http://www.theproposalguys.com Jon and B.J.'s Proposal Blog Wed, 23 Jul 2008 08:00:21 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en A wander through one of London's nicer areas after dinner with a friend recently took us past the window of a shoe shop. There, it proudly proclaimed its award-winning track record: "So what does that tell you about them?" I asked, interested to test a theory. "That they've been really useless for ... http://www.theproposalguys.com/2008/07/23/the-shoe-shopping-theory-of-proposal-proof-points/ As some of you will know, I have a dog. I have an interest in dogs. If I see a person with a dog, I'll generally approach them, say hi, introduce myself and Jack (my dog) and strike up a conversation.Usually such conversations are fairly brief and we owners exchange ... http://www.theproposalguys.com/2008/07/21/going-to-the-dogs/ I saw a sign advertising a dry cleaner recently. .The company promoted their services as being "For the adventurous".Huh? Adventurous? I'm not sure I want to be adventurous with my clothes. For a vacation? Sure. Bring it on. My last vacation was to Costa Rica and I was looking for ... http://www.theproposalguys.com/2008/07/17/adventurous/ IS your proposal group in need of change? Are your proposals rushed out the door at the last minute, looking like something the dog has been chewing on for weeks? Do sales people and subject matter experts both treat proposals as something to be done "if/when I have time." Or ... http://www.theproposalguys.com/2008/07/15/ch-ch-ch-changes/ I have a confession to make. Long, long ago, when I was running the proposal centre for a major IT organisation, we set about improving the business's qualification process. Soon, sales staff were used to the mantra - is it real, do we want it, can we win it, can we ... http://www.theproposalguys.com/2008/07/11/the-fifth-qualification-question/ While reading an article recently in a very respectable, big city newspaper I came across the word "therefore" spelled as "there-for". Yep, as the saying goes, you can't make this stuff up folks.Now, as many of you will be aware, I don't tend to worry too much about spelling. I'm ... http://www.theproposalguys.com/2008/07/09/speed-bumps/ On a recent visit to museum, I was handed an access card displaying a bar code that would allow me admission to the galleries for which I'd paid the entrance fee. I was impressed - it's great to see museums moving away from their old-fashioned, stuffy image and adopting new ... http://www.theproposalguys.com/2008/07/07/style-over-substance-2/ I had a mail recently requesting information as to what percentage of "blind" RFP's win.I replied, "Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn once in a while but that's not an appropriate basis for a (successful) business model." Said differently, my professional opinion is that the percentage of responses which win ... http://www.theproposalguys.com/2008/07/02/blind-rfp%e2%80%99s-and-squirrels/ You know an organisation's struggling when you circulate a document that mentions that proposal submission is followed by a "Negotiate and Close" phase, and the query comes back: "Is this internal or external negotiation?" Now, as a proposal professional, the post-submission negotiation process falls outside my remit. That said, ... http://www.theproposalguys.com/2008/07/01/feel-the-pain/ Working with a software company recently, I found myself drafting a document mapping out a new, improved proposal process.The team developing the proposal, I wrote, needed to be mindful of other bid activities that might be taking place in parallel. Amongst the critical things to consider, explained, were on-going client ... http://www.theproposalguys.com/2008/06/25/those-evil-clients/