Take your proposals to the next level

Companies from across Canada have turned to me for assistance in winning business by creating high-quality, competitive proposals for them. With my help they were able to:

  • Improve the quality of their strategy, solution, and proposal
  • Win competitive procurement processes
  • Take on new types of work or enter new markets
  • Remain focused on their core activities

While I have helped a wide range of businesses, most were:

  • IT staffing providers
  • IT consulting firms
  • IT services providers
  • IT solution providers

Because of my extensive experience with the Government of Ontario (or “Ontario Public Service”/”OPS”), clients often first come to me for assistance with RFPs, RFIs, RFSs, etc., from the OPS.

two people reviewing document

Knowledge and experience

Public sector organizations and a growing number of private sector organizations use Requests for Proposals (RFPs), Requests for Information (RFIs) and other competitive processes to identify and select products and vendors. If you want to sell to these organizations, you need to be able to create winning proposals. Creating a proposal that stands out requires the ability to:

  • Develop a winning proposal strategy that differentiates your proposal from the competition
  • Understand procurement processes and what evaluators are looking for
  • Describe your business, qualifications, solution and benfits in a way that scores highly and meets all the requirements
  • Create effective, attractive, and technically correct diagrams and charts
  • Combine everything into a polished and professional proposal document
  • Avoid shooting yourself in the foot by missing a deadline or requirement

You can improve your proposals, reduce risks, and avoid the opportunity costs of using your own resources by taking advantage of my:

  • Experience preparing over 200 high-quality, competitive proposals in response to a broad range of Requests for Proposals, Requests for Information, Requests for Services, Vendor of Record or Preferred Provider agreements, etc. with a record of success
  • Comprehensive knowledge of the Government of Ontario including its business, technical, and procurement environments and processes
  • A background information technology with extensive knowledge of related technologies, methodologies, and best practices
  • Experience developing strategies for business, technology, and digital transformation
  • Expertise in business architecture, business analysis, and project management
  • Proficiency with many common methodologies and frameworks
  • Familiarity with managing the delivery of staffing and professional services including onboarding consultants, managing consultants, monitoring quality, and issue resolution
  • Expertise in Microsoft Office, Microsoft Visio, Microsoft Project, Sparx Enterprise Architect, and other software tools essential to preparing proposals
  • Excellent communication skills
  • Arrangements with graphic artists and other specialists

Proposal-writing services

So what does this mean in practice? Depending on the nature of the proposal and the role you would like to play, I can provide you with the following services. 

Strategy

I provide advice on

  1. Designing the best solution for the customer
  2. Your proposal strategy and differentiating yourself and your solution from the competition
  3. The approach to individual sections of the proposal

Project management and logistics

  1. Provide provide a compliance checklist listing requirements for deadlines, documents, signatures,, etc.
  2. Provide instructions for preparing and submitting the proposal
  3. Manage all proposal-related documents using either your document management site (e.g., SharePoint) or mine
  4. Record and manage all issues
  5. Identify the tasks required for the proposal and explain them to the people responsible
  6. Track and report the proposal status including the status of each section of the proposal document(s)
  7. Issue reminders for upcoming deadlines
  8. Review any addenda to the RFP/RFI and update the proposal plans, template, etc. as required
  9. Support online submission processes if applicable

Content Management and Editing

  1. Review the RFP/RFI in detail and provide a document template organized as required in the RFP/RFI with:
    • Cover and table of contents
    • All section headings
    • All required tables ready to be filled in
    • Markers for all the locations in the document in which information and/or figures are required and with a description of the information required
  2. Insert material into the proposal when received, including converting any material in Excel spreadsheets, PDF files, etc.
  3. Edit the material received for format and content, identify any gaps, and recommend any improvements
  4. Create basic diagrams such as organization charts
  5. Insert any resumes into the proposal (frequently a time-consuming and technically difficult task)
  6. Finalize the proposal document(s) making sure they are professional in appearance

Content creation

I can also take on any of the following responsibilities:

  1. Create technical or complex diagrams conforming to standards such as UML and BPMN and using tools such as Visio, PowerPoint, Sparx EA and other software)
  2. Create project management diagrams and charts such as Gantt charts using tools such as MS Project
  3. Write sections of the proposal based on information provided by the client, my research, and my knowledge of technologies, methodologies, and best practices
  4. Graphic design
  5. Create presentations for use in interviews, etc.