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Tracking Pre-RFP Opportunity PursuitsMost companies do a lousy job of managing their business opportunity pursuits. They think if they can name all of their pursuits and are hitting their numbers, they've got it covered. The truth is, they aren't managing them at all. They are barely even tracking them. You have to do more than take the pulse to track a patient's health. The same goes for opportunity tracking. Businesses track opportunities to:
Preparing to capture an opportunity is a combination of customer relationship building and intelligence gathering. Many of the tools on the market are really little more than glorified contact management systems. And while contact management is one aspect of business intelligence, it is not the only one (or even the most important). The answer to "Are you prepared and have you collected the right intelligence?" is more than when you last met with the customer or even what you discussed. A good system should enable you to identify the specific questions you need to answer to have a successful pursuit and quantify your progress towards answering them. It should serve as a repository for your intelligence and should package the information in it in a way that facilitates using it to prepare the proposal that closes the deal. Privia is one system that is far more than just a tool for the proposal team. It is an opportunity and pipeline tracking tool as well. With its repository and workflow features, you can identify questions you need answered in the pre-RFP stage and then easily carry the intelligence gathered forward to the proposal development team and process. Along the way you can report on your pipeline, including opportunity details, history, milestones, and financial projections.
The biggest hurdle most companies will face in implementing a system like this is executive capriciousness. Even though Privia is flexible, when it comes to opportunity reporting and financial projections, executives tend to want what they want in the format that they want it. The other big potential problem is legacy systems. It is probable that a company already has an opportunity tracking system or process in place, even if they don't like it. This is an area where people can be resistant to change. Changing the opportunity tracking system not only changes the reports (that everyone has been held accountable to), but it will change how people go about pursuing their opportunities. This can be sensitive territory. Buy-in is critical and hard to get with so many stakeholders. It helps to have active support at the highest level, since, ultimately, a system like this can change the way a company is run. Therefore, if you've got that support, it can be a huge step towards improving performance and bottom-line results.
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![]() This conference is a great opportunity to really get to know their proposal software well beyond anything you'd see in a "demo." Plus, you'll benefit from all the networking, speakers, and workshop sessions on proposal development. As a special perk for CapturePlanning.com users, if you end up purchasing the Privia "Jump Start" package (or equivalent) within 90 days you'll full credit for up to two conference registrations so that attending ends up costing nothing, nada, nil. It's a fantastic way to cut your risks before committing to a major proposal software purchase. When you sign up, make sure you enter the code CPCM so they know you came from CapturePlanning.com and you can claim the credit for attending if you decide to get the package. Click here for more info. |
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