Your proposal is done and it's ready for production, assembly and delivery to the client. But wait. If you're the proposal manager, there's still work to be done. You need to do two final checks.
- Before the proposal is printed and assembled, you need to check it against the RFP/RFA. If you've done a compliance matrix, you need to make sure that everything on the matrix is filled in. If you're not using a compliance matrix, then you need to go through your RFP/RFA once again to make sure you have addressed everything that's asked for, particularly (but not limited to ) Sections L and M -- the instructions and the evaluation criteria. You may think that by now, you know your RFP/RFA by heart and don't need to do this final check, but you would be wrong. In many cases, you'll find things in it that you don't remember ever seeing before. By leaving some time for this final check, you'll hopefully have time to correct any deficiencies in your proposal before it's submitted.
- The second final check comes after the proposal has been printed but before it's bound. Printers are notorious for misbehaving when you are stretched for time and have an important document to get out. So you need to go through the printed copies. Are all of the pages there and numbered correctly? Are there any pages that are upside down? Are there pages that are badly smudged from the printer? Are there pages that are too faint because the printer is running out of ink or low on toner? Did you forget to insert a page that was printed separately? And so on. If you neglect this check, you'll probably find these errors later -- after you've submitted your proposal. Not a good thing.
Final checks -- they're a pain but they're important. Add them to your proposal checklist.
Leave a comment