Shipley Capture Guide

This Capture Guide has three aims: 1) help individuals position their organizations to capture competitive business opportunities more effectively, economically, and consistently; 2) guide individuals in capture planning roles to understand and adapt best practices for opportunities in any market; and 3) record capture management and planning best-practice guidelines.

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. Less effective organizations follow defined processes but lose sight of principles that help them adapt to individual opportunities. The least effective organizations lack consistent processes, or defined principles, and rely instead on valiant efforts of heroes following ad hoc processes. Help individuals position their organizations to capture competitive business opportunities 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. Guide individuals in capture planning roles The structure for the Shipley Capture Guide originated with the Shipley Proposal Guide. While many capture planning principles were included in the Proposal Guide, clients repeatedly requested more specific advice. As organizations placed more individuals into capture planning roles, these individuals needed to understand how to adapt best practices and tools to their individual markets and opportunities. This Capture Guide is designed to be a quick reference for individuals assigned to be capture managers or to contribute to capture teams. Record capture management and planning best-practice guidelines At Shipley Associates, we have observed and recommended industry best practices in business development consulting, training, and process re-engineering since 1972. We endeavor to follow these guidelines in our consulting practice, teach them in our professional development practice, tailor them in our process practice, and share them in our series of Guides. This Capture Guide, like the companion Proposal Guide and Business Development Lifecycle Guide, offers guidelines, not rules. Reality encompasses more variations than can be covered in a guide intended to be concise. When in doubt, consider the underlying principles.

Larry Newman is Vice President and a founding partner of Shipley Associates. He joined Shipley Associates in 1986 as a consultant and training facilitator, helping clients win competitive business in 30 countries and varied selling environments. Mr. Newman authored all three Shipley Associates Guides: Proposal Guide, Capture Guide, and Business Development Lifecycle Guide. The Shipley Proposal Guide was awarded the Society for Technical Communication’s Award of Excellence in 2008. With approximately 50,000 copies in print since 1999, the Shipley Proposal Guide was selected as the basis for APMP proposal management professional certification. In 2010, he authored the Shipley Capture Guide, 2nd Edition. Like the Proposal Guide, several organizations have selected it as the basis for professional capture management certification. He has developed and facilitated numerous Shipley Associates workshops in capture planning, proposal writing and management, executive summary writing, sales writing, and costing. He is an Association of Proposal Management Professionals (APMP) Fellow, is APMP accredited at the Professional level, and has presented at more than 20 professional association conferences. He also developed the Proposal Guide podcast series in 2008, downloadable on iTunes.