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CPSM > Domain 4 - Proposals (18%) > Flashcards

Domain 4 - Proposals (18%) Flashcards

1
Q

What is the first step in responding to an RFP?

A

The go/no-go decision

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2
Q

What is the go/no-go process? What are the considerations?

A

Structured evaluation process to determine whether a project is worth pursuing

Considerations:

  • The value the project will bring to my firm
  • Do we have the resources (money and staff) to take on more work right now
  • Do we have the skills & experience needed to win the project
  • Any legal challenges or conflicts of interest that might affect our ability to pursue project
  • What are the client’s “hot buttons” (criteria client cares most about)
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3
Q

How many people should make a go/no-go decision? And what kind of people?

A

A team of at least 2 people.

  • Someone with strong relationship with client
  • Someone with passion for the project (usually PM)
  • Operations office or office leader
  • Marketing team member
  • A market sector leader, or someone who is an expert in the project type
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4
Q

You should try to only win projects that support the objectives of what?

A

Your firm’s marketing and strategic plan

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5
Q

Who are prime candidates for an exclusive partnership for a proposal?

A

Consultants, subs, and other firms that would receive a large % of the project fee

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6
Q

What does SDBE stand for?

A

Small and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise

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7
Q

What is a mentor/protege program in a affirmative action program?

A

When a large firm and SDBE firm are paired together in a formal arrangement to help the SDBE firm achieve their strategic goals. The larger firm coaches the smaller firm through BD, business management, and project management.

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8
Q

What tool should you use to deconstruct an RFP?

A

A compliance matrix, which can track requirements, deadlines, and overall progress

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9
Q

What percentage of time should you devote to RFP/RFQ planning?

A

25% of the total time it takes to develop the proposal.

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10
Q

What is a work plan with respects to an RFQ/RFP?

A

A written plan that defines action, which typically includes:

  • tactics
  • timetable
  • responsibilities
  • results accomplished
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11
Q

Who is usually responsible for ensuring that any submittal requirement is clarified by the client and understood by the proposal team?

A

The proposal manager

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12
Q

Who is usually responsible for setting up a proposal planning meeting to create a work plan?

A

The marketing director

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13
Q

Who should be involved in a proposal planning meeting?

A
  • Account director or BD leader
  • PM
  • Discipline or task leads
  • Lead estimator
  • Joint venture team members, if applicable
  • Proposal manager/marketing coordinator
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14
Q

What are the things on the agenda for a proposal planning meeting?

A
  • Discuss owner requirements
  • Discuss and list your firm’s competitive advantages
  • Discuss strengths and weaknesses
  • Determine if affirmative action is required
  • Identify project team
  • Identify scope of services
  • Identify proposal theme
  • Responsibilities
  • Deadlines
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15
Q

How often should a work plan be updated?

A

Every few days

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16
Q

Who’s job is it to enforce deadlines on proposal deliverables?

A

The proposal manager. In fact, it’s one of their main tasks.

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17
Q

What is a proposal tracking system?

A

An overarching system that:

  • tracks the status of all pursuits and proposals in the pipeline
  • maintains an updated collection of boilerplate info
  • shows data about how leads are discovered, go/no-gos, and teaming arrangements
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18
Q

What are the benefits of a proposal tracking system?

A
  • Shows overlapping pursuits (showing that staff might be overloaded)
  • Shows multiple projects being tracked within a market sector/specific client
  • Makes sure that a pursuit isn’t neglected/forgotten
  • Provides info that can be used on future go/no-gos
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19
Q

What is the first thing a client will see in a proposal?

A

The cover letter

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20
Q

What are the 5 most important elements of a cover letter?

A
  1. Keep it to 1 page
  2. 3-5 bulleted reasons why you’re different from your competition
  3. Your cellphone #
  4. Strong closing statement
  5. Signed by the person that has the closest relationship w/ the client
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21
Q

How do graphics help reader retention?

A

Increases reader retention by 300%, according to a study

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22
Q

What is the Standard Form 3300 (SF 3300)?

A

A standard form used by federal agencies to hire architects and engineers

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23
Q

What are the 2 parts of the SF 330?

A

Part I: qualifications (proposed team, relevants)

Part II: offerer and subconsultants info/overall resources of the team (employee counts, DUNS number, contact info, revenue

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24
Q

What is the biggest difference between the SF 255/254 and the SF 3300?

A

SF 3300 requires Section G Matrix - a matrix of key personnel and their participation in relevant projects

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25
Q

How do you differentiate your firm on a SF 3300?

A
  • on the resume
  • relevant projects
  • no boilerplate
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26
Q

What is quality assurance? When does it occur? Who should be conducting it?

A

Activities related to the production of a quality product or service

It happens during the proposal process.

Person who should be conducting: proposal manager

27
Q

What are 2 main processes involved in QA?

A
  1. Document control (firm’s policy for naming conventions, version control, storage)
  2. Proposal management (communication, scheduling, reviews, approvals, close out)
28
Q

What is quality control? When does it occur? Who should be conducting it?

A

The activities that review finished products or current service lines to ensure that they meet established quality requirements.

Happens after the proposal is done.

Person responsible: someone who isn’t intimately involved in the proposal (e.g., different marketing manager, marketing director, someone from different department)

29
Q

What are the 5 main processes involved in QC?

A
  1. Proposal team review - divying up review responsibilities among team members and then conduct a “one voice” edit with the edits
  2. Recovery & back-check - processing reviewer comments and then ensuring that all accepted changes were applied
  3. Pre-reproduction review - evaluated the overall layout (.e.g page breaks and graphics) and make sure all files are functional before copying onto a CD/thumbdrive
  4. Pre-submittal review - conduct a page-turn review for all hardcopies; make sure all files are complete and functional before online submission
  5. Proposal progress review - series of reviews throughout the process
30
Q

What is a “Blue Team” review? When is it usually done?

A

The initial review; usually done during a kick-off meeting

May be used to select resumes and project descriptions and evaluate availability of required content.

More of a proposal prep meeting

31
Q

Small firms might only use this type of review. Why?

A

A “Blue Team” review (after this review, proposal writers will know what they need to create the proposal)

Small firms have fewer people who need to see a proposal before it’s submitted OR they might not have time/resources to go through a lengthy review process.

32
Q

What is a “Red Team” review?

A

The primary review before the proposal is submitted - subjects the proposal to an intense evaluation of all its elements at once.

In smaller firms, this might be one of the only reviews conducted

33
Q

What is a “Gold Team” review?

A

The final review, after the Red Team review, which concentrates only on catching “fatal flaws”

34
Q

How long should the review session take for significant pursuits?

A

6-8 hours

35
Q

How many benefit-discriminators should you show in a presentation?

A

3-5

36
Q

What is a storyboard?

A

A form of graphic organization that uses illustrations, images, or page displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a presentation.

37
Q

What are examples of handouts or leave-behinds after a presentation? What is the most important thing about them?

A
  • Placemat
  • Booklet
  • Article reprints

Keep it simple, short, and extremely relevant

38
Q

What are 2 slide deck options other than PowerPoint?

A
  1. Prezi
  2. Interactive PDFs with InDesign
39
Q

Who are the people that should be part of the presentation team?

A
  • Technical staff
  • Firm leader
  • Market specialist
  • Client relationship manager
  • Key subconcontractor
40
Q

Who should be front and center in the interview (and most client interactions)?

A

Technical staff

41
Q

What’s the rule of thumb for how long you should rehearse for interviews?

A

For every 1 minute of presentation plan on 1 to 2 hours of preparation

42
Q

How many times should you rehearse a presentation?

And how many times should you do it with visuals?

A

3 true rehearsals without notes

2 more rehearsals with visuals

43
Q

What is the final step in the proposal process?

A

Debriefing the participants

44
Q

What are the 3 components of the proposal close-out process?

A
  1. Update content resources (photos, written materials)
  2. Organize the files
  3. Log win rate and pursuit costs
45
Q

What is a post-award debriefing?

A

The act of interviewing a prospective client to understand why your firm wasn’t selected for a project.

AKA a client review

46
Q

What kind of questions should be asked in a debriefing interview?

A

Open ended questions to encourage complete answers from clients

47
Q

When and where should debriefing interviews take place?

A

At their office at their convenience - ALWAYS!

48
Q

When is the best time to ask a client about their debriefing process?

A

During BD interactions

Or you might be able to find it in their RFP

49
Q

Who should attend the debriefing? How many people?

A

2-3 people

At least 2 levels of your organization

Firm leader, project leader, BD, proposal team, outside consultant

50
Q

What is an After Action Review (AAR)? When should it be conducted?

A

A discussion among proposal team members about:

  • clearing the air among team members
  • improving processes
  • “lessons learned”

It should be conducted before the formal debrief w/ the client

51
Q

What is a lump sum contract? What is its benefit?

A

A fixed fee for a specific scope of work

Benefit: can result in higher profits than cost-based pricing

52
Q

What is a cost-plus contract? What is the caveat?

A

You provide services at cost plus a multiplier (aka our fee).

The contract might cap hourly rates, so if you pay your staff more than the cap, your profits will be lower.

53
Q

What is a cost plus fixed-fee contract? What is the caveat?

A

You provide services with reimbursement at a standard overhead rate with a standard profit percentage.

Caveat: contractor has to perform efficiently and w/ low overhead to maximize earnings.

54
Q

What is a billing rates based contract? What’s the benefit?

A

You are paid based on the billing rates of your employees plus a reimbursement that includes profit.

Benefit = profit increases if the people performing the work are paid at a lower rate than negotiated

55
Q

What are consequential damages?

A

Damages that are not directly caused by a breach of contract, but may result from it.

56
Q

What 4 contract terms should be considered for risk mitigation?

A
  1. Ownership and use of documents
  2. Waiver of consequential damages
  3. Limitation of liability (limits the damage you can be responsible for)
  4. Termination of services (what circumstances the client/architect can terminate services)
57
Q

In a contract, is it better to negotiate your scope or fee? Why?

A

Always better to negotiate scope, because this respects the value of your work rather than commoditizing the service and focusing purely on cost.

58
Q

What are the 4 predominant project delivery methods?

A
  1. Design build
  2. Design-bid build
  3. CMAR (CM at risk)
  4. IPD (integrated project delivery)
59
Q

What is CMAR? Who’s at risk and why? What type of contract is usually involved?

A

There are 2 owner contracts (1 with architect, 1 with contractor).

The contractor is at risk because they consult on both design and construction phase. Contract is usually a GMP.

Architect is chosen based on qualifications

60
Q

What is design/build project delivery? Who assumes risk?

A

1 entity performs both architectural/engineering AND construction under ONE contract

Risk assumed by the design/build firm

61
Q

What is design-bid-build (DBB) project delivery method? How many contracts are there? Who assumes the risk? Who uses this the most?

A

The owner contracts separately with a designer/architect and a contractor. Once the designer completes the design documents, the owner then looks for bids from contractors to perform the work.

2 contracts; owner assumes the most risk

Public agencies use this the most

62
Q

What is the most notable thing that separates Design/Build from Design-Bid-Build and CMAR?

A

Design/Build employs 1 single contract and the owner doesn’t need to settle disputes between the 2.

63
Q

What is Integrated Project Delivery (IPD?) What is the benefit?

A

A project delivery approach that integrates the owner, designer, and builder into 1 project entity to collaborate with one goal and reduce waste and optimize efficient.

Benefit: since they’re all members of a joint venture their motivations are directed toward the project outcome rather than individual motivations.

64
Q

What is the biggest difference between CMAR and Design-bid-build?

A

There are two contracts but with CMAR the contracts are established at the same time. With DBB the design contract is established first, then the construction contract.

CPSM (6 decks)

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