In most professional services firms a partner, principal or practice lead reviews a proposal before it goes to the client. The review catches underpriced work, non-standard terms and scope the firm cannot deliver. Done well it takes minutes. Done badly it is an email thread, a forgotten attachment and a proposal sent without the reviewer seeing the final version.
What triggers a review
Not every proposal needs the same review. Common triggers:
- Fee above a threshold, such as $50,000 or $100,000.
- A discount applied against the standard rate card.
- A new client, or a client with a payment history problem.
- Non-standard terms, or a client's own terms.
- A new service line or a fee basis the firm rarely uses.
Write the triggers down as rules. A rule-based workflow routes the proposals that need review and leaves the rest alone.
Who approves
Usually the partner responsible for the practice or the client. Larger firms add a second approver above a higher threshold. Keep the number of required approvers small; every additional approver is a day of delay.
What the approver checks
- Does the scope match what the client asked for, and can the firm deliver it with the people named?
- Does the fee cover the effort, including the hours behind any fixed fee?
- Are the rates the firm's current rates, and is any discount justified?
- Are assumptions, exclusions and additional services stated?
- Are the terms the firm's standard terms?
What to record
Record who approved, when, and which version. If the proposal changes after approval, the approval should lapse and the proposal should go back into review. Without versioning, the firm cannot prove that what the client accepted is what the partner approved.
Keeping it fast
- Reviewers see a queue, not an inbox. A list of proposals waiting with the fee, client and author is faster than hunting for attachments.
- Reviewers see the fee table laid out the same way every time.
- Approve or send back with a note, from any device.
- Only proposals that match a rule enter the queue.
Approvals in proposal software
In general proposal tools, approval workflows are often a higher-tier feature, and some tools require the approver to be a full paid user. For a services firm where three partners approve and six people write, that adds half again to the seat count. Look for approval rules on the plan you can afford, and check what an approver costs.
Feebeaver: Feebeaver includes approval rules and a review queue on every plan. Approvers are free. Every approval is recorded against the proposal version in the audit log.