Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Training Tools
I recently interviewed a company President. To a question regarding the importance of proposals beyond the sale, he responding, “A well written proposal can be the best training tool a company can offer its employees.” He went on to explain that, within his company, the content was known to be clear, concise, accurate and to present and explain the company and its offerings in the way they wished it to be presented and explained to their customers (and consultants).
Very refreshingly, this particular company President obviously “gets it” when it comes to proposals.
I love the way he “got it”. And it’s always the case that the organisations who do the coolest stuff when it comes to delivering step-change improvements to their proposal capabilities are the ones whose CEOs or Presidents personally sponsor the initiative.
There is an underlying risk implicit in this view of proposals as a “training ground”, though. I do see some firms whose proposal functions are populated almost entirely by young, bright individuals on a (say) two year stint as part of their graduate / management development.
That’s absolutely fine if (1) the organisation is rigorous in giving the individuals concerned the right training when they start, and (2) these folks don’t form too high a proportion of the total staff count in the proposal centre. Otherwise this can compromise the credibility of proposal management as professional career in its own right, and can ultimately prevent the proposal organisation from ever being seen as a true centre of excellence.
(Hey, is my comment longer than your post?!)
I actually work for this company and all of the RFP positions require professionals with extensive RFP backgrounds. The RFP database was created by a seasoned professional (yes, ME) and is regularly reviewed and updated by content experts. This particular president really does “get it” and expects the other executives to give content updates top priority. Other employees are encouraged to request information at any time from the database administrator, as this source of information is considered the most current and up-to-date available. We are a small company (500+ employees) that takes RFPs very seriously and RFP positions are given great respect.
Barbara - that’s really great to hear! I guess my concerns probably apply most to some organisations in the financial sector.