Building Empathy into the Bid Process—with Kevin Switaj - EP119

The RFP Success Show

Most proposal professionals understand the importance of putting the client at the center of the bid process.

But what if a client centric proposal is not enough?

According to Kevin Switaj, a winning proposal takes things one step further, leveraging empathy and creativity to build an emotional connection with the evaluator.

Kevin is President and CEO of BZ Opportunity Management, a full life cycle proposal consulting firm out of northern Virginia.

With more than 15 years in proposal development, Kevin is a recognized thought leader and regular contributor to industry publications.

On this episode of the RFP Success Show, Kevin joins me to discuss his new book, Keys to the Castle: Building Empathy and Creativity into Bid Processes.

Kevin discusses how an empathetic proposal builds emotional connection with prospective clients and describes how we might apply Pixar storytelling techniques in an RFP response.

Listen in for Kevin’s insight on helping subject matter experts write with empathy and learn how to develop content that speaks to the client’s perspective and opens a conversation with evaluators.

Key Takeaways

How Kevin’s thinking around connecting with evaluators inspired Keys to the Castle

How an empathetic proposal builds an emotional connection with prospective clients

Kevin’s take on why writing to the client’s needs is not enough

How we might apply Disney or Pixar storytelling techniques to a proposal response

How to develop empathetic content by focusing on the client’s point of view

Kevin’s annotated mockup approach to helping SMEs write with empathy

How to reorganize the capture process around Kevin’s empathetic approach to RFPs

1. Logistics
2. Intelligence gathering
3. Idea development

Why you should only bid on opportunities that align with who you are as a company

What it looks like to put the client at the center of the proposal process

The first step in building empathy and creativity into your team’s bid processes

Connect with Kevin

BZ Opportunity Management

BZ Opportunity on LinkedIn

Kevin on LinkedIn

Connect with Lisa

Lisa’s Website

Lisa on Twitter

Lisa on Facebook

Lisa on LinkedIn

The RFP Success Company on YouTube

The RFP Success Company on LinkedIn

Subscribe on iTunes

Email [e-mail]

Resources

Kevin on The RFP Success Show EP072

Keys to the Castle: Building Empathy and Creativity into Bid Processes by Kevin Switaj

APMP

Bruce Farrell

Creativity, Inc.: Understanding the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration by Ed Catmull with Amy Wallace

Pixar Storytelling: Rules for Effective Storytelling Based on Pixar’s Greatest Films by Dean Movshovitz

She-Hulk

96-Step Shipley Process

Book a Call with the RFP Success Company

Dare to Be Influential: Maximizing Your Positive Influence While Still Being True to You by Lisa Rehurek

The RFP Success Book by Lisa Rehurek

The RFP Success Institute