Page 109 - Writing Winning Business Proposals

100 Writing Winning Business Proposals

Therefore, Collins not only wants the selected consulting team to develop and
evaluate various alternatives for adding manufacturing capacity, she would prefer
that the team’s recommendation enhance (or, at minimum, not diminish) cur-
rent service levels. If service levels are used as an evaluation criterion, Collins is
confident that the recommended alternative will enable ABC to serve its custom-
ers better and contribute to the division’s financial and market performance and,
consequently, to her own compensation and career advancement. Your analysis
of Collins’s buying roles and benefits is shown in row three of Figure 6.7.

Paul Morrison, Chief Industrial Engineer
Paul Morrison, you conclude, will also play two buying roles. He’s a technical
buyer because he will be concerned with the thoroughness and rigor of the pro-
posed methodology. Morrison believes that these qualities will be necessary to
address the complex issues involved in selecting the best alternative. Given that
he developed the in-house distribution model, he probably will focus on the parts
of the methodology that focus on logistics, landed cost, and service levels. He’s
also a user buyer because he undoubtedly will lead the ABC project team that
will use the study’s results to plan for and implement the new capacity plan. If
your study resulted in ABC’s building a new factory, Morrison could become
plant manager at that site.
Morrison has expressed several concerns about the current situation. First,
although everyone seems to agree that additional capacity is needed, no one
has attempted to quantify the amount or its timing. Second, some individuals,
he believes, may be pushing their own agendas, advocating expansion alterna-
tives that could be better for themselves than for ABC. Finally, and related to
the previous point, he doesn’t believe that the current site will support the addi-
tional manufacturing capacity needed (though adding at the current site would
be advantageous to others, particularly Metzger). Morrison expects the study to
produce specific results: to define the amount of capacity necessary to meet the
forecast, to evaluate thoroughly the alternatives both quantitatively and qualita-
tively, and to produce a recommendation that will enable ABC to provide capacity
effectively and expeditiously. Your analysis of Morrison’s buying roles and ben-
efits is shown in row four of Figure 6.7.

Frank Metzger, Plant Manager
You conclude that Frank Metzger is also both a user and a technical buyer. As
plant manager with intimate knowledge of ABC’s manufacturing operation, he
certainly will be part of the project team that uses the results of the consultant’s
study to plan and implement the additional capacity. In his technical buyer role,