How We Work

Discovery

During our initial discovery, the Proposal Lab will assess your competitors and evaluate existing brand assets, including brand standards/guidelines, style guides, past proposals, and any additional marketing/sales collateral that’s relevant to the project.

Brand and Content Survey

The Proposal Lab has developed a unique questionnaire that helps identify key points of competitive differentiation and how best to describe a firm’s unique value proposition. Ideally, this survey will be completed by three or more company stakeholders.

Kickoff Meeting

During the project kickoff meeting, results of the discovery and brand/content survey phases are presented and discussed. Primary objectives of the kickoff meeting include:
• Identify key themes for your firm’s win strategy document
• Prioritize proposal copy components based upon their value and quality
• Review potential design ideas/components for the proposal template

Win Strategy Document

This document describes how best to position and differentiate your firm within its proposal copy and includes key messages/proof points to reinforce the firm’s unique value proposition.

Writing Guide

A simple one-pager that can be used as a blueprint to author any future proposal copy not included within this project’s scope or developed at a future date.

Content and Design Development

Prioritized proposal copy will be developed based upon the win strategy document and writing guide. The writing process is iterative, with the client reviewing each section of proposal content at three distinct milestones. The budget includes up to three rounds of client-directed edits.

Content and Design Sign-Off

A final review, quality control and client sign-off is required before the copy is to be used for future proposals and placed into the client’s “proposal library.” An essential part of this phase is to ensure no significant overlap in content amongst the various sections, that the writing guide has been implemented consistently (e.g., tone of voice), and that the win strategy has been implemented.

Kickoff Meeting and Strategy Session

During our initial sixty-minute kickoff meeting, we will complete a detailed review of the bid documents, discuss how best to position your firm and its service offering, and identify any mandatory requirements that need immediate action.

Proposal Plan and Schedule

Within one day of the kickoff meeting, our team will prepare and share the Proposal Plan and Schedule with all stakeholders. The Proposal Plan serves as an excellent resource for all team members, providing important information about the RFP, key messages, win themes, and important milestones.

Responsibility Matrix and Writing Templates

The Responsibility Matrix provides a “birds-eye” view of everyone’s responsibility. It is updated daily so all contributors can assess progress and identify bottlenecks to completion. Finally, we provide writing templates to ensure all proposal requirements are addressed, and each response is developed consistently and according to the Proposal Lab’s standards.

Design Concept Development and Approval

Early in the process, we create proposal design templates, either in MS Word or Adobe InDesign, depending upon the client’s requirements and the best approach to a winning submission.

Writing/Editing

The writing and editing process is often tailored based upon the client, the preferences of their subject matter experts, and the extent of existing, high-quality content. In most cases, Proposal Lab writers author the first draft of all sections based upon input from subject matter experts, often in the form of bullets or the results of telephone interviews. Typically, there are three rounds of edits before a proposal is finalized and prepared for submission.

Quality Review and Compliance Check

Every proposal is reviewed by a member of the Proposal Lab team who was not involved in the writing and editing process. These individuals are trained to identify spelling and grammatical mistakes, formatting inconsistencies and ensure a compliant proposal. Our bid writing service is designed to efficiently produce high-quality proposals with less anxiety and stress – from developing a winning proposal strategy to final compliance and quality checks.