Introduction from the Book Winning Proposals

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Introduction From the Book Winning Proposals

Ask any ten people what a proposal is and nine of the ten will say "a document". A proposal is much more than a document—it is a process of persuasive communication. The proposal process begins when you are given a proposal opportunity or receive a request for proposal (RFP). It does not end until the prospective client makes a decision.

Advanced Preparations
Networking
Identify Your Office's Proposal "Guru"

Establish a Proposal Resource Center
Information on Your Firm's Personnel
Information on Your Firm's Operations

Identify Marketing Reference Material
Information on Your Firm's Market Share
Information on Your Firm's Competitors

The Proposal Process

Advance Preparations

Each proposal varies according to the needs of the prospective client. Nevertheless, there are advance preparations a firm can make to expedite the proposal process.

Networking

One crucial factor in the proposal process that must be undertaken even before an actual proposal opportunity is in sight is the development of business relationships. Contact development is a vital part of any firm’s marketing efforts and will frequently determine the winner in a proposal opportunity. At the very least, contacts will get your firm in the door in situations where you might not have been an obvious choice.

All firms need a marketing program designed to help them identify and build relationships with executives of selected companies they would like to have as clients. Developing contacts within a prospective organization enables your firm to gain a friendly edge over other competing firms by means of an established relationship with one or more of the executive decision makers. Don’t wait until your firm has been approached for a proposal to begin the networking process. At that point, it may be too late.

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Identify Your Office's Proposal "Guru"

It is important for firm members to know who is the proposal expert in their office. In most offices, there is at least one partner who has participated in several significant proposal efforts. Make this expert available to proposal teams to provide shortcuts, insight, tips, pointers, and general guidance for those less experienced. It is also a good idea to have this person present at rehearsals for important client meetings and oral presentations to critique both content and delivery.

Establish a Proposal Resource Center

It’s not necessary to reinvent the wheel every time you write a proposal. A member of your marketing or administrative staff, with the guidance of your firm’s proposal expert, could be responsible for establishing and maintaining a collection of reference material.

Reference materials that may be useful when developing a proposal include the following.

Information on Proposals

· Copies of your firm’s past proposals (filed alphabetically by company name and cross-indexed by industry) for the past two to three years. Include the name of the prospective client and year of the proposal on the file label.

· Copies of other firms’ proposals.

· Sample proposal text or a text data base that provides a benefits-oriented description of your firm’s capabilities in every service and industry specialization (see chapter 4 for a discussion of benefits versus features) and reasons to change (or not to change) the firm.

· All relevant materials, such as forms and checklists used in the proposal process, and, if it exists, the firm’s graphic standards guidelines.

· Sample requests for proposals from various organizations.

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Information on Your Firm’s Personnel

· Copies of full biographies of all partners and key managers (such as industry specialists), perhaps contained in a three-ring binder. Some firms maintain this data base in their word-processing department. Update the information at least annually.

· Photographs of all partners and managers. Arrange for a standard pose and background so that the photos will have a professional appearance when used together. Keep at least three 5 x 7 copies of each on hand and use them for publicity announcements as well. Take new pictures at least every two years.

· Up-to-date list of all personnel and their billing rates. At larger firms, these can be sorted in different ways, such as by office, level, and discipline.

Information on Your Firm's Operations

· Standard information—such as a description of the firm, its offices, philosophy of client service, peer review, and litigation record—should be put into a format that can be used in any proposal. Having this boilerplate text available streamlines the writing exercise for everyone.

· A list of all your firm's various services and a supply of general or services brochures and newsletters.

· Examples of distinctive features that can differentiate your firm from others. This list will serve as a quick reminder when you are immersed in the proposal process. Examples of such features include:

o A unique service specialty.

o The expertise of a recognized industry expert or authority on your staff.

o International affiliations.

o Generalist partners who do both audit work and tax work, so that the client has to deal with only one person.

o Excellent results from client satisfaction surveys.

o Cost-effective techniques or training that can help control fees.

o Frequency or types of communications with client management and boards.

Identify Marketing Reference Material

To ensure that you do not overlook other valuable information when proposing, conduct a survey of the materials maintained by your firm’s marketing department and library. Items that can provide helpful, or even significant, insights include the following.

Information on Your Firm's Market Share

Organizations such as Dun's Marketing (a subsidiary of Dun & Bradstreet) offer microcomputer-based listings containing local data for an annual fee to assist firms preparing their own analysis. If the firm is large, it may have or can develop information on auditor market share from published sources such as the following:

• Business Week's America's 70 most competitive companies

• Business Week's 100 best small companies

• Business Week's 1000 most valuable companies

• Datamation's 100

• Dow-Jones' 30 industrials

• Forbes' 200 best small companies

• Forbes' 400 largest private companies

• Fortune's 500 leading industrial companies

• Fortune's 500 leading service companies

• Fortune's 50 leading exporters

• Inc.'s 100 fastest growing small public companies

• Standard & Poor's 500

• Local business journals' lists of the top 25 companies in your city or area

• Audit Trak lists auditor changes in public companies and the reasons for the changes; cumulates all changes on a quarterly and annual basis

• Other geographic and industry-specific lists available for purchase, such as Crain's New York Business or the MAPI analysis of audit fees paid by manufacturing companies

• In industries where your firm has special expertise, the listings of leading trade publications can be used to develop market share information

An important tactic in the proposal process is to know your competition. There are numerous sources for obtaining information on your competitors:

• Accounting profession newsletters, newspapers, and journals

o Public Accounting Report

o Emerson’s Professional Services Review

o Bowman’s Accounting Report

o International Accounting Bulletin

o World Accounting Report

o CPA Marketing Report

o CPA Computer Report

o CPA Personnel Report

o AAM (Association for Accounting Marketing) MarkeTrends

o The Marcus Report

o Accounting Office and Administrative Report

• News wires, business journals, newspapers

• Online (Commercial Data Base) resources—Most of these data bases are searchable using accounting firm names.

• Major business journals—Remember to check the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Forbes, Fortune, Business Week, Inc., Venture, and other national and regional publications. Most of these are available from on-line data bases as well.

• Accounting firms' publications—Competitors' brochures, newsletters, and booklets should not be overlooked. Many firms are willing to send copies of their brochures if you just call and ask.

· Up-to-date copy of your firm’s full client list, by company name, partner name, Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code, type of work, and office and/or region.

· A list of major clients gained and lost in the past three to five years, with reasons for the gain or loss.

• Files containing all press clippings, notes to file, and other pertinent material for each of your firm's targeted prospective clients.

• A data base of firm contacts. Qualify the degree to which each staff person knows that
contact (for example, close personal friend, casual acquaintance, business colleague).

Although identifying a proposal "guru", establishing a proposal resource center, and identifying useful marketing references are potentially time consuming, the investment will be rewarded with each proposal opportunity.

Advance preparation can provide a foundation of expertise and information that will assist your firm at each stage in the proposal process.

The proposal process may take anywhere from a few days to several months. During that time, you will be working on the written proposal and will usually visit a business’ operations, meet with members of management, establish a fee estimate, and make one or more oral presentations.

The process for each proposal usually includes these stages:

Step 1:

Address the preliminary strategic issues

a. Evaluate the opportunity

• Verify that the prospective client meets your firm’s new client acceptance criteria

• Categorize the proposal opportunity as major or standard

b. Select the proposal team and assign duties

c. Research the prospective client

• Identify important management issues

• Determine fee history, significance of fees, and the competition

• Assess potential litigation risk

d. Make the go/no-go decision

Step 2:

Organize management meetings and site visits

a. Attend management meetings

• Identify the decision-making unit’s roles

• Identify the decision makers’ needs

b. Conduct site visits

• Send an introductory letter

• Prepare questions

• Investigate the prospective client through site interviews

• Debrief team members

Step 3:

Develop a win strategy

a. Conduct a strategic analysis; if reproposal, evaluate service issues

• Outline decision makers’ needs using the 12 C’s selection criteria

• Identify all contacts in prospective client’s organization

b. Define the win strategy

• Review the decision makers’ needs

• Brainstorm

Step 4:

Produce the proposal document

a. Determine format and content of the proposal document

b. Draft the proposal document

• Coordinate the writing and editing of drafts

• Determine graphics and artwork for cover and tabs

• Secure outside artist or consultants, if needed

• Deliver advanced draft to review team

• Ensure that all items in the RFP are addressed

• Review document strategy against overall proposal strategy and sign off

c. Print the proposal document

• Establish a production schedule for graphics, artwork and printing

• Deliver final proposal text to printing

• Bind the proposal document

• Deliver the proposal document to prospective client

• Follow up with prospective client and receive feedback, taking action if needed

Selection Decision Point:

[Prospective client selects firms for continued consideration or makes final selection.]

Step 5:

Deliver the oral presentation

a. Organize the oral presentation

• Review and revise strategy

• Identify the audience

• Determine content

• Select speakers and establish rehearsal schedule

• Determine presentation format

• Determine needed visual aids and establish production timetable

b. Hold full-team dress rehearsal/coaching sessions

c. Make presentation

d. Follow up with prospective client after the presentation

Selection Decision Point:

[Prospective client selects firm.]

Step 6:

Do a postmortem evaluation

a. Follow up with prospective client after the presentation

b. Notify firm personnel of gain/loss

c. Conduct a postmortem interview

• Debrief prospective client

• Leave the door open for future work

d. Draft and distribute a postmortem summary

While this process appears linear, in reality stages may overlap, occur concurrently, or be omitted altogether. Every proposal situation is different from all others.

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