Bid Commandos

On-Target Strategy For Mission-Critical Bids

An 11-Module, ‘blockbuster’, military-themed program covering every conceivable aspect, angle, phase and micro-phase of bid strategy.

DESCRIPTION:

Module 1: Move-Out Briefing & Materiel

The mindset, modus operandi, and materiel you and your team (“Unit”) need to make this learning mission a success.

Module 2: Understanding the Mission & Assessing Capability

‘If a battle cannot be won, don’t fight it.’ – The Art of War, Sun Tzu

And if ground isn’t worth taking, don’t invest the resources in trying to capture it.

Avoid the financial, time, labour and motivational carnage of an ill-advised battle by understanding the mission, the target, the competition, and the overall environment sufficiently to make a wise and savvy go / no go assessment.

Module 3: The Information Collection Plan

Determining, and amassing, the required information inputs to a pursuit strategy is, too often, either left to chance or undertaken in a largely haphazard manner – in even the most high-value bids.

I will teach your team how a leader in a military pursuit would apply his or her skills to the task of planning the collection of critical data inputs.

Module 4: Selecting & Upskilling Your Frontline Assets

The skill, talent, diligence, character qualities – and the training – of the personnel who will liaise with the target organisation, will dictate the quality of the intelligence that informs the bid or pursuit strategy.

Module 5:  Scanning the Horizon: Observing the Target

Let me demonstrate to your personnel precisely why a top-grade submission is first and foremost about the client (target), before it’s about the bidder . . . and why he who holds the best intel on the client is best positioned to win.

I’ll ensure your team is instilled with an active appreciation for the advantages to be gained by acquiring deep-level insights about the target . . . and how to employ that quality of intel to align your offering with the target’s “hottest hot buttons”.

Module 6: Scanning the Horizon: Observing the Enemy

If, regarding the field of competition, you’re relying on assumptions, generalisations, or outdated information, you’re at every bit as much of a disadvantage as you would be if you knew nothing about the client organisation.

Assessing the field of rivalry – thoroughly – is not for the last-minute, slapdash operative.

'He who knows neither self nor enemy will fail in battle every time.' – The Art of War, Sun-tzu

Module 7:  Converting Information into Intelligence

Information, in its own right, does not constitute “intelligence”. Information is only raw data, until it is processed into pursuit-winning intelligence.

It’s a task for the tenacious only. But it’s one of the most critical contributors to victory.

Module 8:  Planning the Attack (i.e. Formulating the Bid Strategy)

Advance by bounds . . . by understanding that the core of the bid strategy planning process is akin to a battle plan and must be as minutely thought-out, and formally mapped out as a mission-critical military battle plan would indeed require.

This is where you put all your info-and-intel efforts to work, to ensure that once you enter the final battle, you will deftly manoeuvre your side through any and all enemy lines, navigating a clear path towards victory.

And you will achieve that by ensuring your bid strategy comprehensively aligns your offering’s strengths with both the stated and unstated needs of the client/target, and of its vision for its procurement.

Module 9:  Producing A Tangible Battle Plan (i.e. Documenting the Strategy)

If your bids are waffly, undirected and disconnected, and your section authors are floundering and unproductive, it’s probably because you believe that producing a detailed, user-friendly, join-the-dots, documented bid strategy is unnecessary.

You may have – to date – believed that wallpapering your “war room” with a slew of basic, bullet-pointed raw inputs on butcher’s paper, and then leaving your various section authors to (individually) mentally concoct a (supposedly, cohesive) strategy for themselves, is sufficient.

Be prepared to be shown otherwise.

Module 10:  Selecting & Assembling Your Support Troops

Making the most strategic selections for the bid production team, preparing them for the various roles, tasks and phases, and guiding them through these, is where the tank hits the track.

If the correct assets aren’t identified and recruited, chances are, you’ll lose the battle right there in your own war room.

Module 11: Dynamic De-Briefing

The value of a debriefing session is directly proportionate to how well each side prepares and participates. This is your best opportunity to learn the real reason/s behind your victory or your defeat.

Did you win? Did you take the ground? Deconstruct your victory so you can do it again. And again. And again.

Did you lose? Did you suffer yet another humiliating defeat? Turn around a flagging win rate through savvy and strategic debriefing preparation and participation.

Ready to Power Up Your Pursuits?

Contact me to discuss my customisation of this core program in accordance with the specifics of your company, your industry, and your current business environment and its challenges.