You know the scene . . . it is midnight, several days before the RFP responses are due to the government. This is the big one; the one you just know can be yours, if you can just get the proposal out the door!  But you are still hard at work making last minute changes, making sure that all the requirements have been addressed accurately and completely and of course, are cross-referenced so the government review team can easily find everything. You know that you will be working up until the very last minute before you must run out the door with the box in your hands and your heart in your throat, hoping that traffic will not prevent you from getting to the submission office in time.

Familiar scene? It is, in far too many companies, both large and small.

CP2S can help you minimize the possibility of this scenario being repeated in your company time after time. Our approach is one which allows you to execute proposal responses with minimal stress, effective assessment, clear communications, and timely submissions. This is accomplished through three stages – pre-proposal planning, proposal response, and post proposal follow-up.

Pre-Proposal

• Proposal strategy and process assessment and training –CP2S proposal managers and strategy experts will assist you in determining a proposal process that will work for your unique corporate environment. We will help you to identify and develop strategies for eliminating weak areas in your process.  We will train your employees to implement those processes.
• Proposal boilerplate structure and content – CP2S will help your staff develop one or more proposal templates including structure, critical elements, optional elements, and content for each of those elements.
• Repository of proposal content components – CP2S will help your staff create an updateable repository of content elements that can be uploaded into the proposal template(s) when needed.

Proposal

• Individual RFP/RFQ bid/no-bid process – CP2S can serve as advisor, or as an unbiased facilitator, as you go through the bid/no-bid process when evaluating a RFP or RFQ. This process is critical so that you do not waste valuable B & P money on opportunities that are a poor fit for your company. Being outside the internal politics and agendas that frequently cause companies to make poor business decisions, we can provide insight resulting in a greater return on investment from your B & P budget. As an advisor we sit outside the process completely, make observations and recommendations, but take no action. As the facilitator, we make observations and recommendations and then we facilitate the actions required to make it happen, in some cases (when requested), taking responsibility for specific action items.
• RFP/RFQ/RFI response management – Once a bid decision is made, one of our proposal strategy and management experts can serve as your proposal manager to ensure a smooth process from start to finish.
• Individual RFP/RFQ/RFI documentation structure and content development – CP2S can develop, according to your specifications, a consistent look and feel to your proposals. This would include the structure and format.  Our team of technical and business writers will augment your technical and sales staff in preparing responsive and clear content for each requirement as presented in the RFP/RFQ. Our team will also provide feedback as to areas that might be questioned during the Q & A period, provide support in any general meetings held by the contracting office related to the RFP, and strategize creative means for meeting all requirements within the RFP/RFQ.  Our team can develop individual components within specific volumes, organize and develop an entire specific volume, or organize and develop all two or three volumes (as defined by the RFP/RFQ).

Post Proposal

• Lessons learned – After a proposal effort is completed, CP2S will facilitate a lessons learned summary (could be in the form of a report or may be in the form of a meeting with a summary report), itemizing the processes that went smoothly and any issues that came up.  Each proposal effort is different because government requirements, needs and the political pressures related to the procurement can vary. Corporate knowledge and experience for each proposal effort should be captured and catalogued for future reference by other proposal teams. CP2S can help with this process.
• Content repository update – After each proposal, the content repository should be updated.
• Oral presentation preparation – Many government agencies are now requiring oral presentations as part of their proposal review process. Not everyone is invited to present, but if invited to present, typically only a short period of time is allowed to prepare for this final review presentation. CP2S can efficiently take the proposal components, as well as other related supporting materials, and working with your key personnel, prepare compelling visual aides for your presentation. While most companies have senior executives as the primary presenter, many times key technical staff must be present to answer technical and operational questions.  We can help prepare your technical staff for co-presenting during the review process.