SPEAKER: Dr. Robert S. Frey, APMP Fellow (2006), PMP®, Co-Owner/Principal, Successful ProposalStrategies, LLC

DESCRIPTION: Lack of demonstrated “Understanding” of the customer’s operational environment, challenges,  goals, objectives, and overall mission is one of the top two non-price-related reasons why both large and small companies lose Federal Government competitive proposals. Recently, I was engaged by a global Fortune 500 company to perform an end-to-end review of a series of detailed annotated proposals outlines. This was part of their pursuit of a multi-billion-dollar Air Force contract in the western United States. These annotated outlines had been crafted and populated by a team of highly competent and dedicated professionals in their respective areas of expertise. What I observed throughout the outlines across the three major sections that I reviewed was a definite lack of “Understanding.” This despite the fact that the DRAFT Section L, Instructions to Offerors, stated explicitly that, “The Technical Approach/Technical Risk Factor focuses on the Offeror’s approach to effectively and efficiently accomplish the requirements of the contract, thereby demonstrating understanding of those requirements….” Frequently, proposal authors short-circuit the full intention of the Government's request  for Understanding by simply repeating what is in the Request for Proposal (RFP) or Request for Quotation (RFQ), and that which was learned at various Industry Days that the Government convened. I see statements such as, “The Government requires” and “Program Management for this contract must reflect.” Neither statement conveys meaningful, below-the-surface Understanding. Together, we’ll explore a structured, repeatable process that I have developed to ensure that we convey genuine Understanding in our proposals. Let’s win!

LINK TO REGISTER:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/missing-the-point-of-understanding-tickets-585744647007