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.