CH 4: Finding Your Unique Selling Point
9 April 2015
Lectured by: OR Vitou
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To enable the students to effectively analyze
the RFP, assign tasks and set schedule for the
proposal development process in order to
present your proposal in a unique way.
9 April 2015
Lectured by: OR Vitou
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Step III: Detailed RFP Analysis and Your USP
Step IV: Preparation Schedule
Step V: Assignment of Tasks
9 April 2015
Lectured by: OR Vitou
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Done to find out the your unique selling point (USP)
USP is how you stand out from the competition, and
your analysis of the RFP, secondary and primary data
on the focused areas of your project will help you
formulate this strategy, which in turn, will drive the
detailed plans for each part of the program design
To effectively analyze the detailed RFP and find out
your unique selling points, you might need to pull in
staff from several departments and also create a RFP
analysis checklist
9 April 2015
Lectured by: OR Vitou
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Three purpose of the RFP analysis
 Define problems and requirements to be
addressed
 Determine what resources and information you
will need to write the proposal
 Generate the specific tasks that the team groups
will be assigned
9 April 2015
Lectured by: OR Vitou
RFP analysis checklist might include...
 Client’s problems or requirements
 RFP page number
 The work you team need to do
 Who is assigned the task
 Date input is due
 Date it is actually delivered
 Page number of your final proposal that responds to the client’s
original problem or requirement
Your RFP analysis checklist can help you to identify gaps in your
knowledge or database
(For more details, see page 50)
9 April 2015
Lectured by: OR Vitou
Once you have developed a checklist form, the
RFP can be analyzed in two stages: an initial
quick evaluation and a more detailed analysis
9 April 2015
Lectured by: OR Vitou
Initial quick Evaluation: might take around five or
ten minutes to complete, and is one way to obtain
an overview of the client’s requirements and what
resources you are likely to need to complete the
work
 The client’s main problems or requirements
 What special resources the contractor requires
 What restrictions are placed on who may bid for the
contract
 How much time you have to complete the work
9 April 2015
Lectured by: OR Vitou
Detailed Analysis: Key questions
 What is the customer’s real versus stated problems?
 What does the client believe is the solution?
 What experience do you have to handle the client’s
problems or requirement?
 Who is your principal competition? How are they likely
to respond to the RFP?
9 April 2015
Lectured by: OR Vitou
Detailed Analysis: Key questions (Con’t)
 Will the preparation effort require any demonstrations benchmark
tests, or other preliminary work?
 Who in the client’s organization is likely to support or oppose your
proposal?
 What is your unique selling point likely to be?
 Who will form the project team?
 What are your company's experience and qualifications for the
job?
 How much will the proposal effort cost your firm?
9 April 2015
Lectured by: OR Vitou
Asking the client for information
 Not all information you need will be in the RFP; the
writer may have been unclear about certain
specifications or conditions, or there may be gaps in
the RFP you need to fill in
 Asking client if all bidders will see each other
questions
 If so, asking client for a private meeting
9 April 2015
Lectured by: OR Vitou
A question of value (make your proposal unique and off-value to
the client)
 Show that you understand the client’s problems better than the
client does
 Present a detailed, achievable plan showing how you will solve the
client’s problem within the constraints of the RFP
 Show evidence that your firm is highly qualified to implement the
plan
 Meet all RFP requirements, including delivering the proposal to
the client before the state deadline
 Sell the client on the credibility of your plan and your firm. Your
proposal must create absolute confidence that your firm can
deliver the promised service or product
9 April 2015
Lectured by: OR Vitou
A question of value (make your proposal unique and
off-value to the client) could be proved in the
background research which might cover:
 The topic of the RFP, background of the project, and
the client’s history, organization and the budget for
the project
 The competition’s strengths and weaknesses
regarding the RFP topic and compared with your firm
 The target market for the RFP product
9 April 2015
Lectured by: OR Vitou
Client’s needs and wants
 Using background research, the proposal
team should be able to generate a prioritized
list of the client’s needs and wants
 See page 59 of the client’s needs/wants
analysis form
9 April 2015
Lectured by: OR Vitou
Value Added Elements
 While developing your USP strategy, keep in mind
that you may be able to add features as you go along.
 This value-added approach enables you to respond to
information you gain from the client or from
additional research
 See Value-Added Elements Form on page 63
9 April 2015
Lectured by: OR Vitou
Establish specific due dates for each task as well as for
the first drafts of the technical, management, and
time/cost sections of the proposal, the front matter,
and the executive summary
 Everyone on the proposal-writing team should know
the deadlines for their sections of the proposal, the
date the first draft of the complete document is to be
assembled, and the date the document is to be turned
over to management for review.
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9 April 2015
Lectured by: OR Vitou
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To effectively assign tasks, the manager needs to
know what tasks to delegate to which people
In some cases, the person who has an ideas is not the
best person to develop it or write about it
Making due dates very clear, it’s a good idea to require
routine progress reports from your proposal-writing
staff
Routine progress reports can allow you to detect
quickly if things are going on track and prevents
people from the delay on their assignments
9 April 2015
Lectured by: OR Vitou
END OF CHAPTER 4…
9 April 2015
Lectured by: OR Vitou