Proposal Timeliness Strategies

You spent 47 minutes painting their transformation...then refused to send pricing? Fuck that. I mean, the call was perfect, right? You nailed discovery & connected their pain to your solution, so they asked for a proposal. And you said: "Let's jump on a call next week so I can walk you through it." You're not protecting the deal by controlling the narrative. All you're doing is signaling that you don't trust your own value prop. More importantly, you're just wasting everyone's time! Sure, you might be think that if the prospect sees the number without "context," they'll ghost. But if your prospect needs a 30-minute call to understand why your solution is worth the price, you didn't do your job in the first meeting. Meanwhile, your prospect's got three other vendors they're evaluating. Two sent proposals same day. You're making them wait a week for a "pricing walkthrough" that could've been an email. Guess who looks easier to work with? Just send the proposal! But make it impossible to ignore: 1. Break down the flexibility. "I structured this with three tiers based on what we discussed. Tier 2 is what I'd recommend given your timeline, but Tier 1 gets you started faster if budget's tight this quarter." You just gave them options and positioned yourself as helpful. 2. Flag the decision points. "A few places where you'll need to decide: - Implementation: 60 days (standard) or 30 days (accelerated, +$15K). - Training: Self-serve or instructor-led. - Support: Business hours or 24/7." You're showing them you understand their biz & giving them control. 3. Tie pricing to outcomes. "Based on the $2M revenue gap you mentioned, this $150K investment pays for itself in about 4 months. I broke down the ROI on page 3." 4. Make the next step obvious. "I'll check in Friday to answer questions. If you want to move forward, we can get contracts signed by end of next week and kick off implementation the Monday after." You've given them a timeline without pressure. Confident, not desperate. 5. Include a video walkthrough (the gangster move). Record a 90-second Loom walking through the proposal. Your champion is going to forward this internally to people who have zero context. A video lets you control the narrative without being in the room. "Hey [Name], attached is the proposal we discussed. I recorded a quick video breaking down the key points - feel free to share this with your team." You just made your champion's job easier. AND you gave yourself a voice in every internal meeting. Folks, please, please make it easy for your buyers to say yes. If you've done the work upfront - nailed discovery, built trust, connected to real pain - sending pricing shouldn't feel risky. And if you're worried the number will scare them off? You didn't build enough value in the first place. Just send the quote. While you're scheduling your pricing call, your competitor's already in procurement.

"Send me a proposal." Sounds like progress. But it's actually one of the most dangerous moments in BD. Because most people say "I'll get that over to you by Friday." And that's where the deal quietly dies. After thousands of BD conversations, here's what I've learned: A premature proposal isn't a next step. It's a polite way of ending the conversation. Before you write a single word, ask yourself these questions: Do I actually understand their problem? ↳ Without that, your proposal is just a guess. Are they shopping around? ↳ Ask: "What criteria matter most in your decision?" ↳ Now you can write something that actually fits. Have we agreed on scope? ↳ Ask: "Can we spend 20 minutes aligning on goals first?" ↳ Clients approve what they helped shape. Is everyone at the table? ↳ Ask: "Who else should be involved before I write this up?" ↳ The person not in the room is usually the one who stalls it. Has budget come up? ↳ Ask: "Do you have a range in mind for this work?" ↳ Design the right solution — not just any solution. Does this even feel real? ↳ Ask: "Is this a real priority right now?" ↳ An honest conversation now saves weeks of wasted effort. And the most powerful shift of all? ❌ Don't say: "I'll draft something and send it over." ✅ Do say: "What if we worked through the approach together in 30 minutes?" Clients commit to solutions they helped design. Every time. The proposal isn't where you win the work. The conversation before it is. Stay curious. Ask better questions. Co-create the path forward. And when you do send that proposal? They'll already know the answer. What's one question from this list you could use this week? ♻️ Valuable? Repost to help someone in your network. 📌 Follow Mo Bunnell for client-growth strategies that don't feel like selling.

The attribute we all need to stop cultivating in proposal management is: Heroics. Proposal teams tend to absorb whatever organizational dysfunction exists, simply because we believe ourselves powerless (and other departments try to make us feel that way, too). We're not. Stop being a hero and accepting that you should be working until midnight on weekends or holidays. The keys to escaping include: 1. Proposal leadership needs to communicate clear staffing procedures for engaging SMEs in a bid, and give as much lead time as possible. If you can't forecast, you probably shouldn't be doing govcon responses. 2. Provide rapid onboarding for SMEs that are joining your bid -- offer a bespoke package that tells them what to expect (don't just link your planning docs, no one but you knows what those mean) 3. If an SME is unable to contribute in the allotted time, we ask politely for a replacement. We understand that we serve at the mercy of billable experts, so we cultivate strong interpersonal relationships while holding our contributors accountable and consistently making strong business cases. 4. We report on team deadline failures. Consistently. 5. We train our contributors on their roles during reviews; every comment must name the problem with the text and what it threatens (an evaluation factor, a win theme, a compliance requirement, or a delivery risk.) An item with no stated stake gets returned. We can be committed to completing the work without being the shock absorbers for the whole team.

While most developers are stuck in 14-month entitlement nightmares, top performers in Texas are getting approvals in 4-7 months using these 8 TACTICAL strategies: 1️⃣ Pre-Application Staff Alignment. * Meet with planning staff BEFORE submitting anything formal. * 73% of delayed projects skipped this critical step. * One can save 5 months by addressing staff concerns early. * Pro tip: Bring conceptual plans, not finished drawings, to these meetings. 2️⃣ Political Mapping Strategy. * Identify all decision makers and their key concerns/priorities. * Create a stakeholder map with voting history and hot-button issues. * Fast-tracked projects had commissioner-specific presentations. 3️⃣ Community Engagement Front-Loading. * Host neighborhood meetings BEFORE opposition forms. * Delayed projects faced organized community resistance. * Smart developers secure community support letters before the first hearing. 4️⃣ Parallel Processing Approach. * Run engineering and platting simultaneously with zoning. * Most developers wait for zoning approval before starting engineering. * Yes, there's risk if zoning fails, but the time savings is worth it. 5️⃣ Staff Report Influence Strategy. * Most of commission votes follow staff recommendations. * Top performers provide draft language for staff reports. * Secure favorable conditions by drafting specific language for staff. 6️⃣ Technical Studies Front-Loading. * Complete traffic, drainage, and environmental studies before first submission. * Delays come from study-related requests. * This approach costs more upfront but saves months on the back end. 7️⃣ Conditional Approval Targeting. * Identify non-critical conditions you can accept post-approval. * Focus commission attention on approval with conditions, not denial. * One developer in Montgomery County saved 3 months by accepting 12 conditions. 8️⃣ Expedited Review Fee Leverage. * Municipalities offer faster reviews for additional fees. * These fees ($5K-$15K) are nothing compared to carrying costs. * One project saved $127K in carrying costs by paying $8K in expedited fees. The entitlement game isn't about patience. It's about strategy and execution. __ Tu Amigo, David Cabrera P.S. Which of these strategies have you tried or think of trying out?

Most AEs think they're running deals. They're not… they're passengers. Letting champions set the pace. Ending demos with "any questions?" Hoping proposals close themselves. Meanwhile, top 1% performers control these 5 execution variables that keep winnable deals from dying: 1.) YOU drive the timeline, not your champion. You let champions set pace. "When do you think you'll be ready?" puts them in control. They say "couple weeks" then disappear for 6. Fix: "Based on your Q2 goal, we'd need to kick off by March 15 to see impact. Does that timeline work or do we need to adjust scope?" You set the date tied to their outcome. Most deals stall because AEs abdicate timeline ownership to people with no urgency. 2.) End demos with process questions (NOT feature questions). You end demos asking "Any questions?" Wrong. That invites objections and feature debates. Instead: "Based on what you've seen, what's the next internal step on your end?" Forces them to reveal the buying process (budget approval, legal review, technical eval). Now you know the real path forward, instead of defending features while they ghost you for 3 weeks "reviewing internally." 3.) Multi-thread through champions (NOT around them). You get one champion, then reach out to 5 other people "to build relationships." Now your champion looks weak because the rep went around them. Multi-threading works when your champion ASKS you to talk to legal/finance/technical. You say "Happy to - want to make the intro or should I reach out directly?" Let them control it. Going around champions kills deals that would've closed otherwise - BAD politics. 4.) Send proposals ONLY when deals are ready. Champion says "send me a proposal." Before you do, ask: "Who else needs to see this before you can move forward?" If they can't map the approval process, even roughly, the deal isn't ready. A proposal without context becomes a comparison shopping doc. Once you understand their buying committee and each person's concerns, THEN send the formal proposal. Skip this step and you're giving competitors your positioning for free. 5.) Actualize next steps - no vague handoffs. "I'll get back to you" isn't a next step. "I'll review with the team" isn't a next step. Real next steps have a date, an owner, and a specific action: "I'll schedule the CFO call by Thursday and send you her availability by EOD tomorrow." If there's no calendar invite with a named attendee, there's no next step - just hope. — Control these variables or they’ll control your quota. They either close deals… or explain why you didn't.

We once built an entire email strategy around a client's product launch date, only for them to delay by 3 months. That miscommunication cost us $200K in projected revenue. Here's the system we now follow to prevent it from happening again. 1. Document everything in writing No more verbal only agreements or assumptions. Every key date, deliverable, and dependency gets documented and shared with all stakeholders. This creates accountability and gives everyone a single source of truth to reference. 2. Implement regular check-ins Schedule brief status meetings to confirm timelines are still on track. These quick touchpoints help catch potential delays early before significant resources are invested. 3. Build buffer time into all schedules Add extra time to every major milestone (just in case). This padding accounts for the inevitable hiccups that occur in any project without derailing the entire strategy. 4. Create contingency plans For every campaign, develop Plan B scenarios: - What if key elements are delayed? - What if resources are limited? - What if priorities change? Having these alternatives ready means you can pivot quickly without starting from scratch. 5. Leverage dependency roadmapping Implement a visual system that shows how each part of your strategy connects to deliverables. This makes it immediately clear to everyone what happens if one piece gets delayed. The biggest lesson? Communication breakdowns are expensive, but they're also preventable. By implementing these systems, we've reduced timeline-related issues dramatically and saved countless hours of rework. What systems have you built to prevent costly miscommunications?

Contractors should not wait until the last minute to submit their proposals. GAO denied ICT Nett’s recent protest where ICS had submitted its proposal a little over two minutes after the 5:00 p.m. deadline. The agency’s RFP required use of the Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment (PIEE) system for submission.  PIEE requires offerors to first upload their proposals, enter a PIN number, and request a One-Time Password (OTP) that the system emails to the offeror. A proposal is not considered submitted in PIEE until the offeror enters the PIN number and OTP. ICS alleged it encountered system errors, but the system logs showed no errors and that PIEE sent the first OTP to ICS at 4:58 p.m. on the due date. For some reason, ICS did not enter the OTP until over two minutes past the deadline after a third OTP was sent. ICS also alleged that the agency should have considered the late proposal under FAR 52.215-1(c)(3)(ii)(A)(2), which provides an exception to a late received proposal if it was received at the government’s installation and was under the Government’s control prior to the time set for receipt of offers. GAO also found that ICS attempted to rely on the wrong FAR exception. There is a specific FAR exception for electronically-submitted proposals in FAR 52-215-1(c)(3)(ii)(A)(1). The correct exception requires that accepting the late proposal would not unduly delay the acquisition, and that the proposal was received at the initial point of entry not later than 5:00 p.m. one working day prior to the deadline. Because ICS did not submit one working day prior to the deadline, it could not rely on this exception and its protest was denied. At GAO, the interpretation of timing deadlines is strict. Offerors should not count on the FAR exceptions to revive a late-submitted proposal, even where the submission delay would seem to be de minimus. The best practice is to submit early, and to ensure that whomever will submit the proposal is familiar with the system that will be required for submission.  The proposal process should be planned so that there is sufficient time at the end to accomplish and confirm submission. Where electronic submissions are used, offerors should be aware that there is no protection for late submissions unless they attempt submission at least one working day in advance. It is better to plan to finish drafting the proposal early. There is no penalty for early proposal submission, and waiting until the literal last minute is a recipe for disaster. #governmentcontracting #govcon #bidprotests #smallbusiness #NVTC

If your SME sends three bullets at 4 PM on Friday, that's your fault. Not theirs. You trained them to do it. Monday request. Friday deadline. Thursday "almost done." Friday afternoon: three bullets that answer a question no one asked. We call this "SME chasing." It's not chasing. It's begging. And the proposal management industry has convinced you to become a professional beggar. → We interview them because "they're busy." → We give them templates because "writing isn't their job." → We build "relationships" months in advance because we don't have authority. → We shrink our asks until they're meaningless because we're afraid of a hard conversation. Stop it. The "day job" excuse is a lie that leadership tells to avoid budgeting proposal time into technical roles. Revenue pays their salary. The proposal IS the day job. Here is what actually works when you stop coddling people who outrank you: → Stop interviewing SMEs. Twenty-minute calls teach technical staff that their time is worth ten times yours. You become a transcriptionist. Make them write. If they can explain it to you, they can dictate it into a voice memo. → Burn the fill-in-the-blank templates. Templates signal "I don't trust you to think." Give them the question. Give them the evaluation criteria. Let them feel the weight. → Ask for proof, not stories. "Tell me about a time..." sounds like a job interview. They'll ramble. Say: "What evidence do we have that our approach reduces downtime?" Evidence has teeth. Stories don't. → Stop building relationships. Build consequences. You don't need friends in Engineering. You need a calendar block that their VP approved. If they miss it, their boss should know before you do. → Make the deadline Tuesday, not Friday. Friday deadlines get Friday 4 PM work. Tuesday deadlines get Tuesday work. If they miss it, you write without them. No extensions. No rescue missions. The proposal manager's job is not to make contributing easy. It is to make non-participation so visible and so painful that leadership intervenes. Your SMEs don't respect the process because you've proven it has no teeth. What's the real reason you're afraid to enforce a deadline with your SMEs? #ProposalManagement #RFP #APMP #SME #Leadership

Last year I watched countless procurement teams scramble through Nov - Jan. Fighting fires with water balloons.   The stats are brutal: Over 30% of renewals happen in Q4, with as much as 50% of annual spend. And most teams wait until October to start preparing. Here's the reality - Q4 procurement isn't just busy, it's chaotic. Sales reps are desperate to hit their numbers. Stakeholders are panicking about proposal deadlines. Everyone wants to talk "ASAP" and "urgent." Sleepy summer is over ya’ll, and there’s just a few weeks left to get ahead of the insanity. Here's your Q4 prep checklist. Do these things right now and you’ll be thankful in November: Get the Lay of the Land Before you talk to anyone, know your battlefield: - Value: What are the biggest renewals and what departments own them? - Timing: Key dates you need to plan around (renewal dates, opt-out dates) - Benchmarks: Where are the greatest savings opportunities vs. your peers? Requirements Gathering Send a simple async survey to your business stakeholders. Make it easy for them: - Relationship Length: How long has this partnership existed? - Sentiment: How has the relationship been? Any under/over-performance? - Scope Changes: Interested in more/less utilization? New features? - Term Expectations: Should this be short-term or long-term extension? Supplemental Research Take their requirements and add your own intelligence: - Utilization Audit: How well are we using this solution? - Competitive Landscape: What alternatives exist for current and potential scope? - Price Benchmarks: What should we expect to pay for changes? - Budget Clarity: What's earmarked and what flexibility exists? Strategy Development Reconcile research with requirements: - Target Outcome: Ideal scope, price, and term length - Outreach Plan: Who reaches out when to optimize roles - Strategy Highlights: Key talking points for consistency - Key Milestones: What gets accomplished by what date Stakeholder Alignment Build your sourcing plan and get everyone on the same page: - Build Artifact: One-page overview compiling all details - Share Artifact: Send in advance for digestion - Live Meeting: Review, discuss clarifications, confirm alignment - Execute: Proceed with plan and stay in lockstep Red Flags That You're Not Ready Stakeholder is ghosting you ➡️ Come with value, not demands. Use async forms. Sales rep is pushing to meet ASAP ➡️ Work on YOUR terms. Don't let them disrupt your flow. No reliable data ➡️ Sourcing without benchmarks is just guessing. The teams that thrive in Q4 chaos? They used summer to build their playbook. Start now if you haven't! Anyone have other tips for how to get ahead of Q4?

Anybody else’s deal cycles looking like this these days? Discovery ▶ 1st Demo ▶ Discovery with ancillary team ▶ Discovery with new member of the buying team ▶ Implementation introduction ▶ 2nd Demo with yet another new member of the team ▶ ROI discovery ▶ Implementation scoping ▶ ROI validation and confirmation ▶ 3rd demo - customized ▶ Pricing presentation ▶ Pricing presentation with Procurement ▶ Legal review ▶ Exec alignment In between all of those meetings 👆 There are weeks of down time and maybe, just maybe... At the end, you get a deal closed... 😅 What can we do to accelerate these deals? I believe consolidation is the answer Here are 🤚🏾 places to consolidate in your deal cycles That will lead to increased deal velocity: 1./ 👩💻 Attendees - Bring everyone together as soon as you can - Do you have a procurement team? - How and when does legal usually get involved? - When was the last purchase you made of this size with any vendor? - How did that process go internally? Who was involved? 💡 Avoid running separate meetings with each department 2./ 🤝 Implementation intro + scoping/discovery - Get the implementation team involved early - They will need to gather specific information to determine the scope of work - Adding them to early discovery calls will eliminate 1 - 2 more meetings 💡 Prep them ahead of time to be active participants throughout 3./ ➕ Discovery + demo - Show the technology early and often - Use the demo as a way to do deeper discovery - Instead of 30 minutes, book an hour to get through both 💡 This is the biggest area of consolidation 4./ 🔢 Recurring syncs - Avoid cal invite titles like "Bi weekly check in" or "weekly sync" - Send the agenda for these meetings 2 days ahead of time - Confirm which attendees you want/need at these meetings 💡 This will help your show rates especially for key stakeholders 5./ ⏳ Time between meetings - Think in days not weeks - Discovery on Tuesday --> next steps Thursday or Friday of the same week - Disco/demo in the morning --> proposal in the afternoon of that same day! 💡 You would be surprised at how many customers would be open to meeting sooner. You just have to propose it. If you are getting push back in any of these areas, could be a good sign that the deal is not real...yet. What other areas of the sales process are you looking to consolidate?