Your Zombie Hunters. David Sotolongo. VP, Business and Proposal Development RTI International. Amy Shende Mills

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2 Your Zombie Hunters David Sotolongo VP, Business and Proposal Development RTI International Amy Shende Mills Director, Proposals ICON Government Services

3 Today s Objectives Why The Walking Dead? Why not The Odyssey? Or Real Housewives of Boston? We will cover: What is Capture? What are the products of Capture? How do you defend an incumbency? How do you steal an incumbency? The impact of filling the documentation gap

4 Our Capture Team Each character from TWD has traits that you need for different types of Capture

5 Our Process is Scalable Critical that your capture process have flexibility Certain capture elements align closely to: 1-Defending an Incumbency 2-Stealing an Incumbency 3-Winning Brand New Work

6 What is Capture? Process by which we gather intelligence, assess the competition, and implement winning strategies oriented towards capturing a specific business opportunity - Shipley Associates

7 What is Capture? Unknown position Flexible application of iterative activities to attain a favored position with the customer Gather Intelligence Known position Analyze Competition Improved position Develop + Test Win Strategy Favored position Develop Proposal Plan Submit

8 Why Use Capture? According to Shipley, often 40% to 80% of the customer s award decision is made before receiving contractor proposals DoD estimated that successful bidders typically invest 57% of allocated B&P dollars before release of the final RFP; leaders estimate up to 65% of funding spent before final RFP Proposal response time can be quite short

9 Typical Capture Activities Gather market and client intelligence. Influence the solicitation. Identify competition and develop plans to mitigate. Develop teaming strategy. Gain exclusive commitments from other organizations. Develop price-to-win strategy and price target. Develop staffing strategy and introduce new staff before solicitation drops. Focus on performance

10 Setting Capture Priorities Capture work needs to be customized per the opportunity s priorities Scale/adapt effort to suit the opportunity s priorities Starting early gives you more time to address those priorities: New v. existing work Developing a price-to-win strategy Determining winning labor mix and staffing to represent the technical scope of the project Succession planning Gathering market intelligence to influence bid Developing teaming/partnering plans (and industry/small business if appropriate)

11 Typical Capture Products Completed Teaming Agreements (if teaming) Draft Executive Summary Draft Organization Structure List of Key Staff, Updated Resumes Draft Cost Proposal Draft Outline with Authors, Budgeters, and Recommended Reviewers Past Performance References (vetted) Small / Small Disadvantaged Business Participation Plan Draft Management Plan Draft Facilities Section List of Relevant Corporate Experience Graphics Make a go/no-go Decision

12 A Solid Capture Team Includes Technical knowledge Business development skills Leadership/coaching skills Budget/pricing expertise Customer knowledge Communication skills Proposal and capture management experience Procurement / Federal contracting knowledge

13 Capture Process Gather Intelligence Analyze Competition Develop Win Strategy Storyboarding Transition to Proposal Team Blue Review #1 Black Hat Blue Review #2 RFP Released Go Decision

14 The Curse of the Incumbent in cum bent to lie down Lying, leaning, or resting on something else (like your laurels!)

15 Protecting an Incumbency Analyze Competition and Use Storyboarding Gather Intelligence Analyze Competition Develop Win Strategy Storyboarding Transition to Proposal Team Blue Review #1 Black Hat Blue Review #2 RFP Released Go Decision

16 To Defend an Incumbency Showcase performance Prove you can continue to meet client needs Demonstrate innovation and a path forward Set an aggressive price target Treat every re-compete as a new opportunity

17 Competitive Analysis / Black Hat 1.Identify likely competitors 2.Evaluate competitors vs. likely requirements, evaluation criteria 3.Critically evaluate you vs. the competition 4.Complete competitive analysis Black Hat: Review competitors likely bid strategies Recommend revisions to win strategy Validate that strategy provides a clear advantage over competition

18 Competitive Analysis Take an in-depth look at the customer. Who has this customer awarded work to, who are they in contact with, and where have people moved to over the last 5 years. Sometimes competitors will hire recently retired customer staff to retain them and have them provide intel on business development. Not a bad idea! Think about companies who could potentially partner with one of the competitors. Ask current employees who came from competitor organizations to put on that hat.

19 Analyze Your Competition Enter Customer your intel Competitor into a matrix A: that Competitor maps information B: Competitor against C: the expected evaluation Woodbury factors, then use Farms the R Us data to map The Undead out a SWOT Evaluation Factor Technical Merit Cost Key Personnel Project Management Corporate Capabilities The Governor like bid as lead. Currently VP of Health. Was Governor of Woodbury branch of CDC Seen as strong but also a little egotistical by client. Eye patch somewhat distracting. Hershel Green President and CEO of Farms R Us Small business, good performance with CDC. Great potential partner to shore up some of our weaknesses. CDC in general likes Zombie personnel. The PDs and study managers are quiet and respond well to stimuli. On the negative side, often hard to understand and always seem hungry. Your Team Client perceives current team as strong; Strategy will be for key personnel to delegate tasks thereby giving more labor costs to more costeffective staff.

20 Embrace the SWOT Take data gathered during competitive analysis, and map it into a SWOT: Strengths caused by internal factors (staff, location, stature, past performance, collaboration, management, QA/QC, technology) Weaknesses caused by internal factors (same examples as above) Opportunities caused by external factors (former employee of competition or customer, repositioning with the customer, including the new Program Director on the current project) Threats caused by external factors (advantages of competitor as shiny new toy, renowned staff bid)

21 Storyboarding Choose your Platform Electronic template War room wall Annotated outline Plan for what will be written in each section Identify: 1. Unresolved issues 2. Discriminators 3. Key graphics

22 Storyboarding: Becoming a Zombie

23 Storyboarding: Becoming a Zombie Stage 1 Infection Pain Stage 2 Coma Death Stage 3 Reanimation Hunger

24 Fear the Curse of the Incumbent Risk Weaknesses known by the client Inertia of current processes; cost-efficient to keep status quo Competitor offers pretty new toy Long-term staffing model creates increased labor costs Blind spots underestimate competitor strengths vs. our weaknesses We know too damn much and our proposed LOE reflects what we KNOW they want rather than SOW states Mitigation Closely monitor customer satisfaction Propose cost-neutral (or reducing) innovations and efficiency gains Ghost those new toys we anticipate will be proposed Selectively mix deep experience with fresh blood and push work downward Get independent assessment; don t rely strictly on project team s perspective Build costs exclusively on RFP specifications. Use negotiation rounds to add costs as needed.

25 Element to Emphasize: Defending Your Incumbency In defending an incumbency, emphasize: Competitor Strengths and Weaknesses Tool: SWOT Analysis, including your own list of vulnerabilities Storyboarding Tool: Annotated Outline

26 Stealing an Incumbency steal To take the property of another without permission to gain an advantage by strategy or chance

27 Stealing an Incumbency Gather Intelligence and Develop Your Win Strategy Gather Intelligence Analyze Competition Develop Win Strategy Storyboarding Transition to Proposal Team Blue Review #1 Black Hat Blue Review #2 RFP Released Go Decision

28 Stealing is Easier Than it Used to Be Recent trends in the U.S. have incumbents losing at least half of the time Lohfeld Consulting, The Decline of the Incumbent Empire Use the SWOT to pinpoint the sweet spot (their weakness, your strength, customer needs) David Pugh and Terry Bacon, Powerful Proposals Incumbents often fall victim to losing on price, so effective PTW strategy is key

29 To Beat an Incumbent Match incumbent s strengths Staffing, Partners, Experience, Information Solve incumbent s weaknesses Performance, Innovations, Expertise Eliminate client s concerns about transition Schedule, Risk, Costs, Relationships Offer a compelling reason to change Technically acceptable lower price bid Different approach to client s objectives Reference: Attacking an Incumbent, presented by Bob Reynolds, Spectrum Management Associates, at the 22nd Annual Association of Proposal Management Professionals (APMP) International Conference, Denver, CO, June 1, 2011.

30 Know Your Customer AVOID SURPRISES: Who does customer perceive to be the leader in given area? What does customer really need / want (Cadillac v. Prius) Accuracy in describing technical complexity, risk, and cost Position staff who are most preferred by customer

31 Gathering Intelligence Review everything available about opportunity last proposal, solicitation, published reports, etc. Look at social and professional network for those at customer who are key decisions makers. Look at who they come in contact with on a regular basis. Identify who has easy access to the customer and may be able to gather intelligence on project. Scour other related RFPs going back 2 years or so to look for trends in how evaluation is being weighted. Review relevant lessons learned from similar projects.

32 Intelligence Gathering and Blue Review 1 Intelligence Gathering 1. Identify likely requirements and scope of work 2. Identify decision makers, influencers, users and likely evaluators beyond the program officer 3. Improve understanding of client needs and constraints as well as perceptions of you; confirm funding 4. Influence customer requirements, contract mechanism and other issues 5. Use information from potential collaborators and partners Purpose of Blue Review 1 Review capture plan and validate win strategy Make recommendations to ensure action plan is sufficient to accomplish strategy Ensure resources allocation is adequate Confirm or revise status, priority and LOE

33 What Is a Win Theme? Highlights your strengths Ghosts (i.e., subtly points out) your competitors weaknesses Mitigates your weaknesses Neutralizes your competitors strengths Powerful Proposals, David G. Pugh and Terry R. Bacon Leads evaluators to choose you over competition!

34 A Winning Theme Customer Goal Feature Benefits Proof Better Quality Assurance ICON will use a small business to perform objective Quality Assurance Audits of the core SOW. Provides more robust and objective QA solution via a separate company. Past performance with this company doing this exact work successfully with us for another NIH contract.

35 A Winning Theme The ICON Team offers a proven, independent Quality Assurance solution to help ensure NIH receives high quality data and reliable study outcomes. Specifically, XYZ will perform the Quality Assurance activities for tasks performed initially by ICON, in the same way that XYZ and ICON have operated on the OTHER contract for more than seven years.

36 A Winning Theme Our seasoned publications team will convert the final report to a 508- compliant document, saving the Agency time and ensuring the quality of the final 508 file. Our RTP office is only four miles from EPA s main campus. We are readily available for onsite and impromptu meetings, giving EPA staff immediate access to the PD and our Technical Advisory Board. We have conducted lots of surveys and understand the challenges of your project. We will offer fresh ideas to increase your response rates. Pilot sites will increase lighting by 20% increase, with no additional energy costs, through RTI s NLITE technology. This innovative technology is a finalist for the Energy Institute s Innovation Award.

37 Elements to Emphasize In stealing an incumbency, emphasize: Intelligence Gathering Tools: Client Call Plan Developing a Win Strategy Tools: Feature/Benefit Table

38 The Walking Reviewers

39 Competitive Analysis and Black Hat Review Competitive Analysis 1 Identify likely competitors 2 Evaluate probable competitors vs. likely requirements, evaluation criteria 3 Critically evaluate you vs. the competition 4 Complete competitive analysis Purpose of Black Hat Review competitors likely bid strategies Critically evaluate you vs competition Recommend revisions to your win strategy Validate your win themes and discriminators

40 Intelligence Gathering and Blue Review 1 Intelligence Gathering 1. Identify likely requirements and scope of work 2. Identify decision makers, influencers, users and likely evaluators beyond the program officer 3. Improve understanding of client needs and constraints as well as perceptions od RTI; confirm funding 4. Influence customer requirements, contract mechanism and other issues 5. Use information from potential collaborators and partners Purpose of Blue Review 1 Review capture plan and validate win strategy Make recommendations to ensure action plan is sufficient to accomplish strategy Ensure resources allocation is adequate Confirm or revise status, priority and LOE

41 Intelligence Gathering and Blue Review 2 Develop Win Strategy 1. Develop win strategy 2. Draft technical strategy 3. Develop differentiating win themes with features/benefits 4. Convey (directly or indirectly) win themes to the Client 5. Identify teaming partners and/or consultants Purpose of Blue Review 2 Review capture deliverables Ensure action plan is sufficient to complete capture activities prior to RFP release Make go / no go decision

42 Elements to Emphasize Ethics should always be your guide Respect competitor intelligence: where it comes from, how you get it Submit an honest proposal: price to win, but price to perform as well

43 Documentation Gap Compliments of Robin Ritchey Roach & Associates Information Captured/Documented Capture Documentation Non-Capture Documentation Develop Proposal plan Develop and Test Win Strategy Analyze Competition Gather Intelligence Write and Review Proposal Documentation Gap BD Phase Milestones Capture Blue Review 1 Black Hat Review Blue Review 2 RFP Proposal Due

44 Flexible Milestones and Process Stealing an Incumbency Intelligence Gathering Develop Win Strategy Blue Review 1 Blue Review 2 RFP Released/ Go Decision Pink Review Red Review Protecting an Incumbency Competitive Analysis Black Hat Storyboard RFP Released/ Go Decision Pink Review Red Review

45 Summary Create or modify your capture process to allow for flexibility and scalability Use different tools depending on the capture type Incumbency protection Incumbency theft Understand your team members and use their strengths When in doubt, call Daryl

46 The Talking Capture A win theme should [WHAT] you from your competition. Black hat is best used for which type of capture? What is focus of Blue Review 1? Name 3 typical capture products that would fill the Documenation Gap. True of False wait until Red Team to discuss Price to Win. Gathering intelligence is important for what type of capture?

47 The Talking Capture Who is Judith s father? Who is Judith s mother? Which of Carl s body parts was recently injured? What was the name of the town the Governor lived in? What is the name of Daryl s brother? Who finally kissed in Season 6?

48 Kudos? Send to: @ProposalHombre (Twitter)

49 Complaints? Send to: APMP PO Box Washington, DC