Proposal Land

Many RFPs require narratives on the bidder’s understanding of risk and approach to risk management.  Often, what bidders provide wouldn’t be out of place in a textbook: plain-vanilla risk management processes that lay out standard identification, assessment, and mitigation steps.  Boring!  Worse, they show no sign of being tailored for this scope of work: Indeed, they show no sign of ever having done this scope of work. 

Now, granted, clients can do better than to ask about “approach.” But even if they do give you this fuzzy question, it’s not that hard to do a better response.  Start by thinking about things from the client’s point of view. 

Community/Political Environment

How private is this contract?  That doesn’t mean whether it’s being issued by a private- or public-sector client.  Is there a need to communicate with regulatory agencies, government departments, other suppliers, the public, or the media?

Understanding how this contract and your performance might affect your client’s profile in the world is an excellent start:

• What topics or events will be at issue
• What communication methods to propose
• What frequency of communication will be appropriate
• How your role supports the client

Thinking about risk from the client’s point of view allows you to submit a better risk-management response, in whatever form it takes, and also to show risk awareness throughout your entire proposal.  The company marketers don’t always like it – they often see it as negative – but nothing says “Been there, done that, and done good!” more clearly than a good risk answer.

 

Many RFPs require narratives on the bidder’s understanding of risk and approach to risk management.  Often, what bidders provide wouldn’t be out of place in a textbook: plain-vanilla risk management processes that lay out standard identification, assessment, and mitigation steps.  Boring!  Worse, they show no sign of being tailored for this scope of work: Indeed, they show no sign of ever having done this scope of work. 

Now, granted, clients can do better than to ask about “approach.”  But even if they do give you this fuzzy question, it’s not that hard to do a better response.  Start by thinking about things from the client’s point of view. 

Work Environment

What risks does the work environment pose:

• Regulatory compliance:
  • Environmental protection concerns?
  • Worker or public safety?
• Security:
  • Personal information privacy?
  • Information security?
• Performance:
  • Are there inherent problems with weather or restricted site access (seasonally or otherwise)?
  • Will the contractor have to work closely with other providers of products or services?

Explain how you’ll address the things that matter most to this client:

• Everyone cares about regulatory compliance, but some clients are super sensitive to breaches that smack of insufficient due diligence.
• Everyone expects security, but some organizations live and breathe it.
• Everyone wants performance, but some work is mission-critical.

Thinking about risk from the client’s point of view allows you to submit a better risk-management response, in whatever form it takes, and also to show risk awareness throughout your entire proposal.  The company marketers don’t always like it – they often see it as negative – but nothing says “Been there, done that, and done good!” more clearly than a good risk answer.

 

Many RFPs require narratives on the bidder’s understanding of risk and approach to risk management.  Often, what bidders provide wouldn’t be out of place in a textbook: plain-vanilla risk management processes that lay out standard identification, assessment, and mitigation steps.  Boring!  Worse, they show no sign of being tailored for this scope of work: Indeed, they show no sign of ever having done this scope of work. 

Now, granted, clients can do better than to ask about “approach.”  But even if they do give you this fuzzy question, it’s not that hard to do a better response.  Start by thinking about things from the client’s point of view. 

Size

Size may not be everything, but it can be a big thing.  So how big is this opportunity?  No, not in the sense of your anticipated revenues!

How big is it compared to the client’s entire operation? Quite reasonably, they’ll fuss more about relatively big honking activities than teeny-tiny ones.  Adjust your approach/response accordingly; for example:

• Add dedicated staff where it makes sense to maintain control of outcomes.
• Implement better performance monitoring systems and techniques so you get early warning of any problems.
• Give clients direct access to performance-monitoring technology.
• Communicate more frequently with the client about how things are going.

How big is it compared to the typical contractor organization?  Is the client likely concerned about potentially bankrupting a contractor, forcing them into default, or overwhelming their capacity to do good work, just because the contract is relatively large?  Explain why that won’t happen to you:

• Show that you’ve successfully handled similarly scaled contracts before.
• Explain how your proposed organization for the work, and your corporate organization, can accommodate the effort.
• Highlight your financial depth.
• Offer parental guarantees, if applicable.

Size and Scope

Is the opportunity so big and/or so complex (think pretty much any design-build activity and equipment or system development/acquisition) that several companies will have to work together?  If you have partners or major subcontractors, address the client’s legitimate concerns:

• How will the companies manage their interfaces, both contractually and practically, day-to-day?
• Who will be responsible if things go south?  How will they even know that things have gone bad?
• What’s the back-up plan if one company fails?

Thinking about risk from the client’s point of view allows you to submit a better risk-management response, in whatever form it takes, and also to show risk awareness throughout your entire proposal.  The company marketers don’t always like it – they often see it as negative – but nothing says “Been there, done that, and done good!” more clearly than a good risk answer.