We have seen it time and again. You’ve executed an outstanding capture effort. You learned everything the customer wants. You’ve assembled a team of all-star companies who have past performance identical in size, scope, and complexity. Your team knows all of the customers’ hot buttons. You’ve vetted your solution with the customer, and they’re excited to receive your proposal. Now it’s time to hand capture off to your proposal team.

From a capture perspective, this opportunity is a slam dunk, but a subpar proposal can still lose. Even when the customer wants you to win. You can help prevent this by incorporating these proposal management best practices into your proposal development effort.

Proposal and Capture managers can start the proposal off right by conducting a great kickoff meeting. The kickoff is the best opportunity to:
 

• Get everyone on the same page

• Create momentum

• Announce key milestones, dates, and deadlines

• Get the entire team’s buy-in on the process (including senior management)

• Set the tone and discuss win themes

• Emphasize the importance of each person’s role and assignments throughout the process