Strategy and Planning
Helping you set winning strategies and plans for success
If your win rate is consistently less than one in three then, depending on your market, there may be something fundamentally wrong with the way in which you are bidding.
Now, the problem could still be relatively easy to solve … are you just bidding for too many opportunities or pursuing opportunities that you are never realistically going to win because there are far stronger providers out there than you?
But how are you going to choose the best opportunities with the highest chance of winning? Or is a more far-reaching solution required to eliminate endemic blockers to bid success?
The Winning Proposal can help set your proposal strategy and create plans for future proposal success via services which include:
- Proposal Review and Benchmarking
- Value Proposition definition
- Supporting Collateral creation
- Process Definition and Optimisation
- Content library creation
- Sales Process and Alignment
- Bid Qualification Tools
- Live Bid Support
- Training, Coaching and Workshops
“Duncan Cranmer [of The Winning Proposal] has had a major impact on the quality of the proposals submitted to clients and our final presentations, as well as helping define and improve our internal systems and processes.”
Proposal Review and Benchmarking
Honestly, how good are your proposals … and how can you know for certain where your proposals sit on the excellence spectrum? The Winning Proposal team brings objectivity and experience to assessing bids, allowing us to rigorously assess the quality of your current and past tender documents. In some cases we can benchmark the relative merits of your bids against those developed by other organisations.
Supporting Collateral
More formal procurement processes may demand that relevant supporting materials be provided in parallel to the main answers supplied in the tender (frequently as separate PDF attachments). How might your audience feel about receiving supporting collateral that is just for them and just right for them? Equipping yourself with tailored collateral that clearly and directly appeals to your current audience and scorers is a wonderful point of differentiation.
Content Library
“Ermm, I’m sure we’ve seen this question before and we’ve already answered this … but for the life of me I can’t remember which bid it was”. Does this sound familiar? If this issue is not addressed head on too much energy is wasted on searching and reinventing the wheel – energy that should be going into making your current bid special and better than everyone else’s. We know about proven protocols and Content Management Systems (CMS) – from the rudimentary (fast to implement) to the sophisticated and slick – that can make the life of the bidder much, much easier.
Qualification Tools
Whisper it quietly – because some people will hate hearing this – but submitting fewer bids to a higher level of quality is associated with higher win rates and better, more profitable business. This, however, assumes that you know how to select the right bids to go for and the right ones to avoid. And this is the rub. How on earth can you make such big calls accurately 100% of the time, especially when you’ve got the Sales Director or the CEO telling you to get as many proposals out there as you can physically (and mentally!?) handle? Our qualification tool helps you how to allocate your bid resources in the best way for your company.
Value Proposition
Find your true differentiators and highlight these in your bid as your key Win Themes. Win Themes often spring from the Value Proposition and a flabby VP leads to weak Win Themes which, in turn, means poor, uncompelling bids. In our Value Proposition workshop we work with your people to get under the bonnet of your offer from the perspective of the prospect (i.e. come to a clear understanding of what your prospective clients truly value). A stronger VP consequently underpins stronger future proposals.
Process Definition and Optimisation
At The Winning Proposal our start point is this: if the proposal process isn’t clearly documented and open to review then you are very unlikely to have a process in place that is fit for purpose. Our workshops bring together key personnel to agree and shape the right bid process for you, whether that means starting from scratch or improving what is already in place.
Sales Process and Playbooks
One of the hottest topics right now is Sales and Marketing alignment, with most commentators agreeing that any organisation’s ability to generate new revenues is maximised when the Sales and Marketing functions are properly aligned to work well together. Which is why we help clients refine their sales process to fully align with their bid process and its resource requirements. Visual, interactive playbooks can really bring this alive for Bid Managers and Writers and secure their on-going commitment to follow the steps essential for superior win rates.
Live Bid Support and Training
Best-in-class Bid Teams have clear strategies, plans and processes in place with a well-tamed beast ready for action in their competitive marketplace. There’s every chance that you already know that you’ve got to sort out your strategy and processes but you don’t have the time right now to fix these things … there’s a live bid that has to be pulled together first. If this is the situation that you find yourself in right now then your immediate need is best addressed by our Live Bid Support services which are focused on getting your current bid over the line on time and to a high standard
“Following a competitive selection process we commissioned Duncan Cranmer [of The Winning Proposal] to undertake a root and branch review of our sales function and recommend key improvements. In addition Duncan honed our sales messages and developed a new corporate sales presentation for us. Throughout Duncan impressed us with his thoughtfulness, professionalism and dedication.”
The Winning Proposal
Quantum IGL
124 City Road
London, EC1V 2NX
England, UK
+44 (0)203 815 8020
The Winning Proposal is a division of Quantum International Group Ltd.
Company Number 09479453