#APMP2016

Promoting Proposal Partnerships: Working with Internal Customers to Grow & Retain Business

#APMP2016 As Sr. Manager of Training & Development, Alison Bukowski works with internal stakeholders to establish training strategies, drive implementation of training solutions, and identify and communicate training best practices. She also leads a team dedicated to proposal quality and data analysis. Prior to joining Optum, she spent 10 years in marketing and proposal development roles within the IT and education industries. Alison received her B.A. degree from the University of Minnesota.

#APMP2016 Welcome! Today’s Agenda: Welcome & Introduction Laying the Groundwork – Business Issue/Challenges – Solution – Anticipated Outcomes Demonstration of Partner Workshop – Review, Refine & Define Roles/Responsibilities – Understanding the Process – Developing Service Level Agreements (SLA) Our goals for this working session: Identify partners critical to proposal organization’s overall success Apply best practices to make an immediate contribution to the proposal organization’s success Provide process-driven, value-added methods to improve overall relationships with internal proposal partners

#APMP2016 The Business Issue/Challenges Understanding the importance of key stakeholders and their place within the proposal process Merging business cultures, roles and interpretations of business goals Gaining buy-in from senior leadership on the importance of internal partners Communicating the value of internal partners to senior leadership and the partners themselves Engaging the right people at the right time to expedite the proposal process Push-back from internal partners who face competing priorities (e.g., supporting proposals while also balancing a day job)

#APMP2016 The Solution: Don’t Dictate, Collaborate! Engage internal partners critical to overall success, in a meaningful way: – Gain buy-in from senior leadership – Implement a top-down communication strategy – Develop communication materials and execute the communication strategy – Lead initiatives such as collaborative partner workshops – Develop and implement SLAs that build stronger partnerships – Develop and implement tracking mechanisms to provide quantitative feedback on partnership initiatives

#APMP2016 Anticipated Outcomes Better understanding of key stakeholders in the proposal process Engage the right people at the right time Build process consistency and efficiency Clearly defined roles and responsibilities This achieves a shared goal: Grow revenue, retain existing business and win new business.

#APMP2016 Step One: Define Organizational Accountabilities TeamAccountabilities Proposal Team Process execution Process discipline Proposal compliance, quality and on-time delivery Business Unit (Product Teams) Knowledge of the customer and the specific opportunity Proposal process participation Continuous feedback on specific opportunity Continuous feedback on process and quality Business Organization (Leadership) Knowledge of the solutions and products Understanding of strategic messaging Proposal process participation (as needed) Continuous feedback on process and quality Impacted Stakeholders/Partners Pricing Sales Contracts/Legal Knowledge of the solutions and products Ownership of selling message, ensuring it speaks to customer’s problem Proposal process participation Continuous feedback on process and quality

#APMP2016 Step Two: Initiative Implementation Activities ItemStatusProjected Completion DateComments Develop documentation Define the business case Determine parameters (players, markets and types of requests) Determine areas to define Determine parameters for escalation Determine high level process steps Determine contingency plan Create a detailed process flow Develop and deploy communications plan Develop and deploy training plan

#APMP2016 Step Three: Implementation Calendar

#APMP2016 Step Four: Identify Roadblocks and Requests RoadblockRequest / Action ItemAsk DateResolution Date Scheduling: Likelihood of rollout of process in line with target date is low 1.Develop parallel process 2.Develop integrated training sessions Organizational Change Management: Adoption curve may be steep 1.Communication plan – visible support from top down 2.Survey deployment before, during and after transitions to measure internal customer disposition

#APMP2016 Partnering with the Optum Proposal Team Working Together to Grow & Retain Business

#APMP2016 Welcome! Today’s Agenda: Role & Role Description – Review – Refine – Baseline Process – Overview – Role Key Contributions – Risks without Contributions Service Level Agreements (SLA) – Build – Negotiate – Baseline Our goals for this working session: Deepen and broaden the understanding of your role’s criticality to the proposal team Understand proposal processes and your role’s key contributions…and risks without your role Build and negotiate key SLAs between your role and the proposal team as partners to meet – and exceed! – customer expectations

#APMP2016 Mission and Goals Reinforce Shared Missions and Goals

#APMP2016 Role & Role Description: Review, Refine, Define

#APMP2016 Collaborative Discussion (15 Minutes*) Role Contributions, Risks without Contributions 15 minutes Assign roles – Presenter – Lead discussion and make real-time changes to role descriptions and definitions – Moderator – Keep conversation on track and on time – Scribe – Capture ideas and “parking lot” items Step 1 – Review proposal processes, key contributions by role, risks without contributions Step 2 – Refine key contributions by role and risks without contributions Step 3 – Define key contributions by role and risks without contributions

#APMP2016 Proposal Manager Roles & Responsibilities Proposal managers perform many different functions, all working together in support of delivering winning proposals: – Own the proposal process; verify compliance and completeness for all pieces of the proposal – Manage calls, timelines and drafts – Work with SMEs and other partners to complete responses – Work with appropriate resources for proposal finalization – Collaborate with sales for assistance with completing references and other requests that require escalation

#APMP2016 Proposal Manager Role Definition Proposal managers (PM) own the proposal process and verify all pieces of the proposal are compliant and complete. They manage calls, timelines and drafts. PMs leverage available content to populate drafts with initial responses to proposal questions. In addition, PMs work with subject matter experts to complete responses and work with internal partners (e.g., legal, contracts) for forms and signatures. They work with the appropriate resources for proposal finalization. PMs also work with sales to obtain assistance completing references and other requests that require escalation during the proposal process.

#APMP2016 SME Roles & Responsibilities Subject matter experts (SME) perform many different functions, all working together in support of delivering winning proposals: – Supply knowledge and expertise in a specific subject matter area – Participate in proposal calls – Be present throughout the proposal process – Contribute responses during the proposal process to close gaps – Help develop, review and edit existing proposal language

#APMP2016 SME Role Definition Proposal Management: A SME provides the knowledge and expertise in a specific subject matter area. The SME, in partnership with proposal managers, verifies that content is accurate and assists with developing/reviewing responses for questions in their area of expertise. The SME also plays a critical role in participating and contributing to key discussions throughout the proposal process and reviewing proposal drafts. Content Management: A SME provides the knowledge and expertise in a specific subject matter area. The SME, in partnership with content managers, help develop, review and edit content located within the proposal database to verify its accuracy within his or her area of expertise.

#APMP2016 Proposal Process: Overview, Role Key Contributions, Risks without Contributions

#APMP2016 Process Each of your roles impacts proposal processes at different times for different reasons…with different results. Every role provides key contributions to the proposal processes. Without those contributions, proposal processes run risks of falling short of internal and external customer expectations.

#APMP2016 Collaborative Discussion (30 Minutes*) Role Contributions, Risks without Contributions 30 minutes Assign roles – Presenter – Lead discussion and make real-time changes to role descriptions and definitions – Moderator – Keep conversation on track and on time – Scribe – Capture ideas and “parking lot” items Step 1 – Review proposal processes, key contributions by role, risks without contributions Step 2 – Refine key contributions by role and risks without contributions Step 3 – Define key contributions by role and risks without contributions

#APMP2016 Service Level Agreements: Review, Refine, Define

#APMP2016 Service Level Agreements (SLA) The accuracy and efficacy of the proposal processes are highly reliant upon the key contributions of the varied roles. Because of the time sensitivity of delivery of the proposal processes, it is critical that all contributing roles commit to the timely completion of inputs to achieve quality outputs. SLAs between the proposal team and partner roles assure collaborative delivery that meet (or exceed!) our customers’ expectations, as well as the management of expectations between internal organizations.

#APMP2016 Collaborative Discussion (30 Minutes*) Overview, Role Contributions, Risks 30 minutes Assign roles – Presenter – Lead discussion and make real-time changes to role descriptions and definitions – Moderator – Keep conversation on track and on time – Scribe – Capture ideas and “parking lot” items Step 1 – Review proposed SLAs associated with proposal processes Step 2 – Refine SLAs Step 3 – Define SLAs; finalize for distribution to the larger team

#APMP2016 Proposal Management Process RFP Kick-off Meeting: Recommended SLAs

#APMP2016 Proposal Management Process Draft Review: Recommended SLAs OPT Commitment to SMEs (Established SLA) Key ContributionsRisks without Contributions SME Commitment to OPT (Established SLA) PM populates draft with standard database responses PM s draft to SMEs to address gaps and review responses. PM includes relevant case details with . SMEs review draft, address gaps and provide feedback on existing responses. Without SMEs reviewing drafts, response gaps exist, resulting in delays, re- work and incorrect solutions. SME works with the PM to address assigned questions by due date set by the PM aligning with proposal schedule. SME reviews draft, notes new/revised content for database updates. SME notifies PM when questions are assigned incorrectly within one business day of draft release.

#APMP2016 Content Management Process Content Review: Recommended SLAs

#APMP2016 Next Steps

#APMP2016 Next Steps Create SLA documentation Review final SLA documentation Determine roll-out date of deliverables Communicate initiative with team/set expectations Schedule follow-up session to present final documentation Communicate SLA documentation/measurement of success Execute training sessions for SMEs

#APMP2016 Questions? Please take a moment to complete the session evaluation. Alison Bukowski Senior Manager, Training & Development Optum

#APMP2016