Pre-Sales, Solution Design and Bid Management

An Overview
Setting the Context…
XYZ reports 50% revenue growth and 40% rise in Net Profits during Q1 FY13

Fresh orders of $200mn were secured during the quarter, resulting in $990mn of executable
order book over the next 12 months.

Twenty new customers were added in this quarter.

What all does it take to build order-book and bring new business to the company?

Whether it is one single person or a group of persons, who are working tirelessly day in
and day out to make sure company is sustainable?
• Bid Management 5.
• Solution Design 4.
• RFx 3.
• What is Pre-Sales 2.
• Understanding the Sales Cycle 1.
Agenda
• Bid Management 5.
• Solution Design 4.
• RFx 3.
• What is Pre-Sales 2.
• Understanding the Sales Cycle 1.
Agenda
Sales Cycle
Its about………………….

…………………….?
Sales Cycle
Buyer Considerations………….?

Seller Considerations………….?
Sales Cycle

S
O P
P
C A
N
Sales Cycle

S
uspecting

O P
P
C A
N
Sales Cycle
S
 Suspecting

 Generating the sales lead

 Marketing Campaigns

 Trade Fairs, Industry Forums

 Online Marketing, Social Media

 Inside Sales Team

Sales Cycle

S
uspecting

O P rospecting

P
C A
N
Sales Cycle
S P
 Prospecting

 Qualifying the sales lead

 For a sales lead to qualify as a sales prospect,

qualification must be performed and evaluated –

 Product Applicability / Fitment of Solution

 Ability to afford our solution

 Time frame of purchase

Sales Cycle

S
uspecting

O P rospecting

P
C A nalysis

N
Sales Cycle
S P A
 Analysis

 Taking the qualified prospect through a question and

answer session to identify the requirements

 Help the buyer identify and quantify a business need

or a ‘gap’ between where prospect is today and where
it want to be in future

 SPIN
Sales Cycle
S P A
 Analysis

 SPIN
Sales Cycle

S
uspecting

O P rospecting

P roposals

C A nalysis

N
Sales Cycle
S P A P
 Proposals

 Come up with a business proposal suggesting various

products/services that will suffice the need of the
prospect

 Includes Cost, Schedule and other information

Sales Cycle

S
uspecting

O P rospecting

P roposals

C A nalysis

N egotiation
Sales Cycle
S P A P N
 Negotiation

 Negotiate the terms set in the business proposal

 Pricing (Technique & Amount)

 Scope of the Project

 Timeline
Sales Cycle

S
uspecting

O P rospecting

P roposals

C losure A nalysis

N egotiation
Sales Cycle
S P A P N C
 Closure

 Making the actual sale

 Getting the Sign-Off / Purchase Order

 Getting the SOW signed

Sales Cycle

S uspecting

Repeat O rder P rospecting

P roposals

C losure A nalysis

N egotiation
Sales Cycle
S P A P N C O
 repeat Order

 Maintaining the relationship with client and brining

more orders through

 Cross Selling, Other Project Opportunities

 Order Renewals
Sales Cycle

S uspecting

Repeat O rder P rospecting

P roposals

C losure A nalysis

N egotiation
Sales Cycle
 Hunters

 Farmers
Agenda
1. Understanding the Sales Cycle
●

2. What is Pre-Sales
●

3. RFx
●

4. Solution Design
●

5. Bid Management
●
Pre-Sales
 Pre Sales includes the
 entire gamut of activities involved in preparing to engage
with prospects / clients,
 and includes specific responses to client requests
Pre-Sales
Pre-Sales
Responding to Client
Responding to
Client Requests
Requests
 Responding to RFP, RFI,
RFQ

 Providing any information

to the client, which helps
him take the buying
decision

 General client queries

about solutions and
capabilities
Pre-Sales
Supporting Client Visits
Responding to
Client
Requests  Prospects / clients may visit
Supporting
Client Visit the vendor’s office

 To see the vendor’s

infrastructure

 Gives vendor an
opportunity to showcase its
capability and do cross-
selling
Pre-Sales
Visiting Clients
Responding to
Client
Requests  Visiting client for meetings
Supporting
Client Visit
 Due diligence – to get a
clear understanding of the
requirement

Visiting  May also include

Clients
demonstration of Proof-Of-
Concepts or product

 Solution Presentation to the

Client
Pre-Sales
Interfacing with Internal & External
Responding to
Groups to Design Best Fit Solution
Client for Client
Requests
Supporting
Client Visit  Need to interface & coordinate
with
 Technical Competency
Centres

Visiting  Functional SME

Clients

Interfacing &  Legal and Financial

Coordinating
 Delivery Teams

 Recruitment

 Third Party / OEMs

Pre-Sales
Marketing Support
Responding to
Client
Requests  For various marketing
Supporting
Client Visit events, need to support
marketing team through

 Offering and Capability

related documents,
Marketing
Support Visiting brochures and posters
Clients

Interfacing &  Extended capability (if

Coordinating any) through alliances
with other product
development firms or
niche vendors
Pre-Sales
Competitor Analysis & Market
Responding to
Client Scanning
Requests
Competitor Supporting
Analysis Client Visit  Clients receive response
from multiple vendors, so
one must know where does
it stand against competition
Marketing
Support Visiting  What is our competition in
Clients
an industry / for a specific
Interfacing & bid opportunity and what
Coordinating are their offerings /
differentiators

 Market scanning is done

through market research
reports, analyst reports
Pre-Sales

Responding to
Client Requests

Competitor Supporting
Analysis Client Visit

Marketing
Support Visiting Clients

Interfacing &
Coordinating
Agenda
1. Understanding the Sales Cycle
●

2. What is Pre-Sales
●

3. RFx
●

4. Solution Design
●

5. Bid Management
●
RFx
 RFI / EOI

 Request for Information / Expression of Interest

 These are usually relatively short documents that ask

specific questions about the vendor and services vendor
provides

 Capability Evaluation

 Often used as pre-qualifier to determine which vendors

will receive an RFP or RFQ – Vendor Empanelment
RFx
 RFP

 Request for Proposal

 These are often lengthy documents that provide detailed

information on requirements
 functions & workflow,
 business goals,
 integration specs, etc
to the vendors so they may propose a solution which
meets the Client’s needs and goals

 It often includes scope of requirements, pricing

requirements, contract terms & conditions, as well as
detailed case studies & reference requirements
RFx
 RFQ

 Request for Quotes

 Can be part of an RFP or RFI

 This is a request for pricing based on what's outlined in

the RFI or specified in an RFP, or can be used as a request
for ala carte pricing for various service options
RFx
RFI , RFP & RFQ

 A company can do any one or more of the above, usually

in the order shown

 Often the RFP may incorporate both the RFI and RFQ as
sections of the doc, and also include other evaluation
steps such as a demo, proof-of-concept or presentation

 A big advantage of using RFI, RFP or RFQ in software

evaluation is that it allows vendors to self-eliminate
because they can better assess their own chances

 This helps the buyer narrow down the choices to the most
feasible solutions
Agenda
1. Understanding the Sales Cycle
●

2. What is Pre-Sales
●

3. RFx
●

4. Solution Design
●

5. Bid Management
●
Solution Design

?
Solution Design
 Effort Estimation

 Estimating how much effort it is going to take to complete

the project

 Various industry standard methodologies are used for

effort estimation like FP, WBS, SMC

 Given in Person Months

Solution Design
 Technical Solution

 Technical Solution, addressing the client’s requirements

 Technology Selection

 Technical Architecture

 Technology Stack

 Licensing / Sizing Information

 Infrastructure / Hosting Solution

Open Source
 Compliance to NFR Or
Proprietary
Solution Design
 Functional Solution

 Functional Solution, addressing the client’s requirements

 Functional Flow

 Fitment of any existing frameworks

 Compliance to FR
Solution Design
 Project Execution Methodology

 Which Methodology will be followed for project

implementation
 Waterfall
 Iterative
 Agile

 Client specified or Vendor recommended methodology

 Warranty, Maintenance & Support

Solution Design
 Project Plan

 Timelines to implement the project

 Milestones to complete various stages of the project

 Activities to be performed and various deliverables

Solution Design
 Resourcing & Team

 Recommended Team structure

 Onsite / Offshore composition

 Different Roles identified

 No of resources for each identified role

 Sample CV / Positioning for key roles

Solution Design

?
Open Source
Or
Proprietary
Solution Design
 Effort Estimation

 Technical Solution

 Functional Solution

 Project Execution Methodology

 Project Plan

 Resourcing & Team

What goes in a Proposal
 Executive Summary – Cover Letter

 Value Proposition

 Understanding of Requirements - Client’s Pain Points

 Solution

 Vertical & Technical Capability –

Accelerators, Case Studies & References

 Pricing

 Vendor Information
Agenda
1. Understanding the Sales Cycle
●

2. What is Pre-Sales
●

3. RFx
●

4. Solution Design
●

5. Bid Management
●
Bid Management Process
Bid Qualification
Bid Qualification Form
1. Project Name/Bid Title

2. Client name

3. Business Domain (Finance / Insurance / Transport, etc)

4. Type of Request (RFP / RFI / Estimation only)

5. Type of Bid (Please mark X in column)

Custom Software Development Workflow Application
Application Support & Maintenance Packaged Software
Systems Integration Enterprise Knowledge Solution
Legacy Modernization & Maintenance Other:

6. Items required from Offshore (Please mark X in appropriate columns)

Complete Proposal Response to RFI
Technical Solution Only Presentation
Project Estimates Only Other:

7. Critical Success Factors for winning the Bid

8. What is the Account Managers assessment of the

probability that NIIT will be selected?

9. What is the budget the client has in mind for this assignment?
Bid Qualification
10. Technological preferences of client, if any?

11. General Information

Milestone Date
RFP/RFI published by Client
RFP/RFI sent to Offshore
Submission to Client
Response needed from Offshore
Client briefing (if any)
Likely decision by client

12. Main Competitors’

13. Is there a preference for local vendor (Yes/No)?

14. What is Approx. Planned Gross Margin from

Sales Team?

15. Any other Information relevant to this bid

16. Name of Account Manager & Geo

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echnical and
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Proposal Building Tips
10 tips to prepare a winning proposal

1. Focus on the Customer

2. Customize and personalize
3. Define the Solution
4. Calculate Benefits--Buyer Value
5. Show Non-financial Benefits—Buyer Value
6. Describe the Methodology
7. Include Differentiator
8. Highlight Business Information More Than Technical Information
9. Develop Proposal Standards
10. Ensure the Quality Standards
Proposal Presentation
Presentation
 Know your audience
 Establish the context
 Include only essentials, from customers perspective
 Establish a structure (agenda)
 Ensure a flow, in order of importance
 Use of mnemonics, pictures, graphs – must be relevant
 Using the right tone.
◦ Tone is determined by
 Choice of words, expressions, sentences
 Modulation
 Facial expression, body language
 Voice

“Client buys you first then your company”

“winning isn’t everything
it’s the only thing”.