Moving with Bold Action to the Contracting Table

Write with bold, impactful statements. In the end, boldness brings clarity because it forces one to think through the promise, the next big step.

It also pushes your proposition (within the proposal, during the interview, or in the course of any negotiations) to the far end of the vendor bell curve, into the high performer category.

But isn't this obvious?! "Why wouldn't someone propose something with boldness?", you may ask. But it's not obvious, and the problem gets even more pronounced the longer and more steeped you are in mundane operational details.

I see so many project approach narratives that read like this:

• While we do not typically provide numbers until the kickoff meeting, we can ensure the purchaser that the SOW will be fully met with ample resources.
• We will take our relationships and use them positively on this contract to ensure the best, most stable delivery.
• Conversations have happened in the background to bring everyone up to speed.
• We will approach the SOW with a staff that is eager to get started.

Even statements like these are non-committal in their vagueness while professing otherwise:

• We are 100% committed to delivering the full scope.
• Everyone will be fully available to meet your needs during the term of the contract.

I can only imagine the mental fatigue of those poor procurement specialists reading lines like these everyday. They most likely start to bleed together, turning into a mush of forgettability. Plus, which firm says they're less than 100% committed? If the baseline is already the maximum, you've lost your differentiator, and you're selling the bottom.

Don't Sell the Bottom

Bold statements pre-contract involve exploring new territories, new sets of promises/guarantees, and allow you to justify your pricing without cliché.

Selling the bottom (and being unable to go higher) will result in poor pricing justification.

Revisit the Goal

Having a consultant or outsider review your entire bidding process will reveal something... sticky... something that refuses to die. Titles like 'Proposal Writer' when you don't have an enterprise-level hierarchy is rather silly. What you need is someone who can take RFPs to the final stages. Boldness is encouraged here because that person will understand the entire picture, the full scope from A-Z. Since the big goal is growing your list of contracts, big inputs need to be fed into this (capture and bidding) machine.

Your Army (of Words)

Each new page, and each subsequent paragraph on that page, has the potential to fight for you in the competitive arena. Moving with bold action into the purchaser's project requires statements like:

• This reinforces your Revenue Cycle in the following concrete ways...
• More eyes will see this media because of X, Y, and Z.
• Executives have added the following resources to our standard pre-production phase: 1) More allotted hours towards scheduling without impacting the NTE... 2)....
• A Vision Document will be delivered promptly after the kickoff meeting, which has a proposed date of March 28th.
• The Council meeting on 2/15/22 brought X to the forefront, so we are guaranteeing delivery to satisfy taxpayer concerns around X...

Even if you're not great at proposal design, and how the words look, clarity and figures will set you apart when it comes time to shortlist.

Lastly, there is sophistication in boldness. It shows an understanding of the stakes if the bold statement should go awry, and it also indicates a sincere investment in one's ideas/structures/processes. This state of being "refined" is a lot better than inefficient messiness. It paints the pricing in a positive way too.

So go boldly, and Happy Bidding!