the customer, organizations should refine their opportunity plan information and plan for customer meetings and live discussions. Overall, an organization’s strategy should be fairly simple: To respond fully to customer questions and concerns To reinforce a customer’s trust in its solution and organization To optimize the deal to the benefit of bidder and customer Conducting a lessons-learned review on each major bid opportunity is a critical best practice. Lessons learned should be well documented and stored for others to access and reference on future sales opportunities. Lessons learned should become part of an account plan, with all information captured in the CRM or tracking system. 8. Delivery and Ongoing Customer Relationships Effective business development activities continue throughout the solution delivery phase. This happens through ongoing interaction with the customer. Winning the contract is an opportunity to prove value and position your organization for additional opportunities. Executing effectively on a contract is the best way to position for future business with an account or client organization. Apply account management techniques, such as regular customer contact, product demonstrations and upgrades, social marketing, and participation in relevant industry and trade events. These activities demonstrate an ongoing interest in the customer’s business and success and help to position organizations for future opportunities. Common Pitfalls and Misconceptions Necessity of business development process Some organizations mistakenly think that a repeatable business development process is not necessary. Ad hoc business development activities are occasionally successful, but they are mostly hit and miss. Time and again, tailoring best practices and turning them into a repeatable process has proven effective. This offers a greater ROI—leading to achieving organizational revenue goals—than ad hoc activities. Importance of bid decision gates and positioning Another misconception is that “by bidding more, we will win more.” This is a costly mistake companies make, compared to those that leverage the power of bid decision gates and effective opportunity reviews. It is better to make the tough decision to no-bid rather than waste money on a marginal opportunity. Understand Business Development | Page 7 APMP Foundation Study Guide | Copyright 2024 APMP. All Rights Reserved. Understand Business Development Introduction to the Business Development Lifecycle Importance of early customer involvement Many companies believe that a compliant, responsive, and well-done proposal will win the contract. On the contrary, a proposal is often the final step in confirming a customer’s buying decision. Effective marketing, positioning, and selling are critical to winning business—the proposal then verifies the winning solution. A poor proposal, however, can kill a deal. Summary Defining, documenting, and implementing an effective business development lifecycle is a core part of strategic planning for any business. Organizations must remember to: Scale and tailor the cycle to specific markets and competitive positions. Clearly define roles and responsibilities within the cycle. Secure leadership buy-in and support for implementing the cycle. Document all successes and failures to learn from experience. Enhance the customer relationship across the cycle at each phase and as part of each activity. Terms to Know Market Identification Opportunity Plan Price-to-Win SWOT Page 8 | Understand Business Development APMP Foundation Study Guide | Copyright 2024 APMP. All Rights Reserved. Focus on the Customer Compliance and Responsiveness COMPLIANCE AND RESPONSIVENESS ► A winning proposal is both compliant and responsive. To write a proposal that fulfills both criteria, you must first understand that compliance and responsiveness are two different, but equally crucial qualities. Introduction Compliance is the act of meeting stated customer requirements. A compliant proposal meets the customer’s requirements and submittal instructions, answers the customer’s questions, and addresses specifications to the letter—nothing more, nothing less. Examples of compliance include: Structuring your proposal per the customer’s instructions Remaining within the page limits Adhering to formatting guidelines, such as font size, style, and margin size Meeting each and every RFP requirement Responsiveness goes beyond compliance. Responsive proposals address customer goals, underlying concerns, and key customer issues and values that might not be spelled out in the solicitation. Responsive proposals help customers achieve their business goals, not just their projects or procurement goals. Examples of responsiveness include: Understanding your customer’s stated and implied needs and addressing them in your response Describing the benefits your customer will gain from your solution Editing your writing to speak the customer’s language and use its terminology Pricing your proposal within your customer’s budget It is possible to be compliant without being responsive, as well as responsive without being compliant. The best proposals, however, are both. A non-compliant proposal, which fails to meet all of the customer’s requirements, will likely be rejected. In the government market, a non-compliant winning proposal may be protested by the competition. Yet compliance alone does not win in today’s increasingly competitive marketplace. A bidder must work with the customer, prior to RFP release, to understand the hot-button issues and then clearly address those issues in the proposal. Compliance can prevent your proposal from being eliminated, but responsiveness edges out the competition. Best Practices 1. Begin to cultivate responsiveness long before RFP release. If you are beginning to think about responsiveness at RFP release, you are too late. The customer’s hot-button issues are often not stated in the solicitation. To be responsive, you must know your cus tomer beyond the written requirements. Starting early means you can help shape the request for your specific response. Building a trusting relationship with your customer and understanding your customer’s underlying concerns takes time. Bid Managers and sales professionals must begin gathering this customer intelligence early in the business development lifecycle and continually build upon this relationship Focus on the Customer | Page 9 APMP Foundation Study Guide | Copyright 2023 APMP. All Rights Reserved. Focus on the Customer Compliance and Responsiveness through RFP release. An effective sales professional builds the entire approach and win themes around adequately addressing these issues. 2. Thoroughly review and clearly understand the customer’s bid request. One of the most common, but harmful mistakes proposal teams make is failing to read and understand an entire RFP. Instead, many teams quickly build an outline from instructions and dive into writing. How can you ensure full compliance with an RFP if you do not read it in its entirety? Prior to the kickoff meeting, find a quiet spot, sit down, and read the RFP. After reading (and rereading) the RFP, ensure that you clearly understand what is required. Identify anything that is unclear and could impact your response. Consider seeking clarification from the customer, but be sure to comply with the instructions for submitting RFP questions. 3. Prepare a comprehensive compliance matrix for every bid request. The compliance matrix is a must-have planning document. Always create a compliance matrix when a customer has provided requirements, regardless of the bid size or timeline. For unsolicited proposals, white papers, and RFI responses, use the executive summary, introductions, and section summaries to demonstrate your understanding of requirements and compliance. Create your compliance matrix early in the planning process, before writing begins, and update it throughout the proposal process, following solicitation amendments, customer responses to clarifica tion questions, and proposal outline changes. A compliance matrix is a powerful tool used by different proposal team members in different ways: Proposal Manager. Master proposal content planning document Volume Lead. Checklist to ensure that all requirements are addressed Writers. Guide to what should be written in each proposal section Reviewers. Evaluation tool clearly defining what should appear in each section Management. Top-level view of the proposal plan and strategy 4. Submit a response matrix with your proposal. Source selection and evaluation committees often have many other duties and responsibilities. At times, evaluators may not be deeply familiar with the technical subject matter of your proposal. That’s why you must make the proposal evaluation process as easy and efficient as possible. Prepare a clearly written and arranged proposal that is easy for evaluators to compare to their RFP requirements. Submit a response matrix with your proposal that the evaluator can use to quickly locate your compliant response to each requirement. A response matrix is a derivative of the compliance matrix. It is a roadmap that evaluators can use to find specific proposal responses for each compliance item. This matrix identifies where in the proposal you have addressed the solicitation requirements. If page limits do not allow for a separate response matrix in a proposal, include its content as part of paragraph titles. 5. Maintain a customer focus. When you understand and have a trusting relationship with your customer, you will be prepared to write a customer-focused proposal. Demonstrate that you understand the customer by citing its vision and hot-button issues in your executive summary and then weaving corresponding theme statements throughout your proposal. After all, if you do not understand what the customer wants, why should it trust you to fulfill its needs? Page 10 | Focus on the Customer APMP Foundation Study Guide | Copyright 2023 APMP. All Rights Reserved. Focus on the Customer Compliance and Responsiveness A customer-focused bidder: Names the customer first in each volume, section, or paragraph Names the customer more often than itself Clearly states the customer’s vision and hot-button issues Addresses these issues by presenting customer benefits before offered features Features are only effective if they offer a true benefit to the customer. Among car shoppers, a powerful engine and a compact design are usually considered good features. But what if you are a safety- minded and environmentally conscious mother of four small children? If it does not matter to your target customer, it is not a feature worth selling in your proposal. Summary In today’s market, winning proposals are not only compliant, but responsive to the customer’s underlying issues. Compliance and responsiveness are two different, but equally crucial elements. It is possible to be compliant without being responsive and vice versa. Winning bidders are both. Before beginning any work, you should thoroughly review and clearly understand the customer’s bid request. You should prepare a compliance matrix for every proposal that contains requirements, regardless of size or timeline. Make it clear that your proposal is compliant by submitting a response matrix with your proposal. This will also ensure that your proposal can be easily evaluated. Developing responsiveness begins in the early stages of the business development lifecycle and continues throughout. Responsiveness can vary greatly across different markets, groups, and cultures. Terms to Know Benefit Clarification Compliance Matrix Compliant versus Responsive Customer Focus Customer Issues Customer Requirements Feature Hot Buttons Non-Compliant Bids Protest Response Matrix Focus on the Customer | Page 11 APMP Foundation Study Guide | Copyright 2023 APMP. All Rights Reserved. Focus on the Customer Customer Analysis and Competitive Intelligence CUSTOMER ANALYSIS AND COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE ► Applying customer analysis and competitive intelligence requires researching what your customers need and what your competitors can offer. It can help you focus your opportunity and proposal strategy, set yourself apart, and win more bids. Introduction What compels a customer to buy one company’s products and services over another? How does a company distinguish itself from the competition to win new business? What can companies do to improve the odds of submitting the winning proposal? The answers to these questions lie in planning the strategy and approach, researching the customer’s needs, and objectively identifying competitors’ strengths, weaknesses, and strategies. Customer and competitive intelligence is a key part of opportunity planning and can help organizations develop winning proposals. Whether for commercial sales or government contracting, application of best practices in these two areas can drive effective proposal writing. Incorporating the tools and practices of customer analysis and competitive intelligence enhances narrative development, strengthens your value proposition, and highlights your strengths that complement your customer’s priorities and RFP requirements. It allows you to present solutions that overcome competitor weaknesses—and it provides the data you need to create effective strategies and compelling proposals. Best Practices 1. Understand the importance of customer and competitive intelligence. Customer intelligence is an understanding of a customer’s needs—spoken and unspoken—and the skills it looks for in contractors to meet those needs. It is a key element of the sales and opportunity planning process that occurs before responding to a bid or RFP. Good customer intelligence takes place over months and years. This data is developed by the sales or opportunity planning team, who is responsible for building a good relationship with customers and understanding their needs. A good working relationship between the proposal team and the opportunity planning team is key to understanding what must be included in the proposal narrative. The opportunity planning team must develop an accurate view of customer needs and desires. The most important information is information gained directly from customer contacts. Other useful sources of information include: Annual reports Policy documents Industry publications by the customer Individuals who were once employed by the customer organization Historical data on trends Budget documents that indicate future priorities Existing contracts and performance data (either when trying to unseat an incumbent or when trying to protect an existing contract) Customer analysis provides the big-picture view of the market and opportunity, giving a Page 12 | Focus on the Customer APMP Foundation Study Guide | Copyright 2023 APMP. All Rights Reserved. Focus on the Customer Customer Analysis and Competitive Intelligence comprehensive approach to explaining your company’s value proposition. It also helps the team understand which products or services should be included in the bid. This strengthens the opportunity plan development and proposal writing and explains how the contract will be executed upon win. This, in turn, has a large impact on the pricing strategy. Analysis of independently verifiable customer information helps create a thorough, well-planned strategy for winning the opportunity. In both commercial and government contracting environments, relationships with potential customers can let you influence RFP structure and content to your organization’s advantage. Your most serious competitors are doing the same, so your opportunity planning team has likely started building those customer relationships far in advance. Competitive intelligence is objectively understanding the strengths, weaknesses, and strategies of companies competing against your company for business. Competitive intelligence is a well-defined business practice to understand the competitive forces and market dynamics that impact your company’s viability and long-term profitability. To gain competitive intelligence, Opportunity Managers gather research from publicly available sources. They work with SMEs to fully understand the bid playing field. They use these combined insights to understand competitors’ capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses. Customer analysis and competitive intelligence work together to drive the strategy. They are critical to the business development, sales, opportunity planning, and proposal writing processes. Application of customer analysis and competitive intelligence helps focus your opportunity planning and proposal writing in two critical ways: Understanding the customer’s needs and requirements guides the development and selection of solution elements and actions needed to execute a thorough win strategy. Understanding competitors’ strengths and weaknesses helps you develop strategies that magnify your company’s strengths, minimize your weaknesses, and show your company’s capabilities and proposed innovations in the most positive way. 2. Foster information sharing among all members of your extended organization. The best sources of competitive intelligence data may be right at your fingertips. You can often find out most of what you want to know about your competitors by asking your colleagues. The challenge is figuring out who knows what, where those people can be found, and how to share that information with the writing team. Opportunity planning teams should take time to build information networks with colleagues. Active engagement by the opportunity planning team early in the proposal development process is critical to gain important, bid-winning data about the customer and your competitors. This data helps identify the biggest strengths your company possesses, which can then be included in the proposal narrative. Throughout your company are colleagues who possess knowledge that can enhance your proposal. Create channels, whether formal or informal, for obtaining information. Develop networks and tools for sharing that best suit your company and its culture. Focus on the Customer | Page 13 APMP Foundation Study Guide | Copyright 2023 APMP. All Rights Reserved. Focus on the Customer Customer Analysis and Competitive Intelligence 3. Leverage public sources of customer analysis and competitive intelligence data. Public sources of customer analysis and competitive intelligence data are numerous and include both primary and secondary research. The following table lists common data sources that may complement other sources unique to your company and industry. Customer Analysis Competitive Intelligence Data Sources Data Sources Data Sources Employees: colleagues, sales/marketing teams, and any other employees, regardless of their role in your company SMEs engaged by your company Customers’ websites Competitors’ websites Trade/industry association websites Social media: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. Publicly available information: government agency reports, industry/trade publications, webinars Trade shows/conferences Annual reports, analysts’ reports, and other SEC reports Subscription services: OneSource, Hoovers, Dun & Bradstreet, GovWin, Gartner, PWC, etc. Find out what sources your prospective customer uses for information and add them to your research. Ask other Opportunity Planning Managers what publications and resources they use and incorporate them into your research as appropriate. 4. Use a bidder comparison matrix to identify your key competitors’ strengths and weaknesses. Competitive intelligence provides the data needed to drive objectivity in developing your company’s strategy and approach. All too often, companies lose perspective, especially if a contract they have held for a while comes up for rebid. Capturing a true picture of the competitive field for any proposal will add dimension to your writing. It also directs your writing to requirements from the customer’s perspective, complemented by a discussion of your own company’s strengths and discriminators. A clear picture of both the customer’s needs and requirements—and your strongest competitors— reveals areas on which to focus in your proposal. Use a bidder comparison matrix to analyze competitors’ strengths and weaknesses against your position. In the hypothetical bid shown in the following table, competitors have varying strengths and weaknesses. Page 14 | Focus on the Customer APMP Foundation Study Guide | Copyright 2023 APMP. All Rights Reserved. Focus on the Customer Customer Analysis and Competitive Intelligence Competencies/Requirements Your Company Company A Company B Company C Wind Turbine Services Yes Yes Yes Yes Logistics Services Yes Yes No No Gulf Coast Operations Yes No Yes Yes Oil and Gas Industry Experience Yes Yes Yes No Strong Company Leadership Yes Yes Yes Yes Reputation for Product Quality Yes No Yes No ISO Certifications Yes No Yes No “Yes” Scores 7 4 6 3 The matrix clearly shows the strongest competitor and highlights strengths and weaknesses of others. This knowledge should guide the proposal writing process. Consider the following example guidance based on the information in the table: From customer intelligence obtained by the opportunity planning team, you know that quality of product is very important to the customer. Therefore, Company A and Company C will fall short. Guidance: Write about your company’s reputation for quality and provide relevant proof points to highlight your strengths in this area (e.g., 10-year successful wind turbine services provider with customer testimonials as proof points; 30 years of oil and gas experience). Company C falls short in several areas. It will need multiple teammates to bring its capabilities to the same level as your company’s, which will raise the cost of its offer. Guidance: Write about your company’s full set of capabilities, providing proof points in each area of requirements. Discuss your ability to deliver all requirements more cost-effectively (no teammates required) without introducing the unnecessary risk of managing multiple teammates. Company B has similar strengths to your company, but will have to find a teammate to close its logistics gap, which may add risk to its proposal. Guidance: Focus writing on all of your company’s strengths. Stress your logistics experience (e.g., 50 percent of your business is conducted in the Gulf Coast region and your logistics operations are based in Houston). Highlight the quality of your product and provide proof points (e.g., customer testimonials and the capabilities your company has to deliver the full requirements of the RFP). Common Pitfalls and Misconceptions Belief that competitive intelligence data collection is a covert activity No one should break the law to collect competitive intelligence data. Competitive intelligence is an ethical business practice guided by written rules from the association of Strategic and Competitive Intelligence Professionals (SCIP). Its website is a wealth of competitive intelligence information and training. Most companies have their own legal guidance regarding competitive intelligence, which is often included in corporate ethics training. Focus on the Customer | Page 15 APMP Foundation Study Guide | Copyright 2023 APMP. All Rights Reserved. Focus on the Customer Customer Analysis and Competitive Intelligence Difficulty obtaining competitive intelligence data You can find the majority of the competitive intelligence data you need among colleagues and online. Verify data you collect through group brainstorming. With so many resources readily available, it is relatively simple to find most of the data needed for an effective proposal narrative. Proprietary company data, however, is not always available. In these cases, teams may have to derive information from available data and make assumptions. Summary Customer analysis and competitive intelligence uses research to understand customer needs and competitor strengths and weaknesses. This knowledge helps proposal writers show a company’s own value proposition in the best possible light. Gathering competitive intelligence is an ethical activity; most sources of information are publicly and readily available. An important source of competitive intelligence data is information shared by colleagues. Proposal teams should work to gain information from others in their organizations. Organizations can use a bidder comparison matrix to showcase their own capabilities in comparison to their competitors. Terms to Know Competitive Intelligence Customer Intelligence Page 16 | Focus on the Customer APMP Foundation Study Guide | Copyright 2023 APMP. All Rights Reserved. Focus on the Customer Executive Summaries EXECUTIVE SUMMARIES ► First impressions count. The executive summary of your proposal appears first and therefore must be clear and persuasive to grab customer attention. Introduction The executive summary is a concise, informational, persuasive piece of writing. Its purpose is to convince the customer that your offer is superior to competitor offers. It is generally a standalone section at the front of a proposal. If the customer’s instructions do not allow for an executive summary, then include this content as part of the cover letter or first-page introduction. By writing a compelling executive summary, you make it easier for evaluators to digest the key messages in your proposal—and you improve your chances of winning. The executive summary is not a summary of the sections in your offer. Rather, it is a sales document that shows that you: Grasp your customer’s vision Understand the customer’s explicit and implied needs Have built a solution that satisfies those needs Offer better value than any competitor Aim the executive summary at senior-level decisionmakers in your customer’s organization. Articulate the customer’s vision and present a complete value proposition that clearly shows why your solution is the best choice. Because the executive summary clearly articulates your bidding strategy, it is an excellent tool for provid ing guidance to the proposal team. Write the executive summary in the opportunity planning phase, before a kickoff meeting. Then, as appropriate based on value and strategic importance, review it early with management based on decision gate criteria. Best Practices 1. Keep executive summaries customer-focused. Always include a well-written executive summary with a proposal. An effective executive summary demonstrates that you understand the customer’s business issue, have worked with the customer to define its issues and needs, and can use the customer’s language in your response. A customer-focused executive summary: Demonstrates understanding of the customer’s motivation and vision for a bid Articulates understanding of the customer’s hot buttons Confirms that the solution satisfies each hot-button issue from the customer’s perspective Focuses on benefits to the customer, not the underlying products or services Uses the customer name more frequently than the bidder’s name Is written in a concise tone and style that decisionmakers can understand Avoids technical content that obscures customer benefits Ghosts the competition Focus on the Customer | Page 17 APMP Foundation Study Guide | Copyright 2023 APMP. All Rights Reserved. Focus on the Customer Executive Summaries One way to plan your executive summary is to use traditional strategy tools like a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis or a bidder comparison matrix. Organize your executive summary around the answers to seven key questions: What are the customer’s problems? Why did these problems arise? What results do they want to achieve by solving the problems? Which outcome or result is the most important? What solutions can you, or your competitors, offer? What results will each solution produce? Which is the best solution and why? Define a structured approach for your executive summary. There are a number of options for building a persuasive executive summary. Here is one effective approach: In the opening paragraphs, connect with the customer. Demonstrate that you understand its vision, its objectives for success, and the challenges it faces. Provide a brief overview of the value your solution will bring. Use your win theme and “killer” discriminator here. In the next paragraphs, demonstrate that you clearly understand the customer’s needs. Prioritize these needs from the customer’s perspective. If you are an incumbent, indicate your understanding of how needs have changed. In the following paragraphs, present your solution to each of the customer’s needs. State your solution’s benefits and include proof points to substantiate your claims. In the final paragraphs, review why the customer should choose you and provide a roadmap for the proposal organization. Clearly identify the win themes (i.e., features, benefits, and proof points) that your proposal provides. If a customer does not specifically ask for an executive summary, include one anyway. If customer instructions or procurement rules disallow an executive summary, you can explain the key points of your solution in other ways: Your cover letter The first sections of your proposal body The first paragraph of a very short proposal Identify the executive summary by whatever name the customer uses in its instructions. Common names include proposal overview, management summary, and management overview. If the customer gives specific instructions for the executive summary’s content and location in a proposal, follow those instructions. Weave the key points stated here into any framework the customer provides. 2. Write and review early. Preparing executive summaries early promotes clear alignment for the pursuit. This ensures that every individual, from the proposal team to senior executives, conveys the same message to your customer. An early executive summary provides a consistent baseline to ease customer communications and positioning. An early draft of your executive summary should form part of the kickoff meeting package. Write it after planning, but before kickoff. Page 18 | Focus on the Customer APMP Foundation Study Guide | Copyright 2023 APMP. All Rights Reserved. Focus on the Customer Executive Summaries Drafting your executive summary early allows you and your team to: Test your value proposition on the client before starting your proposal effort and refine it to match the client’s needs. However, be careful not to do this after the RFP has been issued or you may risk being disqualified. Align your proposal team on the proposal strategy so that contributors link their sections to the overall win themes, where possible. Avoid costly rework of your solution at a later stage when mistakes may be too late to correct. Give senior management time to review and support your strategy. Allow time for better graphics and production methods that will be more persuasive to your client. If you are not prepared to write the executive summary early, you probably are not ready to bid and should consider a no-bid. Obtain approval for your executive summary by the relevant person in your organization as soon as possible. Use it in early reviews to drive the direction of the proposal team and keep the proposal effort in line with your proposal strategy. 3. Use your executive summary to make an impression. The first thing clients read sets the tone for the rest of your proposal. Executive summaries are important because they are often the only pages a busy evaluator reads in detail before skimming through the rest of your submission. If you make mistakes or fail to show value in your executive summary, evalua tors may skip to the price page and dismiss the rest of your proposal. Think of it this way: if you went to the hospital to get advice about a medical problem, would you be more trusting of a doctor dressed in a white lab coat, or one with ripped clothing and arms covered in tattoos? Chances are, you’d perceive greater expertise and authority from someone who “looks the part” (even though that perception could be false). The same goes for executive summaries: if your executive summary is professional and persuasive, reviewers are likely to expect the same from the rest of your proposal. A good executive summary is unique to each opportunity because solutions, client requirements, and competitors differ from one opportunity to the next. Overuse of boilerplate or clearly “recycled” content may lead evaluators to think you have not thought carefully about their particular needs. Give evaluators clear reasons to select you over your competitors. If you offer more than one option, then recommend the solution that best matches the client’s needs. Mention what makes your solution unique and provide relevant proof points, such as success stories for similar solutions provided to similar clients. Decisions often are driven by emotion. Include graphics to add emotional appeal and use a professional layout that makes the key points easy to see. Graphics serve as guideposts through a proposal. They build understanding of discriminators and promote buy-in. Explain what value your customer gets for investing in your solution, but avoid too much technical detail. Instead, focus on benefits and clear discriminators. Quantify the payback where possible. Where possible, include high-level pricing. Exclude pricing only if prohibited by the client or where this is not relevant to the purpose of your proposal. Focus on the Customer | Page 19 APMP Foundation Study Guide | Copyright 2023 APMP. All Rights Reserved. Focus on the Customer Executive Summaries As a sales document, your executive summary helps to advance the sales process to the next stage. Be sure to ask for the customer’s business in a subtle way by confirming your understanding of the next step in your client’s decision cycle. Phrases you can use to do this include: I will call you on Friday to discuss next steps. Our team is ready to present our solution to your board next week. Sign here before month end to accept the terms of this proposal and meet the project deadlines with the team that we propose. Click here to order now. 4. Clearly indicate your proposal’s responsiveness and compliance. Find out who will read and evaluate your proposal. Then, tailor your executive summary to match the priorities of key decisionmakers: Motivators are what the customer is trying to achieve to realize its vision. Issues are the things that worry the customer. They may stem from an existing problem or be driven by an upcoming opportunity. Hot buttons are a combination of issues and motivators. Hot buttons are the singularly important issues that are likely to drive decisions. Cite the origin of needs or hot buttons you mention in your proposal to provide context and allow your executive summary to stand alone. Clearly show that you have validated needs with the customer. For example: In our recent meeting, you mentioned that your key requirements are … In RFP 123/4, Acme states that … Acme Vice President Mary Jones recently said … Make it clear that you comply with the client’s requirements. For example: Our proposal fully complies with the requirements in Acme RFP 123/4. 5. Assign writing and review responsibilities strategically. Use a clear, easy-to-read writing style. The Oxford Guide to Plain English recommends simple words and short sentences of no more than 15–20 words. Check the readability statistics when you write using tools available in word processing software. Aim for a grade level of 8–10. Write clear, direct sentences in active voice. The ideal author for your executive summary is a salesperson or Opportunity Manager who has built a relationship with the client. The salesperson can articulate the customer’s needs and explain how your organization can solve its problems. The writing doesn’t need to be perfect in the first draft, and a struc tured writing approach can help. When a draft is written, a skilled writer can polish the wording, and a graphic artist can create the visual imagery. When choosing reviewers for your executive summary, make sure you have a good mix of client knowledge, competitor knowledge, solution capabilities, past performance, and executive and writing skills. Use a professional proposal editor for edits. This may be the Proposal Manager or an Editorial Specialist on the proposal team, depending on the size of your team and organization. Page 20 | Focus on the Customer APMP Foundation Study Guide | Copyright 2023 APMP. All Rights Reserved. Focus on the Customer Executive Summaries Allow time for changes in the executive summary as your proposal effort progresses. Be sure to do a final proofread after any last-minute changes to preserve quality. Keep production schedules in mind when editing to make sure that there is enough time for layout, graphics, and printing to the level required. 6. Mirror your executive summary themes in the proposal cover, title, and cover letter. The proposal title, packaging, cover letter, and executive summary all are highly visible parts of your package to persuade the customer. Each of these components makes a strong contribution to the customer’s first impression of your offer, so it is critical that your message and visuals are consistent and compelling. When preparing these aspects of a proposal, consider the following: Use an active, engaging title. The title of your proposal is the first thing the customer reads. Avoid generic titles such as “Proposal for Company XYZ.” According to Tom Sant, a good title should: Describe your recommendation Start with an active verb that stresses benefits to the customer Focus on results or benefits, not a product name Avoid jargon An effective approach is to use a two-part title (when not instructed differently in the bid instructions). For example, “Eliminate Your Test Lab Worries and Reduce Your Costs: [Your Company Name] Solution for Company XYZ.” Design a customer-focused proposal cover. The most effective proposal covers feature the customer, not your company. If instructions allow, use a picture, diagram, or graphic on the cover that relates to the major win theme of the proposal. You may want to include your customer’s logo or branding colors. Above all, the focus should be on the customer’s perspective, not your own. Include a cover letter. The cover letter formally presents your proposal to the customer. It is part of the overall persuasion package. It should mirror the win themes of the proposal. Address the letter to an individual (usually specified in the bid request), not the company. Regardless of the level of the addressee, use the tone of communication for a decisionmaker. The highest-level person in your organization that the customer personally knows (and has signature authority) should sign the cover letter. Do not use dual signatures, unless the offer is being made by a strategic partnership between two companies. Reference the bid request you are responding to. In brief terms, highlight the solution and key discrimi nators of your proposal. Thank the customer and close with a statement of commitment. Common Pitfalls and Misconceptions Including irrelevant information in executive summaries An executive summary is not a summary of your proposal, but rather a business case or a value proposition to convince evaluators to select you. Don’t include your corporate history. If you feel compelled to include it somewhere, add it as an appendix to the proposal. Focus on the Customer | Page 21 APMP Foundation Study Guide | Copyright 2023 APMP. All Rights Reserved. Focus on the Customer Executive Summaries Summary A good executive summary provides a value proposition that helps evaluators choose you. Always include an executive summary as a standalone document unless the proposal is very short. Follow instructions if provided. Write a draft executive summary before kickoff and get it approved early. Use it as a briefing tool to drive the direction of the proposal team. Allow time for changes and be sure to do a final proofread, while keeping production schedules in mind. Plan before writing. Adapt your approach to the time available. Write executive summaries for nontechnical, upper-level decisionmakers. Tie major discriminators explicitly to customer issues. Match the goals and priorities of the evaluators. Give them good reasons to select you by showing them the unique value of your solution with relevant proof points. Mention the client first and benefits before features. Show your solution’s compliance. Use a clear writing style and include graphics to add emotional appeal. Avoid too much technical detail. Include high-level pricing and related value propositions unless prohibited or irrelevant. Ask the salesperson (or Opportunity Manager) who knows the client best to write the draft executive summary. Enlist a proposal editor for final edits and a mix of client, technical, competitor, executive, and proposal skills for reviews. Keep your executive summary short. Use a structure that works. Each executive summary differs for each opportunity because the client, evaluators, competitors, and solution are all different. Terms to Know Bidder Comparison Matrix Executive Summary Hot Buttons SWOT Win Themes Page 22 | Focus on the Customer APMP Foundation Study Guide | Copyright 2023 APMP. All Rights Reserved. Focus on the Customer Strategy and Win Themes STRATEGY AND WIN THEMES ► Strategy and win themes play an evolutionary role in the development of an opportunity. As intelligence improves, strategy evolves and competitive focus matures, driving improved win themes. Introduction Proposal strategy statements are tools to verbalize your win strategies in a way that helps everyone on your team understand how the bid will succeed. For example, you might create an early strategy statement that says, “To mitigate our company’s weakness in training delivery, we will team with a small, disadvantaged business already known to the customer.” Strategy is inextricably linked to the customer, competitor, and bidder capability assessments developed in the opportunity plan. Each time those assessments are updated, strategies and associated win themes must be reassessed. SWOT analysis, whether formal or informal, provides the information you need to create both opportunity and proposal strategies. As you move from the opportunity planning phase to the proposal planning and development phases of the business development lifecycle, opportunity strategies will influence proposal strategies, and win themes will influence proposal themes. Best Practices 1. Develop opportunity strategies and win themes early. When your company has committed funding to pursuit of a specific opportunity, assemble your team to brainstorm the best ways to position yourself to win. Using a bidder comparison matrix and SWOT analysis (see Opportunity Plans), determine specific actions that you will perform to improve your win probability. Document those actions in strategy statement templates that describe: What you will do to leverage strengths against each item of importance to the customer What you will do to mitigate weaknesses against those items What you will do to exploit opportunities (weaknesses exhibited by competitors) against those items What you will do to counter threats (strengths exhibited by competitors) At this stage, these descriptions point to tactics that the opportunity team needs to deploy to improve your position. They will point to win themes now and proposal theme statements, trade studies, and ghosting later. What you say to sell an offer focused on innovation is very different from what you say about an incumbent recompete, so a unifying concept is important to keep your themes on message. Poll your team for a single word or two that summarizes your opportunity strategy. When you have chosen one, make sure that everyone understands it. It might be as simple as “Innovate” or “Change the Game,” but that word or statement provides a launching point for everything that you say about your offer going forward. All of your win themes should link back to that single unifying concept. Focus on the Customer | Page 23 APMP Foundation Study Guide | Copyright 2023 APMP. All Rights Reserved. Focus on the Customer Strategy and Win Themes Expand your unifying concept to an elevator speech. Using strategy statements as a guide, write down and distribute a brief statement to your team that summarizes your win strategies. Early in the process, it is enough to have a unified story to tell. As you collaborate with the customer and intelligence improves, your elevator speech will evolve to include quantified benefits. 2. Identify a “killer” opportunity strategy and refine it as intelligence improves. The litmus test of the very best opportunity strategy is that if it were revealed to the competition, it would damage your chances of winning. If your opportunity strategy is not at that level, focus your interactions with the customer on shifting the environment to allow such a “killer” strategy. An example of this would be to convince the buyer to spec ify a single component available only through your company. You would then be able to manipulate the learned of this strategy prior to solicitation, they would work to overturn the requirement, thus damaging your chances of winning. This kind of change in the opportunity environment should trigger a change in win strategies. Other changes could include new players in the competition, personnel changes at the customer organization, legislation, public opinion shifts, and other factors. Evaluate each change for impact on your existing strategies and win themes. As new and better information becomes available, assess it to determine your ability to identify discrim inators and other quantified benefits to flesh out your win themes. Also remember to reevaluate your strategy statements as better competitive intelligence is developed. This may offer new directions for some win themes or eliminate others. 3. Use opportunity plan review and competitor review feedback to focus your strategies and win themes. Outside evaluators of the opportunity plan and competitor approaches will offer new perspectives on your strategy and themes. Sometimes these perspectives can overturn your entire approach based on new information that evaluators bring to the reviews. But more often, they will confirm your approach and strengthen your opportunity strategies. Additional insights from these opportunity plan reviews and competitor reviews can allow you to hone win themes and often establish new discriminators. See Opportunity Plans for more information on these reviews. 4. Build proposal strategies for anticipated response requirements. As draft solicitation documents become available, use the feedback from review teams and return to your strategy statements to identify potential proposal theme statements, trade studies, and ghosting opportunities. Use the remaining time to actually perform competitive studies. The effort to compare your offerings with those of competitors will help quantify the benefits you bring. 5. Design a proposal cover and key graphic that reflect your overall offer and overarch ing theme. Earlier in the process, you chose a one- or two-word theme that was the basis of your elevator speech. If you have not already done so with early marketing activities, create a customer-focused cover for the proposal and a key graphic that summarizes your offer. Page 24 | Focus on the Customer APMP Foundation Study Guide | Copyright 2023 APMP. All Rights Reserved. Focus on the Customer Strategy and Win Themes The process of representing your concepts visually will help you further sharpen your message. In addition, visuals will kick-start your executive summary mockup and transition of opportunity plans to proposal plans. 6. Monitor transition of strategy and win themes to proposal content, final proposal response, and contract negotiations. The best-laid opportunity plans are not always transitioned into proposal plans. When that happens, customers who have been communicating with your company may be confused by a proposal that does not match the expectations that your team has set. Avoid this by carefully mapping strategy statements and win themes all the way through to technical, management, and price solutions at contract negotiations. This may mean that you need a three- or four-level pricing strategy or plan to reduce technical scope, but you must know before bidding what you will deliver on the contract and at what price. Summary Strategies and win themes must evolve from positioning actions and statements to solution strategies and themes based on the entire opportunity environment. The litmus test of the best opportunity strategy is that if it were revealed to the competition, it would damage your chances to win. Review and repeat SWOT analyses to confirm that your strategy statements are still aligned as the requirements and competitive field change. Translate win themes to proposal themes for each major section of the proposal. Use quantified benefits statements in customer-focused themes. Communicate and ensure understanding of your strategies and themes through the proposal all the way to contract negotiations. Terms to Know Bidder Comparison Matrix Competitor Review Elevator Speech Executive Summary Ghosting the Competition Opportunity Plan Opportunity Plan Review Opportunity Strategy Proposal Strategy Statement SWOT Theme Statement Win Strategy Focus on the Customer | Page 25 APMP Foundation Study Guide | Copyright 2023 APMP. All Rights Reserved. Focus on the Customer Value Propositions VALUE PROPOSITIONS ► A good value proposition helps clients grasp the value of what you are selling compared to other options. Introduction A value proposition is a statement that specifically addresses how aspects of an offer positively affect a customer’s business. Value propositions should provide customer-specific statements that are quantifiable and describe tangible and intangible value. In simple terms, a value proposition offers clients something they want and gives them a good reason to choose you over your competitors. In the executive summary and in your full proposal, as well as in any other customer interactions, communicate a strong value proposition that matches your client’s needs and demonstrates your unique offer. Best Practices 7. Sell the value based on client benefits. People make decisions based on recognition of your brand—a single decision factor that may differ from one evaluator to another—or by estimating the return they will gain from investing in your solution. Salesman Elmer Wheeler famously said, “Don’t sell the steak; sell the sizzle.” That’s exactly what com panies are trying to do when they explain their value propositions to customers. They are not selling features, but rather positive discriminators that deliver benefits that matter to the client. A good value proposition takes the client’s needs into account and is also sensitive to the role of the evaluator. For example, a Financial Manager may be concerned about cutting costs, while a Marketing Manager may be concerned with growing market share. As a Proposal Manager, you may need to overcome internal objections to creating a value proposition. Stakeholders may argue that it takes too long or that you don’t have enough information about the client or your competitors. They might also argue against being specific about the benefits you offer clients. According to proposal writing expert Tom Sant, the average proposal decision takes only 6 minutes. Selling on value helps to organize your proposal strategy. Value grabs your client’s attention and dif ferentiates your proposal. A good value proposition demonstrates your understanding and frames your solution in a way that matters to the buyer. In short, creating a good value proposition helps you win. 8. Link benefits to your unique selling points. Making your value proposition the foundation of your executive summary gives evaluators a reason to select you, even before they read your proposal. Your value proposition is unique for every sales opportunity and relates to your theme and strategy statements. Tell your customer a clear, concise, and compelling story in line with your strategy for the proposal. Introduce key win themes in a way that makes an impact on your client and demonstrates that you are the best choice. Page 26 | Focus on the Customer APMP Foundation Study Guide | Copyright 2023 APMP. All Rights Reserved. Focus on the Customer Value Propositions Involve your customers in developing and testing your value proposition where possible during one-on- one meetings and other opportunities. A winning value proposition will focus on benefits that matter to the client. Explain what you do that no one else does, or what you do in a different way from anyone else (advantages of your solution). Support your claims with facts and third-party evidence (proof points). Figure 1 illustrates how discriminators and proof combine to demonstrate value to a customer. Figure 1 Building a Value Proposition Combine your unique claims with proof and link these to client benefits to add real value. 1. Use effective price-to-win methods. You don’t have to offer the lowest price to win a deal. Value is the way the customer perceives price, and the winning proposal offers a client more value than any alternative options. The role of the Proposal Manager is to maximize the difference between the value the client gets and the price paid. Use price-to-win methods to arrive at a winning price. Historical databases, teaming partner knowledge, and Price-to-Win Consultants can help you do this. 9. Quantify the payback. A good way to demonstrate the value of your solution is by quantifying the return that the client will get by investing in it. ROI may include one of the following typical measures: Time. This is sometimes called the “breakeven period.” For example, “Our software solution will pay for itself within 6 months assuming 10 users save 20 percent of the time they currently spend doing the same task manually.” Rate. Usually a percentage; sometimes called internal rate of return (IRR). For example, “If I spend $100 and expect a 30-percent return, then I expect $130 back.” Focus on the Customer | Page 27 APMP Foundation Study Guide | Copyright 2023 APMP. All Rights Reserved. Focus on the Customer Value Propositions Value. Usually measured as an amount of money; sometimes called net present value (NPV) or economic value added (EVA). For example, “Compared to your current costs, our solution will save you $100,000 in the first year and $200,000 per year thereafter. Over 3 years, you will save $500,000.” By focusing on the benefit that your client wants to gain, and by making some simple assumptions about your solution, you can usually quantify the payback in a simple way. Use proof points to further convince the customer. This is far more persuasive than making vague claims about the value clients will gain. 10. Make it visual. Using pictures to explain your value proposition helps clients understand your value faster and remember it longer. It also adds emotion to persuade. Refer to the guidelines about graphics and action captions for more information. For example, if your solution has a 5-year payback and results in substantial energy savings over 30 years, you might include a bar chart showing the initial expense, when it pays for itself, and the savings each year with the total savings and your key assumptions. Figure 2 is a graphic illustration of this scenario. Figure 2 Showing Benefits with Visuals Illustrate the value you offer using graphics where possible. Page 28 | Focus on the Customer APMP Foundation Study Guide | Copyright 2023 APMP. All Rights Reserved. Focus on the Customer Value Propositions 11. Structure your value proposition in a logical, orderly way. There are many ways to structure value propositions. Here are some templates and examples based on best practice that you may find useful in your proposals. Follow the SMART approach: Make your value proposition SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant (or results based), and Time sensitive. At APMP’s 2008 International Conference, Tony Birch proposed that one way to phrase the value proposition in a proposal could be: [Client name] can improve [what] [by how much/in what way] as a result of [doing what differently], over [what timescale] for an investment of [how much]. For example: Acme can improve customer satisfaction by 20 percent as a result of automating service desk functions over 6 months for an investment of $2 million. In the Shipley Proposal Guide, Larry Newman offered this syntax and example of a value proposition: [Prospect] will realize [quantified business improvement] by purchasing [our solution] for [total investment cost]. Beginning [implementation date], the improvement in [specific business process or function] will achieve an economic payback in [timeframe]. We have agreed to document the delivered value by [results measurement and tracking approach]. For example: BigCo will realize a 5-percent productivity improvement by purchasing our consulting solution for $5 million. Beginning June 1, 2014, the improvement in factory output will achieve an economic payback in 6 months. We have agreed to document the delivered value by comparing the current baseline to increased output on a monthly basis. According to Tom Sant, a value proposition can be presented in three parts: State the value the customer will get Identify the differentiator that will deliver that value Provide proof that the claim is credible For example: One important benefit of accepting this proposal is that NewCo will see a decrease in energy consumption of 15 percent to 18 percent. Focus on the Customer | Page 29 APMP Foundation Study Guide | Copyright 2023 APMP. All Rights Reserved. Focus on the Customer Value Propositions That decrease in energy consumption will come as a direct result of implementing our energy optimization software, which will automatically manage your energy costs to ensure that you pay the lowest possible price 24 hours a day. The only system of its kind, the software has been proven in controlled studies to reduce energy bills. When Gee Smelting implemented our software, it saw an immediate reduction in energy costs of more than 20 percent. Similarly, Mercy Hospital reduced energy costs by 17 percent during the first year of using our software. You can also use the elevator pitch (from Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey A. Moore): For [target customers] who are dissatisfied with [the current market alternative], our [product name] is a [new product category] that provides [key problem-solving capability]. Unlike [the product alternative], our product provides [unique product features]. For example: For mobile business people who are dissatisfied with heavy laptops with a limited battery life, our MobiJob is a solar tablet that provides 24 hours of battery life after only 1 hour of ambient light. Unlike regular tablet devices, our product weighs no more than a novel, requires no accessories, fits in your briefcase, and has more processing power than the average laptop. 12. Focus on the right kind of impact. When you are looking for client benefits for your value proposition, remember that the return your client wants might not only be financial. According to Tom Sant, clients may seek the following kinds of impact: Strategic/Financial Tactical/Technical (operational) Political/Social Page 30 | Focus on the Customer APMP Foundation Study Guide | Copyright 2023 APMP. All Rights Reserved. Focus on the Customer Value Propositions Figure 3 Three Kinds of Impact Determine the type of impact that matters most to your customer, and then emphasize that impact. Look for impact that is measurable, linked to your products or services, and proportional to the fees you will charge. For example: Strategic. Improve working capital by 30 percent with no increase in revenue. Tactical. Automate a manually intensive aspect of the mission so that it requires 10 fewer steps to complete, thereby reducing errors and saving hours of effort. Political. Improve morale by combining long-distance telephony and network offerings, thereby increasing retention by five full-time equivalent positions per year. Common Pitfalls and Misconceptions Reluctance to include a value proposition Common obstacles to using value propositions include lack of awareness, poor information about clients or competitors, and fear of mentioning specific results. To overcome these obstacles, remember that if you don’t include value, you limit your chance

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