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If you need help designing and executing your capture program or proposals to win this procurement contact Sid Jaffe, at 703-642-5153.

You Can't Win If You Are Not Compliant
By Bill Hamilton, Vice President, Advantage Consulting, Inc.

Readers who have attended our workshops in Business Development for Technical and Line Managers and Capture are familiar with "The RFP Context Problem." About 60% of the information a company will need to win is provided in the request for proposal. People get so involved in trying to figure out how to get the other 40% that they ignore the basic fact that a bid must be compliant before you can win.

Compliance can be defined as an act of complying with a wish, request or demand; acquiescence. It is most clearly explained by the simple phrase "answer the mail." Before you can be compliant you must know what is being requested. You can only identify all requirements by thoroughly analyzing all parts of the RFP in great detail. This is a process known informally as "shredding a proposal." A good proposal manager is an expert at this.

After shredding, a good proposal manager will develop a detailed compliance matrix. This matrix is a listing of all specific requirements listed in the RFP, where they are listed in the RFP and where the requirement is addressed in your proposal. A requirement may be described in several places in the RFP. If a requirement is stated more than once, treat each entry as a separate requirement. When that matrix is developed, it becomes a master check off list for you to ensure that you have addressed each and every requirement in as many ways as a requirement is stated.

The purpose of compliance requirements is to reduce risk to the government and to demonstrate to the evaluating agency that a bidder fully understands the requirements and will meet them. With that evaluation in place, a source selection board can proceed to determine which competitor offers the best solution to their problem. It also provides grounds for elimination of bidders who do not in accordance with the basic requirements. This first evaluation step makes the next step in winner determination easier by reducing the field.

One advantage inherent in separating proposal management function and the capture management function is the separation of the compliance evaluation and the development of the winning bid. Compliance is very detail oriented. Every item in the compliance matrix must be addressed as the government wants to see it. Capture is concerned about key factors that will generate a desire to award the contract. Both are vitally important and neither can win on its own. A company must be fully compliant before capture can do its job.

Want to discuss your compliancy problems or explore ways to improve it? Contact Bill Hamilton at bhamilton@acibiz.com or by phone at 703-642-5153 and let's talk.

Brown Bag Session 14: Executive Calls and Meetings
By Sid Jaffe, President, Advantage Consulting, Inc.

A good way to gain insight into a client or prospective client organization is with an Executive Call. An Executive Call is a meeting with a ranking executive from your firm and your client, at the client's Decision Maker or "Influencer" level. The visit is an opportunity to demonstrate to your client their value to your company and to ask questions about their mission, goals and objectives for the coming year. It is an opportunity to learn about the challenges and obstacles which your solutions can assist the client to overcome.

There are situations where your firm's day-to-day contact person who serves the client does not receive the overall picture that the client sees, that is, their vision or dream. Your client will generally open up more to your executives and your firm will learn more about the client. Your client will appreciate the attention and investment in them and you will leave with better opportunities to serve them and grow your business.

Discuss with your team the people and opportunities that should be part of an Executive Call program.

For more information on relationship techniques contact Sid Jaffe at sjaffe@acibiz.com or 703-642-5153.

New Budgets Provide New Opportunities!
By John Bender, Vice President, Advantage Consulting, Inc.

Is your business development infrastructure everything you want it to be?

We have found some very good business tools that companies are using successfully to assist in making their business processes better. Corporate cultures are often difficult to change but the sooner you start looking at better ways of getting new business, the quicker you will see bottom-line results.

For details on how you can get the right business tools working for you, contact John Bender at 703-642-5153 or jbender@acibiz.com.

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