1 / 56

World Domination: The Art of Successful Capture Management Bruce Morton, APMP Fellow

World Domination: The Art of Successful Capture Management Bruce Morton, APMP Fellow President, 2 Oceans Consulting. Presenter. Bruce Morton, APMP Fellow President 2 Oceans Consulting (703) 405-3103 bmorton10@aol.com. Presenter Name Title Organization Phone Email.

smurphy
Download Presentation

World Domination: The Art of Successful Capture Management Bruce Morton, APMP Fellow

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. World Domination: The Art of Successful Capture Management Bruce Morton, APMP Fellow President, 2 Oceans Consulting

  2. Presenter Bruce Morton, APMP Fellow President 2 Oceans Consulting (703) 405-3103 bmorton10@aol.com Presenter Name Title Organization Phone Email Bruce Morton - 27 May 16

  3. World Domination: The Art of Successful Capture Management Objective: dominate your business world • Achieve and sustain a consistently high probability of win (Pw) • High Win rate: (a) dollars bid & (b) quantity bid • Industry average win rate is about 33% • Domination win rate goal > 70% - 90% • Recompete goal vs. Competitive goal • Enterprise goal vs. Personal goal Bruce Morton - 27 May 16

  4. Topics • CaptureManagementPerspective • Killer Win Strategy  Win Themes on Steroids • Costing & Pricing Strategy  Competitive Price Linked to Value Bruce Morton - 27 May 16

  5. Why Do We Need A Win Strategy? Far Side Cartoon Bruce Morton - 26 May 16 Bruce Morton - 28 May 15

  6. A Capture Process Perspective (Notional) Business Development Exploratory Capture Management Proposal Management Post Award Source: Bruce Morton Customer Receive Evaluate/ • Acquisition Process RFI Industry Day DRFP RFP Proposals Award Decision & Milestones Company/Team Proposal Customer • Pipeline Process Exploratory Interest Pursue Bid Submission Award Decision & Decision Gates • Color Team Reviews Blue Team Black Hat Pink Team Red Team Bruce Morton - 27 May 2016 6

  7. The Repetitive Bid Environment • Bidder: Your company/enterprise wins business from the federal government by repetitively • Submitting a proposal in response to an RFP or Task Order Request • Teaming with a prime who is submitting a proposal in response to an RFP or Task Order Request • Consultant: Your company/enterprise wins business from Bidders by repetitively providing consulting or process services 7 Bruce Morton - 27 May 16

  8. Process Perspective • Insanity is doing the same thing over & over again, expecting different results.* * Source: Albert Einstein • Hope is NOT a Strategy * Source: Title of Book by Rick Page, 2002 • The idea is to develop an effective and successful process, and use/replicate it over and over again.* * Source: Bruce Morton Bruce Morton - 27 May 16 8

  9. Key: Processes + Tools + People • Processes + Tools • Business Development (incl. Pipeline Tool) • Capture Management • Proposal Management • Milestone/Gate Reviews • Experienced people to execute • Somewhat of an art Is your process ISO 9001? Bruce Morton - 27 May 16

  10. Resources Perspective You don’t have enough resources (people; funding; etc.) to bid everything  You have to be selective View yourself as “opportunity rich” * The wisdom is in deciding what not to bid * Resource to win or don’t bid * * Source: Bruce Morton Bruce Morton - 27 May 16

  11. Capture Training Perspective • Providing Capture Management Training is like teaching a novice how to play golf in a classroom, and then expecting them to then go out and play a really good game of golf * * Source: Doc Dougherty, Lockheed Martin • In reality, a successful result is a combination of Training, Experience, and Mentoring • Some companies now have a formal Capture Manager certification process (e.g. Lockheed Martin; Boeing; Raytheon) Bruce Morton - 27 May 16

  12. Why Do We Need A Capture Process? Consistently Achieve a High Probability of Win • Utilize a Structured Process • Repetitive and Successful • Tailorable • A Structured Process becomes more critical as an organization starts bidding • Much larger opportunities • New customer opportunities Bruce Morton - 27 May 16

  13. Quick-Look Opportunity Assessment -The Three Questions Is It Real? Can We Win? Do We Want To Win? Bruce Morton - 27 May 16

  14. Differentiation vs. the 10-80-10 Model Contractors strive to differentiate themselves BUT Customers think we’re all the same The 10-80-10 Model: re Contractors Ref.: Roger Baker, Chief Strategy Officer, Agilex (formerly Veterans Affairs CIO) • Ten percent: are worth fighting to keep because they deliver results and are focused on making the government customer successful • Ten percent: you should fight to fire because they just don’t care about results • 80 percent: it doesn’t matter who gets the work Bruce Morton - 27 May 16

  15. Winning the Battle Most large federal proposal opportunities are won or lost before the RFP is ever released Killer Strategy based on interaction/iteration with customer to validate capture strategy elements Clearly communicate a compelling value proposition with compelling teaming & win themes at acceptable risk and competitive price Baron Carl von Clausewitz (circa 1830) Bill Gates (circa 1986) Bruce Morton - 27 May 16

  16. Offer Elements Offer will typically consist of 2 elements in separate volumes Technical, Management, Schedule & Transition - Emphasis of most Capture Management training Costing & Pricing - Typically treated as highly proprietary process (both internally & externally) A successful Capture Strategy & the Process to achieve it will address both elements Clearly establish and communicate a compelling value proposition with compelling teaming and win themes at a competitive price Objective: Consistently Achieve a High Probability of Win Bruce Morton - 27 May 16 16

  17. Capture Perspective: The Five C’s (Source: Bruce Morton) Contract Opportunity Customer(s) Company/Teammates Cost/Price Competitors Bruce Morton - 27 May 16 17

  18. Wedge of Influence (Notional) Window of Opportunity to Interface With & Influence Customer Source: Bruce Morton Acquisition Process RFI Industry Day DRFP RFP Receive Proposals & Milestones Pipeline Process Exploratory Interest Pursue Bid Proposal Submission & Decision Gates Color Team Reviews Blue Team Black Hat Pink Team Red Team Customer Receive Evaluate/ • Acquisition Process RFI Industry Day DRFP RFP Proposals Award Decision & Milestones Company/Team Proposal Customer • Pipeline Process Exploratory Interest Pursue Bid Submission Award Decision & Decision Gates • Color Team Reviews Blue Team Black Hat Pink Team Red Team Bruce Morton - 27 May 16 18

  19. Passing A Blue Baton to the Proposal Manager The Capture Manager hands the baton to the Proposal Manager for execution Baton includes the win strategy, teaming & rationale, offer design, pricing strategy, etc. Expectation that subsequent adjustments will be made as required Typical Issues Incomplete hand-off (e.g. work not completed) Incomplete or no Capture Strategy Incomplete or no Pricing Strategy You can’t do a Blue Proposal unless you do a Blue Capture and transfer a Blue Baton * * Source: Bill Brigadier, Brigadier Consulting Bruce Morton - 27 May 16 19

  20. Topics • CaptureManagementPerspective • Killer Win Strategy  Win Themes on Steroids • Costing & Pricing Strategy  Competitive Price Linked to Value Bruce Morton - 27 May 16

  21. The 3 C’s for Win Themes(Source: Bruce Morton) • Comprehensive • Compelling/Convincing • Compliant Bruce Morton - 27 May 16

  22. Win Themes: Typical Issues and Pitfalls • Generic • Generic Themes vs. Company/Team Specific Themes • Generic Themes vs. Opportunity Specific Themes • Generic Themes vs. Solution Specific Themes • Comprehensive • Themes focus on one topic vs. Themes focus on all key topics • “Our Company” vs. “Our Team” • Compelling • “Me Too” vs. “Why Us?” • “We” vs. “You”  Value Proposition • Features vs. Benefits • Proposal: Generic Captions vs. Action Captions 22 Bruce Morton - 27 May 16

  23. Generic vs. Company/Team Specific Themes • Generic Themes • Bullets that most competitors will claim • Reused Filler & Boilerplate • Opportunity Specific Themes • Unique to your company and/or team • Specifically created for this opportunity Litmus Test: Substitute another company’s name in your win themes and see if anyone realizes the difference Bruce Morton - 27 May 16

  24. Generic vs. Opportunity Specific Themes - 1 Bruce Morton - 27 May 16

  25. Generic vs. Opportunity Specific Themes – 2 Example of Opportunity Specific Theme: • Proposed Program Manager has successful relevant experience with customer & with industry • Dr. Andrea Brady will serve as Program Manager, reporting directly to Ms. Susan Thomas, Operations VP • Dr. Brady has 17 years experience with NASA, • and after joining industry has successfully managed NASA and other spacecraft programs of similar size, scope, and complexity, • helping to assure low risk and a high probability of success on the proposed program Bruce Morton - 27 May 16

  26. Generic vs. Solution Specific Themes - 1 • Generic Theme: Vague references to solution capability without actually offering a specific approach or solution • Opportunity Specific Theme: Proposing a specific technical and management approach (backed up by successful past performance) Litmus Test: Are you offering a specific approach or solution or just talking around it? Bruce Morton - 27 May 16

  27. Customer Loss Debriefings - Examples “The Offeror appears to understand the Program, but the lack of specificity made it difficult to evaluate and fully assess the viability of their proposed solution.” “The Offeror’s proposed price reflects multiple omissions in their proposal and a relatively low number of bid labor hours. The labor mix for Task Orders 03-05 is not realistic (i.e. too low).” “The Offeror’s proposed price is too high (vs. competitors) to justify the best value benefits that were proposed” Bruce Morton - 27 May 16

  28. Themes focus on one topic vs. focus on all key topics Develop and list win themes by key topics • Technical • Management • Schedule • Transition/Phase-In/Start-up • Best Value • Past Performance • Risk • etc. • Develop win themes for each topic to help organize thoughts and avoid skipping tough topics • Also list Potential/Desirable Win Themes in blue font • Convert to Win Theme bullets and word-smith on PowerPoint charts Bruce Morton - 27 May 16

  29. “Our Company” vs. “Our Team” Why Team if you’re a prime? • Opportunity Specific • Teammate helps fill out the weaknesses/holes/gaps in the Requirements vs. Capabilities matrix (meatball chart) • Teammate is incumbent (prime or sub), brings customer experience, brings customer intimacy, has a desirable facility location, has a presence at the customer site; and/or etc. • Teammate is a certified Small Business; Veteran Owned; Service Disabled Veteran Owned, Woman Owned; HUBZone; and also meets one of the above criteria • Business & Other Considerations – Examples • Quid Pro Quo • We like the company/have worked with them before/they do good work/mentor protégé, etc. So refer to “Our Team” vs. “Our Company” throughout the proposal 2014 Mid-Atlantic Conference & Expo Bruce Morton - 27 May 16

  30. “Me Too” vs. “Why Us?” – 1 • Answer the question: “Why Us?” vs. “Me Too” • Value Proposition: What is the benefit of us from the customer(s) point of view? • What is our proposed approach/solution? • Technical; Management; Schedule; Transition/Phase-in/Start-up; Performance; Best Value; Risk; Etc. • Do our teammates fill out the weaknesses/holes/gaps in our Requirements vs. Capabilities matrix (meatball chart)? • What is the compelling evidence that supports that we and our team can successfully do/perform • what we say? • what we say at low or acceptable risk? Bruce Morton - 27 May 16

  31. “Me Too” vs. “Why Us?” – 2 The Death Strategy for a re-compete: “The customer doesn’t like the incumbent so we will win!” • Actually, if this is really true, then one of the competitors will likely win, but not necessarily you!!! • Best to assume that the customer does like the incumbent, and then explain why you should win • Still need to answer “Why Us’ vs. “Me Too” Bruce Morton - 27 May 16

  32. “We” vs. “You”  Value Proposition What is the benefit from the customer(s) point of view? Change perspective from “we” to “you”: Poor: We will achieve a significant improvement in customer satisfaction Good: You will see a 30% improvement in customer satisfaction within 9 months as measured by 3rd party customer surveys Poor: We are providing a 3 Terabyte hard disk drive Good: You will have the highest capacity COTS hard disk drive available today 32 Bruce Morton - 27 May 16

  33. Features vs. Benefits • Feature: We are providing a 3 Terabyte hard disk drive • Implication: Isn’t that great? • Problem: Leaves it up to the reader to decide significance • Benefit: You will have the highest capacity hard disk drive available today: 3 Terabyte • COTS (Commercial-Off-The-Shelf) • Meets all requirements • Cost effective • Available now: low schedule risk and low technical risk Bruce Morton - 27 May 16

  34. Win Themes: Review Techniques - 1Source: Bruce Morton • Cross Out Bullets • Put Win Theme bullets on PowerPoint chart • Cross out all generic strategy bullets • Cross out all bullets that most competitors will claim • See what’s left (may not be much) • Review/discuss and figure out how to mitigate Bruce Morton - 27 May 16

  35. Win Themes: Review Techniques - 2Source: Bruce Morton 2. Typical Issues & Pitfalls • Carefully and critically evaluate Win Themes against each bullet of “Win Themes - Typical Issues & Pitfalls” • Generic • Generic Themes vs. Company/Team Specific Themes • Generic Themes vs. Opportunity Specific Themes • Generic Themes vs. Solution Specific Themes • Comprehensive • Themes focus on one topic vs. Themes focus on all key topics • “Our Company” vs. “Our Team” • Compelling • “Me Too” vs. “Why Us?” • “We” vs. “You”  Value Proposition • Features vs. Benefits • Identify and Mitigate any issues Bruce Morton - 27 May 16

  36. Win Themes: Review Techniques - 3Source: Bruce Morton 3. Create Loss Debriefing • Create a customer debriefing for the loss • Use prior loss debriefings as a source • Example - Best Value: lost because cost differential (vs. the winner) was too high • Identify and Mitigate any issues Bruce Morton - 27 May 16

  37. Customer Loss Debriefings - Examples “The Offeror appears to understand the Program, but the lack of specificity made it difficult to evaluate and fully assess the viability of their proposed solution.” “The Offeror’s proposed price reflects multiple omissions in their proposal and a relatively low number of bid labor hours. The labor mix for Task Orders 03-05 is not realistic (i.e. too low).” “The Offeror’s proposed price is too high (vs. competitors) to justify the best value benefits that were proposed” Bruce Morton - 27 May 16

  38. Generic Caption vs. Action Caption - 1 In your proposal, the captions should convey the key elements of your story independent of the text • Some customer evaluators are better at reading and comprehending graphics & captions • Some customer evaluators are better at reading and comprehending text • Customer evaluators can read their assigned proposal section, then refer back and copy the captions as justification to support their evaluation score 38 Bruce Morton - 27 May 16

  39. Generic Caption vs. Action Caption - 2 Fig. 1-2: Pie Chart Bruce Morton - 27 May 16

  40. Generic Caption vs. Action Caption - 3 Fig. 1-3: Horse 40 Bruce Morton - 27 May 16

  41. Topics • CaptureManagementPerspective • Killer Win Strategy  Win Themes on Steroids • Costing & Pricing Strategy  Competitive Price Linked to Value Bruce Morton - 27 May 16

  42. Costing and Pricing are Different • Strategy/Approach: Need to Strategize both Cost and Price • Cost: Expenses Incurred by Contractor • labor (no. of personnel; skill levels; butts-in-seats; ...); materials, facilities, risk (redesign; spares; retest; …); etc. • Select cost center; make labor source decisions; perform risk assessment; etc. • Price: Amount Charged to Customer Bruce Morton - 27 May 16

  43. Price: Amount Charged to Customer • Considering cost, profit, risk, Pw, business considerations, etc. • Examples • e.g. New Car - Discounts • e.g. Machinists - Idle • e.g. Golden Gate Bridge - Cables • e.g. NASA – Photos Bruce Morton - 27 May 16

  44. Pricing Must Address One or More Potential Aspects of Evaluation Criteria Evaluation Criteria may include: • Affordability • Cost Realism • Best Value • VATEP (Value Adjusted Total Evaluated Price) • LPTA (Low Price, Technically Acceptable) • Total Cost of Ownership • CAIV (Cost As An Independent Variable) • Etc. Who is your pricing strategist? Bruce Morton - 27 May 16

  45. Pricing Tools and Techniques • PTW (Price-To-Win) • ICE (Independent Cost Estimate) • Should Cost (Will Cost - Cost Initiatives) • Design to Cost • CAIV (cost as an independent variable) • Best Value • VATEP (Value Adjusted Total Evaluated Price) • Assumptions Analysis & Verification • Risk & Risk Mitigation - Customer perceived • Risk & Risk Mitigation - Company perceived Bruce Morton - 27 May 16 45

  46. Costing & Pricing Considerations - 1 Activities Performed Independent of Capture Team (performed by others in your company or a consultant) Price-To-Win/ Position-to-Win Includes Competitor Cost Analysis Independent Cost Estimate (ICE) Risk & Risk Mitigation - Company perceived Activities Performed by the Capture Team Receive Independent inputs and address/evaluate Request iterations as necessary Develop approach/rationalization/mitigation Include inputs & recommendations in Management Reviews Bruce Morton - 27 May 16

  47. Costing & Pricing Considerations - 2 Additional Activities Performed by the Capture Team Risk & Risk Mitigation - Customer perceived Costing & Pricing Strategy  Pricing Strategist Selection and/or creation of appropriate cost centers Strategizing cost inputs from teammates/subs Assure/Enforce consistent level of assumed risk across estimating elements Baseline/Solution Development BoE/BoM (Basis of Estimate/Bill of Material) Development& substantiation Planned Investment (prior to award and/or after award) 47 Bruce Morton - 27 May 16

  48. Risk & Risk Mitigation - Company Perceived Is It Real? Can We Win? Do We Want To Win? Bruce Morton - 27 May 16

  49. Do We Want To Win? Terms and Conditions • No escalation/forward pricing allowed for inflation • Winning contractor will be paid in foreign currency, but co. will pay workers and teammates in U.S. dollars  currency speculation • Offset requirement is a large percent of the bid value • Legal liability (e.g. early DHS) Perspective of Bidding unit vs. corporate • Bidding unit makes its dollar goals but bid is risky and could sink the corporation • Bid causes a potential OCI for a much larger bid 49

  50. Risk & Risk Mitigation - Customer Perceived • Understanding of and approach to technical requirements • Management • Schedule • Transition or start-up or phase-in risk • Ability to staff surge requirements • Omissions and errors in cost analysis • Salaries and/or benefits seem too low to be competitive • Bidder has no local presence in the specific locale • Weak relevant past performance • Etc. Overall Risk and Risk Mitigation Score 50

More Related