Alteq Group of Companies

The Tyson Approach

The Art and Science of Winning Propositions
BY
Dr. Armstrong Takang & Dr. Adeniyi Onamusi
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................................................................... 4
WHY WE NEED THIS NOW ......................................................................................................................................................... 4
THE BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT LIFECYCLE .................................................................................................................................. 7
STAGES IN THE INDUCTIVE BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT PROCESS: ......................................................................................... 7
DEDUCTIVE BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AND SALES ............................................................................................................. 11
DEVELOPING A WINNING PROPOSITION ................................................................................................................................. 13
DEVELOPING THE PROPOSAL ................................................................................................................................................... 13
WRITING THE TECHNICAL PROPOSAL ...................................................................................................................................... 15
DETAILS AND CONTENT ................................................................................................................................................. 15
LANGUAGE AND STYLE .................................................................................................................................................. 15
SIZE ................................................................................................................................................................................ 16
AESTHETICS ................................................................................................................................................................... 16
SOLUTION DESCRIPTION ............................................................................................................................................... 17
THE PEOPLE ELEMENT OF A PROPOSAL ........................................................................................................................ 17
OTHER INFORMATION ................................................................................................................................................... 18
GROUP PROJECTS .................................................................................................................................................................... 19
PORTER ............................................................................................................................................................................... 19
PETERS ................................................................................................................................................................................ 19
DRUCKER ............................................................................................................................................................................ 20
RECOMMENDATIONS AND OBSERVATIONS ............................................................................................................................ 20
FURTHER READING .................................................................................................................................................................. 21
ATTENDANCE ........................................................................................................................................................................... 22








Copyright August, 2009 by Alteq.ict Ltd

The information contained in this document is strictly
confidential and is legally privileged. It is intended solely for
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First Edition, 10
th
August, 2008

CREDITS
Transcribed and Edited by:
David Agogo

Contributing Editor:
Dr. Adeniyi Onamusi

Based on Talks given by:
Dr. Armstrong Takang and Dr. Adeniyi Onamusi

INTRODUCTION
The contents of this summary are a transcript of the training that was held for members of
the Alteq Group on Saturday, 8
th
August, 2009.
The training was attended by staff from each subsidiary of the Alteq group (see attendance).
The program was facilitated by our virtuoso MD/CEO Dr. Armstrong Takang, and the
scintillating Dr. Adeniyi Onamusi.

WHY WE NEED THIS NOW
A careful analysis of the current situation within the country provides us a clear insight as to
why we need to improve in the area of preparing winning propositions.
1) Growth rate of businesses
The business in the Alteq group is rapidly growing. There is need to sustain this
growth and improvement and establish a winning streak. Financial targets are
higher, we are playing in the big league.
the more we win, the more we are likely to win
2) The market is developing rapidly
The market is becoming more exposed. Clients now demand for more sophisticated
services. We need to scale up our efforts to stay relevant.
Its easier to keep up than to catch up, but much better to lead
thought! At Alteq, we aim for thought leadership of the market,
nothing less
3) Availability of Information
The internet has made available tons of information to the client. Your proposition
must be flawless.
A simple google search can reveal how wrong you are and how
little you know.
4) Increasing complexity of the business environment
we must understand that the industry is highly convergent. The age of the puritan is
fast ending. We have to better that the best in specialized areas, and still combine
proficiency in related fields. There must be all round development and growth.
The lines have become blurry The Jack of all trades grew into the
Mack of all trades! He understands and masters all.

5) There is increased disillusionment in the mind of the client.
So many companies are failing to meet the requirements of the client, even the top
companies are failing. This is affecting the industry all round. With the advent of so
much variety in the industry, it is becoming more difficult to proffer the right
solution to the client. We must never reflect this. We must be able to understand
where you client is coming from and proffer lasting solutions through your
proposition.
You must know the topic better than the person that wrote the
book. Identify how you can teach the teacher, solve the problem of
the problem solver, sell water to the well, and expand your ice
business to Antarctica.

Other Considerations:
We must understand the focus of each part of the Alteq Group:



Global economic crisis is putting a great strain on resources, which is a factor in the growth
of the open source community. Government is now the biggest spender, especially in the
Nigerian sector.
Therefore, there is need to do everything within our power to put out winning proposals
and manage stakeholders in order to achieve our corporate goals as a group, and as
individual companies.


sector agnostic
service provider
focused, for now,
on tackling socio
economic issues
(alignment with
TSC)
solving
organisational
problems
solving socio-
economic
problems
TSC Alteq
Abuja
Connect
REAM
Media
THE BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT LIFECYCLE
There are two main categories of business development initiatives or sale: Inductive and
Deductive sales.
Inductive Sales: they are anticipatory. You anticipate that your customers will require a
solution, due to new developments or a need identified in the market place. It is more
predictive, thus the ownership lies with you. There is need to establish buy in from the client
and eventually, an integration of the clients input.
Deductive: there is an expression of a need by a customer; you refine that thinking to
proffer solutions. The ownership lies with the client. There is need to identify the clients
pain points, and proffer a solution that captures all of them. Sometimes, the client does not
have full grasp of the root cause and would rather try to handle symptoms.

STAGES IN THE INDUCTIVE BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT PROCESS:
We will proceed to look at the main stages of the inductive business development process:
1) RECOGNISE THE OPPORTUNITY:
The opportunity can crop up in three ways:
a. Relationship driven (personal relationships etc)
b. budget driven (there is a set aside amount for particular needs)
c. Crisis condition (a crisis, in this context, is simply an event with an uncertain
outcome) Through your solution, the certainty and control of the outcome is
restored to the client. For instance, anytime there is a development that has
not been factored in by the organization or entity, there is a crisis thus an
opportunity to be harnessed.

2) IDEA DEVELOPMENT / CONCEPTUALISATION
We do this by day dreaming, lateral thinking, brain storming sessions or neo linguistic
programming.

3) SOLUTIONS DESIGN (A DEFINING STAGE)
A blue print is developed of likely outcomes. Research and development is carried out.
Further brainstorming with a selected team.
It helps to consider the end point: day to day functionality, end results etc

4) PROPOSAL DEVELOPMENT FINANCIAL DEVELOPMENT
You must then capture your solution in a manner that will invoke the right response in the
client. When you are unsure of certain dynamics of the deal / proposition, e.g not sure of
budget, not sure of financial capability etc, you skip the financial development.

5) PRESENTATION TO KEY DECISION MAKERS
Identify the key decision makers. Make sure that you obtain buy in at this stage.
Receive necessary input from key decision makers. Obtain an indication of financial
capability and possible investiture.


6) FINETUNE PROPOSAL + FINANCIALS
The proposal must be modified in the light of new discovery from the previous stage.
The previous process and this might be repeated to achieve a proposal that is ready
for formal submission.

7) FORMALLY SUBMIT THE PROPOSAL
The final proposal is then submitted officially (duly stamped etc). There is need to
ensure that any old copies of the proposal are retrieved, especially in the public
sector where filing is taken seriously. Any information that might indicate inside
knowledge should be weeded out. At this stage of formal submission, the contents
of the proposal must contain a reasonable amount of contribution from
stakeholders, to guarantee buy in.

8) FOLLOW UP
This is a very important aspect of winning the proposition. It is primarily the responsibility of
account owner, however, Execs and any other key contacts within the organization must be
kept up to date at all times on new developments. The project sponsor is the focus of follow
up (head of department, heads of IT, heads of procurement-custodian of due process, head
of the MDA, etc)

9) SATISFYING DUE PROCESS
Ideally, this is part of internal processes of the receiving organization or MDA, however, it is
important to pay attention to this since there may be a degree of apathy and low levels of
knowledge in the system generally.
Generally, for proprietary solutions, after satisfying some questions and conditions, we may
obtain a waiver / no objection certificate.
In other situations, there may be need to verify additional information like the hr
implication, running costs, etc in order to satisfy the due process department.
All this will enable you to creatively obtain the due process certificates (advertise internally,
post to tenders board, etc)
Occasionally, a large project may be broken into phases to make it easier for the
organization to expend on it, without prior budgetary allocation.

10) OFFER LETTER / AWARD
The offer letter / award letter is issued.

11) CONTRACT
A contract must be prepared to minimize exposure.
12) FUNDS RELEASE MANAGEMENT
Ideally, the amount of influence you can wield before this point that will determine the
release of funds.

13) SALES CLOSURE
Sales is closed and moved into accounts management.

14) ACCOUNTS MANAGEMENT
The account owner needs to ensure that additional businesses emanate from the account,
including sell ons etc


DEDUCTIVE BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AND SALES

The basic difference between inductive and deductive sales will be highlighted:
1) RECOGNITION OF OPPORTUNITY
From newspapers, tenders journals, advertisements.
There is need to pick battles based on these criteria:
Is there an existing relationship, or can we develop the needed relationships?
Do we have superior ability in this area: are there more visible and strong
competitors?
Can our organization manage the scale?
These considerations can be waived for clear cut strategic reasons such as gaining inroad
into an account etc
2) SOLUTIONS DESIGN
They own the proposition; they know what they need, sometimes, even better than you.
Information gathering is essential for proper solutions design.
Requirements based information gathering for solutions design. Will allow you to even
propose alternate solutions (gotta be careful with this, though)
1

It can almost be taken for granted that any member of the group will be selected at the
stage of EOI. The cost of EOIs is next to nothing.
At the stage of RFP there is about a 1 in 5 chance on winning it. This information informs
investment towards solutions design, etc.


1
There is need for finance to become an integral part of the business development. That will enable them
understand the need for intial investment in the process. Consider information gathering, there will be costs
incurred. There will be legal implications for the business. There is need to promote greater alignment of
different functions and roles in the business
Account ownership is by the project manager since there is more business development
than sales in the PM world.
Most times, the clients are buying into a person, a voice. Egs NIMC, Min of Finance. The soul
of a project cannot be transferred without implications.

In designing solutions, you must be on the offensive. This is the soul of the Tyson Approach.

There are key considerations and elements to be thorough about! This can de determined
from the RFP. Parameters have been set; you must prove why it must be you.


DEVELOPING A WINNING PROPOSITION
Adopt an offensive Strategy (Red Ocean)

Have a formidable team and partnership:
this is useful for brand visibility.
Responsibility: Corporate / Management

Develop a compelling proposal
Build a great team together to put the proposal
together
Responsibility: Account Owner

Hit the mark with your financials
They must be accurate and precise. Carefully thought
out and realistic.
Responsibility: The Team

Own the key decision makers
we are the puppet masters
Responsibility: The Account owner along with Exec

DEVELOPING THE PROPOSAL
Guidelines
Study the RFP: make notes, underline key points
Develop an outline that caters to the details (all encompassing)
List all supporting documentation, certificates and forms
Have ready folders for essential documents
Introduce two or more distinctive features (wow factor)
Main documentation
YOU NEED A WINNING ATTITUDE!
Spin Doctors, better than Witch
Doctors
Every business is show business
Be the best of the best; put the
rest to test, head for the crest with
lots of zest in your vest and a super


on your chest

Outline must be progressive in thought and simple to follow:

Sample Guideline:
I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
a brief/synopsis of the entire document, up unto the financials. The rule of tenth
this should be a tenth of the whole document. Captures everything in the document.
II. INTRODUCTION
can be the background. More prose. Your entry into the subject. Generic description
of the scenario that prompts the need.
III. BACKGROUND
what gives rise to the solution. For deductive, there is a background in the RFP
mostly. Should contain information about the client.
IV. ABOUT US
V. PARTNERS AND AFFILIATIONS
VI. OUR UNDERSTANDING OF YOUR REQUIREMENT
VII. SCOPE
VIII. TECHNICAL PROPOSAL
IX. BENEFITS
X. APPROACH AND METHODOLOGY
XI. FINANCIALS

NOTE
Language and style is key


WRITING THE TECHNICAL PROPOSAL
You must use the technical proposal to distinguish yourself. Clarity and brevity should be
your watch words.
DETAILS AND CONTENT
ORGANISATION: X-Ray the organization: why (pain points), what (solution, data type) ,
where, how (usage model) show that you understand the industry, you are part of the
industry segment. Focus on the as is.

People dont care how much you know, till they know how much
you care.

INDUSTRY: demonstrate an understanding of industry trends.
GLOBAL STANDARDS: This what the solution is expected to do. Global standards for the
technology.
SOLUTION MIX: how you put the proposition together to solve your clients problem.

LANGUAGE AND STYLE
There must be a flow. Even persons without the needed technical knowledge to understand
the proposition must be capable of following the train of thought without getting lost. There
must be a right mix between technical terms and proper expression.

Make it bliss for the ignorant.

SIZE
THE WEIGHT TEST.
How detailed is your proposition based on the financials?
RFP proposal target: 100 pages minimum. An elaborate outline helps you achieve this.

The Pyramid principle!

Stay on Message:
The Stay of Message testing is used to ensure that our document does not lose bearing and
go out of context.
Explore the use of relevant appendices. Include standard documentations, whitepapers et
al.
AESTHETICS
It is critical. Formatting of the document must be compelling.
FONTS, PARAGRAPH, COLOURS, STYLES, SPACING, PACKAGING (print on envelopes, etc)
Dont judge a book by its cover? Okay. But that does not mean I
have to like it, does it?
FIRST IMPRESSIONS MATTER!!!
2




2
Analysts at Goldman Sachs estimate that the global beauty industry consisting of skin care worth
$24 billion; make-up, $18 billion; $38 billion of hair-care products; and $15 billion of perfumes is
growing at up to 7% a year, more than twice the rate of the developed world's GDP.
SOLUTION DESCRIPTION
There must be creative use of pictures and diagrams.
The right picture is worth a thousand words.

The products and solutions of Global Technology Brands we are partnering with, including
their case studies, etc must be used to make a case. There might be need to include
specification documents, etc.
Partnerships:
it must be clear if you are going in as a consortium: clearly define the responsibilities of each
member of the team.


THE PEOPLE ELEMENT OF A PROPOSAL
The team composition must be reflected in the documentation. This section is usually
requested by the organization requesting for proposals.
The people element is key to winning the proposition. You must have the right people to
handle the job.
There is no one size fits all, approach! Ensure that you:
I. Customise resources to the project.
II. Tie past experience to the project.
III. Highlight competencies in areas related to the project.
IV. Instill clients confidence in the team that will be assigned to do the work.

OTHER INFORMATION
Role of Referencing
Business proposals need not be referenced. Not an academic exercise.
The source of a statistics should be stated. Inline: or as a footnote.

Document formatting when collaborating with others
Basic word processing skills of all members of staff must be enhanced. The outline can be
used to manage formatting.

Copy and Paste Syndrome
It just will not do!!! Albert Eintein said the secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your
source. It is okay to obtain information from the internet, books, journals etc for the
purpose of developing proposals and such, but there should be not more than 35%
correlation to an existing work.
Little Trick: If you cut a sentence out of any document and paste in
google, and click enter what you see is ten or more indications of
how unoriginal you are!!!


GROUP PROJECTS
The house was constituted into three groups, each group named after a top management
guru: Michael Porter, Tom Peters and Peter Drucker. Each group was allowed to select a
proposal topic from past work. Each team was asked to work on the proposal jointly, and
the person to present to the entire room, was to be chosen by random ballot.
At any given time, any member of a team must be capable of
assuming leadership. Any chain is as strong as its weakest link.
Each member of the team must be capable of stepping in, when the
leader is unavoidably absent.

Each group chose their moderator and scribe, but every team member was to learn enough
about the proposal to be capable of presenting, if selected by the ballot.
Group dynamics often result in any individual with known
proficiency in a particular area being selected, almost naturally.
That does not allow proper growth and development to each
member of the team. It is important to share responsibility among
the team to ensure all round growth for the organization.

PORTER
Proposal Title: Digital Education Program for Adamawa State

PETERS
Proposal Title: 3-G Enabled Laptops, Where connectivity meets class

DRUCKER
Proposal Title: Human Capital Development Software for Dangote Group

RECOMMENDATIONS AND OBSERVATIONS
The following recommendations and observations were made after the group
presentations:
The Art of Presentation must be developed.
Further seminars will be held in this regard. All members of staff are encouraged to take
interest in developing their presentation skills.
The most memorable presentations are rarely a function of the
message, rather, of the messenger. What your listener will take
away from the encounter will be his/her perception of your
capability which is determined from your composure, grasp of
facts, ability to LISTEN effectively, etc

Dont hesitate to go in for the kill!
The heart of a proposal is the proposition! What do you want the listener to do? Clearly
articulate your requests, else, you present a compelling case and leave the listener unsure
on what is expected of them. You must CLOSE the sale asap.
Never antagonize the audience
All members of the team must be over prepared!


FURTHER READING
Blink, the power of thinking without thinking Malcom Gladwell
Primacy Effect Micheal Shea
On Competition Michael Porter
The McKinsey Way Ethan Rasiel






ATTENDANCE
1. Benson Adegoroye
2. Akeem Elegbede
3. Yinka Sanusi
4. Justice Ogoroh
5. Halima Musa Usman
6. Zara Jaji
7. Bolawa Oyewole
8. Onyinye Iruoha
9. Iyke Ekwelibe
10. Teekay Ivande
11. David Agogo
12. Adesola Soetan
13. Omada Omeliko
14. Damilola Edgal
15. Rustam Ismailov
16. Adeniyi Onamusi
17. Armstrong Takang