Lessons from the Real World 3: Applying Business Examples to Opportunity Development

NOTE: This post is the third and final in a series of three posts expanding on ideas in a recent webinar I conducted for the APMP California chapter with the same title.

Be Known for Something

When you are known for something, you create a better connection with the customer and increase satisfaction. Companies look to build solid reputations based on an area of expertise. Many companies have great reputations based on what they do well. For example, Honda makes a lot of products, including cars, trucks, lawn mowers, and more. But if you ask Honda, they really want to be known for high-quality engines. Continue Reading →

Lessons from the Real World 2: Applying Business Examples to Opportunity Development

NOTE: This post is the second in a series of three posts expanding on ideas in a recent webinar I conducted for the APMP California chapter with the same title.


Customized Standardization

In today’s fast-paced world, being able to provide high-quality, repeatable processes can be the difference between success and failure. Nowhere has that trend seen greater resonance than in dining. People, especially millennials, are abandoning both ends of the spectrum (fast food and traditional sit-down dining) in favor of “fast casual” establishments. Firms like Roti and Chipotle have benefited from filling this space.

Each of these companies has a limited number of individual options that, when combined, equal endless possibilities. They allow the customer the ability to get something completely different from anyone else while allowing the store to maintain quality standards over a limited number of products. For Roti, you start with a rice plate, wrap, pita, or salad. Then, add proteins, sides, sauces, and toppings to make your unique creation. Chipotle also starts with four simple items (burrito, burrito bowl, tacos, or salad). According to Business Insider, in 2013 you could end up with 655,360 combinations based on the individual options available! And that was before they added chorizo and queso to the menu, so there are multiple additional combinations you have now.

Chipotle allows you to create a customized solution from standardized ingredients, a great example for proposal organizations.

Proposal organizations, especially busy ones, need to have the same mentality. The number one thing we can do is make the job easier for our writers to develop great, personalized content that speaks to the needs of the client. In my last blog post, and in my guest post for RFPIO, I talked about developing building blocks to allow your team to put together high-quality, client-centric content quickly.

A second approach is to develop repeatable templates. This approach works well on contract vehicles that have the same requirements on each task order. We can build a standardized template, and even populate it with relevant building blocks, to allow our teams to hit the ground running. It also helps the proposal manager by decreasing the turnaround time on getting a template to the writers.

It’s All About the Client

For me, the best example of being focused on your customer/client is the Walt Disney Company. They believe in the customer experience model, which means Disney makes sure every interaction with a customer is memorable and of the highest quality, and sees each of these touchpoints as part of building a relationship. They even wrote the book about it – Be Our Guest provides insights for those looking to focus on making each experience memorable.

Some examples from Disney include:

  • Kevin hanging out with a close, personal friend at Walt Disney World.

    Each “cast member,” even corporate executives, have only their first name on their name tags. This makes guests feel like they are talking to a friend

  • The resort hotels are a fully immersive experience – places like the Art of Animation resort make sure everything, from the bed linens to the hallways to the pools, are fully in line with the theme of that particular location
  • When my family went to Walt Disney World this year, we had reservations for breakfast at Cinderella’s Castle. Before our reservation, we had time to squeeze in a visit with Cinderella in the meet-and-greet location next door. When we got in line for our reservation we realized we would be meeting Cinderella again. A quick word to the photographer about our last stop led to a whisper in Cinderella’s ear, and her greeting my 6 and 4 year olds with “well isn’t it nice to see you again so soon!”
  • Click here for a heart-touching story from the Disney Institute blog about a family’s visit and how a purple balloon made the day a life-long memory

We have two clients in proposal development – our external client (the organization we are submitting the proposal to) and the internal client (the one we work with to create the proposal). Our proposals must focus on the external client – they need to be built around what the external client needs and wants and provide a solution specifically tailored to address those issues. We need to guide our internal clients throughout the process and make sure they receive the support and commitment required to put together a winning proposal.

It is important to remember, though, that the client is not always right (especially the internal one). To use the Disney example, what if you want to meet Moana, but she is no longer doing meet-and-greets at the park? Disney is not going to have her show up; instead, they will provide an explanation on why they cannot grant your request and offer alternatives.

In proposal development, we face the same issues. For example, a Capture Lead might insist on an outline that focuses on “the story we want to tell” instead of one built around the solicitation requirements. In these cases, you can and should tell your internal client “no.” However, like Disney, you need to have a sound reason for doing so and explain that reason; just saying “we can’t do that” doesn’t satisfy anyone. Lay out the reason why we need to follow your outline, and provide suggestions on how to weave that story throughout the proposal.

I hope you gain some additional professional insight and ideas from these lessons from other companies. In my final post, I’ll talk about being known for something and how to handle a crisis.

Engage in the conversation – tweet me at https://www.twitter.com/DrSwitaj

How Humanities Graduates Excel at Communications

In anticipation of the release of my upcoming book The Well-Rounded Professional: Translating Humanities Skills to Career Success, I am writing blog posts about four of the critical skills developed in a humanities education. This week, I look at what might be the most obvious skill: written and verbal communications.

One of the constants in a humanities education is you have to read, write, and speak. A lot. Humanists have to be able to communicate effectively in order to graduate. Across the spectrum, from history to the languages, students need to be able to clearly structure and articulate an argument that convinces others. For English majors, the entire focus of their education is to be able to communicate and know how to use the written word clearly (and/or studying the ways in which others have successfully used the English language to the benefit of others). In history, students need to construct a sound argument and defend it.

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Lessons from the Real World 1: Applying Business Examples to Opportunity Development

NOTE: This post is the first in a series of three posts expanding on ideas in a recent webinar I conducted for the APMP California chapter with the same title.


Many people working in proposals think proposal development has little if anything in common with other professions. How often, for example, do you feel at a loss trying to explain your job? I know when people ask me what I do, I always struggle for a simple, easily understood answer. I usually end up saying I help companies try to win business with the Government, which usually generates a response of, “oh, so you’re in sales” (which is another post altogether!).

Despite the unique challenges every proposal professional faces, the good news is we are not alone. Most fields have aspects that outsiders cannot understand. However, this does not mean we should lock ourselves in a bubble. There is much we can learn from other industries and other professions.

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Churchill and Orwell: A Review

I know this is a departure from my normal blog content, but I felt I needed to post a review of a book I just finished. George Orwell is my favorite writer. Every year I re-read Animal Farm (usually in a day or so) and 1984 gets re-read every 2 or 3 years. And anyone who attended my Ignite Talk at the 2017 APMP International Bid and Proposal Conference knows about my adoration of Winston Churchill.

Presenting my Churchill-focused Ignite talk at APMP Bid and Proposal Con 2017

So when my sister told me about a new book she heard about on NPR, it seemed like a work tailored for me. Thomas E Ricks’ 2017 book about both men, entitled Churchill and Orwell: The Fight for Freedom, is a comparative biography that looks at the unexpected similarities and connections between an ardent socialist and a Conservative Prime Minister. Ricks does a great job developing a coherent reason for his book and provides some good information about these two huge figures in the 20th and 21st centuries. Both become massive public figures in the 1940s, Churchill as the man who led Britain to victory over the Nazis and Orwell as a globally influential writer with two massive best sellers.

Ricks provides an interesting argument in his comparison of how both men overcame the opposition of their own political movements and ended up being on the right side of history. For Orwell, the move of the far left towards Stalinist Communism, which he was deeply skeptical of, was a step too far. Given his own experience in the Spanish Civil War, where the Soviet-backed authorities outlawed certain socialist organizations (including the one Orwell belonged to) because they need not support Stalin, it is not surprising Orwell began to develop his own path on the left. For Churchill, Conservative Party opposition came as a result of his fight against appeasement of Hitler and his deep connection with India (where both he and Orwell served during their careers). Ricks correctly states, “Churchill ranted so much about India policy (he was against independence) and Germany (he thought the threat was underestimated) that he wore out his welcome with his own party, whose leaders grew determined to keep him out of the Cabinet.” (Loc 736)

George Orwell was the pen name of Eric Blair

Also central for Ricks is how Orwell and Churchill had similar antipathy to authoritarianism and preservation of the individual in modern society. As he writes, “Orwell and Churchill recognized that the key question of their century ultimately was not who controlled the means of production, as Marx thought, or how the human psyche functioned, as Freud taught, but rather how to preserve the liberty of the individual during an age when the state was becoming powerfully intrusive into private life.” (Loc 92)

For Orwell, this antipathy stemmed from his experience in the Spanish Civil War. He was equally skeptical of Stalin as he was of Hitler, believing  “a communist and a fascist are somewhat nearer to one another than either is to a democrat.” (Loc 1217) He also feared what would be coming in the post-war era. To quote Ricks, “not only would the all-powerful state forbid people to express certain thoughts, he worried, it would take an additional step and tell them what to think.” (Loc 3359)

Churchill’s disgust of authoritarianism is well-known; he spent from the early 1930s to 1945 fighting Nazism and 1945 until his death in 1965 fighting against Communism. Churchill coined the term “iron curtain,” debuting it at a speech in Missouri in May 1946. It dovetails nicely with Orwell – both saw the threats of the extreme left and right and looked to preserve the possibility of individual freedom.

Winston Churchill’s Determination on the Evil of the Nazis Made Him Unpopular in His Party, but Successful in World War II

Another common love for these two individuals is a love of language and critical thought. Churchill is thought to have written anywhere from 9 to 15 million words in the life. He once stated, “The man who cannot say what he has to say in good English cannot have very much to say that is worth listening to.” (Loc 2822) Orwell’s essay “Politics and the English Language” is a landmark piece on the standing of the English language and how it can be used as a political weapon. One of my favorite lines from Orwell (which I intend to make a guiding principle in my writing) is:

Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print. Never use a long word where a short one will do. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out. Never use the passive where you can use the active. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous. (Loc 2804)

Ricks also finds mutual respect between the two. He is much more convincing when arguing Orwell’s appreciation for Churchill; his use of Orwell’s diaries and mention of 1984‘s main character possibly being named after the Prime Minister are particularly strong. The evidence for Churchill’s reciprocation is not as clear or as available. Ricks does his best with what does exist but it does feel like a bit of a stretch.

There are some shortcomings in Ricks’ approach. As one would expect in a comparative biography, both individuals are covered broadly. There are lots of details about each individual that needed to be excluded simply due to space constraints. My main objection is how some of Churchill’s shortcomings are painted over, especially regarding his position and policies over India. Churchill was a great man, but far from a perfect one. Some additional coverage of the complexities of his public and private personas could add some additional depth to the volume.

On the whole, Ricks has produced an interesting, page-turning work that will appeal to fans of either individual or those wishing to have a better understanding of the conflicts and clashes in inter-war Britain. The book flows well, includes some great tidbits and quotations, and I recommend it.

Being a Well Rounded Professional

As many of you know, I have a non-traditional background for someone engaged in senior management in business. When people find out that I have a PhD in history, they respond with either (or both) of the following reactions:

  • ‘That is so cool!’
  • ‘How did you get into this work?’

Several years ago, I got tired of answering the second question so often. So I wrote an article for the regional chapter of the Association of Proposal Management Professionals, the professional organization for my career. Entitled ‘From Historian to Proposal Professional,’ it detailed how I applied what I learned in academia to being successful in my job.

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Lessons from the Real World – Webinar Notes

On 30 August I had the pleasure of delivering a webinar for the APMP California chapter entitled, “Lessons from the Real World: Applying Business Examples to Opportunity Development.” I plan to write a couple of blog posts later in September that detail what I presented. Those posts will build on the main theme – that capture and proposal professionals can learn from a wide range of industries and business leaders to improve how we do our job. Below, I provide some links to things discussed in the presentation.

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