The Silver Bullet: How RFPs are won
Published: 2018
Pages: 128
eBook: 9781787426610
The solution for writing - and winning - Request for Proposals is finally here. The Silver Bullet - How RFPs Are Won will serve as a strategic guide to help you significantly increase your win rate - and more.
+ Legal procurement and the growing sophistication of in-house legal departments;
+ Questions firms should ask before they decide to propose for the work;
+ Best practices and how to analyze a "cheat sheet" to discover the key to winning RFPs;
+ How to get you to plan strategically through every phase of the proposal process;
+ How to use the magical formula to gain credibility and prove you are the firm to hire;
+ How to work strategically with subject matter experts as a team; and
+ How to write an effective executive summary.
This book is primarily written for law firms but the information within will also prove invaluable for procurement professionals.
Table of Contents
| Cover\r | Cover | |
|---|---|---|
| Title page\r | i | |
| Copyright page\r | ii | |
| Contents | iii | |
| Executive summary | vii | |
| About the author | xi | |
| Acknowledgements | xiii | |
| Chapter 1: How legal procurement impacts law firm selection – a strategic approach | 1 | |
| The role of legal procurement | 4 | |
| Why proposals lose | 10 | |
| Chapter 2: The go/no-go decision – strategic considerations | 13 | |
| Return on investment | 14 | |
| Checklists and process charts | 15 | |
| Pre-determined RFPs | 18 | |
| Chapter 3: Analyzing the RFP to identify strategies | 19 | |
| Procurement’s RFP process | 19 | |
| Your win themes are buried in the RFP | 22 | |
| Answer the questions | 23 | |
| Evaluation/selection criteria | 24 | |
| Procurement’s scoring process | 24 | |
| Chapter 4: Working strategically as a team | 29 | |
| The role of the proposal manager/team | 29 | |
| Working with the proposal manager | 31 | |
| The role of lawyers | 32 | |
| Working with lawyers | 33 | |
| The role of subject matter experts | 35 | |
| Working with subject matter experts | 35 | |
| Knowledge management | 36 | |
| Legal project management | 36 | |
| Proposal management strategies | 37 | |
| Chapter 5: Doing your homework to identify strategies | 39 | |
| Internal research | 40 | |
| Competitive intelligence | 47 | |
| Chapter 6: Kick-off meeting strategies | 51 | |
| Before the kick-off meeting | 51 | |
| The kick-off meeting | 55 | |
| Strategy | 55 | |
| After the kick-off meeting | 60 | |
| Chapter 7: Different strategies for proposal size and timeline | 63 | |
| Informal pitch/credentials | 63 | |
| Formal RFP response | 64 | |
| Scalability | 65 | |
| Chapter 8: Strategy – needs, solutions, outcomes, and proof | 67 | |
| Win themes | 67 | |
| Strategies for an existing client | 70 | |
| Needs/issues | 72 | |
| Solutions | 74 | |
| Outcomes/benefits | 74 | |
| “So what?” | 76 | |
| Proof/evidence | 77 | |
| Things you say about your firm | 78 | |
| Things your clients and vendors say about your firm | 79 | |
| Third party comments | 79 | |
| Summary | 80 | |
| Chapter 9: Differentiation – the key to your strategy | 83 | |
| Differentiation strategy: questions to consider | 84 | |
| Services-based differentiation | 84 | |
| Needs/issues | 85 | |
| What clients want | 85 | |
| Solutions | 86 | |
| Outcomes/benefits | 87 | |
| Proof | 87 | |
| Added value | 88 | |
| Image differentiation – branding | 89 | |
| Negative strategies and positive strategies | 90 | |
| Negative strategies = fear | 90 | |
| Positive strategies = gain | 90 | |
| Chapter 10: Writing a strategic executive summary | 93 | |
| The highest score wins | 93 | |
| Needs/issues – you get it | 94 | |
| The solution – you’ve got it | 95 | |
| The outcome/benefit – you define it | 95 | |
| The proof/evidence – you can do it | 95 | |
| Differentiators – you can always differentiate | 96 | |
| Chapter 11: Effectively using red teams to verify strategies | 99 | |
| Right people – right thing – right time | 99 | |
| Role of the red team | 99 | |
| Right people | 100 | |
| Right thing | 101 | |
| Right time | 102 | |
| Alternatives to formal red team reviews | 103 | |
| Following the red team review | 103 | |
| Chapter 12: Strategic proposal tracking | 107 | |
| Measuring win rates | 107 |
Nancey L Watson, BEd
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancey-watson-837a83/
Nancey L Watson, BEd. is president of NL Watson Consulting Inc. She has helped professional services firms win over $3 billion in competitive bids. For nearly three decades she has worked with Big Four accounting firms, Top 10 engineering firms, and since 2012 has worked almost exclusively with global, national, mid-size, and boutique law firms in Canada and the United States on proposals and presentation strategies.
She is an internationally recognized speaker who presents on topics such as pricing tactics, pricing masterclass, legal procurement's impact on law firm selection at in-house and law firm conferences including Thomson Reuters, Law Firm Marketing Partner Forum, Canadian Corporate Counsel Association National Conference and In-House Counsel World Summit, LawVision Group, Practice Partners Roundtable, and Legal Marketing Association, Eastern Canada Regional Conference.
Nancey is the creator and facilitator of the workshop: Strategic Proposal Management (c) 2018. The training session results in proven strategies on how to increase win rates in today's highly competitive marketplace. She is also the presenter of the Accredited Continuing Professional Development/Continuing Legal Education Course (two hours), How Procurement Impacts Law Firm Selection. As a contributing author for Thomson Reuters Legal Executive Institute she has articles published on procurement and law firm strategies and several podcasts on the Legal Executive Institute website. Between 2008 and 2012, she acted as the membership committee chair and board member for the legal marketing association, Toronto chapter, and is presently membership committee chair for Toronto.
Nancey can be reached via email at the NL Watson Consulting website.