Welcome to the Section L Update New Year's Edition!
As part of our efforts to share capture and proposal educational info with you, we're instituting a couple of new features for 2012. First, we're starting a monthly webinar series, moderated by Brenda Crist. Join us for our first informative webinar featuring Bob Lohfeld, Feb. 22 at 2:00 p.m., sponsored by APMP and Lohfeld Consulting Group -
We're also adding a blog to our website later this winter. In our Insights blog, featuring posts from the entire Lohfeld Consulting Group team, we'll share our capture, proposal, design, and technology-related best practices, hints, and tips. Take a look at the first part of Beth Wingate's Favorite Capture, Proposal, and Design Books post below and check our website in February for part two - favorite books from the entire Lohfeld Consulting Group team.
And...congratulations to Beth Wingate, recently elected APMP International's 2012 Chief Operating Officer (COO), 2013 Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and 2014 Past CEO!
Here's to a joyful, healthy, and successful New Year from all of us!
|
|
Introducing Lohfeld Consulting Group's Insights Blog | Capture, Proposal, Design, & Tech
Favorite business, proposal development, and design-related books
| |
For our first Insights blog posting, I surveyed our Lohfeld Consulting Group team for their favorite capture, proposal, and design-related books. There were a few - like Mike Parkinson's Do-It-Yourself Billion Dollar Graphics and Mark Amtower's Selling to the Government - that appeared in many lists. Others were new to me, and I'm looking forward to adding them to my ever-increasing reading list (some made it directly onto my iPad as I prepared this post!)!
My favorites include the following - all available on Amazon.com. I've noted whether the book is available as hardcopy or Kindle format (for my fellow iPad aficionados!).
Please share your favorites with me. I'll add your recommendations to our favorites and update the list in future posts.
- The Jelly Effect - How to Make Your Communication Stick (hardcopy and Kindle) by Andy Bounds. Provides "simple, memorable, and costless ways to win more attention and more business" - basically tells how to structure presentations and communications so folks pay attention to your message.
- The Mind Map Book - How to Use Radiant Thinking to Maximize Your Brain's Untapped Potential (hardcopy) by Tony Buzan. Definitive mind mapping book with practical advice and examples for taking notes, organizing presentations, and writing documents.
- The Back of the Napkin - Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures (hardcopy and Kindle) by Dan Roam. Shows how to conceptualize and present information visually using simple rules and tools (great for non-artists).
- Unfolding the Napkin - The Hands-On Method for Solving Complex Problems with Simple Pictures (hardcopy and Kindle) by Dan Roam. Provides a clear process for analyzing problems, developing solutions, and gaining consensus using pictures.
- Presentation Zen - Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery (2nd edition) (hardcopy) by Garr Reynolds. Shows how to "think differently" about presentation design and format - less is more, simple design is better.
- Presentation Zen Design - Simple Design Principles and Techniques to Enhance Your Presentations (hardcopy and Kindle) by Garr Reynolds. Provides design principles for using text, graphs, color, images, and video in presentations.
- Government Marketing Best Practices - Real world Tactics on How to Grow Mindshare to Grab a Bigger Slice of the World's Largest Market - "Fortune One" - the U.S. Federal Government (hardcopy) by Mark Amtower. Distills 20 years' best practices in simple, frank terms - very readable, no-nonsense advice.
- Design Essentials Index (Kit) (Color Index 2, Type Idea Index, Design Basics Index) (hardcopy) by Jim Krause. Includes color combos for print and web with RGB and CMYK formulas, helps conceptualize use of type and has 650 typography examples, and provides fundamentals of design with multiple examples.
|
|
|
|
Meet our expert
Wendy Frieman, Principal Consultant and Proposal Doctor
| 
An Association of Proposal Management Professionals (APMP) Fellow, Wendy Frieman specializes in capture and proposal management and training, proposal process and operations, and technical writing.
Prior to joining Lohfeld Consulting Group, Wendy served as a Main Thrust Proposal Manager at CSC, where she was responsible for high-dollar-value and complex must-win proposals. She managed large (>$500M) proposals for the Air Force, NSA, State Department, and NASA. She established an internal network for proposal managers across the company and promoted the use of standard tools and templates through the wiki that she built to support the community.
Wendy is a regular contributor to APMP publications, including the peer-reviewed APMP Journal, and she is a regular presenter at APMP conferences and events. She received APMP's Insight Award for her article on the relationship between agile software development and proposal management. Read more...
|
Proposal problems?
Ask the Proposal Doctor Stop the madness - how to steer management towards realistic metrics and schedules...
| |
Dear Proposal Doctor,
The company I work for is bidding on a large government contract, and the proposal is a huge undertaking. My team consists of more than 50 people, and my MS Project schedule has hundreds of lines. It's a challenge, which is to be expected. I was excited and optimistic when we started, but now I have a boatload of senior executives breathing down my neck. All the time! I spend at least half of every day explaining and justifying what we are doing to some vice president or other and the other half of the day managing the proposal. How can I get these people off my back? Pounded by Management Read more... |
|
|
|
Lohfeld Consulting Group in the news
How to raise your win rate by 20%
 All executives want to increase their win rate. If you could raise your company's overall win rate by 20%, the payoff in additional revenue, earnings, and shareholder value could be huge. Company revenues would increase, earnings would increase by the marginal profit rate on the new revenue, and shareholder value would increase proportionally to your increase in earnings.
But, knowing which investments to make and predicting the payoff is the challenge. Here's how to choose your investments and predict the resulting increase in win rates...
| Read Bob Lohfeld's article from Washington Technology.
|
|
Educational opportunities
| |
APMP Foundation Level Accreditation Training - APMP Chesapeake Chapter
Jan. 12, 2012, Columbia, MD
This course trains students in 22 competency areas covering the bid and proposal field. The competencies are classified into five groups: sales orientation, information research and management, planning development and management. The course explains best practices for implementing the competencies and provides constructive exercises and practice test questions.
Join Brenda Crist for this 1-day course to prepare to take the APMP Foundation exam. Sponsored by APMP.
Register now for Jan. 12 Columbia, MD class - seats still available!
Learn Capture Management - How government contractors win business
Learn Proposal Writing - How to write better technical and managerial proposals that outscore the competition
March 21, 2012, Herndon, VA
Do you have to write the technical or management sections of proposals? Would you like to learn the process professional writers use to create compelling content quickly for the technical and management sections of a proposal?
Join Brooke Crouter for this 1-day training course. We'll show you how to write better proposals more quickly and consistently receive higher scores.
Register now for March 21 class!
Learn Proposal Management - How government contractors create winning proposals
April 25, 2012, Herndon, VA
Proposal Management covers the process government contractors use to create winning proposals for full-and-open competitions and task order contracts. Proposal Management follows a structured process comprising a series of scalable actions and steps aimed at creating high-scoring proposals that result in winning bids. In this seminar, we'll explore Lohfeld Consulting Group's 5-phase government business acquisition framework and see how Capture Management transitions knowledge to your proposal team and how your proposal team prepares for RFP release, builds a winning proposal, and then prepares for government questions and proposal revisions. The Proposal Management process covers the proposal management activities from pre-proposal submission through post-submission activities. We'll share our industry best practices, tips, tricks, and tools for managing every aspect of your proposals.
Join Beth Wingate for this 1-day training course. We'll explore the Proposal Management process from pre-proposal through post-submission activities. We'll share our industry best practices, tips, tricks, and tools for managing every aspect of your proposals.
Register now for April 25 class!
|
|
|
Professional training classes
| |
APMP Foundation Level Accreditation Training - APMP Chesapeake Chapter
Jan. 12, 2012, Columbia, MD
Join Brenda Crist for this 1-day course to prepare to take the APMP Foundation exam. Sponsored by APMP.
Register now for Jan. 12 class - seats still available!
Learn Capture Management - How government contractors win business
Feb. 22, 2012, Herndon, VA
Join Brooke Crouter for this 1-day training course. We'll take you through our proven 10-Step Capture Management Methodology and show you how to improve your win rate when pursuing government contracts.
Register now for Feb. 22 class!
Learn Proposal Writing - How to write better technical and managerial proposals that outscore the competition
March 21, 2012, Herndon, VA
Join Brooke Crouter for this 1-day training course. Learn the process professional writers use to create compelling content quickly for the technical and management sections of a proposal. We'll show you how to write better proposals more quickly and consistently receive higher scores.
Register now for March 21 class!
Learn Proposal Management - How government contractors create winning proposals
April 25, 2012, Herndon, VA
Join Beth Wingate for this 1-day training course. We'll explore Lohfeld Consulting Group's 5-phase government business acquisition framework and see how Capture Management transitions knowledge to your proposal team and how your proposal team prepares for RFP release, builds a winning proposal, and then prepares for government questions and proposal revisions. We'll share our industry best practices, tips, tricks, and tools for managing every aspect of your proposals.
Register now for April 25 class!
|
|
|
|
Corporate training classes in capture, proposals, and proposal writing - delivered on-site
| Let us design and provide your corporate on-site capture, proposal management, and proposal writing training programs.
On-site APMP Foundation-level Accreditation training
Train your capture and proposal team and achieve APMP Foundation-level Accreditation for everyone in your organization.
Training Office -
Briana Coleman 703.615.7596
BColeman@LohfeldConsulting.com |
|
|
|
Let us manage your must-win proposals
| Our expert proposal staff can manage and support your proposals. We provide:
-Capture managers
-Proposal managers
-Volume leads
-Technical writers
-Graphic artists
-Editors
-Desktop publishers
-Proposal coordinators
-Orals coaches
All of our proposal leadership team are experts in winning government contracts.
Contact Amy Barden at 703.820.0075 or ABarden@LohfeldConsulting.com to discuss your upcoming proposal-support requirements.
|
|
|
|
Need help with capture and proposal processes and infrastructure?
|
We provide capture and proposal process evaluations and develop process-improvement roadmaps to increase your government business acquisition win rate. We can tune up your existing processes and build and implement your business development infrastructure enterprise-wide.
Contact Bob Lohfeld at 410.336.6264 or RLohfeld@LohfeldConsulting.com to discuss your proposal process and infrastructure support requirements.
|
|
|
|
