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August 07, 2004

Those "Unimportant" Proposal THINGS

So many people wait until the last minute to figure out what they need to finish off their proposals. They are so focused on writing and other tasks that they forget that they actually need THINGS to put their proposals together. When the time comes to put everything together, they find that they don't have these things on hand and the big scramble gets underway to find them. I've had clients who have had to make trips to all-night Kinko's at 3 AM because they didn't have binders, tabs, labels, boxes -- whatever -- on hand. I've had other clients that had in-house supply departments that keep and distribute these things, but the clients never got around placing an in-house order for the needed items. Then, when they were ready to use the items (usually after hours), they found the supply cabinets locked and no supply department staff around to help them.

There's an easy fix for this problem: make a checklist of the things you need and purchase or order them at the beginning of the proposal effort. You can make a comprehensive checklist that can be copied and used for all proposals, or a proposal-specific checklist. The checklist should specify the quantities of each item needed, and you should allow for extras in case of a boo-boo.

Typical things you may need for your proposals are:

  • 3-ring binders.

  • Specialized binding supplies, if you use another binding system.

  • Tab dividers for the various sections of your proposal.

  • Plain and/or letterhead paper, for printing and/or copying your proposal.

  • Blank CDs or floppy disks, if you are required to submit your proposal in those formats.

  • Heavy paper, for your proposal covers.

  • Cardboard boxes if you are going to use them to pack your proposal.

  • Large envelopes, if you are going to use them to pack your proposal.

  • Fedex, UPS or other overnight courier boxes and labels, if using these services.

  • Address labels.

  • Other items, as required by the RFP or your internal procedures

    • These things may seem pretty unimportant when compared to other proposal activities. But they magically become very important when you find that you don't have them when you need them.

    Posted by Deborah at August 7, 2004 07:31 AM





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