Better RFP Responses & Management
 
Proposal Land

About Isabel

After graduating from the University of Saskatchewan with an MBA in 1984, Isabel taught business at the University of Saskatchewan and the University of Alberta, and worked as a marketing consultant and project manager.  In 1990 she wandered into Proposal Land without a map, and pitched camp.  Since then, she has learned three things vital to winning contracts, sustainably:

  • How to develop better solutions for client statements of work (SOWs)
  • How to write better RFP responses
  • How to manage proposal teams for best short-term and long-term results

She’s also formed a few opinions on RFPs, and on how they can be better.

Proposal Roles Played

  • Deputy proposal manager
  • Chief editor
  • Writing team lead
  • Red Team reviewer/lead
  • Management/marketing writer

 RFP and RFQ Experience

  • Client industries:  defence/defense (army, navy, air force), transportation, communications, administrative services, technical services, design-build, oil and gas
  • RFP issuers:  governments (federal [Canada and USA], provincial, municipal), Crown corporations, NATO, and private-sector companies
  • Procurement types:  services and acquisition; AFP/PPP/P3
  • Pricing structures:  cost-plus, firm price, management fee
  • Contractual arrangements:  fee for service, design/build, design/build/finance/maintain
  • Response requirements:  line-by-line responses to statement of work; standard technical/management proposals; Tabular Format (TF!)
  • Teams:  5 to 75 people
  • Number of proposals:  About 100
  • Percent of deadlines met:  Exactly 100
  • Number of team members strangled:  0

 

Isabel also photographs and makes videos of the world’s wonders and writes about life’s little puzzles in a wide-ranging blog: Traditional Iconoclast.