Shipley Tips

When pursuing opportunities, many selling organisations actively avoid discussing risk with their clients because they believe this is a negative conversation. When they discuss risk internally, it is typically from their own perspective and about the risks they take on with the contract, rather than considering what risks might affect the buying organisation’s decision to

  Storyboarding, as well as reducing preparation time and costs, will significantly enhance the quality of your bid submissions.   Storyboards help … … writers to plan, develop and review key concepts, and … managers to review and improve writing plans.   Use them in conjunction with your documented win strategy to ensure you eliminate

  Why – because non-incumbent organisations fail to adequately mitigate risk, specifically the transition risk of moving to a new supplier.   What does this mean for non-incumbent organisations wishing to pursue such opportunities? 1.You need to engage with your customers far earlier in the buying cycle to identify whether there is a case for

To be a discriminator, two conditions must be met. 1.The feature cited must be unique; clearly no two people’s abilities are identical. 2.The customer must care about the uniqueness of the person or people, a condition often created in the sales process – for example, by having introduced those individuals in the capture phase, pre-tender.

Avoid the fatal error for many proposals – relegating experience and performance data to a separate section or attachment. Even when separate relevant experience and performance sections are requested, include both in relevant sections of your proposal to support your claims. Different evaluators reviewing different sections seldom link your proposed approach, and claims, to proof

The bid validation decision is initiated by the receipt of the final bid request. The goal is to identify any requirements that preclude bidding. Requirements that might preclude biding are known as “show stoppers” – for example changes in requirements you cannot meet, an unreasonable schedule, unacceptable performance warranties or penalties. Another show stopper following

You need to make sure the most advantageous partners, and the best talent are available. But be sure to develop your selection criteria based upon customer requirements and issues, not just counterbalancing strengths and weaknesses of the teaming organisations. For larger projects, funding is easier to obtain early, before funds are committed to other purposes.

…considering their prior pricing strategies. Price to Win is a strategic management issue, not just a pricing issue. Your team will arrive at a final Price to Win by iteratively building better data, about the customer’s perceptions, your cost and profit parameters, and the cost and profit parameters of competitors. Competitors tend to repeat prior

  Customers want to see a team that has worked together successfully on prior, similar programs. Customers suspecting teaming incompatibilities turn elsewhere. The program manager will manage the winning team, so maximise your success by including them in teaming partner selection and contracting. Far too frequently, management decides to team, but the individuals involved do

…due to being relegated to a separate section of your proposal. Instead integrate relevant experience and past performance into the body of the proposal adjacent to your claims. Relevant experience applies to the organisation as a whole, the specific actions required, or the experience of the individuals contributing to the services proposed. Relevant experience is