Training Day X
Stepping Up Your Proposal ExpertiseKeynote: From the Outside In (Listen, Learn, Share, Succeed)
Win more proposals. Be a better team leader. The solutions to your biggest problems surround you every day; you need only ask. In this session we learn a practical way to access proposal expertise, reach your biggest professional and personal goals and eliminate your worst challenges—through simple interactions.
Mike Parkinson, PPF.APMP
Mike Parkinson, PPF.APMP, is head of marketing at 24 Hour Company (24hrco.com), a 20 year proposal marketing and design company. He is also an award-winning author, an APMP Fellow and regularly uses his marketing experience to achieve success for 24 Hour Company and their clients. Through marketing, Mike has also branded Billion Dollar Graphics (BillionDollarGraphics.com) and Get My Graphic (GetMyGraphic.com); websites for proposal professionals. Contact Mike at mike@24hrco.com or call 703-533-7209.
Leading vs. Managing a Proposal: How to Get the Best Performance from Your Proposal Team
Proposals can be adversarial and stressful. To win the procurement, you need the best performance from your proposal team. Knowing how to motivate the proposal team, keep them engaged, and keep them from burning out or blowing up are critical to delivering the best possible proposal. Through detailed examples that illustrate differences, the discussion will provide a comparative analysis on the differences between providing leadership on a proposal versus simply managing a proposal. Various leadership approaches will be discussed and compared using actual proposal examples. Key concepts from John C. Maxwell’s “The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership” will be referenced and discussed as they relate to a proposal environment.
Gerald Gutierrez
Gerald Gutierrez is Vice President of Proposal Leadership for SM&A and is responsible for over 40 proposals nationwide, representing over $10B in total potential contract value to SM&A’s clients. Since joining SM&A in 2007, Gerald has achieved a mean 70% and weighted 89% win rate on proposals ranging from $10M to $700M to the US Postal Service, US Department of Homeland Security, US National Security Agency, the United Nations, Starwood Hotels, the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the State of Maryland, and the City of New York. Gerald began his career at Boeing as an IT Project Manager and moved into roles including Chief of Staff to the VP of Boeing Satellite Systems. Before joining SM&A, Gerald became involved in Boeing’s satellite proposals, working on proposals worth up to $14B in contract value. Gerald holds a BA with Honors from the University of California at Berkeley, and an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management, where he was named Fellow of the Global Access Program and has served as a judge for start-up business plans.
Decision Gates and Reviews: Understanding the Key Milestones
This interactive session will help APMP members understand the importance of key milestones in the capture and proposal development process—milestones that cannot be overlooked. Attendees will learn where these milestones fit within the process, who should be involved, and the most important inputs and outputs of each milestone decision or review.The proposal kickoff meeting is one of these critical milestones. Participants will hear an audio recording of a poorly executed kickoff meeting and discuss ways to improve this and other key milestones. The session will also address ways to modify the process of implementing decision gates and reviews based upon the complexity and strategic value of the opportunity. All participants will receive the Decision Gates and Reviews section of the Shipley Capture Guide and samples of tools and templates to help with key decision gates and color team reviews.
Ed Alexander, PPF.APMP
Mr. Alexander is a sought-after facilitator of capture and proposal development training. He has helped many companies improve overall win rates by applying best practices across the business development lifecycle. He has taught over 1000 workshops and presented to dozens of APMP groups—he is certified to deliver APMP’s Foundation Level Certification Coaching session. Ed has experience helping learners apply best practices in B2B, B2G, and international markets. He is an APMP Fellow and is certified at the Professional Level.
Make Marketing Matter: BD Marketing Secrets Revealed
Marketing is key to selling your company and its solutions. Effective marketing influences RFP content and impacts win rates. Sadly, most organizations waste time and money with little to show for their marketing efforts. This session shares the best practices successful companies use to grow their brand and bottom line. Get the latest innovative neuro-marketing techniques and step up your proposals. Walk away with real-world methods you can use immediately, in small and large companies, to get measurable results.Mike Parkinson, PPF.APMP
Mike Parkinson, PPF.APMP, is head of marketing at 24 Hour Company (24hrco.com), a 20 year proposal marketing and design company. He is also an award-winning author, an APMP Fellow and regularly uses his marketing experience to achieve success for 24 Hour Company and their clients. Through marketing, Mike has also branded Billion Dollar Graphics (BillionDollarGraphics.com) and Get My Graphic (GetMyGraphic.com); websites for proposal professionals. Contact Mike at mike@24hrco.com or call 703-533-7209.
Consultant Panel: The Client-Consultant Relationship
Experienced capture and proposal development consultants can bring new skills to your organization, and help you “step up your proposal expertise.” The most critical factor in successfully using consultants is the client-consulting relationship. This interactive session will examine that relationship from the perspectives of both the client (you, our audience) and consultant (our panel). Our panel comprises representatives from California-based and national proposal consulting companies: The 24Hr Company; Shipley Associates; SM&A; and Strategic Proposals.
BJ Lownie, PPF.APMP (Moderator)
Strategic ProposalsMike Parkinson, PPF.APMP
24 Hour CompanyGerald Gutierrez
SM&AEd Alexander, PPF.APMP
Shipley AssociatesProposals as a Profession (a Proposal Professional’s Perspective)
Done right, proposal development is a chosen profession, not just a job. Like any profession, there are requirements for those performing the work, standards which should be adhered to, and best practices that need to be followed. In this session a true proposal professional, with more than 30+ years’ experience developing proposals, offers his perspective on the profession of proposals and offers tips for making your work life more enjoyable and rewarding. Whether you are new to proposals or have many years’ experience, you are sure to be energized, enthused and excited about the work you do and being in the profession of proposal development.BJ Lownie, PPF.APMP
As it says on his business card and website, and as those who know him and have worked with him will attest, BJ is truly “Passionate about Proposals.” He has 30+ years’ experience within the proposal arena, has worked on 100’s of proposals and has had 1000’s of people attend one of his presentations or workshops. He is a recognized thought-leader on proposal development and a popular and sought after presenter. BJ is a founding member, an accredited Professional and elected Fellow of the Association of Proposal Management Professionals (APMP). Together with Jon Williams, BJ is the co-author of the long-running and very popular proposal blog, “The Proposal Guys” (www.theproposalguys.com). Along with Jon, BJ recently wrote and published his latest book, Proposal Essentials (available on Amazon).