Put aside some time for the proposal methodology.
This is the section of your proposal on which you will probably spend the most hours, and feel the most stress. This is the part where you tell the client how you’re going to do the thing they’ve asked for. Your goal in the proposal methodology is to assure them that you know what you’re doing, and that you can deliver the job efficiently and to a high quality.
And if you can surprise them with an innovation that they’re not expecting, you just might get the job.
So first, don’t panic.
A lot of the work in putting together a proposal methodology is just basic project management. It’s really an exercise in work breakdown structures and task lists. And while these can get quite complex, it’s really just a process of looking ahead to the delivery date and working backwards, task by task, to today.
You can do this.
You’ve probably done this kind of thing before. If you were an employee doing this project, how would you chunk it out? It’s no different as a consultant—except you’re in charge now.
Start to jot down the areas of work. Start high-level. Remember, almost every consulting contract follows the research – analysis – recommendations formula, with the research piece being by far the most laborious. What does that look like for you?
Look at the challenge or problem that they’ve outlined in their RFP. Now, in order to solve that problem or rise to that challenge or fully exploit that opportunity, what kinds of research, analysis, and recommendations are you going to have to do?
Here’s how I start:
Work from broad strokes down to details. For each work area (each bubble in the scrawled notes above), start to bullet out a task list.
Are there site visits? In-person meetings or consultations? Bullet them out, and start to attach hours or days to them.
Does everything go through first draft, feedback, second draft feedback, final draft? That’s pretty standard in consulting. Make sure you include each of those as a task, or set of tasks, in your task list.
How much of this work to show them
I find I go further in my task lists than I need to show in my proposal. That is to say, I have more detail in the project plan—finer resolution on the tasks—than I show them. That’s for me; that’s for my work planning and budgeting. They don’t need to know how many hours per task; they need to know that I’m following a smart and thorough methodology.
That said, I have colleagues who show everything, task by task, hour by hour, dollar by dollar in their proposal methodology. It’s up to you, ultimately.
Group it all out into phases. A long project will probably have three or four phases, each with a submission, each with feedback, each with a sign-off. So lump it all together that way.
I like to mark each phase with its inputs and outputs, in a kind of logic model approach.
- What I need from you the client (documents, approvals, introductions, site visits, signoff on previous phases- what ever you need to do the work for this phase)
- What I do, or what we do together (work processes: evaluations, discussions, analysis, research)
- What I produce for you: the report or other concrete document that we will use in the next phase.
- How many revisions we get per phase (normally it’s the first submission plus two revisions. Period.)
- At each phase, make it clear that you need sign-off in writing.
Surprise them.
Many RFPs are quite prescriptive in how they want the work done. They may have a methodology laid out for you, or at least the skeleton of one. That makes it easy for you to flesh out a response… but here’s the thing:
I have done the RFP thing from both side of the table, so to speak. Back when I was a civil servant, I used to draft the RFP, list out the requirements, and review the submissions. I will never forget the time we were reviewing proposals to build a nature centre. I had been quite specific in what we wanted and how we wanted it done, but one proposal methodology in particular said the following, regarding a particular method we wanted them to use.
“We understand this requirement and are happy to deliver it for you, but have you considered the following? We recommend…”
And they went ahead an suggested an alternate way of doing the thing we wanted. And it was a good idea- something we hadn’t really thought of.
I remember being just so impressed with their innovation, their courage in suggesting it, and the diplomatic way they went about it. They ended up getting the job.
Innovate a bit
So don’t be afraid to suggest more innovative or more efficient ways of doing what they’re asking. You don’t want to throw their entire suggested methodology out the window—that would be insulting to them.
But if you can think off ways to make their lives easier using methods they may not have thought of or used before—and if you can propose them in a positive and humble way—it’s going to set you apart from everybody else.
But do make it clear that you are willing and able to do it their way if that’s what they want.