As someone who has been in Proposal Management for many years now, writing proposals in 3 different sectors including Engineering, Audit & Staffing, it always amazes me to see and feel the amount of effort needed to clearly understand a company product. This makes me think that the biggest challenge for a Proposal Manager is changing business sectors, which involves adapting quickly to be successful in a new business environment.
Knowing how challenging this situation can be, it’s appropriate to acknowledge all the Proposal Professionals who – willingly or unwillingly – had to take that step in their career. As lessons learned, some guidance will be provided on how to handle such a situation and where the focus should be when a Proposal Professional is changing business sectors.
Getting out of a comfort zone – a courageous decision
It takes a lot of time to (fully) understand a business – on average, between 1,5 to 2 years! This is the timeframe a Proposal Manager would need to feel comfortable in his or her (new) position and more importantly, to articulate the added value of the product in proposals. Indeed, as a Sales Professional, you can’t effectively sell what you don’t (fully) understand and Proposal Managers are no different. It becomes clear that a Proposal Manager employed by a company X for five (5) years has a better understanding of the product and solutions that the company offers than a Proposal Manager who has just been working for company Z for a year.
It should be noted that I’m referring here to company and product knowledge – not proposal management knowledge, which is (always) available to all Proposal Professionals, i.e., through APMP. The knowledge on the company products however can only be acquired after a meticulous and intensive learning of the company portfolio, an exercise that takes time.
It becomes clear that a move to apply and start a new job for a Proposal Manager is not as easy as someone would think because he or she would need to start from scratch as far as knowledge of the (new) company portfolio is concerned. This is obviously not something that everyone can do or wants to do as it means stepping out of their ‘comfort zone’. Many Proposal Professionals never want to leave a business sector because they feel at ease and do not want to (re)engage in the stressful situation that comes with the learning of a new product portfolio. This is a pragmatic and, humanly, understandable decision.
The change is there? Embrace it!
There can be situations where a Proposal Manager is forced to change their business sector, i.e., due to lay off which is what is described above as ‘unwillingly’. Those Professionals could decide to look for new job opportunities in the field that they’ve worked in before. However, if a Proposal Manager goes into a new business sector and knows the challenges that come with it, I believe such a decision deserves respect! Sometimes, these changes tend to be a ‘blessing’ for those involved. They often grow professionally faster than those who decide to remain in their comfort zone.
From an existential point of view, there is nothing someone can do to avoid a change if it’s happening anyway. The only thing is to embrace it and transform this challenge into a great opportunity. How? By doing what Proposal Managers do best, which is to adapt to any given situation and manage it successfully. Strategies to perform this task effectively include but are not restricted to the following:
- Get in touch with all useful stakeholders within the organization who can help.
- Build a strong network of new colleagues – including people outside your region.
- Be proactive in searching for information on the company business including portfolios.
Turning challenges into opportunities
A change can be scary – generally speaking. A change of the business sector for a Proposal Manager can even be scarier. Moreover, not every change is welcome and successfully manageable, this largely depends on the impacted individual. In Proposal Management, one must start from scratch as far as the knowledge of the business is concerned, which requires a strong will to learn and to learn fast.
It is therefore important to acknowledge the colleagues who willingly or unwillingly, have taken this (significant) step in their career. To all of you out there, I salute you!
About the Author
Vatis Tsague is a Senior Proposal Professional with over 10 years of experience in sales including 8 in Proposal Management. He holds a Master’s degree in political sciences, a degree in International Relations from the Technical University of Darmstadt, and a Diploma in International Business Law from the London School of International Business. Vatis Tsague, CP APMP, is a Senior Proposal Consultant at ManpowerGroup in Germany, and is a member of APMP DACH Chapter. In 2020, Vatis received the ManpowerGroup Bid & Proposal Management Europe 2020 Roll of Honour Award for his contributions in Proposal Management in the company.
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