Course Overview
Getting your organisation to back what you want to do is vitally important for any effective manager. Whether you are proposing an addition to headcount, a capital investment in plant, a new product line, a move into a new market or an acquisition, you have got to be able to convince those with the authority and the money that it is worth doing. And often you will be up against stiff opposition from other managers for the funds and resources you will need. So how do you go about making sure that your business plan is as well thought through and attractive as possible?
Alternatively, you might be the person in authority who has to make the difficult go/no-go decision. If it all goes wrong, who will be blamed? So what do you need to look for in a business plan that will give you confidence that you are making the right decision, whether it is acceptance or rejection? What do you need to know so that, if you accept the plan, you can track progress and keep control of implementation?
Audience
Anyone in your organisation who is involved in developing or authorising plans for changing the business, whatever the scale of change. Some change will require injection of funds for people or assets; other change will involve only a shift in direction without much additional expenditure. But whatever the type and scale of change, it will require management agreement.
Skills Gained
As a manager proposing change you will learn:
- to check that the proposal is in line with the strategic direction of the organisation
- to ensure the projected benefits are credible and do not defy the constraints that competitive forces impose
- to develop the implementation plan
- the different forecasting techniques available and which one to select for each particular case
- to build and analyse the financial case on which many plans stand or fall
- the main structure and style options for a business plan
As a manager required to authorise business plans you will:
- become confident at interrogating the plans submitted to you and spotting any weaknesses
Course Outline
Introduction: the customer perspective
The opening session puts the proposal into context by exploring the requirements that the customer has of a proposal, and this later becomes a checklist for assessing the merits of a proposal.
- The customer's real needs
- The customer's psychological needs
- The customer's decision making needs
- What the customer doesn't need
The biggest mistakes made when writing proposals
In addition to being part of the contractual process, proposals play a key role in differentiating your company from others, and in demonstrating how you meet the needs of the customer. This session uses examples from real proposals to explain what not to do when putting proposals together.
- Structural issues
- Language issues
- Layout issues
- Content issues
Proposals as part of the sales process
As a sales document, a proposal needs to focus not simply on your offering, but more specifically on how you are meeting the needs of the customer in a way which fits with the customers requirements.
- 'Push' and 'pull' approaches to selling and proposals
- Understanding the customer's decision making processes
- Researching customer needs
- Creating competitive advantage in a proposal
Bidding strategies and why you need one
A bidding strategy provides a context and a framework for the decisions which need to be made when developing a proposal. The strategy will cover issues such as when to bid and when not to bid, how to deal with risk and uncertainty issues, how best to align the proposal with your marketing strategy.
- Compliance and non-compliance
- Pricing and risk management
- Differentiation in approaches taken to different customers
- Red team approaches
Identifying the features of superior proposals
From a review of proposals submitted by over 100 of the world's leading companies, this session explains the factors that any proposal needs to cover if it is to be given serious consideration by a customer organisation.
- How to demonstrate a fit with customer needs
- How to demonstrate competitive advantage
- How to deal with contentious issues and non-compliance
- How to deal with a price disadvantage
The proposal planning and development process
- Planning, writing, reviewing and editing the content
- Storyboarding
- Touching key customer issues
- Demonstrating credentials
Focusing on the customer needs
There is a balance between describing your organisation and what you offer, and showing how you understand and relate to the needs of the customer. It is important that meeting the needs of the customer comes before selling your organisation.
- Customer-centric sections of the proposal
- Credentials references, and the sales pitch
- Customer values and principles
- Special circumstances such as proposals for non competitive situations
Proposal structures which hold the customer's attention
The proposal needs to read well. This is partly a language issue, but more importantly an issue of the structure.
- Holding the reader's attention
- Mirroring the structure of the customer's RFP
- Dealing with poorly scoped RFP's
- Providing alternative solutions
Powerful Executive summaries
This session explains the approaches which should be taken to making the Executive Summary the most influential section of the document and one which captures the imagination of the reader.
- Content of the Executive Summary
- Questions the Summary needs to answer
- Making the Executive Summary stand out
- Pitfalls to avoid
Writing styles and document appearance
Sadly, proposals often fail to win favour because of the writing style and / or the appearance of the document. This short session provides guidance on what is likely to improve the readability of the document, and what is likely to reduce its acceptability.
- Language: how to make it more readable
- Visuals within a proposal: what works and what doesn't
- Binding and covers
The presentation and post-proposal stage
Once a proposal has been submitted, there is often a need for a presentation to the client. This session explores the most commonly made mistakes in presentations and sets out how to make a presentation which adds value to the proposal rather than simply repeating it. It covers:
- The most commonly made mistakes in presentations
- Making a presentation memorable
- Follow up routines
Five ways to improve a proposal
In the final session of the day, seminar participants discuss five aspects of proposal writing which will make a significant difference between an average and an outstanding proposal. As part of the seminar, participants will receive:
- A checklist which can be used to review the current house-style of proposals
- A template which delivers advice and guidance on 'best practice' proposal writing
