HAPPY NEW YEAR!

This is one of the funniest – and one of the few – cartoons I’ve ever seen about what it’s like in the proposal world. I often use this in kick-off meetings, especially when I’m working with folks who have little or no proposal experience. This lightens the mood a bit and lets them know that I understand and empathize. As comedic as this is, it oftentimes isn’t that far from the truth.

Many of us got into the proposal world simply by happenstance, or because we were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Some of us dread working on proposals and some of us – the ‘crazy’ ones – love it. I guess I put myself in that category; I have always loved working proposals and always will. I’m lucky, I love what I do. Hopefully, the rest of you out there slaving away on proposals love it or will learn to love it.

If you would like to discuss this in more detail, please contact me on info@perfblue.com or via my contact page.  Thanks!

Attribution

UFS, Inc. Scott Adams

About the Author

Drew Cotterman is the Founder and President of performanceBLUE, LLC, a professional proposal development firm. He founded the firm in 2010 after working in the proposal world for more than 20 years. performanceBLUE provides capture support; proposal development including management, writing, pricing, graphics, desktop publishing, and production support; process training; and employee mentoring.

• “Solicitations shall specify that award will be made on the basis of the lowest evaluated price of proposals meeting or exceeding the acceptability standards for non-cost factors”
• “Past performance need not be an evaluation factor in lowest price technically acceptable source selections”

I’m reminded of something that happened in the 1980s when an agency that I was supporting lamented the fact that they had chosen a cheaper alternative, rather than the standard. This was a massive power supply system for a US Navy magnetic defense facility. The agency saved money in the short run, but later had to contract with the higher priced provider – the incumbent who had originally lost to a lower priced competitor – to fix several technical problems. In the end, it cost the government far more than it would have if they had gone to the right provider (the standard-bearer for that technology) in the first place. Saving money is not a bad thing, but saving it simply for the sake of saving isn’t always the right way to go.

So, to the question posited in the title of this post, is the LPTA trend here to stay? I’ve been watching this trend grow for some time now and, unfortunately, I can’t see the government going any other way. In this era of transparency and cost avoidance, there appears to be no alternative. However, I would strongly encourage contracting officers to include past performance as an evaluation criteria. Even if they make the grading “pass/fail” or “acceptable/unacceptable,” past performance should count for something. If the LPTA trend is here to stay, then let’s help the government make it workable and reasonable.

If you would like to discuss this in more detail, please contact me on info@perfblue.com or via my contact page.  Thanks!

Attribution

http://www.acquisition.gov/far/html/Subpart%2015_1.html

About the Author

Drew Cotterman is the Founder and President of performanceBLUE, LLC, a professional proposal development firm. He founded the firm in 2010 after working in the proposal world for more than 20 years. performanceBLUE provides capture support; proposal development including management, writing, pricing, graphics, desktop publishing, and production support; process training; and employee mentoring.

Following are my high-level interpretations of how these 7 habits can help you to be more successful in the proposal development world:

• Be Proactive. A proposal manager is the leader of the team. Organizational rank doesn’t matter; this is your team. This is especially true of consultants going into a client for the first time. Lead by doing and be sure to constantly communicate with your team and corporate leaders.
• Begin with the End in Mind. What are the corporate goals, the team’s goals, and your goals? These need to be defined ahead of time. Start with a capture plan or proposal development plan that outlines each of these goals and how you will get there.
• Put First Things First. Prioritize and then develop a schedule. Define the internal milestones that will get you to the correct ending. Start with a detailed schedule and use that as a tool to progress through your milestones. This helps with accountability.
• Think Win-Win. How do you define a win? In the proposal world, often the award is more than a year away. I define a win by having a client call me back for follow-on support. It’s not just about the contract award; it’s also about finding a working solution with your client that supports both of your goals, immediate and long term.
• Seek First to Understand, and Then Be Understood. If your client has an in-house process, work within it to make their process better. If they don’t, develop a process for them that will suit their people and their personalities. Understand their needs and you can apply your knowledge to the team that makes it a win-win situation.
• Synergize. Every new proposal is an opportunity to develop and hone your people skills and your ability to mentor and grow confidence within the team. Each group has its own dynamic; find what drives them and work within that to get the best out of the team.
• Sharpen the Saw. This is obvious. You can’t get better without continuous practice, training, and reflection. Practice makes perfect, training offers new solutions to old problems, and reflection allows you to learn more about yourself and to see how you can be a better proposal professional.

If you would like to discuss this in more detail, please contact me on info@perfblue.com or via my contact page. Thanks!

Attribution

LinkedIn Article by Lou Adler

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Stephen Covey

About the Author

Drew Cotterman is the Founder and President of performanceBLUE, LLC, a professional proposal development firm. He founded the firm in 2010 after working in the proposal world for more than 20 years. performanceBLUE provides capture support; proposal development including management, writing, pricing, graphics, desktop publishing, and production support; process training; and employee mentoring.

I have a better, more intuitive idea. Let’s have our color reviews match the standard color scoring used by the government: Red, Yellow, Green, and Blue. Certainly, as proposals evolve through your process, at each review stage they are in better shape. It stands to reason that our reviews follow this standard.

• Red Team Review. This reviews storyboards and mockups to confirm solution set and to validate proposal strategy. Your proposal is in the early stages and isn’t mature enough to be scored anything better than Red, or Unacceptable.
• Yellow Team Review. This reviews the initial proposal draft to ensure that all strategic elements are being captured. At this review all proposal design elements must be locked down. Your proposal is more developed but is still missing certain critical elements and would generate a score of Yellow, or Marginal.
• Green Team Review. This reviews the final proposal draft – including price – to predict how the customer will score the proposal. At this review, your proposal should meet the requirements of the solicitation and show a complete knowledge of the subject matter, allowing for a score of Green, or Acceptable.
• Blue Team Review. This review approves the final proposal and price. Your proposal should exceed many of the requirements set forth in the solicitation and show that you would perform at a consistently superior level, garnering a score of Blue, or Exceptional.

Some agencies have added Purple and Orange to bridge the gap in scoring between Green and Blue and Red and Yellow respectively. This represents a level of minutia that doesn’t serve a proposal team well. Four reviews that use the standard scoring colors works nicely.

Are four reviews too many; too few? I say it’s just right for a standard 30-day turnaround, but this assumes you’ve done the proper legwork up front and are prepared for the solicitation when it hits the street. When others start using this color review scheme, remember that you heard it here first.

If you would like to discuss this in more detail, please contact me on info@perfblue.com or via my contact page.  Thanks!

About the Author

Drew Cotterman is the Founder and President of performanceBLUE, LLC, a professional proposal development firm. He founded the firm in 2010 after working in the proposal world for more than 20 years. He provides capture support; proposal development including management, writing, pricing, graphics, desktop publishing, and production support; process training; and employee mentoring.

Even with the heart of a consultant, it can be a gut-wrenching decision to throw caution to the wind, abandon the relative comfort of the corporate structure, and venture out on your own. When I made the decision to go it alone, it was not without some angst. However, I had built up a pretty strong network thanks to Linked In, APMP, and the fact that I had been running a proposal shop that hired many consultants to help with surge needs. Learning how the consulting world worked from the perspective of someone who hired consultants was very helpful. Here are some lessons I have learned as my business was starting and as it has evolved:

• Have a cushion in your bank account. Even if you have a consulting gig lined up for an immediate start, payment on that gig won’t come for 60-90 days depending on several factors like, the payment terms your placement firm has with their client, the invoice cycle (e.g., weekly, bi-weekly, monthly), and the relative viability of your placement firm or client (i.e., will they pay on time). Ideally, you will have a direct connection with your client and can negotiate net30 terms, which should bridge the paycheck gap. Having a cushion also helps when you experience a business slowdown (see my post from November 15, 2013).
• Don’t ever stop marketing. Deals come and go. Clients make no-bid decisions on gigs that you have accepted. The government delays solicitation release dates. You must always keep your pipeline fresh and your client list up to date on your availability. I use a two-month cycle for making contact with both active and inactive clients. It’s important to stay fresh in their minds so they think of you when they have surge needs or for any other need for outside help.
• Use social media. I’m barely a novice in this area, but I do have and use Linked In and Twitter, and I have a website. These are important ways to keep your name out there. I also publish this blog about every 45 days, which I also publicized on Linked In and Twitter. Linked In also has a relatively new publish feature, which allows you to post your own thoughts. I use it to publish my blog posts. The point is to stay active and open to new clients.

Are we like the pioneers who, through their own independence, forged a new country? Not really, but we are of a like mind; we do share the desire to carve our own path. I applaud the successful independent contractors out there. Kudos!

If you would like to discuss this in more detail, please contact me on info@perfblue.com or via my contact page. Thanks!

Attribution

“Independence is happiness.”   Susan B. Anthony

“I was born with a fierce need for independence.”      Michele Williams

About the Author

Drew Cotterman is the Founder and President of performanceBLUE, LLC, a professional capture management and proposal development firm. He founded the firm in 2010 after working in the proposal world for more than 20 years. He provides capture support; proposal development including management, writing, pricing, graphics, desktop publishing, and production support; process training; and employee mentoring.

When working in a dedicated proposal space, whether a SCIF or a conference room, I try to convey the idea expressed in the photo below: “This is not a WAR room. War implies a winner and a loser. This is a WIN room. In this room, our team wins.” This isn’t marketing hooey or political spin, because frankly, war usually implies two losers in the end. The idea of a Win Room is a mindset that all proposal team members should adhere to. I do and I expect my team members to as well. A positive attitude and a determination to win leads you to do the best you possibly can. A clean, efficient, positive proposal space gives your team the tools they need.

If you would like to discuss this in more detail, please contact me on info@perfblue.com or via my contact page.  Thanks!

Attribution

‘Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb’

http://www.nextmovie.com/blog/funny-movie-quotes/

About the Author

Drew Cotterman is the Founder and President of performanceBLUE, LLC, a professional proposal development firm. He founded the firm in 2010 after working in the proposal world for more than 20 years. He provides capture support; proposal development including management, writing, pricing, graphics, desktop publishing, and production support; process training; and employee mentoring.

Mark Twain wrote in Pudd’nhead Wilson: “April 1. This is the day upon which we are reminded of what we are on the other three hundred and sixty-four.” Solicitations can make you feel this way sometimes, can’t they?

For sure, I’ve worked on solicitations that were nearly perfect in their requirements. This was borne out by the fact that the entire proposal process had very few amendments and a very small amount of questions and answers. The flip side can be a nightmare. For example, I supported a client late last year on the NASA SEWP V procurement and it was a pretty miserable experience. There were 12 amendments and 1171 questions and answers. Twelve amendments aren’t that bad, but 1171 questions and answers for a straight product play are ridiculous. We weren’t bidding to build the F-35 Lightning II. This is a pure case of the procurement documents not being very clear.

Don’t get me wrong, I love NASA and have done several large, complicated projects with clients for them. However, NASA SEWP V was messy from the start. I was “fooled” from the beginning – as were many others – into thinking this would be a smooth process. Of course, as an independent contractor, I must roll with the punches. Procurements like this give us a chance to demonstrate our flexibility and creativity. This is where we can shine and make ourselves indispensable to our clients. Like every other challenge in life, this is an opportunity for us to get better.

If you would like to discuss this in more detail, please contact me on info@perfblue.com or via my contact page.  Thanks!

Attribution

Pudd’nhead Wilson, 1894  Mark Twain

About the Author

Drew Cotterman is the Founder and President of performanceBLUE, LLC, a professional proposal development firm. He founded the firm in 2010 after working in the proposal world for more than 20 years. He provides capture support; proposal development including management, writing, pricing, graphics, desktop publishing, and production support; process training; and employee mentoring.

I thought of this recently due to a bad experience. We hired a fencing contractor to build a secure privacy fence around our yard. We have a new dog that is a digger and can jump at least as high as I am tall. We hired a man who said all the right things, was licensed, etc. I can talk endlessly about our own lessons learned and perhaps that will be posted at another time. I want to talk today about the lessons our contractor hopefully learned and how that applies to the proposal world.

Each time we asked our contractor a question about the fence, his response, was essentially, “I didn’t plan for that.” He didn’t have a schedule with a firm deadline. He didn’t have a plan to keep us updated as we were out of town while he was working. There was no reliable mechanism to review his work in progress. He had little control over his subcontractors and had not worked to earn their trust. In short, he was “winging it.”

The upshot of this is that our fence, which should have taken a week to complete, was not 100% completed after five months. Yes, five MONTHS. The fence is secure and functional and does the job that’s needed. However, the finishing touches were not completed and, while fully functional, would never pass a beauty contest. How does this relate to proposal preparation?

•  While compliance to the requirements is critical in proposal development, a functional, easy to follow presentation is also very important.
• All proposals, like a fence job, should have a schedule that includes milestones. Sticking to milestones is important for accountability. Milestones include color reviews; these are critical.
• Treating partners, subcontractors, and employees with respect and honesty is just as important as how you treat your partners, subcontractors, and proposal team members.

If you would like to discuss this in more detail, please contact me on info@perfblue.com or via my contact page. Thanks!

Attribution

“Failing to plan is planning to fail.” Alan Lakein

“Plans are nothing; planning is everything.” Dwight D. Eisenhower

About the Author

Drew Cotterman is the Founder and President of performanceBLUE, LLC, a professional proposal development firm. He founded the firm in 2010 after working in the proposal world for more than 20 years. He provides capture support; proposal development including management, writing, pricing, graphics, desktop publishing, and production support; process training; and employee mentoring.

• Strong client relationships. Strong relationships help when things are slow because a client that trusts you will look to you for all of their proposal support, no matter what the times are like.
• Broad client base across multiple functional areas. I have clients who contract with the government for IT staffing, help desk support, cloud computing, transportation logistics, health care staffing, air traffic controller training, and many other areas. This breadth allows you to focus on areas that are somewhat immune to the slowdown.
• Flexible approach. Remember, a slowdown for you is because there has been a procurement slowdown. If you can be flexible in your approach, your clients are more likely to call on you.

Further evidence of the “stay busy” mantra is provided by my friend and colleague, Chris Simmons, the Founder and Principal of Rainmakerz Consulting, LLC. He said via email: “The best consultants are the ones that keep busy – no matter what is happening with sequestration, government shutdowns, or other industry/government comings and goings.”

The theme that the best consultants are the ones that keep busy is something I preach to the contractors I work with. There are several ways you can keep yourself busy with your clients:

• Lower your rate. It’s important to recognize that lowering your rates will help your clients and also help keep you busy. Only do this if you must and stress to your clients that it’s a one-time or temporary solution to help them out.
• Be more flexible. Flexibility in your pricing approach can be helpful too. I find that many of my smaller clients prefer a fixed price arrangement. They like to define their total cost risk up front. As a small business owner myself, I can understand and empathize with this approach.
• Get outside your comfort zone. If you do nothing but write IT staffing proposals, you might consider a client who needs help with a health care staffing proposal. The basics are the same: recruitment and retention chief among them. Each time you get outside your comfort zone, that zone grows. This allows for a broader customer base and a broader base helps alleviate the stress of a slowdown.

There are other ways to keep busy. How do you stay busy and keep your head in the game during a slowdown?

• Take on full time work, though I have seen that companies are reluctant to hire former contractors.
• Save your money and hunker down and wait it out.
• Stay involved in the industry through APMP and other organizations.
• Write blogs like this one.

If you would like to discuss this in more detail, please contact me on info@perfblue.com or via my contact page. Thanks!

Attribution

Email received on November 5, 2013 at 11:48AM Chris Simmons

About the Author

Drew Cotterman is the Founder and President of performanceBLUE, LLC, a professional proposal development firm. He founded the firm in 2010 after working in the proposal world for more than 20 years. He provides capture support; proposal development including management, writing, pricing, graphics, desktop publishing, and production support; process training; and employee mentoring.

• A decrease in the number of contracts being bid will result in fewer billable hours.
• Fewer billable hours can lead to lower hourly rates.
• Lower hourly rates increases the pool of contractors for any particular job.
• An increased pool of contractors leads to a corresponding increase in competitiveness for the fewer jobs that are available.
• Increased competitiveness makes it more likely that good clients of yours may consider an alternative.

A possibly scarier trend that I see is the desire on the part of my clients to enter into fixed price contracts. Poor planning on these types of contracts can lead to a dramatically lowered hourly rate. Always develop an honest estimate of the number of hours you should need for a fixed price bid, and then add 10-15 percent to it. This helps cover you when the inevitable extension is granted and your client still expects you to honor your fixed price.

My friend and colleague, Dr. Jayme Sokolow, the Founder, Owner, and President of The Development Source, said it best in his article Dire Days Ahead for Proposal Professionals?: “I wish I could be more positive, but trends in federal government contracting do not bode well for proposal professionals.”

The key for independent proposal contractors is to stay busy. Staying busy during this slowdown is not only critical to individual contractors, it’s also critical in the sense that companies will be in a bit of trouble when the cycle changes and the slowdown is over. When the cycle changes and there is a corresponding increase in government procurements, companies will once again be faced with surge requirements to get quality proposals out the door on time.

Will you be ready for when the cycle turns, work picks back up, and your client again need your help? How do you stay busy and keep your head in the game during the slowdown? I’ll provide my thoughts on that next time.

If you would like to discuss this in more detail, please contact me on info@perfblue.com or via my contact page. Thanks!

Attribution

http://www.theproposalguru.com/dire-days-ahead-for-proposal-professionals/ Dr. Jayme Sokolow

About the Author

Drew Cotterman is the Founder and President of performanceBLUE, LLC, a professional proposal development firm. He founded the firm in 2010 after working in the proposal world for more than 20 years. He provides capture support; proposal development including management, writing, pricing, graphics, desktop publishing, and production support; process training; and employee mentoring.