Developing Project Proposals PDF

3 Developing Project Proposals © 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.  Chapter Concepts Building relationships with customers and...

3 Developing Project Proposals © 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.  Chapter Concepts Building relationships with customers and partners Proposal marketing strategies Decision making to develop a proposal Creating winning proposals The proposal preparation process Elements that may be included in a proposal Pricing considerations Customer evaluation of proposals Types of contracts between the customer and the contractor Measuring the success of proposal efforts © 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.  Learning Outcomes Develop relationships with customers and partners Decide whether to prepare a proposal in response to a customer’s RFP Create a credible proposal Determine a fair and reasonable price for a proposal Discuss how customers evaluate proposals Explain types of contracts and various terms and conditions Measure the success of proposal efforts © 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.  Project Project Management Knowledge Areas from Procurement PMBOK® Guide Management © 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.  Building Relationships with Customers and Partners Foundation for successful funding and opportunities Requires good listening and constant learning Frequent and regular contact; express appreciation for the client’s time Trust is key and ethics are imperative First impression is important Problem solving and credibility grows with good performance Partner with several key individuals in an organization © 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.  Pre-RFP/Proposal Marketing Begin developing the relationship before RFP is prepared Can help client identify needs Better position to win the contract Develop a more clearly focused response to RFP Pre-RFP and pre-proposal efforts are business development No cost to the customer Help build the relationship Unsolicited proposals and uncompetitive contracts Result of identified needs and problem solving Eliminates preparation of an RFP and soliciting process © 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.  Decision to Develop a Proposal Development is costly and time consuming Contractors must be realistic about their probability of winning a contract Evaluate bid/no-bid decision Many non-winning proposals hurt reputation May be hard to decide to no-bid an RFP © 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.  Bid or No-Bid? Factors to consider Competition Risk Mission Extension of capabilities Reputation Customer funds Proposal resources Project resources © 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.  Creating a Winning Proposal Selling document The best idea to solve the problem Highlight unique factors Emphasize benefits to the customer Be simple and concise Addresses requirements from RFP Be realistic © 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.  Proposal Preparation Proposal team Can be one person or many Various skills and expertise Proposal manager for large proposals Proposal development Time for writing, review, and management approval Length dependent upon the RFP requirements Cost of proposal development is part of normal business costs © 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.  Proposal Contents Three sections Technical Management Cost Detail level Depends on complexity of the project Requirements from the RFP © 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.  Technical Section Understand the need Proposed approach or solution Benefits to the customer © 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.  Management Section Description of major tasks Deliverables Project schedule Project organization Related experience Equipment and facilities © 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.  Cost Section Include estimated costs Labor Materials Equipment Facilities Subcontractors and consultants Travel Documentation Overhead Escalation Reserve Fee or profit © 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.  Pricing Considerations Competition Price Not overpriced or underpriced Factors Reliability of cost estimates Risk Value of project to the contractor Customer’s budget Competition level © 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.  Simplified Project Proposal Complex Simplified Large number of Statement of the pages customer’s need Defined sections Assumptions Charts and figures Project scope Tables of information Deliverables Resources Schedule Price Risks Expected benefits © 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.  Proposal Submission and Follow-up Submission Follow-up On time Be proactive Formatted properly Professional manner Sent in manner Follow RFP guidelines required Hard copies E-mail Electronic form Two sets by different delivery methods © 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.  Customer Evaluation of Proposals Customer sets criteria Customer may request a best and final offer (BAFO) Helps to have common comparison criteria © 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.  Contracts Agreement Types Contract must be Fixed Price signed before starting Price remains fixed work Low risk for customer Establishes High risk for contractor For well-defined communication projects with little risk Agreement of Cost-Reimbursement deliverables for a Price for actual costs certain price High risk for customer Low risk for contractor For higher risk projects © 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.  Contract Terms and Conditions Misrepresentation of costs Notice of cost overruns or schedule delays Approval of subcontractor Customer furnished equipment of information Patents Disclosure of proprietary information International considerations Termination Terms of payments Bonus/penalty payments Changes © 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.  Measuring Proposal Success Measures Strategies Win ratio Submit many to win Number won/number fair share submitted Increase chances of All proposals weighted winning equally May be viewed Total dollar value negatively Value won/value Bid on potential submitted successes More weight to larger Respond where better values than average chance to win Must have bid/no-bid process © 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.  Critical Success Factors Customers and partner organizations prefer to work with people they know and trust. Relationships establish the foundation for successful funding and contract opportunities. Establishing and building trust is key to developing effective and successful relationships with clients and partners. The first impression one makes on a client is pivotal to developing a continuing and fruitful relationship. Pre-RFP/proposal efforts are crucial to establishing the foundation for eventually winning a contract from the customer. Do not wait until formal RFP solicitations are announced by customers before starting to develop proposals. Rather, develop relationships with potential customers long before they prepare their RFPs. Working closely with a potential customer puts a contractor in a better position to be selected as the winning contractor. Learn as much as possible about the customer’s needs, problems, and decision-making process during pre-RFP/proposal marketing. © 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.  Critical Success Factors (continued) Becoming familiar with the customer’s needs, requirements, and expectations will help in preparing a more clearly focused proposal. Be realistic about the ability to prepare a quality proposal and about the probability of winning the contract. It is not enough just to prepare a proposal; rather, the proposal must be of sufficient quality to have a chance of winning. A proposal is a selling document, not a technical report. It should be written in a simple, concise manner and should use terminology with which the customer is familiar. In a proposal, it is important to highlight the unique factors that differentiate it from competitors’ proposals. Proposals must be realistic. Proposals that promise too much or are overly optimistic may be unbelievable to customers, and may raise doubt about whether the contractor understands what needs to be done or how to do it. When bidding on a fixed-price project, the contractor must develop accurate and complete cost estimates and include sufficient © 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights reserves. Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.  Summary Interested contractors develop proposals in response to a customer’s RFP. Relationships establish the foundation for successful funding and contract opportunities. Relationship building requires being proactive and engaged. Contractors should develop relationships with potential customers long before customers prepare an RFP. Because the development and preparation of a proposal take time and money, contractors interested in submitting a proposal in response to an RFP must be realistic about the probability of being selected as the winning contractor. It is important to remember that the proposal process is competitive and that the proposal is a selling document that should be written in a simple, concise manner. In the proposal, the contractor must highlight the unique factors that differentiate it from competing contractors. Proposals are often organized into three sections: technical, management, and cost. Customers evaluate contractors’ proposals in many different ways. Once the customer has selected the winning contractor, the contractor is informed that it is the winner, subject to successful negotiation of a contract: fixed-price and cost reimbursement are the two types of contracts. Cengage © 2015 Contractors measure the success of their proposal efforts by the number of Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.  Complete the below activities on RCLearn. Activities 3.1.1, 3.1.2 and 3.2.3 © 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.