Shipley Tips

  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

…State your most important point first. Proposal evaluators read until satisfied, score the question, then look for the answer to the next question. Writers’ styles are influenced by the documents they read. So proposal writers with a technical background often model their writing on the scientific genre, where process is more important than results and

  To the extent that the person receiving the shipment has any influence on the selection of the winning bid, the Cover Letter presents another opportunity to sell your story and ‘why you’ arguments. Use your cover letter to open with a customer benefit statement, not a cliché or seller focused opener. Cite your key