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Red-teaming: Improve Your Chances Of Winning The Business

Management sometimes misses the obvious. Nowhere is this mistake more serious than when it comes to testing responses to RFPs or bids that are being submitted. A simple but effective addition to the process can radically improve the chances of winning.

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The beginnings of a good idea

Recently I sat in on the presentation of a proposal. It was in response to a request for a proposal (RFP) that involved a fairly significant amount of business. The company that was receiving the presentation to had hired me to advise them on a range of strategic issues.

The most striking thing about the experience was that, from one point of view, the founders were very well prepared. Their proposal and oral presentation were polished and contained all the usual sections, their slide show was professional quality, and they spoke with passion and deep knowledge about their company and its products. The materials which they provided were all neatly and professionally packaged.

But early in the meeting it became apparent that the team was not prepared for what they were encountering. Their pitch was clearly more appropriate for a group of fellow technologists. They kept referring to solutions to generic problems and seemed at a loss to respond to specifics as they related to either the business being bid on or the customer offering the contract. They had not taken into consideration the needs and concerns of the company to whom they were presenting.

Worse than that, they did not seem to understand what the RFP was really asking for. The representatives from my client kept interrupting the flow of their pitch with a number of completely normal threshold questions and it went downhill from there; and that was because the presenters were bidding on what they thought the client needed rather than what it has asked for.

None of the members of the presenting team seemed to be aware of just how insulting this behavior was. They were, in effect, saying to a group of people "now, now; what you have asked for is not really the issue. Let us tell you what you really need." Needless to say, the meeting was over far before it broke up and the company was not even considered for the award.

After the presentation, I asked the head of the client's team how frequently this kind of thing happens. He shook his head and responded "More often than I would like and far more often than needs be. The tragedy is that it does not have to." When I asked what he meant he replied "I"m probably the first outsider that they have ever given this presentation to. As a result their pitch comes to me without any real critical review. What is most discouraging is that their entire presentation was not focused on my concerns as a prospective client; nor even on the basic requirements of the RFP. Either they are so dim-witted that they can read and understand our RFP or they do understand it and choose to ignore it."

"And what they don't seem to realize is we were looking to get something very specific and were willing to pay well to get it. What these guys did today was not only establish a negative brand with us but with any others that I end up talking to about them. Every proposal that we get from them in the future will be viewed with skepticism and quickly round-filed."

I immediately understood what he meant. One of the services Longview provides to clients is the establishment of advisory boards designed as a high level, business development engine. I had built such a board for a company that is in the enterprise level software business. One of the company's proudest achievements was that they had earned a high level of certification for their software development process. This certification was prominently mentioned in all of their promotional materials and on their website.

The senior management team was presenting during the first ever gathering of the board. The advisory board consisted of five very high-level individuals with an average of three to four decades of experience. Most had built businesses or run very large organizations. All of them had risen to the top of their profession. This first meeting was designed to bring the board members up to speed.

The software certification was prominently displayed on one of the earliest slides that the chief operating officer presented. One of the board members interrupted the pitch with a question, "OK, I'm one of your customers. Other than making your software more expensive, what is the value of this certification to me?" It quickly became clear that any answer which the team could offer was focused on the 'choir';those individuals who had already bought in to the value of the certification process. They were not able to provide an answer from a client's perspective. As a result, they lost the confidence of the board and had to work hard to get it back.

As I related the story my friend nodded and ruefully smiled. "I'm glad to see that this happens to other people. I had taken to thinking that we were the only space that encountered this kind of thing."

Borrowing from another space

I first came across the idea of red-teaming years and years ago when I was working in the government contracting space. It is now widely used in the commercial sector. Here's how it works:

A proposal team will submit the results of its efforts to a panel of outside experts well prior to a submission to the client. The process is designed to make sure 1) that the proposal correctly addresses the RFP; 2) that the solutions offered are ones that would likely be accepted by the client; 3) that the proposal is credible; 4) that the costing of the proposal has been done correctly and does not contain any extraneous expenditures and 5) that the team can present and defend the proposal in a highly professional and effective manner.

This process is now standard procedure; in fact, widely considered an essential part of best practices in both the government contracting and commercial space. The danger of not following these best practices is severe. I know companies which, in the re-bidding process, failed to adequately challenge the proposal team and lost major contracts that they should have won.

When your people prepare a proposal they and you run the considerable risk of becoming so close to the trees that you grow less and less capable of assessing the forest. A professional, independent review of your funding request, well before you present it to the client, could make the difference between being winning the business or wasting a lot of time; yours and the client's.

A key factor in a truly successful red-teaming effort is that the red-team be truly independent of management and the company. By that I mean that none of the members of the red-team should have any significant relationships with members of the senior team, are not beholding to them in any way. A second factor is that red-team members need to be very experienced with the client and the focus of the RFP. If members are to really going to be able to contribute to the process, they need to be able to judge with some certainty the true needs and intent of the client and the requirements of the RFP.

Red teaming can be applied with considerable benefit to testing and refining all proposals. This process can assure that it meets the needs; adequately addresses the concerns; is clearly and professionally delivered and definitively answers the threshold questions that the client is likely to have.

Red Teaming a Proposal the Dr Smith Way

I organize and facilitates red-teams that can significantly improve your chances of winning. Red teaming is arguably the most important step in the entire cycle of preparing for and delivering a proposal. I have developed an approach which improves the chances for winning. The core of the process is a group of people who will evaluate proposal, and your company, from the client's perspective.

From our perspective, the best way (in fact, the only reliable way) to make sure your proposal is well focused and provides what the client requires is to have it reviewed by a truly objective panel which views it through the eyes of the client. A Red-Team (LRT) looks at the proposal exactly that way. Each red-team is tailor-made for the company, the client and the RFP. Each red-teaming is scheduled far enough ahead of the proposal due date to allow for maximum benefit to the proposal team. Each red-team contains members which can become effective advocates.

The team evaluates the proposal as if they are being asked to award the business; looking for weaknesses and strengths and checking to make sure threshold questions are addressed.

Red team members read your materials as if they were evaluating you for winning the business. This means that they will not be insiders or cheerleaders. Quite the opposite; if your proposal has serious problems or if they think you are off base, it will more likely be, "This is not making sense. I would vote it down!" That in itself is more than a lot of clients will do. They are in the business of issuing RFPs and awarding business; not critiquing your proposal. Many times all you will get is "thanks but no thanks."

But a red team goes the extra step; they are onboard to help you improve your chances of winning. In that role they play hardball; team members can be very critical, step on your toes if necessary, and pull no punches. A red-team member who holds back honest and incisive criticism because of a fear of hurting someone's feelings is not helping; and, believe me, few hold back.

My red-teams can be a very unsettling experience but the goal of each and every member of the team is to help you improve the proposal, value proposition, presentation and chances of winning the business. Remember, to make a success, you occasionally have to break a few egos!

Here are some guidelines we follow for forming and running a red team review:

* Because of their experience, members of our red-teams emulate the process and mindset of the clients that the company is going to present to.

* We pick at least three people to serve on each team.

* They are knowledgeable in the company's space.

* Team members must have no significant prior connection with the company that is presenting.

* They must be willing and able to commit the necessary time and attention to the process.

* We insist that members are given at least a week to read the materials to be used in the presentation and do a bit of personal research.

* Team members must be committed to helping improve the chances of getting the business.

Benefits of a Red-Team Review

Our independent review procedure emulates the client's decision making. We simulate proposal delivery and oral presentation and critically review the entire process. We deliver an in-depth, interactive debriefing. The results will provide you with guidance and direction on what must be done to improve your probability of winning the business.

If you want to learn more about our red teaming programs and how they can help you improve your winning percentages, send me an e-mail and we will arrange a time for a free consultation.

Dr. Earl R. Smith II

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by: Dr. Earl R. Smith II
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Red-teaming: Improve Your Chances Of Winning The Business