1. Bid/Proposal Review and Approval
Ensuring Proposal Quality
By: Don Shannon CPCM
Bid/Proposal Review and Approval

2. Introduction
Proposal quality can be improved by timely and well structured reviews of the proposal content
Contract professionals should play a significant role in the proposal process
Review team members
Business advisors
Compliance checkers
Risk mitigation
Bid/Proposal Review and Approval

3. Before We Get Started No two proposals are ever the same
There is no “one size fits all” approach
The number of reviews and the depth of the review will depend on
Size of the proposal
Time available
Your organization
This is intended to be an overview of the review process with a goal of improving proposal quality.
Bid/Proposal Review and Approval

4. Management Reviews Process (Management) reviews
Often called “Gates”
Assess business issues related to pursuit/capture activities
Proposal cost
Risk
“Goodness” of fit with business strategy
Independent of proposal team (Quality) reviews
These are necessary and desirable reviews but not the focus of this presentation
Bid/Proposal Review and Approval

5. Capture Activities (Concurrent with Proposal Creation)
Pre-Bid
Advance Knowledge
Develop Capture Strategy
Fed BizOps
Opportunity Announcement
RFP
Review Terms and Conditions
Review Technical Requirements
Evaluate Requirements
Evaluate Risk
Determine Proposal Cost
Proposal Creation
Outline / Storyboard
Draft Content
Technical
Management
Past Performance
Cost
Proposal Submittal 1 2 3 4
Gates
1. Opportunity Assessment
2. Strategy and Capture Plan Review
3. Readiness Review
4. Submit (Go/No-Go) Review
NOTE: Gate Reviews are Strategic Management reviews and DO NOT contribute directly to the proposal’s quality.
Bid/Proposal Review and Approval

6. “Standard” Proposal Team Reviews
Color Coded Reviews (Nearly Universal)
Pink
Red
Other Colors (less common)
Purple (or blue)
Black
Green
Gold
White
Origin of the color code is the subject of speculation and lots of war stories.
Bid/Proposal Review and Approval

7. The Proposal Time-Line (Shipley and Associates)
Market Segmentation
Identify and Select Appropriate Opportunities
Develop Win Strategy
Opportunity Assessment
Stakeholder Review
Funds Authorization
Bid/No-Bid Decision
Capture
Blue Team (Capture Plan / Strategy)
Black Hat Team (Competitor Simulation)
Proposal Planning
Proposal Management Plan
Schedule
Writing Assignments
Proposal Preparation
Storyboard / Create Proposal Rough Draft
Pink Team (Verify Compliance)
Finalize Draft
Red Team (Customer Simulation)
Gold Team (Profitability & Risk)
Final Proposal
White Team (Lessons Learned)
Bid/Proposal Review and Approval

8. The Proposal Time-Line (Garrett)
Pre-Bid
Identify and Select Appropriate Opportunities
Develop Win Strategy
Bid Decision
Stakeholder Review
Funds Authorization
Bid/No-Bid Decision
Proposal Development
Storyboard
Risk Management
Cost and Pricing
Create Proposal Volumes
Proposal Review
Pink Team
Red Team
Final Proposal
Bid/Proposal Review and Approval

9. Proposal Review Goals Goal #1 – Produce a quality proposal
Is our proposal compliant with the RFP?
Does our proposal offer a solution that addresses the customer’s needs?
Technical
Budgetary
Schedule
Goal # 2 Produce a competitive proposal
Goal # 3 Present our company/team in the best light possible
Bid/Proposal Review and Approval

10. Minimum Reviews Contracting review Pink Team Red Team
White Glove (aka “Book Check”)
Bid/Proposal Review and Approval

11. Contracting Review
Bid/Proposal Review and Approval

12. Contracting (RFP) Review
When
As soon as RFP is available (draft or final)
By whom
Contract Administrator / Manager
Legal (as required)
Objective
Identify potential legal or contractual issues
Prepare and transmit questions to soliciting office for clarification.
Bid/Proposal Review and Approval

13. What to Look For Organizational Conflict of Interest (OCI)
Appropriate contract type
Special/unusual terms and conditions
Export (EAR/ITAR) issues
Performance requirements
Schedule
Bonds
Bid/Proposal Review and Approval

14. What to Look For Statement of Work Scope clearly defined
Directive voice (shall / will)
Clearly defined deliverables
What
When
Where
How many
Quality requirements
Clearly defined acceptance criteria
“How do I know when I’m done?”
Bid/Proposal Review and Approval

15. What to Look For Section L (Instructions to Offerors)
Proposal submittal requirements
Proposal due date, format, number of copies, etc.
Representations and Certifications
Certified Cost and Pricing Data
Bonds (bid, performance and/or payment)
Volumes
Technical
Cost
Past Performance (Contracts is usually responsible)
Management
Bid/Proposal Review and Approval

16. What to Look For Section M Does it align with Section L?
What are the award criteria
Lowest Responsible Bidder
Low Cost Technically Acceptable
Two Step Sealed Bid
Best Value
Evaluation Factors
Clearly defined / stated
Appropriate for the award criteria
Clarification required?
Protest?
Per FAR (e) Protests for alleged improprieties must be filed before bid opening or closing date for proposals.
Bid/Proposal Review and Approval

17. What to Look For
All the above are contributors to contract “Risk Factors” that should be
Identified & cataloged
Analyzed
Strategized
Mitigated
Questions and clarifications
“Contracts” should be the focal point for compiling and communicating questions concerning the RFP
Bid/Proposal Review and Approval

18. Pink Team Review
Bid/Proposal Review and Approval

19. Pink Team Goals Is this proposal compliant?
Does it address the customer’s requirements?
Is our approach clearly communicated
Are “win themes” communicated
Consistent with capture strategy
Bid/Proposal Review and Approval

20. When and How Conducted When How Storyboard phase (Shipley)
Outline or Rough Draft Phase (Garrett)
How
Team approach
Pink team members should not be part of the proposal team
Systematic approach
Documented procedure
Checklist
Objective review
Results formally communicated
Memo
Deficiency forms
Bid/Proposal Review and Approval

21. Pink Team Review Sometimes called a “Wall Walk”
Necessary Inputs (Shipley)
Storyboards
Executive Summary
Outline / TOC
Requirements Matrix
Rough Draft(optional)
First cut pricing (if available)
Review makes sure you are “on-target” before drafting the proposal
Bid/Proposal Review and Approval

22. Pink Team Checklist 1 Organization Appearance Accurate Graphics
Logical organization
Clear TOC
Internal content consistent with TOC
One voice
Appearance
Professional
Inviting to read
Easy to follow
Consistent style and format
Error free (e.g., typos)
Accurate
Is the solution credible
Are facts/data accurate
Are claims believable
Are claims provable
Are claims supported by facts/data
Graphics
Proper quantity
Appropriate
Do they present intended point at a glance
Creative and accurate
Correctly referenced in text
1. Solicitations, Bids, Proposals and Source Selection Gregory A. Garrett and Gail A. Parrott © 2007 CCH
Bid/Proposal Review and Approval

23. Pink Team Checklist Executive Summary Technical
Does it give an sense of the overall proposal
Does it present the customer problem / objective and the solution
Is it an effective presentation of your company
Is it sensitive to the customer needs / requirements
Does it cover / comply with the win theme and strategy
Was it worth reading
Technical
Customer problem / objective stated / analyzed
Does the proposed solution solve the problem
Is solution clearly expressed with sufficient detail
Are all customer specifications / requirements addressed
Are there conflicting responses
Do responses support solution
Is delivery response complete and realistic
Does delivery meet customer requirements
Bid/Proposal Review and Approval

24. Pink Team Checklist Cost and Pricing 2
Are the bases of estimate (BOE) realistic and complete
Have key suppliers and subcontractors been contacted for quotes / proposals
Do the numbers add up
Are detailed pricing pages consistent with the summary pages
2 Typically pricing is not fully developed at this stage – this checklist is a departure from the Garret book
Bid/Proposal Review and Approval

25. Red Team Review
Bid/Proposal Review and Approval

26. Red Team Goals
Does the proposal make sense and answer the customer’s problem
Is the proposal customer focused
Is the proposal complete
Is the proposal clearly stated
Addressing the customer’s requirements
Putting forth your win strategies and theme
Bid/Proposal Review and Approval

27. When and How Conducted
About two-thirds of the way through the proposal cycle
Allows time for recovery
The Review is a formal process by select team
The team should mirror the customer’s review team
Contracts
Technical/Operations
Program Management
Logistics
Cost and Pricing
Prefer that team members not be part of the proposal team
Bid/Proposal Review and Approval

28. When and How Conducted
Review conducted on well advanced draft of proposal volumes
Management
Technical
Cost
Past Performance
Requirements Matrix very helpful at this stage
May use separate teams for various volumes
Gadfly reviewer can help cut across teams
Reviewer comments may simply be a mark-up of the draft or may be documented on elaborate forms and log sheets
Score sheets used by some firms
Post review downsize the team to focus on rewrites and consistency.
Bid/Proposal Review and Approval

29. Red Team Checklist 3 Organization and Emphasis
Are all of the main ideas up front
Has the content of each Section been previewed at the beginning
Summarized content at end
Are paragraphs logical and easy to follow
Does each paragraph have only one main idea
Win Theme and Strategies
Does the response effectively present the value of your company’s solution
Is it persuasive
Does it sell
Does it follow overall win themes
Are win strategies reflected throughout the document
Does the response Emphasize your Company’s strengths and minimize your company’s weaknesses
Does the response “ghost” the competition’s weaknesses
3. Solicitations, Bids, Proposals and Source Selection Gregory A. Garrett and Gail A. Parrott © 2007 CCH
Bid/Proposal Review and Approval

30. Red Team Checklist Compliance and Responsiveness
Does the solution solve the customer’s problem
Has each part of every question been answered
Does the response address each customer (RFP) requirement
Do the answers echo the customer’s language
Is the writing clear, to the point and make sense
Are any statements vague, confusing or misleading
Appearance and Presentation
Is the overall RFP response professional
Does it accurately reflect your company’s image
Do the pages have a clean and professional look
Are all the names and dates correct
Are the cross-references correct
Are the figures and tables numbered correctly
Bid/Proposal Review and Approval

31. Red Team Checklist Consistency and Brevity Visuals
Do the writing styles match (one voice)
Are terms and abbreviations used consistently
Have extraneous materials been eliminated
Has boilerplate been properly been updated for this submittal
Have you evaluated any added materials or brochures for consistency, need, and appropriateness
Visuals
Do the visuals complement and support the text
Are they all needed
Are they simple and uncluttered
Are they appropriate to the overall technical level
Can they stand alone
Are visuals introduced before they appear
Do they reflect the strategy
Do they illustrate the major benefits to the customer
Bid/Proposal Review and Approval

32. White Glove
Bid/Proposal Review and Approval

33. White Glove Check Also called “Book Check” Last touch before submittal
Administrative review of each volume and copy
Imperfect copies
Missing pages
Completeness
Is everything there?
Bid/Proposal Review and Approval

34. Final Checklist All volumes present in correct quantities
Original copy marked
Original copies of signed documents in this volume?
All necessary attachments or submittals present
Reps and certifications (Section K completed if ORCA not used)
Bid bond (if required)
Certificate of independent price determination (if required)
Letter of transmittal
Bid/Proposal Review and Approval

35. Optional Reviews
Bid/Proposal Review and Approval

36. Purple Team (Shipley) Assess opportunity for Pwin
Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis
Score your company vs. competitors using the solicitation's evaluation criteria
Focus capture strategy on areas likely to improve Pwin
Assess how the opportunity aligns with strategic organizational goals
Result: input to Bid/No-Bid and capture strategy
Bid/Proposal Review and Approval

37. Blue Team Capture Strategy Review
May be done more than once during proposal
Based on input received from Purple and Black Hat review teams
Bid/Proposal Review and Approval

38. Black Hat Team Competitor’s Likely Approach
Technical solution
Cost/pricing bogies
Reliant on business intelligence
May require use of consultants or outside experts
Bid/Proposal Review and Approval

39. Green Team Technical Solution Review
Is the solution proposed the best of all possible solutions
Does it meet the customer’s stated requirements
Is it robust and achievable
Is it economically feasible
May not have to be cheapest if it is lower risk and/or higher performance
Can you make a business case for the solution (e.g., ROI)
Is it likely to be developed within the allotted time
Bid/Proposal Review and Approval

40. Gold Team Profitability / Business Case
“Be careful what you ask for – you may just get it”
Best use of available resources
Can these resources be applied to other efforts with better return
Does this effort require ramping up staff / facilities
What to do with project resources after this project
How does this fit with long-term strategy
May be combined with Gate 4 Review
Bid/Proposal Review and Approval

41. White Team Lessons Learned Proposal Team and Review Teams
What did we do right
What could we do better
How were our costs and schedule compared to the initial estimates
How well did our established procedures support us
What unexpected situations arose and how did we deal with them
Did we have the right size team and representation
Bid/Proposal Review and Approval

42. Summary
Properly conducted proposal reviews can improve proposal quality
Reduce errors
Improve compliance
Improve competitiveness
Proposal reviews should be
Timely
Thorough
Documented
Consistent
Bid/Proposal Review and Approval

43. Sources
Solicitations, Bids, Proposals and Source Selection– Garrett & Parrott © CCH
Shipley Associates Proposal Guide for Business 4th Edition © 2011
“The Capture Management Life Cycle: Learning to Dance with Customers” – Garrett Contract Management June 2003
Common Acquisition Touchpoints between Industry and Government – Morgenstern 28th Annual Government Contracts Management Conference November 2009
“The Role of Contracts in the Capture Process” – Centanni Contract Management September 2005
Corporate Best Practices – Various Firms
Bid/Proposal Review and Approval