The Silver Bullet – How RFPS Are Won
The solution for writing – and winning – RFPs is finally here.
Additional taxes may be applicable
Details
- Publication date: August, 2018
- Pages: 107
- ISBN: 978-1-78358-338-6
Description
"Nancey hit the nail on the head. All lawyers and legal procurement/sourcing specialists need to read this book. It is packed full of solid advice on how to respond to RFPs by focusing on the client's needs. Law firms would also greatly benefit from the admonition in this book."
Vincent Cordo, Jr. Central Legal Operations Officer
“Nancey understands legal procurement and provides unique insight into the thinking and practices of strategic legal sourcing. This book is filled with great advice when responding to RFPs. It covers many strategic gems designed to increase win rates. Both legal procurement/sourcing professionals and law firms will benefit by applying the practical wisdom presented in this book.”
Justin Ergler, Director, Alternative Fee Intelligence and Analytics at GlaxoSmithKline
All law firms and proposal writers are looking for the silver bullet to win more Request for Proposals (RFPs).
Over the years, author Nancey L Watson has used her expertise with procurement and pricing methods and applying strategy for hundreds of proposals to win $3 billion in competitive bids.
Her forthcoming new book The Silver Bullet – How RFPs Are Won will serve as a strategic guide to help you significantly increase your win rate – and more.
The Silver Bullet details Nancey’s top strategies for every step of the proposal process:
- How legal procurement impacts law firm selection – a strategic approach
- Questions firms should ask before they decide to propose for the work;
- Best practices and how to analyze a “cheat sheet” to discover the key to winning RFPs;
- How to get you to plan strategically through every phase of the proposal process;
- How to use the magical formula to gain credibility and prove you are the firm to hire;
- How to work strategically with subject matter experts as a team; and
- How to write an effective executive summary.
This book is primarily written for law firms but the information within will also prove invaluable for procurement professionals.
"The Silver Bullet is a must-read for anyone managing or writing proposals in the professional services arena. Nancey is a proposal strategist who keeps the client’s needs front and center with those preparing the proposal and with practitioners themselves. It is also a fantastic resource with practical tools for the reader. Applying the approaches outlined in Nancey’s book will lead winning strategies!"
Tracey Bodnarchuk, former CMO, Norton Rose Fulbright LLP
“This book shows that Nancey “gets it” when it comes to responding to RFPs. Her understanding of legal sourcing and legal ops is evident in the strategic advice she provides to in-house lawyers and law firms.”
Richard Brzakala, Global Legal Operations and Outsourcing Expert
Contents
Executive summary
About the author
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1: How legal procurement impacts law fi rm selection – a strategic approach
The role of legal procurement
Why proposals lose
Chapter 2: The go/no-go decision – strategic considerations
Return on investment
Checklists and process charts
Pre-determined RFPs
Chapter 3: Analyzing the RFP to identify strategies
Procurement’s RFP process
Your win themes are buried in the RFP
Answer the questions
Evaluation/selection criteria
Procurement’s scoring process
Chapter 4: Working strategically as a team
The role of the proposal manager/team
Working with the proposal manager
The role of lawyers
Working with lawyers
The role of subject matter experts
Working with subject matter experts
Knowledge management
Legal project management
Proposal management strategies
Chapter 5: Doing your homework to identify strategies
Internal research
Competitive intelligence
Chapter 6: Kick-off meeting strategies .
Before the kick-off meeting
The kick-off meeting
Strategy
After the kick-off meeting
Chapter 7: Different strategies for proposal size and timeline
Informal pitch/credentials
Formal RFP response
Scalability
Chapter 8: Strategy – needs, solutions, outcomes, and proof
Win themes
Strategies for an existing client
Needs/issues
Solutions
Outcomes/benefi ts
“So what?”
Proof/evidence
Things you say about your fi rm
Things your clients and vendors say about your fi rm
Third party comments
Summary
Chapter 9: Differentiation – the key to your strategy
Differentiation strategy: questions to consider
Services-based differentiation
Needs/issues
What clients want
Solutions
Outcomes/benefi ts
Proof
Added value
Image differentiation – branding
Negative strategies and positive strategies
Negative strategies = fear
Positive strategies = gain
Chapter 10: Writing a strategic executive summary
The highest score wins
Needs/issues – you get it
The solution – you’ve got it
The outcome/benefit – you define it
The proof/evidence – you can do it
Differentiators – you can always differentiate
Chapter 11: Effectively using red teams to verify strategies
Right people – right thing – right time
Role of the red team
Right people
The right thing