Win more Bids and more profitable business
10 likes3,618 views
The document discusses the importance of bid management and sales optimization for improving win rates in competitive bidding environments. It highlights statistics about proposal efficiency, the necessity for systematic processes, and strategies to enhance proposal quality. Key recommendations include defining clear roles, leveraging templates, and implementing continual process improvements to increase both win rates and profitability.
Win more Bids and more profitable business
- 1. JUNE 2013 WIN MORE BIDS AND MORE PROFITABLE BUSINESS
- 2. AGENDA 2
- 3. 1 BID MANAGEMENT & SALES OPTIMIZATION
- 4. « DOINGTHE SAME THING OVER AND OVER AGAIN AND EXPECTING DIFFERENT RESULTS» INSANITY: 4
- 5. On average, vendors compete on each RFP in 2011 Vs.3,1in 2007 Sales Managers spend of their working time on presentations and proposals 60% costs are spent on writing and editing The average stated rate is around 40% Statistically the win rate is around 20% to 25% 5Sources : Lohfeld Consulting Group, APMP, OST, Shipley Associates 4,5 Only15% of average companies consistently produce compliant, responsive, and compelling proposals 35% never produce such responses Of proposal 80% of average companies admit to having inadequate processes 25%
- 6. WIN MORE BIDS AND MORE PROFITABLE BUSINESS 6
- 7. 7
- 8. 8 PROPOSAL PHASE POST SUBMISSION PRE-RFP ACTIVITIES Increase quality of proposals, reduce proposal costs ≈20% 1% ≈80% Average costs breakdown of a proposal
- 9. RFP release Proposal SubmissionBid Decision Identification Qualification Move toward building a mature Bid Management Process 9 Pre RFP Proposal Phase Post Submission Choose the opportunities you are going to win and invest appropriately. Drop those you are unlikely to win Make informed decisions at the earliest phase. Define win strategy, price to win, technical solution… (Content Plan) Define & communicate clear roles and responsibilities . Start proposal planning & development in anticipation of RFP release, not after the RFP is out. Use templates Use a sequential writing process to avoid rewrites. Assess the evaluation criteria and optimize what you write to score highly. Dedicate time for editing and peer review Obtain a customer debrief. Document lessons learned. Implement continual process improvement Bid / No bidGo / No go Win/Loss Review Capture Management Pre-Proposal Preparation Proposal Development & Finalisation Handover & Close
- 10. SALES MANAGEMENT:INCREASED RFP BASED REVENUES WITH LOWER COST OF SALES, INCREASED SALES FORCE PERSONAL EFFICIENCY, CREATE MORE COMPELLING RESPONSES FASTER… 10 MARKETING: ENFORCED CORPORATE BRAND AND IMAGE, ACCURATE, WELL-WRITTEN, RELEVANT, AND UP-TO-DATE CONTENT, ADJUSTED MARKETING STRATEGY… SENIOR MANAGEMENT: EFFECTIVE SALES PROPOSAL FUNNEL DECREASED BUSINESS RISKS, GREATER PRODUCTIVITY AND EFFICIENCY OF REVENUE-GENERATING EMPLOYEES, REFINED BUSINESS STRATEGY A mature process helps companies achieving the following benefits:
- 11. 2 BID MANAGEMENT CONTEXT AND CHALLENGES 11
- 12. COMPETITION+++ SATISFACTION --- 12 Products & services commoditization More standards and regulations Pressure on budgets and prices Cost and non-cost factors are becoming more equal More sophistication and competiveness Compliance Customer centricity Responsiveness Benefits for client Price
- 13. ROLE OF A WRITTEN RESPONSE +++ 13 Convince the reader Ease evaluation Highlight your strengths (features tell/benefits sell) Justify solution creativity Outdistance your competition
- 14. EFFICIENCY --- PROCESS IMMATURITY 14 Teams Bid Process Poor utilization of pre RFP period Compliance Price strategy Scalability Documentation Decisions and reviews Writing skills Metrics and performance measure
- 15. 15 How good are your own proposals? Source : 2013 Lohfeld Consulting Group According to Lohfeld Consulting Group, average companies Sometimes produce compliant, responsive, and compelling proposals Consistently produce compliant, responsive, and compelling proposals Don’t know compliance, responsiveness, or compelling content is important Never produce compliant, responsive, and compelling proposals 15% 15% 35% 35%
- 16. 16 IS EVERY PURSUIT A NEW BET? To the question « Do you have a winning process, or is every pursuit a new adventure » ? 80% of companies interviewed by Lohfeld Consulting Group admit to having inadequate processes <20% of companies interviewed actually do anything about it Source: Lohfeld Consulting Group, 2011
- 19. Companies know that they need a Proposal Management process but don't feel ready to focus on structure 19 Limited resources & budget Other roles within the company Proposal leaders wear too many hats Lengthy process is not possible Don’t want or need a complicated process
- 20. Our APPROACH START SIMPLE… 20 AND INCREASE SOPHISTICATION OVER TIME AND SUCCESS
- 21. IDENTIFY INFORMATION NEEDED TO WIN DEFINE ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES SET EXPECTATIONS PLAN AND REVIEW CONTENT DEFINE QUALITY AND HOW TO OBTAIN IT REVIEW AGAINST COMPLIANCE MATRIX & PROPOSAL CONTENT PLAN TURN WHAT IT TAKES TO WIN INTO GUIDELINES FOR WRITTERS & REVIEWERS 21 Basic principles
- 22. 22 Our services: Bid Management Consulting DO YOU NEED OF A COMPETE SOLUTION TO PRODUCE A COMPLIANT & CUSTOMER-FOCUSED RESPONSE? DO YOU NEED TO OPTIMIZE/TUNE UP YOUR CURRENT PROCESS? ARE YOU LOOKING FOR WAYS TO SAVE COSTS AND REDUCE RE-WORK? ARE YOU BIDDING ON ENOUGH RFPs, OR DO YOU LOOSE MOST OF THE ONES YOU ARE BIDDING ON? BID MANAGEMENT CONSULTING ASSESSMENT OF THE MATURITY OF YOUR BID PROCESS, POSITIONING RELATIVE TO BEST PRACTICES, IDENTIFICATION & ASSESSMENT OF PROCESS GAPS… DESIGN & IMPLEMENTATION OF A NEW INTEGRATED PROCESS THAT TAKES INTO ACCOUNT THE COMPANY’S STRUCTURE, CULTURE, MARKETS… CONTINUAL PROCESS IMPROVEMENT & TRAINING CHALLENGE SERVICES 1 1
- 23. 23 Our services: Proposal Development Support ARE YOU SHORT ON IN-HOUSE SKILLED RESOURCES? IS YOUR PROPOSAL LOAD HEAVY? ARE YOU LOOKING FOR A COST-EFFECTIVE WAY TO DELIVER A PROPOSAL? DO YOU NEED OF SUPPORT & EXPERTISE AT KEY PROPOSAL MILESTONES? PROPOSAL DEVELOPMENT SUPPORT JUST IN TIME SUPPORT TO COST EFFECTIVELY AUGMENT YOUR EXISTING PROPOSAL RESOURCES TURNKEY SOLUTION TO MANAGE YOUR PROPOSAL WITH YOUR INTERNAL RESOURCES SUPPORT & GUIDANCE THROUGH CRITICAL PROPOSAL TASKS & MILESTONES CHALLENGE SERVICES 2 2
- 24. 4 WHY DO BIDS FAIL?
- 25. 80% of bids won or lost on price? 25
- 26. LACK OF COHERENT STRATEGY DYSFUNCTIONAL BID TEAMS MISALIGNED GOALS INFLEXIBLE / INAPPROPRIATE PROCESS NO INNOVATION LACK OF CUSTOMER FOCUS POOR PRICING STRATEGY LATE /POOR BID MOBILIZATION WEAK COMPETITOR FOCUS NON COMPLIANCE & POOR BID WRITING SKILLS According to Grichan Business Winning Services, there are non-price related criteria for losing a bid Source: Grichan Business Winning Services (UK) 26
- 27. Losing due to price often happens as a result of bad estimates WRONG SCOPING OF THE PROJECT HIGH OVERHEADS WRONG LABOR MIX NOT ENOUGH TIME TO FINALIZE PRICES & APPROACHES 27
- 28. 5 BID LESS TO WIN MORE
- 29. « Let’s bid deals that have the highest probability of success » Account Manager « We can win that deal because this is our core offering, so don’t worry if we’ve never met the customer » Technical Manager « Let’s bid the deals that don’t cost very much and rather spend money on other competing priorities» CFO « Even if the customer don’t know us, but we can introduce the company by sending them a proposal. All we need is one really big win and we can sell ! » Entrepreneur 29
- 30. Should we bid? Can we win? 30 ASK YOURSELF THE RIGHT QUESTIONS
- 31. 31 MANAGEMENT EVERYTHING A COMPANY DOES TO RAISE ITS WIN PROBABILITY BETWEEN THE TIME IT DECIDES TO BID AND THE TIME THE RFP IS RELEASED CAPTURE
- 32. Capture Management General Framework for a Capture Management process 32 Opportunity Identification Opportunity Qualification Data Capture Go/No go Bid/No bid External analysis: Opportunity description, customer & competitive analysis… Internal analysis: Probable solution & pricing, past performance, risks analysis… Qualification scorecard: Strategic fit, customer knowledge & advocacy, understanding of customer requirements & objectives, right solution & past performance, competitive positioning, financial profitability & affordability of proposal costs Intelligence & data collection Form capture team, win strategies & themes, solution outline, pricing strategy… Capture Plan Call/Contact Plan Proposal Preparation Plan RFP release Proposal SubmissionBid Decision Identification Qualification Pre RFP Proposal Phase Post Submission Bid / No bidGo / No go Win/Loss Review Capture Management Pre-Proposal Preparation Proposal Development & Finalisation Handover & Close
- 33. 6 WHY WE WIN IS AS IMPORTANT AS WHYWE LOSE
- 34. CONTENT SKIMMING 2 How evaluators evaluate your proposal? 34 QUICK LOOK ASSESSMENT 1 DETAILED READING 3 TRENDS: DESIGNING PROPOSALS FOR SKIMMERS VS. READERS
- 35. But buyers don’t always make rational decisions! RFP as a negotiation tool against the incumbent Influence of management relationships with the incumbent or a specific competitor Influence of the existing relationship with a specific competitor 35
- 36. I’d like to know: 36 Who was the competition (incumbent, other provider, internal…)? Why did we win? What specifically set us apart from the competition? Are there any specific areas where the competition was stronger than us? What was important and unimportant to you in the sales process? When did you make the actual decision? How well did our solution align to your needs? What can we do differently next time?
- 37. Avoid repeating the same mistakes and then expecting different results 37 Define goals & scope Win/Loss data capture Analysis/Report Process improvement Define Win/Loss objectives Define & select deal thresholds and outcomes Capture Win/Loss structured & unstructured data Develop a specific Win/Loss taxonomy Conduct the Interviews (internal, with customer) Analyze and report Document lessons learned Populate résumé & past performance databases… Implement continual processes, tools, documentaion and templates improvement RFP release Proposal SubmissionBid Decision Identification Qualification Pre RFP Proposal Phase Post Submission Bid / No bidGo / No go Win/Loss Review Capture Management Pre-Proposal Preparation Proposal Development & Finalisation Handover & Close
- 38. Stephane LOHSE Bid & Proposal Management Services Consultant s.lohse@proposal-mgt.com CONTACT LinkedIn http://fr.linkedin.com/in/stephanelohse Originally from Paris, France, Stephane has over 20 years in managing projects and bids within international and complex environments. Stephane helps mid-size and small businesses creating winning proposals, improving their Bid & Proposal operations and winning more profitable bids. He has served as a Bid Manager for one of the world’s foremost providers of consulting, technology and outsourcing services. Prior to pursuing proposal management as a career, Stephane has worked in consulting & audit firms, and created his own Competitive Intelligence business. 38