Proposal Guidelines

1. Proposal Guidelines

2. Proposal is nothing less than a contractual document detailing the solution for the defined requirement……give it the importance it deserves!

3. Before you start working on a Proposal Make a WBS- listing the name of stakeholders, their responsibilities, deadlines, their ph numbers and mail id Make necessary arrangements for version control, especially the pricing part (adhere to naming conventions) Decide on the proposal format/ template

4. What should a proposal contain? Executive Summary..a must Understanding of the requirement Scope/ Out of scope Proposal Revisit criteria Solution Project Management- Timelines/ Deliverables and Organization structure Assumptions- Technical/ non technical Expectations from the customer Commercials Annexure

5. How may pages? A proposal should not exceed 25- 30 pages! If you have more info, bundle it into annexure Point to the annexure wherever applicable Use diagrammatic representation Excessive English usage, a strict NO!

6. Executive Summary- 1 page Start with thanking the customer Mention that you believe you can provide the solution for the customer requirement leveraging your expertise Write your solution in 2- 3 lines, say using MVC architecture or something… Timelines and cost- This is the crux and will decide if the customer will read the subsequent pages Value ADD/ Cost saving- This is a deciding factor too Why you?- also include 1 line case of similar solution developed for other customer, point to detailed case study in the annexure

7. Solution- 2- 3 pages If you want to sustain interest in this section, give a diagrammatic representation In case the solution is developed by 3-4 individuals, combine it into 1 solution Most of the time, the teams try to copy and paste the solution from earlier similar proposals, make sure there are no goof ups and the solution provided is for the said solution only

8. Timelines and project org. Here again, use MPP or Excel to define the timelines, this is much easy to comprehend Map the deliverables against the timelines Make the suggested Org chart in Visio/ Power point and then paste it Describe the important roles and responsibilities It would be good to attach 1 or 2 strong technical resumes

9. Commercials Use the scientific estimation techniques Be ready with the answer to “what is your basis of estimation” In case you are planning to suggest innovative business model, vet it with the finance team Make sure your deal value has the required margin Keep the cost break up ready, just in case the customer asks

10. Other sections The revisit criteria should contain 3-4 lines on when the proposal would be revisited- change in scope/ dependency etc. Segregate the internal and the customer dependency Sometimes, the scope of one team might be out of scope for the other team, just be cautious Separate the technical and the business assumptions Customize the case studies

11. When in doubt, ask! Less time for a quality proposal? ask for extension Unclear requirements? ask for clarification Does the RFP point to some other document? Ask for it

12. Check before submission Draft the proposal atleast 6 hours before the submission (its tough…but make this a practice) Get the required approvals from the finance team Make sure there are no errors in pricing Get 2 rounds of review done Format, check for spelling mistakes

13. Thank you!Shripriya.subramanian@gmail.comAlso view my presentation on presales- http://tinyurl.com/yzanvqf