TArticles tagged with: editing

How experts got involved in capture and proposals – and what keeps them coming back: Part 3 of 3

Exciting! Maddening! Crazy! Insane! Appalling! Rewarding! Challenging! No – not Monday Night Football or meal prep time at my house – the capture and proposals world! In this wrap-up to my 3-part series on why anyone would get involved in this profession – much less stick around for decades and encourage others to join – my industry colleagues share their stories about how they fell into their capture/proposal careers and what keeps them coming back for more. I fell into proposals because I was a degreed engineer who could also write grammatically correct English – a rare commodity to this day. I keep coming back for more because I like to WIN, plus I enjoy working fast-paced projects; (I tell people that I have a short attention span); I like to see my product – the winning proposal – at the end of an assignment; I enjoy the wide variety … Continue reading How experts got involved in capture and proposals – and what keeps them coming back: Part 3 of 3 →

Proposal production across the business development life cycle – phase 4 (Part 5 of 6)

In her previous post (Part 4 of 6), Briana Coleman, PPM.APMP discussed the key activities involved in Phase 3 of the typical business development (BD) life cycle: Phase 1 Opportunity identification and assessment Phase 2 Pursuit Phase 3 Pre-proposal preparation Phase 4 Proposal development Phase 5 Post-submittal In this post, Briana discusses the key production activities that you should perform in Phase 4 Proposal Preparation. Once you receive your final RFP, you can begin actually implementing your production plan. Below is a typical 30-day schedule to give you a sense of when you should begin each element of production. You’ll note that final production begins on DAY 1! By Day 2, you should be able to refine your templates to match the format/delivery requirements of your RFP. Note that I am saying refine, and not develop, because you will have already taken care of baseline templates in your pre-proposal phase. … Continue reading Proposal production across the business development life cycle – phase 4 (Part 5 of 6) →

Proposal production across the business development life cycle – phases 1 and 2 (Part 3 of 6)

In her previous post (Part 2 of 6), Briana Coleman, PPM.APMP outlined a typical business development (BD) life cycle with five phases: Phase 1 Opportunity identification and assessment Phase 2 Pursuit Phase 3 Pre-proposal preparation Phase 4 Proposal development Phase 5 Post-submittal In this post, she discusses the key production activities you should perform in Phases 1 and 2. Remember, these are the activities you should be performing before you ever have a real proposal on your plate. There are two main activities that you should accomplish in this phase. 1. Document your production plan Your production war plan is not something to be written in an afternoon and put on a shelf. It requires numerous trade-off assessments, decisions, and training of staff when it is complete. The goal of the production plan is to ensure that you have thought through all elements of production—desktop publishing, editing, graphics, printing, and … Continue reading Proposal production across the business development life cycle – phases 1 and 2 (Part 3 of 6) →

Proposal production across the business development life cycle – intro to the life cycle (Part 2 of 6)

In this and the next few posts, Briana Coleman, PPM.APMP takes you through the business development (BD) life cycle and discusses how to incorporate production into each phase of the life cycle. What is production? Many people in our industry think of production simply as printing and assembling our proposals. But, production also includes all of the steps that lead up to our ability to hit Print. These include desktop publishing, graphic design, and editing—all necessary before you print and assemble your books, and most importantly, deliver your winning proposal! These activities are typically thought of as tasks we accomplish in the last few days before delivery; however, I want to impress upon you that production activities should be incorporated throughout your BD life cycle. The graphic below depicts a typical BD life cycle with five phases: Phase 1 Opportunity identification and assessment Phase 2 Pursuit Phase 3 Pre-proposal preparation … Continue reading Proposal production across the business development life cycle – intro to the life cycle (Part 2 of 6) →