STOP. COLLABORATE & LISTEN. EIGHT BEST PRACTICES FOR IMPROVING COLLABORATION IN THE PROPOSAL PROCESS

STOP. COLLABORATE & LISTEN. EIGHT BEST PRACTICES FOR IMPROVING COLLABORATION IN THE PROPOSAL PROCESS

THE NEED TO COLLABORATE The saying, it takes a village, is certainly true for many things, but it seems especially relevant when talking about the process of developing effective sales proposals. After all, in today s corporate world, success rarely comes to the individual who did not work as part of a team. Instead, the opposite is true collaboration is the new norm in any organization, team, or project environment. In fact, it s hard to imagine anything dissimilar. Responding to RFPs and creating proposals is no different. With the volume of information needed, the wide variety of product and service details (and subject matter experts), and inevitable fast turnaround times, it now takes an average of 3-10 people to successfully complete a RFP response, and sometimes up to 20. All of this means the idea of teamwork isn t a nicety it s a critical approach to producing winning proposals. Yet how should collaboration occur, and if it doesn t exist, what can RFP teams do to proactively drive such a concept through their organization to initiate teamwork? This guide provides eight actionable best practices every organization can implement to improve collaboration. Such actions are key to achieving optimum results. By improving collaboration and building bridges to those individuals relied on for content expertise, RFP teams will build stronger relationships, improve efficiencies, and produce sales proposals that truly stand apart. 2

COMPLICATIONS EVERY CHALLENGE IS AN OPPORTUNITY IN DISGUISE Why focus on collaboration? Because when done well, this approach becomes a critical advantage in empowering RFP professionals to execute smarter, and faster and helping the entire organization reap the benefits that come from more effective proposals. RFP team members need to supervise the entire RFP process from start to finish to make sure everyone s time is used wisely, requirements are addressed, and deadlines are met. We re not talking about focusing on just the document itself. There is the larger effort related to project managing all of the players involved to produce the most accurate, personalized, and compelling content possible. For example, it is typical for each question or section to be answered by different people, reviewed and edited by others, and then approved by a final decision maker. This multiplies the complexity of responding to an RFP exponentially. With so many moving parts, it is critical for RFP managers to be able to easily manage all these steps in the process. As challenging as it may be, there are other complications that require new ways of thinking and acting on the part of the RFP manager. This is not your grandfather s proposal process. For example, today s RFP teams must: Juggle many moving parts: Anyone who has worked on an RFP before knows that the process can be extremely complex, tedious, and time-consuming, especially if you have to provide answers to dozens, if not hundreds of questions. 3

Go beyond the library: It s not just about the content, it s about the project management processes and workflows required to assemble and package all your amazing content into a best-inclass document that truly stands apart and that potential buyers will love. Have complete visibility at every step of the process: The ability to get a clear picture of the status of an RFP is critical. Successful RFP teams don t just answer questions anymore. Instead, they manage the process to make the right decisions to ensure productivity and the highest quality. As a result, RFP managers need effective tools to help them make those decisions quickly. If it s true that every challenge is an opportunity in disguise, then the concept of collaboration is even more important to help overcome these complexities. Now, more than ever, focusing on working collectively as a way to better manage complicated processes is what will set the best RFP teams apart from the rest. Next EIGHT BEST PRACTICES for Improving Collaboration 1. Construct a Winning Team Think 2. Is-Does-Means 3. Get Managers Buy-in 4. Show Appreciation 5. Point SMEs in the Right Direction 6. Engage Early 7. Add Proposal Responsibilities to Job Descriptions 8. Think and Work Smarter 4

EIGHT BEST PRACTICES READY. SET. COLLABORATE. Unfortunately, collaboration doesn t happen by itself. As the saying anything worth doing is worth doing well suggests, improving collaboration and teamwork may require a change in habits, a proactive approach, and a bit of systems thinking. To help, we have compiled the following list of eight best practices and examples every organization can follow to improve collaboration between RFP team members, sales teams, content managers, and subject matter experts (SMEs) to create highly effective RFP responses and proposals. 1. Construct a Winning Team One best practice is to create strong bonds with proposal teams and SMEs and others contributing content by getting to know each other. This could be group lunches, or outings after work, or other socially-inspired events. It s not about an agenda, but rather simply getting together to help gain a better understanding for each other s roles and responsibilities. The goal is to make teams want to help each other and contribute through every step of the process, and it starts with listening to each other and partnering for success. 5

2. Think Is-Does-Means This example revolves around the idea of helping SMEs understand what a great RFP response looks like. Create a writing style guide to help with consistency, and also to illicit more persuasive, benefit-oriented content that is much more valuable than product feature language. One RFP manager once created an is-does-means framework for her SMEs. This methodology showed SMEs that a truly great RFP answer addressed what the product or service is, what it does, and what this means as a benefit to a prospect. By getting her SMEs to think so what does this mean? and look to consistently answer questions in the same way as others on the team, this RFP manager significantly improved the quality of their content and proposals. 4. Show Appreciation Small gestures can go a long way. A simple thank you is effective, but so too are small tokens of appreciation. For example, consider food-related ideas such as a dozen donuts, a coffee gift card, lunch, or even a dinner to celebrate a winning proposal. Or what about that cool marketing giveaway from the last tradeshow? The one prospects loved, but no one thought to give to employees. RFP teams can also let the SME s manager know how great a job they did. Such signs of appreciation will go a long way especially for SMEs who rarely receive any. 3. Get Managers Buy-In Another best practice is for RFP team members to gain buy-in and support from their SME s manager. By communicating how important SME s contributions are, how much the RFP team appreciates them, what it means to the business, and how they will always do all they can to be respectful of their time, RFP professionals are building a concrete process not just requesting content in an ad hoc way. Helping with RFPs is not an SME s day job and chances are good they are extremely busy with other responsibilities so getting their manager s support can help improve the process. 6

5. Point SMEs in the Right Direction Remember, the vast majority of SMEs are not professional writers. In fact, most would claim to have little or no writing experience. Whenever possible, give SMEs something to start with instead of asking them to create a completely new response. Using RFP tools that centralize and organize content is an extremely effective way to do this. Giving them a starting point eliminates the intimidation and writer s block that comes from staring at a blank page. Not only does this make it easier for SMEs to respond, but this significantly decreases turnaround times and improve the quality of ensuing proposals. WHAT IS IS-DOES-MEANS? Let s face it - subject matter experts are usually in product management, services, or engineering, which can mean they tend to be too close to the product. As a result, their responses are too focused on product details and fail to address the question, what does this mean to the prospect? To overcome this, ask SMEs to generate responses using the is-does-means framework: IS: This is their chance to describe what a particular product, service, or feature actually is. Don t discount this step; it is important to convey since prospects do want to know in simple terms what your specific offering is. DOES: Here s where you take it a little further. Instead of simply describing what the product, service, or feature is, this content should describe what it does. This information can include how it works, answers obvious questions prospects may have on how this fits into larger product messaging, and other details. MEANS: This is the most overlooked step. Too many subject matter experts assume prospects know what the end benefit really is, and in doing so, miss a huge opportunity to convey why anyone should care. Means content should include how this product, service, or feature helps save time, increase productivity, reduces costs, maximizes ROI, helps the business grow, or other business drivers. This content should be as specific as possible and provide quantifiable proof such as proven cost savings, metrics, or customer testimonials. 7

6. Engage Early Don t wait until the last minute. Many proposals will have tight turnaround times anyway, so don t compound this challenge by waiting too long to ask for input. While most people don t mind helping contribute content to the RFP process, it is often difficult to drop everything and respond right now, especially if this happens every time. To this end, make SMEs part of the collaborative effort as early as possible. Try to get their input on messaging at the beginning of the process, not just on the final draft. 7. Add Proposal Responsibilities into SMEs Job Descriptions If possible, try to work with HR to create job descriptions for SME positions that include a line item related to supporting the proposal process. As an additional best practice, attempt to clarify a percentage of time SMEs would realistically spend on proposals (for example 5-10%). These steps may seem like overkill to some, but without them, the task of helping with proposals will always become a SME s last priority. 8. Think & Work Smarter When it comes to collecting content and responses from a large group, it is never a good idea to email one version of a document to the entire group (again, remember that this could include up to 20 different people) and then attempt to copy and paste the various responses into one master document. Not only is this cumbersome and inefficient, but it introduces the element of human error into the process. Asking one person to juggle so many different documents and maintain so many versions is asking for trouble. Instead, use RFP tools that automate the process and give users access to a single centralized document so team members can add and edit content there. 8

CONCLUSION TRANSFORM COLLABORATION INTO A COMPETITIVE EDGE Today s RFP teams need to do all they can to generate better content, partner with subject matter experts, and produce faster, more effective sales proposals. By focusing on ways they can improve collaboration internally, they can make the entire process faster, more efficient, and more effective. More important, by driving the mindset of teamwork and collaboration throughout the organization, they can build a foundation to improve future proposal processes. In doing so, they can transform collaboration into a new and sustainable competitive advantage. ABOUT Qvidian is the premier provider of cloud-based RFP and proposal automation software, helping more than 1000 companies worldwide win more business with better processes, improved productivity and more effective sales documents. Qvidian offers the only proposal automation solution fit for an enterprise, offering security, compliance and simplicity at scale. Passionate about helping clients build persuasive sales content and win more business, Qvidian also offers expert advisory services and community building opportunities to its global client STOP. base. COLLABORATE AND LISTEN. For more information, visit qvidian.com or call 1-800-272-0047 or +44 (0) 207 193 3059. 9