Re: Proposal Process (was Proposal Writers)

[John Posada <jposada -at- NOTES -dot- CC -dot- BELLCORE -dot- COM>]

>>Thanks for all the feedback. John P., I was the one you originally sent the
message to and I have it on file. I get the impression that most people who
responded, with one exception, get involved when the direction is set and it
needs to be put on paper. My experience is very different. I have been
working...<<

That's not necessarily true.  I've worked over 50 proposals in the last 18
months and I'd guess about half of them had the solution before the proposal
was started.  It's normal for a proposal to be started on a concept, but
without a definitive solution, and as the proposal is written, the solution is
detirmined.

It's also normal for everyone wanting to wait as long as possible...maybe for
some of several reasons, such as waiting until others have submitted prices to
see how much of the pie is left and how much the solution will bear.

There are organizations out there that may be able to give you input on
defining the process that you are describing.  We've been re-engineering our
process for the last year.

Without endorsing a particular company, examples of companies might be Franklin
Quest (formerly Shipley Associates) 800-343-0009, SM&A 714-975-1550, Cote
516-473-5056.

You are going to be hearing of terms such as Red Team Meetings, Pink Team
Meetings, Prebid BAR (Business Analysis Review), Kickoff meetings, etc.

Good luck

John Posada
Bellcore
908-699-5839
jposada -at- notes -dot- cc -dot- bellcore -dot- com
http://www.tdandw.com

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