Seven Criteria for Making Sound Bid Decisions and Avoiding the Traps that Lead to Poor Bid Decisions

1. To Bid or Not to Bid: Seven Criteria for Making Sound Bid Decisions and Avoiding the Traps that Lead to Poor Bid Decisions Webinar Presented to APMP Greater Midwest Chapter April 20, 2011 Bob Lohfeld, Lohfeld Consulting Group www.lohfeldconsulting.com

2. The Traps That Lead to Poor Bid Decision-making “We can win that deal because this is our kind of work, so let’s bid and don’t worry that we’ve never met the customer.”- Technical Manager “Let’s bid deals that have the highest probability of success because we don’t get any bonus money if we finish in second place!”- Capture Manager “Every dollar we spend on new business acquisition is one less dollar that we have to spend on other competing priorities, so let’s bid the deals that don’t cost very much.”- Financial Manager “Let’s take a portfolio approach to deal selection to maximize the likelihood of achieving next year’s revenue number with a realistic investment in new business activities.”- Corporate Executive “Shoot for the moon, all we need is one really big win and we can sell the company!”- Entrepreneur 2

3. The right questions: Should we bid and can we win? The wrong question: Would you like to do this work? We should bid: Deals that fit our core competency, and Meet our financial objectives We can win if we: Understand the customer requirements and objectives Can develop a sound solution that addresses real customer needs Have customer advocacy Favorable competitive environment Have a clear win strategy—technical/management and price Have the resources and time to pursue the opportunity Asking the Right Questions is Key 3

4. “They don’t know us, but we can introduce ourselves by sending them a proposal.” “We can use this proposal as a training exercise.” “You gotta play to win!” Traps That Lead to Making Poor Bid Decisions TIP If they remember you at all, it will be as a loser. TIP You may make the customer’s “Wall of Shame” by having your trainees write and submit a proposal that was obviously done as a training exercise. TIP I can’t believe anyone would actually say this, but they do. 4

5. Making the Bid Decision in Four Stages Qualifying a deal: 7 factors Improving your win probability Commencement of pre-proposal activities After RFP release 5

7. Deal Pursuit Progress 8 Blue= excellent Green= good Yellow= limited accomplishment Red= unable to accomplish *Win probability considerations determined subjectively, but final win probability is objective evaluation

8. Pre-Proposal Preparation Decision 9 Blue= excellent, Green= good, Yellow= limited accomplishment, Red= unable to accomplish

9. Bid Decision Confirmation 10

10. Bid decisions are made early using the seven factors in the qualification scorecard Quality is built into the pursuit process by focusing on nine success factors Bid decisions are reaffirmed when pre-proposal work begins—increasing your likelihood of success Final thought—you will always be remembered for the deals you win, not the deals you chased… Bid to win! Benefits of Making Bid Decisions Correctly TIP Deals that are not winners are discarded early TIP Deal pursuit progress scorecard using 9 factors focus the pursuit effort on making the deal a winner and discards losers early in the process 11

11. About Lohfeld Consulting Group www.lohfeldconsulting.com Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/Lohfeld Lohfeld Consulting Group specializes in helping companies create winning proposals.As the premier proposal services consulting firm focused exclusively on government markets, we provide expert assistance to government contractors in Capture Planning and Strategy, Proposal Management and Development, Capture and Proposal Process and Infrastructure and Training. Contact Bob Lohfeld CEO of Lohfeld Consulting Group Email: RLohfeld@LohfeldConsulting.com Tel: (410) 336-6264 12