Capture management, or capture planning, is the process of gathering information, establishing relationships, developing competitive information and strategies to obtain future RFx opportunities.
What is an RFx? In the procurement technology industry, RFx is an acronym for Request for [x], where x stands for Information (RFI), Proposal (RFP) or Quotation (RFQ).
Continuous and effective procurement planning requires written, action-oriented planning. The discipline to implement, monitor, and adapt these plans to changing customer needs, internal challenges, and competitive conditions is Capture Management (or Capture Planning)
It is common to double win rates, improve profitability, and predictably meet revenue and profit forecasts with Capture Management. If you are not already practicing some form of capture planning, you likely will be after you learn of the benefits reported by others such as:
- A more qualified pipeline and faster sales.
- Clear and easier bid/no-bid decisions (opportunity qualification).
- Increased win percentage from research and connections.
- Shortened proposal timelines.
- Improved customer relationships.
- Increased past performance leading to more sales.
Essentially, a Capture Management Plan gives your business an edge over the competition. This allows you to connect with the customer, demonstrate your understanding of their needs, and position your business as the best solution. And all this happens before the RFQ is received. When done right, capture planning transforms process of influencing a customer from guesswork into a methodical, research-based approach.
The Capture Management Process
8 essential steps to capture management
- Opportunity identification – Use federal bid systems like SAM.gov and GSA eBuy to have opportunities sent to you.
- Evaluate customer needs and goals – Prepare a system to track what a buyer is looking for, turn this into a growing list of Yes/No questions that help determine if you are likely a good fit for the opportunity.
- Go / No Go Test – Run the bid / RFQ through your long list and determine if it meets the minimum passing score for you to pursue the opportunity. Selecting the most winnable RFQ’s. Putting your time and effort towards the right Bids will greatly help you succeed.
- Create a capture plan (project implementation plan) – This will break down the large project (Proposal writing) into the distinct tasks required to accomplish a particular goal. Make sure each step has an owner and a due date.
- Build a capture team – At a minimum, your team should have a Proposal Coordinator (PC) and a Subject matter expert (SME). The PC will be responsible for drafting the proposal and managing the project. The SME will focus in on building the solution to be offered in the proposal. A third evaluator, if available, is a great resource to add more insight and critique the proposal.
- Map your process and resources - Build a preliminary solution framework to achieve customer goals. Collect the important details from the RFx that will be needed to address their needs. Any specifications, narratives, SKU’s, etc. that are mentioned should be noted. This is where a skilled SME will shine.
- Competitive Evaluation & Pricing – Know your competition. You probably already know who they are, and where they are located. Use GSA Price Lists, FOIA requests, etc. to gather all of the intel and details you can. This will help you find their flaws and exploit them.
- Define your win strategy and advantages – What are the specific advantages that your company offers? And they should be unique, if half of your competitors offer the same advantages, then they are not advantages. This comes down to how well you know your Value Proposition, and how you use it to win.
- Connect with the customer and position your solution – Some Contracting Officers (KO’s) are willing to engage and some want to keep to very rigid lines of communication. That’s fine. You should be doing everything possible to be the Vendor with the very best understanding of the Buyers needs, because that is most often the winner.
Connect with the customer and position your solution – Some Contracting Officers (KO’s) are willing to engage and some want to keep to very rigid lines of communication. That’s fine. You should be doing everything possible to be the Vendor with the very best understanding of the Buyers needs, because that is most often the winner.
Going Deeper into Capture Management
To be successful, capture management must have proven systems & procedures.
So, what kinds of information should go into your capture plan? Remember to include any information that will inform your win strategy or provide background on the customer. To illustrate, think of the capture manager as a detective and the capture plan as a dossier. The plan details the organization’s key players, history, goals and challenges.
Information & Resources to include in your capture plan:
As the months tick by, your Capture Management plan should grow into a mosaic of processes and tools to manage the entire process. As you go down the rabbit-hole, you will find new techniques, tools, approaches, etc. that you can test and see if they bring value. Ultimately, the two Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) that should matter are:
- Win Percentage per quarter – the number of Proposals won divided by the number submitted. Over a quarter, you should have enough proposals submitted to have a good data set.
- Proposals per Quarter – This is simple and needs no explanation on how to track. As your Capture Plan grows, your team should be able to increase the output of their Proposals. If this stalls, you may want to grow the team, bring in some tools to streamline, or trim the fat wherever possible.
Track these KPI’s with discipline, set goals, compare to past quarters, and watch your federal sales grow through experimentation. Speaking of experimentation, below you will find helpful “Resources and Information” to build out your capture plan:
- Customer hot buttons, pain points, requirements, goals and expectations.
- Key influencers in the customer’s organization: Executives, stakeholders and procurement staff.
- Summary of any previous customer relationship or crucial interactions.
- Win team and proposal team roles (use a RACI matrix).
- Internal and external resources required for plan execution.
- Previous RFx documents (consider uploading into your RFP management system to begin crafting responses to common questions).
- Evaluation of market and economic factors that may influence selection.
- Evaluation of market and economic factors that may influence selection.
- Competitive intelligence and advantages.
- SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis.
- SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis.
- Solution planning and design.
- Primary win themes.
- Proposal plan outline and key points.
While you are likely new to Capture Management, you probably already have some of the responsibilities of this role. Undoubtedly, winning business through Capture Management requires a significant investment of time and resources. But if you can improve your win rate and get big contracts, it’s worth it in the end. There is always more to learn, so enjoy the ride!
Capture Management Tools & Resources
- RFP360:
- Key to Winning podcast: Capture Management: A Beginner’s Guide
- Trello: Capture planning example
- Shipley Associates: Introduction to capture planning
