Capture Management Overview

Editor's Notes

• #3: Introductions first Discuss Capture Management elements as: processes, dependencies, and how they happen in medium-sized companies Capture lifecycle Pipeline development Pricing Solutions development Capture tools and software
• #4: Capture Management is about winning the opportunity you have identified and qualified – before the RFP hits – improving the Probability of Award, P-Win. It can be said that everyone in a company, no matter what your role or how large the organization, “sells” for the company. Yet many companies employ the professional specialist to do “Sales”. Everyone also does Capture Management. The Capture Manager is a professional specialist, in the same way. You can assign the Capture Management role to anyone in your organization, but a professional CM will have specialized knowledge, skills, and expertise.
• #5: Reinforce the definition of Capture Management with this graphic. The difference between the Best Practice and the Common Practice is not driven by the availability of resources, but rather by the maturity of the organization and its processes. The X axis is time. The Y axis can be thought of as company investment, organizational effort, or B&P expenditure.
• #6: This is an example of how a small capture team, or pursuit team, might be staffed, in a small to medium-sized organization (company or division). Note the lack of Shipley 'capture' titles like Capture Manager or Proposal Manager. It's about the functions and results, not titles. Some companies combine CM with Program Manager. Other combine CM with BD. The support functions shown are some of the typical ones.
• #7: A team like this may be typical for a large company or a very large opportunity. But the composition and structure will vary for every deal, and will vary over time. A team like this is not staffed on Day 1 of the Capture effort. Roles will be added and removed over time. Titles and structure will vary by company, though the foundation structure should be similar for each opportunity your organization pursues.
• #8: These steps are not a straight line, there are iterative cycles! Especially the 'analysis' part. Competitive analyses (Black Hat) Gap analysis Requirement analysis PTW analysis Subject, of course, to company review processes. Manage to the plan, understanding that reality will depart from the plan every day.
• #9: Notional engagement timeline for core roles. BD qualification is very important. Personal experience indicates pre-Gate 1 involvement (for qualification) is a very good thing.
• #10: Titles and role vary in every organization. For example, the technical lead may or may not be the PM, the Solution Architect, the Service Delivery VP, etc. The key is that each member of the team understands who has which role and which responsibilities, and what the process is.
• #11: It's all inter-dependent. It's both a science and an art.
• #12: CM is engaged upon the decision to pursue (bottom). They will contribute to the market and competitive intelligence of the organization to do the identification (top), as well as the qualification (middle). Opportunities may undergo additional analysis (qualification) after a CM is assigned, and be subsequently no-bid (side). Ideal: wide at the top (BD and leadership), narrow (at the bottom) where resources are expended, and shallow as possible (over time). Optimize to the organization's growth strategy: Swing the bat! Focus! New/target markets! What can small businesses do to better manage a long range pipeline so there’s time to conduct a capture ? Most small businesses are opportunistic by necessity. Entirely dependent upon your growth strategy. You, as leaders, must provide vision and discipline. Develop a growth strategy and articulate it to all of your staff. Examine it regularly and update it as necessary. Execute regular periodic and disciplined pipeline reviews to eliminate those opportunities that are not well aligned, allowing limited resources to focus on those that do fit, even if the timeline is tight.
• #13: Value is in the eye of the beholder. The customer may be the SSB, the contracting office, the end user, the COTR, or any number of other people. They are influenced by each other, the budget, market pressures, the procurement strategy, the competition, and subjective perceptions. PTW is an analysis of the competition's likely solution and cost/price. You can use this data point to validate your solution with the customer, and to drive your solutions team (iteratively!) to a compliant, compelling, winning offer. B-tables: 15-cent difference story Perceptions: $150 printer/$900 support story Selling: Thumbdrives story, Millennia Lite window of price LPTA: Lower than 5 years before
• #14: The number and type of solutions needed will vary by opportunity, and are dependent upon the customer requirements and circumstances of the deal. Some solutions will be a completely academic discussion of best practices, experience, and assurance for the customer (as for 'sample' tasks or lab cat bids) and others may be extremely detailed (with WBS, staffing plans, schedules, price, etc.). Transition alone Contract (in) transition Transformation/implementation ITIL definition broader, includes projects, staffing Transition out
• #15: Develop based on customer requirements and win strategy Value is in the eye of the customer While the technical volume has traditionally received as much focus in the writing as the cost volume lacked focus, there has been an dearth of justification demanded, while the cost analysis is extremely detailed. *Documenting solution in earlier stages is an area where the industry is not mature. Ask the question, “What, exactly, is our solution?” Ask it many times. Demand to see it documented in writing, graphically, and verbally. It should be used to communicate the solution to customers and pursuit team.!
• #16: This is a best practice, but cannot be done after the RFP is released. Often, not after the Draft is released. Note that it shows a Best Practice: teaming being done AFTER an initial solution is validated with the customer and a gap analysis is completed.
• #17: Example: LinkedIn Sales Navigator, which is integrated with SalesForce.com Think of tools and software in terms of what processes and requirements they satisfy. How is the process being done today? How does this tool fit into the current processes? Who will use the tool, enter the data? What problem are you trying to solve – marketing, sales, or customer service? Is the goal to make the sales team more efficient, to provide real-time decision support data for the management team, for financial reporting, or customer contact tracking? Which business functions need the information in it, and how do they get that information today? Who collects the data, owns it, or provides it?
• #18: Capture Plan must clearly articulate the Win Strategy, and contain the latest version of the Executive Summary. It should be available to all pursuit team members, and should be updated continuously. It should answer: Can we do it? Can we win it? Can we make money?
• #19: There are fewer resources, so small businesses may not be able to do all the steps comprehensively. What and how can the process be trimmed to fit ? Don't change the process, just scale down. The point of capture is to give the organization optimal use of resources to achieve strategic goal, whether that is profit, revenue, growth. Leadership must be satisfied that the analysis, strategy, budget, and planning that have been done constitute the best use/investment of their limited resources. The process is scalable.
• #20: Each of the areas of pipeline and capture need certain skill sets. What areas should the small businesses develop internally vs. bring in outside consulting? How would you structure capture help for small businesses of various sizes? Some would say you cannot outsource BD and Capture because they are not “committed.” Your own people know more about your capabilities and differentiators than a consultant, and are more incentivized to win. Consider training organic resources on Capture processes , and look for the right skills in your existing staff. Any move toward a disciplined growth strategy and proactive planning is maturing your BD process. Depends on what you've already got.