PROMPT-SET: 10 Steps to a Win Theme
This prompt set goes with the 10 Steps to a Win Theme series. It is designed to break the win theme concepts into brief activities that get your team used to thinking about clients and the emotional drivers of their purchase decisions.
Why should I complete this prompt set?
this prompt set goes with the 10 Steps to a Win Theme exercise
After completing this prompt set, your team will be more familiar with the terms associated with win themes and Blue Team Reviews (impartial reviews for evaluating the strength of your win themes before committing them to writing in the proposal.) They will be more comfortable talking about client expectations and in particular, their emotions. They’ll be quicker with answers during win theme strategy sessions and will know what’s expected of them during a proposal development process.
what is a win strategy?
Without looking anything up, write down what first comes to mind when you hear the term “win strategy.” Trust your instincts.
how would you get started?
If asked to create a win strategy for a proposal, how would you begin? Make a short list of steps and describe what you would hand off when you consider it "finished." Record that in your prompt notes.
past win strategies
Think back: Have you ever seen a team run a win strategy session? What did they focus on most? Would you approach it differently? Capture a few quick notes. Was it chaotic? Did it need more leadership? Did it go on too long? Record that in your prompt notes.
get used to describing success
What makes a client want to work with your team? Reflect on a project you are proud of and write a few sentences about why it was valuable to the client. Record that in your prompt notes.
why you are the right choice
Make a list of reasons a client would choose you over competitors. If competitors complete this too, compare lists: What shows up most? What’s missing? Record that in your prompt notes.
emotions in client relationships
Recall a time you saw a client angry or disappointed. What triggered the emotion? What was at stake for them? What would you handle differently now? Record that in your prompt notes.
unique expectations
Write a few notes about recent clients: How do their expectations differ? How do they behave when they’re disappointed—or delighted?
a client's bad day
Pick one client you know well. Describe what makes a bad day for them. Practice using emotional terms like “frustrated” or “overwhelmed.” It's important to become comfortable talking about the client's emotions, especially when you're most accustomed to keeping things professional and "emotionless."
a client's good day
Pick the same client. Describe what makes a good day. Practice words like “delighted,” “relieved,” or “excited” to build empathy with their success. Record that in your prompt notes.
go back in time
Look back at some completed projects. What problem did these projects solve? What made them successful? Imagine you could go back in time and talk to the proposal team while they were crafting their win strategy. What would you tell them? Focus on the surprises you encountered, both pleasant and unpleasant. If you can, look at the actual proposal for the project. Did things turn out the way the proposal predicted? Record some notes on this concept, tracking the lifecycle of a project from proposal to close out. Explain how hindsight might change how you develop win strategies (and maybe how you conduct project management) differently.
difficult problems
Look back at those completed projects again. What were the most difficult problems to solve? Were they technical, or was that the easy part? Was it more difficult to manage the people? The schedule? What surprised you about those projects? Write some examples of how you successfully addressed issues. Write some more examples about how you may have allowed problems to escalate or neglected aspects of the project.
better questions
Pick a past project. Write five questions you wish you had asked the client earlier to avoid later problems. If you have time, do this for two other projects, as well. Notice any patterns? Record that in your prompt notes.
what clients want to see
Take a moment to put yourself in the client’s shoes while evaluating a proposal. After having spent months reviewing this project, considering options, juggling all your responsibilities while writing and painstakingly editing an RFP, what do you think the client wants to see? Does this change how you might write a proposal? Record your notes on these thoughts.
why clients choose what they do
Review winning and losing proposals you were involved in. Jot down what you think made the difference in each outcome. Record that in your prompt notes.
list of successes
Choose a project you are proud of. Make a list of what went right — not just technical work, but communication, management, and client care. Record that in your prompt notes.
what we do well
Look at three past projects. For each, identify one thing your team did well that wasn’t purely technical — efficiency, cost-saving, client management, etc.
growth between projects
One thing a project profile can’t record is growth and improvement in the team from one project to the next. For that, you would need “in-between” profiles that tell the story of how lessons learned on one project were applied successfully to the next one. Choose three similar projects in your project profiles that were completed by the same team. Write two “in-between” profiles that show what was accomplished between those projects. Then write a quick note for improvements you plan to implement for the next one.
practice quantifying results
Practice quantifying results you’ve achieved on projects. Go to your project profiles. They probably record the construction value of the project and perhaps the number of improvements. What else could you quantify? How did your solution make life better for its end users? Did you improve traffic flow, drainage, or housing? Did you reduce time required to complete steps? List some ways you could quantify results other than what your project profiles already record.
sub heading and callouts
Read: “For improved safety for motorists, we plan to investigate a possible Chicago-left on two of the intersections. We implemented this on a freeway system in <Project A>. The result was a 50% increase in traffic capacity and a 69% reduction in congestion complaints on the county website. We have also recently learned that the collision rates reported by the local highway patrol have decreased. The year before the project, 162 collisions were reported. The year after, they had only 51.” Write a subheading and some callouts for this paragraph. Test your work on a page. Do your subheading and callouts draw attention? Record your notes.
identifying key issues
“As it has been for the past two decades, budget funds for the types of improvements needed in this area accommodate only the most urgent upgrades. The Highways Department must be equipped to assign priority to the most impactful works first, while providing for the remaining works on a more distant horizon.” Based on this paragraph from the proposal, what was the key issue they identified during the win theme session?