If you are pulling a team together for an RFP pursuit, it’s a good idea to have a kickoff meeting to outline expectations and deliverables. This will ensure a great proposal in less time and hopefully less pain. The best way to avoid a mad dash to the deadline is to have a kickoff meeting immediately after the pre-bid meeting.
Meeting Preparation
Only invite key staff members to the kickoff meeting. Usually the project manager, marketing coordinator, and business development manager are involved in these meetings. When setting up the meeting with your team, make sure you tell everyone in your calendar invite to read the RFP first before showing up to the meeting. It doesn’t hurt to attach a copy of the RFQ or RFP so there are no excuses for not reading it.
Proposal Plan
The best way to prepare for a kick-off meeting is to prepare a Proposal Plan.
1. Pick your favorite tool (Word or Excel).
2. Create a proposal outline in a table format based on the structure the RFP provides. For example:
- Section 1: Understanding of Services and Approach
- Section 2: Qualifications
3. Add two columns, one for “Who’s Responsible” and “Deadline,” respectively.
4. Create space for the team.
5. Create space for relevant project experience.
6. Proposed Schedule: Draft 1 will be completed on this date, Draft 2 will be created on this date.
7. List general proposal requirements (12 point font, double-sided, 50-page limit, number of copies, etc.)
8. List proposal delivery requirements (time, place, etc.)
9. Additional Questions to ask the procurement specialist.
Don’t Leave Until You Have the Answers
Do not leave the kickoff meeting until you have every item on your proposal plan taken care of, someone responsible for giving you the information, and a date and time when the task will be completed. In some cases, this may be you for most of the items, but the main point of this exercise is accountability.
Follow Up
When the deadlines approach, start following up with team members and remind them, “This is what we agreed to at the kickoff meeting, do you have item 2 ready?”
Summary
Stick with the process! Your team will get used to the overall process and it will make getting your content together easier. If you have any questions about proposal plans and kickoff meetings, please contact us.