Capture Management

This is in continuation with my previous blogs “Why Proposal Writing Services”, “RFP Management” and “Manager - Bid, RFP, Tender, Proposal”. This blog is about a Capture Management.

Traditionally, Capture Management is only limited to searching of Tenders, RFPs, RFI, ITTs, PQQs, etc. and then sharing to Sales, Business Development or Proposal Team for further processing. If there is no flow of such RFPs, Tenders, related to organization than there is no role of Capture Team. It was generally assigned to a junior level or newish team member who is somewhat aware about the product or service offerings, partially informed about experience and capability of the company or is not aware about the Management’s vision and future roadmap, considering this job role to be only an ancillary activity of no importance, which is performed by a single person.

Majority of the Proposal Managers said they received inadequate information from their capture teams. This confirms that integration between capture and proposal processes is broken in maximum companies.

Also the Proposal Managers have had to lead a proposal where there was no capture activity at all. In effect, they were asked to write a proposal to a prospective client the company had never met and were expected to write a winning proposal based on just the information contained in the RFP. This is hardly a winning proposition and more often than not, results in very low win rates and even lower morale. Also the Proposal Managers said that their companies normally conduct a capture process of some sort and provide some additional information to the proposal team. These Proposal Managers were quick to add that some information is better than none, but this still leaves a lot to be desired.

Typically, Presales, Bid Management, Capture Management, Proposal Writing, Business Development, Sales, etc is limited to only one or a few members who has to perform all this activities under direct supervision of the CEO or Owner. Capture management is all about what to offer and presenting it in a winning proposal. But figuring out how to capture the lead requires knowledge and skills in marketing, corporate strategy, proposal development, finance, pricing, contracts, project management, human resources, and basically everything else. It may very well be the most difficult job in a company, partly because very few people have experience in everything needed, and partly because they have to sell internally within the company just as much as they have to sell to the customer. This will lead to loss of business or growth in long run as there will be a shortfall of talent if such resource moves away. It is advisable to have a division of capture work and diverse capture team to have a successful win. Even this will help to have a quick action even if a Tender or RFP is floated out of your knowledge and information and you want to pursue the same, which is majorly the case.

Same as Bid Management, during Capture Management, experienced senior level presales, sales, projects, products & servicing teams are to be involved for having the insights and information about the prospects for opportunity. Each must deliver information that will support writing a winning proposal. Contributing to the proposal does not necessarily mean taking on writing assignments.

Capture Management role is not limited to above. Now it is recognized as a separate business function of Bid Management which is enhanced to identifying & qualifying the right opportunity; advocating, tracking, understanding the customer's objectives and requirements, developing a preliminary solution linked to objectives, and positioning with the customer along with gathering intelligence, assigning a budget, extending customer contacts, building the capture plan, and resourcing the capture team. Also during Capture stage, a competition to be assessed and has to develop a win strategy by establishing a price to win. This is like winning the tender or RFP before an actual preparation has been started. Capture management involves all those activities that are aimed at increasing the win probability or just positioning your company for the win. Capture management activities are performed before the proposal is written. In a more scientific approach it is to be performed before the solicitation is released. The right time of Capture Management is to begin at pre-solicitation release and often, long before that.

The capture and proposal process are key elements in overall business development process. Capture begins when a company makes its initial decision to pursue a new business opportunity. This decision is formalized by selecting a capture manager who will lead the company’s activities in the pursuit of a new business opportunity.

Capture Strategy Document is to be prepared and roles and responsibilities are to be assigned accordingly. This will be the shift from isolated roles to an integrated effort to win. Capture management hands off to proposal management when it’s time to put it all in writing.

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Harshpalsinh Vaghela

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