Full Service Proposal Center

SBS has reach back capability to numerous subject matter experts (SMEs) to support technical writing and color team reviews.  SBS has access to SMEs with a broad range of technical and customer experience.  Having worked in federal government contracting for nearly 20 years, SBS has access to SMEs with experience across a wide range of functional areas and federal agencies.  SBS SMEs bring relevant experience to bear to support proposal efforts as advisors, technical writers, and color team reviewers. SBS ensures the SMEs we bring to the process can assist in evaluating proposal messaging to ensure that win themes and discriminators are responsive to the issues and hot buttons of interest to each customer.

SBS Technical Writers have the interviewing skills necessary to draw out the critical information from your subject matter experts and the tools and techniques to best present that information to create proposals that consistently meet the Four Cs of successful proposals:

• Clear: The RFP may not be clear, but your proposal MUST be. Effective proposals present information in simple, logical, and easy-to-understand ways. They are visually appealing, drawing the evaluators in and keeping their attention throughout, and they make it easy for evaluators to verify compliance with every requirement.
• Concise: The typical RFP contains a never-ending list of requirements and limits your response to half the page-length necessary to cover them all. Satisfying this challenging requirement necessitates an especially tight and powerful writing style that is developed and honed over time.
• Compliant: You can have the best proposal of the bunch, but if it’s not compliant, you can’t play. As more and more companies are competing for fewer and smaller contracts, evaluators are being stretched thin and are looking for any excuse they can find to reduce the number of proposals they must evaluate.
• Compelling: The contract gets awarded to the bidder whose business solution—from a technical, management, cost, and risk perspective—convinces the evaluator/decision maker that awarding them is in the best interest of his or her organization.

The scope of proposal management support SBS can provide includes:

• Preparing and updating proposal schedules
• Shredding RFP documents and creating compliance matrices
• Preparing Proposal Development Worksheets (PDWs) for section authors
• Providing guidance and impromptu training as needed to proposal team
• Tracking RFP changes with each amendment
• Preparing Daily Digests for the team (documenting critical proposal dates, responsibilities, taskings and due outs, upcoming meetings, etc.)
• Coordinating and facilitating color team reviews
• Developing templates for use in capturing past performance and resumes
• Capturing and facilitating the review of Q&A to ensure questions submitted are relevant, legitimate, and consistent with team strategy
• Facilitating the capture of Lessons Learned post submission
• Preparing Resumes and Past Performance citations
• Reviewing Resumes and Past Performance Citations for compliance and relevance

SBS Pricing Analysts support all aspects of the cost/price analysis function, from providing advisory assistance to managing Cost/Price proposal efforts to helping clients prepare for Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) audits.  Outlined below are the types of cost/price analysis functions we support:

• Analyze rate structures and develop Price to Win strategy
• Recommend alternative rate structures/cost pools to improve competitive positioning
• Develop pricing spreadsheets
• Issue, track and consolidate pricing data calls to/from teammates
• Document pricing methodology and prepare cost/price narratives for proposals
• Review, develop, and/or document accounting processes and procedures
• Assist in preparation for DCAA audit

Depending on the size and complexity of the proposal effort and the number of teammates, it may be necessary to bring in a Proposal Coordinator to assist the Proposal Manager with some of the more time-consuming and burdensome but critically important proposal management tasks.  Below are some of the typical proposal management tasks that may be delegated to a Proposal Coordinator.

• Maintaining team POC lists
• Coordinating, facilitating, and tracking daily team calls
• Issuing, managing, and tracking data calls
• Gathering, tracking, consolidating, and ensuring the proper formatting of questions for the Government
• Capturing and consolidating lessons learned
• Formatting resumes and past performance citations
• Tracking graphics through the production and review process through finalization
• Following up as needed to ensure proposal timelines are adhered to

Every proposal your organization submits is an extension of your company. Not unlike a sales brochure or a business resume, it is a testament to the quality of work and attention to detail that an evaluator can expect from your organization should they award you a contract. Strategic Business Solutions can help to ensure that the image your proposal conjures up in the minds of evaluators is that of excellence.  Tech edit support is provided throughout the proposal development process.  In our experience, tech editing is most effective when it occurs on a rolling schedule throughout the writing process rather than trying to schedule it in at the end of the proposal process.  SBS can facilitate rolling reviews or support other tech edit schedules consistent with client preferences or as proposal nuances dictate.

SBS maintains a cadre of highly qualified proposal graphics designers who are engaged from the outset.  They are available to meet with SMEs virtually or in person as needed to brainstorm graphic elements in order to take a graphic from concept to completion.  Graphics Designers are particularly skilled at branding graphics with client/team or customer color schemes and design elements.

SBS is capable of handling all aspects of Proposal Desktop Publishing (DTP).  Because DTP is so labor intensive and proposals tend to undergo significant changes from one color team review cycle to the next, it is our experience that significant cost savings can be achieved by limiting DTP efforts until just prior to the last color team review.   SBS is prepared to assist clients as needed with DTP any or all proposal volumes.

SBS services include performing detailed analyses of solicitation materials to extract specific performance requirements and then analyzing teams to ensure team capabilities adequately align with those requirements.  When gaps are evident, SBS has successfully assisted clients by identifying, facilitating introductions, and bringing additional value-added teaming partners onto the team.  Many of the strategic teaming relationships SBS has facilitated in the past continue into the future on follow-on contracts and new opportunities.

One often overlooked but extremely powerful proposal artifact is the workflow process map.  All government RFPs ask for specific details regarding “how” the bidder will perform the requested work.  SBS uses ProcessModel™ modeling and simulation software to map critical processes.  These maps communicate considerably more information than narratives alone and demonstrate a level of understanding and sophistication on the part of the Bidder that gives greater credibility to proposals and results in greater confidence on the part of Evaluators that the Bidder understands and can successfully execute the work.  Time and time again these process maps have been mentioned in debriefs and evaluation comments as a component of the proposal that led to superior ratings.  We have even been asked post-award to provide the maps as separate files to the customer for publication.