Tip 141: Unite the proposal team around a single vision with a draft Executive Summary - Shipley Asia Pacific

Drafting an executive summary early in the capture process gives you a powerful internal tool that you can use to:

·   Refine your bidding strategy

·   Gain senior management endorsement for your approach

·   Communicate your strategy in-house to all proposal contributors

·   Drive proposal development

·   Provide a model for the complete proposal.

At the Pursuit Decision gate review, the person who briefs management should be able to draft an executive summary that describes the customer’s hot button issues, organizational vision, and desired solution.

This person is most likely from the Business Development team and will continue to have input to the executive summary, drawing on their knowledge of the customer to evolve content, form, and detail until the proposal is submitted. Their understanding of the customer is an essential input into the content and shaping of the central proposal messages.

After the Preliminary Bid Decision gate review, ask the Blue Team review to critique the draft executive summary. You may choose to delegate completion of the executive summary to the proposal manager.