Government Proposal Consultant | Pam Silverthorn, CP APMP
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Are you guilty of being a proposal caveman?

3/24/2014

 
I got a chuckle out of this cartoon that appeared in my Linkedin feed yesterday. It was shared by one of my connections, Lynn Ann Casey of Arc Aspicio. It got me thinking about all of the times I've seen people try to reinvent the wheel on proposal process.

Gregory W. Pease of Tenzing Consulting presents some fundamental advice on improving your company's proposal writing efforts in his article "How Do I Avoid Reinventing the Wheel on Every Proposal?”
Proposal Cavemen
 In my opinion, the three most important ways to avoid caveman mentality are to:
  • design an achievable schedule
  • offer just-in-time training at the right points during proposal development
  • mature the proposal process by 1) documenting it, and 2) incorporating lessons learned

Greg presents some ideas on how to leverage proposal content via repositories.  This concept is a double-edged sword. You run the risk of having the wrong customer name in a graphic, or worse, being non-responsive because your writers leveraged content designed for a completely different solution. Reuse squelches the creativity of the storyboard process and can inundate reviewers with too much text in the early color reviews.

Bottom line, the use of proposal boilerplate must be handled with caution.

I agree with the idea of developing a culture of improvement. Proposal people can burn out quickly, so it's important to reward them and encourage them to drive improvements in the process. Greg offers good advice to company executives to develop a list of 3 to 5 investment priorities and expected benefits and then share with everyone to achieve buy-in.

In the end, Greg sums it up nicely:  Eliminating “reinventing the wheel” in your proposal environment is about committing to change in the way you apply people, process, technology, and investment.

Non-responsive vs. Non-compliant:  Which is it?

12/3/2013

 
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Here are a few resources to help you unravel the mystery of this often confused topic. BLUF: Paul Heron nails it.

APMP
Proposal Guide: Compliance vs Responsiveness (pdf)
APMP Podcast (mp3)

Shipley
Proposal Guide: Compliance and Responsiveness (pdf)

Paul Heron's Clear Thinking
Bid Proposals / Complex vs. Responsiveness 

GSA OASIS Industry Day - Presentation Slides Available

5/14/2013

 
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GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) is developing a next generation contract vehicle for complex professional services.

This contract vehicle addresses agencies' needs for professional service requirements that: 1) span multiple professional service disciplines; 2) Involve significant IT components, but aren't IT requirements; 3) Require flexibility for all contract type task orders and other direct costs at the task order level; 4) Are difficult to specify or quantify prior to award; and 5) Create an environment of elevated risk due to their unanticipated nature.

Did you attend the May 13th OASIS Industry Day? Slide decks are now available for both large and small businesses.

https://interact.gsa.gov/document/oasis-industry-day-slides-available

Additional info:
  • GSA OASIS Program Overview - Jim Ghiloni 29 OCT 2013
  • GSA OASIS Overview - Jim Ghiloni - JULY 2013
  • GSA OASIS SB Industry Day Presentation - Jim Ghiloni - MAY 13 2013
  • GSA OASIS Draft Q and A Final Recs - MAY 2013
  • GSA PreSolicitation Meeting Transcript - 15 MAY 2013
  • GSA OASIS - Coalitition for Govt Procurement - NOV 2012
  • Intro to GSA OASIS - Todd Richards - MAY 2012
  • Intro to GSA OASIS - Jim Ghiloni - 18 APR 2012

Follow the GSA OASIS Blog: https://interact.gsa.gov/group/oasis-industry-community

Q&A with a Federal Government Proposal Consultant

4/26/2013

 
Interview with Government Proposal Manager
Take a look at this self-interview where I reveal some of the tips on proposal management including recommended reading, industry experts and practical tools for developing winning proposals. For example:

What's Your Favorite Proposal Book?
The Shipley Proposal Guide v4.0 is an excellent resource for anyone involved in developing proposals. I encourage my clients to develop a proposal library and this book is #1 on the list.

Looks like Jim Carey might have a future in proposal writing!

4/19/2013

 
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    Pam Silverthorn, Government Proposal Consultant

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