You’ve probably heard of Dell Technologies. A global powerhouse in the tech industry, Dell is celebrated for its innovative solutions and IT infrastructure. But what you may not know is that Dell is also at the frontier of best practices in bid and proposal management.
As an APMP corporate member, Dell has taken a proactive approach to developing its team by weaving APMP certification and best practices into the fabric of its bid and proposal process. Over the past few years, Dell has cultivated a thriving culture of professional development, certifying more than 100 employees across the globe. Their efforts have translated into tangible results, with team members reporting steady improvements in win rates, proposal quality and stakeholder feedback.
So, how did they build such a successful program?
We sat down with the team members behind the program to uncover their APMP journey, and the lessons they learned along the way.
Lesson Number One: You Can’t Solve a Problem You Don’t Understand
Dell’s proposal manager community is vast, with 93 professionals spread across the world. Implementing uniform processes and training programs to serve such a large, diverse group is never destined to be smooth sailing—and Dell was no exception.
According to Learning & Development Program Manager, Maria Condacse, one of the key questions was: “How do we share best practices internally among all of these proposal professionals?”
The journey to answer that question began over a decade ago for the Dell team, when they initially began applying APMP best practices to their processes.
“In 2010, we launched an APMP roadmap for certification,” says Christophe Carrouget, EMEA Intake Manager at Dell. “Initially, we asked our Proposal Managers across the world to be Foundation Certified within 12 months and left them on their own. After a year, no one was certified.”
So, Christophe and his team investigated the reasons behind the lack of take-up by Dell’s Proposal Managers. They solicited feedback and analysed the results, concluding that the main problem to overcome was, perhaps unsurprisingly, workload. After all, in a profession as fast-paced and deadline-driven as proposal management, self-directed solo studying can quickly find itself stuck at the bottom of a growing to-do list.
“The teams were seeing the Body of Knowledge, with 64 chapters to review and learn, and feeling the fear of preparing for this exam by themselves,” Christophe explains.
Understanding this problem gave the team the tools they needed to mitigate it. And mitigate it they did.
Lesson Number Two: A Problem Shared…
Dell recognized that team members needed support in tackling the APMP certification process. But tackling this issue on a global scale was difficult, so Christophe’s team in France decided to focus their efforts locally before implementing any organization-wide initiatives.
Because they understood that finding the time to study a huge Body of Knowledge (BoK) was a large roadblock, they developed a plan to reduce the perception of the workload.
“We created a group for studying the Foundation program together,” Christophe tells us. “We set up bi-weekly calls, which helped the group focus on the program despite business constraints.”
Having a scheduled call on a regular—though not burdensomely frequent—basis helped to fit the training and development neatly within their Proposal Managers’ busy schedules, and maintained the momentum of the study effort by holding the group accountable.
Christophe’s team also worked to reduce the workload by dividing the burden among participants.
Their bi-weekly calls involved a breakdown of specific chapters of the BoK, allowing the group to study the content together.
“Participants were asked to prepare one chapter of the Body of Knowledge for the call and present it to others,” he shares. “We were sharing the workload, which created this mutual commitment—this idea of ‘you do this for me, and I do this for you’.”
With each participant now only tasked with self-directed study for a few chapters each instead of the full 64, individual workload became much more manageable, and the process of knowledge-sharing with others not only gave a boost to individual learning, but team camaraderie too.
“Having peer-to-peer study groups meant our team members weren’t in a silo alone studying,” Maria explains. “They have friends on other teams they can rely on and ask questions to. They learn together. I would recommend those study groups to other companies, to make sure their people have support while they’re studying.”
The approach of the French team has expanded across other regional teams within Dell, to resounding success.
Lesson Number Three: Every Cause Needs a Champion
Even the best laid plans can lose momentum without a champion to keep them on track, and Dell planned for this.
“APMP is embedded in our culture, and a big part of that is having someone who is a big believer in APMP promote it within the company,” Maria says. “Our APMP Champions have done a really great job of getting folks excited about APMP. It makes a dramatic difference to have leaders who are really focused on team members’ development, making sure they feel fulfilled and knowledgeable about the next steps in their career progression.”
Alongside Christophe, one of those APMP Champions within Dell is Norbert Thiemermann, CPP APMP.
A former APMP DACH Chapter board member, Norbert says it’s been a “hobby” of his to “bring APMP and its advantages to the team at Dell”.
Champions are usually experienced bid and proposal professionals, with a strong understanding of APMP best practices and a commitment to nurturing their colleagues in their development.
“Experienced Bid Managers at Dell serve as mentors and coaches for colleagues preparing for APMP certifications,” Norbert adds. “They also assist with the challenges in day-to-day bidding activities, which promotes the exchange of knowledge and strengthens team spirit.”
By leveraging these APMP Champions, Dell has been able to encourage ongoing learning and development, ensuring that APMP best practices remain front and center in their operations
Lesson Number Four: Development Doesn’t Stop at Certification
Dell took a step beyond just certification by integrating APMP best practices into its daily operations. Norbert explains how this integration contributes to both efficiency and quality.
“Dell is actively promoting and implementing APMP best practices into its internal training programs to increase efficiency and professionalism in bid management,” Norbert says. “New employees and existing teams receive regular training to ensure they are familiar with the latest bid management methods and techniques.
“We help colleagues to collect CEUs to maintain their certification, which means making sure they have the opportunity to go to conferences, to write articles, and to get training.”
The priority isn’t just certification. It’s continuous development imbued with APMP principles.
“The principles and values of APMP are firmly anchored in Dell’s bid process,” Norbert says. “This is reflected in the way tender projects are planned, implemented, and evaluated.”
Maria credits APMP corporate membership for Dell’s ability to do this successfully, adding, “That’s where the partnership with APMP is key. The culture that leaders have created really focuses on development for their Proposal Managers.”
The results
Dell has had incredible results through its efforts. Norbert describes an “increasing win rate of tenders over the years”, as well as “greater professionalism, better project results and stronger competitiveness on the market”.
Christophe reports more than 100 certified professionals in their community and “good feedback from participants”.
We got the chance to speak to some of those participants—and they certainly attest to this.
Adam Ryba, a Senior Analyst in Proposal Management at Dell, called APMP training and certification a “gamechanger”.
“I’ve already started using what I learned in my daily work,” Adam adds. “It’s really boosted my confidence and efficiency—I believe it will keep benefitting me by keeping me up to date with the latest industry standards and best practices. I recommend participating to everybody!”
Michal Hergott, who works in Deal Operations at Dell, says: “Studying for the certificate while simultaneously leading a bid as a Proposal Manager works very well—it allows you to apply what you’ve learned and significantly enhances your understanding of the foundations behind best practices.”
“It’s helped me effectively kick off projects, plan activities with accurate time management, and deliver high-quality proposals with ample margin,” he adds.
Looking ahead
As Dell continues to build on its success, they remain committed to sharing best practices and fostering professional growth.
“We want more team members attending and speaking at conferences, writing articles, and sharing best practices,” Maria says. “It’s all part of building a very strong proposal manager community.”
By sharing their lessons learned, Dell is helping other organizations replicate their success and continue to raise the bar for excellence in bid and proposal management.
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