When the Government releases a Request for Proposal (RFP), the proposal due date is often 30 days away. This is why advanced planning is so critical to successful proposal writing. The planning phase is an opportunity to develop themes, approaches, conduct research, fine-tune logistics, and make team assignments for the proposal without using that precious time once the RFP is issued.
The planning phase can involve capture teams and the proposal strategy teams who aggressively seek out contract opportunities, even if the RFP is years down the road. They become familiar with existing contracts which are due to expire and come up for recompetition. They also gather information from Government sources through Sources Sought notices, market research actions, and various Government-Industry exchanges. By the time the RFP is released, some companies have been targeting that particular opportunity for years.
On a more tactical basis, the planning phase is the right place to establish a number of the key ingredients for the proposal. For example, assigning the proposal team’s roles and responsibilities: Who are the best writers? Editors? Graphics experts?
The marketing aspect of the proposal doesn’t need to wait for the RFP either. In addition to answering the specific requirements of the RFP, the proposal needs to introduce the reader to your company and your abilities, much like any other marketing handiwork. So the appearance and theme of the document can evolve well ahead of the RFP release.
Logistics planning can be a time saver also. Who will handle configuration control during the proposal writing phase? Someone will need to keep control during the many rewrites, and that person will need to develop a suitable system to work with. If hard copy delivery is anticipated, determining how and where to print the final product can be done during the planning phase as well. While you’re at it, have a back-up method ready too.
My advice is to pack in as many activities into the planning phase as possible. Even if they’re not fully mature, this will save valuable time downstream. The key is that when the RFP is finally released, hit the ground running. Every day matters.