“The Little Things. We spend a great deal of time focused on the more obvious components of the proposal process. In your experience, what are some of the seemingly minor things that might be overlooked?”

Always put forth that little bit of extra effort. Do the last minute spell check one more time, provide labelled tabs in hard copies and bookmarks in electronic copies. Include all your contact info on the front cover. Take the time to write a cover letter. Do every little thing to make your RFP the one that is the easiest to review. Use binding that can easily slip into a file cabinet, deliver on time, give them everything they ask for. Follow up with a thank you even when you don’t win.

So, little things that get overlooked. As writers, especially when you’ve been with an organization for a long time, we get caught up in our own speak, in our own language. Our perspective gets stale. We’re still talking about things that mattered to the market two years ago, but there are new issues now that we’re not addressing. Or we talk about our differentiators that aren’t differentiators anymore….everybody is doing that now…
​
And who has time to evaluate every record in the knowledge base for its current relevance? Right. You do what you can.

What will be the impact of the current economic climate on the proposal profession?

When I first read the question, my thoughts immediately turned to negativity, the reduction in the numbers of tenders coming through, the decisions put on ‘hold’ and the restrictions placed on budgets. I braced myself to write something suitably gloomy, but in a call to discuss new proposal templates, I realised that in fact, with the shift within businesses from ‘nice to win’ to ‘must win’, it has actually brought improvements to my role as a Bid Manager.

Speaking from personal experience, opportunities are being qualified harder, with management increasingly reluctant to waste resources on proposals… Focus on and visibility of the proposals that do pass the vetting process has increased, with Senior Management taking more and more interest in what goes on at a lower level.

At this lower level, focus on best practice has also increased. Bid teams and Senior Management are more and more receptive to the nuances and idiosyncrasies of best practice within proposals, more ‘interested’ in the tips and tricks that will help us to gain marks (and of course lose marks) at evaluation.

“I think the impacts will be different based on industry and where your company is from a price perspective. For example, if you’re the highest priced solution in your market, then I think a lot of your existing customers will probably go out to bid to shop the market for a less expensive solution, so you’ll see an increase in RFP volume.

If your company is at the lower end of the price spectrum for your product, I’d guess you might see a decrease in RFP volume… Going out to bid can be expensive especially if a broker or consultant is involved, so companies that feel they already have a good product at a good price will likely not expend time, energy and resources going out to bid.”

At the same time, she foresees procurement people getting ever-more involved in purchase decisions, which could “further ‘commoditize’ a lot of products/services that really shouldn’t be viewed as a commodity” and result in “more online RFPs, auctions, spreadsheets, etc.”

My first APMP conference in 2003 changed my whole perspective. I walked away with the understanding that this is a “profession” – a bonafide career choice (albeit crazy)… I had a renewed sense of purpose, confidence and drive to establish a top-notch proposals unit inside my organization.

Knowing that there were people out there that spoke the same language, were experiencing the same pains and had ideas I hadn’t even thought of, was encouraging. I felt like I had a team behind me supporting my theories, thoughts and the direction I was about to head in.

[At APMP's annual conference] I learn so much about what others are doing and then adopt, tweak and implement similar processes in my own organization. Today, I have grown to a team to 10 people. Our processes work, they are successful and the team is highly respected as value drivers within the organization.

Through the APMP and the contacts I have made through its annual conference, I have grown by leaps and bounds in this profession. Each year I give at least one proposal developer the opportunity to attend the conference and I routinely see significant improvement in their performance post-conference. I couldn’t ask for more than that!

I find my membership in APMP to be very useful primarily for networking and continuing education. It is nice to know there is a whole association of folks worldwide who are involved in the same processes that I am.

Not quite “misery loves company” (although that is the case sometimes), but through the APMP I know at any time I can get in touch with someone who’s gone/is going/or will go through what I am. I know it’s a buzz word, but sharing best practices is great…just picking each others’ brains whether in person at the conferences or via phone/email is an awesome resource.

I’ve attended five or six of the last annual conferences and I’ve always found a wide range of relevant topics at each one…not to mention broadened my network of colleagues and even made a new friend here and there. I’ve been able to bring back what I’ve learned at the conferences to share with my team, as well as other business partners at my company – even Sales!)

“my original reason for joining was to receive the APMP journal. I figured the publication alone was worth the annual dues. I rarely save magazines, but I just looked in my office magazine bin, which I regularly cull, and found issues dating back to 2003 with articles I still found relevant enough to keep.”

“didn’t originally think that I would find the APMP that useful, as there wasn’t a local chapter in my area at the time”.

I have found the APMP more useful than I ever expected over the years.

Just as with the quality of the journal articles, I am always impressed with the quality of the speakers at the national and chapter conferences. This is a profession where quality is extremely important and I feel APMP is very much a reflection of that. They also continue to evolve and add value with the BD-KnowledgeBase and their professional accreditation program.

If I were evaluating several candidates for a position, the one with APMP accreditation would be first on my list, and if I were one of those candidates, I would be expecting a higher salary.”

​“I lacked guidance, and more importantly, support. Arriving to sit my Foundation exam, I was terrified that I would be shown up to be a novice, someone who was making it up as I went along. I was relieved, however, to be introduced to a group of people who were just like me.

And that’s how it continues. For me, the APMP provides a network of informed individuals who are working on the same basic principles. Yes, we all have different interpretations of those principles based upon our organisations and working environments, but it is a real gift to have that network of people at the end of a phone or an email, when I need advice, or simply a second opinion.

Sitting my APMP exam also increased my credibility in the working environment. Finally – I have a piece of paper that proves that what I do is a bona fide profession, and not simply ‘spellchecking’, as it was once described to me. It has also given me faith in my work – I am now a fierce advocate of best practice, and have the confidence to implement it.

​The one I will never forget was a long time ago for a large government bid. I had worked late several nights in a row, in our office that was under construction at the time. So amidst sawing, hammering and open ceiling tiles, there I was licking construction dust off my lips at 11 p.m. working on this enormous bid thinking, “This sucks!”

Of course we came down to the deadline and the V.P. was still making changes, literally standing over my shoulder saying, “Type faster!” as I was scrambling to make the changes (I was so young and naive!).

Of course we knew were going to miss the FedEx cutoff so the account executive was going to drive the proposals (10 big binders) to deliver them to the client (one state and a three hour drive away). The drive included trekking through the Sierra mountains during winter.

Of course an hour after he left, we were told that we needed to make yet another critical change to the pricing of all things! Somehow we were able to get ahold of him via cell phone (although cell service was terrible where he was in the mountains). Did I mention this was before email was widely available? So out in the boonies (we’re talking Tahoe National Forest area) he somehow managed to find a “mom & pop” store that had a fax machine, so we faxed the new rate sheets to him.

Fortunately his wife was travelling with him so she was able to rip the old rate sheets out of the binder and put the new ones in while he continued driving in blizzard-like conditions! The proposals were due at noon and he delivered them at 11:52 a.m. To add insult to injury, we did not win the business. Go figure. : )

Of course I am now (much) older and wiser. The silver lining to this story is that we now have solid processes in place to prevent working late hours on a regular basis and we involve everyone in the process from the beginning to minimize last minute changes. It usually works. : )