TArticles tagged with: orals

[Webinar Replay] Planning and delivering winning orals presentations (Part 2)

Sponsored by the APMP Chesapeake Chapter | Lohfeld Consulting Business Winning Webinar

In today’s COVID world, you need to be ready to deliver either in-person orals—or virtual orals. Part 1 of our 2-part series on Planning and delivering winning orals presentations covers Orals Planning (click to watch part 1). Part 2 of our 2-part series covers Orals Delivery (click to register and watch part 2). Top takeaways from Planning and delivering winning orals presentations Learn how to manage orals timing and prepare with practice sessions. Explore orals presentation techniques and styles. Review orals logistics and production. Examine considerations for international orals. Get hints for handling demonstrations, audience interaction, and Q&A sessions. Discuss what to do “on the day”. Finally, determine what to do “after the orals”. This webinar replay addresses all varieties of orals, including U.S. Federal Government, State & Local Government, commercial, and international proposals. Who should watch this webinar replay This webinar replay is ideal for proposal professionals who need a … Continue reading [Webinar Replay] Planning and delivering winning orals presentations (Part 2) →

5 industry trends that affect bid and proposal professionals’ employment

B&P professionals should understand how to develop, script, and present oral proposals and demonstrations

In 2022, the following 5 industry trends will impact bid and proposal (B&P) professionals’ employment, development, and retention. 1. The scramble to hire experienced B&P professionals Finding experienced business development (BD), capture, and proposal professionals who are well suited to support a company is difficult—especially as many Baby Boomers who hold leadership positions retire. To address this gap, many companies rely on corporate headhunters to find candidates, while others hire consultants or promote from within to fill vacant positions. 2. Retaining skilled B&P professionals High turnover in the industry is still linked to tight deadlines, long hours, and high-stress work. Smart companies are offering work life balance alternatives, remote work options, training, and competitive compensation packages to retain valued employees. 3. Training gaps As companies promote from within to fill vacant positions or decide to train technical staff to provide additional B&P support, they are identifying training gaps. To fill … Continue reading 5 industry trends that affect bid and proposal professionals’ employment →

Industry experts’ proposal war stories and lessons learned – Part 1 of 4

We’ve all heard the war stories around the office coffee pot and at industry events and cringed, thinking, “Wow! I’ll make sure that NEVER happens to one of my proposal efforts.” There are as many potential disasters waiting out there, however, as there are RFPs in the Cloud – and I’m sure we’d all rather learn from someone else’s horror story than become the originator of a classic ourselves! I recently asked a number of my colleagues to share their favorite war stories – and tell us what they learned from the experience. Here is part 1 of my 4-part series on capture and proposal war stories. I was in an organization that decided to bid on a job where we did not know the customer, the customer did not know us, a well-loved incumbent was in place, we only had a 75% solution for performing the job, and our … Continue reading Industry experts’ proposal war stories and lessons learned – Part 1 of 4 →

Don’t make these mistakes – 12 vital proposal lessons

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. (George Santayana) Over the past 25 years spent managing and submitting thousands of proposals and task order responses, I’ve developed a long list of lessons learned. Of course, I have many proposal section-specific lessons learned that I’ll share in upcoming Lohfeld Insights posts, but here are some of my favorite overall lessons learned: Address solicitation requirements in the required order and substantiate every response. This makes it easier for evaluators to score your proposal. (Include RFP section numbers in your section headings so evaluators can easily cross reference to the RFP.) Evaluators love how compliance matrices save time and demonstrate your thorough response. Always include a compliance matrix – even if it masquerades as the table of contents. Follow solicitation instructions and evaluation criteria to make your response easier to score – help the comic book reviewers/scorers who just … Continue reading Don’t make these mistakes – 12 vital proposal lessons →