TArticles tagged with: proposal risks

12 Ways to mitigate proposal strategy review risks

At the 2011 APMP International Conference, Lohfeld Consulting Group’s Managing Director Brenda Crist presented an informative session on mitigating proposal risks. Here are Brenda’s identified Proposal Strategy Review Risks and recommended Mitigation Strategies: Proposal strategy review is not held. Hold a proposal strategy, storyboard, or pink team review approximately one-third of the way into the proposal life cycle. Not holding a review results in inconsistent messages communicated across the proposal or missing key win themes and substantiating evidence. Proposal is inconsistent with customer instructions. Verify your storyboards or strategy (writing plan) is consistent with the customer’s instructions for preparing the bid. No key personnel identified. By the proposal strategy review, storyboard, or pink team review, your company should have key personnel identified. If this risk is not mitigated, escalate it to the highest source. By the time the document is prepared for final review, all key personnel must be identified. … Continue reading 12 Ways to mitigate proposal strategy review risks

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11 Ways to mitigate final proposal document review risks

At the 2011 APMP International Conference, Lohfeld Consulting Group’s Managing Director Brenda Crist presented an informative session on mitigating proposal risks. Here are Brenda’s identified Final Proposal Document Review Risks and recommended Mitigation Strategies: No final document review. The company misses one of the most effective and inexpensive mechanisms for improving the proposal. Schedule a final document review as soon as possible. Document review is held too late in the proposal life cycle. Hold the final document review approximately two-thirds through the proposal life cycle. Reviewers are unprepared. Work with the reviewers in advance to verify they understand their roles, responsibilities, and time commitment. Help the reviewers by holding training or producing a brief training document. Eliminate any reviewer who from the review team who is unprepared or unable to provide an objective review. Review is unorganized or does not produce feedback that benefits writers. Hold one review team member … Continue reading 11 Ways to mitigate final proposal document review risks

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7 Ways to mitigate proposal business case review risks

At the 2011 APMP International Conference, Lohfeld Consulting Group’s Managing Director Brenda Crist presented an informative session on mitigating proposal risks. Here are Brenda’s identified Proposal Business Case Review Risks and recommended Mitigation Strategies: Business case in not consistent with the technical and management solution. Immediately correct the inconsistencies in both proposals. Assumptions are not documented. Define all known assumptions that could impact the price or operational delivery. Company is unable to meet the terms and conditions specified by the client. Document what terms and conditions you are unable to meet and why, if the customer is open, renegotiate the terms and conditions before submitting the proposal. If you are unable to meet the terms and conditions consider not bidding. Business case is too high risk for the company to support. Consider pulling the bid. Resulting profit margin is too high or low. Fix the profit margin so your bid … Continue reading 7 Ways to mitigate proposal business case review risks

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10 Ways to mitigate proposal production and delivery review risks

At the 2011 APMP International Conference, Lohfeld Consulting Group’s Managing Director Brenda Crist presented an informative session on mitigating proposal risks. Here are Brenda’s identified Proposal Production and Delivery Review Risks and recommended Mitigation Strategies: Insufficient production time. Allocate 10% of the life cycle for production. Check with your production staff prior to creating your schedule to verify they have the bandwidth to complete your job on schedule. Unreliable equipment. Test all equipment prior to production to verify it functions as intended. Have a backup plan for production if your system malfunctions. Problems with tabs. Learn how to produce tabs. Learn how to correct tabs if a new tab is needed. Problems with graphics. Develop graphics early in the proposal life cycle and verify the graphics are clear, uncluttered, and illustrate a benefit to the client. Use graphics tools that can be edited by more than one person in case … Continue reading 10 Ways to mitigate proposal production and delivery review risks

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