How to Increase Your Company’s
Win Rate in 7 Proven Steps
Webinar Presented to APMP Sydney Chapter
December 6, 2011
Bob Lohfeld, Lohfeld Consulting Group
www.LohfeldConsulting.com
Focus on 7 Proven Steps to—
PROPOSAL
Write Better Proposals
Win More Business
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Advance in Your Career
Copyright 2011 Lohfeld Consulting Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
7 Keys to Winning in Team Sports
(and Government Procurements)
Every Good Coach will Tell You:
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Recruit Great Athletes
Get the Right People on the Team
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2
3
Use the Right Tools
Enhance Your Level of Play with
the Right Tools
Have a Solid Game Plan
Use the Right Techniques
Copyright 2011 Lohfeld Consulting Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
7 Keys to Winning in Team Sports
(and Government Procurements)
Every Good Coach will Tell You:
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5
4
Focus on Coaching
6
Avoid Steals
7
Enjoy the Game
Call the Right Plays
Focus on Your Strategy
Build a Winning Solution
Every Proposal is Compliant,
Responsive, and Compelling
Have Fun at What You Do
Copyright 2011 Lohfeld Consulting Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
Step 1: Get the Right People
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Build Your Core Team
Like an NFL team, you start by drafting the right athletes
 Aptitude: excellent organizational and writing skills
 Domain expertise
 Experience
 Avoid unapplied labor (slugs)
Augment Core Team with Special Players
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Consultants used for surge and special skills
Major companies use a 70/30 rule
Copyright 2011 Lohfeld Consulting Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
Step 1: Get the Right People (Cont.)
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What to Look for in Consultants

Professional expertise:
real consultants vs. migratory labor

Recognized accomplishment: more than a business
card, peer recognition as among the best

Commitment to the profession: APMP certifications
What to Avoid

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“Accidental Proposal Consultant” who will do “anything for
money” (AFM) between full-time jobs
Copyright 2011 Lohfeld Consulting Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
Step 1: Get the Right People (Cont.)
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Train Your Team

Professional Development Training: raise their level of understanding
and competitiveness (do you have a training program/plan with courses
identified?)

Skills training: train like you play/fight/fly; train using your process and tools
Do You Have a Team That Can Win?
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
Proposals are an intellectual competition. Look at your market (SB, mid, large)
and ask, “Are we smarter, better trained, and more agile than our competition?”

Look for the best and brightest who can work under tight deadlines (reliable);
can handle long hours under stressful situations (durable); and are smart,
creative and driven to be successful (talented)

The objective is not to produce a proposal, it is to create the
winning proposal
Copyright 2011 Lohfeld Consulting Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
Step 2: Use the Right Process
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Establish a Business Acquisition Framework That Covers 5 Stages:
Business
Development
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Capture
Management
Pre-proposal
Preparation
Proposal
Development
Post-submittal
Copyright 2011 Lohfeld Consulting Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
Step 2: Use the Right Process (Cont.)
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Work Toward Building a Mature Business Acquisition Process
(for Major Competitions and Task Order Responses)
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
Defined:
written and available process (framework) and instructional materials (procedures)

Repeatable:
the process has survived multiple acquisitions

Managed:
use the process to manage the pursuits and don’t manage around the process

Measured:
track not only your wins and losses, but also how well you carried out the process

Optimized:
based on results and statistical analysis, work to continually improve processes
Copyright 2011 Lohfeld Consulting Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
Step 2: Use the Right Process (Cont.)
2
A Mature Process Will—
Increase efficiency
(everyone knows what to
do and how to do it)
Reduce costs
(reuse artifacts)
Increase win
probability
Do You Have a Winning Process, or is Every Pursuit a New
Adventure? (Reminds Me of the Movie 50 First Dates)
10
Percentage of companies
we interview who admit to
having inadequate
processes
Percentage of companies
that actually do anything
about it
Copyright 2011 Lohfeld Consulting Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
Step 3: Use the Right Tools
3
Define Your Overall Business Acquisition (BA) Lifecycle and Then
Select and Use the Best Tools for Each Phase of the BA Lifecycle
(Not The Other Way Around)

BD pipeline management tools include:
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Capture Management tools:
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Excel spreadsheet
Deltek CRM (server or cloud)
SalesForce.com (cloud)
Microsoft Dynamic CRM (server or cloud)
Capture Command Center (Lohfeld’s SharePoint-based framework for managing
capture and proposal activities)
Deltek GovWin (task order management)
Copyright 2011 Lohfeld Consulting Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
Step 3: Use the Right Tools (Cont.)
3
Proposal Management Tools
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SharePoint (Microsoft)
Privia (SpringCM)
Virtual Proposal Center (Intravation)
SalesEdge (Sant)
Custom development
Establish an Enterprise Repository with Appropriate Levels
of Security to Archive Artifacts and Get Them off Your PC
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SharePoint (server or cloud)
Oracle
Siebel
SAP
Copyright 2011 Lohfeld Consulting Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
Step 3: Use the Right Tools (Cont.)
3
Establish 5 Special-purpose Capture and Proposal Productivity Tools
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Résumé database
Past performance database (not the same as a contracts file)
Reusable graphics library
Pre-written proposal content
On-line archive of past proposals
Personal Proposal Productivity Tools (Microsoft-centric)
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Office 2010 and Windows 7, but keep other versions available for
government electronic submissions
SharePoint 2010
Adobe Creative Suite
Adobe Acrobat Pro
See Beth Wingate’s list of tools on our website
Copyright 2011 Lohfeld Consulting Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
Step 4: Call the Right Plays
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Make the Right Management Decisions


Choose the battles you are going to win and invest appropriately
Stand down on those you are unlikely to win
Make the Pursuit and Bid/No-bid Decisions


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Use a scorecard to evaluate bid opportunities
Use a “portfolio approach” to include some lower investment, higher payoff, lower win
probability bids to maximize your likelihood of achieving your revenue goals
Build your “A list” of programs that you plan to bid and a “B list” of backup programs to bid if
an “A list” program is delayed (always have a backup plan to make your revenue number)
Measure Your Pursuit Progress and Don’t be Afraid to Shut Down a Pursuit if
You are Not Making Real Progress (See Color Mosaic on Next Slide)
Get a Running Start on Your Proposal
•
Start proposal planning & development in anticipation of RFP release, not after the RFP is out
Manage Your Workload to Avoid Burnout
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Copyright 2011 Lohfeld Consulting Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
Step 4: Call the Right Plays (Cont.)
4
Pursuit Decision Scorecard
Color code: Blue (excellent), Green (good, but could be better),
Yellow (poor and needs much work), and Red (we don’t know how to begin)
QUALITATIVE DECISION MODEL
Pursuit Decision Factors
1. Strategic Fit
Blue
2. Understand the Requirement
Green
3. Right Solution
Blue
4. Customer Advocacy
Green
5. Competition Favorable
Yellow
6. Financial Objectives
Green
7. Pursuit Investment
Green
Overall Assessment
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Color Scale Assessment
Light Green
Copyright 2011 Lohfeld Consulting Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
Step 5: Emphasize Creating a
Winning Solution
Winning Bids will Always be “Feature Rich” with Many Strengths,
No or Few Weaknesses, and Offer Low Risk

Winning solutions are created (engineered), they
don’t “just happen”

Address all requirements of the RFP
(explicitly or implicitly)

Link your solution to the goals and objectives of
your customer

Build features that will be evaluated as proposal
strengths (features and benefits) and—
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Demonstrate high likelihood of mission success
Exceed contract requirements whenever practical in a way
that is meaningful to the customer
“Best Informed Wins.” If you understand the
requirement better than your competition, you should
be able to offer the best solution
Copyright 2011 Lohfeld Consulting Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Step 5: Emphasize Creating a
Winning Solution (Cont.)
Capture
Management
Pre-proposal
Preparation
5
Build Solution Development into Your
Capture and Proposal Processes
Do you have a win laboratory or victory lab as
part of your process?
Solution
Sessions
Agree on Your Solution
Never start writing your technical or management
proposal until you’ve agreed on the solutions and
features that you will showcase
Focus on Creativity
Creativity may be your only real competitive advantage
since today’s breakthroughs are tomorrow’s
obsolete technology
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Copyright 2011 Lohfeld Consulting Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
Step 6: Build a Compliant, Responsive,
Compelling Proposal
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Professional Proposals are Expected to be Compliant, Responsive, and
Compelling and Convey Your Solution in the Most Favorable Way to Receive
the Highest Evaluation Score
 Make no mistakes in the proposal that cause you to lose points

Make it easy to evaluate (score)

The battle should be won by having the best solution—assume your
competitors’ proposals will be well-written!
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Copyright 2011 Lohfeld Consulting Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
Step 7: Have Fun!
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People Who Have Fun at What They do are More Engaged, Creative,
Productive, and Motivated to Win

Always follow these rules:
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Never criticize the person, only critique the
solution or proposal to make it better
Encourage innovation, experimentation, and
creativity within the framework of your business
acquisition process
Recognize and appreciate the contributions to
success and don’t chastise those who tried hard
but didn’t win
A happy team builds a culture around winning
and your team can become invincible in your
competitive market
Copyright 2011 Lohfeld Consulting Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
How Well Do You Stack Up?
On a Scale of 1 to 4, Rate Your Company in Each of the 7 Factors
PEOPLE
The Graphic Gives You
a Clear Indication of
Where You Need to
Focus Your Energy
4
3
4
4
2
3
3
2
2
1
1
PROPOSAL
4
3
1
1
1
2
3
1
2
3
4
20
2
4
1
2
3
4
Copyright 2011 Lohfeld Consulting Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
TOOLS
APMP Survey shows higher 7-factor scores result
in higher win rates
•Survey shows on average, a 20% increase in 7-factor scores
produces a 20% increase in win rate!
Companies
Government Market
Commercial Market
Number of Average 7- Win Rate Number of Average 7- Win Rate
companies in factor
companies in factor
survey
score
survey
score
Low 7-factor assessment scores
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17.89
44.4
6
12.83
41.33
High 7-factor assessment scores
8
21.5
65.3
5
21.2
43.8
19.59
54.4
16.64
42.45
Average
US Government contractors had 17% higher 7-factor scores and
28% higher win rates than US companies in the commercial market.
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Copyright 2011 Lohfeld Consulting Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
Conclusion
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Presentation slides and 7-Factor Assessment Scorecard are on our website at
www.LohfeldConsulting.com
 http://www.lohfeldconsulting.com/news-knowledge/page/4/
More information about productivity tools can be found in Beth Wingate’s
presentation:
 http://www.lohfeldconsulting.com/newsknowledge/2011/06/appmaven%E2%80%99s-secret-arsenal-tools-andapps-to-achieve-victory-apmp-2011-6-3-11/

Please think of us for capture and proposal support, process development/
implementation, and training.

Upcoming training classes (http://www.lohfeldconsulting.com/about/events)
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December 9, APMP Foundation-level Accreditation, Springfield, VA
January 12, APMP Foundation-level Accreditation, Columbia, MD
Copyright 2011 Lohfeld Consulting Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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: [email protected]
Tel: (410) 336-6264
www.lohfeldconsulting.com
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Copyright 2011 Lohfeld Consulting Group, Inc. All rights reserved.