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Bid Management Review
Dara Lawlor

What are the next steps if you’re interested in reviewing your proposal management operation?

Dara Lawlor -
Bid Management Review

If you’ve hit a brick wall on the win front and would like to take stock I can help you review your business development operation. 

This article goes through the entire process from beginning to end so that you know what you’re going to get if you hire me. Below I walk you through my approach:

1. We Talk

Before we press the button on a project, we’ll have a chat – probably over Zoom or whatever app you use – so that I can find out more about your issues and whether or not I can help.  This chemistry check is important because I’m only interested in working with clients I can genuinely help.     

We’ll discuss your previous submissions and any relevant successes or failures.  I’ll also ask about your budget and give you an indication of what I charge. 

2. Questionnaire

After step one I will then send you a questionnaire.   The more information I have, the easier it will be to recommend an option that is right for you.  

3. I’ll send you a quote

Once I’m clear on your requirements I’ll send you a quote, which should be similar to the figure we discussed on our introductory call.   My fee will be  based on my skills and experience.  It includes not just the time delivering the training but also the preparation, research and meetings conducted in advance.  

4. Options

I’ve already written a piece about your options. I go through the approach for each one here.

It may be that there isn’t much amiss and in that case I’ll recommend you take the free health check.  If you’re still convinced that something is wrong we can look at the next option.

The Quick Dip

This is a day-long diagnosis in action that runs to a tight timetable:

  • I will spend the first couple of hours reviewing recent submissions. 
  • I will then carry out series of scheduled interviews with primary business development stakeholders – who will have been identified and briefed in advance. 
  • Finally I will compile my findings and recommendations and present them at the end of the day.

The rest of this piece is concerned with the process around the Deep Dive. Given the nature of this work and the number of eyeballs fixed on it,  there can be anywhere between a week to three weeks effort involved.  It all depends on the scope of work, the amount of proposals to review and the number of people to interview.  Any time I’ve conducted a deep dive like this there’s a lot of pressure on to get it right.

I will meet with the sponsor and agree the appropriate scope and remit of the project along with the required output.

I’ll ask for a sample of proposals that is representative of your entire team.  I’ll make further requests if necessary.  I will review them against a set of criteria that I consider gold-standard.  If you have a bid library, I will ask to have access to it.  I will also ask to be walked through any systems or processes that you use.

Once I’ve conducted my initial review of the proposals and other relevant material I’ll start interviewing the principal members of the business development team.  I will meet with internal stakeholders who either support or have an interest in the process.  Finally I will meet with external stakeholders such as customers in order to get an outside perspective on your team, your products and services.

As I review the proposals and conduct interviews a number of themes typically emerge.  I will then meet with the project sponsor and a number of stakeholders to inform them of what I’m seeing and to ensure that everything is on track.

I will compile the report.  How long this takes will be determined by whatever was agreed with the sponsor during the initial scoping of the project.  All findings and recommendations will be supported with grounded evidence.

Once I’ve compiled the report I will meet with the project sponsor to present my findings and recommendations.  This step is important as the sponsor will have an opportunity to test my findings and assess whether they are fair and accurate.

If necessary I will amend the report incorporating any relevant insights or feedback.

Finally, I will release the report and meet with the team to officially present my findings and recommendations.

Summary

So that’s it.  If this all makes sense you can click on the link below to schedule our first chat.

Dara Lawlor

Want to know more?

Schedule a conversation today...

Dara Lawlor
Dara Lawlor

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