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2.1. We have a robust 'bid / no bid' process that ensures that we allocate the right resources to the right deals - based on best practice criteria (is it real, do we want it, can we win it, can we do it?)

2.2. We first qualify opportunities well before any RFP arrives.

2.3. Deals are qualified out until they are qualified in: that is, we don’t chase any deals unless we’ve actively built, presented and agreed a case for doing so.

2.4. It is very rare that we "no bid" an opportunity.

2.5. We only work on deals where we are confident that we’ll succeed and have all of the necessary resources to enable us to do so.

2.6. We have clear visibility of all of the major new business opportunities that require a written proposal over the coming twelve months.

2.7. We're largely reactive - spending almost all of our time working on RFP responses, one after the other.

2.8. We follow a clearly-defined process for pre-proposal planning, investing significant effort before the RFP arrives - including planning the proposal project, building the team and developing draft content.

2.9. On the majority of our last ten major proposals, we had actively influenced the clients’ requirements and decision-making in our favour prior to receipt of the RFP.

2.10. We regularly and successfully win business by submitting proactive proposals and pitches without waiting to be sent an RFP.

2.11. We have a defined process for renewal proposals, regularly submitting proposals well before the end of a contract, to persuade the customer to extend it.

3.1. Our proposals always tell a clear and compelling story – “why us, why not the competition?”

3.2. We follow a structured process to work out our proposal strategy and win themes before we start writing the proposal.

3.3. If competitors know that we’re bidding, they get worried.

3.4. We usually focus on developing a solution that meets the customer’s requirements without considering what the competition may be doing.

3.5. Everyone working on the proposal always understands the story we’re telling the customer and can articulate our key messages before they start writing.

3.6. It’s all about price.

3.7. We storyboard, or use other content design techniques, to help to plan content that will maximise our scores in the evaluation - before contributors start to write.

3.8. We develop the first draft of the executive summary very early – not in the final few days of the submission.

3.9. Our salespeople’s mindset is: “Let’s just get them a compliant document: we’ll win it when we get to present.”

4.1. Proposal projects are characterised by a sense of confidence, cohesion, creativity, control, calm and clear communication.

4.2. A clear, realistic and robust project plan is in place for each bid / proposal effort - and is understood, bought into and adhered to by all.

4.3. We run an effective kick-off workshop for every bid, to connect, brief and motivate team members.

4.4. Proposal development feels like a spare time activity for content contributors, squeezed in alongside (and viewed as lower priority than) the "day job".

4.5. The culture for proposals is “late nights, cold pizza” – always working under last minute pressure to achieve the submission deadline.

4.6. Proposal activities are embedded into the role descriptions, objectives and rewards of all those involved.

4.7. Senior executives are nowhere to be seen even on major proposal efforts.

4.8. Proposal development feels creative, energetic and “the place to be”.

4.9. All those involved in proposals and pitches have been trained – recently - in all of the necessary skills, and a structured programme is in place to continually enhance their skills.

4.10. We regularly analyse the training needs of those working on proposals and bid presentations, to make sure everyone has the right level of skills.

4.11. Proposal experts are involved in all proposals and associated pitches (either directly or by providing resources that support sales enablement).

5.1. We have dedicated space in which team members can work creatively and effectively during a bid.

5.2. The right people can get into a room to work on a bid together face-to-face when required, regardless of where they are usually based.

5.3. We’re great at managing virtual proposal teams, when it’s simply not possible to bring contributors together.

5.4. We have a robust process for managing competitive intelligence, that we use to provide insights when working on our strategy, solution and storyboards.

5.5. We know the cost of developing each proposal that we submit.

5.6. We have a comprehensive, up-to-date set of client case studies and testimonials, as well as other external proof points such as benchmarking data and press quotes.

5.7. We have a set of contemporary, easy-to-tailor "standard" proposals and pitches for smaller or less strategic deals.

5.8. We have a high-quality toolkit of materials and checklists that we use to steer activities throughout the proposal and pitch process.

5.9. We use professional proposal content management software – e.g. Qvidian, RFPIO, Qorus.

5.10. A comprehensive library of up-to-date, high-quality pre-written proposal and pitch content is in place.

5.11. Content in the proposal and pitch library is owned by the relevant subject matter experts, who are clearly accountable for keeping it continually updated.

5.12. The library is managed by a dedicated, senior resource, against a clear workload plan that includes refreshing existing materials, capturing new content from the proposal team and suggesting new content from other corporate sources.

5.13. We often find out-of-date information in our pre-written content library.

6.1. All proposal content is approved before it’s issued, to ensure that the deal would result in good, profitable business for us if we won.

6.2. We carry out a peer review (“red team”) of all proposals to improve proposal quality before submission – undertaken by experts with significant proposal and purchasing experience.

6.3. We have a clearly identified cadre of trained, skilled, expert peer reviewers.

6.4. We spend so much time worrying about our internal process that we can’t put enough effort or creativity into the proposal.

6.5. The reviews only happen at the end of the process - rather than at earlier stages to sharpen our strategy, offer and storyboards.

6.6. We have a robust process to assess the level of business risk and commercials on each proposal before it leaves the building.

6.7. Reviews are focused as much on "Are we doing enough to win?" as on "Would we make enough money"?

6.8. Our proposal and pitch output is always error-free in terms of spelling, grammar and layout.

7.1. Our proposals are consistently first-class.

7.2. Our proposals always look great, and we’re confident that they’re better designed that those of our competitors.

7.3. Our proposals are always a joy to read – they flow and read well, are interesting and engaging, and tell a compelling story.

7.4. Our proposals tend to be highly “cut and paste”, without much tailoring to the specific client and opportunity.

7.5. In our proposal writing, we mention our organisation (by name, or using ‘we’, us’, ‘our’ or ‘ours’) more often than the client (by name, or ‘you’, ‘your’, ‘yours’).

7.6. Content is developed in a structured way using an iterative process by people with the right skills that leads to clear, concise and persuasive content that maximises your scores with the customer.

7.7. Our proposals are always well-structured, have a logical flow to them and are easy to navigate for the evaluators.

7.8. We regularly receive excellent feedback from clients about the quality of our proposals and pitches compared to those they’ve received from our competitors.

7.9. Our writing style is conversational - engaging and establishing rapport with the readers.

7.10. Our content is easy to evaluate - and clearly articulates benefits before features; uses proof points, is concise, creates differentiation and presents value at every turn.

7.11. Our win themes cascade throughout our proposals.

7.12. The proposals we produce are contemporary in style.

7.13. Whenever we're not restricted by customer requirements, we always use graphics and images to help tell our story.

7.14. For key opportunities we have the skills, time and funding to design high-quality bespoke documents, packaging and video.

7.15. Our last proposal made it overwhelmingly inevitable that the client would choose us.

7.16. Our CEO would be proud of how our proposals present our organisation.

7.17. We do regular client audits

8.1. Once a proposal’s been submitted, we routinely review it to harvest (and ‘clean’) any content that might be suitable for re-use in future documents.

8.2. The same people work on the bid presentation / pitch that work on the proposal, ensuring continuity and consistency of our story and approach.

8.3. Our proposal support function is actively involved in supporting pitch preparation - with a structured process for materials design, preparation and rehearsal.

8.4. Our pitch slides and handouts closely resemble the look and feel of our proposal submission.

8.5. The story and content of our pitch always closely aligns to the written proposal.

8.6. Our pitches feel like "death by PowerPoint"

8.7. Pitches are developed by first building large-slide packs of previously used content rather than creating the story, then the script, followed then by the materials used within the room on the day.

8.8. Our pitches are supported by bespoke, professional materials that aligns to the proposal – for example handouts, executive brochures, pitch posters, etc.

8.9. All pitch team members have received formal bid presentation training before they stand up and present to customers.

8.10. We think ahead to the negotiation phase before determining what to include in the initial proposal and pitch.

8.11. There’s a smooth transition from the bid phase to the delivery team, once the deal’s been won.

8.12. We have a structured process for comparing what we delivered to the customer versus what we said in the bid, once we’ve implemented the solution.

8.13. We run independently facilitated learning reviews for all deals, win or lose.

8.14. We wait until we get the result of the bid before undertaking any form of learning review.

8.15. Lessons learned from bids drive real change, owned by senior management.

8.16. When it comes to proposals, the same things seem to go wrong again and again.

9.1. Our proposal support function is viewed by colleagues within the business as a “back office factory” or “glorified admin function”.

9.2. The proposal support function is recognised as a great place to work.

9.3. Our bid/proposal staff regularly work late into the evenings and at weekends, and have a poor life/work balance.

9.4. We conduct regular (at least once per year) client audits to show how our proposals rate versus the competition.

9.5. Staff in the proposal support function are viewed within the business as experienced, credible professionals.

9.6. We regularly undertake client debriefs where we gather learnings that are summarised in to key priorities that are then fed back in to our organisation and owned by senior management.

9.7. We measure the success of our proposal support function using a clear balanced scorecard that reflects win rates, internal and external feedback, proposal quality audit scores, and other clearly defined criteria.

9.8. We have a document repository that gives us easy and quick access to all past proposals, the outcome of the bid, and any feedback received.

9.9. A clear capacity plan is in place for the proposal support function, reflecting the resources and skills needed to support the upcoming deals on the sales pipeline.

9.10. Easy-to-use tools are in place to manage the team’s current and forecast workload, and to assign the right staff to the right deals wherever possible.

9.11. The effort and style of proposal support provided is aligned to the strategic importance of each deal and uses clear categorisation.

9.12. The proposal support function’s engagement model with the business is clearly defined, is responsive, and the service level provided reflects the sales organisation’s needs.

9.13. All of our bid/proposal staff hold APMP (Association of Proposal Management Professionals) certification to the relevant levels.

9.14. Proposal support function staff have personal development plans in place, with regular on-going investment in skills enhancement.

9.15. There are no clear career paths for our proposal specialists.

9.16. We sometimes struggle to recruit bid / proposal staff with the necessary skills and experience.

9.17. We have a strategy to recruit apprentices or at least less experienced team members who we then mentor and train up to be bidding professionals.

9.18. We pay our bid / proposal staff above the market average.

9.19. We're adept at using external support to complement our in-house resources, to help with critical deals or with peaks in workload.

9.20. There is a clear and well understood return on investment delivered by our proposal support function.

10.1. We win more bids than we lose.

10.2. We punch above our weight, winning a higher proportion of bids than would be expected given our market position.

10.3. We are confident of success in all of the “must win” deals on our bid pipeline.

10.4. We win bids in spite of our proposals, rather than thanks to them.

10.5. Our proposals are a true source of competitive advantage.

10.6. The head of our bid/proposal centre is a senior executive who commands respect across the organisation.

10.7. The head of our bid/proposal centre gets people across the business excited about bids and proposals by evangelising about best practice, and coaching and guiding colleagues.

10.8. We sometimes know we could have submitted a better proposal were it not for resource constraints that impeded us.

10.9. Proposal development is in the DNA of our business.

10.10. We have specific funding allocated to improve our proposal capabilities in the next twelve months.

10.11. We have a track record of successfully investing in our own proposal capability.