#Writing Proposals

First of all, make sure you talk to Bernat, Craig or Jamie about the proposal you are writing, so they can add it to the pipeline. Post something in the #business-dev channel for the proposal team to talk about.

Then throw all the docs you have in a new folder in our proposals folder on Google Drive. Ask Jamie, Craig or David G. for permission if you don’t have it.

Take the RFP and create a short overview document, following this template. Then assemble a team to write it, using #proposals in Slack to coordinate.

In the proposals folder in Google Drive you can find a number of examples of our previous proposals. We have quite a lot of boilerplate text, which can be found here. This includes descriptions of some of our development principles, some text about our skills, project narratives and introduction to some staff.

We have a number of CVs ready to publish, depending on the needs of the client. CVs using the Europass template can be found in this folder (final versions in the ‘cv annex’ sub-folder) and in the World Bank/ UN template can be found here.

Once it’s sent, move the card to ‘sent’ column in prosperworks. When we have written confirmation they want to move forward, move to ‘happy to proceed’. We put it as “won” once contract is signed (and also move it to contract signed column).

#Advice on using Prosperworks ##A client asks for more features/ an extension towards the end of the project Create a new card in solid idea with the source as continuation, and the contact details we already have on file.
Make sure one of the BD team are aware (BM, CM, DG, JG, SE)

##Meet someone in a conference that seems like a potential client Add them to PW as a lead, tag them with a conference tag (e.g. UNWDF) Use the source “presentation” If there is a clear and obvious opportunity straight away, convert them to a contact and add an opportunity to that contact.

##A hello email comes in with a potential lead Add person as a lead, select hello@ as the source. Suggest follow up call to qualify if it appears serious. After call and if serious, convert to contact, add opportunity, stick opportunity in “Solid Idea” If there is an alternative source (e.g. marketing) use that over the hello@

##We delivered a project months ago and now they want more Open the champagne Spray on craig Create a new card in solid idea with the source as continuation, and the contact details we already have on file.
Make sure one of the BD team are aware (CM, DG, JG, AJ, SE) and set up a call with client to discuss next steps.

##Source types Presentation - Staff give a presentation, someone introduces themselves with a potential opportunity.

Internal Referral - One department recommends us to another department

External Referral - We are recommended by a client to a different external client

Continuation - Extension or new phase of an existing project

Repeat - Same client, different project

Hello@ - Source unknown, came through hello email.

Marketing Effort - “I saw your work in x, can you do something for me” - this needs to be accompanied with a tag to the marketing action

Cold RFP - we see something on the web/ someone shares with us and we give it a go.

##Definitions of each section of the Sales Pipeline.

Idea. An opportunity that although is likely to happen, it’s not quite ready for action (e.g. waiting for RFP or funding). This may also be an idea that originates from us that needs testing.

Solid Idea. This is the queue proceeding some kind of action, whether that’s a proposal that needs writing or a pitch. We will review this queue each week to see what pending work from the BD team.

Writing Proposal. This is when work is actually getting done on a proposal or pitch. It sits in here when we’re full go go go on trying to win the work.

Proposal Sent. We’ve delivered a proposal or pitch to the client, now we are waiting for a response. When you move the card here, make sure to update the start and end date that we proposed - this helps Laura calculate projected cash flow. You should also think about the win % - more info on that below.

Nothing else to do here apart from maybe prompt the client if it’s taking a while. Sometimes they may ask for a further round of work in which case the opp goes back in the writing proposal pile.

Happy to proceed. We’ve had verbal or email confirmation that we have won the work. The action once it’s in this pile is to sort the contract.

Contract Signed. Only once we have a contract signed by both parties does the opportunity card move into this pile. At this point we also change the status to “Won”

Contract Finished. Once the contract is complete and the final invoice paid.

##Win percentages Each card has a win percentage. These should evolve to reflect 1) how likely we are to actually win it and 2) the range of error around a budget. Each column has a default win % (as below) reflecting our experience so far. You don’t have to worry about win % until you move a card to proposal sent. Use this guide to work out what % you think your card should get. 100% - only once we get a contract 90% - we’ve been given a written yes 70% - client has indicated in preliminary talks that they want to work with us, and we’re just going through the motions to get the project started 50% - we’re quite confident we could win this 40% - the default for cards in proposals sent 30% - there’s a lot of competition and it’s well out of our normal zone - not likely to get it 20% - this is a reallllyyyy speculative proposal 1% - this is a really big ($millions) proposal and there’s hundreds of competitors