Page 132 - Writing Winning Business Proposals

Identifying, Selecting, and Developing Themes 123

Psychologics Worksheet Cell 5
“Based upon the evaluation criteria, how does
Competition
the prospect compare you with competitors?”
Considering the Prospect’s Evaluation Criteria for This Opportunity . . .
Competitors
Competitors’ Strengths Competitors’ Weaknesses red
‡ strong, diversified consulting skills
A major competitor need to discuss with Gilmore
‡ capabilities equal to our own
‡ specialized capabilities in some relevant functional ‡may not be sufficiently experienced or creative to identify
Local “A” and Local “B”
areas full range of expansion alternatives
‡ have performed satisfactory work for ABC (Local ‡probably lack marketing abilities needed to assess forecasts
“B”) ‡probably don’t have adequate logistics analysis capabilities
‡may lack financial analysis abilities to evaluate alternatives
convincingly
‡may not have sufficient staff to initiate and complete study
quickly
‡may not be sufficiently knowledgeable to evaluate
qualitative factors
Your Strengths red Your Weaknesses red
You need to discuss with Gilmore need to discuss with Gilmore
“How might you counter competitors’ strengths “How might competitors counter your strengths, exploit
or exploit their weaknesses?” your weaknesses, or redefine the overriding question?”
‡Emphasize project’s comprehensiveness, requiring wide range of Need to discuss with Gilmore
functional skills red
‡Counter Local “B’s” previous experience by discussing successful projects
for similar companies
‡Find a way to use Morrison’s model
‡Bring Consolidated into the loop to compress time needed for top-level
approvals
T

ompetition, analyz
he c
ed
G
FI
FIGURE 7.9 The competition, analyzed
U
7.9
E
R
This competitor’s weaknesses? Perhaps because of its success rate against
Paramount and because of its excellent reputation, your competitor may be
somewhat complacent in addressing ABC’s needs. Or perhaps the ABC project
may not be important enough for it to mount a major proposal effort. But all this,
you realize, is pure speculation, and dangerous speculation at that. You’re wooing
yourself into complacency (and making yourself feel less anxious) by surmising
that this fierce competitor, this firm that has beaten Paramount all too often,
will suddenly become complacent (and just at the right time, too—when you are
preparing this proposal). Nevertheless, you record these supposed weaknesses in
the designated place on Cell 5, making a mental note that you’re not very satisfied
with your analysis.
You have just as much difficulty assessing the two local competitors, but for
different reasons: You’re not familiar with them, and you haven’t found any
details listed in your research on consulting firms. However, you suspect that
they have strong capabilities in specific functional areas to be addressed dur-
ing the proposed study. And you know, of course, that one of those companies