When thinking about to respond to a government RFP, companies often wonder if they need a proposal manager or a proposal writer. The idea of a person knowing everything is pretty pleasant, but, in practice that can be difficult to accomplish. The difference between the proposal manager and proposal writer is in the duties and responsibilities they have, which require a different range of professional abilities.
Proposal Managers make sure that the right processes are accurately implemented to the proposal, assign the tasks to be conducted, ensure that the relevance of the proposal is at the right level and that the proposal is well-executed from the beginning to the end. Some of the core duties the proposal administers are responsible for, involve:
Analyzing and Completing the RFP
Right after receiving the request for proposal, the proposal manager must read it to fully understand the requirements of the solicitation, the expectations of the federal agency that is demanding the service, their deadlines, and budget. During this process, they take notes for any uncertainties and questions they want to address to the client. Based on the conducted assessment, the proposal manager must be able to collect sufficient resources for successful project development; define each stage of the proposal and assign tasks; develop a strategic plan and implement it in the right way to meet the requirements of the RFP document. Under special circumstances, the proposal manager must be able to write, edit and review the proposal in order to finish the project on time.
Coordinate Proposal Development Team
Of course, the major idea of management skills is the ability to coordinate the staff that they supervise. The proposal managers guide their team, give information, supervise the development proceedings and make sure that all parts of the proposal are on point, including the style, format, and content.
Report to the Clients
Having great organizational skills and excellent negotiating abilities are very important in order to be able to come in productive agreements. Proposal managers communicate and meet with clients on the ongoing process to make sure they are satisfied with the job being done.
On the other hand, proposal writers are responsible to put pen to paper. They must have the capabilities to create persuasive content that convince the decision makers to highly evaluate the proposal. Essential skills a professional writer must have are language skills to excellence and creativity. They must be able to explain the solution to the problem in an appealing way to attract the attention of the evaluators. Besides exceptional technical writing skills, an experienced writer can work on multiple projects in the same time. Therefore, it’s important to have a proposal writer that is organized and able to work on deadlines.
For a successful project, the proposal manager and proposal writers must closely communicate and do a shared work in order to achieve the desired success. If the manager fails to secure resources and provide valuable information to the proposal development team, the proposal writer won’t be able to deliver a high-quality work. Sharing and collaboration since the moment you decide to pursue a government contract significantly affect the final outcome of the project.
