EP046: Success Conversations – with Bruce Farrell
What do you contribute to the RFP process? Figuring out what you do well is the first step in realizing the highest and best use of your time. So, how do you uncover your strengths and weaknesses—and get clear on your path forward? How do you identify what lights you up about proposals and lean on others to do the rest?
Bruce Farrell is a business communications and development professional with a passion for design. He has 20-plus years of experience bringing strong design principles to proposals, presentations, and other business documents. For the last 15 years, Bruce has served as Proposal Director at Plante Moran, leading a team of proposal specialists in working with practice staff to secure business through RFPs.
Today, Bruce joins us to explain how developing a strong proposal process has contributed to his success and discuss the challenges around encouraging SMEs to meet proposed deadlines. He shares his lessons learned around determining the highest and best use of your time and being open to getting better. Listen in for Bruce’s insight around earning the trust of your colleagues and learn the value in knowing what you do well, what you don’t do well, and where you really want to be!
Key Takeaways
The evolution of Bruce’s role as Proposal Director at Plante Moran
Bruce’s insight on using intuition to answer questions in an RFP
How having a solid process in place contributes to Bruce’s success
Bruce’s advice on encouraging colleagues to submit work on time
Offer help as necessary
Carbon copy partner on reminders
How Bruce’s team uses Qvidian and SharePoint to manage content
The lessons Bruce has learned around being open to getting better
How to determine what’s the highest and best use of your time
How Bruce gradually earned the trust and buy-in of his colleagues
How Bruce’s introversion impacts his ability to build relationships
How Bruce leveraged the takeaways from a loss to win other bids
The value in knowing what you do well and defining a clear path