10 Ways to mitigate proposal production and delivery review risks

At the 2011 APMP International Conference, Lohfeld Consulting Group’s Managing Director Brenda Crist presented an informative session on mitigating proposal risks. Here are Brenda’s identified Proposal Production and Delivery Review Risks and recommended Mitigation Strategies:

1. Insufficient production time. Allocate 10% of the life cycle for production. Check with your production staff prior to creating your schedule to verify they have the bandwidth to complete your job on schedule.
2. Unreliable equipment. Test all equipment prior to production to verify it functions as intended. Have a backup plan for production if your system malfunctions.
3. Problems with tabs. Learn how to produce tabs. Learn how to correct tabs if a new tab is needed.
4. Problems with graphics. Develop graphics early in the proposal life cycle and verify the graphics are clear, uncluttered, and illustrate a benefit to the client. Use graphics tools that can be edited by more than one person in case last-minute changes need to be made.
5. Insufficient resources. Ensure sufficient paper, binders, tabs, and electronic media are available to produce the proposal. Order the materials well in advance of production. Maintain an inventory of spare materials.
6. Configuration control problems resulting in the wrong proposal/sections being delivered. Maintain a configuration control system that ensures only the most current and valid version of the proposal is in the approved folder. Save older versions of the proposal in case you have to roll back to an older version. Verify track changes are turned off prior to submitting.
7. Viruses on the files sent to the customer. Check all files and media for potential viruses before they are sent to the customer.
8. File corruption or inadvertent file deletion/misuse. Create and deliver PDF versions of documents whenever possible.
9. Security risks inadvertent release of proposal. Define a process for file management, control, and release to the customer. Assign one person to be responsible for releasing files to the customer.
10. Insufficient time allocated for the delivery. Never plan to deliver a proposal on or near the time it’s due. Allow sufficient time for getting to the client site, obtaining access to the client’s office, and obtaining a receipt. Take a dry run, if possible, to verify you have sufficient time for delivery. If you have to ship the proposal, allow a day or at least a half day for the shipment to arrive.

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