Why GamePlan?
So, when I started in the business development and proposal management game some 40 year ago, winning was all about awesome, glossy charts and great proposals. You’d expect things to change in that period of time and it has, but some consulting organizations and people still act as if that’s what wins. In two words — “It doesn’t!”
Customers have changed, acquisition processes have changed and today the real key is effective positioning. The driving question is how best to do that? It of course begs the questions of when do you start and how do you engage?
Most companies continue what worked in the good old days when there was plenty of money, where customers had technical depth and it was a fairly open environment. Those days are long gone.
So what is the new game? My frustration with “business as usual” and failures in customer engagements led to my creating GamePlan, a framework for competitive thinking to start winning early and often — doing what it takes to win these days.
GamePlan produces the early attack plan that enables you to test and vet approaches/solutions, validate assumptions and most importantly, shape the terms and requirements of the Request For Proposal (RFP).
Look, if you wait til the customer issues a draft, they are 80% done and disinclined to make significant changes — it’s their baby and it’s beautiful, by definition.
The magic is to get out front and how to engage to get the RFP of your dreams — out front when the Customer is open to change and still formulating their approach.
This is where winning happens — why I created GamePlan. Proposals are necessary evils, but from my perch, they simply confirm what the customer already knows.
I’ve had clients fearful of disclosing their strategy early because of fears of the Customer leaking to the competition. I tell them be the thought leader and get out ahead of everyone and keep running.
Think about it, if you hold your “golden nugget” back, you may have only two columnar inches or callouts on a graphic to reveal the key to your offering — they blink in the evaluation and they miss it.
Another fatal flaw is to assume that the Customer will take your information and figure it out. Rule number 1 (with all the other number 1 rules) is the Customer will do no work — ever. Your disclosure needs to be as simple and straightforward as possible and MUST confirm you advanced business development positioning.
GamePlan enables you to define your offering in details, bullet proof your offering, test your solutions, invest in the highest payoff areas, and produce powerful, targeted win strategy, messaging and themes.
We’ve used it to reshape competitions, align portfolios and investments and decide when not to waste your money bidding. It is the ultimate winning framework.
Contact me at john@goyak.com or call me direct at 702–283–2900 to discuss how we can use GamePlan to advantage you!
