5 Reasons Your Proposals Aren’t Winning
Creating winning proposals is hard, especially if it’s in response to an RFP. In the world of proposals, many companies have low win rates, and while win rates vary for many reasons, there are a few common causes of lost projects. Read on to learn why many proposals lose and how you can improve yours.
1. Pricing
Price is often a huge factor in how organizations award projects. Sometimes pricing accounts for as much as 50% of the total points in the evaluation criteria. With such a big weight placed on pricing, it is important that you do research in advance to understand the customer’s budget and how your competition prices their offerings.
If you know that you are often a more expensive option, don’t despair! To avoid spending time on proposals where the award will primarily be determined by price, play close attention to the evaluation criteria. If price is a lower factor, then you know that you can make up for lost points in other areas. Not every RFP details exactly how they weigh different sections of the proposal, so pay close attention to any sections in the RFP that discuss how the award will be determined.
“Best value” awards are better if you’re higher priced because the overall value is important. Avoid RFPs that say “Lowest Price, Technically Acceptable” or other similarly phrased criteria. This means that the award will automatically go to the company with the lowest price who meets the criteria.
2. Clarity
Clarity is another key challenge for many proposals. In general, less is more when it comes to content. Explain the topic or point in as few words as possible, and for complicated processes or topics, include a visual to reduce the need for lengthy and complex paragraphs. Evaluation committees typically are made up of individuals from different departments with different experience, and you need to make sure your proposal is clear and understandable for someone who isn’t an expert in your field. Headings, bullet points, graphics, and callouts are easy ways to make your proposal content more clear.
3. Lack of Customer Focus
It’s very easy to write your proposal from a “this is who we are” perspective rather than “this is how we can help”. When creating your content, focus on including information that directly addresses how your company will solve the pain points that the customer is trying to solve. For example, instead of providing a 3 page section of product specifications, write a custom paragraph describing how three unique features will specifically make the customer’s life easier (you can always include the specs in the Appendix).
One easy way to see if you lack customer focus is to search your company name in the proposal and then search the customer’s. Ideally, you use the customer’s name more than your own. If that’s not the case, focus on revising your content.
4. Experience
Experience is a difficult challenge for many small companies who start responding to RFPs. Tailored resumes, strong client case studies, and notable references can help you stand out. This isn’t always enough, unfortunately, and the customer may choose to go with another company simply because they have more tenure.
One way to combat this is to partner with a company who can supplement your own experience and resources. Depending on your solution, this may or may not be possible. If it’s not an option, develop a long-term plan for how you can build up your experience to win the contract the next time it’s released (normally 3-5 years out). You can do this by signing smaller projects with similar organizations, gathering certifications, and hiring more experts.
5. Sales/Business Development
Advance planning gives your company a huge advantage when it’s time to submit the proposal. If you have a sales or business development team, develop a process where they gather competitive intelligence and customer insights at least months in advance of when the RFP is released. Especially for government contracts, your competitors are working to form relationships before the RFP drops, which allows them to create more competitive and tailored proposals. If you haven’t done this, you will always be a step behind the competition on your content, which makes it harder to win.
Don’t worry if this is a new approach for your business. You can start with just one project or account today and then expand this approach over time. You’ll see the reception of your proposals start to change and your win rates increase.
