Case Study
About
The challenge
We had roughly two weeks. The proposal was built around hardware and software still in active development, which created a fundamental problem: the RFP was only as credible as the commitments I could get from the teams building the product. That meant running daily working sessions with directors and above from hardware engineering, software engineering, systems engineering, customer engineering, procurement, program management, account management, and sales — along with the CTO and COO.
The resistance wasn’t abstract. Engineering teams were managing deep backlogs and competing priorities, and few leaders were willing to commit to firm timelines on features still in development. The instinct to stay vague was strong across the table. Getting to yes meant working through that resistance in real time — understanding each team’s actual constraints, negotiating the feature set down to what we could honestly stand behind, and holding the sessions together long enough for commitments to crystallize.
Scope
Timeline
Two weeks
Roughly two weeks to assemble a complete proposal package around hardware and software still in active development.
Coordination
10+ departments
Daily working sessions with directors and above from hardware, software, systems, and customer engineering, procurement, program management, account management, sales, plus CTO and COO.
Challenge
No collateral existed
Built the full RFP document and pitch decks from scratch — these features had never been sold before and no material existed to work from.
Result
Delivered on time
Complete package delivered on time. Presented to customer C-suite. Customer responded positively to the new functionality.
My Approach
From internal resistance to a complete proposal package delivered on time.
Step 1
Building commitment
The proposal was built around hardware and software still in active development, which created a fundamental problem: the RFP was only as credible as the commitments I could get from the teams building the product. Engineering teams were managing deep backlogs and competing priorities, and few leaders were willing to commit to firm timelines on features still in development. The instinct to stay vague was strong across the table. Getting to yes meant working through that resistance in real time — understanding each team’s actual constraints, negotiating the feature set down to what we could honestly stand behind, and holding the sessions together long enough for commitments to crystallize.
Ran daily working sessions with directors and above across 10+ departments
Worked through real resistance — full backlogs, competing priorities, uncertain timelines
Negotiated the feature set down to what we could honestly stand behind
Step 2
Building the collateral
Once commitments were in place, the next problem was that the collateral didn’t exist. These features hadn’t been sold before — there were no templates, no prior pitch decks, no established messaging to pull from. I built everything from scratch: the full RFP document and the pitch decks that would carry the proposal into the room.
Built the full RFP document from scratch
Created pitch decks with no prior templates or messaging to draw from
Delivered the complete package on time
Step 3
Delivering it
I brought demo hardware and software to the customer presentation, set it up, and presented directly to their C-suite and procurement leadership. Years of working with this account had given me deep familiarity with their business operations and technical configurations — so when the conversation got technical or the room needed someone to bridge the gap, I could step in. The customer responded positively to what we put in front of them; the new functionality landed well.
Brought and set up demo hardware and software for the presentation
Presented directly to customer C-suite and procurement leadership
Customer responded positively — the new functionality landed well
The broader pattern
Large organizations produce their best work under deadline pressure when someone is willing to hold the process together.
That person is usually not the department head. It’s the operator who sits across all of them, speaks everyone’s language, and makes sure the whole team gets there together.
That’s the work I do.
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