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Putting the right people in the right jobs is a critical factor in developing a center of excellence. Training them to do those jobs to the best of their ability is another. Based on having clear definitions of roles and responsibilities, you should be able to develop a training map for each job in the proposal unit. The three components of effective training include formal training, mentoring activities, and on-the-job experiences. Thus, your training maps should integrate all three of these activities—in conjunction with proper goal setting—to give your staff the highest opportunity for success.
In terms of the necessary formal training, your proposal specialists should receive some of the typical training already offered within your company. But much of the curriculum will be specific to the skills required of a proposal center employee:
Principles of Persuasion
Structural patterns for effective proposal writing—the persuasive paradigm, the structure of the executive summary, the pattern for effective case studies, resumes, answers, and so on.
Value propositions and win themes
ROI models and company differentiators
Proposal Project Management
Managing the project
Collaboration skills
Analyzing the RFP
Bid/no bid issues
Developing a writing plan, distributing effort
Handling production issues
Time/organization management
Writing Skills
Sentence structure for clarity
Modifying text for different audience types
Techniques for writing component parts of proposals
Use of Office Tools:
Word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation software
E-mail system
Proposal automation tools
Web-based search tools, particularly internal sites
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