As everyone knows, an overworked handful of proposal managers, a production shop crew that logged more hours in the past year than most people work in three, and a set of processes posted in the company intranet is NOT a bid engine.
There is a lot that a well-functioning proposal department, proposal center, bid desk, or bid engine have to have. It all boils down to the integration of three major components, no different from any solution you normally describe in a proposal:
1). People
2). Processes
3). Tools and Technology
My upcoming posts will cover the types of specialists you will need to have your bid engine up and running. I will describe the kinds of professionals that should comprise your bare-bones staff and will recommend the types of staff you could bring as consultants during proposal surges.
I will also cover the kinds of processes you will need to institute for proposals 1-15 days in duration, and for 30 to 60-day long bids. Most importantly, I will address how you can get your team to use those processes, rather than having them sit gathering virtual dust in your online repository.
And, finally, I will go into a lot of detail describing the types of tools and technology you will need. I will cover the types of collateral you will have to build for both marketing and capture and for rapid proposal development. I will give you the run-down of the technology available for the automation of proposal-related functions. I will also cover the all-important aspects of collaboration and knowledge management.
If you would like me to answer any specific questions, contact me at any time. Sign up for the blog and stay tuned!
To read Part 1 of “How to Build a Bid Engine,” Click here.
Contact us to learn more.
