The kick-off meeting is designed to build upon the ongoing activities of the marketing and BD team.
The designated proposal manager chairs the kick-off meeting for a proposal. An effective meeting should:
- Emphasize senior management’s commitment to this project
- Build motivation
- Highlight the nature of the procurement and the marketing intelligence
gathered about the opportunity - Review the competition as well as your company’s strengths and weaknesses
- Discuss concrete reasons for bidding
- Highlight the strategies for winning (technical, management, and cost).
Why your company should win and not the competition - Discuss any major or unexpected changes in the RFP from what
had been expected during the intelligence gathering efforts - Discuss the role of the teaming partners and subcontractors
- Review the proposal outline
- Review the proposal milestone schedule. Emphasize the importance of
adhering to the schedule - Make well-defined writing assignments and assign action items
for tracking - Discuss writing guidelines (e.g., style, page limitations, word count,
if required) - Review major themes for the proposal
- Discuss resumes and related experience that must be included
in the proposal - Review project staffing plan
- Identify specific publication needs (binders, tabs, graphics, etc.)
- Determine the delivery method (who, when and where) as well as
a back-up delivery plan
Attendees of the kick-off meeting should include, at a minimum:
- Principal writers, subject matter experts and contributors
- Operations manager or a senior manager from operations
- BD staff member (who has a knowledge of the customer and competition)
- Contracts manager familiar with the RFP’s terms and conditions
- Finance manager who will prepare the cost estimate
- Proposal coordination representative who will be responsible for proposal
word processing and graphics - Key reviewers so they are involved from the beginning
Here is a sample proposal kick-off meeting agenda:
- Key procurement details and marketing intelligence
- Competition strengths and weaknesses
- Your company strengths and weaknesses
- Major themes and discriminators
- Win strategy (technical, management and price)
- Unexpected changes in the actual solicitation
- Solicitation clarifications to submit to the client
- Proposal milestone schedule including price reviews
- Teaming partner roles and responsibilities
- Writing assignments
- Writing guidelines
- Key personnel and past performance citations
- Staffing plan (if relevant)
- Proposal delivery requirements
- Actions items
The following items are distributed to all parties at the kick-off meeting:
- Meeting agenda
- Full copy of the RFP if not previously distributed
- Proposal summary sheet
- Complete listing of proposal team members, including address,
phone numbers, cell number, office number and e-mail address - Known information on the competition and the customer
- Evaluation factors for award
- Milestone schedule
- Proposal volume outlines and writing assignments, including page
and word allocations as applicable - Thematic and writing guidelines
- Draft executive summary (if complete)
- Resume format requirements
- Action item sheet
– Mike Lisagor