Page 145 - Writing Winning Business Proposals

136 Writing Winning Business Proposals

;PTPUN
:[LW >OV ;HZR TPU
7YLZLU[ V]LY]PL^ VM SVNPJHS HUK
7YVWVZHS
WZ`JOVSVNPJHS HZWLJ[Z VM WYVWVZHS
;LHT
[OPURPUN [V KH[L
.YLLU
(ZR X\LZ[PVUZ" PKLU[PM` YLK ÅHNZ
;LHT
)V[O
:\TTHYPaL Z[YLUN[OZ HUK YLK ÅHNZ
;LHTZ
)V[O )YHPUZ[VYT WV[LU[PHS HJ[PVUZ [V PTWYV]L

;LHTZ WVZP[PVUPUN
)V[O
+LIYPLM
;LHTZ

FIGURE 8.2 Timing for the 40-minute Green Team Revieweam Review
FIGURE 8.2 T iming f or the 40-minut e Gr een T

permitted for this step, questions and answers must be direct and without editorial
comment. Questions should be stated constructively (“Were you able to discuss X
with the VP of marketing?”), not judgmentally (“Why didn’t you discuss X with
the VP of marketing?”). Obviously, you want to avoid questions that cast asper-
sions, implying that the proposal team has been less than diligent in its efforts.

Step 3: Flag

During this step, the Green Team and the proposal team spend five minutes sum-
marizing the proposal team’s strengths (green flags) and weaknesses (red flags),
given the information from steps 1 and 2. One or two recorders or scribes (again,
not members of the proposal team) display the responses with a data projector or,
preferably, write them on flipcharts. The responses should be divided into the two
categories, strengths and weaknesses. During this rapid-fire listing, the scribes
record what is stated as quickly as possible. No discussion, clarification, or evalua-
tion takes place during this listing. Because strengths and red flags may be called out
in any order, it is helpful for the respondents to voice their comments as follows:

◉ A strength is . . . our relationship with the economic buyer.
◉ A red flag is . . . we haven’t quantified benefits.
◉ A red flag is . . . we have no coach.