Books Every Bid Professional Should Read
Selected Books
- Shipley Proposal Guide – Larry Newman
- Shipley Capture Guide – Larry Newman
- Writing Business Bids and Proposals for Dummies – Neil Cobb and Charlie Devine
- Powerful Proposals: How to Give Your Business the Winning Edge – Terry R. Bacon and David G. Pugh
- The Jelly Effect: How to Make Your Communication Stick – Andy Bound
- An Insider’s Guide to Winning Government Contracts: Real-World Strategies, Lessons, and Recommendations – Joshua P Frank
- Implementing the Virtual Project Management Office: Proven Strategies for Success – Marcus Goncalves
- The Enterprise Business Analyst: Developing Creative Solutions to Complex Business Problems – Kathleen Haas
- Grant Writing for Dummies – Beverly A. Browning
- The Beginner’s Guide to Grant Writing: Tips, Tools, & Templates to Write Winning Grants (Grant Writing & Funding) – Holly Rustick
- The Complete Book of Grant Writing: Learn to Write Grants Like a Professional – Nancy Smith and E. Works
- Powerful Proposals: How to Give Your Business the Winning Edge – Terry Bacon and David Pugh
- Persuasive Business Proposals: Writing to Win More Customers, Clients, and Contracts – Tom Sant
- The Small-Business Guide to Government Contracts: How to Comply with the Key Rules and Regulations . . . and Avoid Terminated Agreements, Fines, or Worse – Steven Koprince
- Proposal Essentials – Win more, win more easily – Jon Williams and BJ Lownie
- Government Contracts in Plain English: What You Need to Know About the FAR (Federal Acquisition Regulation), DFARS, Subcontracts, Small Business Set-Asides, GSA Schedules, Bid Protests, and More – Christoph Mlinarchik
- Work Breakdown Structures for Projects, Programs, and Enterprises – Gregory Haugan
- The Art of the Idea: And How It Can Change Your Life – John Hunt
- The Winning Bid: A Practical Guide to Successful Bid Management – Emma Jaques
- How to Lie with Charts by Gerald Everett Jones
- Winning Government Business: Gaining the Competitive Advantage – Steven Osborne
- Do-It-Yourself Billion Dollar Graphics: 3 Fast and Easy Steps to Turn Your Text and Ideas into Persuasive Graphics – Mike Parkinson
- Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High – Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron Mcmillan and Al Switzler
- Influencer : The Power to Change Anything – Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, David Maxfield, Ron McMillan and Al Switzler
- Executive Summary Secrets – Olessia Smotrova-Taylor
- Bid Buddy – Baskar Sundaram
- Ultimate Guide to Proposal Building – Baskar Sundaram
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1
Shipley Proposal Guide
- Larry Newman
This proposal guide has three aims:
- Help individuals and organizations win competitive business more effectively, efficiently, and consistently
- Offer clear guidance to business development professionals that is practical and easy to find
- Record best-practice guidelines.
2
- Larry Newman
The most effective organizations are 10 times more effective in winning competitive new business than industry averages, based on several industry benchmarking studies dating back to the late 1980s. Researchers have concluded that the most effective organizations follow defined framework processes based upon fundamental principles.
Guidelines are based on fundamental principles revealed by business development research:
- Align capture activities with the customer’s analysis and selection process.
- Influence the customer to prefer your organization and solution early, and maintain that preference through selection, award, and delivery.
- Base your strategy on the customer’s perspective of reality.
- Align your actions and messages throughout the business development cycle.
- Use decision gate reviews of potential business opportunities for determining the best manner in which to proceed and color team reviews to improve quality of the product and outcome.
Follow these principles to win more business, more effectively, economically, and consistently. The structure for the Shipley Capture Guide originated with the Shipley Proposal Guide. This Capture Guide is designed to be a quick reference for individuals assigned to be capture managers or to contribute to capture teams.
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3
Writing Business Bids and Proposals for Dummies
- Neil Cobb and Charlie Devine
This book covers the basics and much more like…
- Develop a great proposal
- Focus on the customer
- Know your competition
- Plan your approach
- Use tools and templates
- Write persuasively
- Overcome misconceptions
- Expand your skills
Avoid proposal killers
4
Powerful Proposals: How to Give Your Business the Winning Edge
- Terry R. Bacon and David G. Pugh
Powerful Proposals gives businesses proven strategies for creating customer-centered documents that outshine the competition every time. It goes beyond “This is what we do” documents and takes the reader step by step through designing sales-focused, individual proposals that highlight the firm’s tangible benefits to the client
It contains invaluable information on creating effective executive summaries, writing themes, and generating the text, plus how to maximise graphics, callouts, and other visual elements.
5
The Jelly Effect: How to Make Your Communication Stick
- Andy Bound
Like throwing jelly at a wall, poor communication never sticks. Too much information and not enough relevance is a problem that pervades almost all business communication. So what is the answer? More relevance and a lot less jelly.
The Jelly Effect teaches you simple, memorable and costless ways to win more attention and more business. Imagine how effective you’d be if you communicated only what was relevant 100 percent of the time. You would be better at talking to others, presenting, networking and selling. You would excel in interviews, meetings and pay-raise discussions. The benefits would be endless.
By the time you close the final page of this book, you will be armed with practical, proven techniques that will help you be more effective in all your business dealings.
6
An Insider's Guide to Winning Government Contracts: Real-World Strategies, Lessons, and Recommendations
- Joshua P Frank
This book arms you with step-by-step strategies, concepts, and recommendations for winning government contracts. Written in the author’s bold and direct style, this book is designed to change how you approach government sales. Using real-world strategies and examples, it provides detailed recommendations for helping you synchronize business development with business strategy.
In this book the author shares many of the strategies that will change how you position in the market with your prospects and teaming partners:
- Learn the strategies that Mr. Frank uses with his clients and Federal Access (FA) Members in addition to dozens of additional free and low-cost online training resources.
- Real-world examples of challenges you will face and best-practices and strategies to accelerate your sales.
- How to identify who buys what you sell, how much they buy, and how often they buy it; includes which free government systems you will use.
- How to successfully take advantage of your small business certifications and how to ‘softly’ market them for maximum value.
- Strategies for building relationships.
- Strategies for ghosting your capabilities and influencing procurements.
- Strategies for managing your sales pipeline, how many opportunities you need, and how to make yourself more competitive.
- How to find competitive data on existing contracts.
- Strategies for teaming with other companies.
- The truth about bid-matching tools and strategies for using them.
- And 30 other concepts and strategies for marketing, prospecting, sales, teaming, and pricing.
Scribble Talk Podcast
The Scribble Talk is world’s #1 podcast for all things bids and proposals. You can always count on lively discussions and guest interviews with APMP veterans and brightest bids and proposals folks.
7
Implementing the Virtual Project Management Office: Proven Strategies for Success
- Marcus Goncalves
Leading project management expert Marcus Goncalves presents a complete guide to implementing the virtual project management office (ePMO). Leveraging his information technology expertise and PM experience, Goncalves offers cutting-edge techniques for managing projects across borders, working with colleagues and clients from different cultures, and utilizing the necessary telecommunication/Internet technologies ePM managers and their virtual teams and remote PM offices must have.
Providing a full focus on the management and execution of virtual projects, Goncalves demonstrates the time- and cost-saving advantages, showing how to begin realizing those advantages immediately.
8
The Enterprise Business Analyst: Developing Creative Solutions to Complex Business Problems
- Kathleen Haas
Hass believes that only by confronting and capitalizing on change and complexity—the new “constants” in today’s world—can organizations forge ahead. The enterprise business analyst is perfectly positioned to understand the needs of an organization, help it remain competitive, identify creative solutions to complex business problems, bring about innovation, and constantly add value for the customer and revenue to the bottom line.
The Enterprise Business Analyst offers:
- An overview of the current and emerging role of the business analyst
- New leadership models for the 21st century
- Methods for fostering team creativity
- Practices to spark innovation
- Strategies for communicating in a complex environment
9
Grant Writing for Dummies
- Beverly A. Browning
In this book you will learn to:
- Navigate federal grant databases and apply online for grants
- Find the most current public and private sector grant opportunities
- Create strong statements of need
- Submit applications that meet funders expectations
- Connect with grant-making agencies
- Understand grant submission
- Build a great funding plan
- Peer review process
- Navigate federal grant websites
And much more…
10
The Beginner's Guide to Grant Writing: Tips, Tools, & Templates to Write Winning Grants (Grant Writing & Funding)
- Holly Rustick
Grant writing shouldn’t feel like a trip to the dentist. Take the pain out of the process with this innovative and fun, yes fun, guide. Learn all the inside tips and tools of the grant-writing trade in this easy-to-read and upbeat book. It contains a proven step-by-step system to help you write competitive grants. Holly Rustick has secured millions and millions of dollars for organizations worldwide, and in this workbook, she shares her proven G.R.A.N.T.S. formula with you.
What you will learn from this book:
- The myths and truths about grants
- The different grant categories
- The grant mindset
- The five basic parts of writing a grant
- The G.R.A.N.T.S. formula
It contains easy to read examples to jolt your creative juices, and templates to keep your own grant application moving along in forward motion!
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11
The Complete Book of Grant Writing: Learn to Write Grants Like a Professional
- Nancy Smith and E. Works
Grant writing is an intricate process, and any bits of misinformation or formatting errors can be the deciding factors when it comes to allotting money.
The Complete Book of Grant Writing includes information on:
- The Five Core Components of every grant, including the statement of need, the evaluation plan, and budgets
- What makes a grant compelling to funders? What to do when you are funded-and what you can do when you are not
- How to be a professional grant writer
- The grant writing timetable, from responding to requests for proposals to receiving funding
- Grant writing in different fields of nonprofit practice, including educational, governmental, environmental, and faith-based organizations
It is also packed with 20 samples including grant proposals, letters of inquiry, support letters, concept papers, and more!
12
Powerful Proposals: How to Give Your Business the Winning Edge
- Terry Bacon and David Pugh
Powerful Proposals gives businesses proven strategies for creating customer-centered documents that outshine the competition every time. It takes the reader step by step through designing sales-focused, individual proposals that highlight the firm’s tangible benefits to the client.
It also contains invaluable information on creating effective executive summaries, writing themes, and generating the text, plus how to maximise graphics, callouts, and other visual elements.
13
Persuasive Business Proposals: Writing to Win More Customers, Clients, and Contracts
- Tom Sant
This book gives readers simple, effective techniques for organizing, writing, and delivering proposals while updating the author’s winning strategies for today’s global business environment. By cutting through the confusion, and providing dozens of real-world examples, this work provides step-by-step instructions for crafting value-centered, recipient-specific proposal packages, with all-new discussions on:
- How to increase business using new communication channels from e-mail and electronic submissions to PDF, HTML, and others;
- The Seven Worst Proposal Mistakes illustrated with real-world examples.
14
The Small-Business Guide to Government Contracts: How to Comply with the Key Rules and Regulations . . . and Avoid Terminated Agreements, Fines, or Worse
- Steven Koprince
The Small-Business Guide to Government Contracts puts a wealth of specialized legal counsel at readers’ fingertips. It’s the one book that looks beyond winning a piece of the $500 billion pie and concentrates on the crucial but complex Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and other rules required for keeping the contract alive and avoiding penalties. Clear answers to the most important compliance questions are inside, including:
- Is a small business really small?
- Who is eligible for the HUBZone, 8(a), SDVO or WOSB programs?
- What salaries and benefits must be offered?
- What ethical requirements must be followed?
- When does affiliation become a liability?
This book helps contractors meet their compliance obligations—and keep the pipeline flowing.
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15
Proposal Essentials - Win more, win more easily
- Jon Williams and BJ Lownie
This book contains important proposal techniques to be used when working on bids, proposals and tenders.
16
Government Contracts in Plain English: What You Need to Know About the FAR (Federal Acquisition Regulation), DFARS, Subcontracts, Small Business Set-Asides, GSA Schedules, Bid Protests, and More
- Christoph Mlinarchik
Government contracting can be complex and difficult, but this introductory guide makes it simple and easy for you. Government Contracts in Plain English provides crystal-clear advice for federal contractors, entrepreneurs, small business owners, and other professionals interested in the largest client in the history of the world: the United States federal government.
It delivers practical advice, pitfalls to avoid, and insider insights that demystify the federal contracting industry from a nationally recognized expert in government contracts.
Learn critical concepts for crafting successful contracts and subcontracts, how to qualify for government contracts and small business set-asides, how to intelligently target proposal opportunities, and how to communicate and negotiate with the government and federal contractors.
Special topics include the FAR (Federal Acquisition Regulation), DFARS, subcontracts, small business set-asides, GSA Schedule contracts, bid protests, REA vs. claim, terminations for convenience, negotiation tactics, clause flow-downs, business development, capture strategy, federal contract law, and more.
Each chapter also provides the bottom line up front (BLUF) or executive summary in the first paragraph.
17
Work Breakdown Structures for Projects, Programs, and Enterprises
- Gregory Haugan
In Work Breakdown Structures for Projects, Programs, and Enterprises, author Gregory T. Haugan, originator of the widely accepted 100 percent rule, offers an expanded understanding of the WBS concept, illustrating its principles and applications for planning programs as well as its use as an organizing framework at the enterprise level.
Through specific examples, this book will help you understand how the WBS aids in the planning and management of all functional areas of project management. With this valuable resource you will be able to:
- Tailor WBSs to your organization’s unique requirements using provided checklists and principles
- Develop and use several types of WBS in your organization
- Use WBS software to gain a competitive edge
- Apply the 100 percent rule when developing a WBS for a project or program
- Establish a WBS for a major construction project using included templates
- Understand portfolio management and establish an enterprise-standard WBS
18
The Art of the Idea: And How It Can Change Your Life
- John Hunt
Few can argue with Hunt’s claim that it is ideas that move the world forward, and he refreshingly articulates that anyone can play: there is no hierarchy to original thinking.
The Art of the Idea provides a toolbox for achieving excellence and offers a new way of defining your world. By illustrating how to create space so ideas can breathe, it provides a lifeline to those who find themselves stuck in a rut. Whatever your idea is about ideas, this book will change it.
19
The Winning Bid: A Practical Guide to Successful Bid Management
- Emma Jaques
The Winning Bid is an easy-to-read practical guide that teaches small business entrepreneurs, B2B contractors, account executives, contract managers and non-profits seeking grants how to think like professional bid managers. It explains key skills for bid professionals, such as getting to know a customer, competing with other bidders and landing the deal.
Jaques also offers a unique view from the buyer’s side — featuring feedback from buyers on their experiences of being on the receiving end of bids.
Ideal for anyone engaged in bidding activity, from the bid novice to the professional bid manager, The Winning Bid gives essential advice on:
- Pre-qualification Questionnaires and bid readiness
- GIVE analysis
- Competitor analysis
- Grant writing and funding bids
- Freedom of information as a research and continual improvement tool
- Measurement of bid performance over time
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20
How to Lie with Charts
- Gerald Everett Jones
If you are using a computer to generate charts for meetings and reports, you don’t have to be taught how to lie-you’re already doing it. You probably don’t know your charts are unreliable, and neither does your audience.
The main focus of How to Lie with Charts is on the principles of persuasive-and undistorted-visual communication. It’s about careful thinking and clear expression.
21
Winning Government Business: Gaining the Competitive Advantage
- Steven Osborne
Get the edge over the competition for government contracts! In the battle for government contracts, seize the competitive advantage with Winning Government Business.
22
Do-It-Yourself Billion Dollar Graphics: 3 Fast and Easy Steps to Turn Your Text and Ideas into Persuasive Graphics
- Mike Parkinson
Mike Parkinson’s Do-It-Yourself Billion Dollar Graphics reveals the graphic steps, tips, and tricks you need to increase your success rate by 43% or more. Talking with pictures is one of the fastest ways to communicate with, educate, influence, and motivate your audience.
This book shows busy professionals how to quickly turn text and ideas into powerful graphics. Each chapter details the steps needed to translate ideas into winning graphics: the three steps to creating a successful graphic, four methods of conceptualization, design techniques, three traps and seven rules of graphic communication, and samples of successful graphics.
23
Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High
- Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron Mcmillan and Al Switzler
Learn how to keep your cool and get the results you want when emotions flare. Crucial Conversations gives you the tools you need to step up to life’s most difficult and important conversations, say what’s on your mind, and achieve the positive resolutions you want. You’ll learn how to:
- Prepare for high-impact situations with a six-minute mastery technique
- Make it safe to talk about almost anything
- Be persuasive, not abrasive
- Keep listening when others blow up or clam up
- Turn crucial conversations into the action and results you want
24
Influencer : The Power to Change Anything
- Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, David Maxfield, Ron McMillan and Al Switzler
It is a thought-provoking book that combines the remarkable insights of behavioral scientists and business leaders with the astonishing stories of high-powered influencers from all walks of life. You will learn how to:
- Identify a handful of high-leverage behaviors that lead to rapid and profound change.
- Apply strategies for changing both thoughts and actions.
- Marshall six sources of influence to make change inevitable.
You will learn how savvy folks make change not only achievable and sustainable, but inevitable. You will discover why some managers have increased productivity repeatedly and significantly-while others have failed miserably.
25
Executive Summary Secretsr
- Olessia Smotrova-Taylo
Executive summary is the top proposal persuasion tool that goes a long way to make your proposal truly sell – and get you to that win.
Executive Summary Secrets includes:
- Three dangerous misconceptions about executive summaries that may be hurting your win rates.
- Five questions and answers that hold the key to preparing persuasive executive summaries that sell.
- A Proven 6-Part Formula that takes the agony out of writing the executive summary and makes the process simple and straight-forward.
- Executive Summary outline you can use over and over again so that you never have to start with a blank page and wonder what to write.
- Detailed guidelines for conceptualizing executive summary graphics.
- Techniques for editing your executive summary, so that your executive summary is polished.
26
Bid Buddy
- Baskar Sundaram
This 140-page guide is the only personal journal designed exclusively for bids and proposal professionals with blank spaces, bid tips, bid process and much more. Jot down whatever sudden bursts of brilliant ideas you may have in the course of the training and document your journey. You can buy the printed copy of this from Amazon . Basi
27
Ultimate Guide to Proposal Building
- Baskar Sundaram
This guide sets the foundation for proposal best practices, a beginner’s guide to bid and proposals. This book is free and you can download it here
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