Shipley Proposal Guide

Help individuals and organizations win competitive business more effectively, efficiently, and consistently.

Guidelines in each entry are based upon the fundamental principles of our consulting practice:

• Align your proposal with the customer’s evaluation process.

• Use a disciplined business development process thatemphasizes up-front planning.

• Schedule to the process and maintain schedule discipline.

• Base your strategy on the customer’s perspective.

• Focus your effort early and throughout with an early executive summary.

• Apply proven project management principles to proposal development.

• Use a disciplined, customer-focused writing approach.

• Use reviews to both control and add value to the process.

Organizations implementing these principles, supported by the guidelines in this Proposal Guide, will capture more

business at a lower cost.

Offer clear guidance to business development professionals that is practical and easy to find. The concept for the Proposal Guide originated when individuals in client organizations repeatedly asked similar questions:

Is this written down anywhere? Now it is.

Most training for sales professionals focuses on enhancing sales skills and explaining the features and advantages of their organization’s products and services, but not on how to direct, prepare, or contribute to proposals. This is the first easy-to-use reference for business development professionals who are seeking practical, clear guidance on how to win competitive business in all markets, large or small, domestic or international, private sector or public. In addition, the Proposal Guide was selected in 2005 as the primary reference for the Association of Proposal Management Professionals (APMP) Foundation Level certification exam.

Record best-practice guidelines.

At Shipley Associates, we have observed and recommended industry best practices in business development training, consulting, and process reengineering since 1972. We endeavor to follow these principles in our consulting practice, teach them in our training practice, and share them in this Proposal Guide.

This Proposal Guide, like the companion Capture Guide and Business Development Lifecycle Guide, offers guidelines, not rules.

Reality encompasses more shades of gray than can be covered in a guide intended to be concise. When in doubt, do what the customer says and be consistent.

Are the guidelines unique? Not usually.

Can you find all of these guidelines in any other reference? No.