Proposals & Competitive Tendering Part 1: Strategy & Positioning to Win (Second Edition)

By Richard Brookfield

Strategy & Positioning to Win is a practical guide to the early stages of the competitive tendering process, covering the contractor's strategy and positioning activities in advance of the customer's request for proposal (RFP). This is a critical period for contractors to develop and implement winning strategies that will maximize their chances of success.

This Second Edition has been significantly extended with additional material including key insights and further details of strategy development to build a winning competitive position. Background information and explanatory text are combined with practical examples, timelines and templates that enable readers to select and apply relevant principles and models within their own organizations.

ABC SmartGuides are written for business professionals engaged in strategic, sales and commercial roles connected with company direction and business development. They are aimed primarily at projects and services organizations where competitive tendering is key to growth and survival. The principles will also apply to manufacturing companies competing for new business in B2B sectors.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Acuity Business Consulting Ltd
• Release date: May 4, 2020
• ISBN: 9781999927349

Richard Brookfield

Richard Brookfield is the Principal at Acuity Business Consulting Ltd, an independent UK consultancy providing strategy, business development, proposals and commercial services to businesses in the global engineering and construction industry.Richard is MBA qualified and a chartered engineer with a strong track record in the international oil and gas sector. Over more than 25 years, he has held a number of corporate, strategic and commercial leadership roles for both international contractors and consultancy groups.

Book preview

Proposals & Competitive Tendering Part 1

Strategy & Positioning to Win

SECOND EDITION

Richard Brookfield

Published by Acuity Business Consulting Ltd

EB ISBN 978-1-9999273-4-9

Copyright 2020 Acuity Business Consulting Ltd

All rights reserved. This ebook is licensed for individual use only and may not be re-sold, distributed or shared. No portion of this ebook may be copied or reproduced without the express permission of the publisher, contactable at [e-mail].

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION TO STRATEGY & POSITIONING TO WIN

CHAPTER 2 THE COMPETITIVE TENDERING PROCESS

Competitive Tendering

Essentials for Customers

Success Factors for Contractors

Key Points

CHAPTER 3 THE STRATEGY & POSITIONING PHASE

Customer Activities during Strategy & Positioning

Contractor Activities during Strategy & Positioning

Contractor Decision Framework

Key Points

CHAPTER 4 EARLY POSITIONING

Prospect Identification

Initial Screening

Customer Engagement

Managing the Customer Relationship

Outline Win Strategy

Decision to Pursue

Key Points

CHAPTER 5 STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT – BUILDING COMPETITIVE POSITION

Understanding the Customer

Understanding the Competitive Position

Competitive Strategies and Actions

Building the Customer Relationship

Enhanced Competitive Position

Key Points

CHAPTER 6 STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT – BUILDING THE WIN STRATEGY

Execution Strategy Development

Schedule and Resourcing Plan

Joint Ventures

Contracting Strategy Formulation

Win Strategy Development

Decision to Proceed

Key Points

CHAPTER 7 PRE-QUALIFICATIONS & EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

Customer Pre-qualification Processes

Pre-qualification Strategy

Preparing the Pre-qualification Response

Pre-qualification Outcomes

Key Points

CHAPTER 8 PREPARATION FOR THE PROPOSAL PERIOD

Window of Opportunity

Updates to the Win Strategy

Essential Pre-proposal Activities

Other Beneficial Preparation Activities

Key Points

CHAPTER 9 THE REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

Receiving the Request for Proposal (RFP) Package

Package Review & Strategy Confirmation

Decision to Bid

Key Points

LIST OF FIGURES & TABLES

LIST OF INSIGHT TOPICS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

INTRODUCTION TO PART 2 MANAGING WINNING PROPOSALS

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PREFACE

ABC SmartGuides are compact and practical reference books, written for business professionals engaged in strategic, sales and commercial roles connected with company strategy and the competitive acquisition of new business. Background information and explanatory text are combined with practical examples and templates, enabling readers to extract and apply relevant principles within their own organizations.

These guides are aimed primarily at individuals working in projects and services organizations where competitive tendering is the norm. The principles will also apply to companies competing for new business in B2B products sectors.

The first SmartGuides to be published cover the topic of Proposals & Competitive Tendering in two parts:

- Part 1 Strategy & Positioning to Win, from identification of a new opportunity through company positioning, customer engagement, strategy development and pre-qualification to the issue of the Request for Proposal;

- Part 2 Managing Winning Proposals, from receipt of the Request for Proposal through proposal management, winning themes, proposal preparation, clarification and negotiation to the point of contract award.

Subsequent SmartGuides are planned to cover Strategy & Business Planning, Sales, Marketing & Business Development, and Customer Relationship Management.

ABC SmartGuides are published by Acuity Business Consulting Ltd, an independent UK-based consultancy providing a range of consultancy and professional development services.

This Second Edition of Strategy & Positioning to Win features expanded information, including additional chapters on the stages of strategy development. Insight panels have been added throughout the book, which is now fully indexed.

www.acuity-business.com

About the Author

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Back to Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION TO STRATEGY & POSITIONING TO WIN

This book provides a guide to the Strategy & Positioning phase of the competitive tendering process, which starts when a new business prospect has been identified, as shown in Figure 1. This is a critical period during which contractors can significantly strengthen their competitive position in advance of proposal preparation.

Chapters contain a practical combination of background information, explanatory text, timelines, examples, models and templates. The book does not seek to provide a prescriptive method, nor a rigid system of detailed pro forma. Instead, the objective is to set out the principles for success at each stage of the process. Readers can follow topics, wholly or selectively, as required and can adapt models to apply to their own organizations.

Competitive tendering is widely used by customer organizations in both public and private sectors for selection of their contractors and suppliers. There are several drawbacks to this approach, not least the potential for erosion of trust and relationships, but the process is effective and enables customers to show impartiality in the award of valuable contracts. In short, the benefits are generally accepted to outweigh the negatives and sole sourcing of suppliers is unusual for contracts of any significant size.

For contracting and services companies, it follows that the ability to secure profitable work through competitive tendering processes is essential to survival. In competitive markets, companies must continually improve their products and services, and develop strong relationships with their target customers. Understanding customers’ needs, requirements and preferences is therefore essential and efforts must be made to align and strengthen the company’s position well in advance of formal proposal preparation periods.

This book covers the contractor’s strategy and positioning activities for new business prospects, undertaken well in advance of the customer’s formal request for proposal. This early work is essential to strengthen the contractor’s competitive position and will have a fundamental influence on the chances of success. Key themes running through this book include the following:

- the importance of understanding the customer’s needs, requirements and preferences;

- customer engagement and development of customer relationships;

- the need to understand the company's competitive position and how it can be enhanced;

- the progressive development and implementation of the Win Strategy;

- the involvement and influence of multiple functions and stakeholders within the contractor’s organization;

- the effective use of time in advance of the proposal preparation period;

- the need for a staged process and decision framework for approvals and authorizations.

The book is divided into chapters described as follows, each including an initial summary section and a concluding list of key points for ready reference.

Chapter 2 provides an overview of the competitive tendering process including a summary of its strengths and weaknesses. There are a number of important aspects for customers to get right, in order to make the process fair and attractive for competing suppliers. Contractors must also focus on several success factors, including the need to understand the customer and to prioritize customer satisfaction on existing contracts.

Chapter 3 gives an overview of the Strategy & Positioning phase, including a review of both customer and contractor activities, as shown in the timeline in Figure 2. Customers must organize the tendering process and decide on their contracting strategy for the work, as well as preparing the Request for Proposal documents. The role of different functions in the contractor organization is described including Sales & Marketing, Commercial and Operations. A typical decision framework is also defined, including a number of review and approval points as shown in Figure 3.

Chapters 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 cover the successive stages and decision points for contractors in the Strategy & Positioning phase in more detail, as defined in the timeline in Figure 4. Chapter 4 covers Early Positioning activities, which can start as soon as a prospect for new business has been identified and added to the sales funnel. Customer engagement is important at this stage to build relationships, start positioning the company and to learn as much as possible about the customer’s plans. The first issue of the Win Strategy is prepared during Early Positioning, which culminates in the Decision to Pursue milestone.

Chapter 5 and