Healthcare service providers often need to use special sell-in techniques when preparing business proposals for a federal health & healthcare agency that is acquiring services, supplies or equipment. RFPs are constantly released for different Federal Business Opportunities, and many of them cover this industry. Some of the main agencies that are in high demand for various healthcare services and supplies from vendors/contractors are FDA, CDC, CMS, NIH, and DARPA.

Healthcare agencies consider contractors as partners and rely on them to enhance government business. However, many businesses that enter the federal market and try to pursue these contracts are often misled regarding the processes and rules they must adhere. There are some certain policies and procurement guidelines that must be followed in order to meet program objectives and performance measures.

Proposal writing for HHS agencies can be a daunting task. When developing a proposal you must be able to convince decision-makers about your technical capabilities by demonstrating that you:

  • Fully understand the solicitation requirements
  • Presenting the statement of work
  • Showing the sustainability of your technical approach
  • Demonstrating the capabilities of your personnel
  • Confirming that you’ve got sufficient resources and suitable working facilities.

Preparing the proposal

To lead a powerful campaign you need a full team of experienced professionals. Proposal preparation process involves four main phases that are critical for a successful project.

Proposal Planning

The process of proposal development starts even before the release of the final solicitation. A company that wants to compete for a certain federal opportunity initiates research right after the RFP draft is announced. The first step is assessing the request for proposal’s requirements in order to create a compliant proposal outline and prepare a content plan. A thorough market intelligence and competitive assessment is done to develop the right winning strategy in order to meet client’s business expectations. The management team makes a schedule to determine data collection timeframe, define proposal sections, proposal review and project delivery time.

Proposal Management

The management team must have at least one professional with the expertise and experience in the healthcare sector. It is responsible to ensure that the proposal is executed appropriately; organizes documents and graphics, as well as gathers the resources needed for a successful project. It coordinates proposal writers, supervises the production of all the parts of the proposal, tracks the development progress making sure that the content is accurate, concise and compliant with solicitation requirements.

Proposal Writing

Technical writing team must specialize in proposals to research and healthcare agencies in order to be able to prepare the most persuasive proposal possible to convince the decision makers to choose you. They must have in-depth knowledge of how the industry works. The final product must be able to effectively:

  • Communicate the message that focuses your customer’s attention on your capabilities
  • Confirm that you understand the problem and have the right solution
  • Present appropriately your resources that enable you to perform the contract successfully
  • Demonstrate that you’re compliant and able to close the contract on budget and time

Proposal Review

Reviewer Team must also be highly competent to analyze every detail of the documents. The process involves editing and proofreading. They’re responsible to analyze content gaps, determine that the proposal is ready for submission after making sure that the design and themes are appropriate, and the entire RFP response is of high quality.