[33668] in Zephyr_Bugs
Think of Proposal Writing As the Last Step in a Sale
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Fedmarket)
Sun Dec 11 20:15:20 2005
Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2005 18:11:10 -0700
From: "Fedmarket" <noreply@fedmarket.com>
To: bug-zephyr@mit.edu
Reply-To: "Fedmarket" <noreply@fedmarket.com>
Content-type: text/plain
Message-Id: <20051212011110.7425D3CD5A7@wrtlnx07.wrtech.com>
**** Proposal Writing ****
Welcome to our series called "Proposal Writing." This newsletter is the twenty-eighth installment in a series of email newsletters about proposal writing and federal sales.
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Installment 28 - Think of Proposal Writing As the Last Step in a Sale
Our federal sales seminars stress that your sales efforts and proposal-writing process should be one, highly-structured undertaking. We advocate that you should only write defensive proposals (those proposals that defend a strong position or relationship that you have established with the customer). Proposals can be thought of as either:
* The first step in the chaotic proposal-writing process, or
* The last step in a successful sales effort
Why do proposals even exist? Contrary to popular belief, proposals are not written so federal evaluators can select the best, high-value solution to their problem. Instead, proposals are prepared and submitted because the federal acquisition regulations (FAR) require that this procedure be followed in order to document that a competition was held.
Why aren't proposals used as a method to find the best solution? The answer lies in the fact that, for services solicitations at least, the decision on the eventual contract winner has been made far in advance of the time the proposals are written. The agency wants an incumbent contractor back to eliminate a disruption in operations. Nonetheless, it is required by regulation to hold a public competition. Although the end user knows and trusts its existing solution provider, the Contracting Office requires a public competition. In this situation, the winning company has to write a defensive proposal to defend their pre-established position with the customer. Does the Contracting Office care about the number of trees that went into the losing proposals? Not really.
Is the winner always predetermined? No, not always. However, don't lie awake at night counting the revenue that you are going to receive from blind bids. You can win a small percentage but you will spend way too much money writing losing proposals and, equally importantly, burn out your staff in the process. Is there a better solution? Multiple award schedule contracts like GSA schedules are a partial solution but don't look for any revolutionary solutions anytime soon. The political pressure to keep up an appearance of competition is too intense.
--------------- ** Become a GSA Schedule Holder ** ---------------
Federal Buyers prefer purchasing from GSA Schedule holders for the following reasons; unprecedented speed, minimal paperwork, limited competition and the avoidance of the public bid process. In short, many federal buyers prefer to work exclusively with companies that are on a GSA Schedule.
Completing the paperwork to become a GSA approved vendor is a daunting task, many companies give up after seeing the length of the document, others toil over the paperwork for months only to have their proposal rejected because the rules were not followed precisely.
Fedmaket.com has helped hundreds of companies complete their GSA proposal offering and become GSA approved vendors. We have a GSA solution to fit your budget, call our GSA Sales Consultant Matt Hankes at 301.652.9507 to discuss the solutions Fedmarket has to offer you.
Our GSA Services include:
Full Service Proposal Prepartion:
http://www.fedmarket.com/services/gsa-proposal-services.shtml
GSA Proposal Preparation:
http://www.fedmarket.com/services/gsa-proposal-preparation.shtml
GSA Proposal Preparation eLab:
http://www.fedmarket.com/seminars/gsa-proposal-elab.shtml
GSA Wizard:
http://www.fedmarket.com/products/product-gsawiz.shtml
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Thanks for reading and, as always, best of luck in your business. Feel free to contact me with thoughts or suggestions. If you need help with product sales, call or write as follows: (888) 661-4094 x8, sales@fedmarket.com.
Regards,
Richard White, President
Fedmarket.com
The Federal Sales Academy
rwhite@fedmarket.com
(301) 652-9506
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