Successful Proposal Strategies for Small Businesses: Winning Government, Private Sector, and International Contracts (Artech House Technology Management and Professional Development Library) [Hardcover]

Robert S. Frey (Author), Robert Frey (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Planning, managing and winning prized government and private sector contracts is easier, less costly, and far less stressful when you rely on the newly updated edition of this popular book designed specifically for entrepreneurs and small business managers.

This valuable guide maps and details every stage of the contractor proposal response lifecycle and shows you how to produce proposals that maximize your company's strengths and respond fully to client criteria. Step-by-step you learn how to develop proposals that serve as marketing and knowledge management vehicles, how to control and recover proposal costs, how to capitalize on new sources of competitor intelligence, how to cost-effectively publish attractive proposals, and more! Plus, you find important details on recent US regulations affecting acquisitons, and the latest US Government's initiatives in Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and electronic commerce.

About the Author

Robert S. Frey is the vice president of knowledge management & proposal development for RS Information Systems, Inc. His 12 years of progressive proposal management expertise involving government, private sector, and international organizations has generated more than half a billion dollars in revenue. Mr. Frey has conducted innovative proposal management seminars throughout the United States and is an instructor in Technology Management at UCLA.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 490 pages
• Publisher: Artech House Publishers; 2nd edition (July 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 158053001X
• ISBN-13: 978-1580530019
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 7.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #2,042,613 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thorough, full of sound advice and strategy, April 9, 2001

By	Mike Tarrani "www.tarrani.com" (Deltona, FL USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Successful Proposal Strategies for Small Businesses: Winning Government, Private Sector, and International Contracts (Artech House Technology Management and Professional Development Library) (Hardcover)

To set expectations this book is heavily slanted towards winning Government business. It is also applicable to large businesses as well as small ones. That said, the information in this unique book can be effectively used by consultants and companies intent on competing for commercial contracts. I am fortunate because I have experience in Government contracting (on both sides of the fence - writing RFPs and evaluating responses when I was a member of DoD, and responding to RFPs when I was in the DoD contracting industry), and in the commercial world where I have been working as a consultant since 1988. From my vantage point I see the value of this book as advice and guidelines for developing effective proposal strategies regardless of whether you are competing for Government or commercial business.

I have used this book as a ready reference since the first edition was published in 1997. This second edition reflects a major update to the original book in that the proposal management tools in the first edition were woefully out of date and the focus was not on some of the Government opportunities for small business, such as Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR)that require a tailored proposal strategy. The second edition also addresses new Government initiatives for e-business and a plethora of other topics that were not present in the first edition.

If you are competing for Government business this is the most complete, accurate book I know of that covers the RFP-Proposal-Negotiation-Award process. Short of memorizing the FAR (Federal Acquisition Regulations), amassing years of proposal writing experience, and gaining the wisdom of knowing what works and what doesn't you will not find a more concise guide to the process. Also, you will benefit greatly from the wealth of tips and pointers that the author provides from his own extensive experience. If you are in the DoD contracting business, regardless of business size, I cannot overemphasize this book's value when it comes to cutting through the maze and providing a clear roadmap. If you are a proposal or capture manager I strongly recommend that you get a copy for every member of your team.

For the book's readers who are in the commercial sector the approach outlined in this book will add process and structure to your proposal writing efforts. The rigorous requirements imposed by the Government are too often lacking in the commercial process, which results in sloppy proposals that meander around issues and miss important client requirements. Also, because the proposal development process can be as large a task in the commercial sector, managing it can be a nightmare without a well thought out strategy for ensuring that all of the "t"s are crossed and "i"s dotted. The approach in this book practically hands you a ready-made process that you can apply to proposal development. This process will not only improve your ability to respond quickly and accurately to RFPs, but do so in an efficient manner. The result will be a significant competitive advantage.

For both sets of readers I think some of the advice, such as using the proposal as a marketing tool as well as a due-diligence instrument for responding to RFPs is excellent. For example, the author emphasizes backing up responses with examples to demonstrate claims. This is a powerful technique that I have used repeatedly to good advantage. It goes a long way towards assuaging client concerns about capabilities versus empty claims, and will turn a proposal that is merely responsive into one that is compelling.

Other things that make this book extremely valuable include the CD ROM of checklists and templates, and the numerous examples from the author's past proposals.

In my opinion this is the best book available for proposal development, and the only one that fully addresses every aspect of managing the proposal process for Government business. It should be on the shelf of anyone who responds to RFPs, and in the library of every company that does Government or commercial contracting.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A MUST-READ..., January 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Successful Proposal Strategies for Small Businesses: Winning Government, Private Sector, and International Contracts (The Artech House Technology Management and Professional Development Library) (Hardcover)

Successful Proposal Strategies for Small Businesses is a MUST-READ for anyone involved in the government contracting procurement cycle. Everyone from the technical level manager in business and government to the owners of businesses and top level government managers should have a working knowledge of the information presented in this book. Specific key people who should use this book as a technical reference are:
1. all business development staff in private industry
2. technical managers in both industry and government
3. all technical publications staff
4. all government buyers, and procurement staff: including technical officers, source selection officers and source selection board and committee members.

The business development principles illuminated in this book apply equally when businesses sell to and buy from other businesses.

Moreover, I would like to see a companion periodical publication, a CD-ROM or a newsletter, that updates the rapidly changing technological and regulatory aspects of the book. Subscribers to such a service would include all full-time business development and government procurement staff.

The book's style is that of a successful proposal. The book, as the successful proposals discussed by Mr. Frey, is an effective sales document as well as en extremely informative technical reference. The key strengths of this work are its completeness and depth. Mr. Frey provides us with a broad overview of the procurement process presented from the perspective of the business developer. The book clearly shows how the various members of a small business organization should interact to produce a successful business development effort.

At each stage of the business development process the book describes all of the necessary steps to a winning proposal. Detailed schedules, document templates, document samples and examples clearly illustrate every critical step required for planning and executing a successful proposal effort. The book presents all aspects of proposal writing including the development and use of themes, illustrations, style, and even the physical production and delivery of the proposal have in a "user friendly" manner. Mr. Frey's system of handling acronyms and his implementation of the glossary are extremely valuable to the reader. The completeness of the acronym list alone is, in my view, worth more than the price of the book.

Two key concepts developed throughout the book are: the concept of proposals as sales documents, and the critical requirement for solid and continuous upper management's support of the business and proposal development process.

Private companies, both small and large, will find this book invaluable as the blueprint for establishing, and implementing their business development infrastructures.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thorough and Professional, March 1, 2001

By	Steven Ponikarchuk (North Potomac, MD United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Successful Proposal Strategies for Small Businesses: Winning Government, Private Sector, and International Contracts (Artech House Technology Management and Professional Development Library) (Hardcover)

Don't let the trade price of this book deter you. Mr. Frey analyzes every aspect of the RFP-proposal process, and he includes a storehouse of resources to place you at a competitive advantage. No other book even comes close.