Here's your one-stop-shop for winning new business! The new, Sixth Edition of this perennial bestseller updates and expands all previous editions, making this volume the most exhaustive and definitive proposal strategy resource. Directly applicable for businesses of all sizes, Successful Proposal Strategies provides extensive and important context, field-proven approaches, and in-depth techniques for business success with the Federal Government, the largest buyer of services and products in the world. This popular book and its companion CD-ROM are highly accessible, self-contained desktop references developed to be informative, highly practical, and easy to use. Small companies with a viable service or product learn how to gain and keep a customer 's attention, even when working with only a few employees. Offering a greatly expanded linkage of proposals to technical processes and directions, the Sixth Edition includes a wealth of new material, adding important chapters on cost building and price volume, the criticality of business culture and investments in proposal success, the proposal solution development process, and developing key conceptual graphics. CD-ROM Included: Features useful proposal templates in Adobe Acrobat, platform-independent format; HTML pointers to Small Business Web Sites; a comprehensive, fully searchable listing Proposal and Contract Acronyms; and a sample architecture for a knowledge base or proposal library.
Competitive proposals and small business - Overview. From set-asides to full-and-open competition. Small business constraints. Maximizing small business strengths. SBIR and STTR programs. Organizing your company to acquire new business. Effective strategic and mission planning. Converting knowledge into proposal success.; Strategic partnering and subcontracting opportunities - Subcontracting opportunities and pathways to success. Critical success factors. Specific strategies for achieving subcontracts. Becoming part of a governmentwide acquisition contract (GWAC) team. How mentor-protege programs can help your business.; Marketing to and with your clients - More than just selling. Transactions are personalpeople buy from people. Listen to your client. Infuse marketing intelligence into your proposal. Intelligence gathering and analysis techniques. Call plans. Maintain management visibility on your contracts. Project managers as client managers. Commercial off-the-shelf acquisition. Pursuing firm-fixed-price and invitation- for-bid opportunities. Using the request for information and the request for comment as valuable marketing tools. Contractor prequalification statements. Ethics in marketing and business development. Advertising, trade shows, and high-impact public relations. ; Requests for proposals - Overview. Part Ithe schedule. Part IIcontract clauses. Part IIIlist of documents, exhibits, and other attachments. Part IVrepresentations and certifications. The importance of Section L (instructions to offerors). Section M (evaluation criteria): toward maximizing your score. Greatest or best-value approach. Emphasis on performance-based acquisition (PBA). Influencing the content of an RFP legitimately. Other types of solicitation documents. ; Private-sector solicitation requests - Grant proposalswinning what you bid. Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). ; The federal acquisition process: emerging directions - Major trends going forward. Rapid order task response. Federal procurement process overview. Statutory and regulatory requirements for competition. The source selection process. Full-and-open competition. Major contract types. Significant recent paradigm shifts in federal government acquisition. Understanding the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act (FASA). ; The proposal life cycle - What is a proposal in the competitive federal and commercial marketplace? Where does the proposal fit into the total marketing life cycle? Bid-no bid decision-making process. Planning and organizing. Kickoff meeting. Writing. Major contractor review cycles. Preparing for orals and Final Proposal Revision (FPR). Debriefings (refer to FAR 15.1003). ; Major proposal components - Overview. Transmittal letter. Technical volume. Management volume. Cost volume. Price to win. Government contract requirements.; The proposal solution development process - Solution development overview. Solution development tools. Solution development process. ; Customer understanding and program approachthey are that important - Digging more deeply into understanding. Building a powerful approach section. ; Developing key conceptual graphics first ; Acquisition/capture and proposal team activities - Formation and function of acquisition/capture teams. Prekickoff activities. Proposal kickoff meeting. Postkickoff activities. ; The role of the proposal manager - Overview. Generalized job description. Changing focus of proposal management. Effective solution development. Useful technical templates. Complementary roles and responsibilities of proposal and capture managers. The growing importance of oral presentations. Attending to the details. Control of the schedule. Training additional staff in proposal management skills. Finish the job at hand. Successful proposal managers. ; Proposal production and publication - Internal documentation standards. Document configuration management and version control. Freelance and temporary publication staff. Incorporating technical brilliance up to the last minute. Graphics are an integral part of your proposal. Role and structure of your publications group. Software and hardware compatibility, standards, and recommendations. Electronic proposal submittal and evaluation. Important documentation tips. Virtual proposal centers, intranets, and extranets. Using freelance proposal writers to maintain technical productivity.; Human and organizational dynamics of the proposal process - Modifying our thinking to win. Building a competitive work ethic. Strong link between project performance and proposal success. Past performanceit 's more important than you think! Proposals can be fun! Maximizing human intellect. Proposal professionals as change agents. Wellness in your proposal process.; Controlling bid and proposal costs - What does it cost to get new business, and how are those costs recovered? Tracking B&P expenditures. Business development bonus policy. Stretching limited marketing funds.; Tried-and-true proposal writing and editing techniques - Proposals are knowledge-based sales documents. Active voice adds strength and saves space. Guide the client 's evaluators through your proposal. Action captions. Methods of enhancing your proposal writing and editing. The power of framing. Government-recognized writing standards. Additional sources of writing guidance. Storytelling as an art form.; Packaging and managing proposal information and knowledge effectively - Overview. The all-important resumes. Project descriptions (project summaries or project citations). Proposal boilerplate (canned or reuse material) as knowledge assets. Marketing targets. Corporate library. Proposal lessons-learned database. Applying IT solutions: scalable informational data systems. Small business KM success storythis stuff really works! Leveraging federal performance appraisal systems to your company 's benefit. ISO-driven proposal and business development excellence. ; Building the cost/price volume - Overview of the FAR. Typical basic indirect rate structure elements. Unallowable costs. Overview of Federal Travel Regulations (FTR). Overview of the Cost Accounting Standards (CAS). Overview of relevant Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). Adequacy of contractor 's internal accounting system. The Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA). RFP review. mportance of aligning the cost proposal with the technical and management proposals. Cost estimating methods. Example methodology for determining salary ranges. Methodology for computing labor escalation. Highlights of the process to calculate indirect costs. Determining annual productive labor hours. Methodology to compute fee. Cost volume narrative and production. Audit files. Special topics. What is cost realism? What is cost reasonableness? What is cost or pricing data? Price to win. Common cost proposal problems. Useful templates and worksheets. ; Leveraging business complexity in a knowledge-based economy - Turbulent transition toward knowledge-based business. How to communicate effectively on your knowledge landscape. Envisioning supple business models. Sample application: tracing complexity and KM through the proposal development process. Summation. ; Planning and producing SF330 responses for architect-engineer services - SF330 and the FAR. Understanding the required structure of the response. Overall strategy of response. Section F: selling your project experience. Section H: structure according to the evaluation criteria. Section H outlining. Subcontractor participation. Building teaming agreements. ; Pursuing international business and structuring international proposals - Overview. Where in the world to begin? The importance of the World Bank Group. Your company 's participation in United Nations procurements. European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Asian Development Bank (ADB). International market planning. In-country partnerships. Host country procurement environments. Import-export considerations and technology transfer. Risk assessment. Terms and conditions. Ex-Im Bank of the United States assists small businesses. Helpful Web-based resources and in-country support infrastructures for small businesses. British-American Business Council. U.S. Trade and Development Agency. U.S. Agency for International Development. ; Preparing for graduation from the 8(a) program ; Small business entrepreneurs in the federal marketspace: leader self-efficacy and resource allocation decisions - Small businesses in context. Building the úbusiness caseù for this study. Conceptual framework. Characterizing the quantitative research. Sources of data. Analysis of our results. What do these findings and results suggest for small business leaders? ; Thinking to win small-business competitive proposals - Succeeding in the world of very small businesses. Small business strengthsMaking the most of them.;
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Robert S. Frey
Robert S. Frey, MBA, MSM, M.A. is Principal in the Northern Virginia-based, woman-owned consultancy of Successful Proposal Strategies, LLC. In this capacity, he supports companies in the United States and Central America in developing proposals to the U.S. Government. Previously, he served as Senior Vice President of Knowledge Management and Proposal Development for RS Information Systems, Inc., where he leveraged knowledge management processes to perform rapid proposal prototyping and support the company achieve a sustained 67% proposal win rate for 9 years. He has personally supported more than 2,500 proposals in his career. In addition, he serves as an Instructor in Technology Management at UCLA in Westwood, California. Mr. Frey also conducts proposal development and writing training seminars for small businesses nationwide.