Companies who employ RFPs, like the government and the public sector, occasionally get “Bid Manager” and “Proposal Manager” mixed up, even if they know a lot about them. Some businesses think the two positions are the same. People can quickly tell the difference between the two. Many businesses have one person do both jobs. It depends on how big it is, how many people are working on it, and how long it will take.
It’s not just noise. Proposal teams face the same problems when they don’t know who is in charge of what. They write too fast, leave out important details, get things mixed up, send messages that don’t match, and go nuts on “submission day.” When everyone knows what their job is, teams can get things done faster, make fewer mistakes, and come up with ideas that are both enjoyable and correct.
This article discusses about the similarities and differences between Bid Managers and Proposal Managers in real life. It also shows you how to make your response time longer so you can get better at it.
What a Bid Manager Does
The Bid Manager is in charge of everything else, including writing the answer. They also make sure that the things that help them win happen. The Bid Manager’s responsibility is to make sure that everyone knows what to do, works together, fulfills deadlines, handles risks, and holds people responsible. At many companies, the proposal manager is in control of “the pursuit outcome,” even if they don’t write a lot of the proposal.
A Bid Manager frequently starts working on a project before the proposal is even written. They could be able to aid the club right away by finding out if it’s worth it and if the team is ready to win. Good teams don’t spend weeks on bids they know they won’t win or bids they might win but that would hurt their margins or bandwidth right now.
The Bid Manager helps set the broad direction once the choice is made to go on the search. They explain the group what the buyer really wants, what the submission needs to satisfy in order to be accepted, what could go wrong with it, and what the company needs to do to make the plan work. The Bid Managers and the senior management team are in charge of sales, delivery, pricing, and legal issues. They make sure that everyone in these groups knows what’s going on.
A good Bid Manager is frequently also a great leader in the government. They make sure that everyone knows what to do and when to do it, and that everything goes as planned. Things get worse when folks say they’ll help but don’t. People have to make choices that affect them when they don’t agree. They don’t wait until the end of production to solve problems; they do it right away.
To put it simply, the Bid Manager is in charge of “running the pursuit like a project to win.
What a Proposal Manager Does
The proposal manager is in charge of making the proposal deliverable, which is the set of responses that the evaluator will read, grade, and compare. Doing things correctly is the most essential thing to them. This includes following the rules, being clear, having a strong structure, sending the right messages, going through review cycles, being ready for production, and submitting successfully.
Proposal Managers are often quite busy with the RFP. They read the requirements, figure out what they need to do, build a plan for how to do it, and then use the RFP to make something that other people can use. They want to make sure that the answer is what the customer expected, that it is clear, and that it looks good.
The Proposal Manager is responsible for making sure that everything gets done. They check that the material works, that all the versions are correct, that there are review cycles, that input is taken into consideration, and that there are no last-minute document disasters. They also want to know if the quality is good. The Proposal Manager’s job is to find and fix things that are broken, missing, or not following the rules.
Proposal Managers normally want to know what will be sent in and if the proposal fits the requirements for scoring, evaluation, and compliance. Bid Managers are more interested in the “big picture” of the chase.
The Proposal Manager’s job is to “deliver a compliant, compelling proposal on time, in the right format, and without any surprises.
The Easiest Way to Tell the Difference
The best way to tell the two hobbies apart is to
- The pursuit is led by a Bid Manager.
- The “Proposal Manager” is the person who is in charge of the “proposal.”
That doesn’t mean they never see each other. They clearly have a lot in common. It’s really important to know what each job needs the most.
Will we be able to agree? A Bid Manager decides what is most important and what goes with it. What are we doing at the moment? What are you all up to? What is the plan, and what could go wrong with it?
The major responsibility of a Proposal Manager is to make sure that people do what they say they will do and obey the guidelines. What do you need to learn? Where does it go? Who did this? How can we learn more? Is it time to leave?
Both tasks are incredibly important, but they help the process in various ways to make sure it doesn’t fail. This is okay as long as the occupations are the same.
Where the Roles Overlap (And Why That’s Normal)
In real life, these jobs are usually connected to one other. Everyone thinks the same things when a firm is under a lot of stress. There may be some overlap, but it’s really important that everyone knows who owns what.
People who work in these fields commonly go to kickoff meetings, make timetables, plan evaluations, and talk to other people who are interested in the project. Both jobs can affect how workers talk to each other, share information, and finish evaluations. Both jobs also have to meet deadlines, answer inquiries, and follow the rules of the firm.
People are most worried about what makes them stand out.
The Bid Manager normally chooses the bigger pursuit posture and then figures out what to do next. Most of the time, it’s the Proposal Manager’s job to make sure that the response is full, well-written, and satisfies the production requirements.
If they don’t make this explicit, teams could end up with “two captains.” This shows that both sides are trying to make the same choices, or even worse, one side thinks the other is in charge of important review or compliance tasks. When to hire a proposal manager and when to hire a bids manager
When You Need a Bid Manager vs. When You Need a Proposal Manager
A lot of businesses don’t ask, “What title do we need?” They want to know, “What’s wrong with how we do things?”
If your team is experiencing trouble with unfair ways to win, poorly qualified pursuers, team members that don’t agree, or resource conflicts across several bids, you might need to work on your “Bid Management” skills.
You should probably work on your “Proposal Management” abilities if your team is having trouble with missed compliance, not having enough structure, misunderstanding over documents at the end of the process, inconsistent tone, or problems with submissions.
There are only two useful bullet points in this section:
- A Bid Manager is very helpful when the bids are hard to comprehend, are worth a lot of money, or have a lot of individuals working on them.
- A Proposal Manager is highly important when the regulations are rigorous, the deliverables are big, and the timeframes are short.
- If you bid a lot and your team is getting bigger, you need to be clear about both jobs.
One person in a small business can usually do both jobs well if they have the necessary tools and power. In a large company, dividing up responsibilities can minimize risk and speed up production.
Common Failure Modes and Which Role Prevents Them
One person can come up with ideas while the other person strives to win. “Strategy gaps” and “execution gaps” are two common reasons why projects don’t work out. Most of the time, bid managers check to see if the plan is done. Proposal Managers fix a lot of the difficulties with how things are done. Teams always split up when both sides are bad or the tasks aren’t clear.
A strategy gap is like a suggestion that is true but not new. It could work, but it doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t link what the buyer wants to what you can do. They don’t have a good reason to pick you. This happens a lot because no one is in charge of displaying the themes of success, the competitive position, or the answer.
An execution gap is a plan that is hard to follow, doesn’t follow the rules, or is too messy. The needs have not been met. Some of the attachments don’t have all of their parts. People don’t listen to what you say. The facts don’t always add up. The names of the files are inaccurate. The submission didn’t go through. A lot of the time, this happens when more than one person is in charge of the compliance matrix, the review workflow, and the production discipline from beginning to end.
High-performing teams make it clear who is in responsibility of fixing particular issues:
- Bid Manager: “Are we ready to win?” Are we still going to stick to the plan to get there?
- The Proposal Manager asked, “Is the proposal ready to be sent in, follows the rules, and is easy to read?
How These Roles Work Together on a Strong Pursuit
Bid Manager vs. Proposal Manager is not a suitable approach to manage a business. The person in charge of bids and proposals
A good Bid Manager knows what has to be done and how to do it. They make sure that everyone knows what the client wants, what is vital, and how the company will do well. They make sure that decisions are taken early on, especially about the cost, scope, staff, and the trade-offs between risk and profit. This way, the concept won’t have to face with big problems in the last 72 hours.
A good Proposal Manager takes this kind of guidance and knows what to do. They make sure that everyone follows the plan, that all requests are honored, and that all claims are true. They set up SMEs, read the proposals, and make sure that the rules are followed so that the proposal doesn’t just end up being a bunch of papers thrown together at the last minute.
They presumably thought of this when everyone in the gang was happy. People are ready to pick. It’s apparent that the needs are being met. Differentiation is always the same. It sounds like one person typed the answer instead of ten. What abilities do you need to undertake each job?
What Skills Matter Most in Each Role
You need to be able to talk to people, maintain things in order, and get along with others in order to do these jobs. But the most important skills don’t always stay the same.
People who work for a Bid Manager need to be very dedicated to their jobs. You need to be able to talk to people in different parts of the company, know about hazards, and keep a group on track when you don’t have much time. They also learn how to use evaluation criteria to make solutions better and how to compare different ones.
A Proposal Manager is usually worried about something. They need to know how to follow the rules, be good at editing, deal with a lot of submissions, and develop a proposal that is clear, consistent, and meets all the requirements. They should also be ready to help with reviews, which happen when good bids get even better or when deadlines are missed.
Both roles should be able to lead, even if they don’t have any real power. Writing the proposals isn’t usually the hardest part. Asking others to tell you the truth and then using that information to make a choice. How technology helps with both duties
How Technology Supports Both Roles
Even the best Bid Manager and Proposal Manager might have trouble with email threads, folders that are all over the place, and writing things down by hand. We need a way to keep all of the proposals in one location. This means that you have to work, share information, obey the rules, work with others, go through the review process, and be ready to give in your work.
RFP360.ai and other tools can aid in this instance. People who want to win the bid and people who want to submit it should both be able to use them. The Bid Manager needs to be able to find the problem immediately and fix it. Proposal Managers like to have everything in one spot so they can see who is working with whom, make sure everyone follows the rules, and keep track of all the different versions.
If your tools are made for the RFP lifecycle, both roles could spend less time doing things by hand and more time on what really matters: quality, proof, and strategy.
Final Thoughts
The simplest approach to answer the question “Bid Manager vs. Proposal Manager” is to state that they usually work on the same project and make sure the bidding goes successfully.
The Bid Manager keeps the project on schedule, fixes any problems that crop up, and doesn’t make any mistakes. A Proposal Manager looks over the submission to ensure sure there are no problems that could make it hard to follow the regulations, keep things running smoothly, and make things. When everyone knows what their role is and how to do it, your team can generate better proposals with less stress and fewer last-minute surprises.