Finish Line Solutions

SM&A
4695 MacArthur Court
8th Floor
Newport Beach, CA 92660

949.975.1550

clientservices@smawins.com 

Engagement
Types and Fees

Finish Line’s professional engagements include both on-going sales consulting and proposal consulting for specific RFP responses. Sales Consulting engagements are scoped by effort and value. Proposal efforts are segmented between base, expanded and large.
The finish line methodology
Sales Consulting
Ongoing sales consulting engagements are tailored to specific client needs.  A partial listing of the many sales services we provide is available on the Offerings page.  Our most common engagements include overall strategy and planning, vertical solution or product selling, opportunity-specific pursuits (which generally continue to proposal pursuits once the RFP drops), and sales assistance in a specific geography.  For these efforts we work with clients on a monthly retainer plus appropriate success fees.

Proposal Consulting
Creating a compliant, compelling, and ultimately winning response to a complex RFP requires a proven process combined with effective guidance and review. Must-win opportunities come in varying sizes, each requiring different levels of effort and justifying different levels of investment. To address the full range of needs, Finish Line offers both our comprehensive approach for large proposals and a “light” version also proven extremely effective in winning that makes sense for smaller companies and/or opportunities. Our proposal services are segmented into three offerings:

• Base Proposals:

These are generally opportunities under $5M in total contract value. They tend to be fast turnarounds, require a fairly short and simple response, have a small number of contributing authors, and do not require complex outlining, custom graphics or multiple reviews. Clients pay Finish Line a flat fee for the first month’s strategy and foundation work and a reduced monthly fee for subsequent support. Services include:

First Month Strategy and Foundation

Ongoing Support and Review

FLS time to understand client, opportunity, vertical, and solution

Participation on weekly status calls

1 day strategy creation and author training session

Two color team reviews of entire proposal including edits and comments

Strategy and win theme document to guide pursuit and authoring

Graphics and formatting assistance for final document

Initial draft of executive summary

Ongoing general advice and counsel as needed

Author notes by section

Orals and negotiation coaching

• Expanded Proposals:

These are generally opportunities between $5M and $25M in total contract value. These are more complex and require more coordination than base proposals.  They also require a more detailed level of initial outlining, custom graphics, and multiple reviews.  We offer our expanded proposal package with the same flat monthly fee structure as our base proposal package, with fees slightly higher to reflect the increased workload. Services include:

First Month Strategy and Foundation

Ongoing Support and Review

FLS time to understand client, opportunity, vertical, and solution

Participation on daily status calls

1-2 day strategy creation and author training session

Up to four color team reviews including detailed edits and comments

Strategy and win theme document to guide pursuit and authoring

Assistance with graphics creation during authoring; graphics editing and formatting for final document

Initial and final drafts of executive summary

Ongoing general advice and counsel as needed

Response outlining and author coaching by section

Orals and negotiation coaching

• Large Proposals:

These are generally opportunities with a total contract value of over $25M. At Finish Line we have worked on multiple proposals over $100M up to nearly $500M. At this level of complexity our full process (as described in the Capture Approach and Proposal Methodology sections of this website) is engaged, and we are involved in every proposal aspect including solution creation and negotiating with partners and vendors. For large proposals we create a specific engagement plan and work from an agreed upon statement of work and fee schedule.


Regardless of the size of your opportunity, Finish Line's process and services ensure that you highlight your win themes, keep your authors on message and consistent with overall strategy, and maximize your impact and score.