P2W: Your Guide to Proposal Success

  • Registration Closed

Each of the modules will consist of: a 75-90 minute online instructor-led course, take-home assignments, module related questions will be posted on the bulletin board for individual practices and group discussion.

Program Benefits/Why Attend

  • Progressively build skills on proposal planning, organizing and writing
  • Compare and contrast different ways of conveying a message using both text and graphics
  • Learn common mistakes to avoid 
  • Improve existing proposal development techniques

DOMAINS OF PRACTICE

DOMAIN 4- Proposals

Modules

  • Module 1:  Positioning and Planning for RFPs, RFQs and SOQs
  • Module 2:  Graphics and Other Easy Ways to Enhance Proposals and Presentations
  • Module 3:  Post-Proposal Short-List Presentation

Pricing

SMPS Members: $300 (early bird) by May 31, $350 after May 31
Nonmembers: $350 (early bird) by May 31, $400 after May 31

Continue Education Credit

P2W Virtual Workshops are approved for up to 1.5 continuing education units for the Certified Professional Services Marketer (CPSM) program and 1.5 learning units from the American Institute of Architects.

  • Contains 2 Component(s), Includes Credits Recorded On: 06/29/2017

    Congratulations, you’ve just been short-listed. Now it’s time to focus on the post-proposal presentation—and your strategy behind it. Presentations can be hectic and stressful. Planning is the key to taming the chaos. Participate in this inactive session to learn presentation planning and coaching best practices.

    Congratulations, you’ve just been short-listed. Now it’s time to focus on the post-proposal presentation—and your strategy behind it.
    Presentations can be hectic and stressful. Planning is the key to taming the chaos. Participate in this inactive session to learn presentation planning and coaching best practices.

    Learning Objectives:

    During this interactive session, participants will:

    • Receive tips for developing planning strategies to create winning presentations
    • Learn how to effectively coach presentation teams
    • Discuss potential selection committee questions and how to develop answers to best position your team

    Donna Jakubowicz, FSMPS, CPSM

    Marketing Director, Atwell, LLC

    Donna Jakubowicz, FSMPS, CPSM is director of marketing for Atwell, LLC, an engineering, consulting and construction management firm with 550 employees and 19 offices throughout the U.S. She is experienced in development and implementation of strategy for enterprise-wide marketing and communications. 

    Donna has a strong network of resources and almost 20 years in leadership of planning, professional services marketing, media relations, and communications for the A/E/C industries. 

    She’s a frequent speaker and author of various marketing topics, such as crisis management, the go/no-go decision process, proposal planning and development, and the value of networking.

    P2W Virtual Workshops are approved for up to 1.5 continuing education units for the Certified Professional Services Marketer (CPSM) program and 1.5 learning units from the American Institute of Architects.

  • Contains 1 Component(s) Recorded On: 06/22/2017

    From using text editing techniques and tag lines, to creating photos, charts, and infographics effectively, you’ll discover the many tools to develop even better marketing materials. Highlighting real-world examples from proposals and presentations, we’ll explore creative alternatives to traditional text and bullet points. We’ll even cover tips and tricks for those with no graphic design help.

    Your audience has a limited attention span. In this social media-heavy world where information is distributed quickly and in bite-sized pieces, A/E/C marketers are challenged to find ways to deliver information in clear, concise ways. 

    Let’s face it, nobody looks at a proposal or presentation slide and says “Yay, it’s all words!” Yet most of the time we use pages of text or wordy bullets and wonder why our message gets lost in the shuffle. Visuals resonate with people, and using graphics as ways to convey or enhance your message is key to keeping your audience engaged.

    There are many ways to make your presentations more memorable. And guess what? You don’t have to be a graphic designer to do any of them! In this session, we’ll explore some simple, yet effective ways to visually enhance your marketing materials. All you need is a little creativity.

    From using text editing techniques and tag lines, to creating photos, charts, and infographics effectively, you’ll discover the many tools to develop even better marketing materials. Highlighting real-world examples from proposals and presentations, we’ll explore creative alternatives to traditional text and bullet points. We’ll even cover tips and tricks for those with no graphic design help.

    Learning Objectives:

    During this interactive session, participants will:

    • Understand why visual communication is so effective
    • Learn about the types of graphics that are most effective and how to use them to support your message
    • Compare different methods of conveying information in proposals and presentations
    • Learn how to easily build simple graphics and see examples of them used in actual proposals and presentations
    • Learn about resources and tips/tricks for inexpensive graphics


    Karen Kurta, CPSM

    Senior Graphic Designer, Cushman & Wakefield

    A three-time marketing excellence award winner, Karen excels in proposal writing, graphic design, and photography, specializing in assembling complex pieces into concise and cohesive marketing materials. She is known for efficiency, creativity, and the drive to continuously improve her skills.

    Her career spans various industries including construction and commercial real estate. For eight years, she managed complex proposals and developed presentations, graphics, collateral, advertising, and project photography for two global construction firms. She is currently a Senior Marketing Associate for Cushman & Wakefield—a global commercial real estate firm—where she provides graphic design and marketing support for over 40 brokers in two markets.

    Karen is a CPSM and a member of the Professional Photographers of America. She is also the owner of a Central Florida-based photography business specializing in real estate and fine art. 

    P2W Virtual Workshops are approved for up to 1.5 continuing education units for the Certified Professional Services Marketer (CPSM) program and 1.5 learning units from the American Institute of Architects.

  • Contains 1 Component(s) Recorded On: 06/15/2017

    In this session, we’ll look at how market research, client relationship management, team chartering, and creating a group mind will showcase your firm as the logical choice for your client’s needs. Using examples from real market sectors, we’ll delve into ways you can be more proactive in your pursuits and establish your firm’s distinction in this competitive landscape.

    You have a sales goal, high expectations from your firm’s leadership, and a workforce ready to start when you get the Notice to Proceed. It’s up to smart A/E/C marketers like you to get your firm ready to compete for work available in your market—and win it. 

    Many firms operate with the idea that their marketing department finds the leads, writes the proposals, and wins the work. But, that’s 20th century thinking. In the new age, smart marketers leverage all their tools, including their firm’s workforce, to find opportunities to attract clients and their projects.

    In this session, we’ll look at how market research, client relationship management, team chartering, and creating a group mind will showcase your firm as the logical choice for your client’s needs. Using examples from real market sectors, we’ll delve into ways you can be more proactive in your pursuits and establish your firm’s distinction in this competitive landscape. 

    If you want to actively pursue work instead of passively wait for it to come to you, learn some simple ways to position your firm for the work you want. It will require some planning to get you in the right place at the right time for your chance to compete.

    Learning Objectives:

    During this interactive session, participants will:

    • Reinforce the importance of firm goals in positioning to win 
    • Discover and use specific tools to identify and support pursuing potential targets 
    • Establish and foster relationships that aid in your firm’s objectives
    • Uncover your marketing allies within and outside the firm
    • Communicate the firm’s objectives so the entire company is invested in successfully achieving them


    Mary Jo Mrochinski

    Senior Proposal Manager, Global Inside Sales, CH2M

    Mary Jo Mrochinski is a marketing and business development professional who has worked in the architectural/ engineering/ construction trades since 2001. Prior to her work in Alaska with CH2M, she wrote RFPs for the world’s largest retail developer/owner/operator in the world – Westfield; she wrote proposals for AIA Firm of the Year architecture firm, Hardy Holzmann Pfeiffer (now Pfeiffer Partners); and helped the small woman-owned engineering firm she did marketing and BD for on the design team for the $2 billion Exposition Light Rail project in Los Angeles, linking downtown to the Pacific Ocean. She has conducted an SMPS webinar on "Prepping Your People to Get Up in Front of Others" and served on the jury for the SMPS Marketing Communications Awards over the last six years.

    In addition to her marketing experience, Mary Jo has pursued a professional acting and comedy career. She has guest-starred on Nash Bridges with Cheech Marin, played a recurring character on CSI: Crime Scene Investigators with Marg Helgenberger, and several small independent features. She now plays improvisational comedy in Anchorage with both Scared Scriptless and Urban Yeti Improv, performing in comedy festivals in Juneau, New York City, and Austin, Texas.

    P2W Virtual Workshops are approved for up to 1.5 continuing education units for the Certified Professional Services Marketer (CPSM) program and 1.5 learning units from the American Institute of Architects.