Business Proposal: Business Proposal Writing - Production - The Final Frontier

Your business proposal is only as good as the documents the customer receives.Producing those documents to match the quality of the rest of the offering is hard. The skill level required is high and there are many pitfalls and mistakes to be made by the unknowing.As Proposal Manager you have two choices here. Either:• Assemble your production team in the early stages so that they can be involved in fully understanding the opportunity and win themes, and can then work alongside authors to polish and format text versions, develop and refine graphics, edit content etc. (and, make no mistake, no professional proposal was ever produced by throwing it at some poor, lone admin assistant at one in the morning)Or• Bring in the production team perhaps two thirds of the way through the writing process when content is coming together, the technical solution has been frozen, some authors have already made their contribution and left, and you, as Proposal Manager (ably assisted by your trusty Proposal Administrator who has been gathering inputs and assigning them to the various bid sections), are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.In fact each option has benefits: with option one you have a small and expert group of people on your side from day one - people for whom the perfect submission is a matter of professional pride. They will routinely check facts, highlight inconsistencies, resolve problems and eradicate waffle, insert the latest versions of graphics and think ahead about difficulties that may be encountered in the electronic submission, the hardcopy printing, CD writing, indexing, uploading to customer evaluation tools and much more.They know what it takes to complete activities like hyperlinking, printing hardcopies and dealing with printer problems. They will order binders, the right type of paper and CDs, they will back up the latest version of the bid at least every day. With a keen eye for 'single point failures' they will arrange back up production and delivery facilities so that while your competitors may be defeated by earthquake, flood and fire, you will not.This sounds great and it is. The down side of having a production team working with you from the beginning is that it will require more precious space in, or close to, your war room, and their continuous presence (especially if they are freelance staff) will eat in to your proposal budget. By the time the final production push takes place, production staff will also be beginning to tire. Importantly, the authoring team will become used to seeing them around and will cease to take much notice of their activities.This is where option two offers benefits: nothing will galvanise your flagging proposal authors more than the noisy arrival of a horde of production staff. It's still true that in most technical sectors the majority of authors are male and production staff largely female. Production work is consequently undervalued. So the bustling arrival of a group of cheerful women setting up machines, crawling under desks to identify cables, looking meaningfully at the status or requirements table that is charting your progress, and poring over win themes, graphics and text will often have a miraculous effect on the psychology of the war room. A good production team will bring with it a positive 'we'll get there' vibe, and a cheerful hand-holding approach - maybe even chocolate or cake to alleviate the desert wastes of a day spent writing about risk mitigation. Their arrival will also signify that you, the Proposal Manager, mean business, that the final frontier is approaching and that authors had better get themselves in gear, bring the writing to a close and get a peer review of the content.Of course this option does have a down side: the production team will be somewhat less conversant with the back story and development of the bid. However, experienced production staff who have worked together before and know their business will soon get their feet under the table. It is part of their job to make sure they quickly get to know the bid and bid authors and who's doing what.Whatever option you choose - or are constrained to choose - the production role, be it graphics, formatting, editing or coordinating, is central to your success. It will take a load of your shoulders to know that you have selected an experienced team and I don't think it would be overstating the case to say that, provided the proposal price is right, a good production team can make the difference between success and failure.Ignore this at your peril. [EXTRACT] Your business proposal is as good as the documents that the client receives.Producing documents to match the quality of the rest of the offering is difficult. The skill level required is high and there are many pitfalls and mistakes made by the Manager of the proposal unknowing.As you have two options. Either: • Assemble your team early in production so they can be involved in the full understanding of the opportunities and issues win, and then can work with authors to polish and text format versions, develop and refine graphics, content editing, etc. (And, make no mistake, there is no professional proposal always throw in some poor assistant, administrator only to one o'clock) O • Take the production team maybe two thirds of the way through the writing process when the content is coming together, the technical solution has been frozen, some authors have already made their contribution and left, and you, as manager of the proposal (ably assisted by his faithful steward of the proposal that has been gathering input and assigning them to offer more sections), is from seeing the light at the end of each option tunnel.In fact has advantages: with the option that you have a small group of experts and people on your side from day one - people for whom the perfect presentation is a matter of professional pride. They routinely check the facts, highlight inconsistencies, solve problems and eliminate the cookie, enter the latest versions of the graphics and think ahead about the difficulties that can be found in electronic filing, paper printing, recording CD, indexing, the burden on client assessment tools and more.They much know what it takes to perform activities such as hyperlinks, print paper copies and treatment of printer problems. Folders will be ordered, the type of paper and CDs, which backed the latest version of the offer at least every day. With an eye for single point failures "that will backup facilities for production and delivery that while its competitors may be defeated by earthquakes, floods and fires, that sounds great not.This and is. The downside of having a production team that works with you from the beginning is that they require more precious space in, or near, their war room, and its continued presence (especially if it is independent officials) will eat your budget proposal. When the final thrust of the production is carried out, the production staff are also getting tired. It is important to note that the editorial team will become used to seeing them at all and fail to take note of their activities.This is where the second option offers advantages: nothing will boost your score proposed by the authors over the noisy arrival of a horde of production personnel. It is true that in most technical areas of most perpetrators are men and the production staff who are mostly women. Production work, therefore, undervalued. So the arrival of a group of boisterous women creating machines cheerful, crawling under desks to identify cables, looking pointedly at the state or the eligibility chart is tracing his progress, and carefully studying the issues won, graphics and text often have a miraculous effect on the psychology of the war room. A good production team brings a positive will "let go" environment, and a joyful approach holding hands - maybe even chocolate or cake to alleviate the deserts of a day dedicated to writing about risk mitigation . His arrival also means that you, the administrator of the proposal seriously, the final frontier is coming and that the authors were better than them in the march, bringing to an end the script and get a peer review of course content. Of this option has a downside: the production team will be familiar with the story a little less background and development of the offer. However, experienced production staff who have worked together before and know their business soon put his feet on the table. It's part of their work to ensure that quickly get to know the offer and the offeror and is doing what.Whatever option you choose - or are forced to choose - the role of production, whether graphics, format, edit or coordination is critical to your success. It will take a burden from their shoulders to know that you have selected an experienced team and I think it would be overstating the case to say that whenever the price of the proposal is correct, a good production team can make the difference between success and failure.Ignore is at your own risk.