Module 1 · Week 4 — Quick Reference Guide

Signature lineIf we only talk to the client through the proposal, we compete on price. The pre-proposal move is how we compete on value instead.

The whole pursuit, in one line. Qualify it, forecast it honestly, reframe it around value, and log it clean — a raw lead becomes data the firm can trust.

What am I supposed to know?

The five things that don't change

1Price, cost, and value are three different numbers — confusing them costs either the win or the margin.
2Cost is the floor: our loaded effort to deliver. Price below cost and a "win" is a loss with a press release.
3Value — the outcome the client actually gets — is the only one of the three we can grow, and it’s set in conversation, not on paper.
4Two leads run every pursuit: the Technical Lead owns substance (scope, fee, forecast, value story); the Marketing Lead owns packaging (proposal, schedule, compliance).
5The pre-proposal move reframes the conversation before the RFP hardens into price alone.

What am I supposed to do?

On the job, not just this week

→This week (capstone): run the pre-proposal role-play on the mock RFP with your ML/TL partner, then log revenue, effort, and win probability clean.
→On every real pursuit: ask about the outcome, not the scope, before you ever propose.
→Before responding to any RFP: identify the value frame — what does this client actually care about a year out?
→After the conversation: log the opportunity in Vantagepoint before the read goes stale.

How am I supposed to do it?

Two skills, step by step

Running the pre-proposal move

Ask about the outcome, not the scope: "What does success look like a year after this is done?"
Surface the hidden risk — the thing that keeps the client up at night, rarely written in the RFP.
Listen for the differentiator: what can we do that a low bidder can’t?
Plant the value frame so price lands as one factor among several, not the whole decision.

Partnering as Technical Lead / Marketing Lead

Technical Lead owns approach, scope, fee, the forecast, and the value story.
Marketing Lead owns the proposal package, schedule discipline, and compliance.
Align both at the kickoff meeting: focus, win themes, schedule, responsibilities.
Run the pre-proposal move together — it only works when both know what’s really being sold.

Framework box

The reference card

Reads as	What it means
Price	What we charge — the only number a client can compare if we’ve given them nothing else.
Cost	What it takes us — our loaded effort. The floor; price below cost is a loss.
Value	What it’s worth to them — set in conversation, and the only one of the three we can grow.

WSE tools referenced

Where this lives in the real world

Tool / system	What it's for
Vantagepoint	Where the final revenue, effort, and win probability get logged to close the pursuit.
Mock RFP exercise packet	The sanitized lead used for this week’s pre-proposal role-play.

That completes Module 1

The pursuit you’ve shaped becomes the scope in Module 2.

Back to Week 4 overview