A centrally managed proposal content library or knowledgebase will drive real efficiencies in your proposal generation and production processes.
Maintaining a robust library of professionally written proposal-ready content is no small task. Many organisations set off with good intentions and invest significant sums in proposal automation software solutions, only to find the real challenge is keeping content current.
Thankfully, help is at hand. The Bid Solutions team have successfully built and managed some of the largest global proposal content libraries and have the specialist knowledge required to get your proposal content back on track.
If you need ad-hoc support to keep your existing content library or knowledgebase updated, we have solutions and people to match every project and budget.
If you are developing your first proposal content library, we can help you structure content, develop your FAQ responses, identify and energise your subject matter experts, and recommend the tools and processes that will deliver the greatest efficiencies for your business.
As well as providing Content Consultants on a daily or project basis, we can recruit the specialist Content Managers and Knowledgebase Managers you will need to effectively manage your library.
Each proposal content project we manage starts with understanding the content demands of your business and the service you are looking to provide to your bid, proposal and sales teams – essentially all core users of your content. Once understood, the typical process we would suggest to develop a content library is outlined below:
Content audit to identify all potential proposal content sources. This might include recent tender submissions, presentations, pitches, marketing documents, technical documents, product guides, regulatory information, websites, social media etc. It would include written content, images, charts, infographics and pictures.
Review existing content to determine relevance, frequency of use, ownership, and how regularly it needs reviewing / updating. We look to identify duplicates / conflicting information, capture what can be re-used, identify FAQs, and highlight information voids where content needs to be created.
We develop a suitable file / content structure. Whilst this is often dependent on the content system used, we keep it as simple and intuitive as possible. We agree naming conventions and tags.
Secure buy-in from content owners to regularly commit to updating their content to be included in the library.
We review any style guides or other ‘company voice’ material to ensure there is consistency in tone and voice.
We interview Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to develop new content. Whilst time consuming, it is our experience that much better-quality content is derived from these sessions.
Make revisions and changes as part of a regular review process and agree expiry dates for each piece of content.
Agree a content submission process to maintain version control, content integrity and accountability.
Agree process for deconstructing submitted proposals and presentations.
Project handover and agree on-going support needs.
To discuss your Proposal Content or Knowledgebase requirements, please call the team on 0208 1583952.
